——The chain of events known as the "
The tragedies that befell its residents. The scars of battle left scattered across the city. The still-unrestored city functions, and the shortfall of personnel that had yet to be made good.
Problems remained aplenty, but even so, the situation was moving toward resolution, and the story was beginning to advance toward its next chapter.
For
And yet, looking at the streets now — after the Witch Cult had been driven off — he couldn't help but let himself feel a little smug, wondering if perhaps he'd contributed something to the outcome.
"There's still a whole ton of unsolved problems, though."
The marks left behind by the Sin Archbishops — and among them, those carved by "Lust" and "Gluttony" were by far the most devastating.
The residents whose bodies had been mutated by the power of "Lust." Their bodies had been placed into a state of "suspended animation" by
And the people struck by the hunger of "Gluttony" — the vast majority of them still lay in an endless sleep, robbed even of the bonds that might have yearned for their awakening.
Emilia's expression was pained as she proposed a postponement of the problem of the mutated residents.
The anguish in Julius's heart — having lost his place, uncertain of his very identity — was beyond imagining.
As for the hearts of the city's people, now caught up in all these issues, their wounds went without saying.
Everyone had been wounded.
To heal those wounds — doing everything in his power to do so — that was what Subaru had to do.
And, "There's still one last problem that hasn't come to light."
To solve that final, unresolved issue, Subaru nodded.
This one — this was something only Subaru could do.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "Julius says he's coming with us."
"Oh? Well, ain't that just dandy then. That puts me right at ease."
After finishing up the various discussions and returning to the council chamber, Anastasia was there to greet Subaru.
Of all the figures who had gathered around the circular table in the council room, only Anastasia remained. The main meeting had taken place hours ago.
Some had long since retired to their lodgings; others were making preparations to depart from Priestella. Even without all that, it had been an exhausting day. There was no need to perch on the hard edges of a round table and pass the time in the dark, empty shelter.
"——So what's up?"
And yet she had stayed behind, waiting for someone to come.
It wasn't that she'd been certain. But Subaru realized he'd had a vague sense all along that she'd be here.
After all, right now there was nowhere in the world where she felt at home.
"So with this, the group heading for the
"That's a nice little party, ain't it? Just right. Oh, and not five — six. Can't go forgetting my precious
She untied the muffler wound around her neck and let it dance across the surface of the round table. The white fox muffler obeyed its owner's playful whim like a well-trained doll.
Or maybe not so well-trained.
"I haven't forgotten. ——Which is exactly why it's five."
"————"
Leaning back against the council chamber's door, Subaru spoke to the muffler-draped Anastasia.
At his words, Anastasia's smile froze. The rosy, gentle expression melted away, and she slowly tilted her head.
Drawing the muffler to her mouth, she wore an expression of puzzlement: "My, how curious. How did you know it wasn't Ana?"
Her tone shifted unmistakably — so clearly different from before.
It was familiar, cloyingly intimate, yet the core of it was hollow all the way through. The voice sounded the same as hers, but it was obviously, undeniably different.
"If you're going to hide it, at least put on a better act. Sure, Anastasia is, as far as I know, a realist and a pragmatist among the candidates... but she never talked or acted with quite so lacking in humanity as you do."
"I've been observing Ana quite closely and thought I had a passable imitation going, but it seems I wasn't quite up to par after all. You're the second person to see through it."
"The second?"
"Al-kun saw through it too. He called me a '
"Well... can't exactly argue with that."
Subaru found himself genuinely impressed by Al's intuition.
Anastasia's Echidna and the "Witch" Echidna were fundamentally different entities — but it wasn't impossible to say they were unrelated. So Al hadn't been wrong.
Whether it was Al's perceptiveness, or something about him that allowed him to pick up on things others couldn't...
He too, like Subaru, had been summoned to this other world. If the power of the "Witch of Envy" was connected to that summoning, then perhaps Al too had some connection to the Witch.
