There was a sensation — of something, something abhorrent, coiling into a vortex.
A vortex — yes, a vortex.
Spinning, spinning, it rotated violently, swallowing everything.
It was somewhere — no, at his own center — that this vortex was churning.
Swallowing everything like a storm, fierce as lightning, ardent as magma — such a vicious, black vortex was spinning.
Perhaps it was the abhorrent curse that had long slumbered in the depths of his being.
The curse of "death" that could never be undone — endlessly intertwined, bound, and connected.
A greedy seal that declared this life was already promised, refusing to surrender it to anyone.
The curse that should have corroded his life instead interfered with other curses, each loathing the next, refusing to hand over its hold, resisting, and stealing. — And in the end, they reached opposing conclusions.
The curse would not let this vessel die.
Spinning, spinning, it rotated violently, swallowing everything.
Around the beast, around the dragon, around the cursed vessel — spinning, spinning — △▼△▼△▼△ Red-flagged tents — for medical treatment. Five in the encampment.
Black-flagged tents — for reserves. Twenty-five in the encampment.
White-flagged tents — for officers. Three in the encampment.
Gold-flagged tents — for commanders. Only one in the encampment.
Given the freedom to scurry around under the pretense of being a gofer, Subaru had been able to survey the various areas despite the short time.
This was the second time Subaru had seen a proper military encampment — the first being in the Empire.
The first was around the time of the
To prepare for the White Whale's appearance, they had set up camp around the Great Tree of Fruful, and while not as elaborate as this, they had established an encampment.
After that, he'd had several opportunities for smaller-scale camping. However, those had all been makeshift — nothing as thorough as the Empire's.
So, driven by curiosity, he'd been carefully observing everything.
Of course, apart from one person, he hadn't made a good impression on the Imperial soldiers, so if he'd tried to enter or leave any important area, his head and torso would have been separated. Still, he'd managed to pick up some surface-level knowledge.
But even that little was — "— More than enough. The difference between having intelligence and not having any is like night and day. Most importantly, once you know the disposition, you can roughly estimate the enemy's fighting strength. After that—"
"— It's our courage and strength, I mean. Well understood, compatriot, I mean."
"Yes, let's show them! The proud warriors of Shudrak, whose valor once stood side by side with the Emperor hailed as the Military Emperor, cutting down all enemies!"
He felt a languid drowsiness, like floating in warm water.
Through that haze, what reached his ears were the spirited voices of a man and a woman.
"— —"
Beyond those two, many other breaths could be heard.
The presence of a great many — a multitude of people.
A great many, a multitude of people's fervent, passionate enthusiasm.
And he felt those emotions rising around him with strange intensity, focused on himself — "— Now then, let us begin, Shudrak! From here, we raise the signal for counterattack!!"
"O-Ohhhh—!!"
A tremendous war cry echoed as though it would shatter the world entire.
"— Huh!?"
SPLASH — a cold, wet sensation was pressed onto his face, and Subaru's entire body lurched in shock.
His consciousness was rapidly pulled upward, and blinking dazedly, his vision was covered in white. No — that was the answer to the wet sensation.
What had been placed over Subaru's face was a piece of cloth, soaked and barely wrung out.
He recalled reading once in some book about a torture method where a towel was draped over the face and water dripped onto it. All you needed was a towel and water — a hellish waterboarding technique that could conveniently give someone the sensation of drowning — "I-I don't have anything to say! There's nothing I can tell you!"
"Oh, Su, woke up. Feeling bettah, Woo is relieved."
"H-Huh...?"
The voice that reached him was too young for a torturer, and Subaru shook his head in surprise. The cloth shifted, and he could see normally.
It apparently hadn't been torture. In his cleared vision, he could see the sky, partially obscured by large tree leaves. And popping into view to hide that sky was — "You... are..."
"Utakata! Woo is Su's bodyguard! Nurse! Babysitter! Glad you woke up!"
"I... can't say it really clicks."
Giggling in that high-pitched voice was a girl with black hair tipped in pink — Utakata.
A member of the Shudrak people, and a girl he'd encountered at the settlement. She was also the one who had once killed him with a poison arrow.
