Chapter 106 - x

It was then that Emilia raised her hand, seeking another opportunity to speak.

"Just now, you used the word excuse… Does that mean you convinced everyone else to come using various reasons like you did with us?"

"If you're going to come anyway, I should at least prepare a proper gift.

All I did was just as I told you before, Emilia, nothing more."

"What we want most… But for Crusch and them, that would be…"

When Anastasia replied with a cutesy smile, Subaru glanced over at Crusch and company.

What Emilia wanted was a magic crystal to use as a catalyst to call back Puck. And considering the problems facing Crusch and the others, the thing they wanted most was information about—

"We came to Pristella because Lady Anastasia claimed to have some information concerning the incident with the Archbishop of Gluttony."

"—!"

Crusch had a look of determination on her face. Her words made Subaru unwittingly rise to his feet.

He couldn't ignore this kind of news. Subaru glared at Anastasia as if by reflex, whereupon Anastasia flashed a strained smile and stroked the scarf around her neck.

"It's not as if I'm trying to be mean to you, Natsuki. It's just that there's an order of priority. I can sell this to Lady Crusch and company higher than I can to Natsuki… Am I wrong?"

"…That's the thinking of a merchant all right. It doesn't sit well with me, but I can…understand."

"Coming from you, that's quite impressive."

"Oh, shaddap. Don't poke me when I'm only just holding it together."

Expensive merchandise was sold to the highest bidder. That was just a merchant's natural way of thinking.

Subaru barely avoided exploding in the face of Anastasia's lecture. However, if Julius landed even one more hit, Subaru was in real danger of blowing up for real.

"But you know… That's just…"

Subaru looked at Anastasia, trying to find some handhold to cling to. Perhaps he should have directed his plea to Crusch for even the slimmest possibility of awakening Rem, the Sleeping Princess, from her slumber.

However, faced with the fragile look on Subaru's face, Anastasia let out a deep breath.

"There's no need to put on such a sad face. Don't worry—I won't hide this secret from only you."

"…R-really?"

"It's no lie. But you should know that this is a request from Lady Crusch and her people. They're all goody-goody sorts who don't believe it's right to keep the information to themselves."

As Anastasia shrugged, her words left Subaru flabbergasted as he turned toward Crusch. As he did, Crusch looked back at him, trying with all her might to keep her expression firm.

"Naturally. Of course, I wish to settle the affair of my own memory with Gluttony personally. However, I understand that Master Subaru's fondest wish is to help that girl."

"Crusch…"

"Besides, I believe that the more we are united on this matter, the better. Our opponent is a cunning Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins who has continued to evade all attempts to hunt him down. I shall not hold a grudge regardless of whose blade reaches him first."

The joking way Crusch put the last part left Subaru bowing his head as relief flooded him.

No doubt it was very much her full intention to settle things with the one responsible for stealing her past. Her consideration for Subaru, who had a similar objective, made her bend even on this.

Even with her memories lost, the soul of the fair and just woman named Crusch Karsten was in no way diminished. She remained true to her own way of life.

"Really, thank you. I'll do my best to live up to those expectations.

Somewhere, somehow."

"Even so, we will likely be first. I do not intend to yield to anyone, either."

As Subaru voiced his determination, Crusch puffed out her chest, undaunted.

Her demeanor made Subaru and Crusch exchange an out-of-place smile. Her knight, Ferris, looked upon this without being amused whatsoever.

"Grrr, you seem to be having a lot of fun, Lady Crusch. You need to stop being so fond of Subawu. He should be satisfied with one flower in each hand right meow. He doesn't need any more."

"Ferris, is that not a rude thing to say? Master Subaru is not so unfaithful as to make eyes at just anyone."

"Yeah, cut it out, Ferris. It's true that Crusch is cute and beautiful, but the line going forward from my heart is… Well, it splits into two midway, but it's still straight and na— Ow, ow, ow?!"

"No one else would call that a straight line, and that lack of selfawareness makes it even worse."

When Subaru tried to chime in on the Crusch camp's master-servant dispute, Beatrice gave his ear a mighty pull. But when Subaru objected with a tearful face, Beatrice feigned innocence.

Off to the side of that exchange, Crusch lowered her face, cheeks faintly flushed for some reason.

"Oh, dang. Emilia-tan, did I say something weird even for me?"

"Mm, did you? I think you're always saying similar things to me, though…"

"Well, yeah. So what's with this reaction…? Maybe if I hold Emilia-tan's hand, the answer will come to me. Can I hold your hand?"

"Work hard and think for yourself this time."

When the hand he was unable to grasp slapped him on the forehead, Subaru frowned in silence. After watching the pair's exchange, Ferris discreetly brought his lips close to Crusch's ear.

"See, just look at them. Subawu is indiscriminate. He'll try that with anyone at all if you give him the chance. It's an illness, meow. You shouldn't pay it any attention."

"Understood. I'll be more careful. Phew, that really surprised me."

After taking Ferris's advice to heart, Crusch took an unexpectedly deep breath and put a hand to her remarkably ample chest.

The gesture was adorable in every way and convinced Subaru that Crusch doing unexpectedly feminine things was incredibly appealing. Setting that impression aside, Crusch and Ferris smiled at each other like a pair of best friends.

"So to put things back on track…my people are in the middle of sorting out the information Crusch and Natsuki desire. It should be tidy enough to hand over by tomorrow or the day after, so can you hold on a little till then?"

"Seriously? I just can't stop the urge to speed this up. Can't you give us anything in advance, even a small bit?"

"Rushing keeps you in Rizzi's debt forever. Not good to flirt with total loss, is it? So calm down."

"Ggggh…"

Chided with a saying that probably meant haste makes waste, Subaru groaned and sat back down. Emilia and Beatrice both put a hand on one of his shoulders.

At any rate, it seemed that everyone had a reason of their own to come to Pristella.

"—Heh, well, isn't this quite a group? According to Lachins, it was only

Ms. Half-Elf and Anastasia, but I guess not."

The door to the reception room forcefully slid open, and everyone's gazes assembled on the girl boldly crossing the threshold.

The girl had bright, glimmering, dazzling blond hair and big, round red eyes. What looked like little fangs peeked out from under the lips of her confident, smiling face, which gave off a mischievous charisma. She was still a small girl with a delicate physique, but her femininity seemed to have faintly increased.

However, as typical, her clothing style was straight out of the slums, and the always-energetic Felt burst onto the scene with her core remaining wholly unchanged.

When she surveyed the faces of those assembled, she seemed very relaxed as she closed one eye.

"Even though it's been a year, it's surprising how little you've all changed. Well, I suppose the same goes for me."

"—Lady Felt, if I may?"

Felt sighed, as if her expectations had been dashed, then immediately broke into a smile. The change in her expression was bewildering, but then Reinhard gently stood at her side.

Reinhard knit his refined eyebrows as he gazed at Felt, his own liege.

"A proper set of attire for going out in public was provided to you. What happened to it?"

"Ha! Who'd go along with your taste in outfits? Sightseeing was just the most convenient way to find a change of clothes. Understand my personality already, Reinhard dear."

"Truly, you are so…"

Unbelievable, Reinhard broadcast from the way he covered his face. Felt straddled the threshold of the room, looking positively delighted at having pulled a fast one on the man who was the nation's hero and its strongest warrior.

Then when she turned her head toward those assembled in the reception room again, her confident expression softly vanished.

"I am truly grateful that you have invited me here today. Let us have some productive discourse as fellow royal-selection candidates—okay, formalities over! Deal me in, 'kay?"

After offering a glimpse of conduct so refined as to be enchanting, Felt swiftly reverted to being a mischievous rascal. The way her uninhibited personality stomped all over decorum left Subaru, at least, feeling good on the inside. The girl's energy had only grown over the past year.

"I have to say, what a weird city, and this is a weird building. All the novelties everywhere wore me right out."

As she spoke, Felt happened to sit cross-legged on the square cushion Reinhard had been using. Reinhard drew a separate cushion over for himself, putting her between the awkward grandfather-grandson pair.

Of course, this hadn't been deliberate on her part, but it was just like her to do something like that purely by instinct.

"A novelty… If that is what you think of it, then I'm happy. Actually, I have other reasons for picking this inn, too… Wanna hear them?"

"Don't just build suspense. It's a bad habit of yours."

Felt raised the corners of her lips as she jabbed a finger at Anastasia's transparent scheme.

The very casual exchange between the two was a sign of how they had closed the distance between them. It seemed that some encounter Subaru was unaware of had greatly improved the relationship.

Acknowledging Felt's request, Anastasia touched a hand to her mouth as she smiled.

"I just can't beat you, Felt. Actually, this inn has a large, wide…hot spring."

"By hot spring, you mean a huge bath?!"

Felt's eyes glistened as she practically leaped to her feet.

"A bath sounds great! Back in the slums, a chance to soak in hot water was hard to come by, and I loved it. Hey, you've finished all the important talk, right?"

"The greetings have already ended…but, Lady Felt? Do not tell me you deliberately came late to the inn hoping to avoid serious conversation…"

"Ha, not listening. Hey, sisters, let's go to the bath already, bath!"

Ignoring Reinhard's reproachful comment, Felt addressed Emilia and the others. Emilia was surprised she had called out to her, but it didn't take long for her to smile in return.

"Mm, a bath is fine with me. I really want to see what this big bath is like."

"I suppose you are right. We are tired from a long journey, so that might well be best."

Emilia seemed excited, and even Crusch agreed with an elegant smile. Of course, neither Felt, originator of the proposal, nor Anastasia, boaster of the hot spring, was going to object.

"Wait, seriously, a hot spring? With these girls and this setup?"

"Hey, Mister, don't get in the way of our fun. All right, it's settled, so let's go!"

Felt folded her arms toward Subaru, who had been left scrambling after she started dictating the pace. Then an especially mischievous smile came over her face.

