After parting ways with the fishy Uviluk, Natsuki stopped after turning down a few back alleys.
He looked around, checking to make sure no one was nearby. Of course, he also made sure Uviluk hadn't accidentally followed him, and then— "The answer... is inside me."
"Huh?"
He was chewing over what Uviluk had told him, and Louis tilted her head.
Uviluk had told him he worked as a so-called "advisor," and the man gave off a thoroughly swindler-like impression that hadn't faded in the slightest—yet his pointing had been surprisingly on the mark.
Whether Uviluk could really see what Subaru wanted, he couldn't say for certain—but...
"I think... I might have figured out what 'the Abyss with a Nice View' means."
It was Uviluk's words—"the answer is inside you"—that had provided the hint.
He doubted it meant the vanished Olbart was secretly hiding inside Subaru's body. That had been a metaphor, and Olbart's hints were riddles within riddles.
The puzzle of "the back of your eyelids"—and the answer had been the first room.
So naturally, "the Abyss with a Nice View" was also a riddle, and the answer had to be somewhere.
And if Uviluk was right that the answer was inside Subaru...
"I keep thinking it might mean a place I've been to, but that's not it."
"Huh? Huh?"
"There aren't that many places I've been in this city. Besides the inn, there's only Yorna's castle. But nothing about those screams 'abyss.' It's not that."
"Hmm..."
"So what exactly does 'abyss-like' even mean?"
Olbart had presented "the Abyss with a Nice View," but the thing was, "a nice view" and "an abyss" were practically opposites.
Having a nice view meant the scenery was good. An abyss was a bottomless hole. A hole with a nice view made absolutely no sense.
So one of them had to be the lie. And since "a nice view" wasn't something you could fake, if there was a lie, it had to be the "abyss" part.
"Something abyss-like, but not actually an abyss..."
There was no such place among the ones Subaru had visited through the Chaos Frame.
Abel and the others, who hadn't left the inn, were probably in the same boat. —For that matter, it wasn't even clear how much Olbart actually knew about the Demon City.
But Olbart couldn't have wandered around much either. After all, his job was to stay close to the fake emperor—Vincent—as his bodyguard.
So even in a city he didn't know well, the answer had to be something that wasn't confusing. Something that fit the description of "the Abyss with a Nice View," and not just through the Chaos Frame.
That meant— "Louis. We're going somewhere high."
"Huh? Huh?"
Subaru said this after squeezing his eyes shut, and Louis's eyes went wide.
He didn't expect her to understand. As long as she followed him obediently once he took her hand, that was all he needed.
Time was running short. He was worried he might be off base, but he had no choice but to try.
To the place closest to Olbart's hidden "Abyss with a Nice View"—to the place closest to the sky— "We have to go to the place that's nearest to the sky."
△▼△▼△▼△ It was the one-sided "advice" Uviluk had given that led Subaru to the answer.
"The Abyss with a Nice View." Or, in other words, "a hole with a nice view."
An abyss wasn't just any hole—it was the kind that seemed to plunge down and down forever. Or rather, a hole so deep it seemed to have no end.
And, just as Uviluk had said, Subaru had felt something like that before.
Just a short while ago, in real time.
"That's right—when I was thrown by that boy."
Blood had rushed to his head when the sheep-faced boy grabbed Subaru's outstretched arm and hurled him away. Apologizing even as he threw, the boy sent Subaru soaring high into the air, and as he spun around and around, one thought repeated itself over and over— —that he was "falling" toward the blue sky.
Of course, looking at what actually happened, that was wrong.
In reality, Subaru had been flung into the air and sent upward—from an outside perspective, toward a high place. But from Subaru's perspective, he'd lost all sense of up and down and had been utterly convinced of one thing.
That he was falling toward the blue sky.
That he was falling into an endless, blue, bottomless "abyss."
"That's the true nature of the Abyss with a Nice View... so it has to be the place closest to the sky in this city."
That was the place Subaru believed held the true meaning of Olbart's "the Abyss with a Nice View."
He'd thought about heading for the highest point—but— "Ah! Ah!"
Whether she understood his train of thought or not, Louis flashed a beaming grin and pointed decisively at a single spot.
