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2

Afterward, everyone voiced their own complaints with Reinhard (details omitted), and then they got settled in the conference room and prepared to discuss the best way to retake Pristella.

Otto and Reinhard had rejoined the party—and while Otto’s fighting power was negligible, Reinhard’s assistance was a game changer.

With that in mind, Subaru wanted to move the discussion along, but before that—

“By the way, what happened to Felt? She was with you when all this started, right?” Subaru asked Reinhard before they broached the first subject.

Reinhard’s expression darkened a bit at that. Though he had been looking like that most of the time since getting there.

“To be clear, I’m not blaming you or anything. It’s not like I think you just holed up somewhere safe to protect Felt or anything…,” Subaru said, softening the blow.

“Agreed,” Anastasia added nonchalantly, “but I would like to know what you were doing and where you were doing it while we were out of communication. It’s not like we’re playin’ house here, after all.”

She petted her fox scarf as she looked Reinhard directly in the eye.

The focus of her question was what Felt’s faction had done that morning—the group had apparently gone to see Reinhard’s father, Heinkel, to discuss something—and what their members had done since.

Wilhelm obviously didn’t get along with him, but it seemed like everyone in the Astrea family found interacting with Heinkel rather awkward. Subaru was probably not the best person to say it, but it almost felt like—

“It’s like a family that gives the cold shoulder to a kid who holed up for years and turned into a professional NEET…”

“Apologies for interrupting while you indulge in your odd imagination, but if Mr. Reinhard is finding it difficult to speak on the matter, perhaps I can elaborate?” Hoping to set aside Subaru and the alien analogy he was entertaining, Otto offered to clear things up. The way he looked at Reinhard almost made it seem like he already knew what had happened.

“Oh yeah, you were with Reinhard, but don’t tell me that was from before all this even started?”

“Not since it started. I only met up with them at the very end of it all… Even so, I have a general grasp of the situation.”

“Thank you, Otto. But it is my family’s problem, and it involves Lady Felt as well. This is a difficult subject for me, but I should be the one to explain.” Reinhard shook his head, and then, after pausing for a second, said, “First of all, I’ve said it many times already, but allow me to apologize once more. I should have been the first person to come your aid, and yet it was only at this late hour that I was able to join you. You have my deepest apologies.”

“…On that point, I do believe our position is unchanged. It is difficult to wholeheartedly forgive your absence, but you are nonetheless essential to the coming battle. If you wish to make amends, I ask you do it with your sword,” Julius responded, nudging Reinhard forward in his own way.

Reinhard’s expression softened at his friend’s words, and he added a soft “Thank you” before continuing.

“When the Witch Cult carried out their first broadcast, Lady Felt and I were leaving the second district to go speak with Vice-Captain Heinkel.”

Reinhard’s voice was wooden as he referred to his father by his official title. That alone was sufficient to show just how strained their relationship must be and how wide the gulf between them truly was.

“It’s not exactly my place to comment, but she really decided to go talk to him after everything that happened at breakfast?” asked Subaru.

“She is not so irresponsible as to shirk what must be done out of mere personal discomfort. She set forth fully intending to negotiate with the vice-captain. And naturally, I accompanied her in that.”

“Incidentally, I suppose I shouldn’t ask how the negotiation went.”

“That does involve internal matters, after all. But it would be fair to say that discussions were not overly favorable.”

Reinhard’s tone obliquely indicated how much of a struggle the meeting had been. And even without that clue, it had been a negotiation between Felt, who was still impulsive and straightforward by nature, even if she had grown, and Heinkel, who made no effort at all to hide his base vulgarity. It was not hard to imagine things getting complicated fast.

And while they were going at it—

“That was when the first broadcast occurred. I could hardly believe my ears, but I immediately thought to act. I had actually made certain arrangements beforehand in the event of an emergency. In fact, I even prepared a way for Lachins and the others to reach me if the need arose.”

“Ah, yeah, I know. I…well, I had a chance to talk to Lachins.”

Subaru was familiar with the magic signal that Reinhard could use as a beacon to home in on after spotting it in the sky. Lachins had actually used it during one of the loops when Subaru asked him to summon Reinhard. Unfortunately, the “just call Reinhard” plan had been put on hold because of Sirius’s nasty ability.

