Chapter 2. Summer Beach Celebration
In the morning the tension of the situation still lingered in Subaru's chest, though the victorious battle had brought a rare, fragile calm to the group.
The soldiers' faces, smeared with soot and exhaustion, were gradually brightening as they tended to their equipment.
Subaru, however, noticed something more pressing: Reinhild still hadn't been fully integrated into the group. The girl—or rather, the young woman moved among the others with quiet grace, polite smiles, but no trace of true camaraderie.
Subaru's chest tightened. I can't let this go the way it did with the Dragon Sword. Reinhild deserves to belong, and I won't let everyone miss the chance to know her.
It was decided almost impulsively. "A barbecue!" Subaru announced, clapping his hands and startling a few soldiers polishing their swords. "Everyone! Let's have a proper barbecue! Fish, meat, laughter, the whole works!"
A few eyebrows rose. "Subaru, is this really necessary after—" Julius began, only for Subaru to cut him off with a determined grin.
"Absolutely! After so many battles, morale is low. We need some joy!"
Wilhelm's stern gaze softened slightly, though he said nothing. Reinhild, curious, tilted her head.
"You really think something as trivial as a barbecue can strengthen our bonds?" she asked.
"Trivial? Ha! Not at all! Shared food, shared laughter—that's how friendships grow!" Subaru declared, pointing dramatically at the sky, as if he had just uncovered the ultimate truth of human interaction.
Reinhild could only raise an eyebrow, half amused, half skeptical.
By afternoon, the preparations were underway. The group split naturally: the knights and soldiers were dispatched to fish along the nearby stream, their gear clanging and splashing as they tried to outdo one another in skill and sheer luck. Reinhild and Wilhelm, by Subaru's strategic design, were left to handle the cooking.
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Night soon fell. The food fished out by the knights during the afternoon had piled up like a mountain. Reinhild and Wilhelm were busily processing it, but what Subaru found regrettable was that the atmosphere between the two wasn't warm and familial like the one during the
White Whale barbecue—it felt more like that of a head chef and sous chef in a high-end restaurant kitchen.
—This won't do at all. Subaru watched the two working diligently and realized that if things continued like this, his "Barbecue Bonding Operation" would be a complete failure. He handed the washed vegetables to Wilhelm.
"Wilhelm, is there anything you particularly like to eat? I personally like shrimp, though I don't enjoy peeling them."
"I'm fine with anything."
"By the way, did you talk with Heinkel?"
"Yeah."
Although Subaru already knew Wilhelm was a serious and stern person, he didn't expect that even just talking to him would be this exhausting. Slumping into a chair, Subaru thought to himself. By now, only a few people remained on the beach cleaning up the aftermath—it was obvious the barbecue party had ended. And by the end of the gathering, Subaru had still not managed to get Wilhelm and Reinhild to have a natural conversation.
"Subaru, would you walk with me?"
"Reinhild! Of course, no problem."
Subaru instinctively stood up, only to realize that the messy beach from earlier had already been restored to its original clean state.
He suddenly snapped back to his senses and hurried to catch up with Reinhild, who had walked off.
"I'm really sorry about earlier."
"I'm truly grateful."
After a short silence, the two spoke at the same time, then both froze in surprise.
"No, no, Reinhild, it's not—"
Reinhild placed a finger on Subaru's lips and shook her head. A rare hint of frustration appeared in her eyes.
"You should take your own actions more seriously."
With both hands behind her back, Reinhild walked step by step into the sea, then looked up at the sky.
"Indeed, even if it was essentially deception, if I could take this opportunity to form a stronger bond with Grandfather like you said, I'd be very happy."
"But even in the current situation, it's already something I've dreamed of. Thanks to you, Subaru, I now have such a wonderful memory."
The splash of water, the moonlight, and the smile of a girl showing genuine happiness for the first time—all of this created a scene so unforgettable that even decades later, Subaru would still recall it vividly.
Steam rose from the hot stone plate over the fire. The already-prepared shrimp gradually turned red and began releasing an enticing aroma—Reinhild had grabbed them on the way out of the sea.
