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Arc 5 – Chapter 1, “It Always Starts With a Visitor”

—He breaks into a sprint, launching himself forward.

Air breezes over the sweat that drips from his brow to his eyes. He blinks it away, ignoring it. His lungs ache with every breath. His innards twist into knots.

He grits his teeth and dispels all his pain. The only thing left in his mind is the world ‘goal’.

“—!”

Someone is yelling far in the distance. Their voice draws ever nearer, closing in on Subaru as he runs. With their call as his landmark, as his beacon, he sprints onward, onward—.

“—!”

The frantic voice draws him in. Heedless of the white light swamping his vision, he runs. And,

???:”Goal, in fact!”

The second he crosses the finish line clumsily drawn underfoot, the sky and the earth swap places. Small weeds poke into the crown of his head, and Subaru instantly puts his hand to the ground for a forward roll. The habitual action kills his momentum, and with two more unneeded rolls, he lands sprawled out on the ground.

Subaru: “Bhaahhh! Auhhg! Everything hurts! Everything stings! But it’s over! I did it!”

Breathing breath after ragged breath, he still finds it in him to shout. He complains as he does to invigorate his faltering heart. He mustn’t feel that his fatigue is simply wear, or that his effort is simply exertion. He must remember that this is not the end, and there is still more to come. Every time he tries to dictate where the finish line is, to give himself that satisfaction, Subaru puts his hand to his chest and thinks of that night.

???: “Good job, Subaru, I suppose.”

A small silhouette enters Subaru’s view from above. A loveable girl with long, cream hair and an extravagant outfit—Beatrice.

Her fluttering dress looks out of place in the meadow as she presents Subaru with a towel. He accepts it and vigorously towels his head dry.

Subaru: “Ah, thanks. Was looking to cool down so this’s perfect.”

Beatrice: “I’ll tell you that Petra cooled it before you go pinning this on me, in fact. Go thank her and she’ll jump for joy, I suppose.”

Subaru: “Petra’s really considerate that way. But man, weird to see you out here, Beako. Something putting you in a different mood than usual?”

Subaru swings his arms as he sits up and slides over to Beatrice. She puts her hand to her hip, averting her gaze.

Beatrice: “Just whimsy, in fact.”

Subaru: “Oh wow so it was whimsy huh.”

Beatrice: “…And I wanted to personally see what you’re like when you’re putting in your best, I suppose.”

While keeping her gaze averted, Beatrice easily unveils her hidden intentions. She’s so much more honest now. Subaru feels keenly that time has earned him her trust. Beatrice looks like she wants to say something to Subaru as he grins, but,

Beatrice: “Now, this must involve more than just gallivanting about, in fact. What comes next, I suppose?”

Subaru: “I’ll have you know this gallivanting is pretty taxing on its own, mademoiselle. While I cannot say whether I’ll meet your expectations, I’m tackling the obstacle course of dreams next.”

Beatrice: “…Ah, right, in fact. You mean the playground that Garfiel built in the forest, I suppose. ‘Obstackle…?'”

Subaru: “Obstacle course. You don’t have to force yourself to memorize it. Just ignore it.”

Beatrice: “But Subaru, I want to understand every word you say, in fact.”

The smooth line makes Subaru’s cheeks relax even further. Beatrice looks puzzled by his reaction, before she realises what she just said and her expression instantly shifts. Her cheeks are adorably pink as berries.

Beatrice: “N-no, I didn’t mean it like th… it just came out that way, I suppose.”

Subaru: “Nonono, no worries, I know exactly what you meant. Everything’s cool, I love you too.”

Beatrice: “You know exactly nothing, in fact!”

Subaru chuckles as he jumps to his feet and scoops a sour-faced Beatrice into his arms. She looks displeased in his hold, but makes no complaints about being carried.

Beatrice: “Subaru, you reek of sweat, I suppose.”

Subaru: “Breathe with your mouth then. Or just drain the mana directly.”

Beatrice: “I’ll sap you dry if that’s what you’re asking, in fact.”

Subaru: “You’re gonna be the one crying after that.”

Beatrice: “A-as if, I suppose! Cease your nonsense, in fact!”

With Beatrice in his arms, Subaru breaks into a run. His breathing returns to normal during their banter. Beatrice makes a perfect weight for running from the track in the field to the obstacle course in the forest. Since she’s far lighter than she looks. Basically a feather.

