——The loss of sensation in all his limbs, and a searing pain as though his entire body were burning away. His consciousness blacked out, abandoning sound and everything else, and he plummeted straight down.
For Subaru, "death" was a sensation close to that.
Having died many times, having experienced countless different forms of death, Subaru alone could understand the common thread that visited him each time he experienced "death."
And "Return by Death" was close to having all those lost sensations shaken back to life at once.
The lost senses, the organs that perceived them, and the brain that had processed all that information—right where they had ceased to function, an overwhelming flood of information came crashing in all at once.
It was no wonder he'd be overwhelmed, his vision spinning, struggling to grasp the situation.
That is to say—— "Ahem."
"Hwaaaah!?!"
The sensation of his earlobe being playfully bitten sent a jolt through his spine, and Subaru went tumbling backward. His heart pounded from the thrilling first experience of that sweet, tingling sensation, and when he frantically looked around— "You looked so out of it, I thought I'd play a little prank, and nyah, what a delightful reaction…
With that, Felis struck a sultry pose, a bewitching smile on his lips, one finger pressed against them.
At the same time, Subaru registered that the teeth he'd felt on his earlobe belonged to him, and he crumpled.
"My… my sweet-biting virginity… gone to a cross-dresser…!"
"No need to be so down about it. More importantly, let's get back to the conversation, yeah? Your eyes suddenly went off somewhere and your spirit just broke, nya~"
Scratching behind one of his large ears, Ricardo addressed the deflated Subaru from on all fours. The people gathered around him nodded in agreement, demanding that Subaru pull himself together quickly.
Even so, in front of them, Subaru continued to slump in defeated posture, still reeling from the fact—he was trying to come to terms with the shock of having experienced "death."
——He died. He died again.
He failed. He hadn't thought it through. He'd told himself, told everyone around him, never to let his guard down, never to grow complacent, and yet it still wasn't enough.
His consciousness fading, his life on the verge of being returned to the heavens, he remembered
His chest tightened with anguish.
He had fought so hard, thinking of nothing but how he never wanted to make her cry, never wanted to make her sad.
And yet, through nothing more than his own death, he had given her a grief that could never be healed.
"——Let me organize this."
Felis crept forward to snap Subaru out of his silence, his face twisted with regret, but Julius intervened, raising a hand midway. He wagged a finger at Felis, who was puffing out his cheeks, and turned his refined face toward Subaru.
"From here, we march toward the Meires territory, where the
"Anastasia and Russell have already arranged for traveling merchants to handle that. …Sorry. I've calmed down now, I'm fine."
Subaru wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, steadied his ragged breathing, and returned to his place in the circle. He offered Julius a brief apology. Julius raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.
"There's no need to apologize. If anything, I'm glad I could confirm that my understanding of the situation was correct. You're not exactly known for being a gifted explainer, Subaru."
"Like I said in the preamble—I'm not used to holding court in front of this many people. A shut-in's social skills degrade in direct proportion to the number of people in the room. Remember that."
Julius's barb—in this case, more a way to distract Subaru from his own spiraling anxiety than a genuine jab. Subaru caught the kindness behind it and, at the same time, felt an irritating, indescribable itch of helplessness. He deliberately ignored both.
Then, casting his gaze outward, he became aware of the fifty-odd pairs of eyes fixed on him.
This was the third time he'd given a briefing like this in front of these people.
Even an inexperienced shut-in would start to get used to the same scene after three attempts. The weight of being entrusted with other people's lives still pressed heavily on his shoulders, but— "The Sin Archbishops of the Witch Cult are formidable enemies. The Witch Cult itself isn't a group you can handle with kid gloves, and there will definitely be casualties on our side too. First, I need everyone to understand that."
"————"
When Subaru prefaced his address this way, the entire assembly responded with silence. But it wasn't a negative silence. Every last person had focused their full attention on Subaru, unwilling to miss a single word.
That was, in other words, trust.
"We beat the
He looked around.
Subaru fixed each face in his mind, trying to commit to memory the owner of every pair of gazing eyes. Among those faces, he realized, were several that had been torn apart by unseen hands in the previous loop.
He wouldn't forget those faces.
The people whose lives he had reclaimed through his death, through Return by Death.
But in the battle ahead, Subaru would, through his own choices, once again cause someone to die. Enemy or ally, a bloodless victory was out of the question.
If only he had been better. If only he had been stronger, so that no one could touch him. If only he had been clever enough to find a way out of any situation. If only he had possessed a noble will that no adversity could break. If only he had been an idealist who could tolerate no weakness at all—then maybe there wouldn't have to be any sacrifices.
But that was impossible. Subaru was weak, stupid, and even his heart was fragile.
He couldn't keep standing without borrowing someone's hand, and he didn't believe in himself enough to make it on his own.
