Arc 10, Chapter 19 – "An Enemy Far Too Great"
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――Just how much time had passed since they had started running?
Environs which forbade one from properly feeling the light of outside, and a vague duration of time spent bereft of consciousness. He sensed it had been anywhere from a few hours to half a day since the events had transpired.
Subaru: [Seems like we've miraculously thrown off the pursuers, though…]
Regulating his heavy breathing whilst wiping the sweat ambling down his chin, Subaru looked backward amidst the tepid stench to make sure there were no inaudible footsteps of any invisible pursuers.
Until a few moments prior, they had been under constant pursuit by a troupe of the Kingdom's soldiers, allowing them not even the time to catch their breaths.
Their paths blocked, escape routes lost, the choices of either being caught or forcibly breaking through flickered within their heads incessantly, they made it out by a hair's breadth at every turn――,
Subaru: [We got through it somehow thanks to that profusely massive earthquake… which reminds me, I don't recall ever experiencing an earthquake since I came here, so what was up with that?]
Beatrice: [Betty was also astonished by that rumbling… but for now, it is a chance for us, in fact. Subaru, hold your arm out, I suppose. Betty will apply some healing magic to your burns, in fact.]
Subaru: [Yeah, that's a huge help.]
Saying so, Subaru lowered Beatrice to the ground after having carried her in his arms the whole time.
Beatrice opened and closed her palm as though to ascertain, after which she cloaked Subaru's right arm―― the arm wrapped in a handkerchief in place of bandages, in a pale, healing light.
Feeling the dull, constant pain he had borne subside, he inadvertently let out a lengthy sigh.
Beatrice: [So you really had been grinning through the pain, I suppose. Wish you would've said so sooner if it was weighing on you, in fact.]
Subaru: [Nah, it seriously did slip my mind while we were rushing and I just forgot, I'm telling you. Right at the moment things settled down, the pain came back with a vengeance. H-Hurry up… and help meeee…!]
Beatrice: [Yes yes, a truly helpless child, I suppose. It'll be over right away so don't be a crybaby, in fact.]
Subaru: [Thank you, Beako Mama…! You must be stretched thin on Mana, right?]
Beatrice: [――. To be frank, there is none to spare, I suppose.]
Subaru: […Well, that makes sense.]
Subaru scratched his cheek with his other hand in response to Beatrice's answer, as she treated his burns.
It was unavoidable, after all, they had given quite the lavish performance at Miklotov's mansion. After the rapid-fire Yin Magic of Minya and Shamak, and chaining the use of EMT on top of that, with Subaru as her undependable external Mana tank, Beatrice must have been on the verge of running out of gas.
More and more, he felt the urge to lament his utter isekai inaptitude.
Subaru: [Though, I was in an excessively good state in the Empire… could it be that when my body was turned small, it was filled to the brim with way more hopes and dreams, or something like that?]
Beatrice: [That was an exceedingly unnatural state that distorted your Od, so Betty doesn't have a particularly favourable impression of it, in fact. Don't know how many human body experiments it would have taken to perform that, I suppose.]
Subaru: [Even though he's no longer an enemy, and we've also long left the Empire, the looming darkness of Olbart-san, or I should say, of the shinobi, only continues to deepen…]
Most certainly, the task of kneading the Od, equivalent to something like a soul, into whatever shape one so desired did not seem like it would be possible without practice. If that were the case, then it would be concluded that not merely Olbart but the shinobi village had continued to practice kneading souls, conferring no falsities to the name Vicious Old Man.
Crusch: [――It would seem the soldiers were driven to respond to the rumbling from earlier. The vigilance melded into the wind has faded, and the tension has dissolved. It would be safe to say we have thrown them off for the moment.]
Then, entering the conversation whilst surveying the environs with sharpened eyes, it was Crusch.
Illuminating the sewers with the dim light of a lamp of lagmite ore, her amber iris unconcealed by the eyepatch kept narrow, she watched Subaru as his arm was being treated and fell silent.
For a moment, Subaru found her reaction dubious, but it immediately came to his mind that it must have been healing light―― for Crusch, it reminded her of something close, something arduous for her to forget.
Subaru: […I guess… it's not something we can talk about right now.]
In all honesty, the situation was moving with the inordinate momentum of billowing waves.
Per Subaru's perspective, since the stage he shared with Al at Pleiades Watchtower, there had constantly been something happening one after another, giving him no time to repose his nerves. The entrance of the Church of the Divine Dragon, Crusch's recovery, and the subsequent turmoil at Miklotov's mansion leading him to now becoming the fugitive Natsuki Subaru, it had been rigorous.
――Even though in truth, he had just wanted to speak about Ferris's dismissal upon meeting Crusch.
He wanted to verify with Crusch her reason and motive behind dismissing Ferris, somehow fumble together onto a point of compromise, and aid the two in mending their relationship in the aftermath of their strife.
Ferris would surely call it prideful meddling, but nevertheless he would pay it no heed.
Whom an onlooker would deem as an impatient, selfish man of pride, that was precisely who Natsuki Subaru was.
Crusch: [――To the both of you.]
Subaru: […Hm?]
Crusch: [To the both of you, I am grateful. For the fact that you ran after me, amidst a situation such as that.]
Subaru: [――――]
Subaru clamped his mouth shut upon what Crusch conveyed, the tone of her voice lowered.
Grateful, merely that one word, by his own mind, was far too modest a price for him to indeed feel this half day spent entirely on the run had been recompensed. But at the very least, had they chosen not to run after her back at that place, they could not have drawn these words from her.
Subaru: [But, I can't just say "you're welcome" so easily. My burns hurt, though you did shield me from Tiga, but it's because of you that a fight even broke out in the first place, Crusch-san, and I'm definitely causing worry and trouble for Emilia-tan and everyone else, and my courageous Beako has steeled her resolve to live through four-hundred years of hell with me…]
Beatrice: [Subaru, Subaru, just because you haven't sorted out your thoughts doesn't mean you should be stroking Betty's head around so impulsively and rashly, in fact. Betty's adorableness will be spoiled, I suppose.]
Subaru: [Ah, my bad… you're right! It's been spoiled so much… I can't even bear to look!]
Beatrice: [That's impossible, in fact! Even if Betty's hairdo is a mess, rather than clouding Betty's cuteness, it will come to be the discovery of a new charm point, I suppose!]
With her hair disheveled by Subaru's hand as he found himself with nothing better to do, Beatrice yelped in defeat, though not going so far as to interrupt his healing.
This usual exchange of theirs felt as though it slightly unravelled the anxiety that seemed to have congealed even his organs, a salvation. ――At the moment of Subaru's such nonchalant relief.
Crusch: [Pfft.]
Subaru: [――! Crusch-san, did you laugh just now?]
A faint sound jolted the air, and Subaru unwittingly widened his eyes.
He looked to find Crusch standing by the sullied walls of the sewers, with a hand placed over her mouth. Upon receiving Subaru's gaze, she supplemented a single word, "Apologies",
Crusch: [Watching your exchange devoid of the present tension, I could not resist it. It was my immaturity.]
Subaru: [I can't argue against you about all the anxiety, but it's far better than feeling endlessly tense all the time. Besides, you've shown nothing but a scary face so far.]
Crusch: [A frightening face, you say. I suppose there is also the matter of my eye, after all.]
Subaru: [Nah, even with one of your eyes turned like that, Crusch-san, you're nothing but a beauty.]
Crusch: [――――]
Beatrice: [Subaru…]
Subaru: [Huh!? The mood slightly worsened again!?]
With one hand over her eyepatch, Crusch narrowed her eyes, and as even Beatrice was appalled by him, Subaru flustered about. However, after a short sigh, Crusch slowly shook her head,
Crusch: [You are… no, both of you are truly strong.]
Subaru: [If you're talking about me and Beako, then using the plural is correct. Without Beako, I'd just be another nobody among the riffraff. But you know…]
Crusch: [But?]
Subaru: […This strength, is something you also ought to have held, Crusch-san.]
Crusch pursed her lips upon Subaru's reply.
