"—The enemy's identity has been revealed. It's the failed creation of the '
In the emergency meeting convened once again in the Chain Dragon Carriage, Roswaal—who had rushed back from the battlefield—surveyed the assembled faces and delivered his explanation.
Sphinx—that was the name of the false Ryuzu Subaru and the others had faced.
And furthermore— "When you say the Kingdom, when are we talking about?"
"—Roughly forty years ago. Right in the middle of the 'Demihuman War.'"
"—!"
At Roswaal's answer, Subaru's eyes went wide with shock.
The Demihuman War was a topic that came up from time to time, but it had been a conflict fought within the
"According to records, Sphinx was identified as one of the three individuals most to be feared on the demihuman side during the 'Demihuman War.' Her deep mastery of magic is said to have escalated the horrors of that conflict by several orders of magnitude."
"I think I saw that name too, when I was studying the Kingdom's history. And the name Subaru mentioned… Valga Cromwell, that was one as well, wasn't it?"
"—Yes. That individual's name matches one of the feared as well."
Having actually faced the false Ryuzu—Sphinx—and experienced her threat firsthand,
From their perspective, it must have seemed like Subaru had suddenly pulled that name out of nowhere, but judging from Sphinx's subsequent reaction, they understood it couldn't have been unrelated.
Though Subaru himself hadn't known that name was connected to the Demihuman War.
"So basically, the enemy is Sphinx and Valga Cromwell, and these guys who ran rampant during the 'Demihuman War' are now running rampant in the Empire too? That doesn't make a damn bit of sense…"
"That 'Demihuman War' was over forty years ago, after all. I studied the Kingdom's history too, and I know the demihuman side's claims during the civil war, but… it doesn't quite fit this situation."
"Right. Still, it's a relief that Beara and the others are safe…"
The sheer illogic of Sphinx and Valga—two figures who had once terrorized the Kingdom—now running amok in the Empire left both Subaru and Anastasia scratching their heads.
In that case, you'd think the third person of the three feared during the demihuman civil war would be among the enemy as well.
"That's impossible. The last one… I'm quite certain I confirmed the name
Having literally flown back with Roswaal, Beatrice had apparently resolved never to leave Subaru's side ever since hearing about the dire situation he'd fallen into.
Subaru, for his part, had been utterly heartsick at the thought of sending her to the battlefield, so he fully accepted Beatatrice's adorable display of determination.
In any case— "Having the Book of the Dead means we're safe… or can I even say that? The enemy is made of zombies, so maybe it's only natural that the thing exists."
"If that's the case, then it's a terrifying possibility. We may end up facing not just ordinary zombies, but heroes and archvillains whose names are etched into history."
"Historical heroes, huh. …Hey, you're not getting excited about this, are you?"
"Unfortunately, I've already faced off against Reinhard Astrea, so I'm exercising restraint against excessive expectations."
Subaru cast a suspicious glance at Julius, who shrugged.
Honestly, when Reinhard had come up back in the tower, Julius's history-nerd tendencies had been on full display. He'd settled things with Reinhard too, so it wasn't as if the man would be outdone—but his claim about maintaining composure in the face of legendary figures was only half true.
"This is no time for that. …For starters, Natsuki and the others managed to preemptively neutralize one of the enemy's trump cards, but we're not in the clear yet. The only good news is that Sphinx, who was surely a formidable opponent, was taken out early, but…"
"Yeah, sorry about that, big brother Otto. The truth is, we can't say that for sure either."
"Huh?"
Crossing his arms and cracking his teeth, Garfiel delivered the news haltingly, and Otto's eyes went round.
Fixing his gaze on Otto, Garfiel—who was still covered in dirt from the battlefield—gestured with both hands toward Beatrice and Roswaal.
"That Sphinx chick showed up in front of me and Beatrice and the others before that. That face of hers… Pissed me off something fierce, like she was mocking us, so we—"
"Right, she was. She had the exact same face as Ryuzu-san. It must have been really hard on Garfiel."