So— "Let's take down the Sin Archbishop—this time, for real. I'll pour everything I have, everything I can offer, into this without holding back. So please, lend me your strength."
"————"
"I need every single one of you. —Together, please protect the people who matter most to me."
Subaru planted his hands on the ground and lowered his head.
It was ugly, it was cheap, and his head was worth nothing—but he pressed it down firmly, as though rubbing it into the dirt. This was the first time he had ever bowed his head this sincerely, this earnestly.
"Subaru. Raise your head."
"————"
At Julius's words, Subaru slowly lifted his face.
Spread out before him was a blinding cascade of light in a world bathed in dawn.
——Knights kneeling, raising their drawn swords high.
It was nothing other than that.
Having his heart sustained by the gleam of swords—this was his second experience with it.
The only person who could truly appreciate that was Subaru, who had actually experienced Return by Death. Having repeated that unwilling loop over and over, Subaru had come to realize something.
No matter how many times the world repeated itself, no matter how many different ways it unfolded—there was one thing that remained constant: "the fierce, unyielding will of a person," unmoved even by the tremors of the world itself.
In other words, the feelings of those who helped him in the same way, time and again— "No matter how many times it repeats, no matter how many times I'm an idiot who has to come back… you still lend me your strength. You keep helping me stand up, over and over."
Just as
Just as Rem had supported him no matter how many times he repeated, their very existence also powerfully upheld
To Subaru, that was more meaningful than anything else—more than any power granted to him, more than any wisdom bestowed, more than any hope. It was "salvation."
"I know things are about to reach a climax, but I'm sorry for killing the mood. You don't have to forget… but keep it between us, okay?"
"Before you see Emilia-sama again, let's make sure you have a good story to share. That said—would you tell us about the Witch Cult?"
"Nobody's dragging a wandering mercenary of dubious standing in front of the noble Emilia-tan. Once the job's done, collect your pay and scram. —All right, here goes."
Trading their usual banter back and forth with Julius, Subaru slapped his own cheeks as though to hide his embarrassment. Then he took a breath and lifted his head.
"First, the Sin Archbishop leading the Witch Cult—their responsibility is 'Sloth'—"
There was no time to hang his head in regret over being killed, over having failed.
He would take the reason for his death, the cause of his failure, and turn it into a fighting chance.
That was why he had come back.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Reorganizing the facts newly uncovered in the previous loop and the conditions that had to be overcome, Subaru relayed every piece of information to the subjugation force without omission.
The revelation of the "Unseen Hands" and "Possession" sent waves of unease through the assembled fighters. Both abilities were fundamentally different in nature from the magic they knew, so asking them to simply accept it was no easy task.
With only one form of magic in common use, even imagining an alternative heresy was difficult.
In fact, Subaru—who had been exposed to nothing but fictional settings—was more flexible when it came to accepting these things. The ability to readily absorb a worldview where psychic powers, magic, and curses all coexisted—that was an understanding inherited in the blood of the Japanese, the homeland of subculture.
"And, setting aside that ridiculous conclusion, let's talk about Petelgeuse…"
Regarding the Unseen Hands, the answer was unchanged: only Subaru could fight them head-on. As a special case, Wilhelm's skill made the sand-scattering tactic from two loops ago not entirely out of the question, but in terms of reliability, it would be difficult. In the end, Subaru facing Petelgeuse directly was the optimal approach.
With Possession, however, an even more troublesome detail had come to light. Petelgeuse—in this case, speaking of the body being possessed—had been equipped with a self-destruct function.
Since death would cause the possession target to shift, he should have anticipated that self-destruction would always be available as an option. The greatest cause of failure in the last loop lay right there.
The self-destruct had been triggered while he was unconscious, meaning it could be activated by a will separate from the possession target's. In other words, there was a high probability that every last Witch Cult follower had a self-destruct mechanism embedded in them.
And even if he destroyed every possible possession target— "In the end, he'd still try to hijack me…"
That was the biggest crux.
Two loops ago, he'd been completely stripped of control and forced into suicide. Last time, he'd put up considerable resistance and held out, but the outcome spoke for itself.
It was only a rough guess, but once it came to a battle for dominance, it was extremely difficult to dislodge Petelgeuse's spirit.
That was exactly why he'd arrived at the conclusion of preventing the Possession from happening in the first place— "But
The despair he'd felt when Emilia and Puck appeared on the battlefield—those memories were still painfully vivid.
Even now, the thought of it sent ice down his spine and quickened his breathing. Yet why he felt such intense revulsion still eluded him.
All he knew for certain was that he never, ever wanted to see that scenario replayed.
"Emilia-tan and Petelgeuse must not meet. …I don't know why exactly, but I've got a bad feeling. No—actually, it's more like I do know."