She waved their clasped hands energetically, then pointed into the distance with her free hand. Subaru, for his part, covered his own face with his free hand.
It wasn't because Louis was messing around, unable to follow the conversation.
If anything, this time Louis actually understood Subaru's thinking perfectly. She was pointing at the building closest to the sky—within the Chaos Frame of this city.
The problem was that the building itself was what was troubling Subaru.
"Ugh!"
"You're thinking the same thing I am, aren't you..."
Pulled along relentlessly, Subaru looked up at the building Louis was pointing at—Koururi Castle.
It was
The whole reason he'd ended up playing hide-and-seek with Olbart in the first place was because Yorna was waiting in the castle with demands he needed to meet. —In a way, everything was completely backwards.
"But knowing how nasty Olbart is, this could totally be part of his scheme."
Olbart knew that Subaru and the others wanted to revert to their normal selves.
The idea that, as part of the process, they'd first have to go to Koururi Castle—it sounded exactly like the kind of underhanded trick you'd expect from a man called the "Wicked Old Man."
The problem was— "How do we get inside the castle...?"
In his "infantilized," shrunken state, he couldn't exactly introduce himself as Natsumi Schwartz. Or rather, if he could do that, he would have just postponed the hide-and-seek game with Olbart.
He couldn't tell Yorna their situation. Especially with
That made approaching the castle seem extremely dangerous.
"Yeah, I know. ...If Tanza is secretly cooperating with Olbart without Yorna knowing..."
He got the impression that there were fewer of Tanza's horned demi-human associates around Koururi Castle. If a commotion erupted near the castle, Yorna would surely catch on, no matter what. That would be bad for Tanza too.
Maybe it would be better to just snitch on Tanza.
"Wait, wait—that's too hasty. There's a chance Yorna would side with Tanza. No, actually, that possibility is much higher."
If the child she doted on and some unknown child both appeared, there was no question whose account she'd believe.
The plan to tattle on Tanza was one he should think about but not actually carry out.
Still, the fact that Koururi Castle's surroundings had fewer enemies was likely no mistake.
"Slipping into the castle is the best option. After that, I just have to hope Olbart is hiding somewhere at the top. Louis, can I ask you something?"
"Hmm?"
"Your teleportation... you can bring me along, right?"
Staring into Louis's blue eyes, Subaru asked.
When Louis had first gone wild in the street, she'd used short-range teleportation to escape from beneath a collapsed tent, bringing Subaru along with her.
In that moment, he'd felt like his insides were being turned inside out—an experience he didn't care to repeat. But its usefulness went without saying.
There did seem to be a limit to the distance she could cover, though.
"With that power, we can get into the castle. Can you actually use it?"
"Ah!"
"Really? 'Probably can use it' isn't going to cut it. If you can't use it properly, it's dangerous for both of us. So—"
"Hmm..."
Subaru pressed the point, and Louis puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. Then she squeezed his hand tighter— "Huh!"
"—!"
In the blink of an eye, the scenery around them shifted.
Louis's appearance hadn't changed, since he'd been focused on her. But the world around her cycled from a dim alley to a bright street, then into the room of some building, and then onto the rooftop—all in rapid succession.
As if to prove she could handle it just fine.
"I get it! I get it, so stop! Please stop!"
"Hmm—"
"I give up! I give up, okay?!"
She deflated her puffed cheeks and grinned triumphantly. Subaru knelt beside her, his spine going cold from the harrowing experience.
Still holding his hand, Louis had executed at least five short-range teleports in the blink of an eye. Each time, the scenery around them had changed—it was absolutely surreal.
It was like living through a nightmare.
"But with this, I—urp."
"Hmm?"
"Bleaaagh!"
He was about to pump his fist in triumph when the surge of stomach acid burned his throat. Still on his knees, Subaru proceeded to vomit spectacularly onto the ground.
Short-range teleportation and the feeling of your organs being flipped upside down were inseparable companions.
But— "It... it works. With this, I can—urgh."
Fighting against the continuing waves of sour nausea, Subaru glared at Koururi Castle.
