"Alright, let's begin."
With a faint tension lining her profile,
Addressing everyone present — or perhaps speaking more to herself — with that silver-chime voice, she raised both slender arms.
"————"
Closing her eyes, Emilia began channeling mana into her raised hands.
A vast swirl of magical power, paired with the extreme concentration needed to manipulate it with precision. Without both, the goal could never be achieved — it was a trial only she could attempt.
"————"
Countless gazes fell upon Emilia as she faced the Grand Magic with that earnest expression. Holding their breath and watching her every move were the women and children huddled together.
Some of them held hands, others closed their eyes in prayer or wish, sharing nothing between them but anxiety and trembling hope.
"...This is tough."
And Subaru watched quietly from the edge of the same space as Emilia bore the weight of all those tangled emotions.
The location was an underground facility beneath the Water Gate City of Pristella.
Originally a warehouse for emergency supplies, it was now mostly emptied of its contents — which, in a way, served its current purpose well. A stone-walled underground space left bare of stored goods felt cavernous, and that very openness only accentuated the gloom and cold.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the place suited their current objective.
"Wouldn't go so far as to say that's a good thing, though."
"I think I'll stop you right there before you start waxing sentimental. It wouldn't do for anyone to hear, and it would break Emilia's concentration."
The small girl, whose free hand toyed with her ringlet curls while her other hand was clasped in Subaru's left, stared intently at the white ceremony unfolding before them.
Her pale blue eyes seemed to Subaru as though they were bearing some hidden pain.
"Emilia will be fine. Don't worry so much."
"...I worry you've got the wrong idea. What Betty is worried about isn't Emilia — it's you, Subaru. Sympathizing with everyone's emotions without discrimination — that's a bad habit of yours, I suppose."
"That so?"
The grip on his hand tightened, and Subaru pressed his lips into a flat line at the girl's concern.
He understood what Beatrice was getting at, and that she was looking out for him. But the decision he'd made knowing full well what it meant — that was Subaru's judgment now.
On that point, he couldn't bend. He knew he was a burden, he knew that much.
"————"
Subaru and Beatrice's quiet exchange aside, Emilia's ceremony was progressing.
Pouring every ounce of her concentration into the spell, Emilia exhaled white breath while a faint sheen of sweat appeared on her forehead. She was devoting body and soul to the task of controlling the immense mana.
Around Emilia's outstretched hands, a pale blue-white light began to envelop the underground space.
Despite the cold that blurred her vision into a hazy white, the chill didn't pierce the skin — instead it held a softness, like cradling something exposed and vulnerable.
It was said that people on the verge of death from hypothermia forgot the cold. Extreme cold stripped the body of its ability to perceive temperature, granting warmth as a final gift before stealing life itself.
Subaru vaguely wondered if something similar existed within this white world, then shook his head at the thought — it was nothing but idle sentiment.
The pale light filled the space, and the cold converged toward the center of the room.
And at the heart of that light —, ———— Curled up, wings folded, lay a massive black body — the black dragon.
The aberration didn't end there. Swarming around the dragon were flies the size of grown humans, creating a scene straight out of some nightmarish vision.
But Subaru felt no disgust at the sight.
—No. More precisely, he made a strong conscious effort not to feel disgust at the forms of the black dragon and the human flies.
They were victims — innocent people who had committed no crime.
They were casualties of the Archbishop of Sin 'Gluttony''s malice, victims transformed into something inhuman.
There was no means within their current knowledge to restore those altered bodies to their original forms. That was precisely why this particular strategy had been chosen.
"Might just be putting things off, but..."
"Having time — even that alone can be a form of salvation. When desperation closes in, your vision narrows, and the choices you would have had slip out of reach. Not realizing that, and realizing it too late... both are equally cruel, I suppose."
Beatrice responded to Subaru's murmur in a tone like talking to herself.
In that small, delicate sigh was the kind of resignation and wistful sentiment only someone who had spent a truly long, long time deliberating could hold.