"But just because the face is the same doesn't mean the old hag is the old hag. So we didn't hesitate one bit about going after her. The problem is what came after."
"What came after?"
At Emilia's tilted head, Garfiel gave a deep nod.
For once, his expression clouded over from its usual bravery, and with a heavy sigh he spoke.
"—We definitely finished Sphinx off. We watched her shatter to pieces right in front of us, and confirmed she was at the very last of her life bar. But…"
"That was exactly what Sphinx wanted all along, wasn't it?"
Continuing from Garfiel's conclusion, Beatrice gripped Subaru's hand tightly.
Her grip was so desperate that Subaru's fingers turned white, conveying the full extent of the shock that Sphinx's true aim had delivered to her.
Roswaal narrowed his eyes at Beatrice's state and said, "Allow me to state the conclusion": "Sphinx certainly died before our eyes, and then likewise died again in rapid succession before Subaru-kun and the others. The inference we can draw from this is straightforward… Sphinx can die multiple times, and each time she is reborn as a zombie."
"Wh—"
"If we stack worst upon worst, the zombie she becomes after each resurrection likely retains awareness of her own previous death and what caused it. In other words, the factors that stopped her scheme to blow up the Chain Dragon Carriage—Subaru-kun and
"————"
Even with that caveat of being a mere "conjecture," Roswaal's reasoning was terrifying.
But there was much to nod along to. In the midst of that destructive downpour of light, even as she herself was reduced to dust, Sphinx hadn't flinched in the slightest.
There were people who wouldn't be rattled even with death staring them in the face. That much was true.
But if Sphinx's composure stemmed from the fact that she didn't regard "death" as "death"—then Subaru found it strangely fitting.
"As if…"
He didn't say it aloud—as if it were "Return by Death"—but that was what Subaru thought.
A self-destructive attack that didn't consider the annihilation of one's own life a disadvantage, but wielded even that as a weapon. The structural difference was that the fact of dying itself was not erased.
Thinking about it that way, Sphinx's ability might actually be closer in its troublesome nature to Petelgeuse's "Possession"—the one Subaru had fought in the past—than to Subaru's own Return by Death.
"No matter how many times you knock them down, huh."
For an instant, Julius and Subaru's eyes met.
Presumably Julius had reached the same conclusion, recognizing the overlap between Sphinx's and Petelgeuse's respective nuisances. Though unlike Petelgeuse, Sphinx didn't possess other people—for the sake of convenience, let's call her ability "Death Escape."
"If you can't finish them off no matter how many times you knock them down, then there's only one way to deal with that kind of opponent. Keep knocking them down until they're out of lives. That's it."
"Lives? Um, that means…?"
"The number of times they can still revive. No matter how insane the opponent is, it's impossible for them to resurrect infinitely without limit. There's definitely a ceiling. Right?"
It felt a bit hypocritical, coming from him, but lives had to run out eventually.
If Sphinx was defeated enough times to exhaust that reserve, then her cool expression—the one she wore as though death had nothing to do with her—would surely crack.
"So there's no point in just moping around. Instead, let's celebrate that we broke the arrogant bastard's nose!
"Ngh! I-I didn't do anything that remarkable…"
Suddenly put on the spot, Rem shook her head back and forth, looking bashful. But saying she hadn't done anything remarkable was the most Rem-like modesty imaginable.
Right after Return by Death, Subaru had stepped off the Chain Dragon Carriage with Emilia and Julius, entrusting Rem—who remained inside—with a message. Specifically, so she could summon the Strongest of
"Rem, if you hadn't called Halibel-san for us, right now me and Emilia-tan and Julius and the Chain Dragon Carriage would all be nothing but dust. If that had happened, Beara-san would've become a grieving widow who spends eternity praying for my soul and turns into a nun."
"Don't casually say the worst-case scenario I'd been specifically not thinking about! If Betty was left behind and you died, Betty would really become that 'nun,' you know!"
"Mm, that's right. That Beatrice didn't become a 'nun,' and that we can all be here talking safely like this—it's all thanks to Rem. Thank you."
