CHAPTER 1
THE GOSPEL KNOWN AS WARMTH
1
“—Hey, kid?”
“Ah?”
Subaru’s mind was roused by the abrupt calling of his name along with the sensation of his shoulder being shaken.
The image of the world around him changed in an instant, almost like someone had switched camera angles in his brain. The sudden influx of information startled him, making Subaru feel dizzy as he blinked several times.
The next moment, the unfathomable shock known as comprehension coursed through his entire being.
“No way…”
Subaru put a hand to his forehead as he listened to the sound of his heartbeats pumping blood through his body.
Subaru had experienced a blank of several seconds interrupting his thoughts a number of times before. It was the result of “Death”—the time between the erasure and resurrection of Subaru Natsuki.
He’d died. He’d died. “Death” had greeted Subaru once more.
Moreover, Subaru had lost his life in battle against that wily bastard Sloth.
“…”
After overcoming many hardships, much suffering, in the end he’d still lost his life.
He’d defeated the White Whale and, after that, reorganized the expedition force, bringing it with him as he traveled to Earlham Village to fight the Witch Cult.
At the end of that anguish, all that joy, sadness, and anger, had all come to naught—
“—Nom.”
“Ugyaaaaah—?!”
Subaru had been covering his face with his hands, cutting himself off from the world, when he was suddenly assaulted by unexpected sensations.
The feel of hot breath and his earlobe being pinned between two hard points sent the astonished Subaru tumbling to the ground. Wide-eyed from the exceptionally soft sensation, he noticed yellow eyes gazing down at him with a teasing look.
The owner of those eyes touched a finger to their lips coquettishly as a wry, beautiful smile appeared.
“The teasing was because you were staring into space, but what a wonderful reaction, meow. Ferri enjoyed it so much that this might become a habit…”
The sight of his flaxen kitty ears flicking as he continued speaking lightheartedly left Subaru listening with his mouth agape. Eventually he swallowed and called out her—or rather his—name.
“Is that you, Ferris?”
“Who else does it look like? Maybe you’re not just daydreaming, but hallucinating, too? You could have swallowed some White Whale mist… Should I give you a proper examination?”
“…Nah, I’m all right. I just felt like asking. Right, what I was asking about…?”
As Ferris peered at him in concern, Subaru shook his head before taking a deep breath and examining the area. Ferris was seated directly beside him, and around Ferris, many others—no, properly speaking, they were in a circle with Subaru at the center.
Beneath his feet lay the grassland. It was clear from the dawn sky above that the sun had not risen yet. With everyone’s gaze focused on him, Subaru sensed a ferocious bestial presence hovering to his left.
“…Were you the one who spoke to me first?”
“—? What are you talkin’ about, bro? You had a crazy look in your eyes. Pull it together.”
The dog face of Ricardo, the large-framed beast man, grimaced with a suspicious look. Subaru, realizing from the exchange that Ricardo had seen his face the instant he Returned by Death, scratched his cheek as he looked over everyone’s face once more, nodding as he spoke again.
“That was seriously bad for my heart. I mean really, I thought I was back in front of the fruit store again.”
Exhaling like a deflating balloon, Subaru let the tension out of his shoulders as his palm brushed the ground. The cold dirt, fresh grass, and raw earth under him meant he definitely wasn’t in the capital.
This was the Liphas Highway, where they’d held a general briefing right after defeating the White Whale.
In other words…
“The save point…got updated, huh?”
It felt like he had narrowly avoided a terrible fate, but it wasn’t something he could laugh at. Still, the silver lining brought him relief.
2
When it came to worst cases, some were worse than others.
Having fought the good fight, only to gain an empty defeat and Returning by Death, was undoubtedly a worst case. But there could have been something even more terrible—namely having no change in restart point and returning to a moment before he managed to defeat the White Whale. Compared to that, this worst case was not the most horrific possibility.
At the very least, they had beaten the White Whale, fulfilling the Sword Devil’s fourteen-year ambition.
“—”
“Sir Subaru, are you all right? Your face appears rather pale.”
Wilhelm, the Sword Devil, stared at Subaru and expressed his concern. “It’s nothing,” said Subaru, shaking his head immediately, tightening his disjointed thoughts and slackened cheeks.
Even though he was still reeling mentally after only just enduring a Return by Death, he couldn’t simply use that as an excuse. After all, Subaru and the others were in the very middle of a critical discussion—the briefing to decide what countermeasures to take against the Witch Cult.
“If you are no longer distressed, let us review the situation.”
Raising a finger, the elegant knight Julius restarted the meeting. Scholarly wariness and righteous indignation resided in his almond eyes as he requested they carry on.
“From this point onward, we shall proceed to the Mathers domain to oppose the nefarious Witch Cultists lying in wait. Ideally, this will result in their annihilation and the slaying of the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins commanding them. However, what we must prioritize is the safety of the innocent people caught up in this incident, and in preparation for that—”
“For the getaway, we have called on the traveling merchants Anastasia and Russel to help us. The messenger we sent to communicate the alliance and the rescue operation should have arrived at the mansion already… Sorry, I’m all good now.”
Subaru thanked Julius for giving him time to calm down and fully rejoined the conversation.
Thanks to Julius summarizing the topics at the assembly, Subaru could grasp exactly how far things had proceeded before his Return by Death. Apparently Subaru had already explained Witch Cult Hunting Made Simple, as well as the insurance he’d procured.
However, he had already learned from the last go-around that his attempts to secure insurance would transform into deadly poison. The letter of goodwill they had sent had turned out to be blank, which had sown distrust. Meanwhile, inviting the traveling merchants to participate had left them open to infiltration by Witch Cultists.
He needed to implement new countermeasures as quickly as possible, but—
“Your face suggests that…something is amiss?”
“What are you, a doctor? Stop looking at people’s faces and figuring out everything they’re thinking, geez.”
“Want the actual doctor sitting right beside you to examine you from head to toe instead? I wouldn’t mind…”
As Subaru sank into thought, Julius and Ferris sandwiched him from both sides as they pointed out his troubled expression. Inwardly Subaru ground his teeth at their persistence.
He certainly did have an issue on his mind. However, he couldn’t come up with a good way to explain it.
He had to warn them about the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins’ dangerous Authority, and a number of new problems on top of that, but how could he explain these things in a way his comrades would believe?
“—No, this is wrong. It’s not good enough. Right, I…forgot some things again.”
“Hmmmm?”
When Subaru firmly shut his eyes, the words he found within himself caused Ferris to cock his head in confusion. Julius remained silent with his brows knit as Subaru rued the extent of his own stupidity.
How many times would Subaru Natsuki make the same mistake before he moved forward?
“—”
He opened his closed eyes and looked around at the faces of the fifty-odd members of the expeditionary force. Subaru’s silence had brought tension to their gazes, but they harbored no doubt. What they felt was not fear, but anticipation. There was no sense of despair, only hope.
After everything that had been spoken, after all the help that had been given…
In the end, Subaru had even gotten this far only thanks to the support Rem had offered him.
“…I believe you have immersed yourself in sentimentality enough?”
Julius sensed the change in Subaru’s demeanor, and his lighthearted prompt invited a change in subject. The man really got on his nerves, but for a short moment, Subaru felt nothing but gratitude toward him.
He felt equally grateful for the comrades who granted him their own thanks and trust.
“Sorry for being all indecisive earlier. Actually, I have to add to my explanation about the Witch Cult…… No, that’s not exactly it. I realized some things for the first time. I want to speak to all of you about those issues.”
He didn’t have to worry about how to come up with a good explanation. That was a waste of time.
All he had to do was not hold anything back, tell as much of the truth as he could, and they would respond with their faith in him.
Even if Subaru could not reveal the nature of Return by Death, he could uncover the things he learned as a result of it. This was the one way he could share what he knew of the future with his comrades.