Observing this, Subaru reflected upon his words as being intrusive. That he had compelled her expression, which had softened for a mere moment, to turn rigid once again.
As Subaru oscillated between what words to continue with, Beatrice tapped his arm.
Beatrice: [Here, all done, I suppose. It should not be critical for now, I suppose.]
Subaru: [Hm, I see, thanks… Hmm, it feels a bit tight, but not bad.]
Beatrice: [Leave the handkerchief as is, in fact. It might feel itchy, but since the skin may become gooey, we'll leave it there to ensure you don't accidentally start scratching, I suppose.]
Subaru: [That's way too damn scary so I'll bear it in mind. ――And, so.]
Offering twofold gratitude to Beatrice for her well-timed intermission, Subaru once again turned towards Crusch. The treatment of his arm had finished, and the pursuers had been thrown off for the moment. With all that, there were a copious number of matters he wished to discuss with her.
What he imperatively wished to verify first, was――,
Subaru: [Crusch-san, do you have any clues out of this situation?]
Crusch: [Clues, hm? I did, prior to things turning to this. However, it was slain to abandon by my own hand.]
Subaru: […Based on the way you're phrasing it, could your clue maybe have been…]
Crusch: [That is correct. It was Miklotov McMahon, prior to his wicked conspiracy being uncovered.]
Subaru: [Oh my god…]
As she indifferently nodded in assent, Subaru looked up towards the heavens whilst feeling his vision turn black, his gaze bouncing back from the not-particularly-tall soiled ceiling of the sewers.
It was the same for Subaru so he could not revile it much, but there were an exorbitant amount of impetuses by which one might consider relying on Miklotov for information pertaining to the Kingdom. The fact that even Crusch, having been placed into a difficult position as a Royal Candidate after the matter with the Church of the Divine Dragon, had arrived at the same reckoning, was a testament to Miklotov's eminence.
However――,
Subaru: [That's the Miklotov-san who had been harbouring a plot to overthrow the nation…?]
Crusch: [That is correct. ――Sir McMahon agreeably welcomed me upon my unscheduled visit. However, purporting to have a scheduled visitor he was expecting, he had kept me waiting in a separate room…]
Subaru: [A separate room. What about that?]
Crusch: [Whilst I was left in the guest room, I witnessed a suspicious wind pertaining both to myself, and to the visitor he would subsequently be welcoming in. Therefore, I attempted to go inquire of his intent, when the men in the mansion obstructed my path―― the rest is as the two of you already know.]
Subaru: [What we saw…]
A slain Miklotov, and the servants and guards who had collapsed just as they arrived at the mansion. Even with the chronology of how things had arrived at their executions elucidated to him once again, it was still an answer he could not easily assent to.
In the end, the problem was that Crusch's basis of distrusting Miklotov was a suspicious wind―― namely, by virtue of the Divine Protection of Wind Reading that she possessed.
Subaru: [――――]
Albeit a matter of course, Subaru could not share the Divine Protection of Wind Reading into which she placed unconditional faith. Hence, beside his desire to trust Crusch, he was bereft of confidence.
And, that was――,
Subaru: [――The same as me, back then.]
Whilst conversing with Crusch, Subaru savored an emotion as though constricting his chest.
A perfect mirror image of a back and forth he had once exchanged with Crusch―― back when the Royal Selection had barely started, when Subaru's vision had been beclouded by his hatred towards Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti, the Sin Archbishop of Sloth who inflicted annihilating destruction upon the Roswaal Mansion and Arlam Village; this situation was utterly identical to that time.
Subaru: [Back then, my blood was boiling, my eyes were clouded by the fact that nobody believed me, failing to listen even a little bit to what the people around me were saying…]
His distortion, fully corrupted by hatred and wrath, was seen through by Crusch, and she resolutely cast aside his foolishly frenzied stance. ――Now was a restaging of those positions, inverted.
Crusch's present words and deeds were the same as Subaru's when he had erupted with ire for not being understood, brandishing information gained by a method incomprehensible to others, named Return by Death.
Needless to say, Crusch's conduct appeared to be more reasonable compared to the foolish Subaru of that time.
However, contrary to the powerless Subaru, Crusch had power and position alike.
Subaru: [――Yeah, I can't.]
Beatrice: […Subaru?]
Subaru: [Now that I know she's the same as me, I no longer have the option to abandon Crusch-san here. Whether I have to help her or stop her.]
Subaru bit his lip and tightly balled his fists, as Beatrice quietly watched from his side.
At that time, Crusch had been preparing for the behemoth undertaking of subjugating the White Whale. Yet, she continued to patiently face the ignorant, vapid, insolent Subaru. In the end, she lent her ears to Subaru's words, and aided him with her power to help realize his ambitions.
Now, it was Subaru's turn to do the same. ――To stand by her side if she was in the right, and to stop her if she had erred, even if it meant standing in her way. For that purpose.
Subaru: [Crusch-san, I am――]
Crusch: [――Pause, Natsuki Subaru.]
As he almost vocalised the determination he anchored, Crusch halted him.
However, Crusch's looks were far too austere for him to think the wind had been taken out of her sails. She moved closer to Subaru and Beatrice, shielding them in her rear, her eyes laser focused on the murk of the sewers.
Subaru looked in the same direction as her vigilance, though nothing reflected in his eyes――,
Crusch: [――Somebody is there. Even if you conceal your breaths, your emotions mount onto the wind. My eyes shall not permit them escape.]
Subaru: [――! Didn't we shake off the pursuing soldiers…]
Crusch: [It is likely a party bearing a separate motive from them. Allow me to warn you, remaining silent bears you no yield. Otherwise, I shall deem it as hostility――]
???: [――Wait wait wait! Don't be so hasty! I get it! I get it, alright!]
Unsheathed before anyone could notice, her poniard in hand, it happened just as Crusch poised herself to stand on guard. Pressed by the swell of tension and vigilance in her tenor, a flustered voice responded from the darkness ahead of the channel.
Subsequent to his surprise for the veracity of Crusch's eyes, the voice itself caused Subaru to knit his eyebrows with a "Hm?". ――A voice that he recalled.
Subaru: [That voice just now…]
???: [Shit! I'll come over to you now! Got it? Don't attack, okay? I ain't trying to duke it out with you fucks at all!]
Crusch: [That depends on your next move. I shall inform you that I am unable to make any imprudent promises. Having said that, you are one and we are three, you are outnumbered――]
Subaru: [――Wait, are you… Chin?]
Crusch: [What?]
Keeping her guard up toward the shouting man, Crusch raised an eyebrow at Subaru's question. Nestling up beside Subaru, Beatrice also quietly murmured, "Chin…",
Beatrice: [Thinking back, that was the man we saw in Pristella, in fact.]
Subaru: [Yeah, that's right. Right now, he's being taken care of at Felt's place…]
???: [――And it was that very Felt who told me to come here. Tsk, damn embarrassing.]
Clicking his tongue in displeasure, the man slowly emerged from the darkness with both hands raised.
And as soon as he did so, just as expected, it was the man with shihaku eyes even nastier than Subaru's sanpaku ones―― Rachins, one of the three Tonchinkan back alley thugs who had, at some point, joined Felt's camp.
Subaru: [Oh, Chin…! It's always a refreshing surprise whenever you show up.]
Rachins: [Shaddup! I told you before that my name ain't Chin! It's Rachins!]
Beatrice: [Chin, I suppose.]
Rachins: [I'm telling you I ain't Chin, you runt!]
Beatrice: [A daring Chin, in fact.]
Leaving aside Subaru, who was deeply moved by the face he had not seen in quite some time, Rachins and Beatrice engaged in a fruitless quarrel.
In fact, this was the first time he had seen Rachins since Pristella―― specifically, since they had been caught up together in Sirius's violent display that served as the outset for the Witch Cult's gathering of good-for-nothings. Of course, his safety had also been confirmed in the aftermath, but it was a great joy to see him so energetic like this.
Subaru: [Nah, it sure is great to run into a familiar face. I have so many things I wanna ask――]
Crusch: [Stop right there, Chin, or whatever your name may be. Unlike Natsuki Subaru, I know of you not.]