"…I understand. I'll believe that."
Between the tearful Beatrice and the smiling Emilia, Rem accepted their gratitude with a certain shy restraint.
As Subaru took in the sight of all three of them—Emilia, Beatrice, and Rem—gathered together, feeling a warmth swell in his chest once more, he turned his gaze to the tall figure standing nearby.
"Of course, thanks to you too, Halibel-san. Honestly, I was banking entirely on your name recognition to deal with that…"
"Haha, honesty isn't always the best policy, y'know. Truth be told, when I was suddenly called out by a blue-haired kid, I came out and was surprised myself. If I hadn't been told about it, I'd probably be dead too, wouldn't I? In fact, I'd say I'm the one who was saved by being informed."
He laughed in his relaxed, unhurried manner, his attitude hardly befitting the remarkable feat he'd accomplished.
His easygoing tone may have lacked any sense of urgency, but without him, the annihilation of Subaru and the others would have been unavoidable. The fact that Subaru had the good judgment to select the option of calling him a second time was fortunate—but the thought of what would have happened if Halibel hadn't been on that carriage in the first place was genuinely terrifying.
In that short time, he'd needed to gather every warrior aboard the carriage and find the optimal countermeasure. And even then, there was no guarantee a solution would exist, so he truly owed everything to the Strongest City-State.
"You're saying all those nice things, but how'd it actually go?"
"Hmm, Julius and I tried our best, but I think we were still a little short in the end. Anastasia-san recruited Halibel-san to our side, and that made all the difference."
"I see, I see. Then it was worth splashing out a big sum to bring him along."
Emilia and Anastasia whispered to each other, reevaluating the laid-back Halibel, and the fact that everyone had made the optimal play was the only reason they could even hold this post-mortem.
That was Subaru's takeaway from the preceding chaotic exchange—and— "So that's the gist of what happened just now. In short, all of us working together saved our skins. Obviously, there's something you should be saying, right?"
"You have done well."
"You bastard…!"
To Emperor Abel—who had been listening patiently to the entire report up to this point—and his single word of appreciation,
△▼△▼△▼△ Naturally, Sphinx's "Death Escape" strategy against the Chain Dragon Carriage was also shared with the Imperial leadership—who had been unwittingly roped into the whole affair.
The Chain Dragon Carriage was a highly classified asset within the Volachia Empire, and since they had destroyed one of its precious carriages out of necessity, a proper explanation was required.
Still— "To think a 'you've done well' is all we get after containing all that…."
"What are you saying, Natsuki-dono! To seek a reward surpassing His Excellency's own words of praise! Know your shame as a subject of the Empire he rules!!"
"Goz-san, don't get it wrong! Subaru isn't a child of the Empire—he's from the same Kingdom as us!"
"Emilia, your voice is getting louder too."
Unlike the imperial soldier whose loyalty was at MAX, a single word of praise from Abel simply wasn't enough for Subaru.
If it had been Emilia expressing her gratitude instead, her voice raised in response to Goz's prompting, it might have made up for his dissatisfaction.
"At present, we have been driven from the capital and must reorganize along the road ahead. I cannot issue empty promises of rewards commensurate with your contributions. Therefore, I have nothing to offer beyond words."
"So you're openly admitting your wallet is empty…! Waaah, Anastasia-saaan!"
"Yes, yes, don't be so upset about it. I'll properly fleece the Empire for the effort Julius and Emilia-san and the others put in."
"Hell yeah! Fleece them good!"
Anastasia's dependability had Subaru raising his hands in triumph, which drew a pained expression and a sigh from Abel. Then, steering the topic back, he said: "So—that corpse person… the one called Sphinx is at the center of this 'Great Calamity'?"
"At the very least, a ritual of that scale—reanimating all those zombies—would have been crafted by her. Modifying and improving on existing frameworks, exactly the sort of thing that failure would do."
"Roswaal, I understand you don't like her, but don't use such unpleasant words so freely."