And they would accept his preposterous tales in complete seriousness.
All because understanding and trust were the greatest weapons in Subaru Natsuki’s arsenal.
3
Subaru had gleaned a number of new facts from his most recent confrontation with Petelgeuse.
One was that a Witch Cultist infiltrating the traveling merchants hired for the evacuation had delivered a blank letter of goodwill to Roswaal Manor. Another was that Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti’s Authority included the worst power imaginable.
In particular, one aspect of Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti’s power—Possession—posed the greatest obstacle to the expeditionary force’s efforts to take down Sloth.
“Anyone know about…a power to overwrite someone else’s mind with your own, letting you mentally take them over? Some sort of magic that can do something like that?”
Much of the magic in this new world Subaru found himself in had effects beyond anything he could conceive.
The basics of magic began with the four elements; then there were a great many other things, like Beatrice’s Passage, Roswaal’s flight magic, the mutant aberrations of magic called curses, and the special abilities known as blessings, too.
In a world where such incredible abilities existed, Possession had to be possible, too.
It was with such hopes that Subaru put the question to his lips, but—
“Overwriting another person’s mind with your own? That’s nothing but a stupid, unbelievable idea, meow.”
“…Gimme my greatest weapon back.”
“What are mew talking about?”
Though Subaru had brought up the subject with courage, the way it was laughed off so quickly was a major blow to that foundation of trust.
When Subaru pouted and gave Ferris a resentful stare, Ferris was merely baffled. Cutting in, Julius adopted a thoughtful pose and spoke.
“Given the topic at hand, you believe it’s possible the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins employs a strange power along those lines… Am I correct?”
“Yeah, you’ve got it. I decided to call it Possession, but that’s not far off from what actually happens. He survives by moving from body to body. That explains how he shows up in so many places at once, right?”
“?”
From the long silence, Julius seemed to be mulling over Subaru’s explanation. But whether others doubted it or not, it was a fact. Having shared his own body with that very madman, Subaru could firmly confirm that much.
His mind conquered people’s flesh, stealing control for itself. Without any doubt, Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti was a spiritual entity that grafted itself to the bodies of others—a repulsive, wicked ability.
“In the past, I have seen references in old tomes about research on similar phenomena. It was reckless research, but…”
“Really?”
When Julius, a hand still over his own mouth, offered up that morsel, Subaru bit. The handsome man plumbed the depths of his memories as he deftly summarized what he could recall from the tome.
“It was research on lost magic, or perhaps a related record. The world lost many things in the immediate aftermath of the Great Catastrophe four centuries ago. This variety of magic seems to have been among what was lost. Gone without a trace, save in records, there was a description of an ability similar to what you describe.”
“Well, don’t hold back. What was the similar lost magic?”
“A technique for soul…transference.”
As Subaru drew closer, Julius revealed something that sounded far removed from magic. However, Subaru did not miss the look of disgust that came over Julius’s face as he spoke of it.
After firmly declaring the research abominable, Julius closed his eyes and continued.
“The phenomenon itself is exceedingly simple. Everything comprising the caster’s soul—his memories, experiences, and most likely, elemental character and destiny—are seared onto the soul of another person.”
“Meaning, it…is possible to overwrite the memories and mind of another person, then.”
It was like doing a copy and paste with a computer file. It treated human memory like a file, overwriting it with another person’s file-like soul, blotting out the old and saving the new.
That way, the discarded soul would be lost, and the overwriting soul would remain.
“But it does not exist in reality. The magic is lost, the ritual is theoretical, and the difficulty is of an almost unheard-of level. Reproducing the feat would require magical genius and tenacity beyond the ability of mortals. I simply cannot believe this Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins possesses such intellect and skill.”
“Hey, man, not believing it exists isn’t a real reason to reject the idea, especially since this is the Witch Cult we’re talking about.”
“Subawu, you’re getting too worked up. Julius has things to say, too.”
The influential Julius rejected his hypothesis, which made Subaru snap at the knight until Ferris chided him for it. Subaru proceeded to put on a guilty look and said, “Go on,” prodding Julius to continue.
“Sorry. It is a bad habit of mine to take my time reaching a conclusion. Even if we put aside the fact that the ritual has been lost, there are a great deal of obstacles for the technique we’ve been discussing. First, the souls that the caster can affect are fairly limited. The technique is not the kind that allows the caster to transfer his soul to any random person he touches.”
“Well, of course not, meow. Memories are a bit out of my field, but overwriting individual Gates is no trivial thing. It’s probably…limited to blood relations, meow?”
“A limitation to blood relatives would be extremely desirable. As Ferris said, the soul being transferred would bounce off the Gate if it is not highly similar. Besides, even when one soul is laid over another, the original soul’s influence over the body will remain. There would be a constant concern about the body being compelled by the mind.”
“…It sure does sound like magic that has a lot of downsides.”
Hearing the pair’s opinions, Subaru could understand why the objections were numerous.
Subaru could not dismiss out of hand the possibility that Petelgeuse was an exceptional magic user capable of employing lost magic, but it was pretty much impossible that his choice of bodies was limited to blood relations.
The fact that he had successfully possessed Subaru shelved that premise completely.
“However, it is too soon to dismiss a completely different method.”
“Will you make up your mind?!”
“I am offended by your outburst. I stated that I know of similar magic as a prerequisite for further discussion. Besides, even if it is not the exact same technique, there are surely important clues we should consider.”
“…Such as?”
“Naturally, I mean the possibility that the conditions for Possession are just as strict as those for soul transference.”
Julius’s assertion made Subaru’s face scrunch up, but he immediately grasped the point. If soul transference was invariably limited to blood relatives, then Possession might have similar restrictions.
“We could deduce that the technique is limited to fellow Witch Cultists…and a select few at that.”
“You mean those finger people…?”
“It is a title in poor taste when referring to spare bodies. I suppose that suits an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins well.”
Julius agreed with Ferris’s conclusion, a fact that made Subaru gaze in astonishment. In such an incredibly short time, the two had worked out a plausible theory about how Possession operated. Even if the pair were the brains of the operation as well as the most versed in magic out of all the members of the expeditionary force, the results were beyond Subaru’s expectations.
And simultaneously, a plan to truly hunt down the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins of Sloth took form. Namely—
“If we take away all the archbishop’s extra lives…in other words, destroy all his fingers…”
“…He would lose the chance to possess anyone. That’s when the archbishop will face his end.”
The way Julius firmly finished the thought made Subaru feel both deep admiration and a sense of defeat from the bottom of his heart. The difficult situation had made him start to lose all hope, but thanks to them, he could finally see the light in the darkness. After all, it was a solution that was neither contradictory nor disputable.
“In conclusion, we will prioritize eliminating the fingers lurking in the forest, then settle matters with Sloth.”
Julius’s declaration drew the meeting to a close. The faces of the expeditionary force members seated around them surged with determination and resolve. Great strength can be found when a person’s ability and mission are one and the same.
When the members of the expeditionary force rose, their morale was as high as when they had done battle with the White Whale.
“—Everyone, there’s just one more thing I have to tell you.”
It was then that Subaru called out, drawing the attention of the impetuous warriors who were ready to venture forth.
When those intense gazes turned his way, Subaru endured his genuinely apologetic feelings to discuss something he was obligated to explain.
Namely—
“Sorry, but it’s not just the fingers. I’m probably a target for the archbishop’s Possession ability, too. What do you think we can do about that?”
“Huh?”
It had been the direct cause of his latest Return by Death, and the final hurdle he’d had to overcome.
Once he shared that pitiful fact, they began to devise a countermeasure.
4
In the end, their departure time arrived before the “Witch Cult Countermeasures Conference” reached a definite conclusion.
Subaru wanted to continue hammering out a plan, but if they didn’t make it to the battlefield in time, that would be putting the cart before the horse—so to avert that, Subaru gave Julius a suggestion.