Ideally, Subaru should have talked to him more about that — but "In any case, that's not the issue right now. The problem is you, trying to hijack Anastasia's body and make it your own."
"'Hijack' is rather harsh phrasing. On the surface, it does appear to be the case — and that's the unfortunate nature of the situation — but being misunderstood in such a way is deeply regrettable. Truly, it weighs on my conscience."
"Talk like that and it sounds almost like it isn't true."
"In truth, even if it looks that way, it isn't. I am merely borrowing Ana's body out of absolute necessity. Had I not done so, both she and I would have lost our lives — that is my position. That I continue to occupy Ana's vessel after the fact... that was never my intention."
"Too long. In short?"
"I borrowed her body, but now I can't leave."
Ah, so this was the scarf-Echidna — for the moment, let's call her Scarfdona. Subaru had never once believed Scarfdona was unrelated to Echidna, but never before had he felt the Witch's shadow so clearly in their exchange as he did now.
That way of circling around the point with elaborate, roundabout phrasing — it was just like the original.
"Let's at least hear you out."
Stepping away from the door, Subaru settled into a posture ready for conversation with Scarfdona.
With his cover blown, the risk of her making a preemptive strike seemed to have receded for the moment.
Subaru took the seat across the round table from Scarfdona and said: "First of all, what exactly does 'borrowing a body' mean?"
"In blunt terms, I've overwritten the od within Ana with my own presence and am borrowing her freedom. In this state, Ana's body moves as I will, and I can even use her gate — which is normally defective — to cast magic."
"Defective how?"
"So many questions. I understand the desire to know — I won't fault you for it — but if you go showing that much interest in another girl, won't your dear Emilia get jealous? And if you show that much interest in another spirit, won't your dear Beatrice do the same?"
"That's none of your business, and frankly, if they're the jealous type, that's cute enough on its own. Stop stalling and tell me."
Subaru rapped his finger irritably against the round table. Scarfdona shrugged, then carefully folded the muffler she'd removed and said, "You see, Ana..."
"was born with a defective gate. You should know that the gate is the organ through which ambient mana is drawn in and internal mana is expelled. With Anastasia, it's the intake function that doesn't work properly. Chronic mana deficiency, you might call it. You can probably guess what happens to people who can't expel mana externally — though I suppose I shouldn't assume."
"I don't really get how that's a problem, and I have no idea who you're talking about with that 'you can probably guess' thing."
"Really? That's surprising. For reference, the one who can't expel mana is the 'Sword Saint's' descendant. Though in that case, the amount drawn in is extraordinary, and the excess seems to be channeled into physical abilities, so there's no practical harm."
"Reinhardt?"
Scarfdona's words surprised Subaru, and he raised an eyebrow. But now that she mentioned it, there was something Reinhardt had said once before, somewhere.
That Reinhardt couldn't use magic — that in that one respect, he was a failure.
But in exchange, the intake power of his gate was tremendous. Ah, so that was why — like Beatrice, things got rather intense whenever a spirit drew near.
"Well, it's not like he lacks ranged attack options entirely, and given his case, he'd probably just send sword pressure flying and cut you in half, so that kind of thing hardly counts as a handicap. Anyway, back to Anastasia."
"I don't mean to deflect, but I have a habit of wanting to share everything I know. So, about that — yes, Ana's constitution. Ana's gate has an immature intake function, so it doesn't work properly. That means magic can only utilize the mana already present in the body. And when that runs out, what's left is the od — the very source of one's life. I'm sure you wouldn't allow something so reckless? That's why Ana can't use magic."
"But if you're borrowing the body, you can use it — that doesn't add up. The amount already present is still limited, isn't it? Or are you saying you're drawing on what little mana there is?"
"————"
"Don't go silent on me. Answer."
"If it came down to either draining her life force or not surviving at all, there was no choice. That said, Ana and I have already discussed this matter thoroughly. You, as an outsider, have no standing to interfere. And I imagine you wouldn't appreciate me butting into your contract with Beatrice, either."
