Chapter 5-12: "The Reception Room's Amazing Atmosphere"

The gathering assembled in the reception room could only be described as a truly exceptional crowd, in every sense of the word.

"Still, it's quite surprising that Reinhard and Wilhelm turned out to be family. Now that I think about it, they both do seem like the type who'd be good with a sword."

Without prior information, it's only natural not to notice, but if you started calling people family based on that kind of similarity, you'd end up with a pretty large family, Emilia.

Sitting in the Japanese style—cushions laid out on the wooden floor before a long table, everyone seated on them—Emilia quietly whispered to Subaru from her spot in the central cluster of cushions. She might have been nervous, but her words were, at least for the moment, refreshingly trivial.

"Betty is on edge too, but if someone suddenly makes a move, things could get out of hand. You should be careful not to catch everyone's disapproving glare, I suppose."

"I know you don't mean any harm, but remembering the time I actually was given those looks is making my chest hurt, so please stop."

Sitting on Subaru's opposite side from Emilia, Beatrice offered her own warning. For the record, Emilia sat with her legs swept to one side, Subaru was cross-legged, and Beatrice sat in formal seiza. This was the result of Subaru's provocation, though Beatrice's knees were already trembling.

"If push comes to shove, Garfiel will handle things. And with this group, there's no need to worry about anyone suddenly pulling something shady, right?"

Leaving Beatrice and her trembling knees aside, Subaru's gaze drifted to the far end of the reception room. There sat Garfiel against the wall, cushion beneath him, knees up, planted solidly. He noticed Subaru's gaze and gave a small wave, but his hand was busy being held by Mimi beside him.

Currently, the important figures had gathered around the table in the reception room, while the rest of the party watched from the edges of the room. In other words, beside Mimi sat Hetaro, glaring at Garfiel as though he might shoot him dead, while Tivey wore a look of complete indifference toward his brother and sister.

Incidentally, Joshua could be seen nearby, sitting in formal seiza and looking thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Thank you so much for the invitation. Lady Felt's arrival at the inn will be slightly delayed, but she is already in Priestella and should be here soon."

"Ah, no need to be so formal. Just answering our sudden summons like this is more than enough. It was a coincidence that everyone arrived at the same time, wasn't it?"

Anastasia responded warmly to Reinhard's formal greeting. Reinhard raised his head at her words and turned a smile toward Julius, who had taken a seat beside Anastasia.

"It's been a while, Julius. Last time we met was at your trading company, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. Sorry about dragging you out like this this time. But it's a relief to confirm that we're both safe and sound."

Exchanging brief greetings between friends, Reinhard crossed the reception room and returned to his seat—the lowest position at the long table when divided by camp. Anastasia held the seat of honor, with the Emilia camp beside her. Directly across from Emilia sat Reinhard—meaning the Felt camp. And across from Anastasia sat— "It's been quite some time since we've all gathered like this, hasn't it?"

The one who spoke with a graceful smile was a beautiful woman with long green hair.

Her amber, narrow eyes held a gentle warmth, and her feminine figure was wrapped in a dark blue outfit—naturally, the long skirt lending her an air of refined elegance.

If you had known her before, you would never believe she was the same person.

"It's been a while for you too, Crusch. Since the awards ceremony, right?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused back then. I've heard about how well everyone has performed since. I was thinking, 'As expected.'"

The one Emilia approached without hesitation was Crusch, who had become soft-spoken and gentle in her responses. Her previous decisiveness and noble bearing were gone, lost along with the memories within her. That still hadn't returned, and without her sharp edge, she remained a beautiful noblewoman.

If the circumstances surrounding her had been different—or if it hadn't been treated as a tragedy— "You really are full of surprises, aren't you, Subaru-kun? The ceremony was one thing, but then the Great Rabbit, and being a Spirit user and all that. Subaru-kun, you're always so far outside the bounds of common sense, it's astounding!"

Sitting beside Crusch and chiming in with that was a cat-eared beauty—a young man. Ferris, Crusch's knight and the kingdom's foremost healing mage.