Subaru: [Crusch-san!?]
In contrast to Subaru's instinctive joy upon reuniting with an old acquaintance, Crusch cast a sharp gaze towards Rachins with her poniard in hand, her vigilance not softening in the slightest.
Now that she had mentioned it, Rachins had not stayed at the Water Plumage Pavillion, and since he had withdrawn from the warfront after the initial encounter with Sirius, there was never an opportunity for him and Crusch to cross paths.
Crusch's caution was justified, and just as he thought so――,
Rachins: [Ahhn? For you to say you don't know me, you're pretty damn heartless, ain't you now, Duchess Karsten?]
Crusch: […What?]
Rachins: [Well, look, I ain't in any position to talk freely with people of haughty high-class status like you, Duchess, but you would've been one of them who learned the sword from my old man. If you're gonna say that you ain't got a clue about that, then I guess my dad must not've done a very good job.]
Crusch: [――――]
And, as Rachins spoke with his long tongue hanging out, Crusch wore a perplexed expression. On the other hand, Subaru could not help but be dumbfounded by the stupidly bold nerve of Rachins.
Subaru: [Dude, no matter how reckless you are, just running your mouth like that is…]
Rachins: [I ain't running my mouth…! Though I may look like this, I was born to that sorta household. And so, though I can count the number of times on a single hand, I've met the Duchess and her family before.]
Subaru: [Seriously? If you're making this up, you've got a dangerously wild imagination, man…]
Nevertheless, when someone spoke with this much absolute confidence, it would inevitably start to sound like the truth, proving that the words and hearts of humans could never truly be relied upon.
With that in mind, Subaru nervously stole a glance at Crusch to glimpse her reaction,
Crusch: [――. ――――. ――――――――. By some possibility, are you the honored son of Rickert Hoffman-dono, esteemed for his noble service as the Royal Instructor?]
Rachins: [Hah! Hear that? Looks like I actually managed to stick in Duchess Karsten's memory.]
Subaru: [For real!?]
Beatrice: [He seems to be for real, I suppose.]
Taking her ample time, Crusch produced the name of a single person as if scraping it out from the depths of her mind. And as Rachins affirmed her identification, Subaru and Beatrice reflexively exchanged glances.
To think that Rachins, of all people, was truly born of Lugunican nobility.
Subaru: [How did someone like that end up as a thug picking on the weak in back alleys?]
Rachins: [Shaddup! Everyone's got their own circumstances, so don't pry!]
Beatrice: [When it comes to circumstances, Betty and Subaru also have a great deal at the moment, in fact. It would seem that the reason you have made your way here, is not unrelated to those circumstances, I suppose.]
Rachins: [Ngh…!]
Subaru: [Yeah. It's as Beako says… Crusch-san, you can put that down. You don't need to worry about Chin over there, probably. You have my assurance.]
Crusch: [――. Any suspicious behaviour, or if the wind so much as stirs, I shall cut him down.]
Rachins: [Behaviour's one thing, but how the hell do you expect me to take responsibility for the wind…!?]
Before Rachins, visibly trembling as he spoke, Crusch slowly lowered her poniard, and dissolved her vigilant posture. Though, with that said, she stopped short of returning the blade to its sheath, and she kept a firm watch over Rachins's conduct with her single eye.
Anyhow――,
Subaru: [Once again, you did well to come here. How did you manage to track us down?]
Rachins: [It wasn't any sorta impressive method. I wasn't the only one searching for you fucks, either. Gaston and Camberley are also off roaming around to look in other places.]
Beatrice: [In that case, you merely happened to stumble upon the right answer, in fact? It truly wasn't an impressive method, I suppose.]
Rachins: [Shaddup, damn runt. I found you in the end, so who cares? Ah, so then what? What'd you fucks do for shit to turn out like this?]
Subaru: [As for that, it'd be a long story if I were to get into it, and I'm not confident you'd be satisfied upon hearing it. So first of all, I'd like to hear from you. ――How are Emilia and the others?]
Knowing full well that it was rude, Subaru brushed Rachins's question aside, and pressed him for answers.
After all, since escaping from Miklotov's mansion, he had failed to get the chance to procure any actual information about what was happening in the outside world. With feelings of unease, worry, and irritability, Subaru's inner heart was a complete mess.
Subaru: [The fact that we're together here with Crusch ought to have reached the ears of Emilia and everyone else by now. And if so, they must be worried and troubled to death…]
A double whammy of the mental burden of worry, and the physical burden of being questioned by the Kingdom. With that, the camp would have been in a great kerfuffle. ――However, those expectations of Subaru's were completely betrayed.
Utterly shattered, in a form he never could have imagined.
Rachins: [Ahh…]
Subaru:[――?]
After Rachins slightly widened his shihaku eyes at that inquiry, his face took on an uncharacteristic expression that seemed to be showing consideration for Subaru, and spoke.
That was――,
Rachins: [The half-elf from your place is being held captive at the Castle. What's more, the other members of your camp have all fled and gone into hiding. ――Just like you, every last one of them is a wanted fugitive, you fuck.]
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――Emilia's detainment at the Royal Castle, and the flight of Rem, Otto, and the others from the Royal Residence.
It truly was bad news that felt as if heaven and earth had been overturned.
Repeatedly attempting to process the information Rachins had conveyed to him, his mind went in circles, round and round and round and round, in order to comprehend it all. By such means, he made every effort in order to somehow understand it.
He made every effort, but――,
Subaru: [Wh-why would they be…?]
Beatrice: […Indeed, Betty hadn't predicted this either, in fact.]
Aghast with his face gone pale, Subaru muttered so, only to then notice the chattering of his teeth.
It appeared that events which were so far beyond one's comprehension could suck even the heat right out of a person. It was to the point his blood had run cold throughout his body, conjuring a hallucination that even the extremities of his hands and feet were turning necrotic from frostbite.
Holding hands with Subaru as he found himself in such a state, Beatrice gently shared her warmth with him. Even so, his body did not stop shivering. ――The situation had become far worse than any superficial imagination of his.
Subaru: [It's my… it's my fault, that Emilia, that everyone else…]
Rachins: [Keh, I guess you'd wanna say some worthless shit like that, but quit acting like it's on you, you fuck. Because no matter how you look at this situation, you've been set up.]
Subaru: [Eh?]
With a shrill ringing in his ears and while staggering due to vertigo, Subaru blinked in surprise. His arms crossed, Rachins clicked his tongue in irritation at Subaru's reaction.
Just then, Rachins had said Subaru and everyone else had been "set up" as if it was completely natural.
Subaru: [When you say we're being set up, what do you…]
Rachins: [It's been one thing after another, without any breaks. On the whole, don't you find it strange? Aren't there way too many inconvenient things suddenly occurring all over the damn place?]
Looking like he wanted to sigh, Rachins shrugged at the dumbfounded Subaru.
In response to his way of putting it, in place of the lethargic Subaru, who seemed like some part of his brain had gone numb, Beatrice responded with,
Beatrice: [That would be both Betty and the others being pursued, as well as Emilia being imprisoned in the Castle… I suppose?]
Rachins: [――. That ain't all though. The other fucks from your camp probably fled without even trying to talk it through because they realized that the enemy was going to have them killed.]
Subaru: [Killed… hk!?]
Rachins: [It's a hypothetical, a hypothetical! In practice, they can't just up and kill a Royal Candidate all of a sudden… That's also why that tomboy was even able to send us away.]
As Subaru's eyes shot wide open at the unsettling word that had been dropped, Rachins kicked the filthy wall in response.
And yet, thanks to Rachins quite patiently discussing it with him, contrary to his blunt attitude, Subaru's ability to think had at last begun to recover bit by bit.
To sum it up――,
Subaru: [Someone is operating behind the scenes to make Emilia drop out of the Royal Selection. And so, my own actions were skillfully used to that end, causing Emilia to be apprehended and brought to the Castle. Otto and the others realized the intentions of the one plotting all of this, and escaped before they lost their own ability to move freely… something like that?]