Roswaal's response drew a faint furrow of Emilia's brows at Abel's remark. Her gentle violet eyes turned stern as she fixed Roswaal with a hard stare.
"We're not here to exchange insults, are we? Even if we accomplish something good, if we keep saying nasty things, nobody will listen to what we really have to say."
"—Yes. I shall take that to heart."
"Mm, please do."
Roswaal bowed his head honestly at Emilia's words, smiling wryly.
Subaru felt that while the kindness at her core remained unchanged, Emilia's way of thinking was becoming ever more refined. He hoped Roswaal felt the same.
And while Subaru was contemplating this— "Sphinx is said to have caused havoc during the Kingdom's civil war as well. How did that play out?"
"According to Kingdom records, Sphinx, Valga Cromwell, and Libre Fermi—all three were slain before the civil war was resolved. The loss of these three determined the demihuman faction's inferiority in the conflict… so I recall."
"I see. —But the dead rising from the earth doesn't happen without reason. That they've become corpses and are ravaging the Empire's soil—could this not be a dereliction on your Kingdom's part?"
"My, my, for His Excellency Emperor Vincent to say something so unreasonable—"
At Abel's one-eye-closed question, Roswaal smiled and shrugged.
With that same hand, he gestured toward the scenery outside the window.
"I can't fathom the depths of that individual's scheming, but the fact that she's bringing calamity to the Empire—which holds memories of defeat—rather than the Kingdom, makes it plain she harbors different intentions than before. Given the forty years of silence, it's not realistic to assume the Kingdom's records are wrong."
Having said all that, Roswaal added "However," withdrew the hand that had been pointing outside, raised one finger on his returned hand, and said: "If someone directly participated in the 'Demihuman War' and had the chance to slay Sphinx before them only to fail, then in that case, I'd say they do bear responsibility, wouldn't you say~?"
"Ridiculous. Asking the opinions of old veterans who participated in the Kingdom's civil war forty years ago and shaped the outcome—there's no value in such a discussion."
"Well, naturally. I'm at least relieved you're not the type to make unreasonable demands like that… Hm? What's wrong, Beara-san? You're making a displeased face."
"…Is Betty not always adorable?"
Roswaal's point was valid, and Abel quickly acknowledged it, withdrawing his objection.
That sort of probing had probably become a habit—but a bad one, and he ought to correct it. While Subaru was thinking this, Beatrice was sitting beside him wearing an inexplicably disgruntled expression.
She was adorable, that much was true, but it seemed something in the exchange had gotten under Beatrice's skin. Judging by her expression, it was probably Roswaal-related.
"So, what else did you learn? For having made such a grand exit and charged out, you can't very well claim the same results as those who stayed with the carriage."
"Let me point out, it wasn't Betty's group that made that grand exit—it was Subaru. But taking responsibility for the grand exit Subaru made is also Betty's duty, wouldn't you say?"
"Naturally, we did acquire some findings~. It wasn't quite the scale of zombie characteristics per se, but we did discover several things~."
In response to Abel's question, Beatrice and Roswaal answered reliably.
Impressed, Subaru snapped his fingers.
"So—so? You figured out the zombies' weakness? If you did, then even if Sphinx shows up again, there's nothing to be scared of!"
"Natsuki-san, don't get ahead of yourself. No matter what, the results couldn't possibly be that—"
"You underestimate Betty's group. We did figure it out, you know."
"Wha—!?"
"For real!?"
Beating her chest with a smug look on her face, Beatrice's words left Subaru and Otto stunned. Pleased by their reaction, she grinned and said, "Of course we did."
"The key was Garfiel's intuition, I think. Garfiel, who'd been fighting on the battlefield before Betty's group arrived, had noticed the discrepancy."
"I mean, if Beatrice and the others hadn't been there, it probably would've been just something that bugged me that I'd have forgotten about, though."
"That you, someone so gifted in intuition, don't trust your own instincts—that's truly a case of burying treasure. …Oh my? I intended that as a compliment, but…"
"Don't care if you're complimentin' me or insultin' me—it don't make me happy!"
