"—? Did that have a point…?"
"I hoped you would not disappoint me! Come! Come, come! Diligent old bones! You, the beloved child that knows love is the greatest thing in this world! Demonstrate your diligence to me!!"
The Sword Devil's behavior drew comments from both Subaru and the madwoman. But Wilhelm said nothing to either set of words. The aged swordsman simply continued his nimble run as dirt showered down upon the woman over and over.
Brushing away the unpleasant downpour, the madwoman turned eyes toward the Sword Devil like a maiden in love. The arms of instant death obstinately pounded down wherever she was looking.
"Are you finished? Is there no more? If so, dismay! Disappointment!
Despondency of the soul, despair! Ahh, AHH! Are you lazy?!!!"
"N-no way?!"
At the woman's shout, shadow exploded; it was a terrifying volley of power that squarely locked on to Wilhelm. The hitherto sporadic evil hands now numbered above thirty, literally filling the sky in the narrow gaps between the trees. Subaru felt dizzy from the overwhelming number of them.
Fatally, there were thirty-odd of them, and Subaru could only point out one or two at best—
"Anyway, it's bad, Wilhelm!"
At the same time as Subaru's woefully insufficient cry, the evil hands cascaded straight down onto the Sword Devil. This time, malice that mercilessly destroyed all it touched would trample Wilhelm flat.
As he raced across the ground, Wilhelm looked overhead, his blue eyes narrowing as he said, "I told you."
The Sword Devil's tranquil voice rode on the warm forest breeze as he easily evaded the encroaching invisible hands.
"Huh?"
Both Subaru and the woman were taken aback; not even they knew which one had spoken the word.
The evil hands poured down on all sides, twisting around to assail the Sword Devil's limbs. With superhuman agility, Wilhelm dodged, evaded, and overwhelmed them.
When he had finally shaken off all the ferocious attacks, a vicious smile came over the Sword Devil's cheeks as he glared at the woman.
"—So long as I know the arms are invisible, I have ways to deal with them."
Certainly, he had just proven that his earlier proclamation was in no way false. But the results were so majestic that Subaru could scarcely close his wide-open mouth. Even Wilhelm shouldn't have had the super-senses to detect that many arms coming at him.
"Absurd. Absurd, absurd, a b s u r d a b s u r d a b s u r d a b s u r d s u r d s u r d s u r d s u r d s u rd…!"
Stricken senseless as she was by the foiling of her best move, the woman's eyes lost all focus. Trembling, the woman crushed her remaining fingers in true Petelgeuse fashion, but her emotional outburst did not relent as blood flowed from her nose.
The nosebleed was still dripping when the woman thrust her bloodsmeared right hand at Wilhelm.
"Impossibleimpossibleimpossibleimpossible! How could you escape my Unseen Hands?!"
"Of course, I evaded them by sight. Once I knew their nature, foiling them was mere child's play."
Wilhelm tediously made the declaration as he once again made dirt shower with the tip of his treasured sword.
Dirt poured onto the madwoman, incomprehension on her beet-red face. But after seeing it repeated over and over, Subaru finally understood Wilhelm's objective in making that move. At the same time, he was in shock.
—The repeated showers of dirt were his opening moves for making Unseen Hands visible.
The hands themselves were invisible to the naked eye, interacting with whatever they touched by destroying it. In other words, the evil hands left a trail as they tore through the dirt showers.
Of course, even if he could see the ferocious attacks by thirty-plus hands, evading them was no easy task. And yet, Wilhelm's superhuman, godlike combat capabilities made even this seem like child's play.
"Now then, both of our tricks have been sufficiently exposed. I shall obtain vengeance for my comrades."
Thrusting the tip of his treasured sword forward, Wilhelm threatened with suppressed anger. The hostility radiating from the tip of his sword sent a thrill through Subaru, not even the direct target of that blade. Naturally, his fear was nothing compared to that of the madwoman on the receiving end of that sword tip.
In spite of this, the madwoman spread her blood-smeared arms wide, laughing as if granting his bloodlust a warm welcome.
"Ahh, ahh, it is splendid! Your actions are diligence personified! To inflict this situation, this development, this predicament upon meee…! I, always striving to be first among Her adherents, to repay Her favor and love with diligence! And yet, you have…!"
"To repeat diligence and laziness over and over is foolishness."
Exhaling once in the face of the woman's unsightly cries, the Sword Devil gazed at her with enmity winning out against the bloodlust in his eyes.
"'—If I do this, I will be loved. If I do enough, I will be loved.' The frivolity with which you speak the word rots my ears. It is not love of which you speak. It is merely your own conceit."
"What do you know about love?! Love is eeeverything to me!!"
Wilhelm did not reply to the woman's shriek; rather he slammed his sword down and advanced. The dirt shower recommenced, and the Sword Devil put his foot down, carving a wound in the ground as his body shot out like a bullet.
Even though, like a whip, like a spear, like a maul, like a sword, the madwoman's evil hands raced to mow Wilhelm down, he saw through them all, and was thus allowed to draw near.
And then—
"It is over, heretic."
As he stated this, the treasured sword in Wilhelm's hand plunged to the hilt, deep into the madwoman's belly. The sword ran through her, coming out of her back; when he yanked it out with a twist, a great deal of blood and entrails poured out.
When Wilhelm pulled back, the woman fell to her knees and bent forward as she touched the wound with a hand.
"Ahh, this cannot…"
Her palm was impotent to stop her blood from gushing out, her intestines from pouring out.
Wilhelm silently looked down at the madwoman, unable to stem the spillage of her life. Having cut down so many lives, the Sword Devil knew that she had little time left to live.
"It seems you require a mercy blow?"
"—Mercy is unnecessary. My life drains away, my blooood, disappearing… My diligence, the heartbeat that sustains me, is stopping, vani…sh…ing…"
Refusing the Sword Devil's mercy, the madwoman fell onto her side with a smile on her lips. The light proceeded to fade from the woman's eyes. Subaru stood rooted to the spot as he watched her final moments.
"…!"
"Ahh, my brain is shaaa…"
While Subaru stared, the woman left only those final words before her breathing completely ceased.
It was the death of the second user of Unseen Hands, the second Sloth.
Watching until the end, Subaru let out his breath. The conclusion of the battle had made him practically forget to breathe. His body resumed its life functions, as if remembering that which it had forgotten.
"I-is it…over?"
"—At the very least, this woman has most assuredly ceased to breathe."
Wiping the blood from his sword, Wilhelm replied thus to Subaru, who was nervously peering at the corpse. Subaru bit his lip, feeling as if the meaning behind those words bolstered his earlier deduction.
But Subaru immediately shook his head, switching gears. He knew it was no time to sink into contemplation.
"Setting her aside…anyway, we've gotta head back! I'm worried about everyone else. If we don't link up with them…!"
"—No, Sir Subaru. I have just been informed that they have wrapped up their end."
"Informed…?"
With Subaru agitated, Wilhelm offered a hand toward him. A pale light was floating above his hand. The spirit swayed left and right, emitting a faint red light, asserting its own existence.
"That's the spirit from…er, a minor spirit? Anyway, you're saying that this spirit told you the others are safe on their end?"
Subaru spoke toward the flickering light on Wilhelm's hand in hope of a reply. However, the spirit did not reply with words; it merely floated into the air, entering the forest as if to lead the way.
"That means Follow me, doesn't it?"
"—Let us go, Sir Subaru."
Grasping that it wished to guide them, Subaru and Wilhelm chased after the spirit.
They returned to their comrades after repelling a foe rivaling an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins; considering the circumstances, it was good news to return with, but grave emotions were carved onto the pair's faces.
"—Shit."
But that moment, the only thing on Subaru's mind was the state of the allies with whom he would be reunited.
9
"—Who's there?"
"Hold up! It's us! Sorry to startle you!"
Checked by a sharp yell, Subaru came out of the thicket, showing himself with his hands up.
The knights who had sensed them returning from deep in the forest, and thus pointed their swords at them, immediately relaxed their guard, relief on their faces as they lowered their blades. But that relief was marred by sadness and regret.
Subaru had a feeling that the result of the fighting in the forest hadn't been a pure victory, something to take joy in.
"It seems you have both returned."
"Julius…"
As Subaru and Wilhelm surveyed the area, Julius ran over. Seeing that Subaru and Wilhelm were each without injury, he stood at attention without any change in expression.
"At the very least, it is good that you two are safe… Shall I make the damage report?"
"…Yeah, please do."
Having confirmed the other was safe and sound, Subaru granted approval for Julius to shift to the damage report. Accepting, Julius indicated the forestturned-battlefield with his hand.
…The forest littered with fallen trees and traces of bloodshed, the aftereffects of combat.
"Five died instantly from the initial, invisible attack. Two more died while engaged in combat with the Witch Cult in the attack immediately following—our total casualties for this engagement were seven."
"Seven…"
Subaru had expected as much, but the number slammed heavily into his heart.
They'd lost five in the initial Unseen Hands ambush. It was a most cruel loss.
"…The Witch Cultists that tried to take you down?"
"All of the nine Witch Cultists here perished. Two were captured alive, but they killed themselves like all cases prior to this point…despite Ferris's strenuous efforts."
"So the enemy was completely wiped out. On our side, if we include the five scouts, our losses are twelve in total…"
"I cannot say that dividing our forces was a…poor move. Had we done otherwise, it is highly likely we would have simply increased our initial losses. Of course, it is also possible that the enemy would hesitate to attack greater numbers, but…"
Though the casualties stung deeply, neither Julius nor Wilhelm gave any hint of losing his cool. For his part, Subaru had been biting his lip enough to draw blood since the damage report began.