Letting that pervert anywhere near a sweet girl—no matter how you spun it, there was no positive outcome for the girl. His revulsion was entirely justified.
Having reached an impasse on that unanswerable question, Subaru moved on to strategize.
"If Puck's no good and Emilia-tan can't be allowed near Petelgeuse, she's ruled out as a candidate. …Julius, is there any way your spirit magic could freeze one person solid?"
Hand pressed to his forehead, Subaru called out to Julius as they rode side by side.
They had already moved from the council formation and were now galloping full tilt toward the Meires territory.
Of course, the powerful legs kicking against the earth beneath Subaru belonged to his dependable partner—the very presence who had made Subaru acutely grateful for the ability to start over through Return by Death:
Trusting the reins, Subaru gave Patrasche's back an affectionate pat. He caught a brief, sidelong glance from the dragon, something along the lines of "don't touch me so casually."
"Not to sound rude, but your riding has improved remarkably, hasn't it? Just a little while ago, I felt like you were mostly just being carried along for the ride."
"I'm entrusting my trust to the wind—that's the saying, right? After weathering that crisis together, I blew past the trust gauge with this guy. Oh no, I've been conquered…!"
Subaru twisted around and threw his arms around Patrasche's neck, hugging the dragon's back with his whole body. Patrasche shook her upper body in protest, bucking Subaru around.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, don't be shy! You can play hard to get all you want, but it's obvious you're crazy about me!"
"There seems to be a fundamental disconnect in your perception… but I'll refrain from commenting on the way you interact with your earth dragon. That wouldn't be very gentlemanly. —Now then."
Julius sighed, resetting the conversation as Subaru patted Patrasche's back to calm her down. Then he closed one eye and addressed Subaru.
"As for the question you asked earlier… I'm afraid the answer is 'difficult.' I've contracted with six spirits and can handle fire-attribute magic to some degree, but I can hardly call myself a full-fledged spirit user or a true spirit. If you're expecting that level of precision from me, I'm afraid I can't honestly say I'm confident."
"You're surprisingly modest. Wouldn't want the name of First Knight to start weeping, would you?"
"I'm not particularly attached to the title. If I can't do something and refuse to admit it, prioritizing my pride over the trust placed in me—that would be a far graver failing. Wouldn't you agree?"
"You really are an unpleasant guy…"
With a sigh, Subaru looked away from Julius and was reminded of his own insignificance.
Currently, Subaru had only just learned from Julius that he was a spirit user. Before long, they would be shifting into the full briefing stage, using Nect—the composite onmyou-spirit magic—to share the plan with everyone.
A strategy with a one-hundred-percent success rate still hadn't come together, but— "I've tightened up the plan as much as I can. Now it's about making it work."
Using the new information he'd gathered, Subaru reviewed the madman's own words and refined his strategy. It was, however, a decision that brought a sharp pain to his heart.
"Let me confirm, Subaru. You're truly willing to proceed with this plan as described?"
"You're belaboring the point. I came up with the damn thing myself—how could I turn around and say 'actually, never mind'? …Emilia-tan is gonna be mad, though."
After Nect had transmitted the overview of the plan to everyone, Julius pressed Subaru to confirm his resolve.
Subaru's expression went blank as he replied, the image of the beloved girl he held in his heart surfacing behind his eyes.
The smile he'd just received, the warmth of her hand clasped with his when they'd reconciled, the tearful voice that had been on the verge of vanishing—all of it grew hazy behind his eyelids and slowly receded.
He bit his lip, scolding himself for nearly wavering into sentimental weakness.
He chided himself, exasperated at his own nature—the part of him that wanted to cling to the flimsy excuse that there might be another way, using it to justify his own frailty. And yet, he accepted the choice that brought pain.
"Don't make that face. It'll dull my resolve. That's not like you."
"Still, this hardly seems fair to you. If you let us shoulder more of the burden, we could revisit the conditions—"
"Don't give me the chance to whine 'I don't wanna!' Even the courage you think you see in me right now—it's all borrowed."
To Julius, who kept testing his conviction, Subaru answered with a wry smile.
To be worried for him, regardless of who it came from, was a kindness he appreciated. But right now, Subaru had accepted those burdens as necessary and chosen this path anyway. So— "I'm not throwing away a future where I get to laugh together with Emilia-tan. It's just that the road to get there looks a little rough. And even that roughness—if we handle it right, nobody else will even notice. Easy, right?"
"…'Easy.' I envy your thick skin, being able to make such a claim. I simply can't stop my heart from protesting when something isn't being fairly evaluated. I suppose I'm immature after all."