Beatrice: [There is just one thing Betty would like to add to that, in fact. ――There is also the possibility that Emilia is not the only one being targeted by that scoundrel, I suppose.]
Subaru: [Not just Emilia?]
Rachins: [――――]
When Subaru, prompted by that being pointed out, raised his eyebrows, Beatrice nodded and pointed with her chin. Following that movement, he looked over and saw Rachins making a sullen look, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue.
It was clearly the face of someone who had been hit in a sore spot――,
Subaru: […By any chance, Chin, was the reason you came here not just because Emilia and Felt are friends now?]
Rachins: [Shit, the damn runt noticed something unnecessary…]
Beatrice: [Betty's role is to fill in the gaps where Subaru is lacking, in fact. Besides, saying "runt, runt" over and over again… do you want to be taught a lesson, I suppose, human?]
Rachins: [In that case, teach your master to call people by their actual fucking names!]
Raising his voice at Beatrice, with whom he seemed to possess a poor affinity, Rachins heaved a deep sigh. Then, after hesitating for a bit,
Rachins: […It ain't just the half-elf from your fucking group who got captured at the Castle. It was Felt too. They dug up some dirt on her, and now that bastard Reinhard has also been prevented from acting freely.]
Subaru: [Reinhard has!? Also, Felt's been detained too… in that case, what they're targeting isn't Emilia, but the Royal Selection itself!?]
Rachins: [So slow on the uptake. Anyway, Felt was suspicious of that, and so before she was hauled off to the Castle, she gave us orders, saying, "Go look for Nii-chan and the others. If you find him, don't leave him alone." Owing to that, I ended up stuck running all over through this damn gutter stench.]
It was understandable that Rachins had been reluctant to speak in the sense of it being a disadvantage for his camp, but having that information versus not having it entirely altered the underlying premise.
Without a doubt, Subaru had concluded that his own actions had only been used as a way to defame Emilia, but it appeared that the aims of this opponent were on an entirely different order of magnitude.
If Emilia and Felt, as well as Subaru and Reinhard, who were involved with them, and furthermore even each of their camps were all at risk of being drawn into this, it was absolutely no accident.
It was a clandestine operation aimed at the Royal Section that would send violent tremors throughout the Kingdom of Lugunica. And, Subaru had happened to previously hear a tale of such scale that was far too great.
Subaru: [Crusch-san, did you hear that!? What you said before…]
Raising his head enthusiastically, Subaru invited Crusch into the discussion that she had been keeping watch over.
Until Rachins had joined them, Subaru had been unable to place complete faith in the validity of Crusch's statements, based on her Divine Protection of Wind Reading. However, the muddy torrent of information that he had just been showered with had been enough to confer a certain degree of credibility to those suspicions he had been unable to fully trust.
Perhaps the designs of Miklotov that had led to Crusch taking up her blade was also a part of this malice attempting to bring the Royal Selection to ruin.
However――,
Subaru: [Hey, Crusch-san?]
Finding her lack of response strange, Subaru looked at Crusch, and could not believe his own eyes. ――It was because Crusch, standing along the wall, was drowsily nodding off.
To start to fall asleep in the midst of a conversation while keeping vigilant, such a thing was an incongruent behavior provided the situation, and something uncharacteristic of Crusch.
As Subaru noticed this and spoke up, Crusch, looking back at him with clearly vacant eyes,
Crusch: […Apologies, a drowsiness has suddenly come over me. I suspect…. it is likely… the burden from my left eye…]
Subaru: [Burden… to begin with, since when have you had that eye?]
Crusch: [I leave… the rest to you… Subaru… sama…]
Subaru: [Hold on a sec!]
Perhaps reaching her limit there, he had thought her upper body was just swaying unsteadily, but then Crusch suddenly pitched forward and collapsed. As he hurriedly caught her, the poniard slipped from Crusch's hand as her strength left her, making a high-pitched clatter upon the floor of the waterway.
And yet, the woman herself heeded not such sounds, and began to make the quiet noises of one breathing in their sleep.
Subaru: [Are you kidding me? In the middle of such an important conversation… she fell asleep!]
Rachins: [Oi, what's going on with the Duchess? They're saying all sorts of shit about her, like that she lost her Memories, that her body was ruined, and that her mind finally snapped.]
Subaru: [Haaah!? What the hell are you saying about Crusch-san!? I'll punch your lights out, asshole!]
Rachins: [I ain't the one saying all that! The hell's up with you, you fuck!]
Beatrice: [Enough, in fact! Stop arguing over every little thing, I suppose! ――From the looks of things, she is merely sleeping, in fact. It seems like she exceeded the limit of her exhaustion, just as the girl said herself, I suppose.]
Interrupting Subaru and Rachins, Beatrice peered at Crusch's sleeping face, making her judgment. The unconscious Crusch did not appear to be suffering in any particular way to Subaru's eyes either; it just looked like a simply exhausted body demanding some deep sleep.
Nevertheless, as Beatrice had said, if this was what Crusch had stated to be a side effect of the Dragon Eye, then sure enough, perhaps that unnatural object was not something to be ignored.
In particular――,
Subaru: […The Sacrament of the Church of the Divine Dragon, and Tiga's testimony. There's no way they're unrelated to the situation where Royal Candidates are being targeted.]
Putting it bluntly, the circumstances were such that it was impossible to think that these things were not related. And yet, paradoxically, that directly led to casting doubt on the organization known as the Church of the Divine Dragon.
The Church of the Divine Dragon was a religion deeply and strongly embedded within the Kingdom of Lugunica. Even if they were to assess them as a potential enemy, just to what extent ought they consider them so?
Given the circumstances, he had no choice but to suspect Tiga, but what of Sakura? ――Of Filóre?
Subaru: [If my worst fears prove to be true, I'd also feel down, but Emilia would really grieve…]
Even without that, Emilia was still detained at the Castle, not aware of whether Subaru and Beatrice were safe, much less Otto and the others.
In order to relieve even the slightest bit of the burden upon her heart, he must play it. The utmost advantageous move.
Resolved to do so, Subaru carried the body of the slumbering Crusch, holding her tightly. Meanwhile, he nodded to Beatrice, who had picked up the poniard and returned it to its sheath.
Subaru: [Rachins, we're getting nowhere here. Since you went out of your way to come here, I imagine you've got somewhere in mind that'd be a little better for us to talk, yeah? Let's go.]
Rachins: [I ain't thrilled about you bossing me around, but I won't pick a fight over every little thing… That said, I can't guarantee that we'll be able to deceive the eyes of those around us in the Royal Capital right now.]
Subaru: […Once again, I'm really starting to feel just how bad of a situation we're in.]
Their enemy was scheming to utilize great, truly great power to entrap Subaru and everyone else.
Perhaps, the fact that he had been able to join up with Rachins here, as well as hear the current circumstances from him, was likely nothing short of a miraculous happening where the considerable force of coincidence had taken his side. Or perhaps calling it a miracle might have been an affront to Rachins, who had tracked them down on Felt's orders.
In either case――,
Subaru: [I also want to let Crusch-san rest somewhere we can be more relaxed. If we can feel a little more at ease in both body and mind, we should be able to talk things through more properly. So――]
???: [――You would be in luck for that! Just now, this very moment, this very instant, I was absolutely dying to extend an invitation to the fugitives throwing the entire Royal Capital into chaos!]
Subaru: [――Wha!?]
In that instant, a voice that stuck out like a sore thumb echoed throughout the sewers, and Subaru, with Crusch upon his back, as well as Beatrice and Rachins, opened their eyes wide in shock and turned around.
The voice they heard was veiled amidst the darkness of the waterway, where the meager light of their lagmite ore did not reach. However, Rachins clicked his tongue "Tch!" in response to that, and threw something in that direction――,
???: [Oooh, let there be light, eh!? Kuhahahaha, truly thoughtful and attentive!]
A hard sound struck the floor of the sewers, and subsequently, a white light illuminated that darkness with dazzling brightness. What had been flung was the lagmite ore itself, emitting light upon impact.
Just as Rachins had intended in his split-second judgment, it exposed the form of the party embraced by the cover of darkness to the vision of Subaru and the others, who had swiveled to face it.