Sensing that in her words, Subaru had nothing he could say to Beatrice. He simply stroked her head in silence.
"...What do you think you're doing?"
"Nothing."
No matter how much time you spent, there was no guarantee you'd make the right choice.
Sometimes, even after spending all that time, you might still be unable to pick the correct path.
But even so, you could still act so that the choice you'd made would turn out to be the best one.
Against Beatrice's four hundred years, that was the answer Subaru had given.
And he hoped that the time given to the tragedy unfolding in this city would be the same.
"————"
Subaru's contemplation and the peak of the cold filling the underground overlapped — and then came a sound like air itself cracking open.
"...It's done. Safely."
Emilia turned around, white breath escaping her lips.
Her breathing slightly ragged, she gave a small bow — and behind her lay lives encased entirely in white crystal, their souls sealed within ice.
"Guh—"
Families collapsed in tears, lovers letting out choked sobs.
Before gratitude, grief came first — piercing wails burst forth, reverberating pitilessly through the underground chamber.
Long, long they echoed, as though there were no end to the sorrow of parting without knowing how long the separation would last.
*** "So, it seems Emilia-sama's proposal went well — we can rest easy... I think that's the right way to look at it, isn't it?"
Having received reports on both the meeting at the assembly hall and Emilia's subsequent work freezing the transformed victims, Otto nodded with a look of relief.
The location was a private room in the medical facility, where Subaru and the others had been carried after evacuating the shelter.
Lying on the bed, Otto looked much the same as before, the bandages wrapped around both legs still a grim sight. That said, being removed from field-hospital conditions and having his legs elevated was a marked improvement.
In truth, as one of the heroes who had contributed to the city's defense, Otto deserved better treatment — but since he hadn't asked for it himself, Subaru figured he was probably being considerate of those around him and kept quiet.
"Attentiveness without words... that's the very essence of wabi-sabi."
"It's fine that Natsuki-san is here but his mind's somewhere else — that's the usual — but Emilia-sama, thank you for your hard work."
Subaru ignored Otto's nodding and Otto thanked Emilia for her efforts. Her brows drooped at his gratitude.
"No, that was fine. What I'm sorry about is that I went ahead with everything without even consulting you, Otto. But I thought there was something only I could do."
"Oh, no need to apologize. I'm not angry at all, and the act itself was undoubtedly a noble deed. Besides, it held considerable value even from a pragmatic standpoint."
"Pragmatic...?"
"You'd probably be better off knowing, but if you don't, that's fine too... Actually, I'm not sure which is better. Honestly, it's beyond me to figure out the right call here."
"Don't think. Feel. That's E.M.T."
Otto held his head in his hands at Emilia's complete lack of awareness regarding the implications of her own actions. Subaru brushed it off with those magic words and continued, "So — your legs, still no dice for a while?"
"Given the current state of Pristella, further treatment is going to be difficult. The number of healing spellcasters in the city can't keep up with the volume of injured. I've even been thinking it might be better to transfer to a hospital in another city, but apparently Kiritaka has been sending out messengers to every nearby city to summon healing spellcasters. So I'll either have to wait patiently here for one to arrive, or it might be wiser to return to the mansion."
He laughed weakly, and Otto was forced into an indefinite leave from the front lines.
With injuries as serious as Otto's, only a healer who could handle advanced restoration magic could mend him easily — someone like Beatrice from her Forbidden Library days, or
"And that Ferris is glued to Crusch-san's side, while our chief healing special-ops officer is running all over Pristella. ...Because of that family, I imagine."
"The small siblings and their mother — three of them. The person who looked like a dragon was their father, so I guess that makes four."
The absent special-ops officer — no, Garfiel.
Right now, he was darting all over the understaffed city, throwing himself into restoration work with everything he had. Garfiel was, at his core, a straightforward and kindhearted boy. Even without any particular attachment to this city, he wouldn't hesitate to lend a hand to anyone in need.
Even so, the intensity with which he'd thrown himself into Pristella's recovery was exceptional. And Subaru had a rough idea of why.
