Swimsuit Black Jeanne, who knew Salieri well enough from their time in Chaldea, watched the scene unfold and let out a helpless sigh as memories of his usual antics flashed through her mind.
"Ah… Here we go again."
Mozart stared at the two Maries in total bewilderment. He had only been gone for about an hour to fetch water—how in the world had another Marie suddenly appeared?
"What's going on? I step away for a bit to get water and suddenly there's an extra Marie?"
And then there was his old friend Salieri, materializing right in front of them out of nowhere.
Despite his confusion, Mozart still wanted to greet him first. As far as he was concerned, their relationship had always been decent.
But the instant Salieri laid eyes on Mozart, it was like a switch had been thrown. His sanity vanished in a heartbeat.
"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!"
"I am the one who killed you!"
"I will erase your fame, your music, every last trace of your existence!"
"I will kill you with my own hands!"
Mozart froze at the outburst.
"Huh? When did you become the guy who actually killed me? Weren't those later rumors just baseless gossip?"
Salieri's reason had already flatlined. He couldn't hear a single word.
Black magical energy erupted from his body, wrapping around him and transforming him instantly into a sleek armored suit—complete with the flowing long coat of a true powerhouse and a familiar helmet masking his face.
Fujimaru Ritsuka recognized the look immediately.
She gaped at the transformed Salieri, a certain tokusatsu franchise popping into her head. The name tumbled out before she could stop it.
"Kamen Rider?"
After a low growl, Kamen Rider Salieri conjured a long, slender cross-shaped sword and charged straight at Mozart.
"Oh… ohhh…!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes widened even more as the cross sword appeared in his grip. He looked exactly like a Kamen Rider now.
Mozart barely dodged the blade aimed at his face. Once clear, he stared at his old friend in shock and confusion—this man who felt both utterly familiar and completely alien.
"Hey! Salieri!!"
Salieri pressed the attack, roaring wildly as he swung.
But unlike his earlier deep growls, this time his voice came out in frantic shouts.
"Heh heh heh, hahahahaha!"
After Mozart narrowly evaded yet another strike, Salieri let out a more ordinary roar.
"Ooooh—Ooooooh—!"
With his perfect pitch, Mozart could hear that every note Salieri produced was wildly off-key. Combined with the way his voice kept shifting as if he were someone else with every cry…
Mozart was beginning to suspect his friend had developed a split personality.
"Salieri! What's gotten into you? You're not acting like yourself at all!"
"And what the hell is that armor?!"
Salieri ignored every word, relentlessly attacking while howling nonstop.
"Gottlieb Mozart!"
"Wait, Salieri!!!"
[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Emotion Value +10]
[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Emotion Value +10]
[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Emotion Value +10]
...
Nearby, Fujimaru Ritsuka watched Salieri chase Mozart down and bit her lip in worry. She turned to Adam beside her.
"Adam, are you sure this Kamen Rider guy isn't actually an enemy?"
"It really looks like he wants to cut Mozart down…"
Adam waved a hand casually, telling her not to worry.
"Relax. I know them both. Salieri can scream about killing Mozart all he wants, but if it ever came down to actually doing it, I seriously doubt he'd be able to follow through."
Adam refused to believe that the same Salieri who would suddenly shout "What are you doing to the one beloved by God?!" the moment Mozart's Spirit Origin began to collapse would ever truly bring himself to harm him.
Sure enough, the next moment proved him right.
Mozart was never the most athletic Servant. This time, he failed to dodge.
The cross sword filled his vision as it hurtled toward his face. His complexion went deathly pale.
But just as the blade was about to connect, Salieri suddenly kicked Mozart clear. The sword slammed into the ground where he had stood a heartbeat earlier.
Mozart's already scrambled mind grew even more confused. First two Maries, now a deranged Salieri.
He had only been gone a short while to fetch water—what on earth had happened here?
Climbing back to his feet in a rather undignified scramble, Mozart stared blankly at the Salieri who had just saved him by booting him aside.
The one trying to cut him down was Salieri. The one who had saved him was also Salieri.
"…Salieri, what exactly are you trying to do?"
The only reply was another near-roar.
"Gottlieb Mozart!!!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka caught the odd choice of name and turned to Adam again.
"Um, Adam… Are you sure this Servant hasn't got the wrong person?"
"He keeps calling him 'Gottlieb Mozart.'"
"Our Mozart's name is Wo… Wol… uh… fang… something… Amadeus… Mozart, right?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka stumbled over the full name, clearly unable to recall it completely. Still, she knew "Gottlieb" wasn't part of it.
"Could the Mozart this Salieri is talking about be some relative of ours?"
Adam shook his head gently, dismissing the idea, and explained the meaning.
"Of course not. 'Gottlieb' means 'beloved by God.'" He pointed at the communicator on her wrist. "Ritsuka, it's a good thing the Director is asleep right now. If she heard you ask that, she'd definitely drag you back for extra lessons."