Direct hit.
The relationship between Subaru and Beatrice, and their contract — that was theirs alone.
He didn't want outside opinions meddling in it, and if anyone tried, he'd refuse.
If he demanded the same from Anastasia and Scarfdona, he'd have no grounds to argue.
Such was the bond between contractor and spirit — sacred, inviolable.
"I borrowed Ana's body this time partly by her own wish, and partly because it was an emergency. Did I mention that a Sin Archbishop came to the city hall? Al-kun and I needed to give everything we had to drive them off. It was a choice forced upon us by necessity."
"The part where you said you can't go back — what's that about?"
"Ah, now that — that's the crux of the problem."
At Subaru's probing words, Scarfdona clapped her hands together and smiled. It was a smile that looked like Anastasia's but was clearly, unmistakably different inside.
Strange, Subaru thought, but quickly set the sentiment aside.
Finally, they were getting to the heart of the matter.
Scarfdona, standing before Subaru, touched her — Anastasia's — slender chest and said: "This isn't the first time I've borrowed Ana's body in this manner. But it hasn't happened often either. Ana and I don't have a formal contract. That's because I didn't want to burden Ana's body too frequently on account of the gate problem. I'm something of a low-maintenance spirit, if I do say so myself — I can exist without needing mana supplied from a contractor."
"Gotcha. My Beatrice wants to hold hands at least three times a day, though."
"That's probably because two of those times she just wants to hold hands. It's wonderful that you're so close. ——As for our situation, because of all that, my experience borrowing Ana's body is quite limited. This is maybe the fourth or fifth time. We've been together for nearly ten years now, so that's a remarkably small number, wouldn't you say?"
"Well, I don't know. If you think about it as once every two years, that's about the same odds as catching the flu. Not exactly rare."
"That's harsh."
Scarfdona chuckled in the same way Subaru remembered the Witch doing. And gradually, he had the eerie sense that Anastasia's image was overlapping with Echidna's.
Echidna's existence had left a scar on Subaru's inner self that would never fully heal. Between that and the whole business with Beatrice, he would rather never cross paths with her again.
And if the real Anastasia came to harm in the process, it would be a devastating wound for Julius as well. That was something Subaru wanted to avoid.
"So, this flu of yours — what happened with it?"
"I don't know what this 'flu' is, but regardless, our experience is limited. So even I don't know what went wrong — there was no precedent to consult. The bottom line is: I haven't been able to separate my consciousness from Ana's body. As a result, Ana is sleeping in the depths of her od."
Scarfdona spoke as if touching some invisible presence within her chest — where the od would be — then looked across at the lifeless muffler on the table.
Since Scarfdona's consciousness was inside Anastasia, the muffler was now truly nothing more than an empty fox shell.
"I thought I did a decent job of animating it back in the council chamber, puppeteer-style."
"There were plenty of people fooled by the visual impact, I'll give you that. Me included — though I'm sure a few others thought something was off too."
So he thought.
Or perhaps it was a dissonance that only Subaru — who knew about artificial spirits — had picked up.
"But people who actually know Anastasia well would notice right away."
"And yet, it was only people with a shallow relationship to her — you and Al-kun — who actually caught on. Doesn't that just prove my imitation was working?"
"Ricardo and the kittens have their own hands full right now. Julius too."
"————"
At those words, Scarfdona narrowed her eyes.
Subaru looked at her quizzically, but Scarfdona simply let out a breath and said: "So it's true — Julius really is Ana's knight. I'd more or less gathered from the flow of conversation in the council chamber, but... the power of 'Gluttony' is terrifying. It can even steal memories from something that should exist outside the norm — like me."
"What do you — what are you planning to do with Anastasia?"
"——?"
