"Whoa!"
The moment a sharp jolt struck his right hand, the grip of the whip he'd seized was torn clean away.
Instinctively, he tried to resist by clenching his grip, but the force pulling it away was far beyond anything he could match. Worse, it yanked him forward and sent him tumbling headfirst—"Ow!"—flipping flat onto his back on the ground.
"Oww..."
"Each day brings only the need to refine oneself. Still lacking in training, it seems. My apologies for the poor showing."
"I got nothing to say to that..."
Subaru grimaced as the cutting remarks rained down on him from above while he lay sprawled on the ground. Slowly pushing himself upright, his gaze collided with the dignified, beautiful face looking down at him.
A man with dark blue hair trimmed with meticulous care and sharp eyes reminiscent of a reptile. True to the impression given by his monocle and butler's uniform, he was a thoroughly precise, impeccably put-together professional.
His name was— "—
"———"
Indeed, the young man called Clind silently shifted his gaze to the side. There, approaching them with heavy strides, was the figure of a tall woman.
She was a striking beauty with long golden hair and lovely emerald eyes. Clad in a black-based maid's uniform, she breezed right past Clind, walked up to Subaru on the ground, and gently offered him a clean hand towel.
"Are you all right, Subaru-sama? Judging by the look of it, you went face-first into the ground..."
"Yeah, I'm fine, Frederica. My clothes are a total mess, but that's about it—nothing out of the ordinary."
Gratefully accepting the hand towel, Subaru wiped his face as Frederica watched him with concern—and pressed further with a "But—"
However, it was Clind who sighed and shrugged at her words.
"As he says, this is standard procedure for Subaru's training. If anything, aren't you the one making a fuss and embarrassing him by overreacting? How meddlesome."
"Wh—!"
At Clind's remark, Frederica's face flushed red, and she bared her sharp teeth, her eyes narrowing to a glare.
The two locked into a staring contest, and Subaru felt the familiar urge to clutch his head—"Here we go again..."
—Clind and Frederica.
Both served the Mathers household as staff—one in a butler's uniform, the other in a maid's uniform—but despite their long acquaintance, their relationship was far from harmonious.
Normally, both were refined, considerate, and capable servants. But whenever the two came into contact, they got into some kind of argument over just about anything.
Sometimes it was a highly technical exchange of opinions regarding Roswaal's administrative affairs. Other times, it was a trivial dispute over yielding right-of-way in a hallway.
In short, they just didn't see eye to eye— "Frederica, I appreciate you worrying about me, but I'm really fine."
"No, it's not you I'm worried about, Subaru-sama. It's this man's smug expression, his attitude, and his inconsiderate remarks that are infuriating...!"
"Oh, wait—it wasn't about worrying about me? How embarrassing!"
"Ah, no! It's not that I'm not worried about you! Of course I'm worried about you, Subaru-sama. Not just me—Petra is too."
Frederica seemed to have let that slip, and hearing Petra's name come from her mouth made Subaru scratch his cheek with a wry smile.
The women of the household—with the exception of
The truth was probably that Petra was too busy to keep an eye on him, so Frederica had been asked to come check on his condition in her stead.
"But I was the one who asked her to come. I'm prepared for the Spartan treatment... I've got to toughen up at least a little before Master heads back to Annerose."
"—A fine resolve. Then I shall put extra effort into your instruction as well. Motivation."
Hearing Subaru's answer, Clind flourished his arm, and the ivory-colored whip in his hand cracked through the air with a snap.
The same weapon—Clind was helping Subaru learn to wield it. Respecting his skill and his station, Subaru called Clind "Master."
"Besides, there's only so far self-study can take you. Having someone around who actually knows how to use a whip has been a real help."
"It is my honor to be of service. Delight. However, if it's proficiency with whips you seek, I am not the only candidate available."
"Oh, someone else can use one? You don't mean, like, Ram—in the 'whip of words' sense, right?"
"Subaru-sama, that notion is... well, in Ram's case, I cannot exactly deny it."
Picking up his dropped whip and preparing for the next round, Subaru tossed off a quip that made Frederica wince. Watching the two of them, Clind closed the eye behind his monocle— "It's simple. The master, of course. Omniscient."