That said, judging by this smile, they seemed to be on friendly terms now, and the worry of being finished off with a poison arrow seemed to have passed.
"Though you don't seem to be getting waterboarded... right? Um..."
"Su, the 'Ceremony of Blood and Life' is done! Ergina lost! Woo, me, Ho, everyone was surprised!"
"...I'm starting to remember now. Right, they made me do the 'Ceremony of Blood and Life.'"
To earn the recognition of the Shudrak people, Subaru had taken on the "Ceremony of Blood and Life."
It was a rite of passage among the Shudrak — a trial to prove one had come of age. Subaru and Abel, who had also been captured, had undertaken it together.
The adversary in the ceremony was Ergina, a giant serpent mabeast dwelling in the Badoheim jungle.
Subaru and Abel had risked their lives to break the great serpent's horns — "...No good. Maybe because I was so focused, I can't remember the second half at all. Abel must have done something to keep me alive...?"
"Huh? Su, you don't remembah? Me, was laughing so hard!"
"Laughing hard — at how pathetic I was? Give me a break..."
He grimaced at the giggling Utakata and tried to sit up. As his right hand touched the floor, Subaru noticed a strange sensation.
It wasn't that the floor was wet or that something hard was placed there — nothing of that sort. The cause seemed to lie somewhere more fundamental.
To put it bluntly, the cause seemed to be in his arm, not the floor.
"...Um, Utakata? What happened to my, uh, right hand?"
"Su's right hand? Ah, it was amazing! All squishy, and then it went BOOF!"
"Squishy, and then BOOF!?"
The ominous sound effects made Subaru's eyes go wide.
He took several deep breaths, prepared himself mentally, then steeled his resolve. First he turned his head to the left. Three fingers were broken. Painful, but reassuring.
Then slowly, he turned his gaze to his right hand — "...What the hell is this?"
For a moment, what he saw seemed like some mistake — it was that foreign a state.
Originally, Subaru's right arm had been marked with a horrifying black mottled pattern — an aftereffect from his battle against the Archbishop of Lust in the water gate city of
The Archbishop Capella had called her own blood dragon blood and drenched both Subaru and Crusch in it. As a result, Crusch had suffered an unhealable wound, while Subaru had seemingly absorbed the abhorrent blood running through her body, carving a pitch-black pattern into his right arm.
However, since it had no ill effects beyond appearance, Subaru usually hid it under long sleeves and hadn't let it bother him.
But that black pattern was — "— —"
It had spread, thickly — far beyond just a pattern.
From the fingertips of Subaru's right hand, past the wrist, up to about halfway along the forearm to the elbow, it was pitch-black — as though he'd slipped on a black glove.
He swallowed hard and, with trepidation, touched the black right hand with his left.
His left hand felt the spongy elasticity; his right hand, conversely, barely registered the touch. The right hand felt like it was inside a rubber glove — its movements sluggish — "...No, could this be..."
To test his suspicion, Subaru pressed his left fingernails firmly into the black right hand and scratched.
And the black portions of his right hand peeled away, flaking off like plaster from a wall.
"W-Whoa!?" Startled, Subaru dug his fingers into the peeled area and, as though possessed, focused on scraping it off. Before long, the black pattern from his fingertips to his forearm had completely come away, and underneath was a clean, brand-new —
"Wh-What the hell is thiiiis!?"
"Whoa!?"
Seeing this shocking development unfold before his eyes, Subaru screamed. The startled Utakata fell over on her rear.
But Subaru had no composure to spare — he couldn't even help the fallen girl up.
"Wh-Wh-Wha... what's going on with my hand!? My... hand... right? Right?"
Dumbfounded, Subaru opened and closed the fist of his clean right hand, then cautiously touched his own face, pressed it against the floor.
The sensation, the movement — everything was perfectly normal.
The black pattern that had originally remained on that hand was gone, and Subaru's right hand was clean — the right arm of the "Lolita User" that had been roughened over a year of otherworldly life.
"Wait, who's a Lolita User!?"
"— I heard a voice, and what I find is you talking nonsense."
As Subaru verified his restored right hand in confusion, someone approached. No — not just anyone. This arrogant manner of speaking left only two candidates, split by gender, making identification easy.
This was a man's voice — in other words — "Abel, huh. So you're alive."
