--Come to think of it, it was the first time I'd experienced teleportation without losing consciousness.
The discomfort of stepping out and landing in a place other than where you should be. The strange feeling of feeling the air you are supposed to feel on your skin as something completely different. The feeling of a foreign body caused by dissonance in your internal organs due to ignoring gravity and inertia.
The unpleasant feeling of having all these things mixed together and jumbled together.
That was what Subaru felt the moment he returned from his loss of consciousness after being pushed away by Beatrice and flying out of the Forbidden Library.
"--I knew you'd do some crazy things, but when you break my common sense like this, it's quite hard. It's getting hard to keep my composure."
「The next time will be at the talent show during the New Year holidays. It will be a combined technique between me and the Drill Lolita girl. This will be inside the village, right?」
"That's what I expected. Incidentally, if my guess is correct, I thought you came out from the door of a stable or something."
Pointing at his feet, Julius grimaced with a pity-sounding expression. Subaru followed the finger and realized he was stepping on a large amount of bird droppings.
"From the toilet to a chicken coop covered in feces... in that instant, he really harassed me."
Muttering to himself with dissatisfaction, Subaru slowly walked out of the barn, shaking his raised leg. The chicken-like birds remaining inside saw the sudden intruder, Subaru, leave, and began pecking at their food in relief.
Glancing at this from the side, Subaru turned his head to check his surroundings. When he looked, he saw without a doubt the scenery of the village he had just passed by.
"Could that have been teleportation magic? If so, then you have had a very rare experience. Magic that connects separated spaces is close to a lost dimension of Yin magic. There should be fewer than five people who can handle it."
「That's so lucky… but that's not the point. What should I do about that stupid girl…!」
Subaru replied with a flippant remark to Julius, and turned towards the mansion, his eyes bloodshot with anger. The image that crossed his mind was of a girl with cream-colored hair in vertical curls, the one who had cut off their conversation and acted on her own accord.
The sad expression on her face as we parted is burned into my mind and won't go away.
"What's the point of making a face like that? Stop messing around. If it's come to this, I'll just have to drag you out by force..."
"Maybe we should stop that."
Subaru was rolling up his sleeves and rolling his shoulders in enthusiasm when he was suddenly stopped by a peaceful voice. "Uh," the familiar voice said, and Subaru stopped moving.
Slowly, with an unnatural movement so unnatural it almost cracked his neck, Subaru turned around - and noticed right in front of him, a grey-furred cat floating in the air towards him.
At the same time, Julius also noticed their presence, straightened his back and bowed politely,
"It's been a while, Great Spirit."
"There's no need to be so reverent. My status as a spirit is nothing more than a decoration, and I have no intention of bestowing my blessings on anyone other than Lia. That's right, I am the brute force of the spirit world..."
"Is there really no need for a reason to worship a being with such great power? If I may add, I am also a mere elementalist. I see no reason not to respect you, including the quasi-spirits in our contract."
"It's elegant, it's good, it's good."
Puck was smoothing his beard with his hands as he listened to Julius's ridiculously polite speech. Subaru looked up at him, cold sweat running down his back.
His heart was beating faster, and he complained of a numb feeling in his limbs. Emilia was nowhere to be seen around Puck. She was acting alone. This made his heart flutter.
"It's bothering me too when you stare at me with such passionate eyes, Subaru. I know that I'm so cute after seeing you for the first time in a while that I can't help but be unable to resist."
"...As a mere Mofflist, the scary thing is that I can't completely deny it, seriously."
Puck, looking down at him, spoke jokingly, without any regard for Subaru's feelings. Subaru shrugged, agreeing with the joke, and resisted the stiffening caused by the mental pressure. However, his heart was still beating rapidly.
If he had to give a name to this emotion, Subaru thought it would probably be "fear."
Subaru was now filled with unmistakable fear at the nonchalant expression on the face of the kitten before him, its long tail wagging as it spoke nonchalant words.
