--As she let herself be rocked by the dragon carriage as it traveled along the highway, Rem just thought of him.
Suddenly, Rem felt as if she heard her name being called, and she slowly raised her head. Then, her eyes narrowed slightly in the strong sunlight.
In front of her, in front of her eyes, were several dragon carriages leading the group, on which were being carried several injured people who had participated in the White Whale subjugation battle.
All of them had only received the bare minimum of first aid before returning, and there were quite a few seriously injured. However, even as they grimaced in pain from their wounds, they all had a sense of accomplishment in having achieved a dream they had held for many years.
The long-held feelings they had been carrying for years. The fact that their feelings had been fulfilled was nothing compared to the injuries they suffered and the fact that they had not died.
For them, who had accomplished what they had to do, their current journey to the royal capital was like a triumphant return. However, looking at them, he could not help but feel a twinge of emotion, and he hated himself for being so shameless.
"You look gloomy, Rem. I guess your worries aren't ending after all."
"...Lady Crusch."
When she looked next to her after hearing the voice, she saw Crusch sitting right next to Rem.
Rem was impressed by his posture, with bandages wrapped around his light clothing, and no sign of any serious injuries, but he couldn't hide how exhausted he was. The reason he was riding in the dragon carriage was because they were worried about him riding an earth dragon alone, and it had been agreed that he would ride with Rem at least until they could see the royal capital.
Seeing Rem's concerned gaze, Crusch shrugged her shoulders to show she was fine, then said, "More importantly," as she lightly tilted her chin in the direction,
"Wilhelm and Ferris. The warriors of the extermination squad that accompanied them are also elites. They will likely have help from Ricardo and the other mercenaries... and above all, it's hard to imagine that Anastasia Hoshin wouldn't be able to think about something so trivial. The enemy's fighting strength is a cause for concern, but I don't see any reason for them to lose."
"Still, is it selfish to feel worried?"
Subaru: "No matter how much you try to crush the seeds of anxiety, they never go away. If it is something that originates from yourself, you can do something about it by studying yourself or becoming defiant. However, when it involves an opponent, it becomes difficult. ーーI'm not good at giving comforting words. Forgive me."
Seeing Rem's expression deepening in sorrow, Crusch realized her mistake and lowered her eyes. In that moment, the aloof woman who had been so aloof up until then seemed to lose all formality, and Rem couldn't help but smile.
Seeing that smile, Crusch nodded in satisfaction, "Hmm, that's fine."
"Natsuki Subaru also said that a smile suits Rem best. If I had heard it from the outside, I would have thought it was some crazy boast, but surprisingly, it wasn't something to scoff at."
"Lady Crusch… when you smile, my impression of you changes. You are usually so dignified, but when you smile like that, it's like…"
"It's something that people say to me from time to time, and it bothers me. That's why I can't laugh carelessly in front of other people. It just makes me an even more unsociable woman."
Rem wonders if she should think it's a joke and laugh, but when she sees the corners of Crusch's mouth soften slightly, a smile also forms in her eyes.
Her always courageous and dignified appearance is one of the ideal images of a woman for the always timid and lacking in confidence Rem. Of course, Rem's ultimate ideal is none other than her older sister Ram.
Anyway,
Subaru: "Waiting for them up ahead is the Witch Cult… Although it was something he had predicted ever since he found out about Emilia's background, it's essential to be cautious when facing a group whose true nature is unclear. Just like Natsuki Subaru, Sir Mathers must also have some sort of countermeasure in place, right?"
"Even Rem doesn't know the depths of Master's thoughts. Even if you tried to find out, you wouldn't be able to say it aloud, you know?"
"That's harsh. We're allies now, so you can let your mouth slide a little."
She was probably concerned about Rem's thoughts so that they wouldn't go in a negative, dark direction. In fact, it was thanks to Crusch initiating conversations like this that Rem was able to spend time without going too deep into her thoughts.