It was――,
Subaru: […A mask?]
???: [Oioioi, the first thing that comes to mind upon seeing me is just "a mask"? Well, that's far too simply just how it looks, just what meets the eye, and not anything more, isn't it? Ponder over it a bit more. Ardently, passionately choose your words, like seducing the woman of your dreams, you. Kuhahahahaha!]
The one who spoke thus, who then broke into a great fit of laughter that caused his body to shake, was a man―― and moreover, he could not glean anything beyond the fact that the individual was a tall man. The reason why was because that man was wearing a black costume that concealed his entire body, with his face covered by a clownlike mask.
The white clown mask faintly emerging from within the darkness only served to underscore the abnormality.
Those words and actions, that demeanor, and that vicious gaze directed through his mask; through their mere five-second long encounter, Subaru could immediately understand. ――This clown mask guy was no decent fellow.
As if to prove it――,
Masked Man: [Go ahead and die, all of you. The only one I have business with, is that woman sleeping over there!]
In an instant, a colossal gout of flames lit up the darkness of the sewers, incomparable to the light of the lagmite ore, and a severe wave of heat surged toward Subaru's party.
-x-X-x-
Arc 10,Chapter 20 – "Sheep in the Mirror, Dog in the Mask"
-x-X-x-
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
――Red.
That single color blanketed Subaru's vision.
Subaru: [――Hk!]
The man in a clown mask who had suddenly appeared, a character whose affiliation and motives were entirely unknown; instead of proper greetings such as "Nice to meet you" or "Farewell", he had opted to send an enormous fireball hurtling toward Subaru and the others.
The sensation of the surging heat scorched his skin, and the dimly lit sewer became as bright as broad daylight.
However, this had only resulted in arousing a certain despair, as it simply made the flames clearly visible as they expanded to a size that forbade any escape within the narrow waterway as they drew near.
With Crusch upon his back, Subaru was on the brink of running out of gas himself, having already used his daily limit of EMT and EMM, leaving him with no means by which to do anything about it――,
???: [Fucking shiiit!]
And then, he heard a voice, violently spat out, which was followed by a splashing sound that gave a sense of viscosity.
In the corner of his eye, Rachins, who ought to have been by his side, was nowhere to be found. Like Subaru, he had been alarmed by the arrival of Clown Mask and had reacted faster to the fiery onslaught than Subaru. ――Without hesitation, he dove headfirst into the sewage on the side of the passage, his sole path of escape.
???: [Subaru! Betty also thinks we should――]
Subaru: [No――]
Seeing that emergency judgment of Rachins's, Beatrice clutched at the hem of Subaru's tracksuit. She immediately attempted to pull Subaru into the sewage with all of her meager strength and light weight.
And yet, Subaru planted his feet and resisted that action from Beatrice. Beatrice's voice cracked as she exclaimed "Subaru!?" in response to his unexpected actions, but,
Subaru: [Trust me, Beatrice.]
Beatrice: [――――]
Wide-eyed, Beatrice stared at Subaru in shock as he declared so. Their eyes met, and as her round eyes with their distinctive pattern upon them trembled, Beatrice held her breath.
And then, faster than she could say anything, the mass of flames closed in right before her eyes.
Standing still, Subaru and Beatrice, as well as Crusch upon his back; that overwhelming firepower mercilessly consumed them all―― or not.
Subaru: [――Hk.]
The flames closed in, their skin was torched, and the moisture across their entire bodies evaporated in a single instant. ――And then, as soon as the wave of heat, so hot it felt like it had done all of that, began to singe Subaru's bangs, it vanished into thin air.
Like it had all been an illusion, the brightness of the sewers instantly fell, as if someone had concealed the sun before their very eyes. All that remained was the lamp in the hands of Subaru's group, the faint light brought forth by the scrap of lagmite ore that had fallen upon the floor of the passage, and the air of the sewer that still held the scorching heat of the extinguished flames.
――No, what remained was not only that, but,
Clown Mask: [――Why?]
Subaru: [Huh…?]
Clown Mask: [Why? For what reason? Just now, from there, from that place… you didn't move?]
The white mask of Clown Mask floated in the murky darkness.
Tilting his head, tilting his mask, it was as if Clown Mask was making a bewildered face―― actually, he had somehow replaced the truly villainous mask he had first appeared in without them noticing, affixing one with a different facial expression, a design that possessed X marks in place of eyes.
Though he found that poor prank to be aggravating, Subaru, blowing on his singed bangs,
Subaru: [You introduced yourself by saying you had business with Crusch-san. Thus, it would be odd for you to go and burn Crusch-san to death with the rest of us.]
Clown Mask: [――. Ku, kuku, kuhahahaha, that's it? You're saying that with only that, with no more than that, you stood your ground? Even though you could have easily gotten that Great Spirit partner of yours caught up in it!?]
Subaru: […But, I won the bet.]
Clown Mask: [Whaaat a confident bastard! As expected of a Royal Candidate's one and only Knight! Until now, up to here, by trusting in your own decisiveness and insight like that, you have carved your path forward! It's amazing and wonderful and I am in awe. I am utterly jealous!]
Contrary to his words lauding Subaru in a booming voice, Clown Mask said with his tone of voice that Subaru was entirely unworthy of such praise, as he gave a vigorous round of applause. As that loud applause that seemed to split the air echoed fruitlessly throughout the sewers, Subaru gritted his teeth, silently suffering the abuse wrapped up as praise from his opponent.
All of it was done to avoid pointlessly provoking his opponent, and yet――,
Beatrice: [That just now, was Subaru's cleverness exceeding your expectations, in fact. What foolish behavior, pretending it didn't happen and launching cheap jabs at another's character, I suppose.]
In the place of Subaru, who had not given a retort, Beatrice snapped back at their opponent with a sharp look in her eyes. In response, Clown Mask said "Tahaaa!" as he put his hand to his head, and,
Clown Mask: [How commendable, how loving, Spirit and Contractor, fitting together like lock and key. One cannot carry on without the other. Thaaat is preciiisely whyyy! Bonds can be both a poison and a cuuure!]
Beatrice: [You're someone who can't be reasoned with, in fact… it's the kind of loathsomeness that brings to mind the Sin Archbishops, I suppose.]
Clown Mask: [Wait, wait, wait, wait; give me a break, take it easy on me. There's no need to call me a Sin Archbishop! I can't stand being lumped in with that bunch, and in the first place, the one suspected of being so is you over there right?]
Subaru: [Suspected? Of what…?]
Clown Mask: [Of being a Sin Archbishop, that is! That rumor is the talk of the town up above, Natsuki Subaru. "He might be the Sin Archbishop of Sloth inside! What should we do, whatever shall we do?" they say, in a great panic.]
Subaru: [――Hk.]
Flapping and waving his hands about, Clown Mask mockingly informed him, changing his mask back to one with the original expression. His attitude was one that irritated him in every way, but Subaru lacked the leeway to mention it.
That was the extent to which being treated as Sin Archbishop was weighing heavily upon Subaru's heart.
Subaru: [Me, a Sin Archbishop…?]
Beatrice: [There is a limit to how far you may go with your absurd malicious suspicions, in fact. If it were true, then how would you explain Subaru so thoroughly beating the Witch Cult until now, I suppose? Would you call that the internal violence of a power struggle, in fact?]
Clown Mask: [Weeell, I don't know, I don't fathom, and I don't care! Perhaps no one is interested in something like the truth, maybe they simply wish to spread information convenient for them, staged in a way they like, so that they can take advantage of it. Those kinds of bastards… really just piss you off, yeah?]
In the midst of speaking, Clown Mask swayed dramatically, lacking any composure. And yet, that final remark appended to the end alone came across as the true feelings of the eccentric before him.
While feeling that, Subaru, after taking a deep breath in and out,
Subaru: [In the end…]
Clown Mask: [Hmm? Hmmm? Mmm~?]
Subaru: [What's your objective? I get that you're trying to take Crusch along with you. But, for what reason, and for whom? With that appearance, I don't believe you're with the Kingdom's soldiers.]