"That ends my report. And yours?"
"—! You don't have anything else to say to me?"
"Necessary reports come first. I had thought to ask you for your report before all other matters, but…"
In contrast to the emotional Subaru, Julius had a very calm demeanor. But as he replied, his forelocks were slightly askew, and there were traces of blood on his royal guard uniform. Of course, even he had not come through unscathed.
Gazing at the vestiges of intense combat, Subaru restrained his scattered emotions.
"…At the very least, we beat the Sloth that attacked us just now."
"'The Sloth that attacked us just now'…you say. Not a report to take solace in, it would seem."
Subaru's gloomy reply contained nominally good news, but Julius immediately homed in on the problem therein. The authority-using madwoman who had launched a surprise attack on the expeditionary force, whisking Subaru away from the battlefield, was an evil on par with the assuredly slain Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins—a being worthy of the title of Sloth.
"The first stage of this operation should have taken out the Archbishop of Sloth. You were more confident of that than anyone…yet, in spite of that, you call the earlier foe Sloth?"
"…Yeah, that's right. The one just now was a Sloth—a second Sloth."
The last part of that statement—"a second Sloth"—made Julius knit his brows in dismay. But given the seriousness of Subaru's gaze, combined with the events that had actually taken place, he offered no rebuttal.
"So the first Sloth defeated was a different person from this Sloth. You are absolutely sure of this?"
"I'd never forget the look on that piece-of-shit bastard's dead face. Plus, the second Sloth was a woman. There's no way you'd mistake one for the other. There's no way you would, but…"
When Subaru had first encountered the madwoman, he'd hallucinated that it was Petelgeuse. That was because he sensed things beyond their appearances that tied Petelgeuse and the woman together. It felt as if their
madness had sprung from a common root—
"The authority was the same, the words and actions were the same. I've got a reaaally bad feelin' about this."
"Perhaps the first Sloth we defeated was a double, and the second Sloth was the real Archbishop of the Seven Deadly… No, there is no way to be
certain of that. Besides, in this case, the real issue—"
"—Might be in a whole different league than which one was the real deal."
When Julius felt he might have speculated too far, Subaru picked up his conclusion and ran with it. The statement made sweat emerge on Subaru's brow; even Julius's face stiffened somewhat. It was a terrifying prospect. However, in light of current circumstances, it was also a logical conclusion.
Given the appearance of Petelgeuse the first time, and the madwoman the second, it was inevitable they would arrive at the same possibility.
"In other words, there are multiple Archbishops of Sloth—or perhaps the Archbishop of Sloth is actually a group with the same power, acting toward a common objective?"
"…The only Sloth I knew of was the sickly-looking bastard that came out first. But now that I've seen the next woman, I can't tell you you're wrong."
The madwoman had called herself a finger and identified with the Archbishop of Sloth.
It fit. That's what they would go with: that Sloth was multiple Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins working in concert.
"So without exaggeration, the fingers are parts of the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins. If it is a group composed of multiple archbishops calling themselves Sloth, it would explain the breadth of the upheaval they have caused in every nation."
"So Sloth is the part of the Witch Cult carrying out the doctrine of the faith. Just the thought gives me chills."
That it was the practical arm of a larger religious group was very much a flight of fancy. Subaru wanted to laugh, but even a dry laugh failed to emerge.
If Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti was but one Sloth among many, their pleasant, orderly advance had been nothing more than a farce. That was a terrifying prospect indeed.
"In the end, this remains no more than speculation. I would like to avoid carelessly spreading unease and unrest among the others."
When the unpleasant thought closed Subaru's mouth, Julius shifted his eyes toward the expeditionary force, clumped up in one group.
"We lost twelve men, with three fingers to go… This is a rate of attrition we cannot ignore."
"—Not twelve, eleven."
When a voice corrected the number of their losses, Subaru and Julius turned toward it to find Ferris walking over to them. His white coat was sullied with blood as he wiped the sweat off his brow and pointed behind him.
"I pulled one of the heavily injured ones back from the brink. It was a really, really close call, though…"
"That is good news. To stabilize someone in that condition…as expected of you, Ferris."
"I said it meowself—I can bring back anyone who isn't dead."
When Julius said the words good news, Ferris gave a thin, wry smile. But his smile soon faded as he shifted his gaze in a different direction.
Subaru's eyes, drawn there as well, were greeted by the sight of someone covered with a thin cloth.
"I can't save everyone… Now I really understand the meaning of the captain's words."
"You have done well. It is not a role any of the rest of us could hope to accomplish."
"Mmm, thank you."
Ferris replied briefly to Julius's consoling words, but everyone there knew that they were a small comfort.
Head bowed, Ferris licked his lips and, after a brief pause, looked at Subaru.
"…So about what you said earlier, where's the body of the second Sloth?"
Immediately after, Subaru grimaced at the sudden change in the conversation.
"—In the forest over that way, but why do you wanna know?"
Ferris must have overheard the earlier exchange with Julius. He stared in the direction in which Subaru pointed, narrowing his yellow eyes.
"Just maybe, if I examine it, I might find some differences."
"Differences? What kind of differences?"
"Between the fingers you're worried about and the other cultists, Subawu."
When Ferris pointed that out, Subaru's breath caught. "Wait up, 'kay?" said Ferris, taking several companions with him as he went off to examine the corpse.
Perhaps examining the madwoman, the second Sloth, might give them a lead on the repugnant Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, enabling them to form a plan of attack. Subaru wanted to believe that was possible.
"And besides that…"
Having watched Ferris go, Subaru went to the expeditionary force members clustered together. Subaru couldn't look straight at the row of casualties lying right beside them. The lined-up remains were covered with thin cloths, the least they could do for those who would never awaken again.
There was nothing anyone could have done for the initial five casualties who had been ripped to pieces. However, the five lives lost in the surprise attack were another story. Subaru should have realized, if no one else.
"I should've known as soon as I heard the first five were torn apart with bare hands. I'm the one who was aware what power we were dealing with. I should've noticed."
Subaru, of all people, should have recognized the cause of the deaths of those who had been slain without a single sign of resistance. But Subaru, shaken by the deaths of his allies, had let the chance slip, leading to more casualties.
On top of that, his own whisking away by the enemy had forced his allies to split their fighting strength, prolonging the combat. Had Wilhelm not pulled out, those lost during the engagement might well have lived.
"Even if it was a surprise attack, the opponent was small in numbers. Barring an exception, such as an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins' authority, there was no chance of defeat. It was precisely for this reason I sent Master Wilhelm to you."
"—"
"Indeed, that authority, defying all logic, is a far greater concern. You did your duty, helping us evade it. The rest was our duty…as knights."
Listening to Subaru's murmurs, Julius set his disheveled hair in order as he offered his own view. Even Subaru was not so insensitive as to miss the consideration the words offered to him.
But it was also a fact that no words of consolation lessened the pain in Subaru's heart.
People had died in the fight against the White Whale, too.
He remembered grieving over those deaths, but not nearly as much. He'd lamented the fact that, compared to his own deaths, the deaths of others had moved his heart so little, but these deaths weighed heavily upon him.
Death was the same whatever form it took, so why did these deaths bother him so much?
That was obvious.
"…Because I was involved with these people."
Only then did Subaru Natsuki realize that he bore responsibility for those casualties.
When they'd challenged the White Whale, they had stood on the field of battle against the demon beast as a result of their own free choice. But the fight against the Witch Cult was different. These people had answered Subaru's call, sharing in Subaru's desire to save Emilia and the others; they had been cooperating with Subaru, nothing more.
"—So heavy."
Subaru had used the information gleaned from Return by Death to cooperate with Crusch and the others in subjugating the White Whale. However, put differently, it was Subaru's information that had triggered the outbreak of that battle, too. A battlefield was created, and numerous human lives met their end. Many lives were erased from the memories of others.
Subaru shared in that heavy responsibility. It was not only because he'd subconsciously averted his eyes from the burden that he had not noticed. It was more because Crusch had been so magnificent.
She led the fight against the White Whale, shouldering the responsibility for everything on that field of battle. She was aware of her own obligations, but her performance was so grand, it made you forget about all of that. And so, Subaru hadn't noticed.
Return by Death was not simply a matter of changing fate. Naturally, if
Subaru took an action for the sake of some choice, some hope, some purpose, he altered the world around him.
"…"
With that all-too-late realization, he was fiercely angry with himself for being so foolish and worthless.
He'd been careless. He'd left himself wide open. The fact that everything had gone too well should have set off alarms in his mind. There had been big talk about making sure everyone got out alive, but he'd underestimated the effort required to make that happen—and this was the result.
And as a result, eleven precious lives had been lost—the lives of people who'd stood by his side.
Regret filled his head to the brim. Remorse seethed deep in his gut. The thought that there had to be something more he could have done made him pound baseless rage against his soul. Enough that he wanted to die in a fit of anger that very— "Sir Subaru."
"—!"
Subaru was enveloped by rage sufficient to turn his vision red when that voice brought him back to his senses.
Wilhelm was standing before Subaru, staring straight at him. For an instant, Subaru's heart shuddered as he wondered if Wilhelm would scold him for his ignorance. But the Sword Devil's eyes immediately told him otherwise.