Crusch's reasoning was sound, and Roswaal would undoubtedly have some sort of plan prepared for what had happened this time around. Subaru's actions would help his master with that, and surely restore his own, unfortunately tarnished, honor.
No, his honor will surely resonate even more strongly now that he has cooperated in the slaying of the White Whale.
-The hero, Natsuki Subaru.
This is a natural assessment for Rem, whose heart and future was saved by him, and it is nothing less than a fair recognition of the brilliant times he will continue to create in the future.
And if she could be beside that radiance, in a position that would make it turn its attention to her from time to time, then Rem didn't ask for anything more. Just that was enough to fulfill her.
Whenever Rem thought of Subaru, her heart was always filled with complicated emotions.
It's like I'm getting warm and feeling at ease, but at the same time, I'm feeling anxious and in a state of discomfort, worried and anxious.
And Subaru is the only one who constantly gives her heart the ups and downs of joy and sorrow.
With a smile on her lips, Rem imagines Subaru's future and her future with him.
Perhaps feeling reassured by the sight of that profile, Crusch also touched the sheath of her knight sword beside her, and silently gazed straight ahead along the course of the dragon carriage, her thoughts turning to the journey to the royal capital.
and,
"--nothing?"
"---?"
At almost the same time, Crusch narrowed her eyes and let out a soft growl, and Rem heard a faint sound and raised her head.
Crusch's eyes had caught sight of something strange, the dragon carriage ahead. The strange noise that Rem had heard had also come from that direction. And at the same time, it all brought about a single result.
--Within Crusch's field of vision, the dragon carriage ahead "collapsed." The precursor to this "collapse" reached Rem's ears as a chain of small sounds, like rain.
A bloody mist erupted into the air, and the area in front of the dragon carriage suddenly turned into a devastating scene.
The earth dragon, the dragon carriage, and even the injured people inside, everything had been completely uprooted and reduced to dust by the ruthless and overwhelming destruction.
"--! Enemy attack!!"
The panicked pause was quickly over and a voice called out to warn Crusch. Immediately, Crusch and the other dragon carriages in the vicinity sensed something was wrong and began preparing for battle.
Rem also pushed aside her physical injuries and fatigue, picked up her own iron ball, and stood up - and beyond the bloody mist, she saw a figure.
Rem was wary of who it could be, when she saw a person standing still on the road.
Unarmed. Defenseless. Unsuspecting. And merciless, innocent and random malice!
"--Run him over!!"
Crusch yelled, getting into the driver's seat and barking orders to the driver. Instead of nodding, the knight gripped the reins, and the neighing earth dragon accelerated the carriage and charged――The carriage's charge, gaining momentum, was like a super-massive cannonball that turned any prey it hit directly into chunks of meat.
It hit right on target, hitting the person standing there straight. The person showed no sign of moving. The impact caused the contact, and the thin body was torn apart.
"Lady Crusch――!"
Shouting, Rem grabbed Crusch, who was right beside her, around the waist and jumped sideways from the carriage. She was too late to reach the driver, and landed on the ground, biting her lip.
And then, immediately after thatーー,
"I really wish they'd stop. I can't imagine that it's humane to run someone over when they haven't done anything."
It sounded like the voice of someone taking a leisurely stroll through a park in the afternoon, bathed in warm sunlight and in an incredibly relaxed state.
If it hadn't been a scene of contact with the dragon carriage, shattered and scattered on impact, Rem wouldn't have been so horrified by its abnormality.
At first glance, he seemed like an ordinary person.
He had a slender build and white hair that was neither long nor short and wasn't eccentrically styled. His black-based clothing was neither particularly flashy nor shabby, and his features contained no eye-catching features. He was a very ordinary-looking man, the kind of person you could find anywhere and who could blend in anywhere, and who would likely disappear from your memory in just a dozen or so seconds if you saw him on the street.
However, the reality was that the earth dragon that had come into contact with the man had its body torn in half with its leg raised in an attempt to trample the man to death, and the knight driving it had been smashed together with the dragon carriage, leaving nothing but pieces of wood and flesh that could not be distinguished.