It was almost unfair to compare him to his master's transformation, but he alone hadn't changed at all. While Subaru felt relieved by that, there was also a part of him that couldn't fully grasp how Ferris felt about it all.

"Well, my life motto is always being fresh enough that people never get tired of me. And as for the contract with Betty—you yelled at me about it too, but it's a life-or-death matter."

"I specifically warned you over and over, but Subaru-kun, you still went and abused the Gate until it was about to burst. If Beatrice-chan hadn't been there, it would have popped right open. You really need to treasure her more, you know?"

"I know that. There's no one out there who can make Betty happier than I can."

It was said in a teasing tone, but Ferris's warning was serious. So Subaru's answer was dead serious too. Beside him, the red-faced Beatrice was mercilessly thumping his shoulder, but that was tuition of a sort.

"I still can't believe even Crusch and the others were called. If I hadn't run into Reinhard outside, I'd be so shocked my nose would be bleeding by now."

"Hehe. That might've been a waste. But it really was just a coincidence that everyone ended up here today. Even we were surprised about that part."

"We weren't given a specific time, so meeting everyone here like this must be the work of fate. The opportunity for all of us to gather in one place like this hardly ever comes along. In that sense, it's quite fortunate."

The one who said this was the last member of Crusch's camp.

Crusch in seiza, Ferris sitting with his legs tucked to one side, and beside them, also in seiza, the old swordsman Wilhelm sipped at the tea that had been served to him.

His outfit was the same black butler's uniform as before, yet it suited the Japanese room, the seiza position, and the tea with an almost eerie naturalness.

Actually, from where Subaru and the others sat, Wilhelm and Reinhard had ended up seated next to each other, which made for a surprisingly heart-stopping sight.

"They won't even look at each other..."

At Emilia's muttered words, spoken only inside her mouth, Subaru nodded only inside his head.

The grandfather and grandson sitting side by side—Wilhelm and Reinhard. After their unintentional reunion in the tearoom, the two hadn't exchanged a single word since they'd first addressed each other.

The silence had dominated the tearoom-turned-waiting room, and Subaru had been thoroughly miserable. The Emilia camp—a group composed of people who were KY, airheads, chuunibyou, and little kids, basically people who couldn't read the atmosphere—had been so overwhelmed by the tension that they couldn't do anything.

When the reception room discussion had wrapped up and Joshua came back to call them over, the sight of him stepping back with a quiet "Whoa..." upon seeing the room was unforgettable. The sense of liberation when they'd been freed from that space, too.

House Astrea. To put it bluntly by its family name, Subaru had a vague sense that this was a complicated environment. It was a lineage that had inherited the title of "Sword Saint" generation after generation, a family so powerful that the two men before him and the previous Sword Saint alone were more than enough to account for their fighting strength.

Subaru knew about Wilhelm's feelings behind his quest to slay the White Whale—and that the White Whale was the enemy who had killed Wilhelm's wife, the previous Sword Saint. When you connected all the dots like that, only one question remained.

—Why had Wilhelm relied on Crusch's family instead of using the power of his own house?

To put it plainly, why wasn't Reinhard present at that battle of vengeance?

Subaru had heard that Wilhelm had begun his pursuit of the White Whale fourteen years ago. If this had been a problem that started after the Royal Selection began, he could understand—somewhat—that Wilhelm couldn't cooperate with Reinhard, who was in a rival camp.

But at the time Wilhelm had sworn his vendetta against the White Whale, the Royal Selection and House Astrea had no connection. Granted, he doubted the Reinhard of that time could have been much help against the White Whale, but considering his growth since, why had Reinhard been kept away from the White Whale?

Wilhelm's true intentions, Reinhard's feelings—he understood neither.

—If he was being honest, he really, really wanted to know.

He wanted to dig into their wounds with no holding back, to rub salt under the scabs.

That was Natsuki Subaru's completely genuine desire, but over the past year, he had grown. He could now recognize that pushing it this far would make them hate him.