But Reinhard had not been exaggerating about intending to come immediately if he got the signal from one of his allies. And yet he had not been able to do anything for hours while the cultists had free rein. What could possibly have stopped him—?

“—Lady Felt was held hostage by Vice-Captain Heinkel.”

“ ”

For a second, Subaru failed to understand. And it was not just him, either. Everyone in the room was at a loss for words at the absurdity of that statement.

“It was an irrevocable failure on my part. And with Lady Felt at sword point, I failed to find an opening to counterattack and remained held there.”

As he gritted his teeth at the shameful memory, Reinhard’s expression was etched with the regret burning inside him.

Hearing that, Subaru realized why Reinhard’s face had darkened when he was first asked what had happened. The master he had sworn to serve had been taken hostage by his own father, of all people. And because of that, he had been unable to leave. It was shocking to think about how troubled he must’ve been and how much heartache he must have endured.

And it had not ended there, either. There was an even darker possibility.

“…So then…what? Was he an agent of the cultists?”

Reinhard’s shocking admission opened the door to a cruel and terrible possibility.

Subaru had heard that cultists sometimes wormed their way into local governments undetected, but he didn’t want to imagine what it might be like to discover someone in your family could be one.

Particularly not after learning about all the different terrible, nauseating Archbishops who existed besides Petelgeuse.

“—I don’t know. If he was, then…”

But Subaru’s theory seemed to be provoking complex feelings in Reinhard. Subaru himself looked dubious, as did half the people around the table, but Anastasia, Julius, and Otto all seemed to have reached a different conclusion.

Reinhard furrowed his brow and slowly shook his head.

“I have no intention of defending him on the basis of our blood relation, but the vice-captain is almost certainly not connected to the cultists. At the very least, there is no reason to suspect that based on what he said after taking Lady Felt hostage.”

“That’s absurd. Why would he take her hostage, then? What would be the point…?”

That was when Subaru noticed it. Given Reinhard’s melancholic expression and the matching miserable looks that Otto, Anastasia, and Julius all sported, there was a reason Subaru could think of for Heinkel to do that. It was a terrible reason, utterly beyond redemption, but not one that he could simply laugh off as unthinkable.

“You can’t mean…he stopped you from leaving…in order to protect himself?”

“—. He said so himself. ‘Your precious master and the father whose blood runs in your veins are both here. Would you really abandon them to save some strangers you’ve never seen before?’”

“What kind of father would say something like that?!” Subaru’s anger boiled over, and he slammed his fist into the wall.

He had been weathering extreme flashes of emotion all day, ever since morning, but he never would have guessed such rage would be caused by someone not connected with the Witch Cult.

If he was going to end up hating people, it would’ve been preferable to limit it to just people connected to the Cult.

“Lady Felt said that he was just bluffing. That she would be fine and that I should go fight. But I disobeyed her command and stayed. I’m the one to blame.”

“Like hell you are! There isn’t anyone here who doesn’t know exactly who’s to blame!”

“Even so, that choice was mine. I am the one who made it.”

Reinhard would not yield responsibility, no matter how much Subaru might shout. He could only regret that stubbornness verging on a perverse, meaningless obstinacy.

“In the end, it remained a stalemate. I was unable to act in the aftermath…and the situation remained unchanged during the second broadcast as well… I’m sure Lady Felt was disappointed in me.”

He could not hide his own disappointment in himself. It was practically dripping from his expression, which just made it all the sadder that he did not realize how hurt he looked.

Based on what he had seen that morning and the night before, it looked to Subaru like Felt and Reinhard’s relationship had changed quite a bit over the past year. And it seemed the insertion of his father into all of it had brought about another major shift.

“So then, what happened to Felt?”

Anastasia directed the conversation forward again, not touching on the look on Reinhard’s face.

She was the only royal-selection candidate present, as well as having been entrusted to decide the fate of the city by Kiritaka, a representative of the Council of Ten. At the very least, she was keeping her sympathy to herself while prioritizing the smooth continuation of the discussion.

“You’re here now, so is it safe to assume the problem was resolved?”

“Yes, Lady Felt has met up with her retainers, and at her judgment, she is currently standing by at a shelter with the vice-captain, who has been placed under arrest.”

“Under arrest? As in you caught him?”

“His arms and legs have been bound, and he has been gagged. Lady Felt contented herself with meting out that much punishment. Was it not for Otto’s help, it might have been much more difficult.”