"Today, we bathe! Then we eat! I'm not talking a word about anything else!"

A manly declaration indeed.

5

In the end, Felt had the last word, and it was decided that everyone would split up, reassembling in the large reception room once more at dinnertime.

That said, it wasn't as if Subaru objected to Felt's proposal, either. If anything, the offbeat plan to switch things up was so good that he admired her for coming up with it.

Subaru had just found the possibility of gleaning information on an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins in a place he never expected it. He wanted to earnestly address this and other worrying elements that concerned the camp as a whole.

The most obvious issue was Garfiel having hit a wall.

Beatrice had told Subaru to wait and watch as Garfiel overcame it with his own strength, but—

"—General, sorry, but do ya mind if I head outside for a bit? I don't think there's anythin', but I better stick an ear out anyway."

After the initial end of the meeting in the reception room, the men gave a send-off to the girls, who were on their way to the big bath, then were left to their own devices. That was when Garfiel came to Subaru with the request.

"Garfiel, worries or not, you're damn strong."

"But I ain't the strongest. That ain't good enough."

That was the last thing Garfiel said as he turned away and walked out of the inn.

Considering his role as their escort, Subaru should have stopped him. But he did not. He trusted that Garfiel of all people could make a recovery of some sort in one night.

—Therefore, Subaru could sub in for him for that one night, couldn't he?

"He calls me General and treats me like his older brother. This is the least I can do for him, right?"

In fact, Garfiel's other honorary older brother would've been here if he wasn't walking around the city that very moment—or walking and drinking, rather. That meant it fell to Subaru alone to do what he could for their little brother.

"Damn you, Otto, not being here when I really need you… Seriously, what an Otto."

Praying his younger brother wouldn't grow up to be like that, Subaru headed to the large reception hall when it was time for dinner.

When he did so, he saw the girls, who were back from bathing, as well as the men rendezvousing with them at the appointed time— "B-Beako, your outfit…!"

"Oh-ho, how is it, I wonder? Today's Betty is a different flavor than the norm."

Beatrice wore a smug face as she greeted Subaru. Her cheeks were faintly reddened from her recent bath, driving her cuteness to even greater heights, but that wasn't what surprised him.

Beatrice was always seen in her extravagant dress, but he was floored by the sight of her in a yukata.

"Ohhh, incredible, just incredible, so they even have yukata here! And it looks really good on you! Beako, you're so pretty! Beako, you're so lovely! Did you manage to put it on all by yourself?"

"It's only natural, I suppose. To Betty, such a feat is more trifling than a cupcake."

"Heh, that figures! Well, that's what Beako would say, but is it true?" "Tee-hee, don't doubt her. It's true. Beatrice only tripped on the hem twice."

"S-slander, I wonder?! Subaru, between Betty and Emilia, which one do you believe?!"

"The moment you asked that question, you already lost."

That was the normal judgment to make, for Beatrice was predictably dishonest while Emilia was entirely too honest.

Emilia softly smiled as Beatrice's face became redder still. She was in a yukata as well, with her still-damp silver hair tied up neatly behind her head.

This gave him a perfect view of the nape of her neck, which was truly marvelous. She smelled nice, too.

"Subaru, you seem to be breathing heavily through your nose. Do you have a fever?"

"A slight fever of love, maybe. Emilia-tan, can I braid your hair?"

"That's fine, but I think we're about to sit down for a meal. Do you mind doing it after?"

As Subaru touched the tip of her bundled hair, Emilia pointed to the table as she pushed her counteroffer. He grudgingly backed down, which was when he abruptly noticed that all the eyes in the room were gathered on them.

"What, did something weird happen?"

"I'm thinking, it's really hard to pick up how much distance there is between Mister and Miss. That didn't feel all that sexy, and the last time I saw you, your relationship was pretty horrible."

"Please do not dredge up what happened at the castle. It doth make my chest hurt."

Subaru deeply bowed to Felt, who was sitting cross-legged in a yukata as he made his plea.

"Ha! What's this all about? I guess Mister really got his act together, huh?"

His reaction made Felt laugh and look up from the book she was reading, which was something he normally wouldn't picture her doing at all. She closed the book, which had a pressed flower as a bookmark, and said, "Come to think of it…" She tilted her head before he continued. "I heard in the bath that my piece-of-junk knight bullied your blond boy? Sorry about that. I'll set him straight."

As she spoke, Felt used the book in her hand to thwap Reinhard on the shoulder. She showed little sign of restraint, giving the red-haired knight's brows a constrained look.

"Lady Felt, that manner of speaking will invite speculation. He and I simply had a misunderstanding, and I was a little rough in the way I handled it. That is all… As a matter of fact, he is tremendously powerful despite his young age."

"That patronizing lack of self-awareness really isn't convincing. I mean, you're basically merciless toward anyone who shows any promise. You always leave Gaston and the others half in tears after you're done working 'em over."

Reinhard's assessment of Garfiel's worth made Felt stick her tongue out with an exasperated look on her face.

But at the very least, Subaru understood that Reinhard's words were his true beliefs. He'd said that because he genuinely respected Garfiel and acknowledged his might.

Perhaps that was the most dangerous part of his character.

"Incidentally, Lady Felt, about that outfit…"

"What, it's not somethin' a royal-selection candidate would wear? Look around—all the other girls are wearin' the same stuff, damn it. I can't be the only one to complain about it."

"No, not at all. I only meant to say that it suits you very well."

"Shaddap."

However, it was incredible to see just what vivid invective Felt directed at Reinhard.

He was the man most trusted and respected by the kingdom's people. Virtually everyone sincerely praised him as a knight among knights. A sweet word from him would be enough to make many a woman swoon, but Felt batted it aside like it was so much garbage.

Subaru was becoming genuinely concerned that things weren't going quite as swimmingly with them as the rumors would suggest.

"On that score, our side's pretty close to ideal…though Crusch's people take number one on that list."

"We what now?"

When Subaru put a hand to his chin in thought, Crusch directed a questioning look at him.

Of course, Crusch was no exception and wore a yukata as well—in a different manner than the dresses she commonly wore now, the thin yukata fabric, which was draped elegantly over her figure, heightened her feminine grace.

He knew that the outfits were originally worn as nightwear for evening revelry, but they were top-notch for charm as far as Japanese clothing went.

"Yeah. You and Ferris are really close, but you guys don't have that kind of relationship, right? I'm in a slightly different situation because of the ulterior motives I started with, but you guys have, like, a picture-perfect relationship."

"When you put it like that, I feel like blushing, tee-hee. Yes, Ferris?"

"Ferri very much has ulterior motives where Lady Crusch is concerned, though."

Instantly, Ferris's statement made the air in the reception hall freeze over.

Crusch's expression remained locked in a charming smile, while Ferris gazed at her with a grin. Incidentally, Ferris was also wearing a yukata. He'd changed into one at some point, and it suited him just as well as it did any of the girls. At any rate—

"Sorry for exposing a secret no one needed to hear. Let's eat?"

"Please do not unearth bombs and attempt to flee like that!"

Crusch lamented with tearful eyes as Subaru tried to retreat to dinner.

Perhaps it came as a bolt from the blue as far as she was concerned, but Subaru hadn't been deliberately searching for explosive secrets like that, either. What to do? thought Subaru as he let his gaze wander.

"Ferris, I cannot approve of you startling Lady Crusch like this."

The one comment that changed the mood all at once had come from Wilhelm, who had been holding his silence.

Sitting formally in a yukata, the Sword Devil's words made Ferris touch a finger to his own lips.

"Oh no, even Old Man Wil doubts Ferri's feelings?"

"Respect, affection, romance. Cease courting chaos by teasing the lords and retainers in attendance. I am compelled to note that preying on someone's naivete is not adorable in the slightest."

"Boo. You're so strict, sheesh."

Wilhelm's gravitas-filled lecture made Ferris pout and surrender. After that, Ferris contented himself by snuggling his face against Crusch's shoulder. "You don't have to get all worried like that. Of course it's a joke. Ferri having all kinds of ulterior meowtives with Lady Crusch would be bad on so many levels."

"Y-yes, I suppose it would. Phew, you surprised me. Because I cannot use my blessing properly at the moment, I feel like I might be misunderstanding your feelings about many things, Ferris."

"—That's not the case at all."

Crusch was breathing a sigh of relief, but the look in Ferris's eyes that moment tugged at Subaru.

For an instant, an intense emotion filled his eyes. It might well have been his personal brand of agony.

Though he acted in a frivolous manner, the suffering borne by Ferris over the last year was probably comparable to Subaru's. He painfully understood the regret and anguish at Ferris's very core.

"Errr, preparations for dinner seem to be in order, so would you mind bringing it in?"

Having waited for a natural lull in the conversation, Joshua instructed the inn employees to set the table. As they got to work placing one dish after another atop the long table, surprised reactions sprang up all around.

The varied cooking was something Emilia and the others had never before seen, but Subaru's reaction was for a different reason—he was shocked by the unexpected familiar sights.

Since this world had no seas, cooking with fish meant fishing from rivers. Naturally, this meant there were few truly large fish, making sashimi dishes and the like quite hard to come by. Therefore, seeing such a wealth of fish dishes in a place like this was all the more surprising.

"We can eat it just like this?"

"How do you like it? Never seen it before, have you? Everything here comes from the Great Tigrasea River nearby and is prepared by experienced cooks. It's good enough to qualify as a specialty here at the Water Raiment."

It seemed that culinary traditions not bound by the Kingdom of Lugunica's common sense were still being passed down. Either way, one dish emerged after another based on Japanese cuisine, further deepening Emilia's and company's bewilderment.

The first one to break through their hesitance was not Anastasia, hostess of the banquet, but rather—

"Here! Like this! This is how you do it right!"