"The fact that he's not talking to us about it means there's some complicated stuff going on."
"Yeah, it does. ...Oh, this is a change of subject, but don't you think Garfiel and that family look a little alike? Their hair color and eye color match up perfectly."
"Emilia-tan, you just changed the subject completely."
"Huh!?"
Bewildered as Emilia was, Garfiel was doing what he was doing.
By all rights, he should have been carrying significant injuries across his entire body — no light wounds — but citing the 'Blessing of the Earth Spirits' and his bottomless stamina, he showed no signs of taking it easy.
To make matters worse, Mimi was constantly tagging along after him, reopening her wounds and causing trouble for her brothers, making the whole thing doubly chaotic.
"Well, Garfiel will probably let the truth slip on his own eventually. I don't think we need to push to drag it out of him. More importantly..."
"Hm?"
"Oh, no — since neither of you have brought it up, I haven't said anything either, but... what's Beatrice so upset about?"
Leaning over, Otto directed the conversation toward the corner of the hospital room, where Beatrice sat pouting with flushed cheeks and an unmistakably sour expression, shaking her head from side to side.
Subaru responded to the question with an "Ah, right," and said, "That's because of that thing, you know. I sent her to the restoration craftsman's place on your errand, and she got turned away at the door. She's been sulking about it ever since. ...If you look at it from multiple angles, isn't it kind of your fault?"
"No, no, surely that's a bit much... Isn't that right, Emilia-sama?"
"Mm, yeah. Looking after your own spirit is a natural obligation of a contractor. So it's Subaru who has to coax Beako out of it."
"You literally said 'coax' out loud, and also if we're going there, I don't really have many memories of you taking care of Pack, Emilia-tan."
"Don't be so petty! Besides, I did all sorts of things when Subaru wasn't watching. Grooming, trimming his claws, cuddling him to sleep..."
Whether that was a reliable template for spirit-human relations was questionable, but Emilia's expression as she spoke of Pack was bright and clear.
Until now, the sudden parting at the
—Around Emilia's neck hung a crystal stone fashioned from a colorless great magical stone.
It was the same design as the one she had worn ceaselessly before her parting with Pack, and combined with her radiant expression, it brought back all that was distinctly Emilia.
She touched the crystal with her slender fingers.
"I still don't have enough power to bring Pack back yet... but our contract hasn't been severed, so if I accumulate enough mana to manifest him, we can meet again. Just a little longer, okay?"
"That's also thanks to Beako's efforts and... well, Kiritaka's goodwill, I suppose."
Originally, the reason Subaru and the others had come to Pristella was to obtain a great magical stone.
What should have been a negotiation over whether to hand it over or not had turned into quite the roundabout deal. Either way, they'd gotten what they came for, and everyone was satisfied.
"So Beako, come on, cheer up."
"I'm not pouting. It's your imagination. Hmph."
"Aww, Beato's so cute..."
With a sound effect practically emanating from the scene, Beatrice turned her face away from Subaru, who was trying to coax her into a better mood. The hearts-fluttering happening behind them got a similar reaction from Emilia, but being cute and being someone you could have a productive conversation with were two different things.
"Mr. Darts seems like the craftsman type as well. I understand that once you've taken on a job, you can't just half-abandon it."
"But there's a point where professional dedication goes too far, you know? Apparently that guy was working in his workshop the whole time the commotion was going on. He's too much of a workaholic."
"That's what makes a true craftsman, though."
"That's what makes a true craftsman, huh."
For some reason Otto looked oddly proud of that statement, and somehow hearing it stated so definitively made Subaru feel like it was fine after all — boys really were simple. Being called a craftsman was cool.
But as Subaru and Otto nodded in agreement, Beatrice shot them an irritated look.
"Even so, flat-out ignoring the client's request is unacceptable, I suppose. I told him I'd pay double to give it back, and he wouldn't so much as grunt in response."
"A little girl trying to strong-arm someone with a stack of bills — that's only going to work on someone who's a real professional in that area. You should tell her too, Emilia-tan."