Not only pursued by the Kingdom's soldiers, but also being treated as a Sin Archbishop; that fact was enough for Subaru, who was allergic to Sin Archbishops, to break out in hives, but he would have to set that aside for now.
Then, if he were to focus his issues solely on Clown Mask in front of him, what arose was the natural question.
He was aiming to secure custody of Crusch. However, he was not an ally of the Kingdom's soldiers. ――If that was the case, the natural conclusion was that he was a collaborator of the group who had framed Subaru and the others.
To be honest, even disregarding the matter of Crusch, against an opponent who wielded such mastery over magic, Subaru and Beatrice, low on gas, had no chance of succeeding in a frontal assault.
He needed to somehow extract some information, buy some time, and discover an opening―― and, it was at that moment.
Subaru: [――? Hey you, what is that?]
Clown Mask: [Mmm~? What is it, what are you doing, if you're just stalling for time… Gegeh.]
In response to Subaru, who pointed that out while frowning, Clown Mask looked down at his own body and groaned.
What Subaru had pointed out was Clown Mask's black robes, completely concealing his build―― a blinking light faintly shone through from within the breast of that outfit.
The presence of that blinking light reminded Subaru of something.
Subaru: [By any chance, is that a Conversation Mirror?]
Clown Mask: [Aaa! Eee! Uuu! That can't be true, that can't be possible, right? And let me tell you! Just because my belly is flashing, that doesn't mean your fate will be altered――]
Beatrice: [The light seems to be getting brighter, I suppose. It looks like you have quite important matters to attend to, in fact.]
Clown Mask: [Nnggghh…! You two! Right there! In that place! Wait juuust a moment!]
Pronouncing so with such vigor it sent spittle flying, Clown Mask turned his back on Subaru and Beatrice standing there. Subaru was unconsciously caught off guard by how incredibly brazenly he presented such an opening.
With his back turned, Clown Mask rustled about in his breast pockets and produced something in his hand―― a Conversation Mirror in all likelihood, and began to speak with someone through the mirror.
Even with his back turned, full of openings, Subaru's group was of no threat. The fact that it seemed like they were being told so was supremely infuriating, but――,
???: [It's now or never. Oi, pull me up…!]
As Subaru decided only that they would make a move, that hushed voice impatiently struck his ears.
Glancing in the direction of that voice, it came from within the flowing gutter right beside him―― there, floating with his head above the filthy water's surface, was Rachins.
Subaru: [Chin! You were in the sewage this entire time!?]
Rachins: [I didn't wanna carelessly catch his attention! Also, there's a chain submerged in the water, and my leg got fucking entangled in it so I couldn't get back up…]
Beatrice: [If you had drowned, it would have been the worst way to go, I suppose.]
Rachins: [Shaddup already! Now hurry up and gimme a hand!]
As Rachins protested from in the sewage, Subaru hesitated for a moment over what to do.
Obviously, he wanted to help by pulling him up, but both of Subaru's hands were full carrying Crusch on his back. That would leave them relying on Beatrice, but with her body weight and strength, it was doubtful she would be able to pull Rachins out. If anything, there was a risk that the victims of the sewage might just increase by an extra person.
In that case, they might as well employ Murak, which interfered with gravity, and a parallel breakthrough might――,
Clown Mask: [Aah, fucking shit, damn it! I'm doing a good job! I might be a tad flamboyant and I'm not saying I haven't made erratic choices, but I'm not doing something so disreputable as ignoring or deviating from instructions!]
Subaru: [――Hk.]
Raising his voice, Clown Mask stamped his feet, complaining to the person on the other side of the Conversation Mirror.
After that, Subaru wondered what his conversation partner had said, and as Clown Mask gave an "I got it, I got it!" as a perfunctory reply, as if he had given up, he then――,
Clown Mask: [Hey you, catch it without dropping it!]
Subaru: [Huh? Eh, Beako!]
Beatrice: [――That was close, in fact!]
Turning back around, shoulders slumped as if to sigh, Clown Mask had suddenly thrown something at them. As soon as he grasped that it was Conversation Mirror, Subaru called out Beatrice's name.
As previously mentioned, Subaru's hands were occupied by carrying Crusch. Therefore the one to catch it as it traced a gentle parabola was Beatrice, who hurried to reach out her arms.
Beatrice: [A-almost dropped it, I suppose. You, what were you thinking…]
Clown Mask: [The other side of that mirror wants to chat and exchange words with you!]
Subaru: [With us?]
The seemingly disgruntled Clown Mask caused Subaru and Beatrice to exchange glances with his words.
And then, on guard for any suspicious behavior from Clown Mask, the two of them cautiously peered at the Conversation Mirror in Beatrice's hand.
Doing so, the form of Clown Mask's conversation partner rose to the surface of the mirror――,
???: [――Ah, it's coming through! Umm, can you see my face?]
Subaru: [――――]
That line spoken, seeing the form of the other individual projected upon the mirror's surface, Subaru was at a loss as to how to respond.
After all, he had hardly expected that the figure that took shape upon the Conversation Mirror passed to him by Clown Mask, would be a girl with childish features.
He did not recognize the girl's face. Her age was likely a year or two younger than Subaru.
She was a girl, with her long, lovely indigo hair done up high on both sides, and large, round, golden eyes, emanating a powerful will. Within the narrow frame of the mirror, the outfit of the girl with a well proportioned face and an air of a certain fragility was that of a white shirt, its collar tightly adorned by a thin tie, with a pitch-black jacket atop it―― a figure in a black suit prioritizing practicality over ostentation looked at him through the mirror.
The gap between the girl's earnest gaze and the current situation brought considerable confusion to Subaru.
Subaru: [You're… sorry, you would be?] [1]
Girl: [Umm, I'm called White Sheep. Black Dog over there… the masked man, I'm afraid he must have caused you considerable trouble… I'm sorry.]
Subaru: [S-sorry, you say…?]
The girl, who had introduced herself as White Sheep, had said so, and then bowed deeply from the other side of the mirror. As the girl went out of sight from in front of the mirror with such force, Subaru's brain could not process all of this information.
Clown Mask―― the man that the girl had called Black Dog, was evidently a dangerous individual. And yet, this girl who appeared to be on the same side as Black Dog, was bowing her head to them in such a manner―― whether it could be said to be contradictory or incoherent, the only explanation was that they had deliberately come here to throw them into confusion.
Subaru: […To be blunt, I've got no clue of what to make of you two. As it is, my own situation is also unclear, and my mind and heart are both in chaos. Give me something I can work with.]
White Sheep: [Something you can work with, you say?]
Subaru: [If you're an enemy, just say so. ――I'll smash right through you.]
Beatrice: [As always, I suppose.]
When Subaru made that declaration, Beatrice next to him also nodded in agreement with a fearless face.
As previously stated, Subaru and Beatrice currently had a shortage of mana and were running severely low on stamina, and in such a state, the cards in their hand were scant. However, there was no need to go out of their way to declare that. Even if they held a losing hand without any valuable combinations, bluffing was the trick to survival in this other world.
White Sheep: [――――]
At those words of theirs, White Sheep stared in wonder from the other side of the mirror.
It seemed like she was the type to have a bad poker face. Although it was apparent that she was trying her best to restrain the changes in her expression, her eye movements and facial muscles were clearly not suited to it.
And, having to face herself in the mirror every morning, it seemed like she was also aware of this fact,
White Sheep: [That is very blunt of you… Don't you find that scary?]
Subaru: [I do. But, it's preferable to keep a predicament within your own hands. It's far better than letting a predicament snowball into something out of your control while you're confused.]
White Sheep: [――. Once again, I'm sorry. Black Dog messed with you guys out of his own awkwardness and concern for me.]
Black Dog: [Sooomehow, I get the feeling that something egocentric and self-conceited is being said, kuhahahaha.]
As White Sheep apologized for the indiscretion of her henchman, the masked Black Dog literally put on a nonchalant face.
Ignoring Black Dog, to whom there was no value in responding, the gaze of the girl on the other side of the mirror shifted―― an indication that her attention had turned to Subaru's back, visible to White Sheep.