Both Reinhard and Wilhelm, for all that they belonged to rival camps, were precious people Subaru didn't want to antagonize. Their trust wasn't cheap enough to trade away for curiosity.

So he could only hope, helplessly, that the topic might come up naturally.

"By the way, Anastasia, why did you gather everyone here? I figured you must have some kind of plan... Am I wrong?"

Oblivious to Subaru's internal agitation, Emilia shifted the topic to Anastasia. Tilting her head, Anastasia smiled and said, "Well, you see..."

"Right now, honestly, we just wanted to have everyone talk together again. I was worried Emilia might get suspicious, so I used every trick in the book to invite everyone here."

"We were involved because of the magic stones, but what about the others?"

"Everyone's got their own stuff going on, you know. Once you understand that, the conversation becomes simple... Well, we did ask the ones who couldn't really understand to sit this one out."

"The ones who can't understand...?"

Emilia crossed her arms with a troubled look, but it wasn't really that hard a question. The camp that wasn't here—and the one that was hardest to hold a conversation with—required no thought at all.

"You didn't invite Priscilla or Al?"

"That camp's completely on their own track, and I couldn't find any weaknesses to speak of, which was pretty surprising. Honestly, I was thinking it'd be useful to ask about territory management, just like with Felt's group."

"That matter, you're welcome to discuss once Lady Felt arrives. That said, it is certainly something worth looking into."

Anastasia confessed to having casually cut out an entire camp without much ceremony, and Reinhard nodded in understanding, offering his agreement.

Hearing this, Emilia—who agreed only with the substance—raised her hand.

"I'm curious about how everyone's doing too. I've been studying a lot, but being in a position of authority is really tough with all the back and forth."

"'Back and forth'... that's not really how you say that..."

"Hmm, Subaru's being mean again."

Receiving a retort for the first time in a while, Emilia puffed out her cheeks and pinched Subaru's right shoulder. For the record, Beatrice was still hitting his left shoulder, so it was a fitting balance of reward and punishment.

In any case, she understood Priscilla's camp being absent and why Felt's camp had been summoned. The remaining question was why Crusch's camp had been called—their weakness.

"We came to Priestella because we were told Anastasia-sama had information about the 'Gluttony' matter."

"———"

Sensing the intent behind Subaru's gaze, Crusch answered preemptively.

But this was something Subaru couldn't afford to miss. He looked up sharply, and Anastasia touched her neck warmer with a wry smile.

"It's not like we were keeping it from you, Natsuki-kun. There's just an order to things. You all are just as desperate, but Crusch's group is more so, so it makes sense they'd be first. Right?"

"Guh... fine, I get it."

"You've really matured, haven't you?"

"Shut up, don't push me when I'm barely holding it together!"

A merchant's fundamental principle—buying valuable goods at a high price.

Subaru barely managed to hold back his anger at Anastasia's lecture. He nearly exploded when Julius followed up with words dripping with emotion.

"You know, you've got some nerve. Let me tell you, my old man was ten times better at needling people."

"Eeeh... Phil-chan's scary..."

"Don't actually shiver in fear! You should be worried about your own family situation!"

Subaru shouted at Ferris, who had shrunk close to Crusch, but didn't bother correcting himself. With Subaru's father, Kenichi, it wouldn't be exaggeration or modesty—it would be the plain truth.

However, if that story got back to Crusch and the others while Subaru remained unaware, that was a different matter entirely. The existence of the Archbishop of Gluttony was directly tied to the question of Rem, still sleeping in the Roswaal mansion.

Even if his reason had accepted it, his instincts were screaming loud enough to make reason throw acceptance out the window.

"You don't need to bare your teeth like that. I'll tell you properly, so relax."

"R-Really?"

"I'm not lying. You can thank Crusch for that. They told us it wouldn't do any good to keep it to themselves."

Subaru was rendered speechless, and when he looked at Crusch, she nodded with the best brave face she could muster.

"It's the natural thing to do. Of course, I want to settle the 'Gluttony' matter myself to get my memories back. But I also know that Subaru-sama has steeled his resolve to defeat 'Gluttony' for that girl's sake. There's no way I could keep this to myself."