Beside him, Louis wrinkled her nose and—for the first time—took the initiative to let go of Subaru's hand, waiting a short distance away for his vomiting to finish.
△▼△▼△▼△ Point in the direction they needed to go, then squeeze Louis's hand tightly.
That was the signal Subaru had taught her for infiltrating Koururi Castle.
It felt like teaching tricks to a puppy, but the reality was nothing so simple.
He didn't mean to treat Louis like a dog—and a puppy would have been cuter, anyway. At the very least, you wouldn't have to live in fear of when she might lunge at someone and cause serious injury.
Handling her required the utmost care.
"Stop."
He called out softly and pulled her arm, bringing Louis to a halt.
Subaru raised a finger to his lips with a "Shh," and Louis mirrored him, pressing her own finger to her mouth and miming a "Mmmngh" to show she'd stay quiet.
After confirming that, Subaru kept Louis behind him and peeked around the corner. —About ten meters ahead, a gate guard who looked pretty tough was stationed there.
Arms folded, he sat squarely and imposingly before the gate—a lizard-faced lizard demi-human covered head to toe in blue scales. He looked sturdy and, honestly, rather cool.
His yawning gape was visible even from this distance, so he didn't seem to be taking his guarding duties very seriously. But sneaking past him through the gate didn't seem possible either.
So— "Louis."
He said her name to get her attention. Then, making sure she was watching, he pressed his finger against a wall—against the stone rampart encircling Koururi Castle.
Without letting go, he squeezed Louis's hand tightly.
"————"
In the next instant, Subaru and Louis's bodies sailed over the castle wall and onto the grounds.
They'd skipped past the whole process of negotiating with the gate guard or brute-forcing their way through—a child might feel sorry for the guards, realizing how unfair a trick this was.
No amount of strict security or vigilance was any use against Louis's teleportation.
Surveillance cameras might be different, but nothing like that existed in this other world. In a world where security had to rely entirely on manpower, a teleportation that could appear and disappear at will was a complete cheat.
Of course— "If we get spotted, it's over. We have to be careful..."
Outside the castle, outside the grounds, he could have made some excuse. But once you were actually inside the castle, there'd be no talking your way out.
Louis's short-range teleportation could be used consecutively only twice. Three times or more would make him feel so nauseous he'd definitely throw up—or worse, he might pass out.
If someone found them and, in the middle of fleeing, Subaru passed out— "No one would be able to stop her."
"Huh?"
Louis tilted her head innocently, clearly not understanding his concern.
He would never let her take another life. —That was Subaru's vow, the one he'd made when he fled with Louis.
The shrunken, infantilized
And that meant never letting Louis take someone's life again.
"...It's not like we can cling to the outer wall and teleport our way up while taking breaks."
The goal was "the Abyss with a Nice View," but even if it was at the top of the castle, relying on Louis's teleportation to climb up from outside seemed impossible.
Somewhere along the way, they'd slip and fall. And no matter how quietly they tried to stay hidden, scaling the castle wall would eventually get them spotted.
This was Yorna Mishigure's castle, after all.
"If Yorna finds us, that's the worst possible outcome."
Along the way, he'd fought pursuers who'd inherited a portion of Yorna's power through her Soul Marriage Art—multiple times.
They had formidable power, but as combat novices, they were no match for Louis. Still, Yorna herself, as one of the Nine Divine Generals, was in a completely different league.
If it came to a fight, even Louis might not come out okay.
And more importantly, if they ended up having to fight Yorna, their entire purpose in coming to the city would be for nothing. A catastrophic failure. He wouldn't be able to face
"We have no choice but to teleport through the castle, being careful the whole way."
Based on his experience entering the castle once yesterday, there were hardly any patrols inside.
When there were guests, they'd just been left waiting in the reception room. Security when no one was around must have been even more lax. The gate guard's yawning was proof of that.
Still, it seemed almost too careless for the castle of the city's ruler.
"—Fretting about it won't help. We're already inside."
"Hmm?"
"Yeah, let's go. ...Praying that no one's on the other side of the wall."
With walls this thick, pressing your ear against them wouldn't let you hear anything on the other side. So the first time they teleported through the castle wall, whether they'd be spotted was entirely up to luck.
