"Don't you think Sakura and Tiga are being horrible? If I'd known it would turn out like this, I never would have… I never would have…!"
"You never would have thought to save someone with a miracle out of self-preservation? Is that what you're saying?"
"Even if I'd known, I still would have done it, but the way I feel about it is completely different when I knew beforehand versus when I didn't!"
Fillore, who clearly understood her own impulsiveness all too well and had performed an apt self-analysis, shrieked as she glared tearfully at Sakura, who sat across from her.
Sakura, who had been calling herself a surrogate big sister, answered Fillore's words with a troubled frown.
"Even if you say it like that, we're just as troubled, you know. Subaru and
"I don't get why you're dragging me and Beatrice into this, but I've more or less figured out how we ended up in this situation."
"Setting aside who's responsible, you could probably guess from watching you two that Fillore was the one who set things in motion."
Subaru and Beatrice shook their heads with identical exasperated gestures as they offered their opinions on Sakura's question, seated right beside her.
For reference, the current seating arrangement in the reception room facing them was as follows: on the host side sat
Incidentally, Petra, who had been there from the start, was now joined by
"Even so, the reason for the volume increase is almost entirely Fillore. But seriously, why are we sitting on this side? The grouping's weird."
"How terrible! Emilia, did you hear? Subaru is trying to separate me—your one and only friend—from Emilia. Could he be a spy for the Church…?"
"If anyone's a Church spy, it's obviously you."
Beatrice sighed at Fillore's trembling expression. Emilia, whose arm Fillore was clinging to, smiled wryly and stroked her friend's head.
"Now, don't look at Subaru like that, Fillore. Subaru is super, super kind, and he won't try to come between us. Besides, my relationship with Subaru and my relationship with Fillore are completely different things, right?"
"Y-yes, you're right, I think so. …Incidentally, is one of them more important than the other?"
"Huh? That's…"
"Actually, never mind! Stop it, please! Even the sacred texts say this: 'The trials bestowed by the Dragon are born of love. As gold is burned by flame and increases in purity, so too does the soul undergo hardships born of love and cast forth a radiance befitting the Dragon's divine heart'!"
Fillore buried her face and clung to the sacred texts, looking less like a devout follower of the
Her cutting off Emilia's words meant Subaru was also denied hearing about his current favorability rating, and he too was left with a lingering sense of indigestion.
Setting that aside— "About what you said earlier… Fillore participating in the Royal Selection—is it really in place of Priscilla?"
Emilia turned the sharp edge of her question toward Sakura across from her, paying no mind to Fillore's face cycling between red and blue on its own.
At this, Sakura slightly narrowed her sleepy-looking drooping eyes.
"…At the very least, Priscilla's death is undoubtedly one of the reasons. If it weren't, it would contradict the Dragon History Stone's records."
"So, as long as the records on the Dragon History Stone state that there are five Dragon Priestesses who are candidates for the throne… the policy of the Divine Dragon Church is that it cannot act in violation of that."
"Of course, please don't think that just because the foundation crumbled, we seized the opportunity and marched into the castle with great fanfare. Even if a vacancy among the Dragon Priestesses happened to open up due to Priscilla's absence, the Church's policy was to maintain its distance."
"But that's not how things turned out. The reason for that is…"
Otto deliberately did not voice the conclusion, but every gaze in the room converged on Fillore—the person who had generated the initial wave that created this entire situation.
Feeling the discomfort of those stares on her throat, Fillore then clung to Emilia.
"I-it's not like that, Emilia! I never, not even for a second, intended to become your enemy! It was just a terrible coincidence! A-a-a-and besides!"
Her face deathly pale, Fillore fixed her wide-open eyes on Sakura.
"Besides, I'm lodging a complaint about the Church's culture of concealment! All of this is because I was raised sheltered until today! Sure, I'm not saying I didn't think it was easy to be exempted from the studies other girls had to do, but for that to tear me away from Emilia… I did nothing wrong!"
"There, there, don't cry, Fillore. I'm not angry, and I've never thought of the other Royal Selection candidates as enemies."