Unfortunately, the utensils were forks, but Subaru thrust his into some sashimi of a fish he didn't recognize, applied the soy-sauce-like seasoning, and tossed it into his mouth in one go.

Then as Emilia and Beatrice went "ah!" in surprise beside him, he licked his chops.

"Deeeelicious! Ahhh, it's been so long since I had sashimi! This is the best! You're the greatest, Anastasia!"

"I-it's tasty?"

"It's a masterpiece! The fish is fresh, so it tastes incredible! It's a shame. If you had sushi vinegar here, I could try copying my dad's sushi-chef pal and make some nigirizushi!"

"Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying… But I see. So it is tasty, then."

The gist of Subaru's stream of consciousness had apparently gotten through. Emilia chose to believe only the most critical part and did as he had, putting soy sauce on the sashimi before trying it herself.

When she did so, Emilia opened her round eyes wide. "Mm—!" she went, happily clenching and waving a fist.

Seeing the same honest reactions from master and retainer alike, the others in attendance put their hands on the food one after the next.

"Grrr, Natsuki, there you go spoiling my fun again…"

Anastasia had had her thunder stolen, leaving her ever so slightly dissatisfied. But Subaru's and Emilia's idyllic reactions finally made her expression relax.

"Goodness, there's no helping you children… Hey! Leave some for me!"

The dinner party was host to various worries, and certain faces were not in attendance, but even so, all who did participate were able to enjoy a brief respite.

—For that one night, the moon and the world seemed willing to allow a tranquil moment when all regular concerns could safely be postponed.

6

As they mutually agreed to forget they were political rivals for the time being, the night wore on.

The dinner in the reception hall came to an end, and Subaru finished bathing before returning to his room. The staff seemed to have laid out futons during the guests' absence, so everything was ready for a good night's sleep.

"Subaru! It seems that an intruder snuck in during the time Betty and others were gone!"

"Yeah, looks like the futon you made a big mess of got all tidied up. What

a vandal."

Chiding Beatrice for her unnecessary wariness over the two futons lined side by side, Subaru gently tucked the sleepy-looking girl into bed.

Incidentally, ever since forming a formal pact, it had become the norm for Subaru and Beatrice to share a room. Anastasia had arranged separate rooms for them, but Beatrice would crawl into Subaru's futon in the middle of the night regardless, so he politely declined the offer.

Of course, this was not because Beatrice was too much of a child to be able to sleep alone, but because much of the mana drawn from one's Odo was generated during sleep, it was nothing more than consideration for Subaru's physical condition.

Therefore, it is not because Betty wants to be with Subaru. Would you not take this the wrong way, I wonder?

That was what Beatrice had told him shortly after forming the pact.

In this case, it really didn't matter what her true intent might be. Subaru had become very accustomed to hearing the sounds of someone else sleeping nearby over the past year. And it helped him stay warm on cold days, too.

"Is that a mass of green poison, I wonder…? You won't get away lightly if you eat it…"

She must have tired herself quite a bit, because Beatrice was swiftly dragged into dreamland as soon as she got into the futon, moaning in fear from the trauma of the wasabi from supper that evening.

Savoring his partner's adorable sleeping face, Subaru gave his back a good stretch in the middle of the room.

"Now then, how about I take a little stroll until I get sleepy?"

Tightening the belt of his yukata, Subaru headed out of the room in high spirits. He hadn't settled on a destination, but he had no intention of walking as far as beyond the inn, figuring that he would get some air out in the garden.

He imagined the scenery, which greatly resembled a Japanese garden, would look great under the moonlight. Looking up at the round moon through the corridor's window, Subaru squinted at its silver light.

It was a quiet night. In terms of defenses, the hot-spring inn had sections that were overly exposed, but given the lineup staying there at the moment, he could only pity anyone foolhardy enough to try to break in.

I do not think anything will happen, but if something does occur in this district, I will hurry over. Please rest at ease.

Such were Reinhard's reassuring words when they parted ways in the hall.

The fact that he'd used the word district rather than inn was so reassuring, it was downright scary. Given his personality, it was possible he was being modest just choosing to not use the word city.

"Reinhard, huh…"

Thinking of his friend, who quite possibly might still be on guard even at this time of night, Subaru lowered his eyes—it was hard to forget how unpretentiously Reinhard had agreed he was Subaru's friend.

During the unexpected reunion earlier in the day, Subaru had reforged his broken friendship with Reinhard. But that didn't mean that the terrible things Subaru had said or the loathsome attitude he'd shown on that fateful day in the past were permissible.

Friends should be equals. That was what Subaru believed. Whatever Reinhard thought of the matter, Subaru owed him a debt. How could he call himself Reinhard's friend without repaying it?

Wasn't there something, anything at all, that Subaru could do for the sake of his friend Reinhard?

" "

As he pondered such thoughts, his feet brought him to the garden, whereupon Subaru's breath caught at the sight that greeted him.

Under a black sky and a silver moon, with clouds draped over the moon to lend the place an even more bewitching allure, he saw a single person standing there, enjoying the refreshing breeze.

The man had a sturdy back and a head and beard dyed white. Subaru knew only one person with those distinguishing features.

"—Mr. Wilhelm?"

"Sir Subaru? Did I alarm you?"

Wilhelm had probably sensed a human presence long before Subaru noticed him. Addressing Subaru, Wilhelm put his arms through the sleeves of his indigo-colored yukata as he turned around. The gentleness of his gaze matched his outfit remarkably well.

The sight of the Sword Devil putting his hands through the sleeves of a yukata as he stood in a Japanese-style garden somehow came off as picturesque.

"It is a quiet night, yet you were unable to sleep?"

"—. Nahhh, it's not actually like that. I just thought I'd give this garden a look at night. I figured it'd be a good view, so that's what I was aiming for."

"I see. Then it was rather boorish of me to intrude on such a solemn nightly occasion."

The way Wilhelm spoke those words with a sentimental smile and a soft voice left Subaru scratching his cheek. For Subaru, hearing Wilhelm's voice was immensely reassuring. For some reason, it also made him blush a little.

Wilhelm was the person Subaru respected most in this world.

There were many people Subaru wanted to stand alongside, compete with, and be considered equal to, but it was quite possibly Wilhelm alone who made Subaru think I wanna look up to him while harboring something akin to envy.

Wilhelm was pretty much Subaru's ideal, both as a person and a man.

Therefore, as Subaru scratched his cheek, he shook his head at Wilhelm's modesty.

"No, no. You're not intruding at all. If anything, the Sword Devil suits a Japanese garden so much that it's carving a photograph into my heart for

eternity. I like seeing people under a moonlit sky."

So far as Subaru knew, the person best suited for a moonlit sky was without a doubt Emilia.

Her silver hair twinkled and glimmered in a way the sun's rays never did. Emilia's beauty was like fleeting moonlight. That's why Subaru hoped to one day become a star that nestled up to the moon.

Accordingly, Subaru found the sight of the Sword Devil standing under a moonlit sky symbolic of his aspirations.

"You should whisper such words not to me but to a woman. What a waste."

"With my face, even if I say flowery lines like that, it won't get me very far, and those phrases don't work one bit on the girl whose heart I want to tickle most right now."

"One must choose words for the sake of the woman one cares for most… That frustration is part of the joys of love."

Wilhelm's teasing tone made Subaru's shoulders sag in a comedic fashion.

"Ohhh, it's been a long time since I've seen you with that love-story vibe. So Mr. Wilhelm had times like that, too, huh?"

"But of course."

When Subaru bowed reverentially according to established custom, Wilhelm said, "Well then, I suppose it cannot be avoided," looking particularly pleased as he began to tell his tale.

He gazed with his blue eyes at something far in the distance as he recalled a beloved memory.

"I am clumsy with my words even today, but my past self was far worse. A man lacking in words. When I first met my wife, the issue of a man with thoughts of nothing but swinging a sword in his mind must have bored her to tears."

"But the missus enjoyed talking to you anyway, right, Mr. Wilhelm?"

"My wife was a profound woman. Even as she suffered under the weight of the destiny she carried upon her slender back, she never spoke one word of that to others. That was probably why I was attracted to her from the first time I ever laid eyes on her…but I was so foolish at the time not to realize any of that."

Wilhelm's voice held a whiff of regret and shame, no doubt from embarrassment at what an unsociable person he once was. Getting this rare reaction out of him helped Subaru feel at ease.

"Who'd have thought Mr. Wilhelm was, you know, unsophisticated like that once?"

"I truly had offered up every part of my being to the sword. When I gripped a sword, I forgot all other thoughts, immersing myself as if that was what gave meaning to my life—it was my wife who reminded me of the

reason why I chose to walk the path of the sword."

"Is that when you first realized you liked the missus, by any chance?"

"…It seems you have seen right through me, Sir Subaru." Subaru responded to Wilhelm's listless murmur with silence.

Wilhelm probably didn't realize what kind of face he was making just then. That he was comfortable showing him such a face made Subaru deeply proud.

Wilhelm's eyes, the creases on his cheeks, the tone of his voice, his gestures… Every part of him was saying one thing. Even at this very moment, from the instant he had first met her, he loved his wife—Theresia van Astrea. Seeing that face, anyone would realize he was still in love.

"—!"

Without his knowledge, Subaru had come to the verge of tears while looking at Wilhelm's expression. Heat was rising into the back of his eyes. For some reason, his chest got hot like this when he looked at the face of someone in love. It would really put Wilhelm in a bind if he started crying at a place like this, wouldn't it?

"It is as you say, Sir Subaru. It was then that I realized my feelings for my wife."

As Subaru lowered his head to conceal his tears, Wilhelm continued to recount long-gone days. Accepting his generosity, Subaru listened to the man's tale as the ache inside him only grew stronger.

"Swinging the sword was everything to me. But it was the thoughts I had before swinging the sword, and the thoughts I had from swinging the sword, that made me all that I was. My wife realized that about me as if it was a matter of course. From then on, when I swung my sword, I thought of my wife."

