2
"—Psst psst psst."
" "
He wanted to praise himself for not screaming the moment he regained
consciousness.
Having returned to the demon beasts' flower garden after a second death,
Subaru frantically covered his mouth as he thought that.
"Psst psst psst psst."
Meili was calling to the oiran bear, and the overpowering scent of
flowers filled the air.
The oiran bear blocking the carriage's way was gradually focusing on
Meili's noises and her wagging finger. Everyone was holding their breath
and waiting to see how it would unfold.
Just a few minutes earlier, Subaru had watched this exact scene play out,
unable to do anything.
Touching the side of his torso where the killing blow had landed, he
confirmed there was no more wound as his thoughts roared into motion.
It was shocking, but he had to quickly shift gears. Forgetting about the
swarm of monsters that had been chasing them a minute ago, he focused on
the most immediate problem at hand.
The problem at hand. The problem at hand. What—what is it? What's
going to happen?
The smell, the sweetness, annoying, annoying, itchy, painful.
Which one is now?
His brain, which had been used and abused until he could swear it was
boiling, suddenly realized something.
He could feel Beatrice twitching ever so slightly against his chest. Seeing
her watch the oiran bear's every move without making so much as a sound
breathed life back into Subaru's brain cells.
The death he just experienced came rushing back, as did Beatrice's sobs
and teary face.
Right, right, right.
Subaru had already died twice. This was his third time experiencing this
moment.
The first time had been a death he couldn't understand. The second was—
No, save it for later.
"Psst psst psst…pssst."
Right as his mind started running again, Meili caught the oiran bear's
attention.
Drawn by her sounds and finger movement, the demon beast's focus
shifted away from the carriage. But that wouldn't be enough for the menace to
pass and everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.
As the oiran bear slowly turned, the land dragon right in front of it
breathed raggedly.
Dealing with the overwhelming pressure of staring down the demon beast
at close range and the scent of the flowers that made it so difficult to focus—
the land dragon's composure was steadily being worn down, and when that
last thread frayed and broke, it would lose control.
If Subaru couldn't stop it, then he would be destined to repeat the same
death.
I have to stop it from panicking. But how?
He couldn't raise his voice. It was difficult to convey the situation to
Julius, who was holding the land dragon's reins.
—There's no time.
Without a eureka moment in the next second, he would just have to roll the
dice and call out to Julius.
The last death had involved a stampede of demon beasts and the light
from the watchtower…and Beatrice's tears—
"—Beako, I love you."
"—?!"
Hugging her small body from behind, he whispered in her ear. Beatrice
was shocked by that unprompted confession, but his hand was covering her
mouth so she couldn't say anything.
Instead, Subaru reached a hand out to the dragon in front of him—toward
Joseph. A hand to gently soothe it, just like how he had wiped a tear from
Beatrice's cheek before he died.
—Invisible Providence.
He was busy telling Beatrice he loved her, so he just said the ability's
name in his mind.
All of a sudden, in the center of his chest—it was a different feeling from
when Beatrice was helping him channel mana—the black power was
exuberant when he called it forth. An otherworldly invisible hand cheered at
the opportunity to accomplish a noble task in slothful Subaru Natsuki's stead.
" "
The black limb slowly reached out from Subaru's chest toward the land
dragon. Just like the original, no one was capable of seeing the hand other
than Subaru.
While feeling relieved at that, he also felt something inside himself being
torn away. It was unclear what price had to be paid, but he knew instinctively
that he couldn't take too long. And he had no intention of doing so, either.
The slender, outstretched hand gently patted the thick neck of the land
dragon that was on the verge of losing control.
He had only learned that was the best way for calming down this species
of land dragon the morning before they set out into the sands.
I never would have expected to use it in a situation like this, but I guess
I should pay attention to what people are saying all the time.
The land dragon shuddered at someone suddenly touching him, but he
instinctively recognized that the hand didn't harbor any ill will. His ragged
breathing gradually calmed, and the tension left his body.
"—Hmm?"
Julius noticed the change, and he gently pulled the reins and started to
pacify the dragon as well. Joseph started visibly calming down. Just the sort
of expertise one would expect from Julius.
In that moment, Subaru broke the connection with the invisible hand, and
the black hand faded away.
"Hah, phew…"
That should be the immediate problem handled at least.
The cost had been relying on a taboo power, but Subaru Natsuki's style
was to always use any cards he had to play.
He didn't have any qualms with that. But what bothered him was that the
effect of having used the invisible hand was so much less intense than last
time.
The first time in the sanctuary when he used it against Garfiel, it had felt
like half of his body had been stolen from him. But this time all that happened
was he was breathing a little heavily.
"It's not just that I'm getting used to it…"
Subaru felt more uneasy than relieved to have the sense of loss and hatred
be so much lighter than before.
It is better to have an option than not, but there's nothing good about
more rounds in the chamber when the game is Russian roulette. It's a
powerful ace in the hole, but—
"…Th-that's enough, Subaru."
Beatrice started struggling a bit in response to Subaru holding her up for
so long. That was enough to finally draw his attention back to reality. He
started to apologize when—
"What happened, Beako? What's with that look…?"
"It's because you've been kneading Betty's hair this whole time! What
were you thinking?!"
"Huh? I was?"
Beatrice skillfully kept her voice down as she angrily let Subaru have it.
Her glorious hair had been interwoven and tied up and had lost all shape.
It was a style on the bleeding edge of fashion that was a little too far out for
anyone to catch up with her.
"The fact that you didn't even realize you were doing it is annoying…
You probably don't even remember what you whispered to Betty, either."
"No, I remember that. Because I'll love you forever."
"Gah!"
Beatrice's face turned red immediately, and she covered her head with the
cloak she was wearing.
Subaru would have loved to enjoy Beatrice's adorableness a bit more, but
he couldn't afford to play with her at the moment.
Meili's bold strategy had managed to get them out of the oiran bear
encirclement, and they finally had a moment to take a deep breath. Subaru
looked around, spotting an area that wasn't a part of the flower field.
When Julius glanced at him, he gestured to head over there to talk.
Fall back for now. It's time to strategize.