"Naturally. Far more composed than you, I'd say."
The one who snorted was Abel, still in his familiar masked appearance.
He had taken on the "Ceremony of Blood and Life" alongside Subaru, and apparently had survived the battle with Ergina without dying. Rather, it was thanks to him that Subaru had survived.
He was probably the one who had defeated Ergina as well.
"— Hm. Your right arm — what happened to it? You've abandoned that ghastly appearance?"
"Please stop talking like I can change my right hand's color scheme on my own. This isn't a character creation screen in some Western game — I don't have that kind of freedom. ...The black parts just peeled right off when I scratched them. Right, Utakata?"
"That's right! Su's right hand, all peeled off! Gross!"
"I know, but!"
Wincing at Utakata's blunt assessment, Subaru thrust his right hand toward Abel. Abel scrutinized the undamaged hand and murmured, "I see."
"Regardless, if it's back to normal, that's fine. I didn't expect you to punch him with the mana-sealing ring still on. I thought you were finished when your hand from the wrist down was gone."
"Wait wait wait — are you saying something scary right now? Whose hand from the wrist down was gone?"
"Yours."
"Su!"
Abel crossed his arms while Utakata energetically raised her right hand.
At their answer, Subaru felt a chill. He looked at his own clean right hand. Not merely intact — it was practically brand new.
"O-Oh come on, you're just saying that. If it was gone, then what is this right hand?"
"That is a grotesque and strange phenomenon. Your arm was gone, and you were on the verge of death — your words proved as much. After that, I thought you would die... But from your hand, black sediment overflowed."
"S-Sediment...?"
"It took the shape of an arm in an instant, becoming a black arm. If you want to ask what happened, I should be the one asking you what you intended."
Pierced by that sharp gaze, Subaru held his breath.
He returned his gaze to his right hand, but no matter what Abel said, Subaru himself didn't know what had caused it. However, the black pattern that had long been carved into his right hand — the fact that its disappearance was likely connected — was almost certain.
Or perhaps it really was the dragon blood's doing, but — "If that's the case, then why didn't it activate until now..."
For what it was worth, it had been nearly three months since he'd been doused with dragon blood.
In the time since — crossing the
During that time, he'd encountered death-defying situations countless times, yet never once had any convenient event occurred to heal his wounds.
So why, here and now — "...There's no point overthinking what I can't figure out. Besides, none of the other injuries have healed at all."
All over Subaru's body — the broken fingers on his left hand were confirmed, but the wound near his shoulder blade on his back, an unfamiliar burn near his neck, and numerous other bruises were all still there.
Seriously, only the right hand's injuries had been healed. If anything, it was possible that only the right hand had healed because that's where the black pattern had been.
"And since the black thing on my right hand is gone too, it probably won't heal again... I can't exactly blow my right hand off on command to test it."
"So in the end, it remains an unexplained situation. You do have quite a few secrets."
"I don't need to hear that from someone hiding his face..."
As he answered with a bitter expression, Subaru let out a "right."
He'd been leisurely running through thoughts about the anomaly in his right hand and verifying Abel's survival, but he'd just remembered there was something more important to attend to.
If the "Ceremony of Blood and Life" had been completed without him dying, that meant time had passed while he was unconscious.
Which meant several more hours had elapsed since then — "—
His original objective — to bring back Rem, whom he'd left behind.
He'd taken on the "Ceremony of Blood and Life" for that very purpose. If time had elapsed and he could no longer save her, then the life-threatening battle would have been for nothing.
"Ah! Su, no being reckless, no! You'll die!"
"Don't be stupid! Even if I don't die, if Rem dies, it's meaningless — gck!"
Driven by urgency, Subaru tried to get off his bed.
He only now realized he'd been lying in a peculiar bed — a box-like palanquin made of logs — and had apparently been carried outside the building.
He stumbled off it, and the pain that tore through his entire body made him groan.
"Guh, hah..."
"You fool. Did you think that growing a new right arm meant your near-dead body had recovered? I told you. I assessed that you were going to die. Do you think my judgment is wrong?"
"That... is..."
Abel's cold voice descended upon the crouching Subaru.