"Come on, give me a break, Mr. First Knight. The reason I can stay this optimistic, the reason I can picture a warm embrace with Emilia-tan in the end—is because your help is indispensable! …Hey! Don't make me say stuff like that! I don't mean it! Don't get the wrong idea!"
"You're a busy man. —But, your feelings have come across."
Unable to contain himself, Julius laughed.
Subaru snorted, turned his face away, and gazed toward the horizon.
At the far edge of vision, he could just make out where the grassland ended and the forest began. Once they reached it, they'd pass through several woodland paths and enter the Meires territory.
His heart churned, his mind grinding with unease—but Subaru kept his eyes forward.
"————"
"Oh? What's up? Worrying about me? Aren't you a sweet one."
Sensing Subaru's silence, Patrasche swayed her back ever so slightly. Subaru answered the gesture with a pat of his palm, then reached around to rummage through the pack strapped to the dragon's back.
Inside was the key piece of his plan. When his probing fingers found it, a mixture of relief and a faint, stinging pain settled in his chest.
But there was no turning back now.
He'd made his decision. He'd asked himself, over and over, whether this was the best course. And yet he still couldn't fully accept it—that was his weakness, and his alone to deal with.
"All right. This time, I'm taking the lion's share—"
"Of course. Let's make it so. Rest assured—with this level of preparation, there's no need to even consider failure. Everything is in place. Once it's done, I'd like to share a drink with you."
"Don't be planting death flags like that—!!"
Subaru bellowed at Julius, who couldn't possibly have known the concept.
The shout echoed far into the distance—so far it seemed it might reach the skies above the Meires territory itself.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ——Sharp morning sunlight pierced her sleepless eyes, and Emilia rose from her bed as though shaken awake by a faint pain.
The silver hair cascading across her forehead flowed down as she sat up, its moonlight-like shimmer reflecting a waterfall of radiance.
She blinked several times, lingering in the half-dream state with her body half-raised. Lately, her sleep had been shallow, and she was keenly aware that her fatigue hadn't dissipated. Those too were burdens she had accepted as necessary and chosen to shoulder—no excuses could be made.
"It's already morning…"
She'd fallen asleep only a few hours past midnight—meaning she'd gotten roughly two hours of rest, give or take.
Her head was heavy, her thoughts dragging through mire.
She was never someone who woke up easily.
It always took time for her to shake off drowsiness and begin functioning. And given the difficult problems that had been weighing on her these past few days, it was no wonder that unrelenting fatigue and unresolved worry were gnawing at her spirit.
——The Royal Selection participants had been summoned to the Capital one week ago. After returning from there, she'd been formally granted the authority of the domain's mistress—and that was four days ago. In those few short days, the crushing weight that had poured down upon her had been more than enough to break a girl like Emilia.
"I thought I understood… but I really didn't. I only thought I understood."
Clutching the sheets, Emilia bit her lip, reflecting on her own inadequacy.
What passed through her mind was the whirlwind that was the past week. Being summoned to the Capital, meeting again with the Royal Selection participants—the candidates—the forced political theater, the policy address she'd had to fumble through, and then— "…Subaru."
She spoke the name of the boy she'd left behind, and Emilia closed her eyes against the pain. That cheerful, fragile boy who always threw himself so desperately for others' sake, who was just a little too stubborn in his convictions—how was he doing right now?
The last time they'd parted—their argument, the look on his face like that of a child abandoned—those images were seared into her eyelids, scorching her conscience over and over.
She'd been the one to make him wear that expression. She'd been the one to make him say those words. She'd been the one to make him say things she didn't want to hear. It was all her fault.
And yet, even now, Emilia still believed that had been the right thing to do.
She did not think she should have avoided that emotional explosion—the mutual confession of their feelings that, in the end, led to their parting. Rather, she believed it was the correct decision. She and Subaru should not be together.
Because she was a half-elf.
A being whose mere presence was branded as evil.
A being whose very existence was denied.
Shunned, excluded, looked down upon, rejected, made the target of hatred.
Being together—there was no way that could be good for anyone.
Worse, she would surely make that kind boy feel terrible just by being near him. Subaru had already been gravely hurt—body and soul—by challenging Julius to a duel, simply because he was "close to Emilia."
She never wanted him to feel that again. She never wanted to be the cause of it again.
At the end of their argument, she believed Subaru had finally given up on her.
She'd slammed him with her selfish demands, rejected him even though he'd tried so hard to give her nothing but unconditional kindness. The way he'd raised his voice, the way he'd shouted—she'd seen nothing but a child on the verge of tears.
The truth that had slipped out at the very end—that was her lingering regret, she thought.
——The hope that Subaru might, perhaps, treat her as something separate from "half-elf," something unrelated to that label.
A faint, fragile, futile hope.