As if to substantiate this, while gazing at Crusch, sleeping on Subaru's back, White Sheep said,
White Sheep: [We would like to safeguard Crusch Karsten-san's person… no, we wish to secure her. We require that lady's power.]
Subaru: [Crusch-san's… power…? Don't tell me, are you talking about her left eye?]
With a glance, Subaru turned his attention to her left eye, concealed by the eyepatch of Crusch, carried upon his back.
It was certainly plausible that she was being targeted over her Dragon Eye, the clear abnormality that had occurred within her body. White Sheep going out of her way to correct herself from "safeguarding" to "securing" was probably because she thought that an expression simply guaranteeing one's safety would not have been honest.
However, betraying Subaru's expectations, White Sheep said, "Left eye?" with a puzzled expression, and,
White Sheep: [I haven't heard anything about her eyes. What we require is the power of the Divine Protection of Wind Reading that Crusch Karsten-san possesses.]
Subaru: [――Divine Protection…]
White Sheep: [Yes. That power is indispensable. ――For the battle against the Beloved Children.]
And so, with potent determination and resolve, she had pronounced those unfamiliar words.
△▼△▼△▼△
――The battle against the Beloved Children.
For the sake of that battle, White Sheep had said that Crusch's Divine Protection was necessary.
Being told that their goal was to secure Crusch's person, unrelated to the Dragon Eye dwelling within her left eye, Subaru felt a disconnect in the focus of this conversation.
To begin with, he had never expected the existence of a completely unknown enemy to be alluded to here.
Subaru: [The confusion is starting to set in again, but… what the hell is the "Beloved Children"?]
White Sheep: [They are our enemies. And more than likely, Natsuki Subaru-san, yours as well… that's what they are.]
Subaru: […Should I take that to mean they're connected to my current pressing situation?]
White Sheep: [――Yes. They are the ones pulling the strings behind the chaos currently being sewn in the Royal Capital.]
Receiving the unmistakable assertion that they were the enemy at the crux of this situation, Subaru's breath caught in his throat.
Honestly, as he was right now, Subaru was more grateful for that declaration from White Sheep than anything else. Completely unaware as to who the enemy was, nor to what their objectives were, the reality of his situation was that he was right in the midst of confusion. Merely presenting the information he desired in a manner that was easily comprehensible was enough to improve his impression of White Sheep.
However――,
Subaru: [If Crusch-san's needed to fight these so-called Beloved Children, and you made contact with us for that reason, then wasn't sending that masked bastard as a negotiator a huge blunder in terms of personnel choice…?]
White Sheep: [N-no, well, right now, the Royal Capital is on pretty high-alert, and if you aren't around as skilled as Black Dog, it would be dangerous to carelessly roam around, or rather…]
Black Dog: [Beeesiiides, it was just an unexpected coincidence that the person I tailed happened to find you, it's nooot like I was chosen to be a negotiator. So don't think it's White Sheep's fault, okay? You guys.]
Beatrice: [How can you act so high and mighty over that, in fact. No way, was that intended to be an assist just now, I suppose? If so, it's not a lack of tact, but rather a lack of comprehension when it comes to people's hearts, in fact.]
Black Dog: [Kuhahahaha, damn brat with her dress stinking of sewage. Shall I shut that damn mouth of yours and plug it?]
Due to the giant flames intended as a threat and his conduct, Beatrice felt a strong animosity toward Black Dog. Given Black Dog's sneering rebuttals as well, he was an individual whom Subaru held practically no good will toward either.
In addition, there was a part of Black Dog's statement just then that weighed on his mind.
Subaru: [Just now, did you say you tailed someone? That would mean…]
Black Dog: [You are a keen-eyed and shrewd fellow, Sir Knight! Precisely and indeed! Doing something like haphazardly searching for a target is a waste of one's time, stamina, and life, no? So I used a different trick. Thaaat is to saaay, I tailed a guy that seemed like he'd find you for me! Right now, he's in that putrid water.]
Subaru: [In that putrid water…]
???: [Oi! You fucks, how long are you going to keep chatting all buddy-buddy! Just help me already!]
As soon as Subaru looked toward the sewage, his gaze drawn there by Black Dog who answered while shaking his hips back and forth, the one who had been abandoned there, Rachins, shouted angrily.
It was a lucky break that Rachins, familiar with the underbelly of the Royal Capital, had been able to find Subaru's group on Felt's orders, but it appeared that this had been taken advantage of by Black Dog and his faction. That said, it did not diminish his gratitude toward Rachins one bit.
Subaru: [I don't want to leave him treading water forever either. Can we pull him up?]
Black Dog: [Pull him up? The guy drenched in such filthy, rancid water? Though I believe it would be best for the discussion to continue in a sanitary manner by letting him sink, just like that, just like this.]
White Sheep: […Black Dog, if you've caused trouble for anyone…]
Black Dog: [Alright, alriiight! Maybe I'm also a little at fault for that guy diving in. I guess I might have thought, just a teensy bit, just barely, that it would have been better to save us the trouble if only the Duchess fell off from his back and the rest of them were all burned to a crisp, you see.]
Beatrice: [Before you can degrade our impression of you any further with your worthless remarks, hurry up and do something, I suppose.]
After the comparatively sensible White Sheep had managed to improve their impression of him, Black Dog went and spoiled it all with more unnecessary remarks. With the true intent behind those threatening flames laid bare, the degree to which he was a dangerous individual had risen even further.
Taking this into account, Subaru and Beatrice took a step back, keeping vigilance over Black Dog as he reached out his hand to Rachins, who had fallen into the sewage.
With the extent of his skill in magic, they could not feel safe just because he had turned his gaze away from them.
And then, with that vigilance of Subaru and Beatrice――,
Subaru: [――Ah?]
Rather than anything to do with Black Dog, as he crouched down and faced the waterway, instead, it was of use in catching wind of an entirely different anomaly.
A scrape. Somewhere, there was a sound akin to that of nails digging into thin ceramic. Reflexively, Subaru turned his gaze toward the sound. ――In the recesses of the sewers, in the faint light of the lagmite ore thrown by Rachins at the feet of Black Dog and promptly left there as it was, the silhouette of someone emerged.
Subaru: [――――]
A woman.
A woman adorned in a mantle dyed with a color that could not be strictly defined as either black or gray, her billowing dark green hair tucked into the collar, with markedly dark circles under her eyes.
For a moment, Subaru wondered if the woman might also be an ally of Black Dog and White Sheep. However, faster than he could inquire about it, the woman moved within Subaru's field of view.
With one of her arms hanging languidly, her other arm―― in the fingers of her left hand, which she raised in front of her chest, she pinched something that looked like a white shard. That shard was shattered by the movement of her fingers.
――Immediately following that, fissures extended outward from beneath the woman's feet, writhing like snakes across the cobblestones of the sewers, and closed in on Subaru and the others.
Rachins: [Uwoaaah!?]
At that ghastly phenomenon, Rachins, who had been about to grasp Black Dog's hand, raised his voice.
The fissures that had begun to run rampant did not stop at just the floor. Across the walls, across the ceiling, they spanned the sullied stones of the sewers one by one, steadily causing the ancient, damp skeleton supporting the foundation of the Royal Capital to turn a cloudy white.
It was almost as if everything within view was being progressively replaced with glass.
White Sheep: [――Black Dog!]
Amidst the anomaly, with it also being transmitted across the mirror, White Sheep cried out, her voice nearly a shriek.
But alas, no matter how much she raised her voice, she could not intervene with the side of Subaru and the others, separated through the mirror. ――And yet, there had been significance in raising her voice.
Black Dog: [Don't cry, don't wail with that trembling voice, I got it!]
For at that single cry, any hint of mischief that Black Dog had clad himself in had completely vanished.
He swiftly turned, boldly standing in the way of the extending fissures. Subaru could tell that his gaze, which ought to have been obscured behind his mask, was acutely piercing the woman veiled by the darkness.
Black Dog forcefully clicked his tongue.
Black Dog: [This has to be the worst kind of pure evil! You're really showing up now, at this time, at this place!?]