"E-Emilia…"
Emilia's gentle hand stroking Fillore's head soothed the girl's turbulent heart.
Watching this exchange, Sakura put her hand to her mouth in surprise and said, "My my."
"Normally, this is where things would drag on forever, but Emilia-chan is really so good at handling Fillore-chan… Is there some kind of trick?"
"Setting aside the light joke about how all Fillores are rendered powerless before Emilia's fluffy, all-encompassing warmth… What exactly did Fillore come here for?"
Based on her behavior thus far, it clearly wasn't a declaration of war for the Royal Selection. He doubted she had really dashed through the capital for nothing more than tearful complaints and excuses.
"That could be? I wouldn't be surprised at all, really."
"I agree, but if we go with that, the conversation won't move forward…"
"Wait. Do you think I'm that thoughtless? I do act without thinking a lot of the time, I know, but today is different. I have a proper plan."
"A plan?"
"Yes, a plan! I don't want to participate in the Royal Selection. But I want to fulfill my duties as a 'Saint' by using my miracle. So, I'll have my friend Emilia shelter me, and I'll secretly go save the people of Pristella! What do you think?"
"That sounds like the crime syndicate's master plan from some kids' show."
It was a laughably flimsy plan that even a child could see through. Besides, the goal was helping people, so it wasn't even really a crime plan. But the biggest problem had already been identified by Sakura.
In other words, the plan was dead on arrival.
"And if word got out that someone 'kidnapped' a 'Saint' of the Divine Dragon Church, that'd be pretty bad."
"Emilia-nee has her moments too, but not being aware of how explosive you are is dangerous, you know."
"Huh? Does that mean Emilia and I are a perfect match…?"
"That's not what she meant at all."
Fillore's plan was swiftly rejected, though it was anyone's guess where her confidence had come from.
Moreover, Subaru felt that Fillore was being a bit too naive about the situation. She had been trying to steer the conversation toward declining participation in the Royal Selection, but— "You can't just throw away the qualifications of a Royal Selection candidate on your own. Right?"
"Emilia-tan…"
"I study hard every day too. I think I understand the kingdom far better than I did in the beginning… And as for the coercive power of what's written on the Dragon History Stone—yes. I had my own reasons for wanting to join the Royal Selection, but I think even without them, I wouldn't have been able to refuse."
Emilia gazed at Fillore, who was clinging to her arm, and spoke in a serious tone.
That Royal Selection candidates had no right of refusal—that was an easy enough concept to understand. The previous night, she had spoken with Garfiel and Petra as well, and the covenant between the 'Dragon' and the 'Dragon Kingdom' ran deep and strong.
In practice,
This meant the kingdom would not shy away from using any means necessary to compel Dragon Priestesses recorded on the Dragon History Stone to participate in the Royal Selection. It was a kind of coercive force.
The same applied to Fillore, and that was what Emilia was saying.
"But… but it wasn't something I wished for!"
"Yes, I'm sure that's true. And if Fillore hadn't been able to make her emblem glow, things never would have come to this. …But the Dragon's Bloodstone did shine, and Fillore was chosen. You of all people should understand what that means best."
"Uuu…"
At Emilia's words, which Fillore felt carried even a hint of maternal warmth, she weakly lowered her gaze.
Fillore was a nun of the Divine Dragon Church. Needless to say, as someone who held faith and devotion toward the 'Dragon,' she would be the most keenly aware of the coercive power of the Dragon History Stone's records.
Her behavior up to this point could even be called childish escapism.
But— "Then… yes, then how about this? Fillore and Emilia form a friendship alliance! That way, I'll cooperate with anything and everything to make Emilia the king. Then, for the Royal Selection…"
"Thank you, Fillore. —But I really, really hate that idea."
Quietly but with an unshakable firmness, Emilia made that declaration in no uncertain terms.
At the noble clarity of her silver-bell voice, Fillore let out a thin whimper. Then, so Fillore could see, Emilia reached into her pocket and opened her palm, which held her emblem.
In an instant, the overflowing red radiance of the Dragon's Bloodstone brightly illuminated the reception room of the royal palace.
"I said it before, but from the very beginning, I had my own reason for wanting to join the Royal Selection."