"You still do even now?"

"—Then and now, what links me to my wife is the sword."

Wilhelm paused slightly before weaving the words in response to Subaru's question.

As Wilhelm faced Subaru with the moonlight at his back, his eyes had grown damp from complex emotions. He felt pride. He felt regret. He felt hesitance, passion, and shame. Bravery and tragedy were present, too.

—But behind all these emotions was love.

"So long as I grip a sword, my feelings for my wife shall no doubt persist. Accordingly, when I die, I want to die with a sword in my hand. To me, that is nothing less than continuing to be with my wife."

Wilhelm was too clumsy, too blunt, to love her in any other way.

Subaru drew in his breath, taking many shallow breaths as if he was gasping for air. His tongue was numb, and he felt like his lungs were convulsing. But he pressed on his chest to suppress his beating heart and forced his tongue to move.

That moment, with Wilhelm gazing into the distance before his eyes, he had to say it.

"Please don't say ominous things like when I die. Mr. Wilhelm, you're young, almost too young, and it'll be a real problem if you're always thinking about retirement."

"Sir Subaru?"

"Crusch and Ferris are both super dependent on you. Crush must struggle with not being able to remember her memories, and Ferris doesn't let it show, but he must be stretched pretty thin from supporting her any way he can, so they need you, Mr. Wilhelm. Besides, even I—!"

" "

"Even I have lots of things left I want Mr. Wilhelm's help for. Maybe this is a naive way to think when it comes to political rivals. But I…" —Subaru liked Wilhelm.

Wilhelm kept his feelings for his departed wife close even as he struck down his foes. That was why Subaru respected him as a man.

Even if Wilhelm had no awareness of it, even if amid repeated loops Subaru had spent no more than ten days as his apprentice, Subaru admired Wilhelm's strength.

Subaru was frightened to hear words that acknowledged death emerge from Wilhelm's mouth.

—Even more than before, Subaru was sensitive to death among the people he personally knew.

His promise with Roswaal was one reason, and it was also the effect of Return by Death altering Subaru's own thoughts. When he thought of someone he knew dying, he lost all control over his emotions.

It was enough that he had secret fears where Emilia and Beatrice were concerned.

"It seems that as is typical, I chose my words quite poorly."

As Subaru stood stiff, Wilhelm closed the distance between them with a pained smile. Drawing closer one step after another, the Sword Devil ended up right before the edge of the porch on which Subaru stood.

Then his blue, steely gaze pierced Subaru's flickering black eyes.

"Sir Subaru—that may be a virtue of yours, but it is also a weakness." The words held no echo of a smile. But nor were they scornful scolding.

Somehow, it sounded as if he was debating a point like an elder speaking to his junior.

Or if Subaru was to put it more precisely, the tone was like that of a grandfather speaking to a grandchild.

"My wife was very much the same. It was a bad habit of hers to suppress her own feelings, prioritizing the hearts of the people all around her and always placing herself last."

"Bad habit, you say… Nah, to begin with, I'm not that saintly a guy. I'm not wishing for everyone everywhere to be happy or anything like that. I'm a guy who thinks that if I can just make sure the people around me are happy, that's enough."

"The issue is that the range in question is the people around you. My wife did not wish for it, but she possessed a power unsuited for any single person to wield. Her hopes and her wishes extended far beyond the reach and breadth of that power."

Wilhelm's wife, Theresia van Astrea, was the previous generation's Sword Saint.

Over the last year, even Subaru had become versed in the history of her brief career. She who had led the charge that ended the Kingdom of Lugunica's civil war that threatened to destroy the country, a hero and national savior—that was Theresia.

Subaru Natsuki could not possibly compare his heroic deeds with hers.

"I understand what you're saying about your wife. But there's no way in the world that applies to me."

"In times of peace, my wife was an ordinary woman who enjoyed looking at flowers. The heroes whose names are passed down through history did not continue being heroes in their daily lives. And, Sir Subaru, the extent of your name, and the reach of your hand, is far greater than you currently imagine.

Hereafter, it shall only be more so."

"That's not…"

"I am certain of it. For all you are unable to do alone, Sir Subaru, I believe you are a man who can gather others who cannot do these things alone, either—and in doing so, you will make success possible where it was not before."

" "

Subaru was in shock. That was all he could feel in response to the exaggerated worth Wilhelm had assigned to him.

Subaru wasn't strong, he lacked intelligence or wisdom, and he was halfhearted and weak-willed to boot. Precisely because he couldn't do anything alone, he had to talk other people into doing all kinds of things and always survived by the skin of his teeth over and over again, nothing more.

Why was it Wilhelm considered Subaru so valuable in spite of all that? "Perhaps you are not yet aware of it for the time being. I suppose those who do not realize your worth yet are many. However, someday, you, too, will understand, and so will everyone else."

"I'm a puny, helpless guy who's no good at anything, though."

"Yes. And it is that puny, helpless you, who is no good at anything, whom

I like."

Punctuating his words with a brief pause, Wilhelm nodded with satisfaction.

"And the number of those who think the same shall surely grow."

" "

Subaru let out a deep breath.

Wilhelm really was exaggerating. The words were so unrealistic that they couldn't possibly be true. No one could have faulted Subaru for laughing out loud.

That he did not do so was because it was none other than Wilhelm saying it.

"—It seems I have rambled too much. I apologize for having kept you here for so long."

Seeing the melancholy Subaru harbored, Wilhelm bowed his head as if suddenly seized by embarrassment. But Subaru, seemingly regretting that he had made Wilhelm feel that way, shook his head from side to side.

"I'll give what you said just now some proper thought…and I'm kinda sorry. The original point of all this was to listen to stories about your wife."

"Not at all. It has been a long time since I have been satisfied… Well, perhaps not quite that, but I am glad to be able to speak of my wife. Neither

Lady Crusch nor Ferris have had much time for such things of late."

"I just accidentally learned something because Mr. Wilhelm hasn't had his fill of telling romance stories!"

"I've clearly gotten a little too sentimental. It is finally time to put an old man's long stories to rest."

Wilhelm flashed a wry smile as he moved a foot from the garden onto the porch. The atmosphere said that the tale was over, so Subaru nonchalantly offered his hand to help Wilhelm up to the corridor.

" "

Wilhelm accepted Subaru's hand and climbed up onto the corridor. Feeling the weight of the elderly swordsman's body through his arm, Subaru suddenly recalled the situation in the reception hall for an instant.

Simultaneously, the thoughts he'd had on his way to the garden came back to him.

Perhaps this would be very insensitive and brash of him. Yet, even so—

"Mr. Wilhelm. It's not my intention to go from someone sticking his nose into another camp's domestic affairs to thoughtlessly trampling on the hearts of others, but…"

"—. Yes, I am listening."

"…Can't you get along with Reinhard? You're family, aren't you?"

He could imagine the complexities that probably surrounded the relationship involving the grandfather and grandson of the Astrea family.

Perhaps crudely intruding upon that would cost him the trust he had built up with Wilhelm. But this was what he thought: What value was there in a relationship you merely clung to, not saying anything for fear of hurting the other?

And if Wilhelm intruding as he had done was meant to make Subaru think precisely that…

"A thought occurred to me while speaking with you, Sir Subaru."

" "

"Why is it that I am unable to talk like this with my own grandson?" This was the source of Wilhelm's agonizing remorse.

All expression vanished from Wilhelm's face. He was expressionless but hardly emotionless. These were powerful, powerful emotions locked away deep inside a hardened shell—these were undoubtedly regrets.

"I am a man of many regrets. However, there are three regrets I have amassed over the course of my own life for which I have absolutely no excuse. One of them is the cause of the current rift between my grandson and me."

"But that frustrates you, doesn't it, Mr. Wilhelm?"

"I am not allowed to feel frustration over this. That is the weight of the words I pounded into my grandson…into Reinhard at the time. They were egregiously, unforgivably…foolish."

While emotionless on the surface, there was a fire that raged inside Wilhelm that seemed like it would scorch his very soul.

These were the hellish flames of anger that had continued to blaze over those long years in Wilhelm's unforgiving heart. The fires of regret had combined into one great conflagration, the flame charring Wilhelm, not permitted to cease until he was turned to ash.

"For the sake of avenging my wife, I averted my eyes from this regret. And now that I have avenged her, I know this is truly the time to approach him."

"But the courage just won't come?"

"To my great shame. Thinking my grandson hates me even now, I cannot bring my feet to move."

Wilhelm lamented from the bottom of his heart how disappointed he was in himself.

Seeing the old man seemingly shrink dramatically, Subaru was seized by shock. Then after the shock wore off, he couldn't help bursting into laughter.

"Sir Subaru?"

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to laugh, but I couldn't hold it in."

Wilhelm was making an incredulous face, but it was Subaru who found what he said hard to believe.

There he'd been, resigned to the possibility that the relationship between the two was so hopeless that it might only grow worse, and yet.

"Mr. Wilhelm, it sounds like you don't think you deserve to call yourself

Reinhard's grandfather or something."

"Yes, it is as you say. Even though I know I am in the wrong, I find myself unable to take a decisive step forward. Such cowardice leaves me greatly frustrated with myself, but…"

"Yeah, you don't look like anything more than a grandpa afraid of being hated by his grandkid."

"…What?"

Wilhelm's expression, clouded up to that point, registered surprise as he blinked hard. That reaction kept Subaru's grin lingering on his cheeks.

"I don't know much about the reason things went sour between the two of you. I might be off the mark for all I know. But from my outsider's point of view, you and Reinhard genuinely want to patch things up. In that case, it's a lot better for the one doing the apologizing to go first."

"Surely, Reinhard will refuse to forgive me."