“Hey, Julius. With the magic of your spirit groupies, you should be able to link together the minds of people within its effective range, right? Can’t we use that to discuss this on the move?”
Subaru was basing this query on his experience with Nekt, the mind-sharing spell he had experienced from the last loop, as if it were his own wonderful idea. At the time, Julius had used the spell to link all of the expeditionary force’s minds to quickly deal with Ram’s surprise attack. It had to be possible to use that to hold a meeting, too.
Subaru’s proposal made Julius look at Ferris with mild surprise. “He didn’t hear it from Ferri, okay?” said the kitty-eared knight in response to his gaze, waving a hand as he headed for his land dragon.
“What did Ferris mean that it wasn’t from him?”
“…It’s nothing. I did not think that you knew I was a spirit user. I was merely wondering where you might have learned that.”
“Ah, right. This is where the spirit knight thing first came up…”
That Julius had identified himself as a spirit knight was information Subaru heard close to the end of the last go-around. At the point where he was currently, Subaru shouldn’t have recognized Julius as anything more than a first-rate knight.
But it was a rare opportunity to take Julius off guard. Subaru put on a smug face.
“You’re just more famous than you think. Well, the price of fame didn’t have anything to do with me noticing you quietly stuck one of your quasi-spirits on me.”
“So you were aware of even that?”
This time, a look of unconcealable distress was plain in Julius’s gaze. The reaction made Subaru smile, but right after, he turned his head aside.
That was because, for an instant, Julius’s eyes, which stared at Subaru, seemed to endure a wave of deep pain.
“Certainly, as you have pointed out, I placed one of my flower buds on you— Ia, come on out.”
But he immediately concealed the wave of emotion behind his usual composure.
Beckoned by Julius’s hand, a red light leaped from Subaru’s hair. It was more flicker than flame, more warmth than light, one of the six quasi-spirits accompanying Julius.
“This is Ia, quasi-spirit of fire. I had her follow and watch over you.”
“That’s fine, but tell me about stuff like this. I’d panic if some emergency happened and she jumped out all of a sudden.”
“There is no need for concern. The buds are quite capable. It would never come to something like that.”
“Thanks for sharing your sappy love story. Now, setting that aside—”
When Subaru complained about planting insurance on him without permission, Julius was slightly apologetic. Subaru took it in stride until he realized something didn’t fit.
Julius sticking Ia on him matched the events of the last go-around. His memory of the spirit saving him from the dragon carriage explosion was still fresh. But besides that, he remembered something odd where Ia was concerned. And as he realized that—
“Julius. Under what conditions could Ia be shoved out of me against her will?”
“…I am not quite sure I follow your question.”
“This is important. The answer has a direct impact on the plan to take on the archbishop.”
Faced with Subaru’s firm statement, Julius discarded his momentary bewilderment and answered.
“Attaching Ia to you means, from a spirit user’s point of view, a provisional pact. Forcibly breaking the pact would mean that you, the provisional contractor, have rejected her, or perhaps…”
“Perhaps?”
“A superior, formal pact displaced the provisional pact.”
In that instant, he gave the answer Subaru truly wanted to hear.
Perhaps Julius realized it while speaking the words, because his amber eyes held a glint of comprehension. “It couldn’t be,” the knight said immediately after, shaking his head as if to deny it. However…
“A famous detective once said, ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’”
“It has the ring of truth. But if it is so…what is to be done?”
“This is the final piece. I wanna hear the rest along the way. Like which people fulfill the conditions, and which don’t.”
“Understood. Let us do exactly that.”
Julius nodded, keeping his words concise as he stuck Ia on Subaru once more and headed to his own land dragon. Subaru felt the warmth of the quasi-spirit on top of his head as he mounted his favorite, pitch-black dragon—Patlash.
“We’ve used up a little more time than before. Gonna have to go all out, Patlash.”
“?”
As the land dragon took in Subaru’s words, the side of her refined face made it seem he’d stated the obvious.
Then the expeditionary force resumed its march along the Liphas Highway, heading for the Mathers domain.
“—Nekt.”
Julius used the mind-melding spell once they were under way, affecting the entire expeditionary force. The results of the spell were truly as Subaru had envisioned.
But—
“Ah crap, I completely forgot.”
“Sorry. I didn’t think my tuning with Ia and Nes would be in error… There’s also the fact that Ia seems rather fond of you. Perhaps you have a high compatibility with spirits.”
“Save that stuff for later. We can take our time with that talk once everything’s over.”
Subaru accepted the telepathic apology, pressing his fingers to his temples as his ears continued to ring.
Just like last time, Subaru was reeling from the onrush of everyone’s brain waves the instant Nekt was activated. It was Subaru’s own fault for forgetting all about that side effect.
Julius adjusted the signal to more tolerable levels, allowing Subaru to focus on the flow of the conversation.
“So for the plan of attack against the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins…how shall we proceed?”
Unlike with speaking out loud, there wasn’t a good way to differentiate voices conveyed directly via thought. In spite of this, it was possible to tell the sender of thoughts thanks to their individual character.
The thought Subaru had just received was a deep blue, but concealed scarlet passion within it—Subaru could instantly tell it was Wilhelm who had spoken.
The Sword Devil was riding alongside on his land dragon, the grave look on his face radiating hostility toward an unseen madman.
“If Sir Subaru and Sir Julius’s conjecture is correct, we must carefully consider our method of attack. Invisible magic hands and the ability to take over another’s body are both major obstacles.”
“Yeah, they sure are…”
The Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins of Sloth had two powers they needed to overcome. He had Unseen Hands and Possession at his disposal, but the expeditionary force had solid leads on ways to deal with both.
The main issue at hand was that the method to tackle one power left them vulnerable against the other.
“I’m the only one who can see Petelgeuse’s Unseen Hands. That means if we go at him in a frontal attack, it’s no good unless I’m around. But I’m also a target for Possession. If I’m there and he takes me over, we’ll lose our chance to stop him from getting away anyway.”
“…Sir Subaru, I actually have a proposal about that. Would you care to listen?”
As Subaru sank into thought, pondering “out loud,” Wilhelm interjected with an air of confidence. His words aroused hope throughout the expeditionary force, making Wilhelm give a firm telepathic nod.
“Concerning the archbishop’s invisible arms, I thought of a simple way to expose them to the naked eye. First, we would scatter a large amount of dust, or possibly dirt, around the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins.”
“Ah, I don’t think we can rely on that, meow.”
Though Ferris casually inserted himself into his explanation midway, Wilhelm paid no heed and explained to the very end. Subaru had already seen his plan in action once before: a Wilhelm-style dirt screen to hold Petelgeuse’s Authority in check. Knowing the results from the last go-around, Subaru knew that Wilhelm’s proposal could work.
The problem was that it was such a superhuman feat, only Wilhelm could pull it off. Indeed, all the expeditionary force members found the suggestion too challenging, with even Julius and Ricardo communicating telepathically that the feat was beyond them.
“I believe anyone can do it with enough practice, but…”
“Yes, yes. But we don’t have fifty years to spend practicing. Aside from proving that Old Man Wil is inhuman, what’ll we do?”
Callously ignoring the dejected Wilhelm, Ferris prioritized moving the conversation forward. Subaru felt bad for Wilhelm, but Ferris had made the right decision.
Subaru mulled over Ferris’s question. “Guess that decides it,” he muttered. “Yeah, let’s go with the original plan for dealing with the Witch Cult and the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins, plus the issues at the mansion and the village. That’s probably best.”
“?”
All the members of the expeditionary force reacted to the conclusion of the telepathic Witch Cult Countermeasures Conference.
Sympathy, concern, trust, anxiety—there was a crush of various emotions, but the general consensus was to respect Subaru’s viewpoint. They would proceed as originally planned.