Emilia showed the dazzling light of the Dragon's Bloodstone to Fillore as she spoke.
Emilia's initial motivation for entering the Royal Selection had been to borrow the power of the 'Dragon's Blood' preserved in the royal castle in order to save her homeland, which had been frozen in ice. But as time passed, as she met people and learned about the world, the feelings Emilia invested in the Royal Selection had begun to change as well.
Even so, that original wish would never simply fade away or disappear.
And— "The others too—yes. Crusch has Crusch's, Anastasia has Anastasia's, Felt has Felt's… Priscilla had Priscilla's—each of them had something they wanted to do, and that's why they all joined the Royal Selection. No, that's not quite right."
"Not right? What do you mean?"
"I'm sure the people who can make the Dragon's Bloodstone shine each have their own reason for wanting to join the Royal Selection… things they can only achieve if they do. And that means the same goes for you."
"For me… too?"
Fillore blinked blankly, and Emilia smiled at her—brave and beautiful.
Fillore had proposed that if she joined the Royal Selection, she would support Emilia's wish as her friend. But making that Fillore's wish felt a little off to her.
She didn't think that, with such a reason, she would be accepted as one of the participants in the Lugunica Kingdom's Royal Selection.
"Please—when you first heard about it, don't just rush to say no because you were overwhelmed. Think about it really carefully. You won't be allowed to refuse the Royal Selection, but I don't want someone who's participating just because they have no choice sitting in Priscilla's chair."
—Those were strong words, a strong will, and a prayer.
"————"
Fillore's eyes fluttered as Emilia struck her squarely with the full depth of her feelings. In the zero distance between them, the tension mounted, and no one opened their mouths.
In the silence that was born, Subaru, and everyone else, refused to insert their own presence. —So that nothing unnecessary would contaminate the choice that lay ahead.
"—Yes."
It was Emilia, watching Fillore from the closest vantage point, who created the first ripple on the surface of that silence. She narrowed the eyes framed by her long lashes and held out the emblem in her hand to Fillore.
Fillore reflexively took the offered emblem. —Even if it was done unconsciously, the Dragon's Bloodstone in an emblem does not choose when to shine.
"If I… were to join the Royal Selection…"
As Fillore murmured those words, the Dragon's Bloodstone shone in her hand just as it had for Emilia. Flickering with a light the same color as her own eyes, Fillore made her declaration.
Before the inescapable fate of the Royal Selection that had been thrust upon her, what vow of loyalty would she raise?
"I want to revitalize the relationship between the kingdom and the Church up to now. I want to make it so that people in the castle don't hesitate to reach out to the Church, and people in the Church don't hesitate to reach out to the castle, rather than letting strange fixations get in the way."
"————"
"If I become queen, I will make this a country where no one hesitates to help another person."
It was an ideal that still lacked fine details—a ready-made, costumelike vision.
But it was Fillore's own wish, born from having grown up, lived, and felt the frustrations and shortcomings of being a member of the Divine Dragon Church, and wanting to break free of them and make things better.
And no one would dare look at Fillore, who could raise such a declaration, and mock her as someone being forcibly carried to the front like a palanquin, reluctantly participating in the Royal Selection just to fill a seat.
"…We really should have turned away an unannounced visitor."
Otto's quiet murmur reached them as he said this under his breath.
Without his usual hat and cloak, dressed lightly, he idly ran his fingers through his gray, curly hair as he offered his assessment of the events that had unfolded.
In truth, Subaru understood the sentiment that made Otto want to say just that.
"On top of that, a super powerful rival has entered the picture."
"I'd call this an act of aid to the enemy so laughable it's almost farcical… What's really troubling is that the one who encouraged it was none other than our own leader."
"Don't worry. Emilia-tan actually gets… I don't know, a better vibe the stronger the opponent."
"If you're trying to encourage me, couldn't you say something a little nicer!?"
"I do feel a little sorry for Otto now, I'll admit. But…"
There, Beatrice narrowed her eyes and gazed somewhat dazzled at the two figures before them—Emilia and Fillore. Subaru shared the same sentiment.