The Sword Devil's eyes were as tranquil as the surface of a lake as he gazed right through Subaru's dark eyes.
"You likely have a number of things running through your mind at the moment, none of them trivial emotions…but forgive my exceedingly great rudeness and allow me to say this."
"—"
Wilhelm's words made him unwittingly straighten his back. He didn't know what would be said to him, but whatever it might be, he needed to give it his undivided attention.
Then, with Subaru bracing himself, Wilhelm said…
"—Fight."
Spoken in a low tone, that word made the very air tremble.
But Subaru also received it as a blade—one that bit into his body, his heart, his very soul.
The ghastly aura pouring from Wilhelm filled the forest-turned-battlefield, wrenching its way into Subaru's mind and body. The hostility swept over the whole area, and naturally, the knights' eyes all fell on the two of them.
At the center of that vortex of gazes, Wilhelm continued, "Whether you feel regret, or are stricken with remorse, fight. If it is fated that you must do battle, that you must resist—fight with your entire body and soul. Do not give in for a second, a moment, a single fraction of time. Gaze at victory and crave it with every fiber of your being. If you can still stand, if you can still move a single finger, if your fangs are not yet broken, stand, stand, stand, stand, fight—fight."
"—"
The words were very similar to ones Wilhelm had spoken to Subaru before.
When he'd been smacked around with a wooden sword in the courtyard of Crusch's mansion, Wilhelm had spoken words concerning girding one's heart for battle; that was the only moment Subaru had been allowed a tiny glimpse into the Sword Devil.
At the time, after Subaru had heard those words, Wilhelm pegged him as person with no drive to become stronger. In point of fact, Subaru hadn't faced him with true earnestness. Deprived of willpower, Subaru had had no idea at the time what the Sword Devil thought or was trying to tell him.
But this time was different—and this time, he thought the message was different, too.
"You're telling me to…become strong?"
"No—I am telling you to be strong."
The frighteningly lofty and sharp demand thrust through his chest.
Subaru had always thought, I wanna be like Wilhelm. I wanna be like steel.
But now, with regret and remorse slamming against his heart, he did not think those words were the answer.
"I wanna be that way, too. But it's hard. I didn't want anyone else to die like this, but they did…because I wasn't good enough!"
Once again, he'd made the mistake of getting full of himself as soon as things were going a little bit well. As a result of his mistake, people had died. If he made more mistakes, no one knew who would die for them next.
He'd desperately tried to think of a way to avoid that, and yet nothing came. He was out of ideas.
"If I don't do it… I'm the one who started this!"
"You got them involved, you strung them along, and they died, is that it? You are incorrect."
With remorse threatening to wrench Subaru's heart out of his chest, Wilhelm spread both arms wide.
"Not a single individual here believes you involved us in this. Even if you provided the spark, we chose this battle ourselves. Everyone is here of his or her own will."
"…"
"Please stop placing responsibility for the deaths on yourself alone. They do not wish you to be burdened by this. Simply make room in your heart so that you do not forget. That is all you need do."
"Not forget what…?"
Their deaths? he wondered. But Wilhelm shook his head, putting
Subaru's notion to rest.
"—That they shared this burden with you. That is all."
This time, his words made Subaru's entire body numb, as if he'd been struck by a bolt of lightning. With Subaru in shock, Wilhelm nodded to him and touched the sword on his own hip.
"Lending one's strength does not mean merely swinging one's sword. It means challenging the same foes, worrying over the same obstacles, sharing the wounds and the weight of the burdens. This we can do. This is the lesson I learned in the past."
Wilhelm spoke those words and motioned with his chin. Overwhelmed, Subaru did as indicated, noticing that the gazes of all present were focused upon him.
Each and every one of those sets of eyes burned with the same emotions as Wilhelm's.
—He felt someone had once told him not to try to fight alone.
At a disadvantage against a mysterious opponent, not a single person looked ready to cut and run. Not a single gaze said to Subaru, This wasn't the deal, nor did wiser voices condemn him.
"…Having at least one wiser person seems like a good thing, though…"
He let out a sigh. Simultaneously, the dark clouds dwelling inside
Subaru's head rapidly brightened. This did not mean freedom from anguish.
But he had left the dead end in which he'd trapped himself behind him.
Subaru had been reminded of the limits of his own head.
"Shit—!"
Subaru roughly scratched his head, gritted his teeth, impulsively stamped his foot, and turned to everyone, bowing his head.
"This is the only head I have to lower. It's low quality, so I'll lower it as many times as I need to."
Subaru entreated his comrades, whose gazes remained unchanged, saying, We'll fight.
Somehow, somewhere, he'd escaped barefoot from resignation and remorse.
"A lot of things…seriously, a lot of things have changed. The Witch Cult's Sloth is seriously tough. To put it bluntly, we can't even see the bottom. I get why they're treated like gods of pestilence the world over. It shook me how much damage we took just taking 'em on. It shook me, but…"
It'd shaken him because he'd mistakenly thought he ought to think, counter, and fight all by himself. Thanks to everyone there, his limbs had finally stopped shaking.
Because they thought, Let's fight.
"I still don't have any firm idea what we should do. But I know we've got to do this. We have to beat them. We have to beat Sloth, here and now."
However mysterious the opponent, it was Subaru's side that had started it. All they could do was defeat the enemy, whatever it took, until the battle was decided.
"—"
Turning, Subaru looked at the remains of the comrades that had fallen in the forest, remains that had instilled such remorse and such a sense of responsibility that he'd been unable to look straight at them all that time.
This was Subaru's inescapable sin. However you wanted to dress it up, Subaru was responsible for their deaths. And he would not permit himself to run from his sins any longer. Subaru wondered if he hadn't been arrogant in thinking that borrowing someone's assistance was no heavy thing.
Subaru had started this battle, and so he would shoulder it. But he didn't think of it as too heavy a burden.
And so, he was determined to carry it, even if he himself knew not how great it would become.
"We'll save Emilia and the others. We'll smash the Witch Cult flat. And to do both of those things…"
"Let us do that which is needed…not for anyone else, but because you have asked it."
And for that, our strength is yours, said Wilhelm's nod, and those of the members of the expeditionary force.
He still had a mountain of things to think about, and the number of obstacles blocking their way was yet unknown. However, these he could overcome, because he need not challenge them alone.
If Subaru had been strong enough to stand alone, he'd never have gotten out of that blind alley. Therefore, for just one moment, he thought that…
"…Good thing I'm weak and puny, then."
"—Shall we go?"
"Yeah, let's go. And lend me your strength and wit."
Death did not lighten. It remained heavy. So long as he knew this, he could struggle against it with his head held high.
Subaru Natsuki walked forward, resuming the fight.
And so their battle continued.
CHAPTER 3
THE MEANING OF HAVING RETURNED
1
The return of Subaru & Co. with the bodies of their comrades was a great shock to those who had remained at the camp.
Fortunately, nothing had happened to the camp whatsoever, but the reports of combat and casualties in the forest spread gloom among the faces of those waiting in reserve. All shared the disappointment of not having been able to partake in the battle. Like the others, they too renewed their vows of support toward Subaru.
And, having linked up with additional allies, they began to discuss their plan of action henceforth.
However, the new issues and obstacles that had floated to the surface were all difficult ones. The existence of the Archbishop of Sloth continued to stand before the expeditionary force as a high wall impeding their progress.
"First, my report after examining the corpse of the second Sloth: As you can see, the corpse is a little different from that of the other Witch Cultists. There are traces of a strange ritual."
The first to offer information was Ferris, once his examination of the madwoman's corpse was complete. The word ritual brought a grimace to Subaru's face.
"You mean one besides the Witch Cultists embedding magic crystals into themselves for suicide?"
"Exactly. The fusion was hard to see, but when I compared on a hunch, it became clear as day… I think the same Sloth-like cultists have the same setup."
"So this setup, it's the trigger for that authority thingy?"
"I don't know that far. But when I think of some of the cultists getting this special treatment, it makes me suspect it has something to do with the weird power the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins controls."
The information suggesting there were multiple Sloths had already been shared within the expeditionary force. Given Ferris's examinations to date, the possibility loomed ever larger.
"If that's so, the problem is how many Sloths besides these two are there, huh?"
"There have been two to date, but considering what it took to bring them down, the situation is extremely dangerous. Worst case, we should presume
that it is possible all the individuals known as fingers are Sloths."
"…That's jumping ahead a little much, ain't it? If they could all use that authority, they'd use it to hit back at us, right? But no one's done that."
"It would be so if the individuals known as fingers appeared as a group under the archbishop's command."
Julius's reply didn't really answer Subaru's question. But Ferris and Ricardo registered agreement on their faces.
"I see, I see. In other words, I think Julius means the fingers are like the archbishop's right hand and left hand."
"—? Aren't the right and the left hands both part of the same body?"
"Not that, more in the sense of your confidant or right-hand man. Weren't you the one to guess what the fingers were to the Witch Cult to begin with,
Subawu?"
"…Ah!"
After all that, Subaru finally clued into what the three of them were saying. Subaru knew of several cases where Petelgeuse had referred to his subordinates as fingers, but he'd had to guess heavily as to the details. In point of fact, Subaru had thought that the term fingers was what Petelgeuse used to refer to groups under his command.
But what if, instead, fingers was the name borne by several special cultists, and the same authority as Petelgeuse's resided in each of them?
"So that's saying that Petelgeuse was just one Sloth counted by the number of fingers?"