Subaru soars with her in hand, so light he may have grown wings.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

Their new mansion is surrounded in just as much green as the old one. Shrubs grow in abundance throughout the verdant mountains. Subaru feels the cool breeze wash over his bangs as he launches into a run.

Subaru: “Okay! All! Right!”

The forest is so lush that it drowns everything visible in green. Here, Subaru sprints forward and lightly puts his hand to a sideways log, defeating the obstacle with only a small hop and his momentum. ‘Vaulting’ proves an effective means of locomotion in places strewn with obstacles, or in urban areas with copious buildings. Parkour champions the technique: a sport that Subaru often watched on television, all while amazed at the superhuman feats of the athletes. He never anticipated once that he would be training himself in this field.

Subaru: “Hup! Hah! Okay!”

The climbing apparatus is the star of this obstacle course that Subaru got Garfiel to construct. One large post composes the central pillar, while logs are assembled together in the space around it. It is essentially a classical jungle gym but with a slight avant-garde flair.

The thing looks a mess to climb even while taking it slowly. Subaru leaps onto it with all the momentum from his sprint, using the slight contact his fingers and toes purchase to shoot himself upwards, as if scaling a vertical wall. He races quicker than the eye can catch all to the top of the jungle gym. But there still more to this stunt, and more purpose to the gym.

Subaru: “Hup! Hup! Hup!”

Subaru reaches the slight footing at the peak before hopping to the uppermost point of the structure. He gazes down. Drop looks about six meters. Obviously, nothing is laid upon the wild, mossy ground. While the earth could have been soft once, it is now well-trodden and hard. Meaning the terrifying fall is definitely going to hurt. However,

Subaru: “—Hah!”

Without any hesitation, Subaru leaps down to the hard earth. Entirely undefended as he is, this jump may appear the worst of his usual recklessness. But Subaru unhesitatingly stretches out his legs and contacts the ground. Suffering the pain of the impact, he writhes in hideous agony—or not.

Subaru “—”

Subaru bends his legs and ducks to dissolve the impact, breaking into a forward roll to further avoid damage. One more roll, and another onto his hands and knees, before he darts to his feet, sustaining no injury at all. He merely brushes himself off, wiping the dirt from his track suit.

This is another parkour stunt: the land and roll. The stunt involves a landing combined with a roll to disperse the impact. It allows one to safely fall from moderate heights. While it’s no big deal for superhumans, it is a question of life or death for ordinary human Subaru. Just practicing this technique should be broadening his horizons for what he can do.

Subaru: “So that’s basically it. That improve your opinion of me?”

Subaru spreads his arms wide and looks to Beatrice, who watched the whole thing. Beatrice sits calmly on the stump for spectators, her eyes widening.

Beatrice: “Honestly, I am a little surprised, in fact. It did improve my opinion somewhat, I suppose.”

Subaru: “You’re back in love with me?”

Beatrice: “Subaru, recently, I’ve been having trouble deducing what you’re trying to make me say, in fact!”

Subaru: “I only want to know you love me.”

Beatrice’s attitude already demonstrates it more than enough. Subaru gives the red-faced, indignant Beatrice a smile before glancing behind him.

As shown by that spot of parkour, part of the forest has been repurposed into an obstacle course for Subaru. No one’s going to complain about it, since it’s on Roswaal’s land. But Subaru has to keep his honest urge to send Garfiel occupationally into construction, having seen how easily he cleared the timber and built this, to himself.

Garfiel is surprisingly nimble-fingered and attuned to detail. Perhaps his young, reckless talent will bloom in more fields in the future.

Subaru: “Anyway, guess we’re calling it here for today.”

Beatrice: “Huwah, I suppose.”

Subaru catches the towel that Beatrice throws to him, and wipes off his sweat as he did in the field. Then he stretches his legs, waist, so on. The old world already drove the importance of limbering up into him, but now that he’s seriously exercising his body, he truly does feel the effects.

He can’t do the splits, but he has grown more flexible. He puts his foot to a nearby tree-trunk and stretches his body out. When he seats himself and spreads his legs, Beatrice walks over behind him and presses him down, letting him fall forward.

Subaru: “Done stretching. Alrighty, let’s get ourselves back to the mansion and blob out.”