"Whether you intended to hijack Anastasia's body or not — honestly, there's no point pressing the issue, since I have no basis to believe you even if you said otherwise. But—"
Anastasia's body had to be returned. That much was non-negotiable.
For that "Finest Knight," losing that body would mean losing his one remaining hope.
The spiritual death of a candidate — if that taint settled on the Royal Selection's conclusion, Subaru wanted no part of it.
"You're giving her back. I won't budge on that, Echidna."
"Rest easy. I'm not so arrogant as to steal Ana's body and then presume to live on as her in her stead."
Subaru had braced himself for her wrath, but Scarfdona answered with a world-weary composure. She looked sorrowful as she drew Anastasia's slight, delicate body into her arms: "You see, I love Ana. The fact that I spent over ten years with her, even without a formal contract, wasn't driven by mere curiosity. I can't be certain if this is truly what I feel, but I'm aware of something close to a guardian's affection, or perhaps a family bond. If she can, I want her to live healthily — and above all, happily."
"————"
Scarfdona spoke in her usual cool, flowing manner, but as she touched Anastasia's frail body and spoke these words, there was genuine tenderness there.
As
If that was the case, "The real reason you want to see the Sage—"
"You're very perceptive. ——To be blunt, I couldn't care less about the people who had their names eaten by 'Gluttony.' What I want — the only thing I want — is to find a way to return Ana's body. And for that purpose, I will be making use of you."
"There's no guarantee the Sage knows that method."
"No guarantee. But if the Sage is truly said to see through everything and know all things, then there is a possibility. I'm simply placing my bet on the possibility that yields the greatest chance. Nothing more."
Scarfdona's words, brimming with iron will, left Subaru momentarily without a rebuttal.
It was, without question, a deeply selfish and self-serving conclusion. But Scarfdona had her own objectives, and the will to act on them.
If that was the case, then what Subaru needed to verify was— "You really do know how to reach the Pleiades Watchtower. The Sage's tower."
"Of course I do."
"You're supposed to have no memories of the past — that was the character profile, wasn't it? If that's the case, how do you know the way to a tower that nobody else knows about? It doesn't add up."
"What I know, I know. If you demand a basis for that, I'm afraid I can't provide one. But if you'll allow me to dress it up a bit — it's my destiny to reach that place."
"Destiny? Who decided that?"
"The Creator, one might say."
It was a coy answer — and for Subaru, about the worst answer possible.
If the "Creator" she spoke of was Echidna, then whoever had burned the route to the Watchtower into the artificial spirit's memories could only have been that same Echidna.
Which meant that at the Pleiades Watchtower, something connected to Echidna awaited.
It was an unpleasant premonition, but it also stoked a certain hope in Subaru regarding the Sage's knowledge.
"Have I... satisfied your curiosity?"
Scarfdona asked the silent Subaru, who had reached some manner of conclusion.
He hesitated before nodding, then let out a long, deep sigh.
"I can't say I'm satisfied — but I understand, for now. You have your own objectives and things to do, and they don't interfere with ours."
"Indeed. We both have things we want to ask the Sage. So we cooperate to reach the Sage. There's nothing strange about that."
"Cut it out. When you say it like that, it suddenly sounds fishy."
"How cruel."
If he kept talking to this Anastasia-shaped Scarfdona much longer, he was going to lose his mind.
Either way, the journey to the Pleiades Watchtower would be a long association. The
"I'll ease into it gradually, so just give me some time."
"You don't have to be so cold about it, Natsuki-kun. Truly, you can be so cruel to such a cute girl. I'm wounded. So, so wounded."
Scarfdona wound the muffler back around her neck and slipped back into Anastasia's mannerisms.
A convincing performance, to be sure — "The intonation on 'uchi' is off. And your Kansai dialect is too polished. Compared to the real
"Not convincing enough?"
It was an incredibly fine distinction. Scarfdona dutifully tested her throat as Subaru had suggested, then gave up with a sigh.