"If there are a maximum of ten, and each base has a single Sloth assigned to it, that might explain why we have been lucky enough not to give them an opportunity to strike back so far. That is being optimistic, however."
"So that means three bases left, and three fingers to go…so we should assume there are three more of 'em."
One should hypothesize the worst case in any situation. Casually dismissing the threat posed by the enemy came with a stiff price. Subaru had paid the heavy tuition fee for that lesson many times over.
And given the worst-case possibility they could hypothesize at present—
"—As soon as possible, I want to begin evacuating the mansion and the people in the village."
"…To be honest, I was thinking that if you did not propose it, I would myself," Julius agreed, closing one eye.
"Now that we are uncertain of having eliminated the menace of Sloth, our greatest concern should be for their future objective—to do harm to Lady Emilia and the villagers, I imagine."
"There's less than half of 'em left now, so we should assume they're onto us bein' after 'em. That bein' the case, the biggest fear is 'em tryin' to take folks down with 'em."
With Julius and Ricardo in agreement, Subaru nodded, too, his worry evident in the creases of his brow. There was no mistaking that the Witch Cult was aware of the expeditionary force. The earlier raid had established that well enough.
"The second Sloth was waiting for us. They noticed us at some point. It's fine for us to be exposed at this point, but it's bad if our objective is exposed."
On a combat level, it hurt to lose any advantage, but the expeditionary force's biggest issue was accomplishing its goal of rescuing Emilia and the others. The Witch Cult ought not to have known just yet why Subaru & Co. had entered the Mathers lands.
If the Cult knew that both sides were after the mansion and village, both were certain to become battlefields.
"Right now, the Witch Cult hasn't noticed that the plain is wide open yet. If we can get Emilia and everyone on dragon carriages, they should be able to make a clean getaway."
"If Lady Emilia and the others escape, we can concentrate on subjugating the Witch Cult without any worries about the future. It's really hard to fight with a weak point like that on your shoulders, meow. Especially for Ferri and Subawu."
"Hurts to hear that…but that's how it is."
Having received Ferris's dry approval, Subaru asked for any objections to the plan. Fortunately, with time so precious, no objections were raised, so Subaru slapped his knee and made the call.
"Thanks, big help. We'll take the traveling merchants with us and all go to the village. No leaving me behind, okay?"
"From here, there is no telling when the remaining Sloths might attack.
Your eyes will be irreplaceable, yes?"
With Julius's roundabout assent, the expeditionary force's plan was set.
"Ohh. So you're finally calling on us, then. It's a relief to get some work."
As it turned out, the traveling merchants were unexpectedly eager when they finally received the order to move out. Sitting and waiting seemed to suit them poorly.
Everything about the Witch Cult was, as usual, shrouded in mystery. But with the current setbacks, there was no option but to rely on their hauling capacity to fulfill Subaru's long-delayed goal.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, too, Patlash… Hey, don't be that angry, geez."
"—"
Patlash, left behind at camp while Subaru walked through the forest without her, was quite miffed at Subaru. The pitch-black land dragon turned her sharp, refined face aside, thoroughly sulking when Subaru called her.
"Er, I mean, it was the middle of a forest? If you tripped and broke a leg there'd be no coming back, you know?"
"This breed of land dragon, known as the Diana breed, is the highest breed of all land dragons. There are dragons specific to desert or arctic
climes, but the excellent Diana breed can handle any terrain."
"Eh? Any terrain, what, you mean forests, too?"
"Forests, deserts, waterside, or glacier."
Wilhelm's lofty appraisal left Subaru gaping in wonder. He'd picked the land dragon based on his first impression, but apparently, she excelled more than he'd ever imagined. Perhaps that should have been obvious given Patlash's intelligence and ability.
"After all, it takes a pretty decent noble house to buy a girl like her, meow."
"Hey, stop that! Don't talk about price! That's gonna stick in my head!"
Ferris smiled as Subaru raised his voice, feeling almost afraid to mount the dragon. But Subaru thought that smile was gloomier than one from Ferris's usual self.
Subaru, largely able to fathom the reason why, stood beside his land dragon and lowered his voice.
"Sorry, making you act considerate to me like this."
"—What is it all of a sudden? Did you eat something bad? Should I heal you?"
"Don't paper over it. You said it yourself. I'm not the only one who doesn't want anyone to die."
"…"
Ferris was cowed into silence with a guilty look. Subaru had apparently hit the mark.
Subaru wasn't the only one who felt deeply responsible for the deaths of his allies. Perhaps the mental anguish was much stronger for someone with a direct means of saving others such as Ferris.
Subaru thought Ferris was strong to hold that inside him and not let it come to the surface, though.
"Maybe my saying this isn't worth much, but…having you here is a big help. Seriously."
"Oh, stop it. I know best how useless I've been. I've let eleven people die, and couldn't even stop enemies from killing themselves… I'm all talk."
"But you saved one. He didn't die, thanks to you."
As Ferris berated himself, Subaru motioned to the casualty sleeping in the back of a dragon carriage. His endurance was heavily depleted, and he had not regained consciousness. But he was in a stable condition. That was Ferris's achievement.
Subaru knew how hard it was to save even a single person.
"You're a bigger deal than you think you are. No, really, I'm totally serious."
"…Wha—? Are you trying to seduce cute little Ferri? Coming to my side of the fence?"
"I am not, and I'm not seducing you, either! I'm trying to be serious here!"
Subaru knew well enough that he wasn't suited to the role, but the counterattack, harsher than even he'd expected, left him reeling. However, Ferris's lips immediately loosened as he exhaled at length.
"If you meant it seriously, I'll take it seriously. Don't worry, I'm not questioning my purpose in life. I crossed that bridge a long, long time ago, meow."
"Th-that so?"
"Just, well, it might make me feel a little better? They feel like words I've heard before, so I feel relieved, just a tiny little wee bit…"
Ferris glanced sidelong at Subaru, teasingly showing with his fingers just how tiny that relief was. From that reaction, Subaru felt he'd contributed some small part to cheering Ferris up, which left him relieved as well.
"So, this is a good time, so Ferri is going to say it…Subawu, you really should make up with Julius as soon as you can."
Ferris switched subjects so abruptly that Subaru's eyes popped wide.
"It's not a soon or not-soon thing… You saw, right? It's not making up, but our clashing is water under the bridge."
"On the surface, sure. Deep down, you're still snapping at him subconsciously. That's why, when something comes up, you're dropping
Julius off the list of choices first thing."
"…"
"You can rely on Julius. Though I grant you that he's hard to deal with and tough to understand, meow."
Fluttering his palm to indicate the end of the conversation, Ferris concentrated on examining the magic crystals from the Witch Cult. In contrast to Ferris, those last words had unsettled Subaru's mind.
Am I subconsciously snapping at him…?
When he thought about it, he couldn't conclusively say he hadn't been. Of course, he hadn't judged based on such personal feelings to that point. But he had no confidence that he had his subconscious under control as well.
"…"
He'd turned his still-stern face forward when suddenly, the sweet aroma of flowers leaped into his nostrils.
A lovely little flower with blue petals was blooming on the edge of the road, swaying in the wind. Subaru recognized it and its scent, which triggered a memory of a vivid flower garden—the flower garden where he and Emilia had once spent time together.
"I really wanted to put an end to all that and have more of a triumphant return, but…"
Emotionally, Subaru wanted to hurry and hesitate in equal measure. If they continued along the highway and entered Earlham Village, he'd begin to urge the villagers to evacuate. Naturally, that meant the people from the mansion as well; in other words, a reunion with her.
"Would've been much cooler to see her again after taking care of it all…"
Partial. Partial. Everything was halfway. The subjugation of the Witch Cult was halfway; so, too, the duty entrusted to him at the royal capital. More than anything else, Subaru's heart was only halfway prepared to face the future, his mind-set not having changed since he'd aired his feelings several hours prior.
Subaru had yet to make up for all that he had done in the royal capital. He couldn't puff up his chest while reuniting with Emilia in a situation like that, and the knowledge caused a harsh throb in his chest.
Of course, Subaru's discomfort was not something he could weigh against her safety and that of others.
"—I committed three sins, he said?"
The words had been tossed his way just before he perished in a world dyed white. The words had convicted him as the fool who had broken his promise to her, trampled upon her feelings, and even robbed her of her life. Such was the curse left from when Puck killed him the third time around.
"Eii, cut that out! Why do I have to feel like that anyway? I'm heading to save her like a prince on a white horse. My land dragon's black and I don't make much of a prince, but I should be more up front about…er."
Fight. Had Wilhelm not told him this? That mind-set was not only for the battlefield. That mentality was precious strength, bolstering your spirit against any aspect of life threatening to crush you.
"That's how it is, huh, Wilhelm?"
"Hmm? Yes, it is so."
When he prodded Wilhelm, riding a little ahead, for agreement, the Sword Devil hesitated for a brief moment before giving his assent.
Julius, glancing sidelong at just the right time to catch the exchange, sighed as he said, "That is not something you should bother Master Wilhelm about. It is natural for you to be thinking of certain things, but would it not be better if you retained a little composure?"
"…In the first place, the stuff I'm thinking about has nothing to do with you."
"I thought you should admit you are in the wrong in this so as to clear the air, but?"
"Well logic's different from sentiment! Sheesh, that's right. Push comes to shove, that's how it is."
"—?"