"Then I absolutely do not want to learn from him!"
As he spoke, Subaru crushed that nonexistent option underfoot and swung his whip.
At full speed, the whip could exceed the sound barrier, and its tip howled as it lashed out—not at Clind, but at the firewood set atop a tree stump between them.
The challenge was to ensnare the firewood standing on the round stump with the whip.
That was the task Clind had set for Subaru, and one he'd never managed to clear. The bar was set high.
It wasn't purely because Subaru's skills were still too crude to catch firewood with a whip.
"Your aim is transparent. Blocked."
"Ngh...!"
Subaru's whip was met and deflected by Clind's own whip with terrifying precision.
Overcoming this interference and pulling the firewood toward him with the whip—that was the condition of the challenge. This was the truth of why Subaru had never cleared the bar.
"You must strike where you aim, catch what you target, and deliver the results you intend. You chose the whip over the sword or spear—you must prove the validity of that choice. Otherwise, it's meaningless."
"I—know—damn—that—asshole—calmly deflecting everything! I don't need you to tell me! The only path that lets me use what little cleverness I have is—gah!?!"
Trying to reel in his deflected whip, Subaru found its tip snared by Clind's whip once more.
By the time he realized what had happened, it was already too late. In the next instant, his balance was broken, and Clind—who didn't seem to have exerted any real force—easily yanked Subaru down.
"A takedown?!"
"That was quite dramatic. Receiving technique is important too. Stay alert."
"S-Subaru-sama!"
Subaru, having collapsed forward once more, was rushed to by Frederica. This time, he'd face-planted straight into the ground, and blood was trickling from his nose.
Frederica hurriedly pressed the hand towel to it— "Clind, this has gone too far, no matter how you look at it!"
"Considering Subaru-sama's position, it's unavoidable. Necessary. You should stop getting in the way of a young man's fighting spirit. Understand."
"A young man's fighting spirit..."
Frederica looked incredulous, but Clind shook his head. Then, with his keen eyes fixed on Subaru—who was dabbing at his nosebleed— "Subaru-sama, I respect your willingness to seek instruction. Most admirable. As a knight standing at Lady
"...Yeah, I know. That's exactly why I'm grateful for the tough treatment."
Despite sniffling and snorting, Subaru's spirit remained unbroken.
Seeing this, Frederica pressed her lips tight.
"Men are just as foolish as Garf, aren't they..."
"It's not just the foolishness I could use—some real skill with a blade alongside it would be a huge help, but I guess that's asking too much."
Pinching his nose, Subaru blew blood out of each nostril one at a time, forcibly stemming the flow.
Standing up, Subaru met Clind's gaze, and Clind drew his chin back in a deep nod.
"To keep moving forward without letting your feet stop... that posture is truly pleasing to behold. A welcome sight."
"Thanks for that. ...If my whipwork improves, my options expand. And if my options expand, it's not just me—the people around me gain more moves to work with."
"Indeed. But don't become overconfident. Situations where you must fight alone rarely come about. Support."
Clind tilted his chin, and in the direction he indicated stood Frederica.
Starting with her, Subaru had Garfiel and Otto around him—and most of all,
So Clind was right.
Subaru's battles weren't about Subaru himself seizing victory, but about making the most of everyone other than Subaru.
"Say, what if by some fluke it actually ends up just me against the wall? What then?"
"You should run. At full speed."
"———"
It was a lighthearted joke, but Clind didn't laugh.
The scenario was extremely unlikely, but it wasn't impossible. In that dead-end, cornered scenario, Clind's advice was blunt.
"Run, Subaru-sama. Run in utter disgrace, without a shred of dignity, giving it everything you have. That is the best course of action. The only one."
"With that kind of phrasing, it sounds less like 'there's a better option' and more like 'there's no other option'..."
At those words, Clind didn't answer, his expression unchanged.
There was no need to answer. In the end, that very silence was proof that it was exactly the case.
"Geez, my master has no mercy!"
"That man has been like that since the old days. He's hard on anyone who shows promise... but once he loses interest, he tosses them aside without a second thought. Coldly. Cruelly."
"Frederica? Your voice just got really cold, you know...?"