There was nothing more Subaru needed to confirm about Scarfdona. As for returning Anastasia's body — that would depend on the Sage at the Pleiades Watchtower.
However— "Don't tell Julius... don't tell anyone about you borrowing Anastasia's body."
"...That's fine, but I'd have thought you'd be the one not to tell, Natsuki-kun."
"This is already a difficult time. I don't want to stir up unnecessary waves. And if it came out that the real initiator was you, not Anastasia, there could be serious pushback from Ricardo and the others. If they try to stop us from going to the Watchtower, that puts me in a bind too. Unilateral as it is."
Ricardo and Mimi might try to stop them out of concern for Anastasia.
If that happened, even though Scarfdona was the ideal solution, they might have to abandon the journey to the Watchtower. And that would hurt everyone — they wanted to save the victims of Gluttony too.
"It'd be best to resolve everything at the Sage's tower — the Gluttony victims, the Lust victims, and of course your and Anastasia's problem. Once everything's worked out, nobody like Ricardo will be able to complain. Well, they could complain, but we wouldn't have to listen."
"The old Hoshin saying, 'As long as the books balance in the end.'"
"Now there, I agree with Hoshin."
The suspicious man from the same homeland — Hoshin of the Wastes. Well said.
"Right then."
At that, the discussion came to a natural close.
Given that Scarfdona might have harbored intentions to misuse Anastasia's body — and that a final battle in Priestella could very well have broken out right here — Subaru felt a genuine sense of relief.
It was precisely because of that relief that his guard dropped in the moment she posed her final question.
"Oh, by the way, Natsuki-kun?"
"Hm?"
As Subaru reached for the door to leave the council chamber, he turned back.
Scarfdona, still seated at the round table, tilted her head with an adorable — and purely Anastasia-like — gesture: "——You've got someone else besides me that you'd want to ask about returning things to normal, don't you?"
"————"
"After all, there are people in Priestella with the same symptoms, right? For the sake of getting answers on how to restore them, it'd make sense to bring along at least one of the affected, wouldn't it?"
With his hand on the doorknob, Subaru felt his throat — his breath — freeze solid.
His face stiffened, his eyes went wide, and Scarfdona continued in her measured tone, finishing with: "Well? That's entirely up to you, Natsuki-kun."
"I..."
"Either way, you'll be stopping by the Margrave Mathers' estate, won't you? You need to prepare for crossing the Augria Sand Dunes, and you have to send word to the Watchtower ahead of time. And if you're going there — your Sleeping Beauty should be there."
"————"
"I don't think that's a terrible thing. Saving everyone — she would simply be the first among them. For someone like you, Natsuki-kun, surely that much of a luxury is permitted."
Scarfdona's calm voice struck Subaru as somehow diabolically tempting.
He understood what she was saying. And part of him wanted nothing more than to agree — yet Subaru couldn't give an immediate answer.
It was surely because— "Subaru!"
"—!"
Hearing his name called, Subaru looked up with a start.
Standing before him — where his breath had caught — were Emilia and Beatrice. The two of them had wide eyes at Subaru's reaction, and tilted their heads. "What's wrong?"
"You said you were going to see Julius, so I went to the sickroom and you weren't there. I got worried. What have you been up to?"
"Oh, nothing... look at him — Julius has that brooding, hard-to-look-at face, you know? So I figured, not exactly a change of air, but a change of expression might do him good."
"Really? I think Julius has a rather refined face, though..."
"You think so too, Emilia-tan?"
"Ah, but Subaru, your face is fine too, I think. The more you look at it, the more character it has — you know, something like that."
"That consolation stings!"
Emilia hurried to correct herself, but that was really just a matter of wording. Subaru smiled ruefully and let his shoulders drop. Then he noticed that Beatrice, standing silently at Emilia's side, was looking past him.
Beatrice kept glancing behind Subaru — back toward the shelter he'd just left. She had the expression of someone who could guess at the conversation that had taken place there.