At Garfiel's bristling retort, Roswaal closed one eye and shrugged.
Ignoring the two's usual bickering, Beatrice continued.
"The discrepancy Garfiel noticed was the difference in zombie durability. There were zombies that fell with a single arrow, and zombies that stayed standing even with ten arrows stuck in them. That was the difference."
"But isn't that just because some 'zombies' are stronger than others? Like, I'm stronger than Subaru, so there could be that kind of variation…"
"That wasn't it, I think. The difference between Subaru and Anastasia was relatively small, yet the arrows ranged from one to ten."
"Comparing me to him is pretty harsh on Natsuki-kun, if you ask me~."
Anastasia gave a wry laugh and glanced at Subaru. But in his currently diminished state, he had no grounds to object and simply waved in acknowledgment of her concern.
Still, the discrepancy Beatrice had mentioned was certainly worth looking into. And Beatrice and Roswaal had unraveled its true nature.
The answer was— "State your conclusion. What was the cause of the difference among the corpses?"
"…Insects, I think."
"Insects…?"
At the answer to Abel's question, Subaru furrowed his brow.
Beatrice then glanced toward Roswaal and gave a slight nod. At that signal, Roswaal drew something from within his clothing.
"Everyone, please be careful. I've frozen it and halted its activity, but if the ice breaks, a zombie may emerge here, as I understand it~."
"What are you… hey, hey, hey—what the heck is that!?"
"Didn't Beatrice just say? It's a bug. If I had to give it a name, I'd call it a 'Core Bug'."
In Roswaal's hand, pinched between his fingers, was a small chunk of ice the size of a coin, with something red and round inside it.
Looking closer, one could make out that it was a small, round, caterpillar-like insect— "This Core Bug lurks inside every one of the zombies. And this insect is the zombie's lifeline… in short, it's fair to call it their core."
"The insect is the core, so that means…?"
"—I see. So Garfiel's sense of discrepancy came down to the difference in when the arrows killed the Core Bugs inside the zombies."
Still reeling from the impact of the insect revelation, Subaru listened as Julius reached understanding.
Hearing Julius's words, the others similarly arrived at comprehension. Of course, Subaru himself had finally grasped the insect's significance—but— "So the Core Bug is basically a zombie's heart?"
"Deciphering the full ritual will be an ongoing process, but our conclusion is that this Core Bug gathers information about the target it reanimates, and the soil constructs a vessel to replicate their original form."
"That's right."
At Roswaal's conclusion, Beatrice nodded in agreement.
But Subaru himself was left slack-jawed.
If the zombies were being created through magic, he could have accepted it with a fantasy sense of wonder. But magical insects being responsible for creating zombies? The revulsion won out.
"I used to love catching bugs as a kid… now I feel pathetic…"
"I don't think this is the right moment for that kind of self-reflection. —In any case, our side has produced results. What say you, His Excellency the Emperor?"
"At the very least, I acknowledge that you are not the incompetent lot who brags loudly and produces nothing. I concede as much. You have done well."
"…You might want to stop saying that phrase altogether."
Never mind the Empire, among the Kingdom's people—including Subaru—those words of praise had a terrible reputation.
In any case, as Otto had gone out of his way to articulate, even the notoriously difficult Abel couldn't deny the results Beatrice and the others had uncovered. Privately, he was probably groaning.
"Well done, as expected of my Beara-san."
"Naturally. This is what Subaru's partner is capable of. Quite a bit different from some deer girl who merely endured a few hardships with Subaru, wouldn't you say?"
"Don't get all huffy and try to be friends with
Subaru soothed Beatrice's sudden burst of competitiveness, then patted her head and promised a hundred rubs to put her in a good mood again, before turning back to Abel.
Abel looked back at him, and Subaru puffed out his chest.
"These are my dependable allies. Worth the bragging, right?"
"I also acknowledge the merit of the earlier defense against the attack on the carriage. You—why must you insist on gloating over me so? The results speak for themselves."