Based on his track record, Subaru had no business counting on being lucky.
Even so— "...Looks like no one's here."
In a castle with almost no patrols, he hadn't run into the misfortune of being spotted immediately.
"————"
Looking left and right, Subaru shielded Louis behind him as he peered down the corridor they'd safely infiltrated via her teleportation. He hadn't noticed it yesterday, but when walking on the wooden floor, he needed to be very careful about the sound of his footsteps.
Also, if he ran into someone in the corridor, there was almost nowhere to hide on either side.
If the worst came to worst, he'd need to teleport into one of the rooms without hesitation.
"As long as we don't use it consecutively, it should be fine..."
He wasn't sure about the toll it took on Louis, but if he spaced out the teleports to one at a time, he could probably suppress the nausea.
Depending on the situation, he should consider teleporting upward, not just left and right. —No, maybe they should be actively moving upward.
"Is it faster in the end than carefully looking for stairs? But if we go up too casually, we might run into someone we really don't want to see..."
Obviously, if Yorna lived in Koururi Castle, she'd always be here. And as the castle's owner, her quarters would presumably be somewhere near the top.
Aiming for the castle's peak meant heading toward Yorna's vicinity.
It meant nothing to Subaru personally, but in this world there were masters who could sense others' presences.
Even with Louis's teleportation, no matter how quietly they controlled their breathing and footsteps, there were things you simply couldn't erase by yourself. How much of a disadvantage that would be—starting now, it was a showdown.
"In any case, we move as carefully as possible. If we do get spotted—"
"—If we get spotted, what will you do, then?"
In that instant, a voice from directly behind him froze his spine, and Subaru's shoulders shot up.
The shock reached Louis, who was holding his hand, and her eyes went wide with surprise. As if springing apart, Subaru and Louis spun around.
There— "Two little ones holding hands—how terribly adorable. Why, even I can't help but smile."
The last person they wanted to run into—the breathtakingly beautiful face of Yorna Mishigure.
△▼△▼△▼△ "—Ah."
No one... had been there.
A moment ago, the corridor had been empty except for Subaru and Louis.
It had been empty, and yet Yorna had appeared without warning.
People like her—the transcendent beings of this other world—possessed a kind of power that brushed aside all the caution, care, and desperate preparation that an ordinary person like Subaru could muster.
"I don't know either of you little ones, it seems."
Yorna looked down at Subaru and Louis, puffing smoke from the pipe in her hand, and murmured.
She was the same glamorous woman in a kimono he'd seen at the castle's peak yesterday—but since he'd only ever seen her sitting, having her standing at full height before him now was overwhelming.
It was partly because Subaru was shrunken, but Yorna was tall. Not Midiam-tall, but with the effect of her thick-soled footwear, she'd be looking down at Abel.
Being stared at by that blue gaze from that height, Subaru's throat froze.
"There's no need to look so frightened. What business brings you to my castle?"
"Uh..."
Her tone was flat, and the question made Subaru curse his own stupidity.
He'd snuck in so carefully, and yet he hadn't prepared a single excuse for the eventuality of being caught. This was exactly what "short-sighted" meant.
Sure enough, Yorna narrowed her sharp eyes at the tongue-tied Subaru. He had to say something or she'd grow suspicious, and his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would explode— "Tanza, is it?"
"Eh—?"
"That's the reason you two are in my castle, isn't it?"
Being confronted with that, Subaru heard something crack in his frozen throat.
He hadn't expected her to see through that much in the mere seconds he'd stood there silent. At the same time, he realized she'd also seen through his identity.
A single glance—and the entire long journey to the Demon City, all of it, had been rendered meaningless. In his head, he could hear Abel's cold voice saying, "What an imbecile."
His legs gave way, and he felt as though he were plunging headlong into the depths of regret. Subaru's reckless attempt would end right here— "Huh!"
Just as his consciousness was about to fall into that pitch darkness, the sensation of a hand gripping his tightly pulled him back.
He glanced to the side and saw Louis, who was now standing beside him, looking up at his face. Her faintly trembling blue eyes held his—the silent signal that she could teleport at any moment, just as he'd told her.