As if to confirm Abel's words, Subaru became aware of a sensation — something seeping from deep within his body.
For someone who knew many kinds of fatal pain, Subaru recognized this as a danger signal.
Like a balloon or bucket with a hole punctured in a place it shouldn't be, the water or air — the very thing that kept it inflated — was leaking out — "But I have to get Rem..."
"— Even in this state, you worry not about yourself but about the woman? Very well. I expected as much. You would have wished for it even without your right hand."
"...Huh?"
"This way."
More worried about Rem's safety — who wasn't even here — than his own life.
At Subaru's words, Abel let out an exasperated sigh and jerked his chin. Without so much as a glance back, he began walking. As if to say, follow me.
"Su, should I go? Want me to lend a shoulder?"
"No, I can manage... Borrowing Utakata's shoulder with our height difference would actually make it worse."
He gave a wry smile to the concerned Utakata peering at him.
Then Subaru took a deep breath and somehow managed to stand. Dragging his feet, he caught up to Abel, who was walking ahead.
"— —"
Abel had stopped a little ahead, waiting for Subaru to catch up.
Using a rock covered in green grass as his foothold, he was gazing out from a cliff with a clear view. Subaru clambered over the boulder and stood beside him.
And then — "— Look."
Following his subtle chin-jerk, Subaru raised his head.
And what met his gaze made Subaru's jaw drop.
Gaping, stunned. Because there — "— ...?"
The encampment was wreathed in black smoke and flames — the Imperial soldiers' camp was being consumed by fire.
△▼△▼△▼△ — What reached them were battle cries, the triumphant roar of victory shaking the very air.
"— !!"
The women warriors — brown-skinned, bow-bearing, racing across the battlefield — screamed in triumph or sang unfamiliar songs at the top of their lungs.
Through the Shudrak people's surprise attack, the Imperial encampment had been reduced to devastation. The Imperial soldiers had lost all means to resist, fled in panic, and were cut down one after another.
"This is..."
"They seize the offensive, seize weapons, burn supplies, and cut down commanders. Cut off their hands and heads, and all they can do is turn tail and flee in disarray. — So much for the sword wolves."
"— —"
Below, Imperial soldiers could be seen fleeing on all fours, driven by black smoke and relentless arrows.
But they could not escape the Shudrak people — whose livelihood was hunting beasts in the forest. Their arrows, capable of reaching targets to the far horizon, struck the hearts of fleeing soldiers with precision.
How many had escaped? How many had survived?
Just how many had died?
"This can't..."
"What are you spacing out for, Natsuki Subaru? This is the result your compatriots achieved using the information you desired and provided. If you won't laugh at this, what will you laugh at?"
Gazing down at the encampment that had become a true battlefield, Subaru felt his consciousness waver. Moreover, Abel — who was forcibly shoving reality into his face — declared that this was what Subaru had wished for.
Unable to bear it, Subaru surged to his feet and grabbed Abel by the collar.
Using his newly healed right hand, he seized Abel and glared into his eyes at close range.
"I wished for this? For this... for a sight like this!? Don't be ridic—"
"— Then did you expect your wish to be granted without bloodshed?"
"— !"
But Abel bit back. His tongue was sharper than Subaru's rage, slicing through him, leaving him speechless.
"— —"
Without bloodshed. Did he think his wish could come true without bloodshed?
He had believed it could be done without bloodshed. He had thought it was possible.
Because — "Allow me to rephrase, Natsuki Subaru. — Did you truly believe your wish could come true without anyone other than yourself shedding blood?"
"— ...Ah..."
"What an absurd notion. A foolish, incorrigible delusion. Did you genuinely think that if you bled yourself, you could stop third parties from fighting? That is an even worse kind of hero fantasy than your pathetic hero complex."
"— —"
"You are human, Natsuki Subaru. Not a hero, not a sage. Therefore, whether you are there or not, people will bleed, lose their lives, and repeat the cycle of taking and being taken."
Even as Subaru's grip loosened, Abel continued to hammer him down with words.
Struck by those words, Subaru's teeth chattered, and he shook his head in refusal.
He was right.
It was an undeniable truth. He knew that. But Subaru couldn't accept it.
He had never lived in a world where such a thing was natural.