Sensing a lethal edge to her words, Subaru timidly asked, and Frederica turned her face away with a displeased "I wouldn't know!"
Then, smoothing the hem of her maid's uniform— "I've made up my mind. I too shall support Subaru-sama's special training. Please, by all means, make that Clind eat his words and drop that smug look."
"That's... actually a pretty tough ask...!"
"Oh? And the one who's asking Lady Emilia to become king is saying that?"
As expected of a first-rate maid—she was top-notch even at provocation.
Subaru's eyes went wide at Frederica's words, and then he nodded with a crooked grin. "Fair enough." He gripped his whip firmly— "When someone puts it like that, I'd be a man to quit and walk away! I'll show you—just watch!"
With a spirited cry, Subaru swung the whip with all his might.
It traced a sharp trajectory through the air, the tip hurtling straight toward the stump—when— "Your enthusiasm is impressive, but your skill is lacking. Infantile."
"Ngh, guhhh—!!"
"S-Subaru-sama—!!"
Once again, he was dragged face-first into the ground.
△▼△▼△▼△ The massive tree overhead snapped clean in two, and the shockwave of the split hit him full in the back.
Bathing in that impact, Subaru spat out the iron-tasting blood that filled his mouth.
"———"
In his arms, he felt
Both his arms and legs were still attached. It seemed he'd managed to dodge the arrow's strike. Knowing that much was enough for now—it was a passing grade.
"What—what just happened—"
"Shut up, you'll bite your tongue!"
Rem's reaction was slow to catch up with the sudden development, but Subaru had no time to listen to her objection.
He hauled her body upward, rolled forward, then tumbled backward, carrying Rem with him in a violent somersault.
In his arms, he felt Rem suppressing a scream, but it was drowned out by an even louder sound—the thunderous crash of the snapped tree collapsing toward them.
Just moments before, the spot where Subaru and Rem had been lying was crushed beneath the massive trunk, and other trees caught in its fall widened the swath of forest destruction.
As a human being who owed his life to nature, the sight tore at his heart— "—But right now, this takes priority!"
Lost in the dust and soil kicked up by the falling tree, Subaru didn't stop rolling. Rem struggled against him, but fueled by the insane strength that adrenaline granted, he pulled her in close with brute force.
He rolled, and rolled, and rolled—until suddenly, the ground vanished beneath them.
"Guwoh!"
"Aah!?"
The sensation of weightlessness lasted only an instant before the ground caught them.
Surrounded by fallen trees and earth packed into a large depression—it was the pitfall Rem had dug to trap Subaru.
By deliberately tumbling into it, he'd broken the enemy's line of sight.
However, the cost was not zero.
"Gah, guh... you... broke them...!"
Lost in the moment, Subaru had shielded Rem with his left arm—and her grip had crushed several of his fingers. His middle finger, ring finger, and pinky—everything except his thumb and index finger, gone.
Groaning without looking directly at the fingers bent in unnatural directions, Subaru watched as Rem crawled away inside the same pit, putting distance between them.
"Of course I did! What on earth just happened!? How did it even come to this!?"
"Sorry, I forgot to mention—there's a dangerous hunter in these woods. The possibility that they were aiming for deer and shot at us by accident is now almost entirely ruled out... Guh..."
Wiping cold sweat from his forehead, Subaru straightened his three broken fingers, used a branch as a splint, and wrapped it tight with the hand towel.
It was a small mercy that it was his left hand. If it had been his right—his dominant hand, the one that handled the whip—his combat effectiveness would have dropped to that of an elementary schooler.
"A dangerous hunter... is this person not on your side?"
"Would an ally fire support shots like that? Besides, what would be the point of support fire—whoa!?"
The moment he cautiously poked his head out of the pit to survey the surroundings, a fallen tree just ahead of him exploded.
It seemed the hunter had decided to clear the visual obstructions first in order to get a clean shot at Subaru and Rem. They'd already figured out that Subaru had no means of long-range retaliation.
"In theory, once a sniper's position is revealed, they should relocate—that's the standard play... Damn, they're looking down on us. Can't even say anything back about it, though."
"Is... is this the power of a bow and arrow? I can't believe it. This isn't normal."