"See, that's the wrong way to think about it, Beako. If you're going to waste money like that, I'll take away your allowance."
"The two of you are impossibly rude!"
Outraged, Beatrice grabbed the curtain and wrapped herself up inside it.
Then, unable to hold herself back, Emilia threw her arms around Beako-in-the-curtain, and a shriek of "What do you think you're doing!?" rang out.
Setting aside that heartwarming interlude, Beatrice's frustration wasn't hard to understand.
What Otto had commissioned from the restoration craftsman Darts, and what Subaru and the others had gone to retrieve, was the damaged Tome of Wisdom. The contents of that book were the reason Roswaal — its owner — had gone to such lengths to try to interfere with Subaru's plans ahead of time, and naturally, Subaru was interested in what it held.
"He may have stopped being openly obstructive, but the evasiveness is the same as ever, that guy."
Even when his interference was exposed, Roswaal's outward behavior hadn't changed.
Of course, knowing the scheming going on beneath that flippant exterior, Subaru never let his guard down — but there was also something... deflated about him now.
That said, maintaining a bystander stance, and being only nominally cooperative — that was the same as before.
"If only we could get some sense of what the Tome of Wisdom holds ahead..."
If Roswaal really wasn't plotting anything — and regardless of past events, if Subaru could be certain they could walk the same path going forward — it would go a long way toward shaping how their camps related to each other down the road.
"That's what I'm trying to say."
"There's no need to argue so earnestly. Otto and I are mostly on the same page as you, Natsuki-san, so it's fine. As for Garfiel — well, he has personal grudges, so even after understanding the facts, his attitude might not change."
Personal grudges — were those about the Sanctuary, or about
Without touching on that, Subaru watched Emilia and Beatrice wrestling with each other and said, "That book isn't just an outside concern for Beatrice either. I think she does want to confirm what she can, if possible. Getting it out of the Forbidden Library and having moved past the past are two separate issues."
"I've thought about consulting you about it, you know? Multiple times."
"I'm not blaming you."
Recovering the Tome of Wisdom, attempting to restore it, and trying to handle it all personally — that was Otto's judgment, based on what he thought would earn goodwill.
And fundamentally, Otto's considerations rarely missed the mark. Subaru knew well enough that he wasn't the kind of person who acted out of self-interest.
"You really aren't cut out for being a businessman..."
"Could you not say that!? ...Anyway, what did Mr. Darts say?"
"He said it might be the biggest job he's ever taken on. Same price as quoted, but he wants to see it through to the end properly."
Not having a deadline was unsettling, but the other party was a craftsman — he wouldn't make unreasonable promises.
Though Subaru would like to believe he wasn't the type of craftsman who dragged things past the deadline.
"So in the end, between the Tome of Wisdom recovery and everything else, I suppose staying in Pristella is the predetermined course, then?"
"Garfiel's planning to stay a while too, for the restoration work and city defense. On paper, the story is that we've driven them off, but they're the kind of bastards who might use that as a feint and launch another attack, so..."
They were the kind of people who would gleefully pull off something that twisted.
It wasn't just Subaru's assessment — everyone involved was still on guard. Keeping people in a state of unnecessary tension and suffering might be part of their aim too.
"At this point, what choice do we even have?"
"In any case, I think monitoring the situation is necessary. Once my legs are a bit more functional, I'll start looking into things myself. But while we're discussing future plans—"
Otto stopped mid-sentence.
He pushed himself upright on the bed and looked down at Subaru, who had closed one eye. Tapping his own temple with a finger, he said, "I want to make this perfectly clear: I am opposed."
"...Yeah, I figured you would be."
At Otto's declaration, Subaru managed a wry smile.
Otto saying he was opposed — that was entirely predictable from Subaru's perspective.
After all,
Subaru himself was the one most keenly aware of his own helplessness, but there weren't that many people who truly understood the depth of his shortcomings.
At best — Beatrice and Otto.
That was precisely why he'd expected opposition from Beatrice and Otto, who were on his side. If Patrasche could talk, she'd probably oppose him the same way.