Even after coming to this otherworld, Natsuki Subaru's moral compass was still that of a Japanese high school student.
He could not simply accept the customs and common sense of a battlefield as a matter of course.
"I don't want to be a hero. I won't cling to them, rely on them, or entrust myself to them. I'll shoulder everything and push forward toward prosperity. — A hero can't do that."
"What... what are you trying to do...?"
His strength gone, Subaru sank to his knees once more. He couldn't understand Abel.
They had fought side by side in the "Ceremony of Blood and Life" and won. Their conversational rhythm surprisingly clicked, and their compatibility wasn't bad. But he couldn't figure out what Abel was thinking.
Of course he couldn't. How could he possibly understand someone who wouldn't even show his face?
"What can I even say to someone who won't show their face..."
"My face? — Then, I'll show you."
"Eh?" He wasn't even given time to voice his confusion.
Hearing Subaru's mosquito-like plea, Abel placed a hand on his own face. And as he untied the frayed knot of his mask with his fingers, the wind blew.
The mask fluttered in the strong wind, came free with force, and flew away.
It flew and flew, soaring over the battlefield that had been the encampment, carried by the wind into the far distance — endlessly, endlessly flying away — "Perhaps it will reach the Imperial Capital. — The city with the throne where I should sit."
"— —"
Watching the scrap of cloth disappear into the wind, Abel spoke those grandiose words.
Seeing the man's face revealed, Subaru held his breath and couldn't look away.
He was a handsome young man with sharp features and black hair.
Older than Subaru by several years — perhaps in his early to mid-twenties. His features were strikingly handsome, and though his somewhat disheveled hair and the dirt on his cheeks — from weeks spent in the forest and settlement — were noticeable, they only served to accentuate his natural beauty.
With long, slender limbs and a lean torso supporting that face, he was about as close to a complete specimen of masculine beauty as one could get.
But above all, his most distinctive feature was those black eyes.
A gaze that could compel all who beheld it to submit — carrying overwhelming presence and intimidation.
Being faced with that head-on, already on his knees, Subaru felt himself unable to move — for reasons entirely different from his injuries or exhaustion.
He understood. His soul was submitting to the person before him.
The reason for that overwhelming presence was — "— Vincent Abellux."
"...Huh?"
"That is my name. At least until I once again sit upon the throne, I shall go by this name. Though I suppose it would be wiser to continue being called Abel going forward."
With that, Abel twisted his mouth into a smirk at the dumbfounded Subaru.
It took Subaru a moment to realize it was a sinister, almost feral smile.
Without understanding what that name signified — "— Abel! Subaru!"
"— !"
What broke Subaru's paralysis was a sharp voice directed at him.
He turned instinctively and saw a figure approaching while waving — Mizelda, the red-haired leader of the Shudrak people.
Mizelda relaxed her combative expression into something almost friendly: "The camp's been secured. Our casualties are minimal... Oh? Abel, first time seeing your face — you're quite the looker..."
"Mizelda..."
"Ahem... Subaru, it's good that you woke up too. If you'd died like that, it would've weighed on us as your people, too."
For an instant, Mizelda had been caught off guard by Abel's bare face. She cleared her throat and turned a gentle gaze to Subaru.
It was the gentle smile one offered to the living in the face of death, and Subaru felt his heart and body go cold. Like Abel, she judged that Subaru wouldn't last long.
That she could still interact so warmly despite that could only be described as a difference in their views on life and death.
But that difference in worldview wasn't the only reason Mizelda was smiling — Subaru learned this immediately from her subsequent actions.
"Holly, bring her over."
"Okay, got it~!"
When Mizelda turned and called out to someone, a cheerful, unhurried response came back.
Plodding over was Holly — the yellow-haired woman who had casually lifted boulders earlier — and the girl she carried.
And cradled in the smiling Holly's arms was — "Don't be rowdy~. Poor Kuna got knocked out and hasn't woken up yet, you know~"
"Let me go! What are you going to do!?"
"My, you just won't listen, will you~"
Wearing a troubled expression, Holly held the girl writhing and struggling in her arms.
She was the girl with blue hair and a lovely face now flushed with anger — the one Subaru most wanted to see, most wanted to hear, most wanted to meet right here, right now, and — "— Rem!"