"Crusch..."

"Besides, the more allies who share the same goal, the better. This Archbishop of Gluttony has been cunningly evading pursuit. The more hands reaching out, the better our chances."

At Crusch's lighthearted words, Subaru bowed his head with a sense of being saved.

Deep down, she too wanted to settle things personally with the enemy who had created her deficit. Yet she had set that aside to show consideration for Subaru, who shared the same objective.

The soul of Crusch Karsten—a woman who embodied fairness and justice—had not dimmed one bit, even with her memories lost.

"Thank you. Thank you, Crusch. I will definitely seize the chance you've given me. Definitely."

"But we'll still get there first, won't we? That much I won't concede."

In front of Subaru putting his resolve into words, Crusch puffed out her chest, refusing to lose.

Indeed—she treated their competing resolves like rival flames, stoking each other. At her thoughtfulness, an incongruous smile tugged at Subaru's lips, and he exchanged smiles with Crusch.

Watching this from the side, looking rather displeased, was her knight.

"Mew~ I don't like it when Crusch and Subaru-kun stare into each other's eyes like that. Stop it, Subaru-kun, you womanizer. You've already got two flowers in each hand, so be satisfied with that. You're so indecent, mew!"

"Ferris, isn't that rather rude to say? Subaru-sama is not the type to cast flirtatious glances at everyone, you know."

"That's right, give it a rest. Sure, Crusch is beautiful and cute, but my heart goes straight ahead—well, it forks into two somewhere along the way, but it's still stra—owowow?!"

"That's probably not what 'straight' means. Also, if you're the slightest bit sorry for your thoughtless remark, you might want to avoid saying things like that so easily."

Subaru tried to mediate in the exchange between Crusch and her knight, but Beatrice had grabbed his ear and pulled with all her might, sending him into a scream of pain. When he turned to her with tearful eyes in protest, Beatrice pointed at Crusch with pursed lips.

Looking over, Crusch's cheeks were faintly pink as she looked downward.

He replayed his own words. Had he said something weird?

"Wait, Emilia, did I say something strange?"

"Hmm? I don't know. Subaru, I think you were just talking the same way you always do with me..."

"Yeah, I guess. What could it be? Maybe if I hold Emilia's hand, the answer will come to me. Can I hold it?"

"Sure, sure. Think really hard about it."

Smacked on the forehead with the hand he couldn't hold, Subaru pouted and fell back dramatically.

In the meantime, Ferris leaned close to the ear of the downward-looking Crusch.

"See? Just as you'd expect. Subaru-kun unconsciously and recklessly tries to look cool in front of everyone. It's a disease. So don't worry about it."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind. Whew, that was a close one."

Crusch took a deep breath and placed a hand over her chest.

Her feminine gestures had a certain cuteness to them—a gap moe, Subaru thought. Oblivious to being perceived that way, Crusch was exchanging some kind of fist bumps with Ferris, renewing some sort of vow. Just from looking at them, they could have been same-sex friends.

It was at the moment when everyone had shared their reasons for gathering in Priestella that— "Oh, what do you know, everyone's all gathered together! Rachins told me it was just you and the Kararagi-dialect sister's place!"

The sliding door was flung open with tremendous force, revealing a panting girl with blonde hair.

Dazzling golden hair, large round red eyes, and from her smiling mouth peeked a pair of charming fangs that lent her neat features a mischievous allure. Small and delicate in build, yet she seemed to have grown just slightly more feminine since last time.

As always, her outfit prioritized mobility over modesty—a combination of short shorts that showed her navel and legs, and a thin top. Even after becoming a royal candidate, the poverty-fueled style remained: Felt had arrived.

"Huh, you haven't changed much. I was kinda looking forward to that since it's been a year, but that's boring."

"Lady Felt."

Looking around the room and letting her shoulders slump in disappointment, Felt entered. Her knight, Reinhard, rose to his feet and swiftly moved to the reception room's entrance.