And what was even more terrifying was that even Rem, who hadn't looked away even once up until that moment, realized that the man was simply "standing there".
Without doing anything special, the man simply stood there, overcoming a collision with an extremely heavy dragon carriage, and remained standing there calmly.
"Thank you, Rem. You saved me. But... the situation hasn't improved."
Crusch, who was being held in Rem's arms with her eyes wide open, thanked her and rose to her feet. She quickly unsheathed the knight's sword she had been holding, and narrowed her eyes in pain at the incomprehensible death of the knight who had died acting according to her orders.
"You killed so many of my subordinates so brutally, and yet you still don't think you'll escape unscathed... Who the hell are you?"
Pointing her sword at the man, shining with murderous intent, Crusch shouted a sharp voice at him. The man who heard it put his hand to his chin and began to nod in understanding.
"I see, I see. So you don't know me. That said, I know you. Right now, you two are the talk of the town in the royal capital… No, the whole country. After all, you're both candidates to become the next king. Even someone as ignorant as I am of the world can imagine that you're about to shoulder an incredibly big burden."
"Stop talking nonsense -- answer my question, and next time I'll cut you down."
"That's a terrible thing to say. But maybe you couldn't shoulder the weight of a country without being that arrogant. I don't understand that sentiment at all, but how can I understand the mentality of someone who willingly aims to take on a position of great responsibility like kingship? Ah, I won't reject it just because I don't understand it. I myself have no intention of behaving in such an arrogant manner. Unlike you..."
Ignoring Crusch's request, the man continued using his slippery tongue for a long time.
However,
"--I said there wouldn't be a next time."
At the same time that Crusch coldly declared this, her arm swung a blade of wind.
An invisible slash that combined Crusch's wind magic and swordsmanship - an ultra-high-class slash with incredible range, famously known as "One Hundred Swords", it sliced through the man's torso diagonally from above, leaving him dead without even knowing where the attack had come from or who had fired it.
When the demonic beast "Great Rabbit" appeared in Karsten's territory, he annihilated the subordinate demonic beasts of the Great Rabbit on the plains. Due to his incredible success in his first battle, Duke Crusch Karsten was given the nickname "One Hundred Swords."
The power of the slash cut through the tough skin of the White Whale, contributing greatly to taking down its massive body. Compared to the mass of that demonic beast, its tiny body was no match for it, and there was no way it could have withstood.
And yet,
"...What kind of education did you receive to attack someone while they're having a pleasant conversation?"
A man stood there, tilting his head and lightly shaking off the body that had been slashed.
His whole being remained motionless in the face of the sword strike that sliced the white whale apart, and there was no trace of the sword on his body――no, not even on his body, not even on his clothes.
This was a completely different and unknown phenomenon from a slash being blocked.
Crusch held her breath, and Rem stiffened at this presence that was so far beyond the bounds of common sense. In front of the two of them, the man let out a small sigh for the first time, and said in a low, irritated voice, "You know..."
"I'm the one doing the talking. I was talking, right? I think it's a bit wrong to interrupt someone like that. Don't you think it's wrong? I don't want to insist on the right to speak or anything like that, but still, if someone is talking, isn't it a kind of tacit understanding that we shouldn't interrupt them? It's up to them whether they want to listen seriously or not, so I don't complain, but I wonder about the decision not to let them speak."
As he spoke quickly, the man stomped his foot on the ground, making his displeasure clear. Then he pointed his finger at the two, who were silent in their eerie state,
"Now keep quiet, but I wonder what that's like. You're listening, aren't you? You asked, weren't you? You asked a question. If asked you would answer, that's how it is, right? But you don't do that either. You don't want to. Ah, freedom. That's your freedom, too. From your perspective, it looks like I'm speaking on my own and being cut off, asking a question on my own and being ignored. That's how you use your freedom. Fine, go ahead. But, you know, that idea basically comes down to this, right?"
Leaning forward and tilting his head towards the two of them, the man's eyes intensified as they pierced the two of them, then he spoke in a hushed voice.