Beatrice: “Indeed, in fact.”

That comment would’ve earned him an insult before, but Beatrice accepts it without argument. She is both accustomed to how Subaru handles her, and to responding to it. Beatrice reaches out for him. Subaru accepts, and hand-in-hand, they exit the forest.

Subaru: “Beako, are you holding back on the mana drain? It feels like you’re taking less than usual.”

Beatrice: “I’m at least considerate enough to take care when you’re exhausted, I suppose.”

Subaru: “My my, how incredibly your opinion’s changed in just these two short hours. But we don’t want you to suffer from this, go back to the usual.”

Subaru smiles wryly at Beatrice as he lifts their linked hands. She glances aside at him and sighs. Instantly, the usual sensation hits. Beatrice is directly entering the interior of Subaru’s closed gate. This is the backdoor dedicated to extracting mana from Subaru, without passing through the gateway. Only she can use this backdoor, and it is Subaru’s lifeline.

Subaru’s abused gate has completely stopped functioning. But the loss of his gate does not stop his od from generating slight amounts of mana. Actually it is proceeding to generate more and more mana despite the lack of an outlet. If left like this, the mana inside Subaru will frenzy, and he’ll pop like an overinflated frog—is how he understands it.

But leaving aside whether he’ll actually explode, Beatrice tells him it’s dangerous. Since the mana exchange required to preserve their contract simultaneously resolves the issue, Subaru and Beatrice absolutely must have physical contact at least once daily. Subaru is constantly stockpiling tiny loads of mana, and Beatrice needs mana to function. Both in terms of personality and constitution, their compatibility is excellent. Although,

Subaru: “If you could mana drain people outside your contractor, we could easily keep you in mega loli mode.”

Beatrice: “Don’t you go mulling over that, I suppose. I thought we came to an agreement about that ages ago, in fact. And you are amassing mana, even if it is in small amounts, I suppose. Even if it is tinier than a sparrow’s teardrops.”

Beatrice has an idiosyncrasy where she only mana drains her contractor. She had been constantly and randomly draining mana from people in Roswaal’s mansion before, but apparently that involved using the Forbidden Archive as a mediator.

Beatrice: “The Forbidden Archive was arranged to mediate my mana intake, draining it from entities inside the mansion, in fact.”

Was Beatrice’s explanation. So the plan to drain mana from Garfiel, who looks to abound in the stuff, or from Emilia, initially struggling with her vast pool of it, is a wash. It’s like someone’s silently telling him: of course it wouldn’t work out that perfectly.

But, while it disappointed him at first, he’s glad for it now. Touching Beatrice is now a ritual representing more than just their relationship, and he likes feeling the truth of their connection. The relationship between Subaru the spiritualist and Beatrice the spirit differs somewhat from those of normal spiritualists. They need to recognize how their partnership represents them, by doing things like this.

Beatrice: “I’m done, in fact. This is enough to fill me for today, I suppose.”

Subaru: “Oh, kay, haauh… nothing, to it… haa… haa…”

Beatrice: “I’ve already decided not to comment when it comes to your bravado, in fact.”

Done with their daily ritual, Beatrice gazes flatly at Subaru. They step off the forest trail and onto paved ground, proving that they’re close to the mansion. The path resembles the one from Arlam Village times, but now that it crosses through the nearby town of Costuul, it all fells far less remote.

Beatrice: “If I were going to pick, I’d say I preferred the quiet forest, I suppose.”

Subaru: “I think noisy towns and quiet forests both have their appeal. I wouldn’t pick one over the other. But since the Capital’s the only big city I’ve seen yet, Costuul feels pretty novel.”

Beatrice: “Hrmpf, in fact. Subaru, your ideas are mismatched with Betty’s, I suppose.” Beatrice pouts in clear dissatisfaction.

Subaru pulls her onward, chiding her with a “yeah yeah” as he heads towards the path to the mansion. When,

???: “—Subaru-sama! Beatrice-chan!”

Someone shouts their names, and the two of them look up. They find a girl running towards them from the road to the mansion. Her face and voice are familiar, and her adorable expression brightens upon sighting Subaru and Beatrice. Her auburn, shoulder-length hair flutters in the wind. The catlike roundness of her eyes give her expressive face even more charm. Anyone would catch themselves smiling at her friendly, lovable attitude.