She'd pushed him away, hurt him, and yet still craved his comfort. When Subaru flatly rejected that—the selfish, weeping plea from Emilia's heart—it was final and decisive.
He couldn't treat Emilia as anything other than special. That was his answer.
With those words, the door closed, and Emilia had placed physical distance between them as well. Feeling disappointment spread clearly through her chest, she was disappointed in herself.
She'd grown uncomfortable with kindness given freely without expectation, made up every excuse she could think of to hurt and push away that gentle boy—and only after she'd actually put distance between them did she realize how desperately lonely it was.
After severing herself from Subaru and returning from the Capital to the mansion, she had thrown herself into work.
There was so much she needed to know, so much she needed to learn. She had spent her life in a forest, far from society, avoiding contact with others.
She hadn't even known what a "king" was until she left the woods.
And now such a person as she was aiming for the throne that would oversee the lives of people across a vast territory.
She was acutely aware that this was an absurdly reckless and staggeringly ignorant decision. But she had to do it.
——Because she had her own reasons for needing to.
"Ria, you've got wrinkles between your brows. That's not cute—you should stop."
As she leaned forward from the bed, a leisurely voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up, and there, reflected in a pair of deep violet eyes, was a tiny spirit wrapped in gray fur.
For Emilia, he had been at her side for as long as she could remember—as good as family.
"Good morning, Puck. You're early today."
"Morning, Ria. I woke up a little early… is what I'd like to say, but honestly, I was worried about Ria. Yesterday must have hit you pretty hard."
Floating lazily, tail swaying, Puck's words made Emilia's eyes dim.
What she recalled was yesterday's events—the direct cause of the heaviness in her mind and heart—when she had been refused when trying to speak to the nearby villagers.
"I knew it would happen."
"Knowing you'll trip and actually tripping are two different things—there's still a wound, still pain. I think understanding something and ultimately bearing that pain are separate matters, Ria."
With Emilia's childlike tone, Puck mercilessly shut down her escape route. But it wasn't cruelty on his part—it was simply Puck laying out the facts and the truth as he saw them, and Emilia understood that well enough to offer no rebuttal.
"Puck…"
"Hmm?"
"What do you think I should do? I want to do better—not just for me, but for everyone."
"You should do whatever you want. I'm on your side no matter what you do, and anyone who tries to stand in your way is my enemy."
It was the reassuring words of the strongest ally anyone could ask for—but it wasn't the answer she was looking for.
And Emilia had known full well that this would be his response. Puck was on Emilia's side, but he didn't share her burdens or struggle alongside her.
He was Emilia's unconditional supporter, and nothing more.
"No matter what, I can't just abandon the village, can I?
"…Right, Ram. She hasn't had any rest either, even though she never seems to show it."
"You might not notice, but she slacks off in all sorts of situations, so I think she's got plenty of margin."
Puck's grumbling voice didn't reach her, and Emilia pressed a finger to her lips in thought.
Filling her mind were the various developments that had unfolded over the past day.
——After returning from the Capital and being given the formal authority of the domain's mistress while Roswaal was away negotiating with influential parties, Emilia had devoted herself to absorbing knowledge from the academic and specialist texts she'd been given to study.
Burning the midnight oil, immersing herself in study as though to escape her guilt—it was then that Ram had come to report "a strange presence in the forest." That had been two nights ago.
Even using Ram's clairvoyance—her ability to sync with another's field of vision and swap her perspective to expand her visual range—they had been unable to determine the nature of the presence.
But she couldn't simply choose to do nothing about it. Under the pretense of bolstering defenses, Emilia had descended to the nearby village and called on the villagers to evacuate to the mansion—and been refused.
The fact that she had been hurt by this surprised Emilia.
She was supposed to be used to being disliked for her origins, used to being shunned, used to being despised, used to being rejected. Yet here she was, still possessing a heart that could be wounded.
And then, suddenly, she realized.
She had been hoping.
Having thrown herself into the great currents of events, having taken the step to change her place in the world—had she expected, somehow, that the reactions of those around her would be different from before?
There was no way something that convenient could happen.
The fact that she'd had some connection with the villagers in the first place had only fed those hopes. Of course, at the time, she'd been hiding her identity. To claim she'd been on intimate terms with them under those conditions would be a lie she couldn't possibly tell.
"What am I even doing, in the end…"
She was hurt by their rejection. She'd tried desperately to reach them and been turned away. And all she could do was trudge back to the mansion.
Just as she was sinking into that impasse, another report came flying in: a large contingent of traveling merchants had descended on the village all at once.
Stunned by the bewildering report, she'd barely had time to process it when a person claiming to be the merchants' representative arrived carrying a personal letter. The seal bore the crest of Duchess
When Emilia's gaze fell on the letter spread out on the table, Puck, reading her thoughts, delivered the conclusion ahead of her.