Fujimaru Ritsuka pulled a bitter face. The mere memory of Olga Marie's soul-crushing tutoring sessions made her scratch her head awkwardly with an embarrassed laugh.
"…Hahaha."
Eager to change the subject, she thought about the word "Gottlieb" again and something clicked. She glanced at Salieri, who was still relentlessly pursuing Mozart.
"Okay, I'm starting to believe he doesn't actually want to kill Mozart. Who compliments someone while trying to murder them?"
The more she considered it, the stranger it became.
Since "Gottlieb" meant someone beloved by God, it was clearly praise. Yet Salieri was using that very word while physically attacking him.
Antonio Salieri… what an incredibly complicated person…
Adam perked up at her observation and gave her a quick summary of their history.
He explained that Salieri had only become known as Mozart's murderer because of baseless rumors spread by later generations. In truth, the two had been friends.
Then he described what had happened between them in the Lostbelt—without explaining what a Lostbelt actually was. He simply told the story: how the pair had performed Dies Irae together, a piece that symbolized Salieri inheriting Mozart's will and finally abandoning all self-restraint…
And how, right before Mozart was about to disappear, Salieri had fulfilled one of the composer's last joking requests by playing a simple melody for the people of that world who had never known music or the stars—"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
After hearing the full tale, Fujimaru Ritsuka's gaze toward Salieri and Mozart had completely changed.
"Are those two really just friends?"
"How could they not be?" Adam had been about to say, but after quickly running through everything that had happened between them, the words that came out were, "Probably… not?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka: "…"
[Fujimaru Ritsuka Emotion Value +10]
"But we can't let this keep going forever."
"Mr. Salieri is chasing Mr. Amadeus nonstop, and it doesn't look like he's going to stop. Are we really supposed to just leave it like this?"
"Aren't we supposed to continue our journey soon?"
Mash watched Mozart being relentlessly pursued and grew worried about the road ahead.
Adam simply smiled at her question.
"You know, Mash…"
"There's always something that can handle something else."
"Something that can handle something else?"
Mash clearly didn't quite get it. Adam simply pointed toward Marie.
At some point, Marie had stepped forward and placed herself squarely between Mozart and Salieri.
She stared at Salieri in a daze. In her previous life, she had known him—she had even taken music lessons from him.
"Are you… Teacher Salieri?"
The moment Salieri saw Marie, the deranged howling that made him sound like he had multiple personalities vanished completely.
He suddenly became perfectly quiet, like a well-behaved house cat.
Salieri: "…"
Mozart peeked out from behind her to see who was shielding him.
"Marie?"
Salieri had calmed down after seeing Marie, but the instant Mozart poked his head out, Salieri went berserk again.
"Gottlieb Mozart!!! I am the one who will kill you!"
Startled by the roar, Mozart quickly ducked back behind her.
Salieri looked at Marie in front of him and instantly fell silent once more.
This time, both Mozart and Marie noticed the pattern.
"Teacher Salieri?"
Mozart slowly poked his head out again.
The instant Salieri saw him, he started howling.
Salieri: "Ooooh—Ooooooh—!"
Mozart yanked his head back. Salieri went quiet again as he looked at Marie.
Salieri: "..."
Mozart seemed to have figured out the rule. He began repeatedly sticking his head out from behind Marie and pulling it back in an endless cycle.
Salieri saw Mozart: "Ooooh—!"
Mozart pulled back.
Salieri saw Marie: "…"
Mozart stuck his head out.
Salieri saw Mozart: "Gott—!"
Mozart pulled back.
Salieri saw Marie: "…"
Mozart stuck his head out.
Salieri saw Mozart: "Moz—!"
Mozart pulled back.
Salieri saw Marie: "…"
The spectators watching from the sidelines: "..."
Mozart was clearly having the time of his life. He kept darting back and forth behind Marie, deliberately appearing and disappearing from Salieri's view.
Salieri's voice rose and fell in perfect rhythm with the movements. Under Mozart's intentional control, the roars began forming a bizarre but surprisingly melodic piece.
"Roar? Oh? Moz~?…"
It even had a decent sense of rhythm.
Just as Mozart was really getting into it,
Black Marie suddenly stepped forward with a gentle, motherly smile on her face. She punched Mozart, then immediately punched Salieri as well.
Bang~!
Bang~!
Both men face-planted into the ground, large red lumps swelling on their heads.
Mozart and Salieri—unable to continue.
"If you two don't get along nicely, I'm going to get mad~"
Even though Black Marie wore a loving smile and spoke in the sweetest tone, for some reason it felt utterly terrifying.
Salieri immediately behaved himself completely.
Mozart rubbed the large bump on his head and stared blankly at the unusually intimidating Black Marie in front of him. He was just about to ask something when—
A shrill scream far sharper than anything Salieri had produced suddenly echoed from the forest behind them.
"Arthuuuuuur~~~~!!!"
***
If you want to read up to 25 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)