"Heh, no matter what you say, all I hear is a sore loser. I'm in a good mood right now."
At Abel's sour response, Subaru huffily turned his nose up. Emilia scolded him with a "Bad!," but his heart was sincere.
Then, perhaps feeling uneasy about Subaru and his group's accomplishments, members of the imperial leadership—Berstetz and Selena—exchanged words, and Abel was looked to.
"Your Excellency, the Kingdom's delegates… If friends of mine like Border Count Maes have produced such results, should we not present equally valuable answers to maintain face?"
"Lord Dracroy, why are you looking so pleased?"
"Pleased, Your Excellency? My apologies—I was not consciously aware of it myself. But perhaps, as a member of the imperial aristocracy, I feel that my pride is being tested by a situation in which I must demonstrate the Empire's prestige."
"————"
Pressing a hand against her ample chest, Selena answered, the white scar on her face twisting.
Though her expression wasn't quite a smile, her voice and the color of her eyes were decidedly buoyant. To maintain that composure while addressing the Emperor from a decidedly less-than-advantageous position—her mental fortitude was no ordinary thing.
"Is Selena-san maybe kind of insane?"
"Insane or not, she's Roswaal's friend, that's all~."
"Oh~."
Wanting information on Selena—with whom he'd had minimal contact—the bombshell dropped by that initial remark was enough to demolish any wall of doubt.
However, it wasn't exactly fair to tell either Roswaal or Selena to pick better friends. After all, it was abundantly clear that their cross-border friendship had played a role in the background of how Emilia and the others had come all the way to the Empire to find Subaru.
Come to think of it, Roswaal had been quite the provocateur at the Royal Selection as well.
To hear that Selena was friends with someone of that temperament toward Abel—that settled it.
"Now that we can talk about it, Natsuki-kun, you caused quite a stir back then too, didn't you~?"
"Can't hear you, can't hear you, can't hear you…"
As Subaru covered his ears to escape his painful past, the very person who was delivering that lecture shot him a lukewarm gaze that pierced him to the core.
And keeping that same lukewarm look directed none too subtly at the Emperor himself, Selena continued making her case.
"In any case, Your Excellency surely recognizes their usefulness. Which is precisely why—one cannot help but wonder if there was an element of keeping them close for leverage, as a woman such as myself might suspect."
"Enough. You needn't be so devious with your words. I understand perfectly well."
Abel snorted and blocked Selena's gaze with his hand. Then, dispelling whatever lingering contemplation he'd been wearing, he revealed what Selena had been nudging him toward.
That was— "—Regarding the confrontation with this 'Great Calamity,' there exists someone who possesses information worth discussing in terms of usefulness. That person's testimony should be heard before we arrive at the fortress city."
△▼△▼▼△▼△ "Oh my, oh my—so you've finally come around to hearing what I have to say? If so, then I'm awfully pleased, Your Excellency!"
In a heavily locked room of the Chain Dragon Carriage, the person who had been held under what amounted to house arrest behind that door smiled an endearing smile at the sight of Abel.
But given his current treatment, there was likely precious little to smile about.
His entire body was wound round and round with chains, and he was bound so securely to his chair that escape was absolutely impossible.
"Come on, Abel—isn't this a bit much, even for you?"
"It's a necessary precaution. For better or worse, the loss of this man would represent a significant blow to our side. Let me warn you—if I release these restraints, he'll go running off to get himself killed with no hesitation."
"Get myself killed? Nothing could be further from the truth! I've been laboring to stop this 'Great Calamity,' you see… It's simply that I value this cause more than my own life, that's all."
"Oh my…"
The handsome man—chuckling to himself and swaying back and forth in his bound chair—spoke with an air that felt dangerously unhinged.
Even the ever-skeptical Subaru couldn't help but believe that Abel's caution wasn't an overstatement.
Still, suspicious beyond measure— "This 'Star Reader'… Wilbelk, was it? You're saying this guy is trustworthy?"