In that instant, Subaru forgot his own poor condition, the awe he felt toward Abel, his revulsion at the burning battlefield below — everything, and started running.
The speed was slow. He couldn't risk jumping off the boulder, so he dragged his feet forward at a pace slower than a child's sprint.
And Subaru made his way to Rem, held in Holly's arms — "You are..."
"Rem! Thank goodness, you're safe—"
"You're the one who did this!? You're the lowest of the low!"
The moment Subaru reached his arms toward her, Rem's hand cracked across his cheek.
The sharp sound echoed, and Holly, Mizelda, and even Utakata's eyes went wide. The force behind it was considerable — Subaru nearly went flying.
But he didn't go flying. He wasn't struck speechless with complaints of "Why did you hit me?"
There were no complaints.
Because Rem was alive, right here, talking to him, and that was enough.
"Rem..."
"— You, you absolute..."
Having been slapped hard across the cheek, Subaru nonetheless pulled Rem into his embrace. He drew her to his chest as if wresting her from Holly. Rem was shocked, then her face flushed red with anger.
She clenched her fist, ready to deliver a devastating blow — "...You..."
Before she could finish Subaru off, she noticed the full extent of his injuries.
"— —"
Relief drained the strength from him, and Subaru collapsed where he stood. Held in her arms, Rem was rendered speechless by Subaru's wounds — his shoulders, torso, legs, his left hand, and so many others.
"...Well, the left hand was broken by Rem, though?"
"I know that! But besides that, all these injuries... you could die! You need treatment immediately..."
"Useless."
Seeing Subaru's weak smile, Rem pleaded desperately. But her appeal was flatly rejected by Mizelda's curt, clear response.
The sharpness of those words made Rem look up involuntarily.
Mizelda shook her head slowly at Rem's gaze: "Subaru's wounds are deep. No amount of treatment will fix them. His willpower has been holding him together, but even that will run out soon."
"Run out? How can — how can it suddenly..."
"— ? Because he got his woman back, obviously."
Tilting her head, Mizelda stated it as the most obvious thing in the world.
At those words, Rem caught her breath with a "huh," and Subaru — unable to even keep his head up — gave a wry smile.
"Mizelda, the way you put it..."
"Did I say something wrong? If he can be a compatriot's final wish, we'll give it our all. You're a man worth it."
"Ha ha, much appreciated..."
While Subaru was glad for Mizelda's straightforward words of trust, he also resented them.
Because her assessment and words were correct — Subaru knew that himself. Which meant he would only burden Rem further, weighing down her already hesitant steps.
Making her even more burdened than she already was — "Why... why is it like this...?"
Rem's voice fell over Subaru, who no longer even had the strength to lift his head.
He noticed that Rem's voice was trembling, and that at some point, the roles had reversed — Rem was now supporting Subaru's weight with her arms.
Rem's light-blue eyes wavered, looking at Subaru with suspicion, distrust, and sorrow.
"Why do you go this far? For me, why—"
"— —"
"Why?"
She asked. Why did he do such things?
He remembered being asked the same question before.
The important person had asked him the same thing, and what had Subaru answered?
His memory was fading, his consciousness about to slip — he couldn't remember.
So, to the girl before him who looked like she might cry, he answered from his heart.
"Why," he was asked.
"— Because I want you to be happy."
"— —"
"H-Wait... please, wait..."
Gradually, strength drained from Subaru's body.
His head drooped, his neck could no longer support it, his upper body slumped. Rem caught him and pulled him close, calling out as Subaru's head came to rest beside her.
There was no answer.
"— To our compatriot. To the peace of a warrior's spirit."
Mizelda straightened her spine, and from her lips wove a hymn of respect and its supporting song.
Following Mizelda's song, Holly and Utakata — all the Shudrak people who had been singing the triumphant cry of victory on the battlefield — began to sing in unison.
It was a requiem for a warrior who had fought to the end and fulfilled their pride — "Wait... please. Because, you see, this person — I..."
Watching the peaceful expression on Subaru's face as the requiem carried him gently toward death, Rem shook her head in refusal.
"— —"
She didn't understand why. She didn't understand the meaning.