If that being were to unleash its true power, Subaru would be blown away with ease, no different to a puff of dust. Subaru had already done this three times.
It would be cruel to tell them not to be nervous or scared.
"So, what did you mean just now?"
"What about that one earlier?"
"Don't forget what you said right away. I stopped you from going to pick up Bearko."
Subaru was annoyed that Puck had seemingly forgotten what he'd said, but he asked again, hiding his complicated feelings. Puck replied, "Yeah," and lightly clapped his hands.
"I mean it. If you're trying to take Betty away, you shouldn't. You met her, you talked to her, and that kept you at a distance, right? So that's her answer."
"It's dangerous to remain in the mansion. There's a high chance that the Witch Cult members will go on a rampage. We can't afford to be so leisurely about not being found..."
"I don't think Betty's door crossing can be broken, and even if it is, that can't be helped. That's the answer she gave."
Subaru instinctively opened his eyes wide and held his breath at the words that were spoken.
I was about to ask if it was a joke, but the kitten in front of me still had the same expression and attitude. I could only assume that she was serious.
"No matter how you look at it, isn't that a bit too cold? She adores you so much, and yet you..."
"I also think of her as a little sister. But that familial love and choosing your own destiny are completely different things. I don't want to be lumped together like that."
"You...!"
Subaru was enraged by the cold, matter-of-fact answer and took a step forward. He couldn't believe that Puck would behave like that, so he stretched out his arm to grab him and make him correct it. But,
"Subaru, stop doing that."
"Ugh, you're not going to stop me either... I'm wrong...!"
"I don't fully understand the situation, but that's not the case. Trying to change the Great Spirit's mind is a futile effort. Our values are different from those of those people. We can't get along."
Julius put his arm to stop Subaru from stepping forward and shook his head. As if to prove his words, Puck looked down at the enraged Subaru with a calm and elusive demeanor. It was as if he felt nothing at all about the exchange that had just taken place.
"What's wrong?"
Puck blinked his dark eyes and tilted his adorable face slightly as he asked the question.
However, the fact that her tone, expression, attitude, and mannerisms were no different from their everyday counterparts was precisely what Subaru found unusual at the time.
Subaru and Puck have known each other for a long time, counting from when they were summoned to the other world. Having met Puck at the same time as Emilia, he had exchanged many words with him, and had developed a certain fondness for his unique personality, so he had thought they had been good friends up until now.
However, Subaru couldn't understand what was going on inside his mind, even though he thought they were such good friends.
Contrary to his appearance, he is very human, and should be able to laugh, cry out in anger, and even feel sad when he thinks of someone's disappointment.
"If Emilia heard that, she'd definitely be angry."
"--That's none of your business, Subaru."
For the first time, it was a clear rejection coming out of Puck's mouth.
As Subaru looked up, Puck spun around in the air and turned away. And then,
"Either way, Betty won't be showing her face again. I don't think the Witch Cult would be so quick to notice the Forbidden Library. In her case, it's probably safer for her not to come out in public. If she's family, you have to trust her."
"...If you're family, shouldn't you fix anything you think is wrong?"
"I want to help and protect whoever they are. Subaru, that's something a grown man who can take care of himself should say."
Puck responded harshly to Subaru's words, and moved away.
Subaru could only look at that tiny back with regret. Julius, standing beside him, patted him on the shoulder as if to comfort him,
"I'm not doing this for your sympathy. It's making me miserable, so stop."
"Your aspirations are admirable, and are the qualities of a knight. However, as his existence suggests, there are still many things you lack. So, what will you do?"
"What are you talking about... what are you talking about?"
"That's it. The villagers have been persuaded and all that remains is for them to board the dragon carriage. Lady Emilia and her female attendant are also riding in a separate carriage from the villagers. All that remains is for us to be ready to depart...Who was the person you were talking about earlier?"