Yes. The letter had been blank.
When she'd asked the representative for the true meaning behind it, he'd shaken his head, saying he hadn't been told the contents. Ram, who had been present, had been visibly displeased and had driven them from the mansion. She'd then headed to the village to handle what seemed like an eviction negotiation with the merchants.
——A nagging sense of duty whispered that she should have gone herself.
But just as strongly, she feared that her presence would only make things worse. She'd noticed that the merchants carrying the letter kept glancing at her, their gazements tinged with fear and disgust.
The fact of the Royal Selection had already been made public. The names and backgrounds of the candidates were known to the populace.
There was almost no one left who didn't know that Emilia was a half-elf. From now on, those looks, those attitudes, that rejection—it would become the norm everywhere.
She was supposed to be used to this. She was supposed to have frozen her heart against it.
She was supposed to be used to ignoring the pain of new wounds, forcibly wiping away the blood, and walking forward without bowing her head.
So to be suddenly confronted with it now— "Ria, people are coming back to the mansion."
"…Ram, probably. I wonder if things in the village are settled."
Interrupting her thoughts at Puck's call, Emilia finished changing and stood.
Today she'd simply combed her hair straight back without any of Puck's usual requests and let it flow behind her. She shook the silver strands, let out a small breath, and left the room.
She headed for the entrance hall to greet Ram—who should have just returned. No matter how the village situation had been resolved, there would be much to discuss about what came next.
"Ram, I'm sorry for leaving everything to you. Regarding what we do from here—"
"Emilia-sama."
As the great doors of the entrance opened and Ram stepped inside, Emilia called out. Ram looked up at the sound of her voice, then yielded her position beside the door.
"——Emilia-sama, please forgive this sudden visit."
Through the door Ram had opened, an elderly figure stepped into the mansion.
The familiar face drew a faint look of surprise from Emilia.
"Um, let me see… you were at Crusch's place, weren't you?"
"Yes. I hold the humble distinction of being counted among the retainers of the Karsten Duchy. My name is Wilhelm Trias. I have come here today as my lady's representative."
The old gentleman who introduced himself dropped to one knee in the deepest of bows, and Emilia felt herself flustered.
And once the initial sharp impression had faded, she noticed that the elderly man's body bore the unmistakable marks of recent injury throughout.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"My apologies for the unsightly appearance. On the way into the Meires territory, I had the misfortune of encountering a magical beast. A brief exchange of swordplay was required."
"You're not… hurt, are you?"
"There is no need for concern on that account. More importantly, I wish to convey my lady's intentions."
Wilhelm urged her toward the main subject rather than dwelling on his condition, and Emilia nodded. At the mention of Crusch's name, she remembered the letter.
Prefacing with "A letter arrived from Crusch," Emilia explained: "It was blank, and we've been uncertain how to respond."
"A blank letter, was it. —I see. It is exactly as I was briefed."
Hearing Emilia's account, Wilhelm's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. There was an inexplicable sharpness in that simple gesture, and Emilia felt her throat tighten involuntarily. Wilhelm, sensing her reaction, shook his head.
"Regarding the blank letter—it differs somewhat from the intentions my lady had in mind… but I am aware of its contents. Please, do not worry."
"The contents… so it was some kind of mistake? I'm glad. I mean… it wasn't harassment or anything."
Adding, in a small voice, a worry she now realized had been unnecessary, Wilhelm let a faint smile cross his lips.
"Emilia-sama, as well as Ram—I would ask that you board the dragon carriages of the traveling merchants stationed in the village. And that you evacuate from this area at once. —That is my lady's wish."
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ——Wilhelm's explanation, summarized, went something like this.
A notorious criminal organization—infamous even within the Kingdom—had infiltrated the Meires territory. There was a high likelihood they were hiding in the nearby forest, and a fully assembled subjugation force had been dispatched to eliminate them.
The force was placed under the command of Crusch Karsten, organized under her name and granted a degree of authority to act within Meires territory.
To minimize collateral damage to the surrounding area while the subjugation force flushed out the criminal element, residents were advised to evacuate—the traveling merchants had been hired to provide transportation for the villagers and Emilia's group.
"But why is Crusch handling… Roswaal's—Meires territory's security?"
"This is between us, but Margrave Roswaal approached my lady with an alliance proposal. The content involves the concession of mining rights for magical ore in the Elior Grand Forest. Do you understand?"
"…Yes. So that's how it is."
Suppressing a measure of indignation, Emilia nodded at Wilhelm's quiet reply.
While she had been racking her brain over what to do, Roswaal had been pulling strings behind the scenes to push things forward. It was exactly what she should have expected, but even so—he was using Emilia's existence, yet still had no faith in her.