When Subaru berated himself in a ragged voice, Julius inclined his head, watching uncomprehendingly.
In the middle of the exchange, Subaru became aware that he was snapping at Julius, just as Ferris had told him. Even if he accepted it logically, accepting it emotionally was a different matter.
But as Ferris had pointed out, letting it compromise his judgment was getting his priorities mixed up.
"Ah, er, yeah. There might be something I need to…say to you before we move on."
Without looking at Julius as he rode beside him, Subaru haltingly and carefully broke the ice. Subaru was at pains to choose the words that would remove the seed of discord between them as soon as possible.
Ahead, the highway sandwiched between forest to the left and right was growing narrower, but it would still be a long time before Earlham Village ought to be visible, practically tailor-made to give them time to talk.
"When we linked up on the highway, I thought we'd already made the stuff before water under the bridge…but sorry. It seems that I still haven't been able to digest it."
"…"
"It's not that I don't trust you. It's just, I guess there's still dislike of you in my mind, and that's why I've been giving out bad orders here and there… Well, that's what Ferris told me."
"…"
"No, this isn't because Ferris told me that, but we're in a situation where we all need to work together, and I agree with him that you can't have feelings of mistrust between people like this, so…"
"…"
With Julius silent, Subaru beat around the bush as he continued the conversation. He was frustrated with himself as much as with the listener's not indicating he was following along. It was beyond absurd if Subaru turned out to be the only one feeling awkward.
"Hey, have you been listening to me? It's just me talkin' like I'm the only
—"
Subaru, glaring forward with a look of guilt, let spittle fly at that point as he turned to face Julius. The very fact that he made the outburst, scowling as he turned to glare at that handsome face, underlined that he'd lost sight of his original goal of a conversation to clear the air, but—
"—?!"
The instant Subaru vented, a sudden gust of wind blew, making him subconsciously cover his face with his arms. The unexpected gust, mixed with the scent of flowers, sent his forelocks aflutter, and after a moment of shock, wondering what had just happened, he realized—
—the long line of land dragons had vanished, and he was alone.
2
"What the—?!"
He immediately realized he was in an emergency situation. But he didn't know what had happened.
Wide-eyed, Subaru surveyed the area, hands still gripping the reins. The scenery around him differed little from before; he was dead center on a highway flanked by trees. The difference was that there was no sight of the allies who had been close to him mere moments before, leaving him all by himself—
"No, I'm not alone."
"…"
Drawing the reins close, the stiff-bodied Subaru was still riding on Patlash. The low body temperature conveyed through the saddle was intact; he figured he hadn't been split off from things he was in physical contact with.
"If that's so, some kind of spatial distortion or teleport… Then…?"
He'd been split off from his allies in the blink of an eye, so he figured the method had to be along those lines. The scenery Subaru was looking at had not changed. Maybe it was everyone but Subaru who'd been jumped somewhere else.
And naturally, only the Witch Cult benefited from isolating Subaru from the others.
"Shit! This ain't the time to stare into space, Patlash!"
Subaru cracked the reins and sent the land dragon galloping as he berated himself for being so slow to grasp the situation. Patlash neighed, and her strong legs propelled them in an instant—Subaru was attempting to use speed, enough to send the wind itself flying, to extricate them from their isolated situation. During that time, Subaru squinted, wary of attack from any direction.
If his guess was right, Unseen Hands might well come flying from yet another Sloth.
"…"
But in spite of Subaru's wariness, there was no sign of Unseen Hands coming. Doubts crept in, and simultaneously, uncertainty formed in Patlash's steps. The cause was the same thing that was giving Subaru pause: though they'd sprinted at full speed for tens of seconds, the scenery didn't seem to have changed at all.
Mere teleportation could not explain this situation. It made him recall a similar experience.
"This is like Beatrice's infinite corridor…? But there's no doors here!"
Only once had Subaru experienced a similar phenomenon: when Beatrice, a little girl living at Roswaal Manor, had used magic to turn a corridor into a spatial loop. At the time, Subaru's keen judgment had led him to open the correct door, immediately bringing the matter to an end.
However, it would not be so simple this time around. They were in the wild, and there were no doors to be had, correct or otherwise. In other words, Subaru's intuition was useless for resolving the situation.
"Damn it, just after I stop worrying about things all on my own, this happens!"
He lamented that he had stood and faced one hardship with all his being, only to have this happen immediately. Subaru surveyed the area, clicking his tongue at the unchanging scenery.
"Heyyy! Anyone there?! Is it just me here?! Answer me! Someone—!!"
Subaru desperately raised his voice. Worst case, he'd be drawing the enemy to his position, but he didn't care. If he could draw even a single foe away from his allies, it was better than doing nothing at all. However, Subaru's idea was fruitless, with no sign of either friend or foe answering his call.
It was odd. It was strange. Had Subaru been sent to another dimension all by himself? He was not thoroughly versed in the rules of magic of that world; was such a thing even possible?
"Hold up, Patlash. Let's be cool… Calm down and think…"
Accepting Subaru's instruction, Patlash slackened the speed of her run and came to a standstill. That instant, when they were stopped, was the perfect moment to strike, but there was no sign of that, either.
The forest had returned to eerie silence, with nothing to hear save the wind and the voices of insects. With so many living, breathing humans erased, desolation dominated the world all the more.
The situation was truly what the world would be like if it came under the
Witch Cult's dominion—
…No? No, this is different.
Once he'd thought that far, a palpable sense of wrongness made Subaru jerk his head up. He looked around the area. The scenery had not changed. However, when he focused his ears, he heard his own heartbeat mixed with Patlash's breathing, and something like the sounds of crickets—sounds that would have been extinguished if it were a world ruled by the Witch Cult. "It's not teleportation. Then what the hell is it…?"
He hadn't been transferred to a place under the Cult's dominion. Furthermore, making the same highway scenery loop over and over should have been impossible even for ultra-top mages. If that was the case, something was wrong with his premise.
He thought back to what had initially taken place. What had happened at the instant when he thought, I'm alone? First had been a gust of wind. That was strange all by itself.
Patlash's wind repel blessing should've been up. If I wouldn't feel shakes or wind normally, where the heck did that gust come from?
—
Something happened the moment that wind blew. No, if something was the trigger, it happened before that. If this was an attack, what stood out was…the scent of flowers?
The scent of flowers. Yes, the sweet scent of flowers. The thick aroma had mixed with the gust of wind, slipping into Subaru's nostrils, soaking into his brain. And that very moment, the aroma was thick enough to make his chest feel awful.
—?! Uh, eh, what the heck…?
The instant he thought about it, the scent of flowers, which he had ignored to that point, invaded his nostrils. He instinctively rejected the clearly abnormal aroma, instantly shielding his nose in the face of the dangerous scent.
"Have we been walking around in this flower scent all this time?"
Subaru shuddered at the indecipherable power that had slipped in without his notice. Simultaneously, he realized that if the scent was the cause of his circumstance, there had to be flowers.
Therefore, the scent was coming from— "These flowers blooming on the side of the road."
Subaru dismounted Patlash and walked over to the flowers blooming right at the roadside. The flowers, petals gently swaying in the wind, resembled the flowers known as pansies in his world. However, now that Subaru had determined that flowers were the cause, he was suddenly at a loss.
If the flowers were the cause, should he uproot them? Stomp them underfoot, maybe? Without any firm idea of how to deal with them, Subaru decided to first snap a flower off with his hand— "Urgh…?!"
The instant he tried to touch the flower, wriggling vines became like whips, lunging for Subaru's neck. With incredible strength, the narrow vines wrenched Subaru, the power of the unexpected attack drawing out an anguished cry.
"Ack…agh…!"
Falling on his backside, Subaru tore at the vines as they tried to strangle him.
Hard. The vines were so tough that you wouldn't think they were plants, rejecting his fingernails, trying to kill Subaru with the bloodlust of an animal. Subaru bent back, reaching out with a hand, calling for aid from Patlash.
The black land dragon stood behind Subaru, quietly staring at his battle with the flower. She merely watched, with no sign of making any move. Subaru lamented with a sense of despair. But that despair was overshadowed by the sense that something was off.
"—"
Having served Subaru so faithfully thus far, it was unnatural for Patlash to overlook this situation. Why, then, was this the case? The possibilities were twofold: Patlash had abandoned him, or she didn't see the struggle. Subaru dismissed the former out of hand, concluding it had to be the latter. Patlash didn't see it. Flower scent. Hallucination—
"…There…is…no…flower…!!"
He denied it—the flower bringing death right before his eyes. No such dangerous flower existed. Subaru was seeing a world that was not possible. Accordingly, it was a sham.
Tears clouded his vision. No, something other than tears was clouding it. Patlash's form wavered, and the fraud that he'd thought was his companion vanished. There was no one else in Subaru's virtual world.
—It was all a fraud!!
"—Ahu! Gah-ha! Geho, hnnm haa!"
The instant he shook it off, the sensation of the vine wringing his neck vanished. With a chance to breathe at last, Subaru coughed as oxygen filled his lungs, trying to see what had happened with his teary eyes.
Right in front of Subaru, the flowers that had put him through a terrifying experience were burning. Petals, vines, roots—all were enveloped in crimson flames, burning black and falling to pieces. And the one doing this was a flickering red light floating right above the burning flowers—a minor spirit.
"You again…"
It was the red minor spirit that had also saved Subaru earlier when he was the madwoman's captive. While he gasped for breath, the spirit that had rescued him from peril came right before his eyes.