"The outfit we prepared for you in the carriage—what happened to it?"

"Ha! Sightseeing was obviously just an excuse. I said that to get ahead of you to the inn, and then I changed super quick. You think I'm gonna wear something that makes my whole body itch just by putting it on? Get to know my personality already!"

"You really are...something."

Reinhard pressed a hand to his forehead as if in exasperation. Felt had successfully fooled the kingdom's greatest hero and strongest fighter, and she entered the room looking thoroughly pleased with herself.

"So, I'm here too. —Thank you so much for the invitation today. Let's have a productive discussion. Okay, courtesy over!"

Switching effortlessly between a mischievous grin and the graceful smile and manners of a refined lady, Felt executed a curtsy without a skirt and immediately discarded her ladylike persona.

Subaru himself had always been fairly confident about not fitting into noble society, but Felt's abandon only seemed to have grown more forceful after a year.

"Anyway, this building's got a weird shape. It's my first time here too, so it's all new. I looked around everywhere on the way to this room."

Felt planted herself cross-legged on the cushion where Reinhard had been sitting. Reinhard fetched another cushion and settled down quietly in seiza beside her.

By coincidence, Felt had ended up seated next to Wilhelm—sandwiching her between grandson and grandfather—though that much was fortunate.

"So, it's been a while, Felt. How've you been?"

"None of that '-chan' stuff, it's creepy. But yeah, I've been doing fine. How about you, sis—have you been good, or naughty? Heard some pretty wild rumors, and they were all amazing."

"The troublemaker isn't me, it's Subaru. I've mostly just been getting by thanks to everything Subaru's done."

"Oh, that's right, that's right!"

At Emilia's answer, Felt slapped her hands together, then leaned across the long table to glare at Subaru.

"I heard a whole bunch about you, bro. Straight up, how much of that was actually made up?"

"Don't assume it's all lies from the start. Yeah, I guess a lot of it does sound like BS."

"I mean, come on, you can't expect me to believe it. You splitting the White Whale in half by yourself, punching the Witch Cult's leadership into oblivion, and roasting and eating the Great Rabbit—come on."

"The related info checks out, but there's a ton of lies in the process of getting to those results!"

If Subaru had actually accomplished all that on his own, he wouldn't just be a kingdom hero—he'd be sitting on the throne right now, seizing the country by force and making Emilia his queen so they could live in bliss.

"——Hmph."

However, amid Subaru's spirited protests, a small laugh could be heard.

From two sources, no less. The seat of honor and its opposite—Julius and Wilhelm.

The two who had involuntarily reacted caught each other's response and simultaneously softened their expressions. Spotting this from the corner of his eye, Felt furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Why'd Gramps and Julius laugh? Did I say something weird?"

"The whole thing was pretty weird from the start, honestly. My contributions to the world are way too overblown. Give me the Nobel Peace Prize."

He wasn't sure what he'd even do with one, but it was the representative of all honorary awards, after all.

He'd received several medals at the awards ceremony, but since their concrete value wasn't entirely clear to him, Subaru hadn't felt much real sense of his own accomplishments.

In truth, the medals he'd received were actually among the most prestigious honors in the kingdom.

"Subaru-dono's contribution to the slaying of the White Whale is immeasurable. That is something I can say with certainty—my very soul declares it. Without Subaru-dono, my lifelong wish would never have been fulfilled. There is absolutely no need to laugh off such things as exaggeration."

"The matter of the Archbishop was the same. It was none other than he who took the lead in commanding resistance against the Witch Cult's assault. It was that leadership that made the defeat of the Archbishop possible. What myself and others contributed was not enough to loudly proclaim as significant."

"———"

The overwhelming endorsement of Wilhelm—and of Julius.

Hearing them so clearly defend him, Subaru was momentarily at a loss for words. A beat later, an unbearable heat rose within him.

From his neck to his ears turned bright red, and he felt like his eyes might burst from sheer blood pressure.

"C-Come on! Stop hyping me up like that! You know better than anyone what happens when I get full of myself and make a fool of it!"