“Wait, that’s when Otto showed up?” Subaru was surprised, given there had been no sign of Otto making an appearance before this.

“It’s true,” Otto himself said as he adjusted his hat. “Though it was sheer happenstance that I stumbled upon them. Having seen their interactions at the inn, though, I quickly grasped the gist of the situation.”


There had been the incident in the morning that had touched on the deeply rooted problems of the Astrea family and the territory managed by Felt’s faction. Having seen all that and then actually bearing witness to Heinkel holding Felt hostage just to keep Reinhard from leaving, a person didn’t have to be a genius to guess what was happening.

“I judged it the worst possible situation for Mr. Reinhard to be unable to act while the cultists were freely running around. Just the thought of it was bone-chilling, so I knew I had to do something.”

“And that’s when you pummeled Heinkel and saved Felt?”

“Wait! Wait! Don’t just nod along like that’s obviously how it would go! I wouldn’t do something that rash! I merely distracted him with a simple spell to create an opening for Lady Felt to escape.” Otto sighed as he corrected Subaru’s mistaken guess. “Thankfully, there was no difficulty finding everyone, what with your big performance. It would have been nice if I could have helped sooner, but I had quite a lot on my plate.”

There had been a few digressions, but Reinhard was nodding, acknowledging that Otto had indeed come to their aid.

Otto had really put in a lot of work behind the scenes, like always. He was the ultimate behind-the-scenes talent.

“Still, though, what were you doing up until then, Bro? Honestly, given your strength, wandering around out on the streets would be suicide.”

“I was a little surprised at how vigorous your concern for me was earlier, but I really did endure all sorts of twists and turns… I suppose I should elaborate.”

Clearing his throat, Otto pointed outside the tower.

“This morning, as I had planned, I headed to the Muse Company alone in order to reinitiate negotiations with Mr. Kiritaka. However, I had some time to spare, so I got off the dragon boat early to walk the rest of the way… That was where I encountered the Witch Cult.”

“You mean the broadcast? No, wait, that would’ve been too early.”

Capella’s first broadcast had been after the noon bell. Even with a leisurely detour, there was no way Otto wouldn’t have reached the company before noon.

Otto nodded.

“Correct, it was not the broadcast. On the way to the Muse Company, I encountered the actual Witch Cult… In fact, I encountered someone who called themself an Archbishop. Near the second district’s control tower.”

“An Archbishop appeared before the broadcast went out?!”

Subaru was shocked, but it was not that unbelievable a story when he thought it through. Sirius and Regulus had also been doing as they pleased at the time tower before the broadcast. Other than Capella, who was occupying city hall, the Archbishops had apparently been free to wander the town and take in the sights.

And the one he had encountered could not have been any of the aforementioned three.

“So then, the one you met was…the Archbishop of Gluttony, huh?”

“…Yes. At least that was how they identified themself. And I cannot imagine any reason to lie about it, so I am certain it’s true. They looked like a child, but I doubt actual age has any bearing on their appearance.”

Otto’s description matched with the Roy Alphard Subaru had seen.

He didn’t want to know the standard for selecting Archbishops, but Gluttony had been a child. A child whose arms and legs were not fully grown and who had clearly never finished maturing…a child with a hideous, scornful grin.

“I assumed it was some thoughtless child’s mischief at first, but when I tried to draw the attention of the person guarding the tower…he was pulverized. Literally. With a splat.”

“ ”

“After watching someone’s entire body get smashed flat, I had no choice but to believe. The nearby guards and the city’s security forces quickly surrounded the Archbishop…but they did not stand a chance.”

The way Otto’s face paled spoke to how gruesome the encounter with Gluttony had been. An average person could not hope to lay hands on Gluttony, and Otto had been powerless to do anything.

Dragged into the battle without any choice, Otto had given it his best shot, but—

“In the end, the control tower was captured, and I could not say whether anyone else managed to escape.”

“You did well coming away from something like that still in one piece. You were facing an Archbishop, after all.”

“That was through no action of my own. It was only thanks to the people around me. Members of the White Dragon’s Scale who joined the battle recognized me and gave their all to allow me a chance to escape.”

“…Them again, huh?”

Kiritaka’s personal troops had played a crucial role there, too. They were the cornerstone of Pristella’s defenses, and the majority of them had gone missing, together with Kiritaka himself. And now it was clear that at least some of them had given their lives fighting Gluttony in order to fulfill their duty.