While Subaru was conversing with Emilia and Beatrice at the mansion, the members of the extermination force, led by Julius, seemed to be managing the situation well.
The evacuation preparations have already been completed, and all that's left is the regret of having stayed behind in the mansion.
"If we take too long and there are delays in the evacuation then it will all be for nothing... Damn, I'll hate you, Bearko. If only you had just come with me obediently."
"We'll regret it later. The longer we take, the more we'll exacerbate the anxiety of the residents that we worked so hard to calm. I think now is the turning point."
Subaru bit his lip at Julius' remark, shook his head in deep thought, stomped his feet, groaned "Ahh!", and then,
"Ram, the mansion maid, will guide us to a place called the Sanctuary where Roswaal is stationed. There is military capability there, so we can at least guarantee our safety."
"...Is that okay?"
"It's not good. It's not good, but... I guess there's no other way."
Gritting his teeth in frustration, Subaru looked back towards the mansion.
I wonder if even now, behind a door that no one ever opens, in a dark room, the girl is sitting on a stepladder, quietly engrossed in reading a book.
Subaru: "You've caused me nothing but worry, you bad girl. Please don't ever get caught… I'll see Emilia-tan off, and come back right away."
Hands together, Subaru prayed to a god he didn't even believe in.
So I forced myself to make up my mind with a token prayer, and set off, dragging along my effeminate feelings.
"Once we guide the evacuees to the Sanctuary, we will return immediately and use the mansion as our base to hunt down the remnants of the Witch Cult. Petelgeuse… what about the Sin Archbishop?"
"Lord Wilhelm and Ferris will be on guard at all times. If there are any signs of awakening, Lord Wilhelm will attack. If we can get a sense of Mana's condition, pretending to be asleep won't work on Ferris at all, so he should be the perfect person to keep watch."
"Well, that's a relief then. Well then, let's go, Patrasche!"
Heading towards the village exit on the road side, Subaru raised his hand and called the earth dragon's name. The black earth dragon, by which the nickname had completely taken root, walked towards Subaru, turned around leisurely as if waiting for its master to ride it, and leaned back.
"The trust I've built with you is what's keeping me going now, honestly."
"――――"
Lightly stroking the sides where the tough scales stood out, Subaru then leapt onto Patrasche's back with what he could not call a dashing movement, and used the reins to help Patrasche start walking.
The herd of earth dragons - the traveling merchants' dragon carriages - were already waiting for the command to depart, and surrounding them were veteran warriors looking in their direction, weapons in hand.
"Subaru, I'm waiting for your orders."
"Mine?"
Suddenly, Julius, who was straddling the earth dragon and standing next to him, called out to Subaru.
As if to affirm his words, the many people looking at me exchanged glances of approval. Naturally, my heart began to warm up.
Not knowing whether that emotion was due to shame or some kind of emotion, Subaru raised his fist high in the air,
"---Let's head for the Sanctuary and depart!!"
"--oh!!"
The voices of the overlapping knights rose high into the air, and the great movement began.
※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※
"I was really surprised when I met a wandering mercenary named Yuri."
Emilia, lips pursed, resting her chin between her knees, glared at Subaru. Her childish behavior was so adorable that it drew his attention, and Emilia, with an even more sulky look on her face, continued, "Hey,"
"I was so, so surprised."
"I'm also just now being surprised at how cute Emilia-tan is, what's the matter?"
"I told you so, wandering mercenary! I thought Yuri was someone I didn't know at all, but it turns out he's Julius. You two had such a fierce fight, when did you ever make up?"
Raising her voice slightly, she pointed over to the stopped dragon carriage. There, she saw Julius talking with a group of beastman mercenaries. Subaru, seeing this, grimaced in disgust and said,
"We haven't made up or anything. That's because Yuri is just a wandering mercenary. Our relationship is tenuous, that of employer and mercenary, connected only by money. It's only natural that we cooperated."
Subaru: "You're being stubborn like that in a weird way… I don't understand that side of boys. I wish you'd make up with Julius like you did with me."