That desperate, earnest look from Louis steadied Subaru's faltering resolve.
He looked back up to see Yorna quietly awaiting his answer to her question, not rushing him in the slightest. —It might not be time to give up yet.
Yorna had asked whether they were in the castle because of Tanza.
That was correct—but only half of it. To fill in the other half, he had to gamble.
"Um, Yorna... Lady Yorna."
"What is it?"
"Where is Tanza?"
Having steeled himself and asked that question, Yorna's eyes narrowed.
For a moment that lasted less than a few seconds, Subaru felt like a mouse caught by a fox. In reality, the power gap between them was even greater than that between a fox and a mouse.
Facing such an opponent, he endured what felt like an eternity. Yorna said nothing, placed the pipe between her lips, and exhaled purple smoke from her lungs— "As it happens, I've sent Tanza out on an errand. She should be back any time now, I dare say..."
"————"
At Yorna's answer, Subaru involuntarily squeezed Louis's hand. Louis looked at him, her gaze darting about as if checking whether he was pointing somewhere.
He felt bad for reacting to Louis—not as a signal to teleport, but because in that moment of winning the gamble, he'd simply squeezed her hand on reflex.
He'd won the gamble. He'd won it.
Yorna's earlier question hadn't been aimed at seeing through their purpose. Of course, she hadn't uncovered their identities either.
It had been a much simpler, gentler question.
After Subaru's answer, Yorna actually closed one eye and murmured, "Honestly..."
"Tanza can be quite the handful. She serves me well enough, but if she can't even keep a promise to a friend, she's hardly suited to be an attendant."
"A... friend?"
"She's an earnest girl, that one. But I always tell her—she needs to point that fierce spirit of hers at more than just me."
Yorna shrugged, commenting on Tanza's manner.
Hearing Yorna's words and seeing her gestures, Subaru felt something unexpected and raised his eyebrows.
The impression from yesterday—the petty, unfathomable empress of the Demon City— All of that had completely shifted. Now Yorna felt like an entirely different person. More specifically, she reminded him of a concerned adult looking after a child—something familiar and easy to understand.
As if to confirm that impression, Yorna let out a small sigh— "Careless as Tanza is, it wouldn't be right to send you away. —Come, wait in the room until she returns."
With that, Yorna turned on her heel and began to walk at an unhurried pace.
Despite her thick-soled shoes, her steps on the wooden floor were utterly silent—a graceful movement that made one question just how refined every part of her must be.
Subaru was momentarily transfixed by that simple walking figure, when Yorna suddenly stopped.
"Follow me. I'll show you the way."
"Wha—!? You will, Lady Yorna!?"
"Huh?"
Yorna's unexpected kindness left Subaru stunned. Louis tilted her head at his surprise, and when Yorna noticed their reactions, she lightly touched her lips and smiled.
Not a cruel smile, but one of pure, gentle warmth.
"This is my castle, after all. Hosting guests is naturally my responsibility. With Tanza absent, there's no need for anyone else to attend to you two."
"Oh, um..."
"It's the first time I've met friends of hers, so do come along."
Yorna beckoned them forward with a tilt of her chin. Subaru watched her gestures and hesitated for exactly one second.
He wondered whether this could be a trap, but quickly let go of the thought.
After all, Yorna had no reason to set a trap for him and Louis. If she wanted, she could pin Subaru down with one finger and handle Louis with a few more.
But if that were the case, then she was genuinely offering to guide them out of kindness. That, too, was completely different from his impression of yesterday's Yorna— "Huh?"
Louis tugged at his spinning thoughts, pulling his hand. Looking at her, it seemed she had no objections to following Yorna.
Louis's response gave Subaru the final push to move his feet.
If anyone had sharper danger-sensing instincts than him, it was Louis. If she wasn't on guard against Yorna, then there was no immediate danger.
"Yes?"
"I-I'm coming!"
At Yorna's repeated call, Subaru answered in a cracking voice and started walking. He trailed after her with his short, shuffling steps, and Yorna narrowed her eyes with a smile as she resumed walking too.