"Here, ah—"
Reinhild picked up a fully cooked shrimp, peeled most of the shell, and then held it by the tail, presenting the remaining meat to Subaru's mouth.
"This is absolutely delicious."
The shrimp was cooked to perfection, the seasoning just right—it was easily one of the best shrimp Subaru had ever tasted.
"Wait, Reinhild, just what exactly are you doing?"
"Because you barely ate anything while trying to get me and Grandfather closer."
While saying this, Reinhild broke off the shrimp's head.
"And since you worked so hard for me, I want to do something for you too. Here, ah—"
"No, no, isn't this kind of too...?"
"But Subaru, you don't like peeling shrimp, do you?"
"It is a bit of a hassle, but..."
"Then let me do it for you."
The girl's words carried that rare commanding tone that made one instinctively obey. Subaru opened his mouth out of reflex and was fed the shrimp meat by Reinhild.
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The next day, unlike the previous day's group events, today was more of a free activity day.
"These are the beach volleyball rules: each round is five serves. The winning team gains one point per player, then we reshuffle the teams. The player with the most points can make a reasonable request to any participating member. Sound good?"
"No problem."
"Alright then, let's have a blast today!" Subaru shouted excitedly to everyone behind him.
Team A: Subaru, Reinhild, Ferris, Julius, Beatrice Team B: Crusch, Emilia, Rem, Geuse, Garfiel Referee: Wilhelm
With Wilhelm's shout of "Begin!", the match started. Reinhild's hand suddenly appeared in front of Subaru. The shockwave from the ball hitting her hand forced Subaru back several steps.
"As expected of a Sin Archbishop," Julius commented, while six glowing spirits surrounded him. The ball, now glowing with six colors, pierced through five ice walls before finally losing its power.
The Invisible Hands lifted the ball high into the air, and Rem, in her oni form, delivered a full-force spike—but the ball got stuck midair.
"You'll regret ignoring me, I suppose."
"This shot is Ferris's to take!"
The ball hit the net and dropped onto Team A's side of the sand.
"One point for Team B."
"No, wait a second—weren't there five ice walls just now?"
"How mean, I only used one spell."
"Indeed, as expected of Lady Emilia," Julius nodded in agreement. Looking at everyone acting like it was normal, Subaru felt an uneasy premonition.
He then witnessed Ferris using water magic to distort people's perceptions, Crusch firing wind balls that tore through the net, Garfiel getting blasted several meters by Reinhild's spike and standing up with blood on his lips, and the ground covered in unseen magic hands that only Subaru could see...
Yet, surprisingly, the best-performing player on the court wasn't Reinhild with her superhuman physique, but—!
"Beako did touch the ball, I suppose."
Beatrice pouted and said.
"But still..."
Everyone looked at Beatrice, who had teleported the volleyball directly to the enemy's court, and their expressions turned conflicted.
"Indeed, the match is decided. Baeko, you're amazing. As expected of my partner. Let's call the volleyball here and move on to watermelon smashing."
Subaru patted Beatrice's head and ended the game of death volleyball. Looking at the sand now sunken at least three meters deep, Subaru silently canceled all the other planned team competitions.
P.S.: The champion Beatrice received a handmade Puck plushie by Subaru.
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The watermelon smashing event also ended quickly thanks to Crusch, who can't lie and can see through lies.
Then came the sand sculpture competition. Reinhild's nearly flawless lion sculpture earned her the win.
At night, they had a magical fireworks display.
On the third day, Reinhild won the music performance competition. The beauty contest was taken by Mr. Ferris, thanks to his home-ground advantage.
"A natural result. Though it's called a beauty contest, most participants were from the Subjugation Squad. Of course they'd vote for Ferris, the one who pulled them back from death's door several times."
Julius comforted the disheartened girls who lost to a certain cat guy.
After that, they had a surfing competition, a swimming contest, a food-eating competition...
Thanks to Subaru's hard work, despite a few hiccups, the celebration ended on a high note.
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