"I wanted to make up with Emilia-tan so badly that it almost made my heart break, but I don't really want to make up with her. I hate her, forever."
Subaru spoke in broken English, swinging his arms rhythmically as he spoke with a sullen expression on his face. Emilia sighed in exasperation at his stubborn attitude, and shook her head weakly, seemingly unable to help it.
--About four hours had passed since they had left Roswaal Mansion and the evacuation had begun.
We have now travelled about halfway to our destination, the sanctuary, and have now stopped marching at the entrance to a forest road to take a rest.
As expected, it was a large movement with quite a few children, elderly people, and women. Julius, who was leading the way, had decided that pushing them too hard would cause problems.
Considering how excited I was, I was unhappy about stopping, but once I started to take a break I was stunned to feel a sudden sense of fatigue that I hadn't even noticed coming over my entire body.
That was only natural, as he had not had a single moment of peace and relaxation since his negotiations with Crusch at the Crusch mansion the day before yesterday.
"The travel time to hunt the whale, and then the actual battle. Immediately after that, we organized a countermeasure team for the Witch Cult, ran through the night, beat up Lord Pete, and now we're here… huh. Of course, I'm getting tired."
Thinking back on the time when the hard work had piled up more than I expected, I was exhausted and drank some water. The water was in a bamboo-like container handed to me by one of the peddlers. I don't know what magic was at work, but the ice-cold water slid down my throat and I was filled with energy.
"Ahhh! I live for just this one drink!"
"Balus, you smell like an old man."
Subaru groaned at the refreshing taste going down his throat, but Ram, who was serving with the same container, passed by him with a single word.
As I glared at his back in disgust, Emilia, who was sitting next to me, gave a small chuckle,
"Subaru. Your face has really changed."
"Really? Yes, I suppose so. To be honest, I'm so tired that I have really bad dark circles under my eyes. I hate it, lack of sleep is the worst thing for your skin."
"It's not that... somehow, I feel like you have a boy's face."
She said this with a smile, and Subaru's breath caught in his throat. He scratched his head so that she wouldn't notice his moment of hesitation, and turned his face away so that she wouldn't see his red face.
"So you thought it was a ball pear up until now?"
"What do you mean... Tamanashi?"
"Nuuah, an unexpected bombshell to hide your embarrassment... Pure Eyes hurts!"
Unable to comprehend the obscene words, Emilia tilts her head in confusion, which is both adorable and painful.
As Subaru clutched his chest in agony, white fingertips caressed his silver hair, letting it flow down his back,
"Did Beatrice listen to what I had to say?"
"..."
"We met, but it didn't work out... I guess that's what the silence means."
"Did it show on your face just now?"
"Well, I guess I got it. Fufu, I think I understand Subaru's feelings now."
Subaru lowered his eyebrows in pity, but Emilia's smile did not fade. Feeling that he was not worthy of being smiled at, he wanted to keep looking at her. Subaru then consciously looked away. Seeing Subaru's profile, Emilia reached out her hand and touched his cheek with her slender fingertips. Surprised, he turned his gaze back,
"Don't make that face. Even I know how hard Subaru tried for Beatrice. Even after we broke up like that, he still came to me. There's no way he could abandon Beatrice."
Subaru: "That girl is selfish and has strong opinions. She ran off on her own and shut herself away. Once I've dropped off Emilia-tan and the others, I'll come back immediately and drag her out and give her a good spanking."
"Wouldn't Beatrice get really angry if you did that?"
"If you think about how Tom and Jerry look like, it's actually cute. Emilia-chan, if you have something you want to say, I'll tell you straight away."
As Emilia resumed her light-hearted chitchat, her expression suddenly hardened. Subaru noticed and widened his eyes, and Emilia lowered her gaze slightly,
"I haven't really had the chance to talk to Beatrice much. So I don't know what to say."
"Not really..."