“—To confirm, you are truly all right with this plan? You won’t have any regrets?”
When Subaru was still feeling unsure of himself, Julius was the only one to raise the question. Though it was an inelegant method, this exchange served as a necessary ritual to dispel the expeditionary force’s hesitance.
Plus, that it was Julius, of all people, who brought up the topic meant this was an expression of his knightly beliefs.
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s my plan and my idea. I’m not gonna turn around and say, Oh no, maybe we actually shouldn’t…though Emilia is probably gonna be super mad at me when we do this.”
With closed eyes, Subaru pictured a lovely girl with silver hair.
It had been only a few short hours since he’d left the world where he’d gazed upon her with unrequited love, his wish for a one-sided reunion having been granted. Even so, the serene sight of the her face and the sound of her lovely voice were undiminished.
It was because he could still vividly recall those things that he was able to hold firm in his decision.
“I’m happy everyone’s worried, but don’t give me the chance to say I wanna stop. If you thought that I had managed to squeeze out any courage from myself, you should know that it’s actually all on loan.”
The success or failure of the operation would be decided by Subaru’s will, but he knew that they would never keep questioning his resolve for such a callous reason. That was why he could bear it.
“Besides, I’m optimistic that everything’ll be fine once we reach the last part. The road that leads there is a little treacherous, but that’s all. When you think of it that way, it’ll be an easy win, right?”
“…Subawu, choosing the words easy win means you’re actually a big shot and I just never realized, right?”
“Don’t be stupid, I know I’m small fry. I might be optimistic, but I need all of your strength so I can share a passionate embrace with Emilia at the very end, all right? Come on, guys, just think of yourselves as my cupids and gimme a hand, okay?!”
“I am still not quite sure on what basis you made that claim—but you have made your resolve clear.”
Julius spoke for everyone when he approved of how Subaru’s lightheartedness had swept away the heavy, stifling atmosphere. As that brought the meeting to an end, Subaru shifted his eyes to the road ahead, toward the edge of the plains.
Past that boundary, the grassland came to an end, and Subaru would soon be able to make out the treetops of the forested region beyond. Once they left the plains and took a few woodland roads, they would arrive at the Mathers domain.
His heart beat loudly, throbbing as if it might crack, yet even so, Subaru continued to look.
“?”
“Ho-ho? What, you’re worried about me? That’s adorable.”
Freed of the briefing now that everyone was no longer telepathically speaking, Subaru found Patlash’s head turned toward him with a pensive look. Subaru showed her a strained smile as he stroked her neck. Then he rummaged in the sack affixed to the land dragon’s saddle, locating something by touch alone.
What he found was a tool that would play a critical part during the operation. After all that time, an ache still ran through Subaru’s chest when he recalled how it had passed into his hands.
In Subaru’s mind, it was because of that pain that he could move forward, thrusting his fear and anxiety aside.
“This time, I’ll make things right.”
“Of course, that’s what everyone intends to do. It’ll be all right. The plan was devised so scrupulously, there is no reason to think of failure. Our preparations have been meticulous. Also, once this is all over, I would like to have a toast with you.”
“Stop saying so many things that sound like famous last words—!!”
Subaru shouted at Julius, who was riding alongside him, presumably ignorant of the concept of death flags.
Those yells echoed loudly, ringing in the air as though they could even be heard in the Mathers domain, which was still far, far away.
5
When the light of day reached her sleep-deprived eyelids, Emilia rose with a light headache.
“It’s…morning already…”
Emilia sat up in bed, blinking several times. She brushed her silver hair away from her forehead, briefly lingering on the boundary between sleep and consciousness before letting out a frail murmur that mirrored her thoughts as it floated to the surface.
She hadn’t slept much for the past several days.
Last night, she had gone to sleep several hours after sunset again. After entering the forest at night, using her power to reweave the wards that kept demon beasts out, Emilia had probably managed to get only a couple hours of sleep.
Her head felt heavy and her thoughts sluggish, as if someone had plunged them into mud.
Emilia had never been much of an early riser to begin with, even before the numerous issues that had occupied all her time for the past several days. While fatigue and anguish were constantly whittling her mind away, there was no helping it.
It had been a week since the candidates for the royal selection had assembled at the palace, and a week since she had demonstrated her determination.
After that, Emilia had returned to the manor and spent five days acting as the representative of her faction.
The pressure she’d felt during those scant five days had been more than enough to overwhelm her.
“I thought I understood… I really thought I did.”
Emilia strongly gripped her bedsheet as she lamented her incompetence.
In the blink of an eye, she recalled the events of the last week in the back of her mind.
She had been called to the capital, faced the other candidates, declared her conviction with all the eyes of the court upon her, and then—
“—Subaru.”
As Emilia spoke the name of the boy she’d left behind at the capital, she lowered her eyes, enduring the pain.
She thought of that cheerful, sensitive boy who was always desperate to help others, and just a tiny bit delusional, wondering what he was doing at the moment.
The intense argument between them at the palace, as well as his pained expression, like an abandoned child’s, were seared into her retinas. Those images had been burned into her conscience over and over.
In the end, his tortured face, the things that he’d spoken, the words that he hadn’t wanted to hear but heard anyway—Emilia felt that no one could be blamed for those things…except for herself.
“…But it’s for the best, isn’t it?”
The clash of their inner thoughts had resulted in the two of them going separate ways. However, Emilia did not think that explosion of emotion was something that should have been avoided. In fact, it was better for them to follow different paths. The place where Subaru belonged was not by her side.
After all, Emilia was a half-elf, the object of everyone’s hatred.
Anyone who stood by her would bear the same hatred from simply being associated with her. That kindhearted boy would be no exception. Indeed, it was because Subaru wanted to be by her side that he had been so terribly hurt, in both body and spirit, during his duel with Julius.
She didn’t want to subject him to that, to make him go through such a thing again.
Over the course of their quarrel, she thought Subaru had to have seen his mistake.
Emilia’s one regret was that, at the very, very end, she had let her true feelings slip.
Namely, the hope that Subaru, of all people, could set her existence as a half-elf aside and treat her as a normal girl…
—It had been a fickle, fleeting, futile, selfish hope.
“Subaru can’t see me as anything but special… That’s what he said.”
She despaired at her own selfishness, pushing him away, hurting him, only to look to him for salvation.
Such shallowness was unforgiveable, half-elf or no.
“Lia, you’re furling your eyebrows. You’re ruining your adorable face.”
A voice suddenly spoke to Emilia as she held her knees while still in bed. When she glanced up, there was a little cat spirit with gray fur. Emilia smiled slightly as she offered a greeting.
“Good morning, Puck. You’re up early today.”
“Good morning, Lia. This morning there was…something to take care of.”
“—? Did something happen?”
“Mm, if I said I was making an effort to sleep early and get up early…that would be a lie. It’s because I’m really worried about you, Lia. It’s been one thing after another, especially yesterday.”
Emilia lowered her eyes at Puck’s uncharacteristically awkward reply.
…The events of the previous day had contributed a great deal to Emilia’s current mental fatigue and lack of sleep. The bitter memory of the nearby villagers rejecting whatever she had to say or offer bubbled up in her mind.
Their fear and disapproval had not been enough for them to hurl cruel words at her, but their gazes alone had already cut deep into Emilia’s heart.
“…I knew…that would happen.”
“You also know what falling is, but you still hurt and bleed when it happens. If you ask me, simply knowing the result isn’t the same as actually experiencing it for yourself.”
When Emilia used a childish excuse to push past, Puck mercilessly cut off her escape route. But this wasn’t something Puck did maliciously. Puck, in his own way, was urging Emilia to stop running from the truth as well as hiding her feelings.
“Puck…”
“Mm?”
“Puck…what do you think I should do? How should I…? No, not just me, how can everyone get along better? How do I get everyone to…?”