"That means you're disregarding my rights - my few personal possessions, isn't it?"
The next moment a chill ran up Rem's spine, the man took a step forward. His arm, which had been hanging limply and carelessly, swung upwards, creating a slight breeze.
Immediately afterwards, in the line of the man's arm - the earth, the air, the world, all split apart.
Spinning around, spinning around, Crusch's left arm, severed at the shoulder, flew into the air.
The arm that was still gripping the sheath fell to the ground, blood splattering everywhere, and Crusch's body was blown away by the impact and collapsed to the ground, beginning to convulse from the intense pain and bleeding.
"Crusch-sama――"
For a few seconds, Rem was stunned, then she quickly jumped back and went to where Crusch had fallen. Summoning her last bit of mana, she placed her hands on Crusch's wound and began doing everything she could to stop the bleeding and heal Crusch.
The wound on Crusch's amputated arm was mesmerizingly vivid, the flesh, bone, nerves, and blood vessels of her left arm had been perfectly severed. The sharpness of the attack was almost artistic, and Rem felt more inappropriate admiration than horror.
"Ferri, su... uh, uh?"
In Rem's arms as she healed her, Crusch's gaze wandered unfocused as she muttered to herself. Her remaining right arm grasped at Rem's leg, her knee bone creaking with an extraordinary grip. It was proof that she still had the strength to live.
Gritting her teeth and enduring Crusch's blow, Rem's eyes lit up at the brutality of the man before her.
He had no idea how the attack had been blocked, nor the true nature of the blow he had just received. He had no choice but to avoid any of the preparatory movements and take Crusch with him.
To begin with, what was strange was this situation. Why hadn't the others, leaving only Rem and Crusch behind, jumped forward in front of this abnormal being? Why had those brave warriors, who had faced the white whale when their master had received such a fatal wound like this--
"Ah, really... no matter how much I eat, it's never enough! This is why we can't stop living. Eat, eat, chew, nibble, devour, bite, bite off, chew to pieces, crush, lick, slurp, suck, lick it all up, suck it all up, binge drink! Gluttony! Ahhh--that was a feast!"
Suddenly, a boy's high-pitched voice came from behind him.
Feeling the same chill down her spine as the man before her, Rem turned around with her whole body tense. Then, behind her, in the middle of the group of stopped dragon carriages, she spotted a bloody figure leaning back and laughing loudly.
He was a short boy with dark brown hair that reached down to his knees. He was about the same height as Rem, or maybe shorter, and two or three years younger than her - only a little older than the children in the village near the mansion.
Under his long hair, his thin body was wrapped in a dirty cloth that looked like rags, and the skin that was peeking out was stained red with blood everywhere.
Of course, it was not his own blood, but that of the knights who lay at his feet.
While Crusch and Rem faced off against the enemies in front of them, the knights were also facing off against enemies that had appeared behind them. And in the end, they were defeated without even letting Rem know of the signs of combat.
"You guys..."
With a trembling voice, Rem stepped back until she could see both her opponents in front of her and behind her. The blood dripping from Crusch left a crimson stain on the road, and the air grew colder, as if mocking her as she was driven by fear.
When the question was asked, the man and the boy looked at each other.
Then, as if in agreement, they nodded to each other, and with smiles that were both terribly friendly, violent, and devilish, they introduced themselves.
"Witch Cult Archbishop in charge of the sin of greed, Regulus Corneas."
"Witch Cult Archbishop in charge of the sin of 'Gluttony', Ley Batenkaitos."
※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※
"We sensed our pet had been killed so we came to take a look, and lo and behold -- what a bumper crop! It's good, it's good, it's good, it's good, maybe it's good, sure, it's good, it's probably good! Obsession! Love! Hatred! Chivalry! There were all sorts of joys and sorrows! That's what makes it worth eating!"
The Witch's Cult - specifically, the Archbishops of Sin.
Before Rem could freeze upon hearing those words, an excited boyーーthe person who called himself Ley Batenkaitosーstomped his foot on the ground and let out a strange cry.