If you only cut out the events that had occurred, you could say something foolish had happened. He could picture the amusing scene of Roswaal collapsing to his knees upon hearing the report later.
But it had been worth it. In exchange for the arrival of a super powerful rival, without a doubt— "—I won't lose to Fillore either."
—Emilia, who aimed to be queen, had without a doubt grown another layer.
△▼△▼△▼△ "—And so, I humbly accept the request to participate in the Royal Selection."
Fillore placed one hand on her chest while making the other sparkle and flash the emblem, declaring herself with poise, audacity, and without a shred of hesitation.
The location was the royal castle, though not the throne room where they were always summoned whenever something happened, but a more compact conference room apparently used for smaller meetings. A round table that could seat roughly twenty people occupied a space about the size of a school classroom, and it was said that the 'Council of Wise Men' and the castle's civil officials held most of their meetings here.
"This is the conference room where everyone moved to and talked after Subaru got kicked out of the room on the day the Royal Selection started, you know."
"Ah, the room where Julius beat the crap out of me in the background."
"I still can't remember that, but… Subaru, you fought with Julius? You made up properly… right? That's why you two are so close now."
"Whether Julius and I are super close is beside the point, but it was definitely the event I needed for Emilia-tan and me to get super close."
At Emilia's whispered explanation, Subaru twisted his lips and responded in kind.
In a world where Julius's 'Name' had not yet been erased, he had no desire to dig too deeply into how his pathetic self from that day was remembered by those involved—whether as a cautionary tale or otherwise.
Fortunately, today's conference room had conspicuously empty seats, and almost none of the people involved that day were present. —After all, this was a so-called top-secret meeting, with the participants from each camp kept to a minimum; from Emilia's camp, only Emilia, Subaru, and his partner Beatrice had been let in.
That said, one of those very limited participants—the long-bearded old man who had greeted them—happened to be one of the people involved that very day.
That old man—Microft MacMahon of the 'Council of Wise Men'—gazed at Fillore, who had undergone such a refreshing change of heart, and said: "Hmm. That answer is most welcome from our side as well, since we were the ones who made the request… But may I ask you something else? Permission was granted, but for what reason have Emilia-dono and Natsuki-dono accompanied you here today?"
"I consulted with them before coming to the castle this morning. Emilia is my irreplaceable friend, and Subaru is her knight… If anything, I would have liked to bring all of Emilia's camp who helped support my declaration of resolve, but…"
"If you did that, both I and the Church would be in quite the difficult position, wouldn't we?"
Sakura, the only one from the Church's side accompanying Fillore, said this with a troubled expression in response to Microft's question.
Fillore looked unhappy with that answer, but having the full roster of Emilia's camp show up at her momentous occasion would be strange, so Sakura's position was probably the more reasonable one.
However, the part of Fillore's words that had snagged Subaru's attention differed from that of the long-bearded Microft stroking his own beard.
The elder narrowed his astute eyes, let out a habitual-sounding "Hmm," and— "Your friend, you say. Fillore-dono of the Divine Dragon Church, and Emilia-sama."
"…Is that the thing where it's like, 'Even though Emilia-tan is a silver-haired half-elf and Fillore is a nun of the Divine Dragon Church?' That kind of deal? Still on that?"
"Subaru, come on…"
At the murmur he'd overheard, Subaru lurched forward, and Emilia restrained him.
But here, there were no reliable campmates besides Subaru and Beatrice. If that was the case, then Subaru had to speak up on everyone's behalf and give Microft a piece of his mind.
As Emilia's first knight, he had to stubbornly fight against the unreasonable.
"Microft, you must know about Emilia's work over the past year and a half. If you know all of that, then I want the important people in this country to stop looking at her through colored glasses. Half-elf this, half-elf that—isn't it enough already?"
"'Enough already' is a bit too dismissive of public sentiment, I'm afraid. It has always been abundantly clear that there are no commonalities between that '
"Guh…"
Microft's seasoned rhetoric forced the considerably aggressive Subaru to back down. The issue at play here, once again, was the common sense embedded in the people of this world—something Subaru simply could not relate to.