“—Lia, maybe you should just do what you like? I’m on your side no matter what happens, Lia, and anyone who gets in your way is my enemy.”
Though it was a promise from her surest ally, in that moment, the words offered Emilia no comfort.
It was the answer she’d expected. Puck would support Emilia unconditionally, but that didn’t help with her problem. In the end, Emilia would have to rely on her own judgment.
Puck’s entire value system was centered on Emilia; everything and everyone else came second.
“You’re not going to turn your back on that village no matter what, are you? The pink-haired girl headed to the village again this morning. Maybe waiting for her report is all you can do?”
“…Ram went to the village? But she hasn’t had any rest for a while either…”
“I’m telling you, that girl’s doing a lot better than you are, Lia. She finds places to take breaks from her work. At the very least, she can handle herself.”
She shrank a little. Puck’s rational assessment of Ram of course implied that Emilia was wholly incapable of taking care of herself. As it happened, Emilia found herself relying on Ram that very moment.
For the past several days, Ram had been executing a portion of Roswaal’s affairs, shouldering his responsibilities dealing with the mansion or Earlham Village, all while Emilia remained in the mansion.
Excusing himself to conduct negotiations with a local big shot, Roswaal had claimed he would be away for no more than a few days. The great responsibility brought worry and stress, but if she couldn’t cope with that much in the span of a few days, how could she possibly hope to participate in the royal selection and be ready for what would come after?
With such thoughts in mind, she’d accepted the duty, shelving her feelings of guilt from leaving Subaru in the royal capital, then readied herself to face the days to come with atypical seriousness—but two days prior, the situation had greatly changed.
“A strange presence in the forest…?”
“Yes. Unpleasant fellows against whom even my Clairvoyance is ineffective.”
Ram delivered the news in her usual calm tone of voice, but her furled eyebrows were an ominous sign.
Her Clairvoyance was the unusual ability to synchronize with the vision of others and see through their eyes. However, even this ability, particularly useful for reconnaissance and searching, had been unable to discern the identity of the presence she’d sensed in the forest.
“It’s not…related to demon beasts?”
“The barrier has been redeployed. I believe it is unrelated, but… What do you wish to do?”
“Well, that goes without saying… We can’t pretend nothing’s happening. If we can’t do anything about it, at least we can keep the villagers from falling into danger.”
“Prioritizing their safety… You wish to evacuate the villagers, then?”
“That…would be best. This mansion is big enough to accommodate all of them, right?”
That was the conclusion Emilia and Ram had reached during their discussion about the forbidding presence in the forest. That Ram hadn’t objected was somewhat reassuring to Emilia. As Roswaal’s proxy, Ram would have mercilessly shot down any proposals she deemed foolish.
Accordingly, Emilia had walked to Earlham Village—practically next door—with some expectations. She’d convince the villagers to evacuate to the mansion, sparing them from peril. But—
“We’ve heard about the royal selection—as well as the fact that you are a half-elf. We refuse to follow you. Everyone has agreed on this.”
An old woman acting as the village’s representative spoke these words, rejecting Emilia’s offer.
The obstinate reply, filled with rejection and renunciation, hurt Emilia. The fact that it hurt surprised her.
Rejection was Emilia’s natural environment. She had tasted that discouragement countless times before. And yet, she realized at the same time, that pain was still felt sharply in her heart.
—Emilia had hoped it would change her.
She’d hoped that leaping into the royal selection, a great undertaking, would be the first step to changing her lot in life, and that perhaps the reactions around her that she’d taken for granted might change, too. The points of contact between her and the villagers over the two preceding months had further raised these hopes.
But Emilia had continued to deceive them about her true identity using concealment magic. Could anyone truly trust her, or allow her into their heart, when she had never shown her real face even once?
When she’d spent those days with the villagers in what she mistook for harmony, those smiles had not been not aimed toward her. They had been meant for the young man leading Emilia to the village by the hand.
Emilia had not earned anything herself. And yet, had she misunderstood even so?
“…In the end, what was I even doing?”
Once her offer was rejected, her subsequent pleas fell on deaf ears; she offered three more times, but every time she was refused. The calamity that had come from the royal capital on the heels of that despair had only added to Emilia’s suffering.
“I have come bearing a letter of goodwill from my master, Duchess Crusch Karsten.”
An envoy of humble demeanor had arrived at the mansion to present an envelope sealed with the lion’s crest of the House of Karsten. When she accepted the letter, Emilia could only guess as to its contents.
Crusch was not only a royal candidate, but the person she had entrusted with Subaru’s care in the capital. Wondering what might have befallen him, she had opened the letter in great haste—
“—But it was blank. The pink-haired girl said the message was a declaration of war. I can’t blame her for being upset.”
The letter itself was resting atop the room’s desk. When Emilia’s gaze drifted to it, Puck had discerned what she was thinking, cocking his head slightly as he recounted their discovery that the sheet was blank.
Just as Puck said, the letter had been delivered blank. There was nothing written on it—neither front nor back.
Sending a blank letter implied that the sender deemed the recipient someone not worth speaking to. However, the letter’s contents, and the very act of sending such a thing, clashed greatly with what Emilia knew about Crusch as an individual.
Because of that, she had immediately suspected there must have been some mistake. She had asked the envoy what Crusch had truly intended, but he promptly asserted that he’d simply done as he had been commanded. Ultimately, Emilia was unable to find a satisfying answer.
“Let’s keep the envoy under watch here at the mansion. If it comes to that, we can use him as a bargaining chip.”
In spite of Ram’s extreme position, the envoy was being hosted at the mansion, safe and sound. Even so, the forbidding presence in the forest and the blank letter had only worsened Emilia’s mental load.
In the end, she hadn’t been able to sleep well last night, either, so Emilia did the only thing she could: check the surrounding barriers to make sure they weren’t weakening to ward off any potential demon beast attack.
After she made her rounds, she returned to her room at dawn, fell asleep, woke, and arrived at the present.
Rem seemed to have left her alone at the mansion, heading off to the village in another attempt to persuade the villagers while Emilia slept. Technically speaking, given her position, Emilia would normally be expected to go with her, taking the lead in appealing to the villagers to evacuate—
“But it might actually go better without me…”
A feeling of shirked responsibility prodded Emilia to rise from bed. At the same time, she was deeply anxious about the possibility she would be shunned, which would make the situation worse.
As a matter of fact, if Emilia had gone with Ram, the villagers would surely have rejected the proposal out of fear.
That was reality of the situation. Emilia continued to slam into the wall that people used against those who were seen as strange and different.
But to fight against that, maybe she should go into the forest herself—
“Oh, Lia. Someone’s coming up to the mansion.”
“…Ram, I suppose. I need to ask her how things went in the village.”
Puck’s call interrupted Emilia’s thoughts. She quickly headed into the changing room.
Normally Puck was noisy about Emilia’s grooming, but he hadn’t been too picky for those last several days. But even this show of consideration became fuel for Emilia’s growing self-hatred.
“Ahh, I’m going to visit Betty. Call me if something happens, ’kay?”
“Err, yes, all right. Say hi to Beatrice for me.”
As soon as Emilia stepped into the corridor, Puck split off to see the young-looking girl who, despite living under the same roof, didn’t care much for showing her face.
When Emilia thought about it, she hadn’t seen the girl a single time since returning to the mansion.
“Maybe Beatrice is angry I left Subaru behind…”
Subaru and Beatrice got along rather well, so maybe she was upset.
Negative thoughts seemed to keep bubbling up without end. Emilia sighed and set off for the entry hall at a brisk pace.
She put off seeing Beatrice until later. There were many things she had to speak about with Ram.
“Lady Emilia.”
Emilia arrived in the hall just as the doorway to the mansion was opening. She exhaled a little when she saw Ram through the crack of the door.
“Ram, I’m sorry for putting everything on your shoulders. I will make it up to you very s—”
“No need, Lady Emilia. More importantly, you have guests.”