"No, no, not at all. Your actions at the time may have been hasty, that's true, but you more than redeemed yourself with the results you showed. Those two things—the hasty actions and your subsequent accomplishments—are entirely separate matters. You should be proud."

"There's no need for modesty. What you accomplished is something no one else could have done. I will carry the pride of having fought alongside you on the battlefield for as long as I live."

"——Ah."

Killed by kindness. Natsuki Subaru, who had died so many times before.

But this was a kind of death he'd never experienced. Right now, Subaru was being killed by praise.

Tormented by shame so intense he thought he might genuinely die, Subaru looked to Emilia and Beatrice for help. But the two on either side of him simply smiled adorably.

"That's right. Subaru worked really, really hard. I'm so proud that he's been serving as my knight."

"Well, well. As Betty's partner, it's only natural that he'd accomplish as much. If anything, everyone else was too slow to notice how amazing Subaru is. He's only going to grow even more from here on out, so it's best to get used to this kind of recognition now."

An overwhelming, unconditional endorsement. Subaru was on the verge of panic from the sheer coddling.

And as everyone surrounded Subaru, they chimed in one after another— "That's incredible, Subaru. The fact that everyone's saying this about you is proof that you've accomplished something truly rare. As your friend, I'm really happy for you."

"I've heard that without Subaru-dono, I would have lost many loyal retainers. For Wilhelm's sake as well, who has supported me to this day, please allow me to express my gratitude once more."

"While it's true things were pretty rough, it's also true that Subaru did have a little something to do with keeping our spirits from breaking after the White Whale. Well, after that there was Crusch's incredible speech, so it probably wouldn't have changed that much, but still—thanks, I guess."

"Thanks to Natsuki-kun letting me into the conversation, I was able to gain quite a bit regarding the White Whale matter. We're grateful too. For the sake of all the merchants who suffered through the fog for years."

"Ohhh, big brother's on a roll! How cool, how awesome! Second only to me, though! And third after Garf!"

"I dunno what's going on, but hell yeah, Boss! That's my big bro! 'Fame follows righteous conduct and—' uh, what was it?"

Caught up in the momentum, everyone who knew Subaru present took turns praising him.

With each warm word, Subaru turned a little redder, and Felt watched his state with a toothy grin.

"Sounds like a lot actually happened... but you still haven't changed when it comes to getting teased. Good, I'm relieved!"

"Quit piling on the praise, you guys! I'm gonna fall in love with all of you at once!"

Felt had barely wrapped up the scene when Subaru's voice finally exploded.

The tension that had filled the reception room finally collapsed, and everyone's laughter burst forth.

*** "Ahh, damn it, that really took years off my life..."

After the gathering in the reception room had wound down, Subaru collapsed in the guest room he'd been led to.

After everyone had coordinated to tease him to death with praise, the various camps had sunk into conversation as if they'd forgotten they were supposed to be enemies.

Of course, there were exchanges that probed into each other's situations and circumstances, but a surprisingly large portion was simply harmless small talk.

Though one wrong step could turn their relationship into a hostile one, from a broader perspective, they were women of similar age—and if the topics strayed from the kingdom, all the better.

In fact, Emilia seemed to thoroughly enjoy the lively conversation with her peers.

"Well, for Emilia and Betty, calling it a 'same-age conversation' might be a stretch."

"Let's not bring up our real ages. It could start a war."

At Subaru's careless muttering, Beatrice's sharp voice pierced through.

Glancing over, Subaru saw that Beatrice had perched on top of a futon stacked in the corner of the room, desperately trying to work the numbness out of her legs.

"You're a spirit—do your legs actually fall asleep? There's no blood flowing in there, is there?"

"Blood flow isn't the issue. Betty's body is designed to mimic a human body as closely as possible. So if something is uncomfortable for humans, it's uncomfortable for Betty too. It's the same as losing consciousness from staying underwater too long."

"Do you actually breathe?"

"Of course I—H-Hey, stop sniffing Betty's breath!"