A sweet wildflower, out of anyone’s reach. That would be a good descriptor for Petra Leyte.

Petra: “I was just leaving to go fetch you two. Thank goodness we didn’t miss each other.”

Says Petra after running up to them, out of breath with her hand to her chest. Subaru gives Petra, who had grown to his chest, a pat on the head in response.

Subaru: “What’s the rush? We weren’t gonna escape. Did you just get those baked tarts at the perfect temperature for us or something?”

Beatrice: “Then it’s sensible that she would make haste, in fact. Since it’s incredibly important, I suppose.”

Petra: “No! That’s so not it! You guys are being jerks!”

Petra puffs out her cheeks as Beatrice nods solemnly, and goes to remove Subaru’s hand from her head. But once her hands clasp his own, she stops. She keeps that hold on Subaru’s hand, cheeks flushed red as she continues,

Petra: “Leaving the tarts aside for the moment, it’s something else. The mansion has received a guest. Emilia-sama said to go and fetch you, and…”

Subaru: “Wait, Petra. Just stop there. I’m getting a terrible feeling about this.”

Petra: “Huh?”

Clearly wary, Subaru cuts Petra off. She looks surprised at this, but Beatrice doesn’t. Well yeah. Beatrice has witnessed the same things that Subaru has, considering they’ve been together ever since moving to the new mansion. Quite a few things have happened between now and the day they left SANCTUARY.

Subaru: “And the conversation pattern goes exactly the same. When you show up to fetch me, or Frederica does, or sometimes Otto or Garfiel do, it always means trouble. I’ve learned that much.”

Beatrice: “A guest suddenly appears while Subaru is out… indeed, this absolutely is the pahttern bespeaking misfortune, I suppose.”

Petra: “B-Beatrice-chan, you’re using words that Subaru-sama does…! Subaru-sama, stop teaching her weird things!”

Subaru: “The mansion’s consensus is that Beako gets to do what she wants. But anyway, the guest. Petra, me and Beatrice are absent due to stomach-ache.”

Petra: “No! You! Don’t! Emilia-sama will be furious! And I have no reason to disobey her. Come on, this way!”

Petra used to be such a Subaru adherent, but living here has led her to oppose him when needed.

Her hands grab Subaru’s arm and she pulls him along, putting in her greatest effort to drag him away. As she does, Subaru glances to Beatrice, her hand in his.

Subaru: “Beako.”

Beatrice: “Enjoy your day, in fact.”

Subaru: “You’re coming too!”

Beatrice: “Ghhah, I suppose!”

It starts as a plea for help, and instantly transforms into embroilment. Beatrice quickly attempts to shake him off, but Subaru keeps a tight grip on her left hand. And her right hand is restrained by Petra, leaving her doubly without an escape. With Subaru refusing Beatrice’s escape, and Petra refusing Subaru’s escape, the trio venture along in their nonsense arrangement to the mansion.

Subaru: “I know it’s too late to kick the visitor out… but that just makes me wish we’d been told sooner.”

Petra: “You mean, to have a messenger on messengers? But then we won’t know far we need to go out to anticipate them beforehand. That much is clear.”

Subaru: “I’m just saying it’d be nice for everyone’s mental health and relations if we did something about that. Anyway, do you know who today’s visitor is, Petra?”

The one receiving the guest is going to be Petra, Frederica, or Ram. One of the three. Since Petra is out here fetching Subaru, one of the other two will be dealing with the guest.

Petra: “Umm, well, not really…”

Subaru: “You don’t know? Maybe you didn’t see their crest, but you’d have to’ve seen the messenger. And even if you didn’t I’m sure they would’ve told you something when they told you to fetch us…”

Petra: “They were in an incredible rush, saying that the guest was extremely important. But they didn’t look important.”

Subaru: “You can’t judge much off of people’s appearances. Sometimes you get little girls with powerful drills who also command dark powers. Though they may seem a mere dress-wearing loli, in truth they preside over—”

Beatrice: “Shut it, I suppose!”

Beatrice is the one calling off the jokes, leaving Subaru silent. Petra looks at the silenced Subaru, still worried.

Petra: “I don’t judge people based on their appearances anymore either.”

Subaru: “That’s good, Petra. Dunno what happened to change it but it was important you did.”