Subaru immediately put his hand out, receiving the light's warmth with his palm.
"—! This means…!"
He took in that heat at the same time that the flowers finished burning away. The petals had become ash and the sweet aroma had been swapped for the stench of something burnt; immediately after, the world changed.
The highway he had thought infinite began to waver, bleeding into the sky and the forest to the left and right. The world was warping like a painting being dissolved by water. Then, in an instant, it seemed to snap right back.
The world had reconstituted itself—no, he had been freed from the illusion, and returned to the real world.
"—Subaru!"
A voice called out to him. Raising his head at the sharp voice, Subaru returned to the world as it was.
Standing right in front of him was Julius, calling to Subaru as the red spirit rested upon his shoulder.
3
"So it was you…"
"There is no mistaking that abusive tongue. I do not believe anyone could reproduce your invective toward me this faithfully."
Subaru was sour at Julius's face being the first he saw upon his return;
Julius responded with mild sarcasm. However, Julius immediately pulled Subaru's arm, bringing him to his feet, and motioned with his chin toward the surrounding area.
When Subaru followed suit and looked around the area, he stood dumbfounded, gaping at the state of the expeditionary force. All the neatly lined members of the expeditionary force, man and mounted beast alike, were at a complete standstill.
"Someone has attacked us. An illusion-type incantation, but it only sent my mind astray for several seconds. At present, only you and I have returned from it. How did you come back?"
"A few seconds? On my end it was minutes. Maybe 'cause it was all in my head?"
"I never would have thought that you possess the power to resist such magic. How did you make it back?"
"Wait, everyone got trapped by this? Seconds or minutes, at this rate we'll all be stuck in place and make a real nice target. We've gotta do something!"
"That's why I'm asking you how you came back!"
With their mutual doubts clashing, the lack of headway aroused Julius's anger. The rare reaction shocked Subaru. Realizing it was no time to argue, he switched gears.
"It was burning the flowers inside the illusion that caused it all. Er, when
I say burning, it wasn't me who burned them, but anyway, the flowers are the trigger. So by getting rid of 'em."
"Flowers…flowers, you say? I see…a suggestion incantation carried by a flower's aroma… But…"
Julius let his words trail off as he surveyed their comrades still under the spell. Then, in front of Subaru—who was wide-eyed and at a loss for what to do—he slowly raised his arms. As he did, his arms served almost like a perch as several lights emerged into view. They glowed in different colors, six in all; among them was the red light that had saved Subaru.
"You! Then that's…"
"This is the radiance given off by my little buds. I shall henceforth inform everyone of how to break the illusion—In! Nes!"
Julius, indirectly responding to Subaru, spread the fingers of his outstretched hands. The lights that seemingly glided onto his fingertips were colored white and black. The two lights intermingled, growing in intensity, and before Subaru's amazed eyes, their light enveloped the world around him.
"Wh-what's…?"
Going on? Subaru was about to say, but the change jabbed into Subaru's brain faster than he could say the words.
"Nn! Choiya! Choiya! Huh, no one's here! Where is this?!"
"Huh?"
He heard the girl's faint speech expressing incomprehension of her situation—no, strictly speaking, it was not speech. This was not a voice, but rather thoughts; not sound, but emotion, her will conveyed not to Subaru's eardrums, but rather directly to his brain. Nor were the thoughts hers alone.
"I've gotten lost…no, split off. This is bad, at this rate…" "Darn it, this is the worst. I keep wreckin' the forest and it don't change a thing." "This sort of trick at a time like this…! Lady Crusch…!" "Sis! Sis! Where are you?!" "TB might be crying by now!"
"Gaaaa…!"
They were flowing, flowing into him. The muddy stream of thoughts was merciless, slipping through his ears into his skull, through his skull into his brain, and pressing down upon that brain with a weight beyond what it could handle. The big helping of multiple thoughts and emotions, barbs and all, leaped around inside Subaru's skull, leaving him moaning in anguish.
He couldn't really tell if it was pain or suffering. It wasn't really pain. It wasn't really suffering. It was simply…heavy.
"—Was the sensitivity too high? I'm sorry. Please breathe deeply and bear it."
"Aarrghh, you jerk…!"
"Right now I have no time to calibrate solely for you. Getting everyone back takes precedence."
That was all Julius said before closing his eyes and ceasing to move to concentrate on his incantation.
Amid his agony, Subaru levied curses upon the handsome young man responsible for that suffering. Even when he did as told and took a deep breath, not even a smidgen of relief was forthcoming. Then, as before, his brain was filled with a multitude of thoughts. At this rate, it would soon liquefy and pour out of his ears. I've gotta put these thoughts in order, thought Subaru.
The muddying of thoughts and stirring of minds was Julius's doing. He'd used some kind of magic to produce that situation, allowing him to convey the means of breaking the illusion. Think. Someone spread the flowers around inside the illusion. Several people are free of the illusion and are breaking through the vortex of thought. Still so many. So many still captured.
Brain waves intermingled time and time again. But like thorns being removed or teeth being pulled, the number of thoughts was dropping. People were returning from the illusion's evil hand to the real world.
"At this rate, everyone shall be freed, and…"
Subaru kept scratching at his thick sweat, enduring the ragged brain waves even the ringing in his ears could not blot out. He brusquely wiped off the cold sweat dampening his brow, panting as he looked up to the sky. The next moment— "—!"
He heard faint breathing. The source was the sky, right above Subaru's and Julius's heads. There was a break in the forest canopy in which the sun was floating in the sky, and with that sun at its back, a figure in white landed at Subaru's side.
With Julius focused on breaking the illusion and keeping his eyes closed, the figure proceeded to drag Subaru by his arm.
"Oh, wai…!"
Julius, pouring all his energy into the incantation, did not move as Subaru, caught by the white figure, nearly fell down. The figure in white, face concealed by the white robe covering it from head to toe, was set to drag Subaru off without asking. Instantly, he instinctively realized that the person before his eyes was the caster of the illusion. Of course, the Witch Cult had to be involved. If Subaru was dragged off, the expeditionary force would lose its means of resisting the Unseen Hands.
"Shit! Wait, there's no way anyone's letting you do whatever you… Uu?!"
The instant Subaru braced himself, trying to resist, his planted foot was swept away, sending Subaru flipping over, unable to even cry out. The offthe-charts martial arts skill didn't even let him get a word in.
At that rate, the figure in white would try to drag Subaru right out of that place— "Duaaa—!"
But a cloth-rending cry and the unleashing of silver light interrupted the attempt.
Stepping forward and pounding home a sword strike was Wilhelm, the first of the others freed from the illusion. With the speed of a god, the Sword Devil unleashed his sword, seemingly to vent his rage at the one who had ensnared him in the spell. The arc traced by the slash was without mercy, set to run straight through the slender figure in white. However— "Wbah?!"
The figure in white violently tossed Subaru into the grass and, with frightening dexterity, barely evaded the sword strike. The evasion, made with an absolute minimum of physical movement, made Wilhelm, who had been certain of a killing blow, open his eyes wide in shock.
"—Fulla!"
As if to blow that admiration aside, the figure thrust a cane forward with an explosion of magic. The target was the ground under Wilhelm's feet, gouging the surface out in a circle, slowing the Sword Devil down.
When Wilhelm then leaped toward his foe, slashing upward, something caught him by the chest.
"Guh…!"
Wilhelm's well-honed abdomen creaked as his body was sent flying by force unthinkable for the tiny figure's size. The cane's tip was pointed at the Sword Devil as the air twisted before it. The resulting cascade of air was about to slice deep into the Sword Devil—but a slice of steel rent it first, causing its mana to explode.
"—"
In an instant, Wilhelm went from narrowly escaping death to going on the attack, closing the distance with the white figure. Midrange was the range at which an enemy could use magic. Wilhelm would be at a disadvantage for as long as it took to get to close range. But the Sword Devil's disadvantage was overridden by another factor—the advantage of superior numbers.
"Doraaa!!"
A great hatchet flew into the air, bearing down on the white figure's rear in a ferocious assault. Accompanied by a roar, Ricardo's blow held enough might to break through even the White Whale's bedrock-like hide. The attack, which could only blow its target away, slammed into the defenseless figure in white, sending its slender body ferociously flying away—
"What the hell?!"
But Ricardo, having delivered a blow of certain death, shouted not in victory, but in shock. The cause of that shock was the white figure sent flying —no, the enemy spinning through the air of its own volition. Frighteningly, the figure in white had turned in concert with Ricardo's strike, diminishing the power of its impact.
Subaru could only guess at the level of skill required for such a feat, which could only be called godlike.
"Your skill is splendid—but…"
"You're makin' a big mistake if you think you're walkin' away from this!"
Between the Sword Devil's praise and the great wolf's roar, the enemy twirled the short cane in its palms and engaged in combat.
The raging great hatchet and vertical and horizontal silver slashes leaped forth, creating a zone of certain death. The white figure seemed to dance while slipping past, weaving magic in the meantime to take both warriors on.
It was an unbelievably good fight against the two forming the main striking power of the expeditionary force. But as the battle raged between combatants beyond the ken of man, the third blade to intervene decided the matter.
"—"
"Though you are our foe, I am captivated by your skill. However, this has gone far enough."
The white figure held its breath as Julius's sword rested against its neck.