"Oh dear, to think I'd be doubted so… Why, if I'm not mistaken, aren't you the Kingdom's 'Star Reader' I crossed paths with at the Chaos Flame!?"
"That's completely different! Ah! Were you the one who fed him that 'Star Reader' nonsense about me? Thanks to you, I ended up in a fistfight with this guy!"
The handsome man—Wilbelk—lit up and babbled, and Subaru immediately latched on.
The whole "Star Reader" business was a nuisance Subaru didn't need. Of course, given that Star Readers apparently served a quasi-prophetic role, he understood the risk of his Return by Death being perceived that way—but it was still a major pain.
In any case— "I'm not the same type as you. Get that straight."
"Hmm? That's strange. I was told you and I are the same…"
"That from the stars? If so, then Abel, this person isn't very reliable at all."
If the stars were feeding wrong answers, then relying on them was the last thing Subaru wanted to do.
What mattered right now was information that was reliable, even in small details. Vague, could-go-either-way predictions à la the Barnum effect were not on the menu.
So he was about to turn his back in disappointment, but— "Wait, wait, please wait! Fine, fine! You're not a 'Star Reader'! That's fine by me!"
"Your phrasing is suspicious, but correcting that doesn't exactly restore my trust in you…"
"I don't mind staying locked up like this. Just listen to what the stars have told me. That's all I ask!"
"————"
Wilbelk twisted his body urgently, his eyes gleaming as he made his plea. The force of his movement was such that the chains biting into his body drew blood without mercy.
Ignoring the pain and everything else, he was trying to convey some piece of information he claimed to have received from the stars in his capacity as a "Star Reader." If he could do that, he didn't care about wounds.
Or perhaps—and this thought crept up uneasily—he didn't care about his life either.
"Abel, Star Readers—are they always like this…"
"Discard such sentimentality. Listen first, then decide whether it's worth considering."
Abel didn't engage with Subaru's concern, instead fixing his gaze on the eager Wilbelk.
Seeing that Abel was willing to listen, Wilbelk stopped squirming and smiled a gentle smile.
"Your Excellency, please rest easy. No matter how immense the 'Great Calamity' may be, the stars are on your side~."
"Whichever Vincent Volachia the stars have chosen to back, they wouldn't discriminate so cruelly. Spare me. —Speak. What do you have to tell us?"
"Two things."
Arms crossed, Abel's inquiry was met with Wilbelk's brief response.
At "two things," Subaru echoed the word under his breath, while Abel silently urged him on.
Whether to trust this was deeply uncertain—but Wilbelk had, after all, been credited with predicting the arrival of the "Great Calamity" itself. The information he now brought for the shaken Empire was— "To overturn the devastation of the 'Great Calamity'—two lights. The first is a tongueless girl led not by the Kingdom's 'Star Reader,' but by a boy who is not one."
"…What?"
Glancing toward him, Subaru's eyes went wide at what followed.
He had barely begun questioning whether he should trust Wilbelk's claims at all, and the words that followed seemed to offer no reason to do so.
Because the person matching the conditions Wilbelk had just described was one and only one.
And before the shock of that had even settled, Wilbelk continued.
With the same lips that had revealed one of the two lights, he now unveiled the remaining one.
That light was— "—One of the Nine Peaks, a beastman who is the most well-versed in curses in this entire empire."
△▼△▼▼△▼△ Kicking off the ground, gasping for breath, forcing her way through the rocky mountain path.
"Dammit, dammit, damn these wretched things…!"
Even her curses came out weak—she was fully aware of her own exhaustion.
Running across open fields, fighting day and night without rest—that was something she'd been doing since childhood in order to survive on this empire's soil.
But even so, being forced to maintain that level of tension for over ten days without food or water was an entirely different dimension.
"—!"
A sharp inhale as the foul-tainted scent of earth slipped into her nostrils. Her limbs jerked as she whipped herself into motion.
She wasn't relying on sight or sound to track her targets. Her nose alone gave her more than enough to map the world—enemy positions, numbers, approximate armament.