"If he won't forgive you right away, keep apologizing until he does. In the first place, apologizing isn't about someone forgiving you, is it? You apologize because you want to. The desire to apologize is selfish and arbitrary. I mean, the person apologizing is the one who did something bad in the first place."

" "

This time, it was Wilhelm's turn to be bewildered by Subaru's shocking leaps in logic.

Of course, Subaru was well aware of how selfish and arbitrary the irrational argument really was. Even so, it was something that Wilhelm, scared of speaking to his grandson and frightened of taking the first step, really needed. What he needed in that moment was the ability to be willfully ignorant, to brazenly act as if past regrets never happened, and a brash willingness to be caught up in the moment.

And Subaru Natsuki was a master of all these dubious skills.

"So yeah, apologizing all of a sudden after so many years have passed will make someone think, What's with this guy? But over the course of apologizing a bunch of times, that'll start changing. Hard to tell whether it'll become This guy's beyond help or This guy's so annoying, though."

"I believe that would count as a change for the worse."

"But it's still a change. Wouldn't any progress at all be better than keeping things horribly frozen in place like they are now?"

The popular image of Subaru was that he was someone who started out giving a whole slew of people the worst possible impression of himself. To Subaru, being surrounded by people who thought the worst of him was no big deal.

Besides, Subaru saw a chance for victory. After all, Reinhard—

"—Reinhard told me he wants to hear about what happened during the fight with the White Whale."

At the end of all those flippant words, Subaru revealed the fact that would probably become the key.

Reinhard had certainly asked Subaru about it on the way to the tearoom.

"I don't know what the White Whale has to do with you two not getting along. But if it is connected, Reinhard knows it's Mr. Wilhelm who struck the White Whale down. He knows that you spent over a decade to avenge his grandma, too."

" "

"He probably hopes it's high time for things stuck in the past to start moving, too."

There was no way for Subaru to know how Reinhard truly felt.

In fact, it still wasn't clear to him how they'd ended up friends in the first place. There were even times that he worried they'd become friends too easily. Part of that was probably due to his belief that Reinhard had never felt powerless or uninformed.

—But there was no way that was true. There was no doubt Reinhard also had things he worried about.

Even Wilhelm, who looked superhuman from Subaru's point of view, was just another man, another grandfather, another flawed human being with problems and baggage.

Was it so wrong to think Reinhard was the same?

If Reinhard was such a man, then there was something Subaru could do for him as his friend.

He hoped that all it would take was a single act of meddling.

"I wonder if my grandson…if Reinhard will listen?"

After a brief pause, Wilhelm wrung that question out of himself. Subaru smiled, because this was the exact trigger for taking the first step forward that Wilhelm had been looking for.

"First, you talk to him until he's sick of you. If he brushes you off, that's fine, too. I mean, I always approach Emilia-tan with the mindset that I might only succeed once out of a hundred tries."

"Unbelievable—"

Listening to Subaru's advice, the unexpected revelations made Wilhelm shake his head in disbelief.

Then the old man lifted his gaze, peering up at the silvery moon floating overhead.

"There is no besting you, Sir Subaru."

It was clear from his voice that he was smiling.

CHAPTER 4

NOISY TRANQUILITY

1

The next morning, Subaru, who had woken up in high spirits, was standing in the garden as the morning sun shone upon it.

Savoring the sensation of the cobblestones beneath his soles, Subaru filled his lungs with the refreshing morning air, going "Nnn—!" as he stretched his back. The sight drew a small smile from Emilia, who was standing next to him.

"What is it, Subaru? You're in a really good mood this morning. Did something nice happen?"

"Emilia-tan's wavy braids are super cute this morning, so it was totally worth spending a little time on them before bed last night."

"Is that so? I'm so glad. You kind of seemed to have something on your mind last night."

Smiling as she made that remark, Emilia gently stroked her wavy silver hair.

Just as they'd planned it the night before when Emilia's braids were undone, Subaru had given her silver hair a soft wave. Her normal hairstyle was cute, of course, but a beautiful girl had the special privilege of changing the accent of her charm from time to time.

Still, it was fact that he had caused so much trouble the day before. And of course he was still reflecting on his failure at the Muse Company, but this was this, and that was that.

"I'll just have to accept it with the gravity it deserves… Beako, what's with you this morning, pouting like that?"

"I am not pouting or anything of the sort. Would you refrain from making such arbitrary claims, I wonder?"

Averting her face, Beatrice sat on the porch as she gazed at Subaru and Emilia.

It's nothing, she stubbornly projected, but the girl had said barely a word since waking up this morning, and on top of that, she'd been constantly glancing around in unease. Even if she said don't worry, Subaru couldn't help but do so.

"It's not cute when you're stubborn like that. If something happened, then just spell it out. It could be important, right?"

"That's right, Beatrice. If there's something worrying you, let's all worry about it together. I'm becoming dependable, you know."

"I am of a mind to object to some of Emilia's words. But…"

Casting a suspicious look at Emilia as the girl pressed a hand to her chest, Beatrice broke down under the two's gazes. She touched one of her hair rolls, then twirled it around her finger as she spoke.

"Actually, one of the inn staff members said something yesterday, I suppose. This employee told Betty alone that at this inn, something inhuman appears at night in a hushed whisper."

"Ohhh, something inhuman?"

"At first, Betty laughed it off, I suppose. But just to be sure, she put her mind on guard. And then sure enough, did something not happen last night, I wonder?"

"Thump, thump…"

Captivated by Beatrice's tale, Emilia pressed a hand to her chest as her eyes darted this way and that. From that reaction, she was really getting into it as Beatrice's voice grew more heated still.

"In the middle of the night, Betty awoke to a strange presence. And did she gently slip out of the room, so as not to awaken Subaru as he slept with a stupid look on his face, I wonder?"

"Don't stare at people's faces when they're sleeping. It's indecent."

"I—I was not staring! Was my glance not as light and graceful as the snow, I wonder?!"

Beatrice had just incriminated herself in a panic, but she was cute, so Subaru decided to let it pass without comment.

"At any rate, Betty pursued that presence. Then just beyond the entryway,

I found the source of that aura…"

"You found it? And then what?"

"Did I confront that pale face floating in the darkness from the front, I wonder?! This face noticed Betty as well, and we entered a contest of stares… The battle continued on, one step forward and one step back!"

"A staring contest! And then, and then?"

"Oh-ho, but Betty is a Great Spirit, so the foe ultimately fled in terror, I suppose."

"I'm so glad—what a relief. I was worried Beatrice might have died right there…"

Having gotten far too invested in Beatrice's ghost story, Emilia's concerns were rather exaggerated. In the first place, if Beatrice were dead, just who was the adorable creature right before them?

That said, Subaru admired the fact that the story was fairly well thought out.

"So what actually happened, Otto?"

"Er, when I was on the verge of being sick just outside the entryway, I noticed Beatrice staring daggers at me… She vanished while I was crouched and feeling miserable, however."

It was just then that Otto entered the garden with a wobbly gait. Upon hearing the truth about last night from his lips, Beatrice muttered, "That cannot be…" in absolute shock.

It was said that fear made the wolf—or in this case, a drunken Otto— seem larger.

While Beatrice struggled to reconcile her memories with reality, Emilia tried to comfort her by stroking her head. Probably, the inn staffer who had told her about the apparition had quickly discerned that Beatrice possessed a rare and precious disposition; specifically, she was a really cute when teased character. Given the adorable red face he was looking at now, Subaru could only call this a job well done.

"Incidentally, you weren't back for dinner last night, either, so what were you up to?"

Keeping the charming Beatrice in the corner of his eye, Subaru cocked his head questioningly as he looked at Otto's pale face. Otto's pallor seemed drained of blood so early in the morning as he wobbled to the edge of the porch and sat down.

"I told you before we parted ways, did I not? Since we happened to have come all this way to Pristella, I wanted to meet people with whom it would normally be very difficult to sp-eak wi—ughhh."

"Sounds like you're living dangerously. You seem about as drunk as the first time we met, man."

"…In the case of Mr. Natsuki, I was not drunk when we first met, I believe?"

"If that's what you remember, then it's probably true. For you, at least."

Otto seemed to have no recollection of such an event, and at present, his memory was correct. Their first meeting from Subaru's point of view and from Otto's point of view differed greatly in place and subsequent developments. But Subaru had no intention of trying to explain over and over the happenings during various circuits of a loop that had been lost for eternity.

Deciding to move on, Subaru shot Otto's suspicious face a wink.

"Anyway, make sure you aren't a bad influence on Beako, or it'll affect her development. Well, I do understand that you were trying your best for the group, though."

"This, I did all on my own agh— I had other reasons for doing thish."

"—?"

"More importantly…" Bitterly twisting up his pale face, Otto scanned the garden. "I do not see Garfiel anywhere. It is unusual for him not to at least poke his face out, is it not? He is always the first to rise, howling from the peak of a mountain or something."

"That's because he couldn't find any other high ground to howl from. Errr, jokes aside, he's in a bit of a sensitive state at the moment. For the time being, be gentle if you run into him, 'kay?"

"To be perfectly honest, I wish I was the one being treated gently at the moment… Ugh, my head hurts…"

Subaru flashed a troubled smile at Otto's Groggy status as he wobbled and crumbled down onto the porch.

"So now that Otto is here, too, what are our plans for today?"

Hugging a sullen Beatrice from behind, Emilia inclined her head and posed the all-important question. Her words made Subaru go "right…" as he touched a hand to his chin. "There's the issue of renegotiating with Kiritaka for sure. What was the plan again, kidnap Liliana and trade her for the magic crystal?"

"Where did that drastic plan come from?! Did you really reflect on anything you did yesterday?!"

"Sorry, my smidgen of resentment toward Liliana affected my proposal."

Subaru apologized as Liliana's blissful face came rushing back to him, but Otto was too busy suffering from the effects of his own shouts on his hungover head to pay much attention. After moaning for a while, Otto continued with tears in his eyes.