But— "If you understand me that well, then you already know what my answer will be."
"...Beatrice's bad mood isn't really just about Mr. Darts, is it?"
"Hmm, hard to say. I can't claim to understand the depths of Beako's heart either."
Shrugging, Subaru spoke with feigned indifference, and Otto gave him an exasperated look.
Of course, with his sharp ears, Otto would have no shortage of knowledge regarding the legends and rumors. He would be thoroughly familiar with the danger of Subaru's choice.
And even knowing all that, Subaru prefaced with "Sorry about this" and said, "I'm gonna go have a chat with this Sage fellow. You know, with the white fox's guidance."
Then he smiled.
*** "Come in."
A perfunctory knock on the door was answered by a quiet voice from inside.
It was a voice Subaru recognized, but one devoid of its usual vigor — and something about that grated on him.
"You, Subaru."
"Got a problem with that?"
"Strangely enough, seeing your face right now actually puts me at ease."
"Hah. Ptooey."
Stepping into the room, Subaru punctuated his first exchange of barbs with those sound effects.
While putting on that attitude, his hands were considerate as he closed the door behind him. Closing it without a sound was the bare minimum of courtesy toward those who slept within.
"Waking them up with some noise would be a far greater mercy, if anything."
"If that were the case, would you perform some kind of applause-worthy one-man show for them? Now that'd be a precious moment. I'm already pissed off enough at the 'Gluttony' one for making me miss it."
"Hah."
At that laugh-like exhale, Subaru tilted his head without meeting the other's gaze. Then he casually surveyed the room and narrowed his eyes at the rows of beds lined up in succession.
Simple beds with thin towel blankets — that was the extent of the charity offered to those who slept upon them. And Subaru knew that nothing more was needed.
The people lying here had been forgotten by their memories, severed from everyday life, remaining as incomplete existences that simply hadn't died.
"Julius. I'm not one to talk, but you shouldn't be hanging around here."
"————"
"Staring isn't going to bring back what's gone. Even your most beloved sister... even someone who was truly your other half — it's the same."
Without offering easy words of comfort, Subaru addressed the young knight — Julius.
Seated at the edge of the beds, beside the very last one, Julius raised his face. His composed features couldn't conceal the worry etched within.
"Knowing something as knowledge and knowing it as lived experience are entirely different. I didn't think of myself as someone who was all head, but to not have realized until it came to this — it's a failing I can only be ashamed of."
"————"
As he spoke, Julius looked down at the bed beside him.
Of course, another victim of 'Gluttony' who had lost their 'Name' lay there — their consciousness and memories severed from the world.
And so Julius Euclius could not recall that person — the thin-faced young man with long purple hair — was his own brother, Joshua Euclius.
"Joshua... huh."
The only reason he could call his brother by name was that Subaru had told him the relationship and the name.
When reports came in of numerous unidentified people found unconscious — victims of the 'Gluttony' Archbishop's Authority — Subaru had been certain that people who suffered the same fate as
Relying on that faint hope — that he, at least, might not forget the forgotten — Subaru had visited the hospital room and found Joshua sleeping there.
"It's strange. You told me the details, and I can identify enough common traits to confirm he's flesh and blood... yet inside me, there isn't a single fragment of memory of my brother."
Without letting emotion show on his face, Julius closed his eyes.
Among the victims of 'Gluttony', Joshua was the only acquaintance who had been found. The thirty-plus other victims couldn't cling to Subaru's memory either — no one would worry about their well-being, no one would mourn for them, and they simply continued sleeping.
Thinking about it that way, Joshua — who at least had a brother worrying about him — was perhaps the lucky one.
Even if that brother had forgotten him, and that same brother came to the hospital room clinging to nothing but a hollow sense of brotherly duty, calling out to a brother who felt like a stranger— Being forgotten, forgetting, not appearing in anyone's memories, having only the bare facts remaining — it was nothing but pain.
"...Damn it all."
He should have known. He had known.
