The business with Garfiel was a minor hiccup, whether from Roswaal's perspective or Gojo's.
Once it was over, no one bothered to dwell on it.
After Gojo took Garfiel away, Roswaal and Ram made no move to come check. Not a word, not a glance.
As if the whole thing had never happened.
Beyond that.
Whether it was to back up what he'd said earlier or something else, Roswaal chose to go at Echidna's Trial again.
Gojo and the rest couldn't say whether there was any point to the exercise.
But to Betty, who understood the Sanctuary better than anyone present, it was pure self-inflicted misery.
Even if Roswaal spent the rest of his life at it, he'd never clear the Trial. Never.
Because from the start, the Trial hadn't been built for humans.
It was designed for Half-Elves and Demi-humans.
The state Roswaal had been in earlier had already pointed to that truth.
What happened next only confirmed what Betty had said.
With his injuries mended, he walked back into the Trial.
Half a day later, he came staggering back out of the Sanctuary's trial ground.
"What a foolish act."
"If you wanted to die, you could have found plenty of other ways. No need to waste everyone's time like this."
Betty stood before the structure said to be Echidna's tomb, watching Roswaal with something complicated in her face.
Gojo scratched at the back of his head, taking in the sight of the painted man on the ground, blood everywhere, gashes of every size torn through him. Speechless, almost.
None of them had quite expected the man to be this stubborn. Injuries healed yesterday, and he'd thrown himself straight back in today.
That alone would've been one thing. What made it worse was how fast and how badly he'd lost.
"Forget all that. Can you just heal Lord Roswaal?"
Ram knelt beside him, hands fumbling at the bandages, trying to slow the bleeding.
Judging by how clumsy her movements were, how much that was actually accomplishing was up for debate.
"Honestly, you can probably stop with the bandages. Keep this up and your Lord Roswaal might end up strangled instead."
Gojo offered the reminder with good cheer. Rem, picking up on it, hurried forward to help before Ram's panic made the situation worse.
"Quite the commitment. Not that I mind. Medical fees were already paid up front anyway."
He stepped up and laid a hand on Roswaal's chest.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
In the space of a blink, every wound closed back up clean.
"It seems I've troubled you all again."
Roswaal's eyes opened, and he spoke with every appearance of contrition.
"Don't worry about it. We've got a special sort of relationship, after all."
Gojo let the words hang, loaded.
"Going to keep at it, then?"
He glanced up at the tomb. "If you are, I'll just wait here. Save Rem the trip back and forth."
Roswaal paused, then answered with quiet resolve. "Of course I'll continue. Better supporting Lady Emilia requires it. There's no other path."
"Fine, fine. If that's what you say."
"Not like I've got anywhere else to be."
"Lord Roswaal, if you intend to go again, your body..."
Ram looked at him with eyes full of concern, the plea plain on her face.
The feeling in it was real enough that it was hard to tell where the act ended and something genuine began.
If it was a performance, Gojo had to admit the small maid was laying it on thick.
"It's fine."
"Wounds like these are nothing..."
Watching the tender exchange between Roswaal and his little maid, Gojo glanced across at Felt and gave her a small wink.
Hidden behind Reinhard's frame, she stuck her tongue out at him, pulling a face that said she was one more line away from gagging.
Someone as unguarded as Emilia might not see through it.
But Gojo and Felt could read the scene clearly enough. All that talk of doing it for Emilia, dressed up as loyal devotion.
Set it beside everything that Roswaal had been scheming on the side.
The man was running a guilt trip, plain and simple.
Granted, he had genuinely taken a beating. Inflicted the wounds on himself, over and over.
Which only made the performance land harder.
Gojo looked over at Emilia. The silver-haired girl stood with Subaru at her side, face creased with indecision as she watched Roswaal.
Faced with what was in front of her.
Kind as she was, a part of her wanted to speak up and stop him.
But rationally, she had no standing to.
More important things weighed on her. She had to claim the throne.
Everything Roswaal was doing, he was doing for her sake. So he claimed.
What right did she have to tell him irresponsible things like stop?
Subaru caught every flicker of it on her face. Like Ram beside Roswaal, his own expression filled with worry.
"Emilia."
Subaru's voice came out low.
She heard the care in it and managed a faint pull of her mouth, a smile that didn't quite settle.
She didn't say anything, but her eyes had already said it.
Her supporter was trying so hard. As the candidate, she couldn't just stand there and do nothing, could she?
"Roswaal, can you tell me what kind of Trial this is?"
Gojo shook his head at that.
Emilia was still too trusting for her own good.
Roswaal's act had worked on her. She'd walked right into it.
"Lady Emilia, leave this to me. I can handle it."
The man was still laying it on, all devoted retainer and silent suffering.
For my beloved Lady Emilia, pain and hardship are nothing.
That particular brand of theater had exactly two believers in the audience: Emilia and Subaru. Everyone else had long since tuned out.
And those two had the bad luck to be standing right next to each other.
"No. I want to do what I can, too."
"You've already helped me so much, Roswaal. I need to grow too."
Emilia's voice was earnest. Admirable, even.
Only, she'd stepped straight into the trap that had been laid out for her.