"First of all, we are scheduled to visit the Muse Company at fire time today. I would be grateful if we could have White Dragon's Scale mediate, however…"

The name Otto mentioned was referring to Kiritaka's bodyguard, Dynas. White Dragon's Scale was the name of the mercenary company he was part of, which was currently hired to serve as Kiritaka's personal guard.

Although, in Subaru's mind, Dynas seemed less like a bodyguard and more like a private secretary whose main purpose was to deal with the Liliana issue.

"For the time being, I must ask that Mr. Natsuki remain here. I shall accept no rebuttals."

"Why…is what I'd like to say, but I'll keep it under wraps. Even I know the talks will go smoother without me there…but then what's the point of me coming to Pristella?"

"To play with Beatrice? It's good to make as many memories with her as you can."

"Is Betty somehow being treated lightly for some, I wonder?! I raise an objection!"

Beatrice's indignant protests were for the most part ignored, and with that, the afternoon plans were tentatively set. They weren't very involved plans, though; the gist was that everyone except Otto had free time.

"Well, how about I take Emilia-tan and Beako to a public park?"

"Eh? Shouldn't I be going together with Otto?"

"Today, I am only going to obtain a promise to reopen negotiations, you see. Bringing Lady Emilia along for this type of visit would be lacking in etiquette. Having you return ahead of me yesterday was for the same reason."

After explaining his reasoning to Emilia, Otto added, "However…" and shot Subaru a suspicious glance before continuing. "I do not know what Mr.

Natsuki is scheming in citing such a reason."

"Calling it scheming makes it sound like I'm up to no good."

That was all he could muster. Otto was impressive as always—even his misses were still somehow on target.

Not that Subaru was actually scheming, but he did have a plan. It was a plan that relied heavily on luck, however.

"After I got off the boat yesterday, I found this really pretty park along the way. I was like, I wanna take a walk through there with Emilia-tan, with Beako in the middle and us holding her hands."

"Wow, that sounds fun. But should we really take it easy like that? What do you think, Teacher?"

"I can hardly say no when my pupil is looking forward to it quite this much. Well, assuming he comes back before you go, at least take Garfiel with you… Just do not cause any commotions."

"Why are you looking at me when you say that? Say that to Beako. She's the one you want."

"How accurate is that, I wonder? Betty is the oldest one here, so it's fairly obvious who should lead the way."

Mistaking what Otto was concerned about, Beatrice put her hands on her hips with a confident flourish. The way she completely missed the point was adorable, so Subaru affectionately stroked Beatrice's head all over.

And as Subaru and company enjoyed the peaceful, friendly atmosphere—

"Yo, everyone's together, huh? Pretty nice morning, ain't it?" Felt raised her hand in greeting as she stepped into the corridor.

"Morning. I was wondering this yesterday, too, but what are you reading?"

"Ahhh, I have a bet with Reinhard going. He's gonna give me questions on what's in the book, and I'll answer 'em. If I don't win this, I probably won't be able to see Ilya next time I'm on break…"

In other words, Reinhard was using Felt's competitive spirit to educate her, all in the name of a bet.

What a pain, said her grimace. Felt lightly hopped down into the garden. Then the royal-selection candidate pointed at Otto, who was just managing to bring himself to a sitting position.

"That green Mister wasn't here yesterday, was he? He's with you guys?"

"Yeah, he is. This is our domestic adviser. Well, he's a lot like what Larry

is to you."

"I am not quite sure what you mean, but I am fairly certain you didn't mean anything good!"

Though there was some rudeness implicit in his statement, it had introduced Otto more than sufficiently. At the end of that exchange, Felt tilted

her head and asked Subaru, "Who's Larry?"

"I mean that Lachins guy with you. They're minor acquaintances of mine.

That's why I lovingly call the trio Larry, Curly, and Moe."

"Heh, sounds fine to me. So Lachins, Gaston, and Camberley are Larry,

Curly, and Moe to you? Has a nice ring to it—fits 'em surprisingly well!" "I'm surprised at the miracle of what happened to me a year ago, too.

Wish it was a different miracle, though."

He raised a toast to himself for dubbing them well at the time. Incidentally, since Felt apparently liked the terminology, he raised a toast to the Three Stooges, who would continue to be known as Larry, Curly, and Moe forevermore.

"By the way…," said Felt afterward as she glanced between Subaru and Emilia. "What's that weird dance you've been doing for a while now?

Playing some kind of game?"

"Hey, hey, don't call it a weird dance. These are radio calisthenics, a completely respectable workout."

Felt had a mystified look as Subaru explained the activity that he and Emilia were doing together. The Emilia camp had assembled at the garden that morning precisely so they could do radio calisthenics.

Regardless of whether they were on a trip or whatever their itinerary, they never missed morning calisthenics.

"Good health is the secret to a long life, so this exercise routine is beloved by everyone from little kids to the elderly. When Emilia becomes king, she's going to make it national law to do these every morning."

"That's right. It feels really good to do this every morning with everyone."

"Yeah…? If it was up to me, anyone who planned to make that public policy definitely wouldn't get to be king…"

As she watched them go through the exercises, Felt murmured with a frown on her face.

It was sad that she didn't see the appeal of radio calisthenics, but even if people hated the activity at first, most got used to it as time wore on. As a matter of fact, an unprecedented radio-calisthenics boom was already spreading the exercise routine from the Mathers domain to various other regions.

"Now that I think about it, I heard lots of weird festivals are spreading from that Miss's lands. There's some weird dance involved, playing around with hollowed-out pumpkins, and something about women baking sweets and giving them to men?"

"Right now, it's treated as some weird custom from the boonies, but I wanna make it my project to spread these customs nationwide. On that note, it'd be nice to have someone like Anastasia cooperating when planning events and stuff."

It was considered an open secret that the modern iteration of Valentine's Day was a conspiracy hatched in the chocolate corporate world. In other words, a lot of money could be up for grabs, so he felt like Anastasia would pounce at the chance.

When Felt saw Subaru sink into thought with a serious look on his face, she glanced at Emilia and spoke in a quiet voice.

"Hey, is Mister always like this?"

"Yeah, Subaru's like this most of the time. When he looks like he's just kidding around, he's actually thinking really hard about all kinds of things. Then again, sometimes he looks like this when he really is kidding around, too."

"I have no idea why you sound like you're proud of him for that."

Felt cocked her head in puzzlement when Emilia seemed to take a strange sense of pride in Subaru's behavior.

Every so often, when Emilia interacted with people who were ostensibly younger than her, it was sometimes difficult to tell who was actually older, which was an issue of Emilia's mental age. This was one of those situations.

"Come to think of it, you're all alone, Felt. Where's Reinhard?"

"I ain't a kid, and havin' him around me just means I gotta listen to him fuss. Besides, not that I like admitting it, but if I call him, he'll get here in one second."

Judging by how Felt's face stiffened as she said that, she probably meant it literally and not a joke. That sort of thing really drove home how extraordinary Reinhard truly was.

"But from what I saw yesterday, it seems like you learned how to get along with Reinhard… Maybe get along isn't the right way to put it… It seems like you guys worked things out even though you had a rocky start."

"Oh, really? I thought Felt and Reinhard got along very nicely from the start…"

"Hey, are those actual gemstones in this Miss's eyes? You'd better polish 'em right so they see straight, 'cause I'm one scary girl when push comes to shove."

Felt's strangely poetic metaphor made Subaru appreciate how much education and growing she'd benefited from since they last met.

"Well, I can't deny what Mister said about it, though. Not like I can just be irresponsible forever or anything. Now that I've decided I'm doin' this with him, he's my responsibility, so…"

"—Lady Felt, you called?"

"I did not!!"

Instantly, Reinhard emerged out of thin air.

When Reinhard suddenly appeared behind her back, Felt roared with anger at him. Her high-pitched voice made Reinhard raise an eyebrow. Then he addressed her.

"Lady Felt, it is still early in the morning. This is not my mansion, so please do not cause trouble to those around us by raising a ruckus…"

"Oh, shut up—don't lecture me! And what's the big deal with you anyway?! You say you'll come in a second when I call you, and then you come when I'm not even calling at all!"

"Good morning to you, Lady Emilia. And morning to you, Subaru. A fine day."

"Don't ignore me when it's convenient for you, damn it!!"

When Reinhard crisply smiled and offered a morning greeting, Subaru raised his hand in return. Furious at Reinhard's reaction, Felt grabbed him by the collar and shook his head around.

Of course, given Reinhard's strength, he could have easily brushed her off, but she still kept a hold of him.

"You see? Felt and Reinhard get along really well."

"I guess you're right. That's a classic getting-along-nicely scene."

"Somehow, those words are creepy enough that I could just die! I don't like it!"

Grinning and agreeing with the smiling Emilia, Subaru smoothly ignored Felt's shouts. Instead, Subaru looked at Reinhard as Felt was manhandling him.

He'd lowered the corners of his eyes in a consternated look, and he wore a troubled smile on his face, but the sight was so natural somehow that Subaru oddly felt a sense of relief.

Simultaneously, he had a sudden thought—these two had also spent the last year challenging the royal selection as master and retainer.

"Well, hate to spoil the lovely moment, but how about we go get some breakfast?!"

"I'm not accepting this!"

Listening to Felt's high-pitched voice, Subaru looked up at the clear blue sky and gave a mighty stretch.

First the night before, then a morning like this—it was going to be a great day.

He had no rational basis for thinking that, but he felt confident nonetheless.

2

"—Good morning. Oh, you all seem to be getting along rather nicely."

Anastasia greeted Subaru and the others as they entered the reception hall, smiling mischievously as she spoke.

From her point of view, seeing the Emilia camp and the Felt camp together must have been a surprise. But Subaru was just as surprised by her greeting. The reason was the glossy outfit she was wearing.