He was about to say it, but then Subaru noticed something.
A fact that she couldn't think of any scene of her and Beatrice having a conversation during their time at the mansion.
The only time Beatrice approached Emilia was to talk with Puck, who was always with her. Once that was done, the girl passed by without a word, or even a glance, to Emilia. And it seemed to her that Emilia had accepted this as well.
"It seems like Beatrice is avoiding me."
Emilia replied, understanding the reason for Subaru's silence.
As Subaru was speechless, Emilia's amethyst eyes flickered, searching his memory.
"When they first met at Roswaal's mansion, Puck and Beatrice hit it off right away. Although, even then they were left alone, so I don't know what they talked about."
"Those two also have a strange relationship. They act like brother and sister though."
First of all, the pairing of a Koneko brother and a little girl sister doesn't make sense. The two have nothing in common, so where is the gap for a brother-sister relationship to fit in?
Subaru tilted his head in confusion, and Emilia shook her head in response,
"Sorry, I don't know that either. However, my contract with Puck says not to pursue my relationship with Beatrice."
"A contract... you mean something you make with a spirit? Eh, what? You can include such personal details in the terms of the contract?"
"It's the standard by which the spirit itself judges whether or not it can connect with the caster. They say that the contents of the contract are completely different depending on the spirit. When it comes to a high-ranking spirit like Puck, it seems that you actually have to pay an enormous price..."
Emilia closed her mouth, feeling a little uncomfortable. Not understanding what he meant when he cut her off, Subaru urged her on, "But?", and she closed her eyes,
"Puck is really, well, he's been very lenient with me, so the conditions are all pretty easy. But there are a lot of them."
"Are there other things besides asking about your relationship with Beako?"
"There are a few things. Like styling my hair the way Puck decides in the morning, doing some simple exercise when I wake up and before I go to sleep, and not being picky about what I eat. I also talk to the micro-spirits in the morning and evening, and taking care of Puck's fur..."
"You're being too lenient! I'm just letting you live a healthy and wholesome life! You're being too lenient!"
Pac was so sweet to his daughter that he ended up repeating the same thing twice. Emilia blushed at Subaru's reaction and looked down,
"That's why I didn't want to say anything. I didn't think there was anything strange about you until we left the forest... but ever since we started living at Roswaal's mansion, I've wondered if something is a little strange..."
"What is that cat teaching the innocent Emilia-tan who knows nothing?… It's annoying that she keeps leading me in the direction of my preferences and it's all to my advantage! What is with that girl? She acts like that, but is she actually my Cupid!?"
If Puck was like a foster parent to her, then Emilia's current goddess-like behavior was the result of Puck's upbringing. It was disappointing to see herself almost forgiving Kanaji, even though they had just had a rather dangerous exchange earlier.
Anyway,
"That's why I can't get it out of Puck... but for some reason Beatrice has been avoiding talking to me. I still don't know why."
Returning to the original subject of her story, Emilia closed her eyes, looking sad. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her stiff expression showed that she was enduring sadness.
There was something touching about her face, and Subaru scratched his cheek with his fingers,
"Okay, I get it. Then, next time, Emilia and I will go and visit Bearko's Forbidden Library."
"picture?"
"It's the Forbidden Library. A moldy, unhealthy-looking room where the book-loving Bear girl has been holed up all day. If she spends her time reading books in a place like that, her eyesight will deteriorate and she'll end up becoming an unhealthy child wearing glasses like the bottom of a milk bottle. Before that happens, let's have her follow the example of Emilia-tan, who works hard day and night to maintain her beauty and health!"
As she blinked her big eyes, Subaru clapped his hands, thinking it was a great idea.
Puck and Beatrice get along well, and Puck and Emilia also get along well. So if Beatrice is thrown into the mix when Emilia carries out Puck's proposal, surely there might be some hope of improving their relationship? Even if it doesn't, if the results show that the method didn't work, that's progress in itself. It's progress that there was no progress.