During the battle, the entire expeditionary force had been freed from the illusion. Having lost all opportunity to buy time and escape, the white figure ceased to resist. It was not just Julius, but also Wilhelm and Ricardo, from the right and left, holding the figure in check.
"The battle…has been decided."
There was nowhere to run, a fact their opponent conceded.
"…Kill me. I will not be defiled."
Surrounded by hostility, the white figure accepted its own demise with extreme apathy. The voice was high-pitched; the shoulders under the robe were slender. From the tone of voice, Subaru knew it was a girl.
Wilhelm's eyes widened at the prideful declaration; Julius's and Ricardo's eyes met. Unrest spread as the expeditionary force, now back to reality, grasped the circumstances.
"W-wait! Wait, wait! Wait a sec, please!"
It was then that Subaru, covered with grass from his tumble, raised his hand and his voice.
After being thrust into the weeds, Subaru had watched the battle, unable to help in any way, but with the match decided, the sound of the girl accepting her defeat made him come rushing to the spot.
He did it not because the opponent was a girl, but because he knew that voice. And when Subaru leaped forward, the opponent recognized him as well.
"—Barusu."
"Ahh, been a while since I was called that. Wait, it seriously is you?"
Deflated at the unexpected assailant's identity, Subaru let out a very long sigh. At Subaru's reaction, the person in the white robe pulled down her hood.
And so, the girl's lovely, stern face appeared, with pink hair and pale-red eyes.
"—Ram."
It was Ram, maid of Roswaal Manor.
4
"Now I suppose you will explain the meaning of all this, Barusu."
Having plunged the expeditionary force into unprecedented crisis and spectacularly giving Wilhelm and others the runaround, Ram brushed dirt off her body as her extremely displeased eyes stared daggers into Subaru.
"What's the meaning of this? Isn't that our line…?"
Squirming under the stern gaze, Subaru surveyed the sorry state of affairs along the highway. Along the highway and forest were traces of the recent battle, along with allies now freed from the illusion. Fortunately, the aftereffects from the incantation were limited to light headaches, and there were no wounded, Ram included. However, the lack of casualties did not in any way mean that the issue was settled.
How in the world did it come to this? thought Subaru, holding back a sigh as he looked at Ram.
"The gist is, you launched a preemptive strike and people fought back. Fighting your own side really sucks… Wilhelm, you're not hurt?"
"A small scratch from wind magic. I will ask Ferris about it later. More importantly, I am glad I did not get ahead of myself and slice her down.
There would be no taking such a thing back."
Wilhelm lifted an arm up, showing off his sliced cuff with a strained smile. Responding to the magnanimity, Subaru put a hand to his own chest in relief.
"Wilhelm…Wilhelm van Astrea?"
Ram, arms folded while listening to Subaru and Wilhelm speak, murmured thus when she heard the old swordsman's name. Addressed by his full name, the Sword Devil turned toward her.
"Hmm," went Ram, nodding her head. "I did not imagine the Sword Devil would be my opponent. I can accept having lost."
"Compared to my glory days, 'tis little more than a nickname. Each day, I strive to resist decay, but I cannot defeat old age. My skills are two steps behind my former peak."
"Having been laid low by such dulled skills, those words feel like irritating sarcasm."
Ram crisply cast Wilhelm's modesty aside. The Sword Devil seemed to like that attitude from Ram, but Subaru did not. He pressed Ram about the rude tone of her words.
"Hey, what's that attitude you're giving Wilhelm? Setting aside you're always like that with me, you should be politer to other people at l—ow!"
"Receive outsiders in the manner of guests, you say? I see, it is as you say. My, my, there is no excuse for my repeated rudeness, dear guests."
Flicking Subaru's nose with a finger when he drew near, Ram proceeded to elegantly bow to everyone present. As she behaved like a perfect servant, a cold smile came over her beautiful, doll-like face.
"I apologize for my repeated rudeness, but the mansion of Marquis Roswaal L. Mathers lies ahead. At present, at the command of my master, I am not receiving outsiders, so I ask that you please detour and leave."
"Slip the dagger in at the end, huh? Besides that…what the heck's that supposed to mean?"
"It means what it says. Currently, the environs of the mansion are in a state of heightened alert. I cannot allow outsiders to approach…though I suppose such words are wasted on an ingrate such as you, Barusu."
"Ingrate…?"
Subaru's expression clouded over at the appraisal he could not dismiss.
"Yes," said Ram, nodding. "Is it not so? Having received such great favor from Master Roswaal, you curry favor with another master as soon as he seems done with you. Or perhaps it was all an act to enter our good graces to begin with? If so, it would seem that you received your just deserts."
"Wait! You're getting this all wrong! You're completely misreading the circumstances!"
"So this is what a dog that bites the hand that feeds him is like."
"Listen already!"
Ram's acrimonious demeanor was a daily ritual, but the hostility included with it was the real deal. The gaze she shot Subaru's way was frigid enough to make his insides tremble, telling Subaru that something was badly wrong.
There was a reason for her to be this rigid. It was to prevent this, to not allow for any misunderstanding, that he'd—
"…Right, the letter of goodwill! That's what writing that letter was for.
Didn't it reach the mansion?"
"—Letter of goodwill."
Subaru had taken pains to clear up any possible confusion about the circumstances. When he spoke the words, Ram's eyes narrowed, her reaction demonstrating that she recognized their significance.
But her reaction to the ring of those words was absolutely not a favorable one—
"…Ram, what are you angry for?"
"Certainly, a letter arrived from the royal capital. But it is useless to characterize that thing as written in goodwill."
Ram's voice had little intonation, barely holding back the fires of a burning rage. When Subaru failed to understand the meaning of her emotion, Ram snorted as she spelled it out loud and clear.
"When I think of the letter that pompous messenger arrived with… Calling a blank piece of paper a letter of goodwill is quite a farce. What did you mean by this, Barusu?"
"It was a blank piece of paper?!"
It was Subaru who was horrified at learning the incomprehensible truth. Ram continued to glare at the bewildered Subaru, anger oozing from her eyes.
"The wax was formally sealed with the Lion Rampant seal of the House of Karsten. In other words, Duchess Crusch Karsten was making a declaration of war against a rival candidate for the throne… Well, that is how we took it."
"That's crazy! Why would you decide it was that so fast…?"
Subaru was drowning in Ram's conclusion when Wilhelm intervened.
"Sending a blank letter is a method of conveying to the other party, 'We have no intent to negotiate.' It cannot be helped that they took it in that manner."
The creases of his brow knotted, a stern face on him as he shook his head toward Subaru.
"As a matter of fact, were a white letter delivered to me, I would arrive at the same judgment as she: a display of hostile intent."
"Then what happens if you seal a blank letter and send it by mistake?! If a war starts over that, what does history say—'Oops'?"
"Then one could only set the heavy burden aside and give up. That said, I did not judge hostile intent by a single piece of paper, either. But there were multiple issues, so…"
"What do you mean, multiple issues…there's even more?!"
The bad report had been more than weighty enough. Yet, there was still more on top of that?
"Two days ago, the forest around the mansion became unnaturally calm… to the point that even my eyes could catch nothing. Thereupon, an armed group appeared bearing the crest of the House of Karsten, which had declared war with the blank letter… Surely you cannot blame my little bird's heart for being on the verge of breaking?"
"Ugeh…!"
The sidelong glance Ram shot him put Subaru's flea-size heart on the verge of breaking.
Though Wilhelm had a worried look on his face, Subaru raised a hand, feeling the desire to curse Fate for the nightmarish entangling of circumstances. It was the worst diplomatic position ever.
In other words, Ram had mistaken the letter of goodwill, the Witch Cult, and the expeditionary force as signs of a hostile camp. Thus did she treat Subaru as a wicked villain who'd betrayed Emilia to Crusch.
"That's a huge misunderstanding! In the first place, do I look that cunning?!"
"Well, this is what a dog that bites the hand that feeds it looks like."
"You're still saying that?!"
"I have hardly said it enough. But it's fine. It is clear for the most part."
Though Ram's words were sharp, she'd no doubt gleaned the high points of the situation during the conversation. Perhaps that was also because she hadn't detected the intellect required for wicked scheming from Subaru's replies.
"So…you sent a blank letter by mistake and you are still Lady Emilia's dog… You're fine with that?"
"I'm not, but it's okay. Dogs are like family, so for Emilia I can be a dog, sure."
"That would be a rather base ambition, would it not?"
Wilhelm pointed out what low sights Subaru had, but Subaru, worried that the conversation wasn't progressing, shook his head. At any rate, with the misunderstanding cleared up, he had to get right to the point.
"Wilhelm included, everyone here is reinforcements—we're on your side. Anyone making you worry, we're gathered together to send 'em packing."
The worst of all misunderstandings threatened to bring the hard-won alliance crashing down. Aghast at that fact, Subaru puffed his chest out, establishing his goodwill toward Ram.
Ram furrowed her brows, so Subaru got to the point.
"I fulfilled the objective of me staying in the royal capital—an alliance between Emilia and Crusch, as equals. The people gathered here are the proof."
5
Immediately afterward, they set off toward Earlham Village with Ram in tow.
They had no time to waste. The misunderstanding-driven combat with Ram had cost them even more. Subaru endeavored to explain things to her while they headed toward the village.
That included the fact that they were allied camps. He was grateful his comrades in the expeditionary force were taking things so well. They'd accepted Subaru's earnest apology and Ram's gratitude for their help after her initial hostility, taking it all in stride. Thanks to the zero casualties, those words had ended the matter.