Ram shook her head, interrupting Emilia as she moved aside, clearing a path to the door. “Huh?” said Emilia as her eyes grew wide when figures came over the threshold.
“Lady Emilia, please forgive our sudden visit.”
It was a well-aged man with a sturdy physique who addressed Emilia with a bow. Emilia squinted slightly, recalling that she had seen his tall frame somewhere before; the memory came to her right after.
“You were…the gentleman who came with Ferris once, right?”
“Yes. I am called Wilhelm Trias, humble retainer of the House of Karsten. I have come today representing my liege.”
The old man introduced himself in a dignified voice before dropping to one knee in a display of the utmost respect. Emilia, blushing at the sight, rushed down the remaining stairs that separated them to bid Wilhelm to rise. However, she immediately realized that something about him was bizarre.
Smeared in blood and grime, the old man did not have the appearance she would associate with an official messenger.
“Those clothes… What happened?”
“I apologize for the unsightly display. With some luck, I was fortunate enough to encounter a trifling demon beast while traveling to the Mathers domain. My atrocious appearance is the result.”
“I don’t mind, but your wounds……seem to have already been treated.”
“There is no need for concern. More importantly, I must properly communicate my master’s will.”
When Wilhelm suggested shifting the focus from himself to the topic at hand, Emilia acceded. The old man calling himself Crusch’s representative reminded Emilia of the letter that had arrived the night before.
“Actually, last night, I received what was apparently a letter of goodwill from Lady Crusch. However, the letter was blank…… I was concerned, wondering if there was some kind of mistake.”
“Blank, you say— I see, so it truly was blank.”
“What do you mean…?”
Wilhelm’s blue eyes narrowed at his learning the contents of the letter. Sensing something strange in his demeanor, Emilia remained concerned as she instinctively echoed his words. But he immediately shook his head.
“No, this is highly embarrassing, but that contradicts the letter my master originally sent. I know her thoughts well, and I assure you, there is no need for concern.”
“The original… I see, it actually was a mistake? I’m so glad that she…doesn’t hate me.”
Emilia put a hand on her chest, relieved to hear someone close to Crusch firmly deny any ill will.
The letter had arrived directly after the residents of the village had rejected her. On the one hand, she hadn’t thought it was like Crusch; on the other, there had been some part of her that worried the head of the House of Karsten was acting out of contempt for half-elves.
An anxious heart indulged in unnecessary doubts, which invited vulnerability. That was the state Emilia was in.
“I sincerely apologize for the confusion. My master, Lady Crusch, is not the sort of person to engage in such rash acts, nor would she ever deem Lady Emilia worthless or someone to be ridiculed. Try as I might, I can say without reservation that I cannot conceive of such a notion.”
“Th-thank you very much… Then, um, what was the letter actually about?”
The great amount of praise left Emilia surprised, but also a little happy. Her spirits rose slightly. As they did, Wilhelm retained his exceedingly polite posture as he answered.
“Lady Emilia and Miss Ram…it is Lady Crusch’s opinion that those present in this mansion as well as the residents of the village should be temporarily evacuated from the area.”
The announcement made Emilia’s small smile freeze on her lips.
6
Once Emilia recovered from the initial shock, Wilhelm continued his explanation.
“Of late, we have received information that a criminal group known to the kingdom has infiltrated the Mathers domain. I have come representing a unit formed for the purpose of hunting down this group.”
“And those people are hiding in the forest around us… Is that what this is about?”
Emilia blinked in surprise as the truth about the unrest even Ram’s Clairvoyance could not discern was revealed.
As Wilhelm gravely nodded, Ram, standing beside him, nodded readily as well. Then Ram gave her own pink hair a gentle stroke as she spoke.
“The envoy has already been taken into the expeditionary force’s custody and has deployed in the village to prepare against enemy forces. But the enemy is the notorious Bandit King, so if fierce combat breaks out, damage to the surrounding area is unavoidable.”
“Bandit King…! We’re supposed to evacuate, then? That’s why even dragon carriages were arranged for us?”
According to Wilhelm, enough dragon carriages to carry Emilia, Ram, and every single villager had already entered the village to ready for their escape. Ram, having confirmed this with her own eyes, gave her seal of approval.
“When everyone has been evacuated, our expeditionary force shall immediately exterminate them. Should the danger be swept away, you have my promise you may return to your peaceful lives.”
The rest of Wilhelm’s explanation contained the details of the evacuation plan arranged for Emilia and the others.
Emilia admired the unblemished goodwill, but she could not bring herself to politely leave everything to them. Of course, the proposal made perfect sense, and she had no intention of doubting them. But she also had some misgivings.
“But why would Lady Crusch do so much for the sake of this domain?”
This land was squarely within the Mathers fiefdom, plus Emilia and Crusch were political rivals for the throne. The goodness of her heart was probably not Crusch’s reason for acting. Emilia suspected there was something else.
Wilhelm slightly lowered his voice as he responded to Emilia’s doubts.
“This is just between us, but…we have a history with this criminal organization and cannot pretend the Bandit King is someone else’s concern.”
“History…with you, Sir Wilhelm?”
“Not just me. There are some youngsters who are champing at the bit to get at them as well. Besides—” Wilhelm’s lips had slackened slightly into a smile, but it vanished as he continued his explanation. “My master has been recognized by the marquis as an ally for the duration this royal selection. The terms are the handing over of magic crystal mining rights for the Great Elior Forest… Does this clarify matters for you?”
“—! …I see, the rights to the forest. So that’s…how it is.”
Even as Emilia accepted the words that followed, they shook her a little. While Emilia had been worrying about things all by herself, Roswaal had already worked in the darkness to prepare the best possible response. It was not that she didn’t trust him, but it was something of a shock nonetheless.
“…But evacuating is easier said than done. Where will we go?”
“We have thought about this as well. This is connected to the earlier matter, but we would like you to head for the royal capital, Lady Emilia. Lady Crusch is in the capital and desires a conference at which to seal the alliance.”
“That is…yes, that’s all right. But is it possible to bring everyone to the capital?”
The capital was about half a day’s journey by dragon carriage. It would prove a difficult journey for the elderly and the very young villagers. It was also unclear how long it would take to eliminate the criminal organization, which raised her concerns about who would be able to accommodate them all.
If this issue was dire enough to justify their leaving the area surrounding the manor, then—
“Perhaps it would be best if I assisted to drive the Bandit King away sooner?”
“…Lady Emilia, I am grateful that you would offer. However, that would be…”
“I may not look like much, but I’m confident in my modicum of skill. I have a really strong spirit with me, so I won’t slow you down.”
Emilia was referring to Puck, who wasn’t present at the moment, as she offered her cooperation in the coming battle. Her words made Ram close her eyes as Wilhelm fell into thought for a time.
She had attempted to propose something helpful, but for some reason, Emilia wasn’t getting a very good reaction.
“Is there a…problem with that?”
“As a matter of…… Yes. Actually, the marquis strictly demanded that I ensure Lady Emilia confers with Lady Crusch as soon as possible. If I fail in this duty, I shall be fired.”
“Roswaal said that?!”
Hearing that truly horrified Emilia. When Emilia stared toward Ram, questioning if it was true, Ram’s light-red eyes bore into the side of Wilhelm’s face, staring, staring, staring—
“………………………………Yes, that is indeed what Master Roswaal said.”
“Roswaal, what were you thinking…?!”
Ram had sworn fealty to Roswaal; she surely would not lie where her master was concerned. Apparently, he had earnestly worked to check any possible action, knowing that she could not defy him. The evacuation, the alliance—Roswaal probably had everything dancing atop the palm of his hand.
Seeing Emilia clenching her fists in frustration, Wilhelm breathed a sigh. The old man kept his eyes lowered as he spoke.