Subaru: "You should always try something first, Emilia-tan. If she escapes when you try to talk to her, then next time, try catching her. She may escape after all, but before she can, she'll surely complain in a loud voice. If you complain back in a loud voice… before you know it, you'll be able to laugh and talk to her."
"――――"
A rough and optimistic communication lesson from Subaru's style.
Even Emilia couldn't hide her shock at the radically incomprehensible nature of the contents. After a few seconds of being frozen in place, she suddenly...
"Hehe."
He put his hand over his mouth and burst out laughing.
"Oh, I got Emilia-tan's smile."
"Aha, what are you talking about, seriously. Subaru is… no, amazing. Subaru is amazing, seriously amazing. Yeah. Mhm yeah… amazing."
Subaru finds himself thinking rather lewd things like wishing he'd only recorded the second half, while feeling unexpectedly awkward after being praised so much.
Emilia, unaware of Subaru's reaction, let out a deep sigh,
"Maybe I'll try that next time. Maybe I'll talk to her like that next time."
"Yes, let's do that. For that reason too, we must evacuate with all our might. After that, I will return with all my might, and secure Bearko with all my might. After that, I will hand her over to Emilia-tan with all my might."
"You always give it your all."
"I've only just started to learn that nothing good ever comes from cutting corners."
He stuck out his tongue in response, and Emilia imitated him by sticking out her tongue. Though it was just an imitation, it was a thousand times cuter, shocking Subaru. Leaving Subaru frozen in place, Emilia said, "It's about time," as she sat down and brushed off the hem of her dirty clothes,
"The one-hour break we were scheduled to take will soon be over, so we need to get ready. Have you had a chance to rest, Subaru? Are you pushing yourself too hard?"
"Thanks to Emilia-tan, the relaxing effect is amazing. E.M. "ＨEmilia-tan Magic Healer
"You're doing that again... It's been a while since I've heard those words I don't understand."
It's been a while since we've had this exchange and I'm happy about it, said Subaru, shaking him off as he stood up as well.
Then he twists his waist, turns around, and sends his gaze around without Emilia noticing.
Nearly thirty dragon carriages were parked and a fairly large rest area was created for them to rest.
Each of them gathered with members such as peddlers and villagers, each expressing their anxieties and exchanging information. Meanwhile, not a single person, apart from Ram, who was wandering around serving food, had set foot in Emilia and Subaru's direction.
It would be nice if he was being considerate to the two of them, who had a good vibe together, but that is not actually the case.
--No one wants to have anything to do with Emilia, who is a half-elf.
Even the strong knights of the extermination squad, who had overcome hardships together with Subaru, were no exception to this preconception. Although they tried hard not to show it in their expressions or attitudes in front of Subaru, when presented with an opportunity like this, their natural reactions to her rejection of their existence would come out.
The only ones who interacted with her naturally, aside from Subaru and Ram's family, were Julius, Ferris, and Wilhelm, and Mimi, who didn't seem to be thinking about anything in particular.
In the midst of an evacuation, even in a state where they were all in the same boat, this was the state they were in. Subaru's expression clouded over with anxiety about the future, and he wiped his gloomy face with his palm, not wanting Emilia to see it.
He wiped it roughly, shook it around, pointed his fingers at the sky and did a big turn.
"Well then, let's set off again! I know that you want to be with me, Emilia-tan, but please swallow your tears and return to the dragon carriage."
"By the way, Subaru, I feel like the earth dragon you're riding has been glaring at me a lot for a while now… It must have grown quite attached to it."
Emilia glanced over at Patrasche, who had simply ignored her light-hearted remark and was glaring at her. It was as if she had the pride of a beast that wanted to prevent its master from being taken away.
"Hey, hey, partner, are you jealous of Emilia-tan? Stop it, you and I are in the same boat. I won't give in on that. However, I will entrust my soul to Emilia-tan――Brrr!"