And this wasn't limited to Emilia as a silver-haired half-elf.
"By necessity, your becoming a Royal Selection candidate as a nun of the Divine Dragon Church will be met with great surprise among the people. This, too, represents a significant departure from precedent. It was a very troublesome decision."
"…Yes, I'm well aware of that. But."
"Hmm. But what, I wonder?"
"—But then, why go to such lengths to put me in the Royal Selection?"
The question Fillore raised was a natural one to ask.
From the way Microft had been speaking, it was evident that the royal castle side did not simply welcome a Royal Selection candidate from the Divine Dragon Church with open arms.
"I too am a nun of the Divine Dragon Church… I understand that strictly observing the records of the Dragon History Stone is a given, but Priscilla Barbarell… Even after her death, the fact that five Dragon Priestesses with the qualifications to participate have been assembled and the Royal Selection has begun is an immutable reality. The records should not have been bent."
"Or what—have the records on the Dragon History Stone been updated? Has it been rewritten to say that when one of the five priestesses is lost, a reserve priestess should be found and promoted to take her place?"
"No, there has been no report that the Dragon History Stone's records have changed. However, this matter is less about our intentions and more a question of public sentiment."
"Public…"
"…Sentiment?"
Subaru and Emilia tilted their heads, question marks practically floating above them in response to Microft's answer. Microft slightly lowered his tone.
"It will become public knowledge sooner or later, but for now, let us keep this between us. It seems that a rumor has been circulating among the populace. —That a 'Saint' of the Divine Dragon Church saved Duke Karsten."
"!"
"The royal castle had imposed a gag order on this matter. Of course, information tends to seep through like raindrops no matter how tightly you seal it… And the rumor has spread specifically that this 'Saint' has the same characteristics as the missing Lugunica princess."
"Isn't that basically the whole thing leaked out in one go?!"
Microft's face clouded in frustration, as though this was a bitter pill to swallow. If this was true, then the royal castle's information control had been an abysmal failure.
"This is probably nothing, but Fillore… you didn't get all excited about saving Crusch and start blabbing about your achievement to everyone, did you?"
"Does that satisfy you?"
"Stop it! And I did no such thing! I have my own judgment! Sure, I may have talked about it to people close to me to use as material to convince those at the Church, but would I go around spreading it on the streets?!"
"Hmm, Beatrice?"
"I'd call that extremely close to black, for the record."
Beatrice's harsh assessment was more or less shared by Subaru.
He felt bad for Fillore, who was stomping her feet in frustration, but even if she insisted she hadn't done it, there was something about her overall impression up to this point that made it impossible to completely dismiss the idea.
In any case, regardless of who had been the source of this rumor's spread— "Then, has Fillore making her emblem shine also become part of the rumor? Is everyone upset that Fillore has to be added as a candidate too?"
"It hasn't gone that far yet. However, the announcement of Priscilla-sama's passing will be made public soon. At that point, if knowledge of Fillore-dono's existence has spread, voices calling for her participation in the Royal Selection will naturally overflow throughout the streets."
"So the idea is to do the legwork in advance before that happens…?"
If Fillore's involvement was already a foregone conclusion, then pushing the discussion forward early would smooth things out for everyone. Subaru understood that kind of adult planning, but the thought that Fillore still had no right of refusal nagged at him.
If Emilia hadn't talked things through with her beforehand, Fillore would have entered the Royal Selection with the worst possible mindset—completely lacking the resolve required of a candidate.
"There, there, don't make such a sour face, Subaru-chan. Things worked out in the end, so who cares about the process?"
"…Are you really okay with that, Sakura? Wasn't Fillore originally not supposed to leave the Church at all? Participating in the Royal Selection was completely unplanned, wasn't it?"
"—Whether one wishes for it or not, a leaf can only be tossed about by the wind and the water."
"————"
Sakura's voice had dropped, and Subaru was momentarily struck speechless by the phrase.
In those words, there was a poignant sense of emptiness—as though she were a withered old tree with a hollow carved into its core. Such was the vacant resignation they carried.
Somehow, it didn't feel like she was talking about Fillore, but about herself—about Sakura's own resignation. That was how it came across.