“Certainly, Lady Emilia, as you stated earlier, evacuating everyone to the royal capital is a difficult undertaking. Given the current situation, let us evacuate half to the capital for the time being.”
“What about the other half, then?”
“Per my proposal, the other half shall evacuate to the Sanctuary. Master Roswaal is already headed there, after all, and that place has sufficient space to shelter them and should be quite safe.”
“I…I see. You already have it all worked out, then…”
They had already thoroughly examined every concern and misgiving Emilia might have. They persevered, slapping down one doubt after another, until Emilia had no room left to lodge any objections.
This should have been a good thing, but the current Emilia could not help but feel tortured by an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. They had prepared answers to any question she might have, thought through whatever worries she might have, and if she did as she was told, everything would be taken care of through the goodwill of others—
“Hey, doesn’t this come off as a little strange? Isn’t it too good to be true…?”
“—I beg your pardon!!”
Emilia’s voice, seemingly bearing the weight of her doubts, was interrupted by the sound of the door violently opening. When she looked over in surprise, a young man had staggered into the entry hall, looking like he’d just kicked the door in.
The figure was wearing a white robe with a hood that covered him up to the top of the head. He cut in front of the wide-eyed Emilia and vigorously saluted Wilhelm.
“There are signs of strange movements from the group lurking in the forest! We no longer have a moment to lose! If they move with the intent to slaughter, this entire area will become a hellish scene, a sea of blood—!”
“Mm-hmm, is that so… They seem to be moving quicker than we expected. With this many people entering the village, it was only a matter of time until they noticed, I suppose…”
“What shall we do, Captain…er, Sir Wilhelm, the Sword Devil…?!”
“Lady Emilia.”
Once Wilhelm received the young man’s reports, punctuated with unnecessarily grandiose gestures, he stared sharply at Emilia. Emilia understood from his razor-like gaze that time was short.
Events were already in motion. Things had become urgent enough to make her think that time spent arguing was time wasted.
It wasn’t as though she suddenly had no doubts about various parts of the conversation so far. But it was a fact that Ram had sensed an ominous presence in the forest, and Wilhelm had given his word as a man under Crusch’s banner concerning the incident involving the letter.
More than anything, with Roswaal currently absent, the right to make decisions for the well-being of the mansion and the village fell to Emilia. The outcome would alter numerous human fates, and because of that, she had to see it through herself.
That role was Emilia’s to play at the moment. Duty had to come first.
“Understood. I gratefully accept your kindness. As for explaining to the villagers…”
As soon as she said that, Ram revealed that the most urgent matter had already been resolved.
“Lady Emilia, this has already been taken care of without much issue.”
Emilia, surprised at this fact, shifted her thoughts to the household. The existence of the final resident of the mansion, Beatrice, tugged at her mind. She had thought that if they were evacuating, then naturally they had to take Beatrice with them.
“—Beatrice said she was staying behind, and would use the Passage to isolate the archive of forbidden books, so you can evacuate or do whatever else you like on your own.”
“Puck?!”
Upon his sudden return, Puck explained the plans of his protégé, with whom he had already spoken. However, when the kitty landed on her shoulder, Emilia stared at him, shaking her head in disbelief.
“How can you just accept that? They said this place is dangerous…”
“In Betty’s case, she’s much safer inside the Archive. Besides, there’s the issue of her pact preventing her from leaving the mansion. You understand, don’t you?”
“…It’s really unfair to use that as a reason.”
Puck groomed his whiskers as he responded to Emilia’s dissatisfaction. To Emilia, to Puck, and to Beatrice as well, the word pact bore a great deal of meaning…to the point that it left Emilia unable to find the words for a comeback.
“So that’s why the girl who’s like a cute little sister to me will stay behind at the mansion. It’s best if you don’t do anything to the mansion, either. Betty may be a sweet, gentle child…but she won’t show any mercy.”
“I shall take your words to heart, Great Spirit.”
Wilhelm solemnly bowed in response to Puck’s warning. Watching this with satisfaction, Puck buried himself in Emilia’s hair. Then his voice became a whisper only Emilia could hear.
“Do whatever you want to. I’m your ally, and yours alone.”
“—We will evacuate. I do not want to subject the villagers to any danger.”
At her command, Ram grasped the hem of her skirt and politely curtsied, whereas Wilhelm strongly nodded.
Then Emilia turned her back only upon the youth who had brought in the report—
“That’s just the way you are.”
Emilia did not notice the youth’s tiny murmur.
7
By the time Emilia & Co. met up at the village, the residents had already begun preparing to evacuate.
The villagers seemed to be politely obeying the expeditionary force, with nary a look of worry or concern on their faces, quite methodically proceeding with the work of loading up the dragon carriages.
“Wilhelm and the others are amazing, aren’t they?”
Emilia was surprised at how, in contrast to her, they had deftly gained the trust of villagers they had never before met.
But what surprised her the most came when she heard how the dragon carriages had been allotted. When she was guided to a dragon carriage for evacuation and was directed to climb aboard—
“—Please give us your best regards, miss.”
With a conflicted look on her face, Emilia stood opposite a girl with reddish-brown hair who was bowing her head.
She’d seen the face of the girl countless times in the village. The children were friendly with Subaru, but she’d seemed particularly fond of him; Emilia believed her name was Petra.
Besides Petra, Emilia was surrounded by other children with faces familiar to her. Every last one introduced themselves to Emilia, who was to ride in the dragon carriage with them.
“Err, this is strange. Is there some kind of mistake?”
As worry crossed Emilia’s mind, Ram, standing right beside her, firmly declared, “No, this is the result of an exacting discussion. It cannot be helped. The balance of dragon carriages and numbers of people makes your riding with these children an unavoidable necessity, Lady Emilia.”
But her reply was so contrary to Emilia’s assumptions that it only served to fan her worries further.
She would be spending numerous hours with the children in the closed quarters of a dragon carriage. It was less that this worried Emilia than that she thought it lacked consideration for the families of the children riding with her. She wondered if it would simply be hard on both sides.
“You can’t assign me a different dragon carriage to ride? I mean, the children would be better off that…”
“You assume anyone would be disgusted at having to ride with you, I take it?”
“—”
Emilia’s breath caught at having her inner thoughts read. It was the young man in the robe, the same one who’d escorted Emilia and Ram all the way to the village, who had made the borderline offensive remark.
Emilia, surprised, drew close to the youth, whose voice sounded faintly nervous and worked up.
“Have you checked with these children to know? Or did you decide you were hated and detested all on your own?”
“I…know that without having to ask. This is for everyone’s sake.”
“One dragon carriage, six children…how will your desires come true if you cannot even handle that?”
“How can you possibly—”
When she began to speak harshly in a plaintive-sounding voice, the youth shifted his gaze away from Emilia to Petra. He got down on one knee before her, met her eyes, and quietly asked her, “How about it, Petra? Is the thought of riding the same dragon carriage as the miss hateful to you?”
“—!”
Emilia’s cheeks stiffened, her heart pained as the cruel question fell upon her ears. It was a question with a readily apparent answer; his asking it could only be to hurt her. And even if you knew something would hurt, that didn’t mean you got used to the pain.
Puck had said it. Whatever form a wound might take, the only thing a new wound carried was a fresh helping of pain. Why, in spite of that, had this young man—
“That’s not true at all. I don’t think riding with the miss is hateful at all.”
“…Eh?”
But with Emilia frozen stiff, Petra walked over, taking hold of her limp, dangling hand. Hot, her fingertips felt. With Emilia unable to conceal her surprise, Petra smiled bashfully toward her.
“Miss, you’re the young lady with the potato stamps, right? I saw you coming with Subaru for morning radio aerobics all the time.”
“That is…”
“I could never see your face, but you seemed to be having fun. I know, too, you know? I saw how Subaru had lots of fun talking to you. Subaru, really…… That’s why I’m not afraid of you, either, miss.”