As he tried to calm him down with smooth talk, he was blown away by Patrasche's swirling tail. Seeing Subaru rolling violently across the ground, Emilia slumped her shoulders in exasperation,
"If you keep saying kind things to girls like that, you'll end up in big trouble. You have to save them for the girls you really care about."
"You are always the brightest star in my heart..."
"Yes, yes. Come on, let's get going."
As Subaru rolled around clutching his injured side, Emilia obliged and climbed into the dragon carriage. Looking around, the others had also finished their rest and were starting to move again,
"Balus. No matter how tired you are, sleeping on the floor shows a lack of awareness as Roswaal-sama's servant."
Ram, who had followed Emilia into the dragon carriage, looked down scornfully at Subaru, who was tumbling about as if abandoned.
※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※
After a break, the journey to the sanctuary resumes.
Unlike the Leafaus Highway leading to the Royal Capital, this route was hilly and taxing on both the dragon and the rider. Not only were there repeated inclines, but they also traveled along forest roads and rough roads with exposed rock faces, and sometimes had to go through narrow roads where it was barely enough for a dragon carriage to pass through.
Naturally, the villagers, who were not used to marching like this, and Subaru, an amateur, were only becoming increasingly fatigued, and Subaru repeatedly found himself on the verge of breaking down by consciously tensing up.
"Excluding breaks, the travel time was about six and a half hours… I think it's about time we got an idea of where the sanctuary is…"
Leaving his entire weight on Patrasche, and aided by his dexterous partner's considerate movements towards his rider, Subaru tilted his head and scanned the tilted world.
However, in front of me now lay a road surrounded on both sides by small hills, and because I couldn't see beyond the hills, my destination still remained unknown.
"Subaru, I think it's about time we get an idea of our destination..."
"You should have brought that up ten seconds earlier. I wouldn't have had to be disappointed twice."
Subaru's training was surely an advantage. Julius stood next to him, his movements still graceful and showing no sign of fatigue, and he smirked at what the limp Subaru said.
He smoothed his bangs, which were swaying in the wind, with his fingers, and squinted at the same road at the bottom of the hill that Subaru had seen,
"I see, this is a road where the march will likely slow down again. We can't afford to let our guard down."
"...I know. If I were the enemy, I'd attack soon."
Subaru replied to Julius, who had raised his voice, and as he glanced over at him, a hint of surprise rose in his eyes,
"I'm surprised I agree with you. Do you think there will be an attack after all?"
Subaru: "It's probably best to think that there is. It's rather creepy that there hasn't been any movement up to this point, and we still have the Sin Archbishops in our hands. It's not like I'm expecting a sense of camaraderie or anything like that, but… they're not the kind of guys that will end like this."
"You seem to be quite confident. I think so too."
Nodding in satisfaction at Subaru's answer, Julius clicked the hilt of his knight sword and turned his attention to the center of the marching line of dragon carriages - the one in which Wilhelm and Ferris were standing, guarding Betelgeuse.
"If they die, they will possess another body, huh? If that's true, it's an extremely troublesome authority. Ultimately, it'll be best to borrow the power of the Great Spirit and seal it away."
"I thought so. I thought that was the best option too. It's a bit frustrating though."
To be honest, the only one I want to kill is Petelgeuse.
Subaru's own hatred was telling him to do so, but more than anything it was a feeling of righteous indignation. He didn't know all the specifics of that man's actions. He didn't know everything, but there was one thing he did know.
This man must have died here.
"That's an incredible way of thinking. If I were in my original world, I would never be able to think about something like this so realistically."
It would have been possible to just say things like "Go die" or "I'll kill you" with just my mouth, but ever since coming to this world, I have been made to realize the value and importance of life. I don't think I'll ever be able to say those things so lightly again.
Having been made to face this reality, and still thinking this way, that man is beyond salvation.
No, there are some people who do not deserve to be saved.
--That's when it happened.
