6
“Are you really going to the dunes? Probably anyone other than me would die there…”
After hearing their story, Meili was playing with her hair as she responded.
It was awfully ironic for the little girl assassin who was completely lacking in morals to be looking at them as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“I’ve gone there before to get more demon beasts, but it really, really is overflowing with them, you know?”
“I’d love to get some advice from someone with experience, but more than enough people have already told us we’ll die if we go there. Incidentally, we do have a guide who can get us through the desert.”
“Right, that’s my job.”
Anastasia waved her hand.
However, just because they knew the path to the tower where the Sage lived, that was only worth about thirty points toward actually clearing the problematic dunes—not enough to avoid red marks and a failing grade, which meant death on this practical exam.
There were three major problems. The desert of illusion, the demon beast dens, and the miasma.
The point of their trip down to the underground cell was to discuss the demon beast problem with Meili, who was an expert on the subject.
“Is there any way to conveniently draw out the demon beasts and round them all up at once?”
“Well, you could try running around all by yourself. I’m sure loooots of them will come for you.”
“I’ve done that a few times before, and it’s not exactly pleasant.”
Subaru had used that exact method with some dogs and a whale last year. He was about ready to put that strategy to bed for good. If there was no other option, he could do it again, but he was hoping to avoid winding up alone in the treacherous desert.
“In which case, what if we just wiped out every last one that came to attack us?”
“If that’s our chosen path, Lady Emilia and I would be responsible for fighting them, but…what do you think, Meili?”
Julius turned to Meili about the feasibility of Subaru’s brute-force plan. Meili looked between him and Emilia a couple of times.
“Can you fight for about a week straight without drinking, eating, or sleeping?”
“That sounds a lot like late-war trench combat?!”
“O-okay, I’ll try my best…!”
“No! It’s impossible! You’ll just make your beautiful hair and skin all dry and rough, so let’s drop it! We’re not doing it!”
Trying to force their way through was just not going to cut it as a strategy.
Part of Subaru wanted to believe it was just that Meili’s memories of the Auguria Dunes were particularly bad, but he had also heard from Reinhard just how merciless the place could be, so he couldn’t hide from reality.
And the resulting discussion with Meili didn’t produce any developments, either—
“What about the barrier preventing demon beasts from approaching Earlham village? Maybe we could do something with that?”
“That only works due to the magic the master has woven there. If you were hoping to pick it up and carry it with you, I’m afraid you should probably reconsider.”
“Damn it. Maybe we should just all grab onto Roswaal and have him fly us in from the sky…”
As they kept shooting down each other’s ideas, Subaru scratched his head in frustration.
There was a moment’s silence—
“—Argh, I guess there’s no other way.”
“Huh?”
“I can go with you if you want.”
Meili stood up, breaking the silence as she looked around at everyone else.
She touched her chest as she nodded.
“Right? If it’s me, I can manage all the demon beasts one way or another. I’d just make them go away, tame them, make them kill each other, or even just have them eat this Sage person.”
“Don’t even think about doing that last one! Also…”
The extremeness of the statement was eye-widening, but even more than that, Subaru was surprised by the proposal. Both because Meili was willing to cooperate, but also because she was the one who suggested going outside herself.
“You were so against leaving the manor before…”
“It’s not like Mama will find me the moment I set foot outside. I’m scared of her finding me, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life shut in like this, either.”
It was surprising that Meili had given her situation enough thought that she realized she would someday have to go outside.
But Subaru quickly retracted that thought. Being closed off and isolated from everyone else meant having all the time in the world to think. He knew what kind of hell that could be.
“Subaru…”
Emilia tugged Subaru’s sleeve as he felt an odd sympathy with Meili’s resolve.
He knew what she wanted to say. He felt the same way.
“This isn’t going to be a fun little trip outside, you know? It’s sand and demon beasts and a Sage tower tour at the end.”
“It’s been a long time since I went for a walk. All the better if things are exciting, right?”
She gave a real cocksure response, but Meili pulled it off with her usual insolent tone. There was no telling how much of that was a bluff and how much of it was real, but—
“In an unexpected twist, we’ve managed to recruit Meili as our demon beast advisor!”
“I should warn you now: You shouldn’t get too ahead of yourself.”
Subaru clenched his fist and cheered, but Meili sighed in exasperation and turned her attention to all of them—particularly to Emilia.
“It’s dangerous to just immediately believe what people say. I might just be saying this in order to get an excuse to escape.”
“There’s certainly a chance of that, but it’s not like we were forcing you to stay here in the first place.”
Subaru could appreciate her warning, but if she ever said she wanted to leave, he had always planned to hear her out. So it was a little late for that warning.
“Right now, I’d rather you not, but if you ever decide you want to leave and live on your own, you’re free to go. Just be careful not to be found by your scary mom.”
“Do you mean I can just go die wherever once it’s not going to cause you any problems?”
“Maybe back when I thought being cynical about everything was cool, but that’s not what I think now.” Subaru shook his head. He saw a bit of himself in Meili’s jaded-beyond-her-years way of seeing things. Everyone goes through a phase where they mistake being different as being cool, but… “As far as I’m concerned, I want the people whose lives have crossed with mine to have a decent life and a decent death. You are free to leave if you want, but if you do, at least send us a letter. That’s about all I ask.”
Having said that, he thought about it again and realized it was a bit strange to assume she would just leave. They would need her strength going forward. Her life was going to have a new start going forward, too.
“…I wonder if that’s how you tamed Beatrice and Petra. I really can’t let my guard down around you at all.”
“Huh? I feel like that sounded a bit worse than I would have liked.”
Grimacing at the way the conversation had led back to a false accusation against him, he looked to Emilia and the others for some support. But for some reason, Emilia and Frederica and even Anastasia looked away from him.
The only one who would meet his gaze was Julius, who was nodding in understanding.
“It’s strange to say, but you really are quite skilled at wooing young girls… I can’t say that skill is particularly respectable, though.”
“It’s because you guys say stuff like that that I keep getting treated like a little girl tamer! And to be clear, Meili isn’t that small, either, so she doesn’t count!” Stung by how genuinely amazed Julius seemed to be, Subaru stamped the ground and pointed at the entrance. As he did, someone happened to step through the door—
“—Betty thought it was noisy. I suppose Subaru is kicking up a fuss about something again?”
The youngest-looking girl had appeared after finishing up her secret conversation with Roswaal. A bit of a quarrel between her and the little girl tamer ensued, but that’s a story for a different time.
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