"Yeah! I think so too! I bet if I got hit, it'd blow a huge hole clean through my chest!"
In his previous life, the result had been getting pinned to a tree by an arrow, turned into something resembling an insect specimen.
But there was something odd. In his previous life, Subaru had gone into the opposite side of the forest.
"Why the hell are you over here...?"
The pain from his broken fingers drilled into his brain like an ice pick.
Gritting his back teeth so hard they might crack, Subaru forced his mind to work.
It was hard to believe this hunter and the one who'd killed him before were different people. Both were attacking Subaru, and both wielded the same powerful bow. The question was whether this attack was coincidental or deliberate.
Either way, why Subaru was being targeted at this particular moment defied explanation.
Yes, Subaru and Rem had been facing off, and Subaru had been standing frozen after her rejection—but he didn't think that made him any more of a target than before.
On top of that, if the enemy was actively targeting him, it raised the possibility that they'd been tailed.
The situation was murky. Subaru had no idea what manner of ejection from the
Of course, in that scenario, it would be impossible to explain how Rem and Subaru's fragile body hadn't been reduced to pulp, so the actual situation must have been different.
"Could they be targeting a suspicious person who fell into the area...?"
Or perhaps this was private land, and the hunter was trying to violently drive out trespassers—albeit with a heavy hand that contrasted sharply with their accuracy with a bow.
"If that's the case, couldn't we just talk it out? Hey! We have no hostility toward you! Our being in this forest is just a coincidence—"
"Hang on a second! By 'we,' do you mean me and that girl too? Don't lump me in with you!"
"Now's not the time to be arguing about that—oww!?"
The answer to Subaru's call for a ceasefire was a single arrow that gouged a massive trench in the earth.
The devastating power—enough to blow away even Subaru's mid-argument with Rem—would, before long, clear every obstacle in its path and bear its fangs on Subaru and Rem in the pit.
"It seems this is not someone open to discussion..."
"If the enemy can fire in an arc, I have to factor that in too... If they really set up like a sniper and hold position for hours... No, even so, using a bow and arrow should be different from looking through a scope—they can't keep it up that long, right?"
Scenes of snipers patiently waiting for hours appeared frequently enough in movies and manga, but with a bow and arrow, the situation was fundamentally different.
Unlike a gun where you only needed to pull a trigger, a bow required nocking an arrow and keeping the bowstring drawn. Even with the superhuman stamina of this world's inhabitants, there were limits.
If that was the case, what the enemy hunter would aim for— "—A short battle."
Believing the enemy would make their move at some not-too-distant point, Subaru imposed a time limit on himself—no room for prolonged deliberation.
Since the enemy had no intention of negotiating, a fight was unavoidable. And for a fight that couldn't be avoided, his hand was pathetically thin.
"Just like Master said—the only option is to run."
Fortunately, having jumped into the pit, the enemy couldn't see their exact position. If he climbed out from the opposite side, kept low, and slipped into the bushes, he might be able to escape.
Or— "———"
"—? Why did you go quiet all of a sudden? Were you working out an escape plan?"
"...Looks like even they've gotten nervous enough to be willing to talk."
"Hmm."
Rem furrowed her well-shaped brows and knelt on the dirt ground, looking displeased.
But since the enemy wasn't attacking again immediately, she seemed to understand that there wasn't room for Subaru to waste time arguing with her.
A temporary ceasefire—and if her hostility could be reined in even for a moment—that made things much simpler.
"Rem, listen. I'll jump out and draw their attention. While I do that, you climb out from the other side and get to safety."
"...What?"
"The enemy's arrows are devastating, but for cover, you've got all this green nature to work with. I'll buy you as much time as I can, so just run."
Taking Rem with him versus having Rem run first.
Which option had a higher chance of success? Subaru concluded it was the latter. No matter how skilled the archer was, this was a forest thick with trees, and Subaru would be moving with full awareness that arrows could come from any direction. He wouldn't be easy to pin down.
"If I buy enough time, I'll take off too. But I don't want to get separated from you, so if possible, leave me a trail marker. I know it'll be hard to figure out, but back in my world there's this arrow symbol—it should give me a rough bearing—"
"Don't just decide everything on your own."
"Rem?"
