Chapter 134: I believe you can succeed
[ "If only you had been there, that would have been great. If you had been there, that kind of thing wouldn't have happened. But why weren't you there? If you had stayed to protect everyone… I would have…" Subaru scrunched up his face, tearfully accusing Roswaal in his grief.
"Barusu…" Ram's expression stiffened.
"But you completed the mission in my stead while I was away, and even performed a meritorious deed that was impeccable for a knight…"
"Who cares about that!" Subaru roared in anger. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"If it were me, I'd be angry too."
Otto said.
"What on earth is that weirdo Roswaal thinking?"
Felt rubbed her hair messily.
—
[ "Calm down, Barusu. Lord Roswaal is injured. If Barusu persists in being crude, I'm sure Ram could stop you with a single finger… You are not permitted to be rude in front of Ram."
"Ram… are you really just accepting this? You were left behind at the mansion, just like an abandoned pawn! When faced with the Witch Cult, Roswaal tucked his tail and ran! Dare you say that's not true? And, Rem sacrificed herself for such a stupid thing—can you accept that too?"
"Ram has no room for doubt; she will accept everything Lord Roswaal does. No matter how he treats Ram, or how he abandons Ram, that feeling will never change. Besides, Ram doesn't know who Barusu is talking about, but other people's names have nothing to do with Ram. To Ram, Lord Roswaal is everything; everything else is secondary." ]
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〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Other people's names have nothing to do with Ram…"
Rem lowered her head.
"…Rem."
Ram stroked Rem's hair apologetically.
"To go to such lengths for that guy…"
Garfiel clicked his tongue.
"Ram's brain was messed up back then, too. At that time, Ram was just a doll that unconditionally obeyed Lord Roswaal's orders… To be honest, I just wanted to punch the Ram of that time… No, she was too cute, I couldn't bring myself to do it."
Ram said.
"I have a guess…"
Yuriusu paused, then said:
"Because Ms. Rem's existence was erased, Ms. Ram's only love is for Margrave Mathers. Simply put, she has placed all of Rem's love onto Margrave Mathers."
—
[ "Ram, step back. This is a conversation that belongs only to him and me. I allowed you to attend, but I did not allow you to speak. Do you—understand?"
"Understood… It was Ram's place to keep quiet. I am terribly sorry." Ram bowed and returned to a standby state.
Then, Roswaal spoke to Subaru: "Why did I hide information that should have been told to Emilia-Sama, and why I wasn't at the mansion when the Witch Cult attacked—the answer to both is the same. It is because I was the one who induced the development of those situations so that I would not have to face the Witch Cult."
"Huh?"
"If I had resolved this incident, then you and Emilia-Sama would have had no credit, right? That would have been meaningless."
"…Do you… understand… what you're saying? This is just hindsight! Although what you say isn't without reason, do you know how many people died because you weren't there, because you didn't say anything? The sacrifices were indeed minimized; I did my best to keep the number of sacrifices to a minimum! But it's not like no one died; people died!" ]
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〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Hmm… didn't trigger the red line?"
Otto said.
What Subaru said seemed to slightly trigger the red line.
But in reality, nothing happened.
Could it really be so?
Is that guess correct?
In other words, if Subaru doesn't realize he is speaking about content related to "Return by Death," then the Witch's punishment won't be triggered.
—
[ "If I were still that good-for-nothing piece of trash, what would you have done then? If Emilia and the villagers couldn't be saved, what would you have done?" Subaru continued to berate him.
And Roswaal responded calmly—
"I believe you can succeed."
"It seems… You don't intend to answer seriously."
"Everything I say is the truth. Whether it's the answer you want is another matter. I have already decided; I will not deceive you tonight. The words I speak are without any falsehood."
Then he said solemnly: "Let me say it again—I made this decision because I believe in you. I believe you will definitely run around for Emilia-Sama, do your best to realize an alliance with Lady Crusch, fight desperately to repel the attacking Witch Cult, and achieve meritorious deeds."
"How much do you know about me? We've only known each other for a short two months, and you can trust me this much? Do I look like a man who can accomplish these things?" Subaru was overcome with agitation. ]
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〜Inside, the Theater〜
"But the fact is, Boss really did it. By the way, Roswaal, what is wrong with you? Your way of speaking is all foggy."
Garfiel said from outside the scene.
"I can guarantee~ my answers here are without a shred of falsehood~"
And so Roswaal said.
Say I have no countermeasures? How could that be?
You are my countermeasure, you are my true trump card, Natsuki Subaru.
Of course, I believe you can do it.
As long as you persist in running for Emilia-Sama, relying on your ability, any difficulty can be easily solved.
However, there is one thing I didn't expect, and that is that your ability is not actively released; there are conditions for its release.
And I certainly didn't expect that the conditions for release would be so cruel.
—
[ "How is that possible! When I parted ways with you, I was a genuine piece of trash. The reason I, this piece of trash, became a bit more decent is because of what happened afterwards. And only I know what happened afterwards—what exactly do you believe about me?"
"It seems… our conversation for tonight ends—here. I simply feel incredibly regretful that your evaluation of me has plummeted in your heart."
Then, after a bit of dialogue, it was Roswaal's turn to ask a question.
"You entered the Tomb to save Emilia-Sama. For some unknown reason, the Tomb's punishment seemed not to take effect… Did you meet someone in the Tomb?"
Presumably, this was about Echidna.
Subaru had naturally met her, but…
"What are you trying to ask? That's a tomb, where would I have the chance to meet anyone? Meet a zombie?"
"…That answer is enough—for now. Now it is my turn to answer your question. My answer is also very simple, and that is that it is not yet time to say."
"Hmph! Coming from you, I can't believe you're playing this game. Then when will you be able to say it?"
"That depends on you. If possible, I hope you can make good use of tonight's vow—contract. Then goodbye, Subaru. Let's have a proper chat—again, when there is an opportunity."
The two ended their conversation. ]
.....