He spun around as if dancing, pointing at the fallen knights with his arms, gazing lovingly at them,
"It's really nice to come here and eat with our own hands like this. Especially since we haven't had a chance to meet such spirited people with a good appetite recently, we feel our hunger being satisfied for the first time in a while."
Echidna: "That's something I don't understand about you, Batenkaitos. It's not like you're actually starving or anything like that, and even if you are satisfied, it's not something that belongs to you. Why can't you be satisfied with who you are now? You see? A person can only possess what their two arms can hold, what can fit in the palm of their hand, right? If you can understand that, won't you naturally be able to control your selfish desires?"
"We don't need lectures, we hate them. I won't deny that what you say is wrong, but I'm not interested. Ah--really, we don't care about anything other than satisfying this hunger."
Batenkaitos, the 『Gluttony』, laughed insanely, while Regulus, the 『Greed』, shrugged in boredom.
Faced with the situation of two Sin Archbishops being in the same place at the same time, Rem tried to think of a way to somehow defuse the situation, as her mind was on the verge of stalling.
In terms of military strength, it's impossible to crush these two here.
Though Crusch's bleeding had stopped, her condition remained critical. It was impossible to tell whether the knights were dead or injured, so they could not be counted as a fighting force.
Rem herself had used up all her mana on the current healing. If she fought as a demon, she should be able to last a little longer, but facing these two, she couldn't see a chance of winning.
On the one hand, there's "Greed," who shows no weaknesses in either offense or defense. In terms of individual fighting strength, there are rumors that he has taken over an entire city, and his abilities are unknown. And on the other hand, there's also no end in sight to his otherworldly abilities, such as "Gluttony." His fighting strength is unknown, but he's a powerful man who has mowed down veteran knights in just a few dozen seconds. There's also no sign of a future where he can be defeated.
Glancing around, he noticed that the dragon carriage pulled by the pack of ligers was nowhere to be found. It was now carrying only the returning and injured members of the Beastman Mercenary Corps, and the head of the white whale that they had managed to salvage.
They probably took advantage of the commotion to escape, and are now heading towards the royal capital. The person in charge there is likely Hetaro, who is also the vice-commander of the mercenary group. He is a man of intelligence and common sense, so if we can buy some time, he may return with reinforcements.
But that too--it didn't seem like it would be possible to finish it in time while Rem was fighting back against the two of them.
"The White Whale..."
"Oh?"
"Huh?"
Hearing Rem mutter, the Sin Archbishops simultaneously tilted their heads.
Rem held her breath slightly, knowing that she had found a conversation starter to buy some time, and spoke quickly to avoid losing interest.
"Did you come after the White Whale to retrieve it? Because Rem and the others were trying to take its severed head back to the royal capital."
"The head? Ah, I thought it smelled weird for some reason, so that's what happened. I don't really need the head, and there's no point in taking a dead one home, so it's fine. If we wanted to make one, we could make another one… well, it would probably take just as long to grow, though."
Having simply stated something that could not be overlooked, Batenkaitos cracked his neck. Then, chattering his teeth, he declared emphatically, "More importantly-",
"What interested us more was not the death of the White Whale, but the people who killed it. They killed this thing that had been languishing for 400 years. We had hoped that they would be a bunch of ripe, ready-to-be-eaten creatures... but wow, this was even better than we imagined!"
The boy shook his head up and down, spitting as he laughed, his long hair flying about. All the while, he was clicking his extremely long canines together.
"Love! Chivalry! Hatred! Obsession! A sense of accomplishment! It's been stored up for a long, long time, and then it's simmered and boiled up, and the satisfaction of it going down your throat! Is there a gourmet meal in this world that surpasses this?! There isn't, there isn't, surely there isn't, surely there isn't, surely there isn't, surely there isn't, and it's precisely because there isn't! Binge drinking! Binge eating! So much! Our hearts, our stomachs are trembling with joy and fullness."
I don't understand what you're saying.