“I fled into the waterways during the confusion. Hearing the cultists’ broadcast later, I realized I could no longer act carelessly, so I moved discreetly…which is when I encountered Mr. Reinhard’s group.”

“So that’s how you met up.”

And then resolving the stalemate over there brought them back to the present.

Subaru’s face twisted up as he listened to the tightrope walk that Otto had endured to survive and meet back up with everybody. His path had been no less trying or death-defying than anyone else’s in the room.

“And there were even people who sacrificed themselves to buy you time to escape. That’s rough.”

“Truly—it pains me as a merchant to be unable to repay my debts.”

Otto bit his lip, mortified by the weight of what he was bearing. Debts must be settled—Anastasia had said it, too, but it was a pet saying that Otto had a habit of pulling out. Under that creed, he had to do something to make good on his debt.

“So I shall pay it back by guaranteeing the fate of this city—and judging by your performance earlier, I suppose I can count on you to do enough work for the both of us, Mr. Natsuki.”

“Damn it, Otto…”

Subaru’s anxious nerves relaxed a bit at the sudden change in tone as Otto gave him a wink.

The tightness in his shoulders went away—tension that had been there ever since he began his speech.

“ ”

What Otto was getting at was that he had his own reasons to fight. And by conveying that, he was letting Subaru know that he wouldn’t let his friend shoulder the fate of the city alone.

He was trying to tell Subaru there was no need to get too worked up.

“Ngh…”

Subaru’s face felt hot, an intense embarrassment welling up at having his tough-guy act seen through.

Who did Subaru think he was? Someone who could decide the fate of a city? A symbol of hope and the people’s wishes? It was ridiculous to even imagine.

The city and the people who resided within it were not so insignificant and light that Subaru could shoulder them all by himself. How had he forgotten that until Otto pointed it out?

“If you take your little bit of strength and add in my little bit of strength and top it off with Garfiel’s stupid amount of strength, it all adds up to something quite sizable. Why not think of it like that?”

“‘None can lift the quain stone alone,’ huh? Every once in a while, you’re kind of amazing, you know that?”

Subaru pulled out one of Garfiel’s inscrutable sayings and found himself amazed yet again by Otto’s steady hand. Otto was always saving him. He suspected that even if he tried his hardest, he would probably never be able to pay him back for everything he’d done, so he decided to do whatever he could to be worthy of his friend.

“Ain’t that a nice group you’ve got there? Really know how to keep things moving, don’t ya? It’s heartwarming.”

“Ah, my bad, we kind of started talking like it was just the two of us.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Besides, it looks like Natsuki’s finally relaxed a bit,” Anastasia teased, welcoming the change.

She had noticed how tense he really was. Scratching his head sheepishly, Subaru quickly changed topics.

“Now that we’ve covered what you two were doing, the next topic we should be discussing is…”

“—I would like to address the four demands that the Witch Cult made,” Julius proposed.

His golden eyes narrowed as he pointedly held up four fingers and looked around the room.

“They are not to be negotiated with, of course, but it is crucial to know what they are after. We know the silver-haired maiden, and we know about the Witch’s bones from what Mr. Kiritaka told us, but…”

“An artificial spirit and the book of knowledge…” Reinhard furrowed his brow. “I’ve no clue as to what that book might be, and as for the former, the very idea of an artificial spirit sounds dubious as well. Does such a thing even exist?”

His doubts were shared by many in the room. No one outside of Emilia’s camp would have heard of either of those things before. Other than Anastasia, whom Subaru had told earlier.

“ ”

Subaru glanced over at Anastasia. She was just looking at him, and as if sensing his intent, she nodded. Subaru decided that he would have to explain the two demands to everyone as well.

“—Sorry to interject yet again, but if I may.”

But before Subaru could say anything, Otto raised his hand. Seeing that, Subaru guessed he was thinking of revealing that Beatrice was an artificial spirit. He had been about to explain that himself anyway, so he wasn’t against it, but—

“If it’s Beako, then I can…”

“No, this is about the book of knowledge, not Beatrice.”

“Hn?”

Subaru’s eyes widened in surprise.

Not looking at Subaru, Otto sighed slightly in resignation.

“I’m sorry—I’m the one who brought that into the city.”



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