And because of that, she was all too aware of the hundred or so enemies closing in around her, and the fact that no matter how many she cut down, it made no dent at all made her want to believe her nose had gone stupid.
"You damn, damn bastards!"
But she immediately shook off those thoughts and slammed her weapon into the earthy-smelling air.
One, two, three—the enemies struck directly went flying in pieces, and the impact carried through to those behind them. She punched through the encirclement by brute force and burst free.
Knock them down, knock them down—they just kept rising. The sickly pallid earthen puppets涌 out endlessly. Like a badly drawn nightmare, they were unmistakably after her life.
Her entire unit had been wiped out. By the time she'd realized, it was all too late. Even as she questioned her fitness as a 'general,' she kept running east, east, desperately onward.
Even if she wanted to rendezvous with someone, every route was completely sealed off. Not just without food or water—her last contact with another living human had been when she separated from her adjutant.
If only her subordinates had managed to survive, even some of them.
"Tch—!"
The moment her thoughts strayed, her reaction to the enemy slashing at her came a beat too late.
She deflected the blow grazing her shoulder with a shoulder roll, dissipated the impact, and kicked off the mountain path as she did. Rather than continuing along this narrow, enemy-clogged road, sliding down the cliff face would actually be the better option.
With that decision made, she sprinted nearly straight down the sheer cliff, accelerating to甩 off her pursuers.
Even if they were going to pin her down with sheer numbers eventually, buying a single breath's worth of time would help.
Believing that, she ran, ran, ran— "—This smell…"
Mixed in with the scent of earth, plants, and a trace of flowers—the thing that tickled her nostrils was the smell of human habitation.
Different from the iron tang of the weapons her pursuers carried, she caught this foreign scent and for an instant her thoughts scattered in a thousand directions, but she quickly consulted her own condition and followed the scent.
Fighting this enemy and dragging others into it—she hesitated. But if she avoided doing so, she'd collapse from hunger and thirst, and that would be the stupidest, most pathetic, most bullshit ending imaginable.
"…Shit, a hidden village?"
Following the scent, she broke into a settlement isolated among the mountain folds.
In the Empire, there were quite a few people who abandoned their land to evade taxes and became bandits, or who hid away in the mountains and forests. This settlement was probably one such hidden hamlet.
Normally, as an imperial 'general,' she couldn't afford to overlook the existence of such a place—but— "This is a damn emergency! Right now I don't care! More importantly…"
She swept her gaze across the settlement, looking for anyone at all, but when no one came into view, she flared her nostrils.
The source of the habitable smell was this settlement, but what was tickling her nostrils so intensely wasn't a lingering scent—it was the smell of someone currently, actively present here.
She headed toward it, intending to request the aid of whoever could fight.
If they could buy her even a little time, she'd be able to restore her strength with water and food.
Stoking her near-dead heart with that determination, she followed the scent to the settlement's largest building.
Reaching the entrance, she was about to burst inside— "Hey! I don't know who you are, but lend me a hand against these damn things—"
—At that instant, two violent gusts of wind flashed toward her.
"Damn—!!"
Instinctively she jerked her head and shifted her hips to evade, then belatedly realized that what had been aimed at her were razor-sharp slashes.
Having burst in seeking help only to nearly be killed instead, she bared her teeth and glared daggers at the audacious pair.
And then— "Oh my! Well, now, how unusual! To think that upon testing whether it was a dead man or a dead woman who'd come calling, a living person would leap in instead… A redhead! Would you say the wager is won by yours truly~!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up—who the hell cares about winning or losing, you bastards!!"
What she saw upon bursting in was the interior of a spacious building, two middle-aged men seated around a round table—both absolutely drenched in the fumes of alcohol.
Each brandishing a sword and a knight's blade, they swayed with drunken abandon—and the fury that surged up within her made her forget both her hunger and her thirst in an instant— "You bastards, the empire's in danger and you're sitting here drenched in booze, you shitheads!!"
That was the moment Gruvy Gamlett, Curse Tool User, was made to shout in a perfectly, utterly reasonable manner.