Whether this counted as luck, he wasn't sure—but it was infinitely better than being found out.
"You two aren't from around here, are you?"
"Eh..."
"I don't recognize you. You haven't accepted my 'love letter,' either."
"You don't recognize me"—she'd said something similar before. The expression "love letter" didn't ring any bells, so Subaru simply nodded.
"We came from outside the city... with a, um, scary adult."
"A scary adult... My, that does sound rather difficult. And why with a scary adult?"
"It just... sort of happened..."
He answered Yorna's question carefully, but with a fair degree of honesty.
The truth was, a lot of his traveling with the "scary adult"—Abel—had been circumstance. Though perhaps he should have said "had been" in the past tense. It was hard to imagine Abel would simply forgive him for running off with Louis.
For that matter— "I wonder if I'm the one who needs to be forgiven..."
He didn't think he should be blamed for being unable to decide how to handle Louis.
True, he'd been wrong to hide her identity. But if the result of not hiding it was this, then hiding her had been the right call after all.
If there was anything to apologize for, it was that he hadn't been able to keep the secret all the way and had let it slip halfway.
"—My, what a complicated look you have on your face."
Yorna suddenly slowed her pace, glanced back, and tapped her own brow with a finger. But her white finger touched nothing on her own skin—she'd been pointing at Subaru's brow.
There, presumably, were the deep furrows carved by thoughts with no answers.
"A little one shouldn't wear such a difficult expression so easily. —Would you like me to discipline that scary adult for you?"
"Discipline...? You mean you, Lady Yorna?"
"Heh heh. I may not look it, but I'm quite strong, you know."
Yorna gently waved her sleeve, and at her words, Subaru visualized Abel being disciplined by her, then immediately shook his head vigorously.
He had a feeling Yorna's "discipline" wouldn't end with the gentle result her words suggested—and there was the gap he kept noticing between Yorna's different sides. The latter surprise was especially jarring.
"I appreciate your concern, but I'll be all right! I, um, think he's someone we can talk things through with..."
"Oh? If talking will work, then nothing could be better. There are quite enough people in this world who can't be reasoned with."
"—Lady Yorna..."
"Hmm?"
For a moment, Subaru hesitated, cutting himself off mid-sentence. Yorna stopped walking.
He felt bad about making her stop yet again—then there was the worry that saying what came next would anger Yorna—the knowledge that he was speaking impulsively despite knowing this, and the fact that he was doing it anyway. All of it swirled together in his head.
He'd been aware that his shrunken body had diminished his judgment and thinking ability. But the biggest problem, he felt, was this lack of restraint. Running off with Louis, sneaking into Koururi Castle without sufficient preparation—both of them came from the same place.
He'd hesitated to say it, caught up in that momentum—but— "Um, Lady Yorna... you actually listen when people talk, don't you? I'd assumed that people in positions of power were scary..."
"Oh my."
He was aware he'd said something terribly rude, and Subaru couldn't bring himself to look Yorna in the eye. But after hearing him out, Yorna made a small sound in her throat— "From the look of you, you're not demi-humans, are you?"
"Er, no. We're not."
"And from your perspective, how does this city appear?"
"This city..."
At the abrupt question, Subaru turned his gaze toward a corridor window. The window was set high in the wall and small—too high for Subaru to see outside in his current state.
But he could tell that the hazy blue sky was close.
"It's an amazing, lively city. There are so many different kinds of people."
Carefully choosing his words, Subaru gave his most honest impression.
The sense of a bustling city had been there from almost the very start—the haphazard, jumbled appearance of the buildings, and the sheer diversity of the people living in them.
The overwhelming impression was of a city in constant motion.
"What an honest little one. And that is a pleasant thing to hear."
Hearing Subaru's thoughts, Yorna's lips curved into a slight smile.
Then she gazed out the same window Subaru had been looking at—presumably at a different view of the outside—and spoke.
"In this city, many have gathered—those who find it difficult to live elsewhere. Children who've become small out in the world beyond, with nowhere to go... Children who cry out but are never heard."
"Cry out but..."
"If I were to turn a deaf ear to their words in this, the final place they've reached—then who would listen?"