"If Subaru is planning something dangerous, he should call on Beatrice. Leaving him alone is irresponsible, and Beatrice won't feel at ease about it."
"That's pretty much exactly how I feel about you all the time, actually. You're so cute I'm constantly worried some kidnapper's going to snatch you up for a piece of candy."
"Beatrice is not such a cheap spirit! Don't underestimate me!"
Beatrice sputtered indignantly and thumped at him. Subaru hoisted her up in a fireman's carry. With Beatrice yelping "Wha—!" in surprise, he set her on his shoulder and walked out alongside Emilia.
"P-put me down! Put me down, I say! Ah, but put me down without letting go!"
"That's hard to do, so just stay like this for now."
Beatrice was light, but oddly warm. It was commonly said that children had higher body temperatures — was that true even for a spirit like Beatrice, who appeared as a young girl?
As he smiled wryly at the thought, Subaru noticed Emilia peering intently at his face from beside him. Her upward gaze made him ask, "What?"
"Is it that unusual for me and Bea to rough around?"
"No. Over the past year, that's been anything but unusual... but I think the Subaru right now has a troubled expression that's rare even in this past year."
"—— Really? I mean, I can't say everything's a-okay, but most of the problems have been resolved, and I think my face has been pretty relaxed lately."
"If Subaru says so, I'll believe him, but..."
Emilia lowered her long-lashed eyes as Subaru made faces to demonstrate. Then, slowly, choosing each word: "When you've decided what you're going to do, please tell me. And if you really, truly can't come to an answer — please talk to me properly. That's all. Just promise me that much."
"A promise, huh?"
"A-And it's the kind of promise Subaru is bad at keeping. But you're good at making them, right?"
"Ooh, a rare barb from Emilia-tan."
Given his track record with promises, Emilia had delivered a fair assessment.
Subaru watched the faintly smiling Emilia extend her little finger. He hoisted Beatrice back onto his shoulder in one fluid motion — "What are you doing?!" the indignant girl cried — and, still holding the fussing spirit, hooked his pinky around Emilia's.
"Pinky swear, cross my heart, hope to die — stick a thousand needles in my—e!"
"Fingers... severed."
Their fingers parted.
Emilia held up her "severed" finger and smiled at Subaru: "Subaru, how many needles does that make in total?"
"Hmm, I think we're not quite at ten thousand yet."
"Then let's make sure we really don't reach ten thousand, okay?"
At Emilia's prayer-like words, Subaru responded with a simple, "Yeah."
Absolute reassurance from that answer — well, that was probably too much to ask of Emilia. She hadn't made him promise for that reason in the first place.
So this promise was for Subaru's own sake. A reminder.
*'That much of a luxury is permitted for you, Natsuki-kun.'* Scarfdona's last temptation echoed in his mind.
Was such a luxury truly permitted for him? Was he allowed to accept it?
Who would forgive Subaru for indulging in such a thing?
"I'll give you my answer. ——Before we get back to the estate. Definitely."
And yet — as expected of a relative, or what you might call a kindred spirit, to that same "Witch."
She really did have a talent for exploiting the softest, most vulnerable part of a person.
"Irritating, seriously..."
"Did you say something just now?"
"No — I was just thinking that in this carrying position, Bea's backside is wide open for spanking."
"Gyaaa—!! N-no, put me down after all! Put me down! Gently, like you're admiring a flower, please!!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Stop laughing while you spank me—!!"
With the clamorous Beatrice slung over his shoulder, Subaru followed the slim figure walking ahead. Emilia kept glancing back, her expression clearly saying "include me too."
He had all of this. He had been saved in all of this.
And yet he couldn't help thinking of the other girl — wishing she were here too, lamenting his own "greed."
Thus did Natsuki Subaru's battle in the Watergate City draw its curtain down.
——Quietly, toward the next tale, one that would lead to the Tower of Sand.