That the Authority of the Archbishop of Sin 'Gluttony' was the most despicable sin in this world.
That 'Wrath' twisted emotions to its will.
That 'Lust' shattered human dignity itself and trampled it underfoot.
That 'Greed' denied everything beyond the self, forcing upon others its own selfish omnipotence.
That 'Sloth' used diligence as a catchphrase to paint over others' lives with self-serving love.
None of them — not a single one — were worthy of living.
But no existence could possibly blaspheme all life the way 'Gluttony' did.
"——Staying here will only crush your spirit. Don't make me say it twice."
Nothing but awful thoughts swirled through his mind.
Loading his frustration onto his tongue, Subaru called out to Julius. Julius rose, touching the thin chest of his unfamiliar brother.
"He's breathing. He's alive. How strange."
"That's how it works. But he doesn't eat. Doesn't need the bathroom. Doesn't need a bath. ...Doesn't laugh, either."
"The sorrow of being forgotten, too. —On that count, perhaps it's a mercy."
"Mercy...?"
At that single word from Julius, Subaru raised his eyebrows.
Julius turned back, the corner of his mouth relaxing slightly into a faint, fragile smile.
"If you're unaware of being forgotten, you needn't live in fear of being left behind. Having people who should be close to you unilaterally sever the bond... is quite the thing to endure."
"————"
"Subaru. Being forgotten, and forgetting... which do you think is harder?"
"That's..."
The question caught Subaru's throat.
Not because he was stuck for an answer — the answer had formed in an instant. What cut him off wasn't hesitation. It was fury.
Subaru glared at Julius, who wore a sardonic smile.
"How the hell should I know? Cut it out — don't sit there wallowing!"
"...Subaru?"
"Forgetting and being forgotten — both can go to hell! Don't you dare rank which one's worse! You look like you've got the worst luck in the whole world — want to compare tragic backstories with me? I'd win, no contest!"
"————"
Subaru's sudden outburst — jabbing his finger forward, voice rising — left Julius speechless.
Wide-eyed, Julius had nothing to say to the suddenly furious Subaru. Watching him fall silent, Subaru lowered his finger, shoulders heaving.
"Don't put on that defeated look. I know you're hurting, I know you feel like you've got nowhere to go... but I will not accept you showing me your weak side."
"————"
"Have you forgotten, Julius? —No. Don't forget, Julius."
Biting his lip, channeling that raw emotion, Subaru stared Julius down.
He pressed a hand to his chest and declared, just as he had once before.
"I know your strength. My eyes know it. My shame knows it. Even if everyone else forgets."
"————"
His breath was ragged, the rush of blood to his head not fading.
Honestly, the last time he'd been this enraged was against Regulus. The fact that barely half a day had passed was staggering.
How much strain was this Pristella crisis putting on Subaru's body and mind?
And then— "Heh, hah..."
"What?"
"Hah... No, you really are an unbelievable man. Driving that home again has..."
The look of astonishment gone from his face, Julius suddenly doubled over with laughter.
The impulse overtook him, and he laughed on and on in front of the dissatisfied Subaru. Gradually, as the laughter subsided, Julius let out a long breath.
"Right. Right... It's not that everything was taken away from me after all."
"Left behind — more like, I'm maybe three lengths ahead of you. You're the one in front, by a comfortable margin."
"Is three lengths sufficient?"
"I'll flatten you! Me and Beako as a pair are in a completely different league!"
Subaru flipped him off with his middle finger and spat at Julius, who was starting to recover his composure.
Julius elegantly dodged the saliva and, with a slight bow, said, "Very well. I'll hold you to that grand claim."
"Yeah, you do that. When everyone gets their memories back, just make sure you've done something impressive enough to shock them."
At that haughty attitude, Subaru reversed his thumb into a thumbs-down in retaliation. The 'Finest Knight' as only Subaru knew him smiled gracefully and said, "Then I shall begin by making every effort to astonish you — the one who still remembers — more than anyone."
And with that, he steeled his resolve to accompany the others to the