Petra: “I thought the new nasty-eyed choresman who came to the village was a weirdo… but he really wasn’t.”

Subaru: “It boomeranged!”

Stricken somewhere that he didn’t expect, Subaru tilts his head at Petra. Never mind her first impressions of him, the stuff she mentioned earlier is important. Petra doesn’t judge people by their appearance, but she still thought this visitor was odd.

Subaru: “So what’re they like?”

Petra: “I guess… a kitty?”

Subaru: “A kitty?”

The image of a grey cat spirit, long tail wagging, comes to mind at the word ‘kitty’. Subaru’s feelings for him are complex, and there are things they must talk about upon his eventual return.

Subaru: “Gotta ask him for his daughter.”

Beatrice: “I thought of Bubby too, but Petra’s surely seen him before, I suppose. So it can’t be him, in fact. Petra, what kind of kitty was it, I suppose?”

Petra: “It’s so cute that you’re calling them a kitty too, Beatrice-chan.”

Beatrice: “Pet! Ra!”

Says Beatrice indignantly to a teasing Petra. Petra gives an easy, “Sorry, sorry,” and looks up in thought.

Petra: “I guess they weren’t really a kitty. I haven’t really seen one before, but I suppose they were a catfolk demihuman. I always think of Big Bro Garfiel when I think of demihumans though.”

Subaru: “Garf’s mixed race, and he doesn’t have any blatantly obvious demihuman traits. Best you can manage on closer inspection is how intense his eyes are.”

And I guess you could mention his sharp canines. According to Garfiel, his canines will always keep growing, much like a rodent’s incisors, and he needs to chew on hard objects to maintain their length and sharpness. It’s not uncommon for Ram or Frederica to flip out at him after catching him chewing on the mansion’s banisters.

Subaru: “So a demihuman who looks demihuman has arrived. If they’re catfolk then they’re probably a beastman, and I do know a couple of those.”

It’s a given in the Capital, but Costuul also has many beastfolk demihumans. A long period of time has dissolved the discrimination against demihumans in the domain of Roswaal the Demihuman Fancier. Making this area a nicer region for demihumans to live in, or so says the local bunny-eared bartender. But Petra, who spends her time working in the mansion and goes to Arlam Village rather than Costuul on her days off, naturally is less familiar with them.

Petra: “I get it. Could you show me around Costuul on my next day off, then?”

Subaru: “Yeah, sure. I’m sure you’ll get to go there for shopping and stuff too, and you wanna be making as many friends as you can.”

Subaru gives that poorly-thought promise, and Petra pumps her fist. Beatrice only sighs and smiles wryly at Subaru.

Subaru: “Aaaand we’re here. Back at our beloved abode.”

The gates come into view during their conversation, and Subaru lifts his hands, linked as they are with the girls’. He ignores their protests as the gesture forces them to stretch, correcting his own posture and looking at the mansion.

This is the new mansion replacing the old, burnt one. Its exterior gives the same western feel that the previous did, and is similarly designed. There is space between the front gates and the doorway, with garden lawns flanking the gravel path. On the right side is a fountain, while the left continues into a path to the side end of the mansion, where carriages are parked, that has stables for earth dragons.

The fountain comes with an installation of colorful flowers, and at a fixed time daily, it sprinkles them with water. One section of the flowerbed holds Subaru and Petra’s vegetable garden, letting them harvest fresh vegetables in-season. It’s quite well-praised when the crop is bountiful.

The group pass through the front garden and the gravel path, leading them to large double-doors. The knocker shares the shape of the Mathers family crest, using the raptor motif, which indeed makes this feel like the primary estate of the Mathers.

Subaru: “I noticed an unfamiliar carriage over by the stables. Guess it’s the visitor’s.”

Petra: “The carriage is a dragon carriage, but it wasn’t being pulled by anything like Patrasche-chan. It wasn’t a dragon, it was more like a big dog.”

Subaru: “Pulled by a big dog… actually, maybe it’s…”

Thinking back on his internal bestiary, Subaru gets a clue of the visitor’s identity. But before he can reach a definite answer, the solution ends up finding him. Which is to say,

???: “Oh! Hullo mister, it’s been foooreeeveeer! Have you been well!?”