Subaru was briskly laying out his escape plan, but Rem cut him off, fixing him with a sharp, intense glare.
The sharpness of that gaze caught him off guard, and Subaru faltered. Rem, growing more agitated at his bewilderment— "You decide everything—all by yourself—and then you tell me to run? To me, the one who's angry at you because you were about to abandon a child?"
With the same reasoning she'd used to first reject Subaru, Rem now rejected his proposal.
Her logic was understandable. You could call it the answer born of a fundamentally good heart. But Subaru hadn't expected that same quality to prevent her from leaving him behind in this situation.
"That's... but I—"
"Save your excuses. There's no time. But I refuse to go along with your 'Rem, run' plan. Besides, I can't leave that child behind."
Turning her gaze away from the stunned Subaru, Rem directed her attention outside the pit.
Her eyes were fixed on a large tree some distance from the one the first arrow had blasted apart.
"—If I'd thought she wasn't there, I'd have assumed she was hiding in that tree. With all this commotion, how did she stay quiet..."
"...She was getting difficult to carry around, so I knocked her unconscious. She shouldn't wake up for a while."
"You..."
Even now, Louis—the burden of their escape—was a factor. But the resentment that had begun to flare in Subaru's chest shattered completely at Rem's utterly Rem-like answer.
That slightly extreme decisiveness was something only Rem could pull off.
"...I do think it wasn't my best move, either."
"No, under the circumstances, it was probably the right call. —But let me ask: you wouldn't consider leaving her behind and escaping with me, would you?"
"If I did something like that when I don't even know who I am, I'd rather bite off my tongue and die."
Subaru thought Rem probably wouldn't die from something like that, but even so, he didn't want to put her through it.
Honestly, abandoning Louis here and escaping with Rem would have been Subaru's optimal choice—but Rem herself didn't seem like she'd allow it.
"If the Shadows swallow me, I'm blaming my own soft-heartedness for this..."
When the Green Room had been consumed by the shadows, Subaru had panicked and grabbed Louis's body along with Rem's—and that decision had led to this predicament. There was no redoing it now, but he could have loudly proclaimed that his choice back there had been wrong.
"So, what do we do?"
"...We do it. I'll go get her. That tree over there, right?"
"———Yes. I laid her in a hollow in the trunk. Do we actually have a chance?"
"Master told me: when facing a strong enemy, run without hesitation."
This wasn't about gauging the gap in their abilities or anything like that.
In this world, nearly every opponent was stronger than Subaru, so treating every encounter as one where he was outmatched was the optimal self-preservation strategy.
Which was exactly why running came first. But if escape wasn't possible— "We use everything we have. Rem, I know you hate it, but I need your help."
"———If it's to save that child, then fine."
Rem stared hard at the hand he offered, but didn't take it.
She simply gave a reluctant nod to his hastily formed plan.
△▼△▼△▼△ Subaru gave his left arm a hard shake, testing the condition of his three broken fingers.
The pain was there. A throbbing, relentless pain that dug its claws into his brain. Steeling himself so it wouldn't interfere with his running, Subaru steeled his resolve.
Then— "——Hah!"
Putting all his strength into it, he shoved a small fallen tree up from the pit and out onto the surface.
In the next instant, an arrow pierced the raised log at terrifying speed. The impact tore the log from his hands and sent it flying violently behind him.
"Whoaaaa!!"
Watching it go, Subaru climbed out of the pit and planted his feet on the rough ground.
Even a confident archer had limits to their rate of fire. Unlike a gun, they had to nock an arrow, draw the bowstring, and take aim.
This time lag gave Subaru a slim chance of survival— "—It's too fast!!"
The moment Subaru burst from the pit and took his first step— In terms of time, it was barely two seconds from when the decoy log had been blown away. But for a seasoned hunter, two seconds was more than enough to fire the next shot.
"—!"
Immediately after hearing Rem's voice, the ground erupted behind Subaru.
The fact that he'd frozen at her call instead of reflexively shifting into a defensive stance had actually worked in his favor. More precisely, he simply hadn't had the reflexes to react to the call in time—but the result was the same.
Arrows continued to rain down on Subaru as he sprinted for the target tree, arriving at intervals of less than two seconds.