The sight of Anastasia, wearing a different outfit with her usual scarf around her neck, made Emilia and the others go "wow" in astonishment.

"Good, good. It seems I've succeeded in surprising you this morning. I'm so happy."

"That outfit is splendid. Is this what you were talking about in the bath yesterday?"

"Yes, this is a kimono. It's like a yukata, but it takes a little longer to put on."

Anastasia proudly twirled on the spot, splendidly putting the blue-dyed clothing on display. The dancing, falling petal pattern on it was also very charming. Subaru could only be amazed at Kararagi's ability to reproduce it.

"So those clothes are some kind of Kararagi tradition?"

"Yes. The design of these clothes has been passed down by tailors since the era of Hoshin and is one of the few pieces of culture from that time."

"The era of Hoshin, is it?"

Once again, this mysterious person, Hoshin of the Wastes, stood before Subaru.

Just like Subaru and Al, he was probably an other-worlder from the same homeland, summoned four centuries prior—

"Once this is all wrapped up, I really need to look into this Hoshin guy a bit…"

At this point, Subaru had no intention of complaining about the phenomenon of being summoned to another world.

He'd long since passed the stages of understanding and acceptance.

He knew neither the process of the summoning nor the goals of the summoner, but he'd accepted that the summoning was a one-way trip and that there was no convenient way to travel back.

His questions about those things were as innumerable as stars in the sky, but what Subaru wanted to know most at the moment was what kind of marks the one summoned long before him had left upon the world and what became of him. That was all.

"Lady Anastasia, you are even more beautiful this morning. I was worried that you would not allow even me to see you like this, but it seems that was a needless concern."

"Eh-heh-heh, this was the jewel up my sleeve! The finished product only arrived in Pristella just a little while ago, you see. It was a real pain hiding it from Julius, heh-heh."

Afterward, meeting up with Julius in the hall, Anastasia showed her clothes off to her own knight, and Julius lavished her with fawning praise, filling Anastasia with satisfaction. Then she cocked her head to the side.

"Oh? Mimi and the others aren't with you?"

"Ricardo has not yet returned this morning while out on the business he mentioned. As for Mimi…it would seem she has been leading Lady Emilia's retainer Garfiel all around."

"Eh, Mimi's with Garfiel?"

When Emilia's eyes went wide at hearing the name of one of her own, Julius said, "Yes," with a nod. "Garfiel and Mimi have not returned to the inn since last night. When they learned of this, Hetaro and TB ran into the city with all haste."

"You heard about this from Joshua, and I'm only hearing about it now— that's how I should take this?"

Anastasia put her hands on her hips, checking with Joshua, who had followed Julius in and was hiding behind his back. The words left the young man with the delicate face downcast, bowing his head with a pathetic expression.

"I—I am very sorry. I was… I desperately tried to stop them, but Hetaro refused to listen to reason. And TB was also concerned, so…"

"That's because when Mimi's there, Hetaro doesn't see anything else around him. If TB's with him, it should be fine… In his place, there is something I would like to ask of you, Joshua."

Smiling at the cowed Joshua, Anastasia patted the young man's shoulder as he lifted his head.

"I really had meant to entrust this to Hetaro and the others, but I want you to pick up a letter at the main gate—it's a very, very important letter."

As she spoke those words, Anastasia glanced in Subaru's direction. In his mind, the suggestive gaze overlapped with the conversation in the hall the night before, spurring him to say something.

"I'm begging you, Joshua. You're my only hope."

"What need is there for you to ask that of me?! Lady Anastasia has already given me her instructions!"

Brushing off Subaru's hands, which had been grasping both his shoulders,

Joshua headed for the sliding screen door with rapid steps. And then—

"I shall do as instructed. Leave it to me. I shall complete it without fail in

TB and the others' stead!"

—with conviction, Joshua made this declaration to Anastasia and raced out of the hall. Anastasia gently touched her scarf when his ponytail vanished from sight.

"He really could have done it after eating breakfast, though…"

She wore a strained smile as she remarked on this youngster's apparent loyalty and hunger for glory.

"—I am sorry that we were a tad late. It would appear we are the last ones."

Crusch, with her long green hair all tied up this day, was the last to arrive at the reception hall. She remained dressed in a ladylike fashion, with a floral hair ornament and a white ribbon vividly adorning her green hair.

No doubt it was Ferris, appearing in the hall after her, who did the coordinating. With light steps, Wilhelm followed immediately behind Ferris, wearing his usual butler's outfit.

The sight of the tall elderly man made Subaru's shoulders grow tense. He recalled the many words he had exchanged with the Sword Devil under the moonlight the night before.

" "

As Subaru reminisced, it was precisely then that Wilhelm spotted him, and they exchanged gazes. Subaru's breath caught in his throat as Wilhelm quietly greeted him with his eyes.

Subaru interpreted the message as you need not be concerned.

"So it seems we are all assembled. There are several faces missing, but still…"

"That goes for our Garfiel, too. If he's with Mimi, that's fine, but that harebrained son of ours…"

To be accurate, it should really be tigerbrained—but naturally, even Subaru was worried about Garfiel not returning by morning or failing to stay in touch. Perhaps he'd gone off somewhere to heal that difficult-to-shake sense of defeat.

And if Mimi really was with him, Subaru could only hope that things didn't get out of hand in some odd fashion.

"Well, be it worries or work, it can wait until after we've had some food.

Rohallo lost because of an empty stomach, they say."

Clapping her hands, Anastasia invoked what seemed to be a common saying as she took her seat. Emulating her, Subaru and the others similarly sat down, divided by camp as they rested upon square floor cushions.

"Could you please bring it in?"

Seeing that everyone was seated, Anastasia called out to the people waiting behind the screens. As she did, several inn staffers brought plates in, placing them atop the long table.

The long table was quickly filled with huge black objects—only for even more iron plates to be set down.

"Today we shall enjoy some traditional Kararagi folk cooking—it's time for a daisukiyaki feast!"

Anastasia made her pronouncement with great vigor as she swiftly rolled up her sleeves.

Everyone in attendance was surprised by how she quickly set to work as the staff swiftly placed oil upon the iron plates and then brought a cart, which had all manner of condiments in round containers sitting atop it, into the hall.

Daisukiyaki—the echo of that word, the large iron plates, the dishes… Glancing among all these, Subaru realized the true nature of the culinary tradition before him—

"—Y-you mean this is okonomiyaki?!"

Passed down in Kararagi as daisukiyaki, the Japanese dish of okonomiyaki boldly made its appearance.

3

"Subaru, look! Look how prettily it turned over! I'm so proud of it! Eat up!"

"I suppose it came out well enough. Subaru, I went through all the trouble of frying this daisukiyaki, so you might as well eat it."

Emilia's face was one big smile, whereas Beatrice's was a little shy as both served up some curious-looking daisukiyaki, which they themselves had cooked and which now sat on the iron plates before them.

"Both of you should learn to taste your own cooking before serving it to people."

Following Subaru's rather sound advice, the pair did as he suggested and promptly writhed in agony. Incidentally, Subaru could boast about his okonomiyaki to an extent, but he was not the most skilled in the Emilia camp.

"Lady Emilia, Beatrice, both of you can have some of what I fried. Ahhh! Lady Emilia, frying it too lightly will ruin your stomach. Beatrice, you used too much sauce!"

Thanks to Otto's feverish efforts, the Emilia camp was at least able to secure a decent breakfast.

Glancing at the spectacle, Subaru shifted his gaze to the homemade cooking of the other camps.

"Lady Felt, I have prepared the next dish."

"Ohhh, nicely done, nicely done. Looks like at this rate, you're gonna be fryin' lots. I'm pretty grateful for your skill in cooking and making sweets, gotta say."

With the Felt camp seated directly across from Subaru, he had a front-row seat to Reinhard producing one dish of high-end daisukiyaki after another with incredible skill, before watching all the food disappear into Felt's stomach. As over five daisukiyaki dishes had already vanished into thin air, where Felt stuffed them into her tiny body struck Subaru as one of the deeper mysteries of life.

"Now, now, now, now, now, now—! This is some real, genuine daisukiyaki I whipped up!"

But of course, Anastasia had put on quite a performance given her deep knowledge of daisukiyaki. She'd raced between two separate frying pans, successfully creating two hunks of what appeared to be charcoal.

It was a valuable life lesson. Enthusiasm alone wasn't enough.

"As expected of you, Lady Anastasia. However, I prefer it when the frying time is a little briefer. Though it pains me to add to your time and trouble…"

"It's fine, it's fine, leave it to me. For a boy, you sure have a delicate tongue, Julius."

Unlike Subaru, who urged the cooks to eat their own food and repent for their culinary sins, Julius ate the hunks of charcoal without complaint and only after finishing every last bite did he suggest improvements. Truly, his demeanor toward his liege was chivalry itself. Subaru had absolutely no desire to follow suit.

"Ahhh, Lady Crusch—! Ferri fried a pretty one. Here, here."

"Why, yes you have. But I shall not be defeated. Ha-ha, behold."

Yes, it was Crusch and Ferris who were involved in relaxed, flirtatious same-sex bonding. That didn't properly describe their relationship, but this was typical for them, so Subaru decided it would be prudent to not intrude.

Either way, as befit their impressive dexterity, the daisukiyaki on their iron plates were remarkable—Ferris had even taken the time to give them kitty ears.

"Fwoo. Okay, it's time to make you eat Ferri's daisukiyaki made with love. Lady Crusch, please open your mouth and say ahhh."

"Eh, eh? Um, errr…a-ahhh…"

Thanks to the tender rich-girl aura Crusch gave off, Subaru got the distinct feeling that he should stop watching. Off to the side of that pinkish scene, Wilhelm was working on his own daisukiyaki, but—

"Mmm…"

Turning over the pieces, the Sword Devil groaned as they broke apart and clung to the iron plate. They had probably been left to cook for a bit too long; Wilhelm seemed to be exhibiting unexpected clumsiness.