The words he'd spoken ultimately hadn't answered the question she truly wanted to ask.
But she knew that if this continued, she would lose him forever — "Please, don't die here, don't die, don't die, don't die..."
She was compelled by her soul: she must not lose here this man who, even while reeking of that unbearable, abhorrent stench that instinct told her to avoid, had looked at her with nothing but adoration.
Yielding to that impulse, Rem bit her lip, yearning for salvation — "Aaauu?"
Suddenly, along with a child's groan, she felt a hand placed on her shoulder.
"— Ah"
Turning with tear-filled eyes, she saw a golden-haired girl resting her hand on Rem's shoulder. The girl wore a blank expression as she gazed at the unconscious Subaru.
Then, with a soft "uauu," the girl — "...This is..."
A warm sensation flowed from the girl's palm through her shoulder and into Rem.
It was soft, ticklish at the pit of her chest, and Rem's breathing grew labored. Before long, tears spilled from her cheeks and she could no longer hold them back.
What flowed from the girl's palm was triggering a strange sensation inside Rem.
It was swelling — she couldn't contain it. Her instincts demanded she expel it somewhere, and so Rem expelled it from her entire body.
And it traveled through the girl's palm, overflowed from Rem, and then — "— —"
It flowed into the body of Subaru, whom she was cradling — the Subaru on the verge of letting go of life.
"— Ah, a healing spell. I hadn't anticipated this."
"...?"
Rem, who couldn't understand what was happening, heard the man's voice. She looked up to see the black-haired man — arms crossed, eyes narrowed — looking their way.
She opened her lips to question him — "Keep your mouth shut, woman. What you're unconsciously doing is a kind of miracle triggered by the right conditions. If you lose focus, the effect will cut off and become useless."
"— —"
"Doubt and anger can wait until you've dealt with the matter before you. Don't waste this opportunity."
The weight in the man's words was undeniable, and Rem sealed the words of retort on her lips.
And just as he said, she focused on channeling warmth into Subaru's body in her arms.
She didn't know what kind of power this warmth held. But the breath that had been fading within her arms was gaining a trace of strength again.
That alone was enough for Rem right now.
"...I still don't know who or what you are. But"
She paused at "but," hesitating over the words that followed, and closed her eyes.
Because the words "I want you to be happy" hadn't sounded like a lie.
"You need to stay alive, or you'll never get to see me smile."
She whispered those words.
△▼△▼△▼△ — The healing light activated, and Natsuki Subaru's fatal wounds began to mend.
"— —"
Arms crossed, gazing down at the scene, the man who had called himself Vincent Abellux let out a sigh at Subaru — who had managed to cling to his fading life.
What a man of terrible luck, he thought. On the verge of death, he'd won over the hearts of the Shudrak people, reclaimed what he wanted to reclaim, and then managed to save his own life.
He could even speculate that Subaru had calculated — on some level — that saving Rem would in turn save him.
"If you're that resourceful, you should have healed your broken left hand first."
The man had been caked in blood and mud, his fingers broken by Rem, yet he had still begged for her return.
If Subaru could have planned for such an outcome, it would have been nothing short of divine scheming — but the man detected none of that shrewdness or composure in him.
He was a man who didn't possess even a sliver of the legendary "hero" spoken of in rumors.
"I intended it as a send-off for a dying man... but if he survives, so be it."
Feeling his bare face against the wind for the first time in a while — no longer covered by the mask — the man narrowed his eyes.
Natsuki Subaru had survived, and the blood oath with the Shudrak people had been forged. It seemed the Imperial soldiers in the camp hadn't been informed of anything, but that was within expected parameters.
Still, most people in this land — no, in this Empire — hadn't yet realized.
The unprecedented political upheaval that had visited the mighty Holy Volachia Empire.
But — "Prime Minister Berstetz, the Nine Divine Generals who betrayed me, and the foolish Imperial soldiers who know not their own top — tremble and await my return."
Atop a wind-swept hill, Abel turned his gaze far to the west, toward the Imperial Capital.
The heart of the Holy Volachia Empire —
And — "You went to all that trouble surviving. I'll be needing your cooperation, Natsuki Subaru. — To reclaim the Volachia Empire with my own hands."