"But even if you say evacuate…"
"If possible, Emilia-sama, we would have you head to the Capital to meet with Duchess Crusch for a formal discussion. However, transporting the entire population to the Capital would be difficult…"
"I'll take half of them to the
The worries and concerns Emilia had been about to voice appeared to have already been thoroughly discussed. Wilhelm and Ram answered her questions with practiced efficiency, leaving her no room for objections.
Still, the pace at which events were moving felt too fast, and the sense of being swept along was hard to accept.
"Hey, I'm still curious about this, though—"
"I beg your pardon!"
Before she could press further, the door was flung open with a violent crash, cutting the conversation short. A young man came tumbling through as though he'd kicked it open.
Clad in a white robe, the young man stared fixedly at Emilia, then slowly turned to face Wilhelm.
"The group hiding in the forest has been showing strange movements. They may be on the move. There's no more time to—"
"Quicker than we anticipated. …With this many people entering the village, it was only a matter of time before they were noticed."
"What should we do, Wilhelm-sama?"
"——Emilia-sama."
At the young man's report, Wilhelm's gaze sharpened as he looked up at her.
Pinned by those blade-like eyes, Emilia swallowed a small breath and understood that there was no time left to waste on indecision.
She still had questions. Several of them.
But the fact remained that there was a strange presence in the forest—one that Ram had sensed. Wilhelm's identity was guaranteed under Crusch's name. And above all, in Roswaal's absence, it was she who held decision-making authority over this mansion and territory.
No matter how overwhelmed she might feel, the decision was hers to make.
So— "…I understand. I gratefully accept your kind offer. As for persuading the villagers—"
"That has already been handled without issue, Emilia-sama."
Ram announced this with her usual composure, having already cleared the biggest obstacle.
Emilia then turned back toward the mansion and frowned over what to do about the last resident. But even before she could dwell on it, a small cat-like figure drifted down from the upper floor, floating like a leaf caught in the wind.
"Betty's not going. She's sealed the door, so do whatever you want. Oh, and the people from the subjugation force—they shouldn't do anything to the mansion, got it?"
"Understood, Great Spirit."
Before Emilia had even finished deliberating, Puck returned with
Then, in a whisper only Emilia could hear: "You do whatever you think is right. I'm on your side."
"——Let's move. I won't let the villagers be put in danger."
Emilia swept her arm forward and issued the order.
Ram dipped her skirt in a curtsy to show her willingness to comply, and Wilhelm nodded with composed dignity. Only the young man who had delivered the report gently grasped the hem of his robe and murmured— "That's more like it."
Too softly for Emilia to hear.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ——The two residents of the mansion descended to the village to join the others, and the process of loading into the dragon carriages began.
The villagers appeared to be surprisingly cooperative with the subjugation force—there was little grumbling, little visible anxiety, and if anything, many seemed excited by the unusual sight of so many dragon carriages gathered in one place.
Emilia was struck by how efficiently they were handling it, but what truly surprised her most was learning which carriage she'd been assigned.
"——I'll be in your care, big sis."
"Um…"
The bright-haired girl bowed her head with a cheerful smile. One of the children from the village—Petra, if she recalled correctly. She'd seen her many times, always alongside Subaru.
Eleven or twelve years old, the eldest of the village children, and at the head of the group assigned to Emilia's carriage, along with several other kids.
"Isn't this a mistake? I mean…"
"It's no mistake. Emilia-sama, you'll be riding in this carriage with these children. It's a matter of the seating arrangements—there's simply no other way."
Uneasy, Emilia caught the young man who had been bustling about nearby. But his reply was nothing like what she'd expected—it only deepened her anxiety.
——Riding in the enclosed space of a dragon carriage with children.
That seemed less like an arrangement for her sake and more like something designed to make the children deeply uncomfortable.
"Aren't there other carriages? These children would probably…"
"They wouldn't want to ride with me? Is that what you're saying?"
"————"
"Have you actually asked them that? Are you just assuming they'd dislike you—that they'd reject you?"
Silenced by his words, Emilia found the young man pressing forward relentlessly.
She had started to think he was being surprisingly forward, and then realized he was the same person who had burst into the mansion earlier. Tilting her head at the strange coincidence, Emilia began, "That's not—"
"I know it without asking. That's why I'm asking for a different carriage for these children—"
"Using the children as an excuse to run away from your own weakness—I don't think that's very admirable."
This time, the bluntness of his words truly left Emilia breathless. Then, in front of her, he knelt down to meet the eyes of the anxious girl who had been watching their exchange.
"What do you say, Petra? Would you not like to ride in the same carriage as this young lady?"
"————"
Don't ask her that—Emilia thought, a pain blooming in her chest.
It was a question with an obvious answer, and an answer that would obviously cause hurt. Knowing the hurt was coming didn't make it any easier.