Subaru had leaned in close and started sniffing, and Beatrice swatted a cushion at him, her face turning red. To top it off, Subaru took the opening to flick her numb leg with his finger, and the numbness came rushing back, sending Beatrice tumbling around in tears.

"That hurts, you know—! I'm gonna cry, you know—! Subaru's being mean to you, you know—!"

"Alright, alright, my bad, my bad. Come here, come here."

With a wry smile, Subaru sat cross-legged and patted his knee. Beatrice crawled over and rested her head on his lap. As he stroked her voluminous hair—the result of those ringlets—Subaru surveyed the guest room, saying, "You know..."

"The private rooms are nice, but the interior design. They're trying really hard to give it a traditional inn feel, but... it still doesn't quite work in places."

The discrepancy came from the difference between wooden architecture and its evolved forms.

"Water's Robe Pavilion" came quite close to a traditional inn, but the beams, the sliding doors—there were spots that fell just short, which was a shame.

The guest room floors had been painstakingly turned into tatami. But in the end, all their efforts had overshot the mark, resulting in the bold design choice of laying animal hides over wooden flooring.

The feel underfoot wasn't bad, but it was a textbook case of missing the original goal.

"So laying out futons on the floor was something they couldn't compromise on for the wooden flooring."

"Putting a futon directly on the ground is what poor people do. Betty could never accept a partner who earns so little."

"You really put me through the wringer, don't you?"

"That's our little arrangement."

"What the hell are you two chattering about?"

The instant a third voice spoke, Beatrice—who had been matching Subaru's rhythm perfectly—jumped as if startled. But at the moment of landing, she remembered her numb legs, lost her balance, and spectacularly face-planted into the futon. Subaru gently straightened her flipped-up skirt.

"Garfiel. You done exploring?"

"Was done by this morning, actually. The little ones dragged me around and we finished up. Beatrice, you're really going all out, huh?"

"It's been a while since we had an outing, so I'm excited. Things like not being able to sleep in a new place—she's ridiculously cute, right?"

Standing at the room's entrance, Garfiel grinned and ground his teeth at Subaru's words.

The guest room also had sliding doors, so there had been no sound when they opened—Beatrice must have been caught off guard. Subaru, for his part, had been facing the entrance and naturally noticed Garfiel's arrival.

"So, what brings you here? Dinner?"

"Nah, dinner's probably still a little while off. Got nothing to do sitting alone in my room, so I figured I'd see what the boss was up to. Otto-bro hasn't come back yet either."

"Well, Otto's not a kid, so there's no need to worry. Even if he ends up in debt somehow, I'm sure he'll figure out how to sort it out without bothering us."

"Right."

In a matter of hours, Otto would accumulate debt, and then go through the whole process of resolving it—that was what Garfiel pictured for him. The fact that Garfiel didn't deny it meant that was pretty much how he saw it.

Of course, when it actually came to relying on someone, he relied on them like nobody's business.

"That's a separate matter from this."

"What are you talking about, Boss?"

At Subaru's muttering, Garfiel deftly brushed it off with a practiced expression. Then he jerked his chin toward the hallway.

"That's what I came for. I want the boss to come along with me for a bit."

"Come along for what? Oh, a bath? A bath? Yeah, let's do a bath. There's a decent chance it could be an open-air one. I checked the back sliding door earlier and there were yukata inside. Just imagining Emilia in a yukata gets me pumped! I'm pumped!"

Though tatami and traditional architecture might be hard to replicate, they'd apparently managed to commercialize the yukata. Subaru wanted to give genuine credit to whoever in Kararagi had pushed for wafuu culture.

However, in front of Subaru getting excited, Garfiel wore a serious expression. Even Subaru couldn't keep fooling around, and he frowned, asking what was going on.

"Garfiel. What is it? What are you planning?"

"Well, it ain't nothin' huge, but..."

Touching the white scar on his forehead, Garfiel paused there for a moment.

Then, looking straight at Subaru, he said: "I wanna find out just how tough the world's strongest celebrity really is."