“…Ah.”
Listening to Petra’s words, Emilia felt a pain deep in her nose, raising her voice. Heat welled up from deep within her eyes, too, and her throat suddenly caught. Her cheeks reddened, and her ears were so hot, they seemed to be burning.
“Miss, won’t you ride with us? Everyone’s been saying to leave you alone. But I’ll hold your hand, so…”
“—Mm…mm.”
“You don’t have to feel lonely anymore, ’kay?”
“…Mm!”
That innocent, pure, genuine gaze, disconnected from malice and irrationality, granted her salvation.
To Emilia, estrangement was normal, persecution was inevitable, and discrimination taken for granted, so much so that she had been unable to sense the warmth in Petra’s eyes and voice. That fact made her chest ache.
“Me too!” “I wanna be with the miss, too!” “Come on, quick!”
Other children made a clamor, running around Emilia however they pleased. As they did so, Ram immediately stuffed the children into the dragon carriage, a sight that got a little snort out of Petra.
“Miss, let’s go, too? The others might be a little loud, though.”
“…No, that’s all right. It’s been noisy around me for two months, so I’m used to it by now.”
She shook her head, and she understood how the smile came over her as if by nature.
Holding her hand, Petra led her along. The warmth of her hand made Emilia appreciate the closeness of another person.
“Ram, take care of the Sanctuary, please. Protect the villagers well.”
“As you wish. Be careful along the way yourself, Lady Emilia.”
Grasping her skirt, Ram curtsied politely, nodding with a wry, pleasant smile on her face.
After that, Emilia’s gaze searched for the one who had made that exchange come about.
“Allow me to express my thanks to you as… Er?”
She searched for the young man whose good offices had allowed her to break the ice. However, the white-robed youth was nowhere to be seen, leaving Emilia perplexed.
“Where did he run off to?”
Of those hearing Emilia’s voice, sounding like she’d been left behind, Ram alone sank her shoulders in exasperation.
8
The figure pushed its way through the branches, trampled the grass, and kept its posture low as it mingled with the green of the forest.
Concealing himself in the dense, overgrown foliage, “he” suppressed his breathing and aura, blending in with the darkness.
The residents of the tiny settlement some three hundred feet or so beyond the forest were being evacuated and led away—so that they might escape the trial.
It was unforgivable. What threatened to occur was unconscionable. To prevent such a thing, the figure had thrown caution to the wind to observe their activities firsthand.
The figure endured feelings of unease as multiple shadowy figures, remaining concealed at “his” command, gathered close with a slight sound of footsteps.
Including the figure, they numbered four—insufficient to launch a general attack, but plenty to slow them down. It was ahead of schedule, but like everything else, this was for the sake of their exalted aims.
“He” put a hand in his pocket and placed the small mirror retrieved from it atop “his” palm. However, its role differed from that of the cosmetic mirrors possessed by girls and women; its role was to “connect” to different mirrors.
—It was a metia, a magical mirror that allowed the user to converse over a long distance with another via the mirror on the other side.
Though metia were scarce by nature, conversation mirrors were numerous among them and comparatively easy to acquire. But even among the disciples, only a few possessed them. This was an honor reserved for the fingers—those whose faith had been recognized, and who had been chosen as the Lord Archbishop’s confidants.
“…”
Remaining silent, “he” poured magical energy into the conversation mirror, causing the metia to activate.
It was a process the figure had undertaken several times in the preceding few hours, sending detailed reports about the resources he’d accompanied so that preparations could be made for the trial that must come. Accordingly, an emergency situation like this absolutely had to be reported.
The figure had to communicate with its brethren about the fact that the resources’ movements had greatly shifted. They had noticed the movements of “his” brethren, and were nefariously attempting to flee—
“—I see. It was a big mystery how you got in touch with the others, but I guess metia are super convenient. Although I think it’s important in communication to show your face to the other party, don’t you?”
“—?!”
Suddenly, one of the brethren crouched alongside peered into the conversation mirror, tossing such words “his” way.
The figure hastily looked over, and the next moment, “he” was stricken by a sense of extreme unease. The other party was right next to him, and yet the figure still could not discern the features of the other person’s face. It was as if something was stopping his brain from understanding what he was seeing.
“You don’t distinguish by face, you distinguish by physical nature. When it comes to that, you and I are like girls in a knitting circle wearing the same perfume. Gives me chills, you piece-of-shit bastard.”
As the “white-robed” brethren spoke, he stood up, practically spitting out the declaration.
Then, in front of “him”—Kety, the Witch Cultist, frozen stiff in surprise—the brethren pulled down his hood, revealing rare black hair and foul-looking eyes with the white of the sclera surrounding three sides of each iris—three-whites eyes.
“Your sin is grave, y’know—getting in the way of my sentimental reunion with Emilia and all that.”
As the black-haired youth prattled on with frivolity, a taunting, impetuous smile came over his mouth.
The next instant, the indecipherable enchantment surrounding the youth fell away. Kety’s eyes could now plainly make out the youth’s features, bringing his identity to light.
The features of the traitor who had led the expeditionary force to their doorstep, making a plan that he would oppose them—
“—”
With the most unforgivable of foes before him, Kety reflexively leaped to his feet. There was no need to even look at the two brethren to his sides. They would launch a combined assault on the apostate before them. However—
The instant he drew the cross-shaped blade on his hip, a lower-tone whisper grazed his ear.
“—Too slow.”
The next moment, a silver flash raced into the corner of his field of vision, and the brethren to his right and left gushed blood as they crumbled. Their necks had been slashed; it was obvious the blows had been fatal. And then it was Kety’s turn—
“I recommend that you do not resist. I do not intend to inflict unnecessary pain.”
His efforts had been completely forestalled by the cold tip of a blade against the back of his neck.
Behind him stood a slender knight, and the aged swordsman who had cut down his two brethren. In addition, a cat-eared demihuman stood behind them, all of them brought by the black-haired traitor…
“Subaru Natsuki…!”
“Ohh, I guess it’s obvious, but, like, wow, Witch Cultists really do talk. That’s a big help.”
Shoved against the ground with his arms pinned behind him, Kety glared up at him—the traitor, Subaru Natsuki.
The youth on the receiving end had an outbreak of cold sweat on his brow. He turned to the other three and spoke.
“Well, at least it went without a hitch. Thanks for the assist.”
“I admit to half doubting you, but having read them properly this far, I cannot but admit you were correct. If they have been made to dance as you expect, our advantage shall only grow greater.”
“Isn’t that pretty much a given, meow? We started evacuating the village so much earlier than expected that it made him try contacting them in a big hurry.”
As the knight and the demihuman concurred with the youth’s words, Kety’s head was in chaos, filled with hatred and incomprehension.
He didn’t understand the meaning of their conversation. It was as if they’d known every last thing in—
“Your face says you don’t get it. Well, that can’t be helped. This time we’re way too good at running rings around ya. Oh, and thank you for helping our disinformation efforts…not that you actually realized you were a double spy.”
“—?”
“The gist is, we totally knew you were a spy. As for how we found you…trade secret. So we went through the trouble of laying a trap for the Witch Cult’s scout, in other words, you.”
Kety was still, eyes wide open, as Subaru Natsuki closed one eye and slowly spelled it out.
And then he stated, “Two hours. You reported to your pals that we were two hours behind schedule.”
Raising up two fingers, he wagged them left and right. Kety’s eyes remained wide with shock as Subaru continued. “During that time, we’ll get Emilia and the others outta here. During that time, we’ll crush the fingers flat. During that time, we’ll prepare to squish your precious archbishop flat.”
At the end of those words, a bold smile came over Subaru Natsuki.
And then he issued his declaration of war.
“I’m gonna give you a real good taste of the terror of being crushed by someone three steps ahead of you.”
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