"Well, things will work out however they work out. Besides, even if the girl has motivation, she's a year and a half behind the others—she might not be able to compete."
"Hey, Sakura! Why do you have to dampen my motivation like that?! If I'm going to do this, I'm going to win… My determination is exactly that of a 'Dragon'!"
"I was just wondering, but what does the Divine Dragon Church think about Fillore's habit of casually tossing around the word 'Dragon' like that?"
"Blasphemous, I suppose?"
"Blasphemous!!"
That was harsher than he expected, and Subaru could see it really wasn't an endorsed attitude. Fillore truly was the furthest thing from the general image of a holy woman.
In any case, with the major questions answered, Subaru had more or less grasped the purpose of this secret meeting and the reasons for the extremely limited attendance. One could say this was a preliminary check, confirming the当事者's intentions and policy before the official announcement.
But just as he reached that thought, something new began to nag at Subaru.
It was— "Hey, Fillore—if you're becoming a Royal Selection candidate, then like me and Emilia-tan or the other candidates, you're going to appoint your own knight, right?"
"Oh, Subaru, you might have the wrong idea there."
"Wrong idea?"
"Well, it just so happens that all of the current candidates have knights, but that's not an absolute requirement. After all, Anastasia and I didn't have knight contracts with Subaru and Julius from the very beginning, did we?"
"That's true for me, but Julius was Anastasia's knight from the start."
"Oh, is that right? I should remember that properly, for Julius's sake."
As Emilia made a minor correction to account for the 'Name' loss, Subaru nonetheless accepted the explanation. Certainly, in the beginning, Emilia had Roswaal as her backer, but Subaru was absent as a knight—or rather, he had not yet earned her trust.
So perhaps it wasn't strictly necessary for a Royal Selection candidate to have a knight.
"But I think having one adds prestige, you know. Who'd do it for Fillore? The closest candidate who meets the conditions would be… My Friend, maybe?"
"My Fre… you mean Tiga. But that might work. Fillore and Tiga seem to be really close too…"
"Huh? My knight would be Tiga? That doesn't feel special at all."
Subaru's suggestion was met with enthusiastic agreement from Emilia, who clasped her hands together, but Fillore herself delivered a boo with incredible force.
"Sure, Tiga is versatile, and if appointed a knight, she'd probably handle the duties capably, but she's always nagging me, she suspects me of things at the drop of a hat, and she lacks the respect and loyalty a knight needs. Besides, even now without being a knight, she follows me around everywhere, so there'd be no point in formally appointing her. Rejected! I reject the idea!"
"Well, she'd be your knight, so I think you should do as you like… But wait—how are knights usually appointed in the first place?"
In Subaru's case, for example, he had been knighted by Emilia's hand and assumed his current position as her knight. But how had it been for Reinhard and Julius?
Welcoming a knight wasn't supposed to be limited to Royal Selection candidates, but Subaru was ashamed at his own ignorance regarding the details of such contracts.
"Hmm, let me see. In most cases, it is customary for the knight to seek out a master and swear loyalty for the appointment. However, when it comes to highly renowned knights, it is also not uncommon to promise generous salaries and favorable treatment, actively requesting that they serve you."
"Oh, I didn't expect Microft to be the one to explain. …By the way, does Microft have his own knights?"
"My household has many who have been coming and going for a long time and in whom we place our trust. As a general matter, it is true that one who has had a sword pledged to them by an outstanding knight garners a certain degree of respect."
"That's… yeah, I can see that."
In practice, the status of having the 'Sword Saint' or the 'Finest Knight' as one's first knight must have added considerable weight to Felt's and Anastasia's names.
The first knight's name recognition was also an important barometer in the Royal Selection. —Was Subaru, as a knight, truly capable of being a source of strength for Emilia? And Crusch, who had dismissed
"————"
He didn't want her to. That Subaru found himself thinking this pleadingly was, if you asked Ferris, nothing more than Subaru's arrogance in wanting everything to go his way.
The unavoidable rift that had formed between them—once time had passed and tempers cooled, perhaps a different answer could be found. So until then, he wanted the seat to remain vacant.