Just as Puck had said—no matter how many wounds you bore, a new wound still brought new pain. And yet, why did he— "There's no problem. I want to ride with big sis."
"…Huh?"
Emilia stood stunned, barely a whisper escaping her lips. Petra approached her and gently took her hand. Through the tips of her fingers, the warm body heat unique to a child flowed into hers, and Emilia blinked.
As she stared, still unable to hide her surprise, Petra broke into an adorable, bashful smile.
"You're the big sis with the sweet potato stamp, right? You always came with Subaru to watch the morning radio calisthenics."
"…………"
"I couldn't see your face really well, but I could tell big sis always looked happy. I could see how happy Subaru was when he talked with you. Subaru really, really liked big sis… so I'm not scared of you?"
"…Ah."
Something surged up from within, and Emilia couldn't help letting out a small sound.
The backs of her eyes burned, her throat tightened until no voice could pass, and a sharp ache ran through the bridge of her nose.
"Big sis, let's ride together? People kept saying everyone was trying to leave you all alone. But I'll hold your hand, okay?"
"…Mm, mhm."
"You don't have to be lonely anymore, okay?"
"————"
Eyes so innocent, so pure, harboring none of this world's injustice or malice.
The feeling that had been natural for Emilia, the persecution she'd always known, the discrimination that should have been taken for granted—none of it existed in that gaze. Just that alone— "Me too!" "Can we go with big sis too?" "Hurry up, let's go!"
The children began chattering noisily, and a boy roughly Petra's age—Milt—shushed them and began ushering them into the carriage.
Watching the noisy children, Petra let out a soft, amused huff.
"Shall we go, big sis? It might get a little loud in there."
"No… it's fine. I've gotten used to having loud people around me this past month."
Shaking her head, Emilia felt a smile rise naturally to her face.
She began to walk. Led by Petra's hand. Feeling the warmth of another person's touch at her fingertips. Glad for the small mercy of not having to feel the pain she'd been so stubbornly insisting she was used to.
"Oh… I should thank you, too."
She stopped and turned around, searching for the young man from earlier. She wanted to at least say a word of gratitude to him—for guiding her to this small happiness.
"…Huh? Where did he go?"
But when she turned, the young man was nowhere to be found.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Pushing through branches, treading on grass, leaping along game trails at a run.
Ducking beneath trees, crashing through thickets, he burst into a dim clearing surrounded by dense green.
He stopped and waited. Moments later, three more shadows raced into the clearing. The four figures nodded to one another. One crouched at the center while the remaining three stood guard.
The figure who had sat down in the center reached into his robes and produced a small object resembling a hand mirror. When opened, it was unmistakably a mirror—but in the depths of the forest, where light was almost nonexistent, it was difficult to even confirm one's own reflection.
That was no problem for its owner, though.
The purpose was never to see his own face. Through the mirror, he needed to "connect to another location."
Infusing mana into the hand holding the mirror, he poured magical energy into the inscriptions carved along its edge. Once initial activation was achieved, the mirror would draw trace amounts of mana from its surroundings on its own and fulfill its role—a rare magical artifact known as a Dialogue Mirror.
Most such items were fixed in place, and portable versions were invariably oversized. One small enough to carry was exceedingly rare.
To have been entrusted with one, to be assigned this role—the man felt his sense of mission swell into exhilaration.
And then, opening his mouth to speak through the mirror to the other side—at that very instant— "So that's how you've been leaking information. A Dialogue Mirror—that is convenient. …But before you get all fired up with that sense of duty, maybe you should've remembered what your comrades look like?"
A figure crouching right beside him—having matched his position—spoke.
The man looked up in shock. The person standing before him filled him with an overwhelming sense of wrongness—as though the person was right there, yet his mind refused to acknowledge it.
"If you can't recognize my face, then to you lot, I'm just another foul-smelling colleague, huh? —Get a load of this, you small-time punks."
With that, the figure in the white robe rose to his feet, speaking as though spitting the words out.
And before the stunned Witch Cult followers—the man shook his head and flipped back the hood that had been pulled over his face.
Revealed was a head of black hair, a color borne by an extremely rare race in this world.
Three narrow, sullen eyes that made his foul mood unmistakable, and a provoking, fearless grin.
Only after seeing that did the Witch Cult members finally recognize who it was.
"I've got a long overdue reunion with Emilia-tan to get to, and you lot had to go and interfere. The crime is heavy, let me tell you."
Pointing a finger skyward, letting the hem of his white robe—woven with a Veil of Concealment—flutter, Natsuki Subaru delivered his pronouncement to the men before him.
"Now, how about you tell me everything you know!"
——To show them a chance at reversal, he snapped his fingers grandly.