As she spoke, Yorna placed the pipe between her lips, and a lustrous light passed through her eyes.
That look pierced Subaru's chest, and he felt deeply ashamed. —He could feel his impression of Yorna changing dramatically, because of what she'd just said.
*'She loves deeply. She loves her allies and hates her enemies. —She is the lover of every living soul in the Demon City.'* Yesterday, when Subaru had asked Tanza about Yorna, the deer girl had answered with those words.
At the time, he hadn't understood what it meant at all. When Abel had told him about the Soul Marriage Art, he'd thought it described her power.
But the real meaning behind Tanza's words was probably something else entirely.
—It was an answer to the question of what Yorna Mishigure truly cherished.
"I'm sorry, Yorna..."
The moment he thought that, Subaru lost control once more and blurted out the apology.
At the sudden apology, Yorna exhaled smoke and smiled.
"There's nothing to apologize for. If people in positions of authority seem frightening, it's because they have to—fear makes them easier to deal with. It's simply more convenient if they're feared. That is the way of things."
"People in authority want to be feared..."
Something about that felt like something he should remember.
And the reasoning behind it seemed like it wasn't purely abstract for Yorna, either.
"There's no need to worry. I'm not the sort to get cross with children over something so trivial. Besides, I'm in rather good spirits at the moment."
"Huh?"
"Yes, I am. —It seems something I've wanted for a long time may soon be within reach."
Yorna lowered her eyes and waved her sleeve once more.
There was no anger in her response. As she'd said herself, she wasn't the type to behave immaturely toward children—and she was, in fact, in genuinely high spirits.
Behind that good mood was, presumably, the contents of the letter Abel had sent her— "————"
Thinking that far, Subaru held himself back and thought carefully.
The positive way Yorna was interpreting the letter—and whether its contents would actually be honored—hinged on whether Abel and the others could rendezvous safely at Koururi Castle.
But the one obstructing their efforts was Yorna's attendant, Tanza.
From their exchange just now, it was clear Yorna cared deeply about Tanza.
If her own wishes and Tanza's wishes came into conflict, which would Yorna choose? —Yorna, who had once defied an emperor for someone else's sake.
When the truth of what had been placed before her came to light—what would Yorna choose?
"—You're furrowing your brow again."
Yorna tapped her own brow with a finger, pointing out Subaru's distress. Following her gesture, Louis was also patting her own forehead.
Seeing Yorna and Louis like that, Subaru let out a quiet breath.
Maybe he was getting ahead of himself again.
But his mind right now wasn't sharp enough to properly evaluate whether he was right or wrong— "Um, Yorna, there's something I wanted to ask you—"
△▼△▼△▼△ —Atop the keep of Koururi Castle, on its roof tiles, with a brilliant mingling of blue and red light spread out behind her.
Bathed in the crisp wind unique to high places, she brought the gourd tucked in her robes to her lips. Gulp, gulp—quenching her dry throat with wine, she rested her cheek on her fist and gazed down at the scene below.
"Ha ha ha ha. Magnificent, truly magnificent."
The old woman's throat rumbled as she looked down upon the hodgepodge of architectural styles that made up the jumbled streets below.
Her hoarse laughter was caught by the wind and scattered into nothingness, swallowed by the Demon City's noise and fading away. Watching it disappear again and again delighted the old crone.
She loved chaos.
The chaotic streetscape, the mix of demi-human races, the intentions flowing this way and that.
All of it, simply because it was disordered, made her want to take its side.
"Mmm, getting old has given me the bad habit of stirring everything up and eating it. Still—"
She tipped the gourd back, wiped the wine spilling from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, and shrugged. Then, still sitting cross-legged, she twisted around to look over her shoulder and raised one eyebrow.
It was a sight to make any chaos-loving elder drool— "To get all the way to old me, that's quite the unexpected lineup you've got there, I'll tell you."
Facing the old woman who spoke those words, three figures stood upon the keep's roof tiles.
They were— "Olbart! I found you!"
A boy pointing triumphantly at Olbart, and a golden-haired girl holding that boy's hand.
And standing behind the two of them, like a guardian—was the beautiful empress who ruled the Demon City.