"Lady Emilia, your kindness moves me."
Roswaal gave a show of being deeply touched.
"Unfortunately, according to the records, the Trial each person faces inside is different."
"So there isn't much more I can tell you about it."
Apologetic face, mouthful of nothing useful.
Ask and you'd get no intel that might actually help.
"I see."
A flicker of disappointment crossed her, but she steadied herself after a breath.
"Then let me try it myself..."
"Emilia-tan, let me go in first!"
Subaru cut her off without hesitation, volunteering himself on the spot.
"No, Subaru, you're an ordinary person, you can't protect yourself at all..."
"Yes, I can."
He shook his head, refusing.
The only thing that could back up a claim like that was Return by Death.
He'd clearly decided Emilia might be in danger and let the blood rush to his head.
"I've got a way. I won't die in there. And once I come out, with Satoru here, nothing will happen to me."
As Subaru stood there, swearing it up and down with absolute conviction.
Gojo and Felt exchanged a look. Both turned their faces away. It was getting hard to watch.
Even they felt secondhand embarrassment.
As his friends, they had to acknowledge one thing: Subaru's thought process was a unique creature, especially where Emilia was involved.
Whatever he'd decided before, whatever he'd been thinking.
The moment Emilia entered the picture, every consideration rearranged itself around her.
Case in point, a short while back, this was the same guy who'd solemnly promised, with every appearance of sincerity, that he wouldn't go running off to help Emilia again until Felt's plan was finished.
And yet.
The words had barely left his mouth before he'd forgotten them entirely, like a fish with a three-second memory.
Kind of hard to know what to say to that.
Look at him. There he went again.
Ready to throw himself on the sword for Emilia.
"But..."
Emilia faltered, not sure how to respond.
However close they were, Subaru belonged to Felt's camp. Letting someone from another camp take on something this dangerous for her sake felt wrong.
Only.
Once Subaru had made up his mind, the opinions of the people around him didn't factor in.
Pure willfulness. Doing whatever he pleased.
Before she could finish the thought, he bolted past her, head down, charging straight at Echidna's tomb.
With Return by Death in his pocket and Gojo on hand, he had nothing to fear.
On top of that.
If he managed to clear this Trial, he might come out the other side with the very power Roswaal was after.
Then he'd no longer be the useless regular guy. He'd have his own strength. He could stand beside Emilia properly.
That was the shape of it in his head.
So he ran.
Into the tomb.
"You're not going to do something?"
Betty watched him vanish, reached out a hand, then let it drop. Her eyes went to Gojo.
Felt shot him the same questioning look.
"Why would I do something?"
"He made the call himself. Not our place to stop him."
"And if it turns out there's real danger in there, that's actually good news for him."
"Death has a way of hardening a person's will."
"Die a few times, and his resolve will firm right up."
He said it calmly, showing no sign of moving to intervene.
As a friend.
If Subaru had been pressured into the Trial by Roswaal, Gojo would've put a stop to it then and there.
But this was a choice the kid had made on his own. That was a different matter.
Subaru wanted to support Emilia. There would be plenty more situations like this down the road.
Right now, with Gojo and the others backing him up, he probably didn't feel it. But what about after they left?
Getting used to it early wasn't the worst thing in the world.
In the time it took to speak the words, Subaru had already disappeared into the tomb. Gone.
"Subaru!"
Emilia cried out, but it was too late. Nothing to be done.
"It's fine. What he said wasn't a lie."
"If you're worried, just wait here. It'll be all right."
Gojo shook his head, voice gentle as he tried to reassure her.
Then he turned to Roswaal.
"Roswaal, how about you? Not going in?"
"I'd like to. Unfortunately, the Trial only admits one person at a time."
"Since Subaru's gone in, there's nothing I can do."
He spread his hands in apology.
"Huh. Didn't know that. Well, guess we're waiting. Hope he comes back with good news."
Felt's interest evaporated the moment she heard it.
"You all wait here. I don't have the patience. Reinhard, come on. Let's go walk around the village."
"Yes, Lady Felt."
The two of them set off. Not sightseeing. They had a job to do.
A job that was mostly Reinhard's, to be precise.
He needed to learn the village's layout, mark where people lived.
If the Sin Archbishop of Lust showed up, he had to get those villagers clear of the fight at the first possible moment.
Keep them from getting caught in the crossfire.
They'd picked up the basics from the inquiries made the day before.
The number of Demi-humans living in the village wasn't large. Fifty or so, all told.
That small a group wouldn't be too much trouble to move.
Watching Felt and Reinhard go.
Emilia's expression shifted, unease creeping in. Her eyes turned to Gojo, asking for help without words.
He spoke before she could.
"It's fine. She's not angry about what Subaru did."
"Felt's just not a patient person. Don't read too much into it."
His words eased some of the worry in her chest.
What she missed, however, was the look Roswaal was wearing as he watched the whole thing unfold. The smile buried in the depths of his eyes had grown more pronounced.
What Roswaal didn't know.
Even as he steered the situation along.
In the depths of the Kremaldy Labyrinth Forest, a figure was already moving toward the Sanctuary.