As if he had lost control, Batenkaitos continued laughing in a high-pitched boyish voice. As the strained voice echoed, Rem silently turned her gaze towards Regulus, who was there before her, waving his hand in response.
"Unfortunately, I'm completely different from that guy over there, you know? The fact that I'm here is purely a coincidence, not the result of any proactive action on my part. Of course, that's to be expected. I don't have hunger or cravings like him? Those sorts of base selfish desires. Unlike that hungry guy who is constantly tormented by an insatiable hunger, you see, I'm infinitely satisfied with who I am now."
With his arms outstretched, Regulus stood before Rem with a beaming expression.
With both his arms wide open, capable of doing the same thing as cutting off Crusch's arm, he made a gesture as if to strongly assert his presence,
"I don't like conflicts. For me, it's enough if I can just enjoy normal, peaceful days, and I don't want anything more. Peaceful, safe, unchanging times and myself, that's the best. My hands are tiny and powerless. I'm a weak individual, and the best I can do is protect my personal possessions."
Regulus clenched his fist as he asserted. With just the movement of his fist, he had cut down an earth dragon, several lives, and a woman, so what a bold statement to make.
Batenkaitos, who continued to laugh like a madman, and Regulus, who was basking in his own selfish opinions and self-satisfied, were both abnormal. These people were, after all, the Witch Cult.
Anger boils up.
Rem laid Crusch, who was breathing deeply as if she was dead, down on the grass, then, straining her trembling legs, stood up. An iron ball in hand, and using all her remaining mana, she made icicles float around her body.
Seeing this, the expressions of Batenkaitos and Regulus changed.
"Were you listening to what people were saying? I said I don't want to do it. If you listened to that and still act like that, then you're ignoring my opinion. You're violating my rights. You're trying to take away from me my tiny sense of self, my personal property, that I've been allowed to have. ーーNo matter how selfless I am, I can't forgive that."
"Is that enough of what you have to say, Witch Cult?"
As Regulus raised his head, Rem spoke with a resolute attitude. Regulus was disgusted by this, and Rem threatened him by clanging the chain of her iron ball.
"One day, a hero will surely appear who will defeat you. He will surely make you realize just how selfish you have been, and how much misery you have created through your self-satisfaction. That person will be Rem's beloved, the one and only hero."
"Hmm, a hero. We're looking forward to that too. If you have that much faith in you, then you must be a delicacy to us."
Clapping his hands, Batenkaitos bent his body and stuck out his tongue as he appraised Rem.
It was not the eyes of an enemy, nor the eyes of a woman. The light in his gaze was none other than that of a hungry ghost licking its lips over food.
Behind him, the people lying on the ground behind Batenkaitos became vague.
Right now, Rem couldn't understand his existence, or what position they were in. Why were they lying there, who they were, or what their relationship was to him.
The White Whale's mist was a nightmare manifestation that erased all beings it touched. So, what about the power of 『Gluttony』, who was said to be commanding it――
"Rem, the head servant of Margrave Roswaal L. Mathers."
As she was about to state her name after her own position, Rem shook her head.
Just for this moment, the name that he truly wishes to use.
"Right now, I have just one loved one. ーーMy beloved, Natsuki Subaru's attendant, Rem, who will one day become a hero."
A white horn protrudes from its forehead, drawing in the mana that fills the air and energizing Rem.
Power surges throughout his body, the arm gripping the iron ball starts to wriggle, and the icicle waits for the call any second now.
I opened my eyes, recognized the world, felt the air, and simply pictured him in my mind.
"Prepare yourself, Archbishop of Sin. The hero of Rem will surely come to judge you!!"
The iron ball is swung up, and at the same time an icicle is shot out, Rem's body explodes into the air.
As if to intercept it, Batenkaitos opened his fanged mouth wide,
"Oh, that's good spirit -- here you go!"
We collide, we collide, and at that moment, I think.
Hopefully, it will send ripples through his heart when he realizes he is lost.
--That was Rem's wish in her final moments.