"You did give Wilhelm some trouble…but he even hid the wound from it."
"A fine man, just as the rumors said."
"Oh, yeah. He is, isn't he?"
"What are you so pleased for, Barusu? It is creepy."
Subaru, gripping the reins, overreacted as he agreed with the words of praise for the Sword Devil. The sight of it brought a genuine scowl to Ram's face; one of the hands on Subaru's hips jabbed him in the flank.
At present, Subaru and Ram were riding together on the jet-black land dragon's back. Subaru turned his head just enough to look at Ram, who was sitting behind him, as he thought back to the earlier battle.
"I have to ask…what was with that illusion attack earlier? I thought the only magic you could use was wind magic? No one told me about that part."
"It is a mixture of wind-type magic and a hallucinatory drug. I had truly intended only to whisk the commander away while the others were weighed down…but I never imagined you would be able to break free."
There Ram's words trailed off. She nodded to herself a few times and said, "You probably gained a resistance to the drug. The drug is derived from the leaves in the tea you always drank, after all."
"I was drinking that poison every time?!"
"I am kidding."
It hadn't sounded like she was joking, but Subaru did not press the issue further—not purely because he was afraid to know whether it was true or false, but also because he felt the trembling in the arms with which she touched him.
Realizing that her trying to break the tension had resulted in him blurting something out in plain sight, he said, "Sorry I made you put your guard up like that. Whatever the cause, you were pretty serious back there, huh?"
"I suppose… Serious enough to be resolved to take my foe down with me.
Can I truly trust the gentlemen behind us?"
"Or what, they'll seize the chance to march on the mansion? A pretty nasty bunch is after the place, after all. Even Crusch doesn't really want that much trouble."
"…So it is outlaws lurking in the forest that are after Lady Emilia, then."
"I really did write about that in the letter, y'know…"
With Ram unexpectedly hinting at the Witch Cult's presence, Subaru could only lament the cause of the jumbled circumstances. Upon his opening the lid of his painstakingly acquired insurance, it had turned into the greatest of all traps. However, the singular fact that a blank letter of goodwill had arrived brought a different problem into sharp relief—
Namely, that someone out there had swapped his letter of goodwill, aiming to turn Emilia and Crusch against each other.
"What happened with the messenger who brought the letter to the mansion?"
"We politely granted him our hospitality. After all, I thought that he might prove useful in the event of a prisoner exchange."
"Prisoner exchange…?"
Even if a prisoner exchange with the Crusch camp truly came to pass, the only people from the Emilia camp to have returned were Subaru and Rem.
When Subaru thought back to the surprise attack, he remembered that Rem's first move had been to try to drag Subaru off without a care as to appearances. Perhaps the purpose of that aggressive operation had been to get the "imprisoned" Subaru back.
Though even if he asked Ram about it, there was probably no way in hell she'd give him a straight answer.
Either way, she already had someone from the most powerful candidate in her grasp. If the messenger proved to be a spy, she would interrogate him, simple as that.
"Anyway, you can relax about the enemies hiding in the forest. We've already smashed seventy percent of them. We have a way to draw out the last thirty percent, too."
"…The enemy is seventy percent crushed? Barusu, are you are saying that you destroyed them?"
He'd conveyed the state of the battle with the aim of changing the subject, but Ram was taken aback upon hearing the words. In modern warfare, losing 30 percent of your fighting strength was considered being routed, but even in an age without modern logistics, 70 percent was a considerable number. The Witch Cult was on the verge of being wiped out.
"But where they're concerned, they've gotta be annihilated down to the last man. Besides, the fewer they are, the more time it'll take to find 'em.
Plus, it might make them desperate."
"So that is why you assembled the transportation needed to evacuate…
Holing up in the mansion is a poor plan, I take it?"
"These guys would set it on fire and not even blink. We have a lot of memories of that mansion, so I don't wanna see it go up in smoke. Easy to understand why running is better, huh?"
Along with the reinforcements he'd brought were the horde of traveling merchant dragon carriages. When he explained the force's various objectives, Ram closed her eyes, sinking into thought. Many of them were the result of Subaru's own independent decision making. It was natural for her to be bewildered by it all—and yet:
"Sorry to act out of turn, but this is my decision. As for the right to decide…Roswaal's not at the mansion, is he?"
"—That's right. Right now, Master Roswaal is traveling to Garf's…to the sanctuary. Currently, I am under instructions to obey Lady Emilia's commands."
"Did Emilia order you to smack anyone approaching the village with illusions?"
"That was my independent judgment."
"Figures."
Even if she was backed into a corner, it would have been far too violent an order for Emilia to give. Subaru patted his chest, relieved at the fact. "…You are naive to be relieved about that part, Barusu."
"Ah?"
"I said, the village has come into view."
Subaru hadn't caught her murmur the first time, so he thought Ram had repeated her words as she pointed forward. At her urging, Subaru turned his eyes to the road ahead; the entrance to Earlham Village truly was within view.
The highway, continuing to infinity within the illusion, had come to an end. To Subaru, it had been a very long road, enough to make the proper return a sight for sore eyes.
"I'm finally back…"
Not once but twice had he returned to find the village a tragic sight. When he had returned to the village before that, Subaru's mind had been whittled down to the bone. So to him, this was a first.
"But…doesn't feel like there's much of a welcome."
The expeditionary force passed through the entrance, entering the village square. Amid that imposing atmosphere, the villagers poked their heads out of the surrounding homes one after another. However, the expressions on their faces were certainly not sunny; naturally, they were ones of worry and confusion. Subaru could hardly blame them; an armed group had suddenly appeared in the village's midst.
"Ram, how much did you tell the villagers?"
"…I warned them not to wander outside the village and to stay out of the forest. I did not touch upon any of the details."
"Okay. Nice call."
If the Witch Cult was even guessed at, the village would surely be in chaos. Perhaps Ram was to be commended for keeping that part a secret, considering that she had thought the Crusch camp was her enemy.
"Hey, isn't that…Master Subaru and Miss Ram?"
"It really is. So Master Subaru has come back…"
One by one, the villagers began to realize that it was Subaru and Ram on dragon-back. With all eyes upon them, seemingly in charge of the group, Subaru got off Patlash, judging it a good time to do so. He was probably best suited to explain the situation.
"Barusu…"
"Just wait a minute. I'll talk to 'em—Wilhelm, Julius, Ricardo."
Subaru put a hand up to Ram and addressed the three heaviest hitters of the expeditionary force. He chose them because they would amplify his persuasiveness to the villagers. They weren't just reliable; they looked the part. Subaru brought the three with him as he walked straight into the center of the village square.
"Subaru, it would seem that they are concerned. Do not neglect to be considerate."
Nodding at Julius's whisper, Subaru took a deep breath before loudly clapping his hands together. Seeing the Subaru they knew so well do this made the villagers widen their eyes, wondering what was going on. Seeing from their reactions that he'd nicely gathered their attention, Subaru opened his mouth to set their concerns at ease.
"Yes, everyone's attention, please! Hi, it's been a while. It's been a few days, but is everyone doing okay?"
"…"
"I know coming back like this is really sudden, but today, I'm asking everyone to do something."
After a modest greeting, Subaru switched to the topic at hand. The way Subaru raised his voice made the villagers, surrounding him from a distance, look at one another's faces.
They all knew Subaru, and he knew all of them. Understanding their worry and confusion, Subaru spoke in the gentlest voice he could, but also laid things out very quickly. He wanted to convey the situation with haste, enough to deny them time to think about other choices—and enough to make evacuation a reality.
"Actually, the demon beasts in the forest seem to be getting bad again. These are the people brought in to wipe them out…but I want everyone away from the village until that work is done. Of course, I prepared the
transportation in advance. It might not be that comfy a ride, but…"
Hiding the lie behind a layer of truth, Subaru selected words that would not startle the villagers as he continued speaking. Their memories of the demon beast–related crisis two months before were surely still fresh. He had to be convincing when he told them that the forest beyond the barrier still harbored demon beasts.
Behind him, they could see an expeditionary force formed of veterans and numerous traveling merchant dragon carriages to transport them. Even if it felt high-handed to him, Subaru pushed forward while concealing that the
Witch Cult was attacking. However—
"The evacuation will be for half a day at shortest, one or two days at most. Sorry to cause trouble for everyone, but please accept this as the safest way to…"
"—Why are you lying to us like this?"
—In the end, that was a judgment formed according to Subaru's notions of common sense.
"Huh?"
Subaru's eyes widened at the sudden interjection. The one who had spoken was a youth with a crew cut. As one of the village's band of young men, he had exchanged words with Subaru numerous times.
It seemed that he'd spontaneously blurted it out, but when Subaru met his eyes, he hesitated for a moment before stepping forward.
"You bring a huge group of outsiders…to hunt demon beasts? Why tell us something like…?"
"Because, hey, it's dangerous. I mean there was the demon beast ruckus not long ago, right? We need to deal with it before it becomes that bad this time around, so…"
"Don't try to pull the wool over our eyes!"
Subaru tried to correct the precarious atmosphere, but the young man would not lend Subaru his ear. His unsophisticated face had a scowl on it, his fist shaking as he glared at Subaru.
Upon it were repressed rage and despair, and irrepressible fear.
"Master Subaru, you said you were trying to clear up our concerns, but… doing it this way is making everyone in the village afraid! We've been thinking the Witch Cult is up to something the whole time!"
"Uh…"