A stupidly cheerful, high-pitched voice comes hurtling at Subaru, startling him as he opens the door. Petra gives a wry smile, and Beatrice squeezes Subaru’s hand slightly. With these reactions in the corner of his eye, he looks ahead at the figure bounding toward him.

They are small. They are shorter than Petra, but a little taller than Beatrice. Meaning that they’re a child’s height, but this may be as tall as she’ll ever get. Her body is covered in short, orange fur, and her alert cat ears are adorable. Her eyes abound with curiosity and her loud mouth is curved mischievously. Her long, orange braid is very feminine, and her perfectly-fit white robe makes her all the more cute.

She’s effectively a bipedal kitten, and in some sense, a cat-lover’s dream. A catfolk—and one who Subaru knows.

Subaru: “Mimi! It’s been ages. You’re as full of energy as always!”

Mimi: “Mhm! Yup! I’m super duper full of energy! You get it, mister! And I even grew bigger and now I’m an adult. Hmhmhm!”

Mimi puts her hand to her hip, smirking boastfully as her tail sways to and fro. She just looks like a lively, energetic girl, but actually she is a vice-chair of the beastman mercenary company Iron Fang, with considerable fighting prowess and many other surprises. She once helped Subaru in fighting the White Whale and Petelgeuse, and shares his tendency to be cloyingly friendly and familiar with anyone, which perhaps makes her the best friend he unaffectedly made during the whole affair.

Incidentally Iron Fang is basically the private army of Emilia’s political opponent Anastasia Hoshin, so they are an enemy going by that. But being hostile towards Mimi is entirely tasteless.

Subaru: “Thanks for coming all the way. Right, introductions. This cute maid here is Petra. She’s an upcoming almighty maid who works in our mansion. And this blatantly wary loli is Beatrice.”

Mimi: “Okey! I got it! The maid who’s Petras and your baby! Got it! I won’t forget it!”

Beatrice: “I-I feel she’s remembering me by hideously improper means, in fact…!”

Beatrice is trembling, hiding behind Subaru’s back. It seems she’s scared of Mimi and how unforgivingly forward she is. Mimi mercilessly dives into her,

Mimi: “What? You’ll never be big like me if you shrink up like that! Come on, get out here, out you get!”

Beatrice: “Wh, no, wa, stop, I suppose! Betty doesn’t mind being small, and you’re too small to be saying this anyway, in fact!”

Mimi: “Hmhm! Listen to the rooky. I’m huge inside, so my outsides’re gonna catch up to me before long! The Boss said so!”

Beatrice: “It’s nonsense, I suppose!”

Mimi pulls Beatrice to the front, manhandling her entirely. Beatrice looks to Subaru for rescue, but he enjoys watching her being people-shy while also making friends, and simply watches over her with a fatherly look.

Petra: “Um, Subaru-sama. Beatrice-chan is looking to you in sheer terror.”

Subaru: “People mature by battling their weaknesses. Beako is a little too averse to new things, so it’s best she start developing that challenger’s mentality now. Let us watch her in silence, mom.”

Petra: “M-mom… y-yes, let’s.”

Subaru senses his mistake as he sees Petra blush and fall silent. But correcting it would be a mess so he decides to go with it. He turns his attention to Mimi, dancing circles around the room with a tight grip on Beatrice’ hands.

Subaru: “So if you’re here, then are the others… are your brothers or Ricardo with you? Also I’d really rather goddamn Julius not show up without booking in first.”

Anastasia’s Knight, Julius Juukulius, has a very complicated relationship with Subaru. Subaru doubts he can be sincere with him even when seeing him face-to-face. Subaru knows he has some trouble dealing with Anastasia, but she’s still preferable to Julius. But Mimi casts aside Subaru’s worries with a shake of her head.

Mimi: “Nope. Not Hetaro or Tivey or the Boss or Julius or my Lady are here! It’s just me! I’m here all on my own! Hmhm!”

Subaru: “That’s impressive and all, but… what are you here for, then?”

Mimi: “Ummm, uhhh, oh right!”

Mimi tilts her head, before pouncing onto Beatrice. Heedless of Beatrice as she hurries to support her, Mimi gives a sunny smile,

Mimi: “I’m inviting you to a party! My Lady said let’s all hang out! So here I am to invite you! I’m super excited! Super! Excited!”