「ーーSubaru!」
"--!?"
Julius suddenly raised a sharp voice and Patrasche stopped in response to his raised hand. The swift command was transmitted to the whole group, and the march came to an immediate halt.
The cause of this was an order from an elderly knight who had been leading the charge. He drew his sword, raised it to the sky, and shouted loud enough for all to hear.
"--Up ahead, on the road sandwiched between the hills, there are many figures! They are dressed in black... They are the Witch Cult!!"
Having loudly announced this, Subaru and Julius looked at each other, nodded, and ran towards the front of the line, as chaos began to take hold.
Julius ran off, and Subaru, not to be outdone,
"Stay calm and act! Knights of the Kingdom, protect the people, Iron Fang, follow my lead!"
"There's no need to panic, it's okay, I'll do whatever it takes! There are a lot of strong and cool knights with us, and we also have a tough and wild mercenary group. Hey, don't show your face and protect Mom, Mildo. Petra, you can look forward to my victory too!"
At Julius' command, the knights and mercenaries moved into action, and Subaru's shout made the anxious villagers retreat deeper into the carriage.
Having witnessed this, they succeeded in separating the combat personnel and the refugees into two groups. Subaru and Julius then took the lead, bringing the unfolding Witch Cult into view.
The Witch Cult crawled out from the other side of the hill - approximately thirty members in number.
There were two hideouts that were not found, making the number of remnants slightly higher than expected.
"Even if I were Petelgeuse, I would have prepared a separate force for the assault. That's not surprising… How about it, Julius? Can you do it?"
"Although they are more numerous than expected, we still have the advantage in terms of numbers. What's more, this is a frontal clash. The Witch Cult hides in the shadows and behaves despicably, so there is no way they can stand against us knights."
Julius unsheathed his knight sword and answered Subaru's question with a dignified demeanor.
Following his movements, the knights pulled out their prey one after the other, and the mercenaries on their ligers began licking their lips as if eagerly awaiting the smell of blood.
Feeling his fighting spirit rising, Subaru looked behind him.
At the front of the lowered carriage was the one Emilia was riding in. From the small open window, I could see her silver hair fluttering in the wind and her amethyst eyes looking towards me with a worried expression.
I hold up a finger in reassurance to his gaze, then look further back.
There, Petelgeuse was still held captive, remaining silent, and Wilhelm had dismounted from his dragon carriage, his sword at the ready, on guard against threats from both within and without.
"We just need to crush the Witch Cult in front of us and freeze Petelgeuse, and that will be the end of it. Looking back, it's been quite a long journey, hey."
But finally, the end of that journey is in sight.
There was no basis for this. But, vaguely, my soul understood. My heart knew that all beings here were each other's total fighting power.
Therefore, I have no hesitation in giving it my all.
"We will annihilate the Witch Cult. All hands--"
Taking a breath, Julius let out a loud command.
Their fighting spirit surged, and at the next shout, everyone took off running―― just before,
「――――!!」
What rang out was a deafening explosion powerful enough to rupture eardrums.
A tremendous tremor rumbled through the earth, and the shock and blast swung my upper body. A ringing in my ears like metal being struck reverberated in my skull, and I could feel my vision flickering.
"What, but..."
Unable to hear the words he was saying, Subaru turned his head, certain that that was the source of the impact.
--There, all that remained was the remains of the dragon carriage that was supposed to have carried Betelgeuse, vanished without a trace,
"Shima――!!"
The moment that possibility occurred to Subaru, he realized how thoughtless he had been.
At the same time, the surrounding knights and mercenaries were also speechless when they saw the same thing Subaru had seen. And just as their fighting spirit was being dampened, the Witch Cult approached from the road on the other side of the hill - the woman at the front of them laughed warpedly,
"Now, the beginning of the end--Death!!"
The black demonic hand reached out with such force and pressure that it seemed to cover the sky.
It starts to rise up.
It stretches out... and comes.