If he kept running in a straight line, he'd be turned into a pincushion before long.
But— "I won't let you—!"
The hunter's next attack was interrupted by a hail of earth and stone, hurled with a courageous cry.
It was Rem—leaning against the slope of the pit, hoisting a large stone caked with dirt. Not merely a throw—it was a bombardment, a devastating assault.
"If only she could use magic, that would've been ideal..."
During their assessment of combat capabilities, Rem had expressed difficulty with magic and the power of her oni horn. To be precise, she simply couldn't remember how to use them.
But there was no time to spend jogging her memory. So instead, Subaru had suggested she rely on what remained—the brute strength inherent to her oni physiology.
Using the oni race's innate physicality, they launched a primitive, violent assault on the hunter, who had underestimated them and refused to change position.
"When cornered, even a rat bites the cat! Take a good look!!"
Leaping over the shockwave of an arrow landing at his feet, Subaru's gaze followed Rem's thrown stone as it rocketed toward the hunter's position.
"Raaaaaagh—!!"
When it came to fighting enemies, Rem didn't hold back—that was her charm point.
The pebbles she'd casually gathered on the side were transformed the instant they left her slender arms into terrifyingly lethal projectiles.
"While Rem is buying me time—"
Subaru made proper tactical use of his suppressive fire as he reached the target tree.
Slipping around to the back of the massive trunk, he peered into the hollow formed by rotting wood—and there was Louis, curled up against her own golden hair, fast asleep.
"———"
Seeing her rosy cheeks and the faint rise and fall of her chest, he confirmed she was alive.
He reached for her body—then Subaru felt a powerful revulsion rise from deep inside him. Even though he'd thought he'd accepted the situation, it wasn't his mind rejecting Louis, but his soul.
Even if she looked innocent in her sleep, this was a Great Sin Archbishop.
An unforgivable traitor— "Don't stop moving!!"
"—!"
That hesitation shattered under the force of Rem's desperate plea.
Hearing it, Subaru forced the revulsion down his throat, hoisted Louis's light body onto his shoulders, and burst from the hollow—rushing toward Rem— "—Huh?"
The moment he burst out, a sudden black shadow blocked his path.
He'd planned to return to the pit the same way he'd come. He was certain this hadn't been there before. Subaru looked up at the shadow that had appeared without warning—and was struck speechless.
"————!!"
A colossal shadow had slipped silently through the forest and planted itself before Subaru. Its true form was a giant serpent—nearly ten meters in length.
Its entire body was covered in green scales, and its yellow eyes locked onto Subaru. Seeing the twisted white horn jutting from its forehead, Subaru understood what it was.
"A magical beast—!!"
Facing that imposing form, Subaru cursed himself for his foolish oversight.
He should have been aware of it himself. He was currently in the state of carrying the strongest residual scent of the
If that was the case, then—just as had happened at the
A dark, rarely-traveled forest like this was the perfect lair.
"————!!"
The serpent opened its massive jaws and locked onto Subaru.
The gaping maw—large enough to swallow not just Subaru but Louis on his shoulders without difficulty—bore down on him, and Subaru's perception of time warped into something slow and dreamlike.
—Ah, this is bad.
That was what he felt, distantly, as though it were happening to someone else.
The way the world swam in slow motion before his eyes was similar to what people described as seeing one's life flash before their eyes. There was a theory that before death, the brain searched through past experiences for a way to survive.
But in Subaru's case, no matter how hard he searched his memory, he had no experience of narrowly escaping being swallowed by a giant serpent. The closest was the pack of rabbits—and those were memories he absolutely did not want flashing before his eyes.
These useless thoughts consumed a few fleeting instants before Subaru flinched inward.
Cursing his body for instinctively moving to shield Louis, he braced himself for the serpent's jaws to close over his head— "————!!?"
"Huh?"
Without thinking, Subaru squeezed his eyes shut—and then something poured down over his head in a heavy stream.
For a horrifying moment, he imagined it was digestive saliva—the kind the serpent might spit before a meal. But no. What drenched Subaru's entire body was dark, viscous blood.
The giant serpent had been shot clean through the body by a razor-sharp arrow, and it was spraying a torrent of blood as it collapsed.