"I feel like I'm seeing something I was never meant to see. But that being the case… Er."

"Hey, Mister, what you fried looks pretty tasty."

Right as Subaru thought he'd offer Wilhelm a helping hand, Felt cut him off. Her eyes glimmered as she gazed at the Puck-shaped daisukiyaki that Subaru had fried with his own two hands.

"Nah, I'm sure your guy can cook palace-chef-level daisukiyaki on an industrial scale already. Not that I know if palace chefs actually make daisukiyaki…"

"Well, you have a point, but sometimes, you just wanna eat something different, right? Even though he's cooking on an iron plate like this, everything that bastard makes comes out elegant…"

"Then, Felt, why don't you try the daisukiyaki I ma…?"

"I'm talking about eating food here. Why don't you go and play with the little shrimp over there, charcoal-burner?"

Emilia, finally getting the charcoal-maker treatment, slinked over to Beatrice so she could commiserate with the glum spirit. Subaru wore a concerned smile when he saw how dejected they were.

"Hey now, don't tease my Emilia-tan and my Beako like that."

"So not just the Miss but the little shrimp, too… Oh right, that's right!" Quickly sidestepping Subaru's reply, Felt proceeded to lean toward him.

"Hey, I thought I'd come out and ask. I heard some amazin' rumors about you, Mister. So be real with me: How many of those things are lies?"

"Come on—don't assume most of it is lies from the very start. It almost sounds like that's what you're hoping for."

"But there's no way I can believe all that stuff. I mean, I heard Mister sliced the White Whale in two all on his own, smashed the Witch Cult with

his bare fists, turned the Great Rabbit into fried rabbit…and ate it!"

"The info sorta, kinda matches, but there's a lot of chaff mixed in, damn!!"

If Subaru could manage that all by himself, he'd have been made a national hero or even become king by now. He would have just taken the throne by force and made Emilia his queen so they could flirt forever.

"—Hmph."

But Subaru's strong wisecrack was greeted by a slight chuckle from off to the side—from a pair of voices at that. The voices belonged to none other than Julius and Wilhelm.

"—? Why are Mr. Finest and Grandpa laughing? Did I say something funny?"

"It's not just that you said something funny; it's that the whole situation's hilarious. Everything you mentioned rates my contributions way too high.

Like, at that point just gimme a Nobel Peace Prize."

He didn't actually know what winning a Nobel Peace Prize entailed, but at any rate, it was what came to mind when he thought of respectable commendations.

Subaru had been recognized at the honors ceremony, but because he didn't really have a firm grasp of how much that was worth, he had little grasp of exactly how his achievements had been graded.

It was then that Wilhelm picked up where Subaru and Felt's conversation had left off.

"Not at all. Where the hunt of the White Whale was concerned, Sir Subaru's contributions were incalculable. Without Sir Subaru, my longcherished desire would never have been fulfilled. I swear this to be true upon my very sword."

"It is the same with the Witch Cult incident. That victory was over and done and thanks to none other than his leadership. The assistance that others as well as I had provided were not contributions worthy of boasting about."

Wilhelm and especially Julius's blunt assessments left Subaru at a loss for words. After, what belatedly arrived was ferocious heat. Subaru's head and ears were burning from embarrassment.

"C-cut it out, guys! Don't put me on a weird pedestal like that! You all know what shameful shit I get up to when I get full of myself!"

"The results of your efforts after that more than made up for your own shame. There is no need for you to dwell upon that moment forever. Your future exploits are completely separate and should be greeted with pride."

"What you have accomplished are things no one else has ever done before. Until my final days, I shall take pride in having galloped across the battlefield alongside you."

"—Ah."

Killed by praise.

Up to that point, Subaru Natsuki had died over and over. But this was the first time he had glimpsed death in such a frightening manner. Subaru was learning what it meant to be slain by praise.

He felt so embarrassed that he honestly thought he might die at any moment. Subaru looked in search of aid toward Emilia, then Beatrice. However, the pair merely offered him adorable smiles with Subaru sandwiched between them.

"That's right. Subaru worked really hard. I'm truly proud, and happy, to have made that Subaru my knight."

"W-well, is that not all a matter of course for Betty's partner, I wonder? If anything, the surrounding rabble have been slow to realize just how incredible Subaru is."

He never dreamed their support would be so unanimous. The frightening degree of indulgence was making Subaru's head spin.

And there was not a single person in the hall who refuted these assessments. Indeed, the gazes turned toward Subaru were gentle and kind, one and all—

"Looks like a lot of stuff happened, but Mister's nature ain't changed a bit. What a relief."

"Oh, shaddap! Hey, everyone, don't praise me too much! You're gonna make me like every one of you!!"

When Felt neatly tied things up like that, Subaru's voice exploded as he neared his limit.

Instantly, the gentle atmosphere in the great hall was shattered as the voices of all present burst into laughter.

" "

Amid that uproarious laughter, Subaru snuck a glance Wilhelm's way.

Subaru hadn't aimed for it, but the atmosphere in the hall was remarkably good. Even with careful planning, it would have been difficult to create a moment better than this for bridging gaps and creating mutual understanding.

"Mm."

Abruptly noticing Subaru's gaze, Wilhelm lifted an eyebrow. Subaru used his eyes to indicate the broken-up daisukiyaki by Wilhelm's hands, then motioned with his chin—toward Reinhard.

Realizing the import of the gesture, Wilhelm quietly drew in his breath.

Beside him, Reinhard was mass-producing daisukiyaki for Felt's sake once more. The gap in skill between grandfather and grandson was like the distance between the clouds and mud, which was exactly why Subaru thought that this could be a turning point.

Wilhelm's blue eyes grew unsteady as he wrestled with the complex emotions warring within him over and over—gloom, reluctance, hesitation, indecision.

But Wilhelm would surely overcome them all, taking a step forward and

—

"—Citizens of Pristella, good morning to you. The morn feels wonderful, does it not?"

That was the moment they heard a voice coming from outside the inn—no, it was coming from the very sky itself. Emilia and the others' surprised reactions made it plain that the sudden voice was no private hallucination.

"Ohhh? The heck is this? Some bastard out there has a super loooud voice."

"Oh, Felt, of course not. This happens each morning in this city… This is a metropolitan-government broadcast using a metia."

"A metia broadcast…"

After Anastasia replied to Felt's carefree murmur, Subaru mulled the explanation over under his breath.

Metia was a general term for a magic item put together with some kind of magical technology. Some of the objects, such as the one being employed for the broadcast, functioned much like technology back in Subaru's original world.

He guessed that this metia worked like a bullhorn or a speaker system.

"There is a broadcast every morning? For what purpose?"

"I have heard it is preparation for emergencies. Given the construction of the city, there are very few evacuation routes available, so people familiarized them with broadcasts in hopes of avoiding a general panic in case of a real emergency."

"Hmm, I see meow. Very logical."

Julius's comprehensive explanation left Crusch and Ferris impressed. Subaru was equally impressed. This was the first time he'd heard of anyone treating a metia as genuinely useful and a critical part of a city's infrastructure. As far as he knew, there was virtually no precedent of using metia for practical purposes. Conversation mirrors just barely made the cut, and even these seemed to be almost exclusively possessed by the Witch Cult, leaving him with a poor impression.

But that impression vanished in an instant. He simply chalked it up to strange timing that he hadn't heard of this before.

"Incidentally, Mr. Kiritaka is both the broadcaster and the provider of the metia."

"Eh?"

With not a shred of ill will on his face, Otto added to the static in Subaru's mind.

Subaru sank into thought for several seconds. The back of his mind flipped through his memories of Kiritaka like a revolving lantern.

"No way." "Could anything be more impossible, I wonder?" "Oh, Otto, you can be so funny sometimes."

"I can understand Mr. Natsuki and Beatrice, but even Lady Emilia?!"

Subaru and Beatrice's conclusion and Emilia's laughter left Otto dumbstruck. During that time, the broadcast continued, and certainly, words from a somehow familiar voice were reaching every part of the city.

Of course, Subaru had heard from people over and over just how capable and respected Kiritaka was, but the impression he had from directly meeting the man loomed far larger in his mind. The appraisals and the real thing simply didn't match up. Even this broadcast seemed—

"And this morning, too, I offer this trifling… Nay! I shall grant you all a wonderful blessing! It is time for Ms. Liliana the Songstreeeessss!"

"Ah, it's totally him."

The tension snapped midway as Subaru's memories and the broadcast suddenly aligned.

In fact, he—no, they had interfered in what would have been a historic moment. That was hardly their fault, but Subaru was already pinching Kiritaka's cheeks in his own mind.

There was a noise of the broadcast metia being passed around, and then they heard a tiny throat-clearing sound.

"Hi, everyone, it's Lilianaaa. Being treated like a songstress is a burden as heavy as a mountain, but as I truly want to delight you with my singing and music, please support me with your joyous cheers during our brief time together—!"

Liliana's voice reverberated so vividly across the city, Subaru could picture exactly what kind of pose she was making.

Instantly, expectant looks sprang up all around; in particular, Emilia, Beatrice, Anastasia and company's faces were bright, knowing full well just how wonderful Liliana's singing voice was. It was probably only Subaru who had a somber, clouded expression among all of them.

Mysteriously, Kiritaka's voice had sounded a bit odd over the metia, but Liliana's seemed to have no problem coming through. This was probably due to differences in speaking and compatibility with the metia.

Or perhaps Liliana's voice truly had been blessed by some goddess of song.

Then when they heard Liliana ready her musical instrument, expectations in the hall swelled even more—

"Now, I shall sing. Please listen—this is the 'Love Song of the Sword Devil,' the second act."