Yes, Subaru had been growing sentimental, steeling himself for the arrogance of it all.
"…Just now, Microft-dono said this, didn't he? That to recruit an outstanding knight, you should go so far as to plead loudly to get them to come to you."
"—? The intensity is quite different from what Betty heard, isn't it?"
"…Yeah, even I felt like the nuance was pretty different by that point."
Fillore clenched her fist tightly, suppressing her emotions, and murmured those words. Pulled along by Beatrice's reaction, Subaru snapped back from sentimentality to reality.
Whether she was simply a favorable listener, Fillore had rearranged Microft's words to her own liking and was interpreting them accordingly. Her cheeks had flushed ever so slightly, and her spirits seemed to be rising— "Could it be, Fillore, that you already have someone in mind you want as your knight?"
"—! How did you… Is it because we're best friends?"
"Yes, probably. So, who is it?"
"Let me say upfront—Reinhard is already taken."
"Obviously, and Betty and Emilia have Subaru on an eternal contract too."
Drawing the attention of all three of them, plus Sakura and Microft in the room, Fillore smiled meaningfully with a "fufufu," then, aligning with their collective gaze, opened a thick sacred text with a flourish before her.
"Listen well. The sacred text says this: 'The swinging of the sword is a man's arm; the handling of life is the Dragon's will. The footprints of a chosen knight shall turn even ruts of blood into a silver road'!"
"Um, and that means?"
"It means the one fit to be my knight is someone recognized by the 'Dragon'!"
Subaru sensed a subtly self-serving interpretation there, but in the end, when it came to a knight who had been recognized by the 'Dragon,' the only person who came to mind besides Reinhard was no one.
Through various expansive interpretations, one could argue that Emilia, who had also passed another 'trial' at the
"The scenario where a Royal Selection candidate becomes another candidate's knight has a certain amusing twist to it, but since Emilia-tan has me, that development is a no-go."
"Emilia as my knight… It is a tempting proposition, I admit. But my hopes and expectations are different. Stop tempting me, won't you?"
Subaru held his tongue, feeling ambivalent—thinking that maybe Fillore shouldn't be so easily swayed, while also feeling that if the point of comparison was Emilia, there was no shame in being tempted.
Paying no mind to Subaru's concern, Fillore gave a small cough and said: "Are you listening? As I said, if I—the 'Saint' of the Divine Dragon Church—stand as a Royal Selection candidate, then my knight must be someone recognized by the 'Dragon.' And to my knowledge, only one person fulfills that condition—"
Having that title pushed forward, there was only one name that involuntarily surfaced.
Ironically, it was the same person with whom Fillore would be competing not only for the throne, but over the very fact of who was the true surviving member of the Lugunica royal family.
The first knight serving Felt, the 'Sword Saint'
———.
—————.
————————.
"Huh!?"
Feeling as though he'd heard the wrong answer, Subaru's throat made an ugly sound involuntarily. But Fillore struck a confident pose, and both Emilia and Beatrice beside her wore the same stunned expressions, their eyes wide as saucers.
It was an Astrea, all right, but a different Astrea from the one he'd expected. An Astrea who wasn't the Astrea he'd been thinking of.
"…Uh, Fillore?"
"W-why? What's with everyone? Your reactions are so strange."
"Strange doesn't even begin to cover it. Please, one more time—who is fit to be the knight of the Divine Dragon Church's 'Saint'?"
"I don't want to say it again and again, but… Heinkel Astrea."
No matter how many times she said it, the name came out the same, and Fillore tilted her head.
From her perspective, everyone else's reactions were far more puzzling. And understandably so—after all, in Fillore's mind, the person known as Heinkel Astrea was— "The man who, having overcome the 'Dragon's Blood' that was poured upon him, became an immortal knight—one of the lineage of the 'Sword Saint.' I wish to appoint Heinkel Astrea as my knight."
Yes—the sixth Royal Selection candidate, Fillore, had declared with bold conviction that the man who was the 'Back-Sword Wielder,' Heinkel Astrea, was the most fitting choice to be her first knight.