Subaru: [You know her!?]
Black Dog: [Someone I never wanted to know nor meet. Clarissa the Shatterer―― of the Beloved Children!]
Both Subaru and White Sheep, on the other side of the mirror as she was, gasped at the name spat out by Black Dog.
The woman who had been called Clarissa did not respond. Merely, she once again picked out another small shard from the drawstring bag held in her limp arm. A pebble, was what it seemed.
Black Dog: [Waitwaitwaitwait, if you do that here――]
Black Dog cried out to try and stop it immediately, but the stone was quicker to break.
With a crack, the crisp sound echoed through the sewers―― at that cue, the subsequent destruction propagated.
Subaru: [You've gotta be kidding me…!]
Destruction spread throughout the sewers anew, cracked and fissured as they already were, and the wall right next to Subaru's group acquired a murky paleness, before the ceiling subsequently came crumbling down upon them.
Subaru: [Beatrice!]
Beatrice: [Understood, I suppose!]
Responding to his cry, Beatrice faced the collapsing ceiling and spread out her five fingers.
Having already employed both EMT and EMM, they were out of fuel, making serious combat infeasible, but to nevertheless make do with the insufficient hand they had been dealt, was precisely the partnership of Subaru and Beatrice.
Beatrice: [Murak!]
The incantation interfered with reality, tinging the fragments of the collapsing ceiling with a faint light and reducing their lethal weight to that of pumice stones.
While protecting Crusch upon his back from that rain of pumice and pulling Beatrice close, Subaru sprung far back―― in that instant, the sewers were half buried in the cave-in as the weight returned.
Black Dog: [Way to go, that was quite something, little brat! Not bad for a split-second judgment!]
Beatrice: [If you shrewdly managed to make it out alongside us, then promptly cough up the details, in fact! Regarding that woman!]
Black Dog: [A person with peculiar powers! She shatters things! Breaks them! A gloomy woman who's no fun to talk to! She'll kill us now!]
Black Dog, who had gladly used Beatrice's efforts to deal with the collapse to escape it, exclaimed as if laughing, and then gave rise to a gale towards the mountain of rubble that piled up from the collapse, launching a tempest of stones into the depths of the passage.
Its aim did not falter, thundering toward Clarissa in the recesses of the passage, and yet―― with a crack, as soon as that slight noise was heard, the stones sailing through the air shattered, reduced to dust by the time they reached her.
Subaru: [Um, does it have something to do with her shattering the rock?]
Keeping a close eye on Clarissa's actions, and seeing the crushed stone dust fall from her left hand, he conjectured that the reason which brought about this aberrant destruction lurked within that very gesture itself.
In addition, he figured that Clarissa still had many more of the pebbles necessary to do so within the drawstring bag she held.
Subaru: [Oi, use fire! If it lacks physical form, she shouldn't be able to stop it through shattering!]
Black Dog: [I see, certainly, but what a shame! I already used up my fire, it's no longer playable!]
Subaru: [Haaah!? ――Wait, shit!]
As he was stunned by that incomprehensible rejection of Black Dog's, within Subaru's field of view, Clarissa smoothly pinched and pulled out her next pebble as if performing a sacred rite.
The floor and walls surrounding Subaru and the rest were already on the verge of collapse, and if Clarissa were to shatter that shard, the entirety of the sewers might burst and collapse all at once.
At this rate――,
Rachins: [――Oi! Over here! Get over here!]
Subaru: [――Hk, Chin!?]
At that moment, a frantic appeal from the gutter was heard, and Subaru and the others turned to face it.
Upon examination, it was Rachins, floating in the water, with one hand clinging to the wall of the waterway and dragging something dark with the other. ――A rusted chain.
Rachins, who had pulled it up from the bottom, covered in black sludge, exclaimed in a loud voice.
Rachins: [It's a sedimentation tank! There's a buncha sludge clogged up along the side of the stream!]
Subaru: [Sediment…]
A sudden reference to the mechanisms of the sewage system, being told about it; a jolt of electricity ran down Subaru's spine.
The sedimentation tank, the festering sludge that had accumulated; it was the worst possibility――,
Subaru: [Are you serious, dude…!?]
Rachins: [Heh! You're a pretty sharp guy, ain't you?]
Drenched in sewage and hair plastered to his forehead, Rachins was in a terrible state. However, with his shihaku eyes glistening with a fiery blaze, he laughed at Subaru, who had arrived at the same idea, and then pulled back his arm with all of his might.
The rusted chains smeared in filth made a dull sound―― and with a creak, a heavy noise came from the bottom of the water.
Alongside that sound, bubbles rose to the surface of the water near the wall. The small ones frothing there gradually increased in number, making the surface of the black water suddenly begin to roil. ――Instantly, the air of the sewers, in which putrid stenches had wafted through from the start, was filled with an odor resembling that of rotten eggs, far worse than anything prior.
He understood Rachins's objective.
There was no time to hesitate.
Subaru: [Crusch-san――]
Conscious of Crusch, slumbering on his back, Subaru suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do. Considering his actions from here on, it was far too dangerous for her, unconscious as she was.
The second Subaru wavered, Black Dog took action. ――All of a sudden, he was sent flying.
Subaru: [You―― hk!]
Black Dog: [Rather than throwing it, launching it, and having it be shattered, this is the way to do it!]
As he said this, Black Dog threw himself towards Subaru and Crusch, as well as Beatrice, dragging them all into the sewage in one fell swoop. Just before they hit the water―― unexpectedly, his view was obstructed by something dark, and the anticipated embrace of the contaminated water did not come.
Upon closer inspection, it was an enormous unfinished sphere that had been produced from earthen clods by Black Dog, snugly wrapping and enveloping them――,
White Sheep: [Please! Believe in him!]
In the midst of the fleeting situation, White Sheep, reflected on the surface of the mirror, made her earnest appeal.
Spurred on by that, within the hemisphere of earth as it gradually sank, Subaru entrusted Crusch to Beatrice right beside him, and reached his hand outside the closing ball.
And then――,
Subaru: [――Come on, Rachins!]
Rachins: [Don't you fucking boss me around!]
Having fully pulled the chain out, Rachins clumsily kicked off the wall and soared toward them. Grasping Rachins's outstretched arm, Subaru pulled his slender body into the hemisphere in one motion.
Entangled together, they collapsed onto their backs. Immediately following that, the hemisphere closed completely, and at nearly the same time, the faint sound of a pebble fragment being shattered could be heard.
The tremors and thunderous rumble resounded through the closed, bulky walls composed of packed earth.
However, something greater than that was――,
Rachins: [Get blown to bits. ――Goa.]
Rachins, still lying in a heap with Subaru, spat those words as he snapped his fingers. ――As soon as he did, a red light could be seen expanding through the earthen wall, followed later by a delayed sound and impact.
Subaru: [――Hk!?]
The world shook with the might of a gut-punch, and Subaru let out a shout.
Despite being underwater, in an earthen sphere, it burned. It was radiant. As if intent on rupturing his eardrums, the roar of the explosion detonated.
Subaru: [――ah.]
A soundless scream ran rampant throughout Natsuki Subaru's body.
Heaven and earth spun round and round, round and round, with staggering force, and the earthen sphere submerged underwater was swept away with ferocious momentum, colliding, smashing into large masses, over and over, over and over, threatening to knock him unconscious.
Accumulated within the sedimentation tank had been combustible gases generated from the massive amount of filth.
Rachins had opened the lid of that sedimentation tank, ignited the tremendous quantity of what had overflowed, and blown up the sewers themselves, including Clarissa, who had been after them. ――No, he did not even know what had happened to the sewers. He could not see. He could not hear. His comprehension could not keep up.
Tossed about by the surging water and the bucking ball of earth, Subaru fiercely, fiercely embraced the small sensation he was well accustomed to holding and the individual he needed to protect no matter what, with the entirety of his might.
Gritting his teeth, he endured. ――That was the best Subaru could muster at this moment.
Subaru: [――――]
Gritting his teeth, he kept enduring, enduring, and endured.
Until his consciousness was engulfed by an invisible murky torrent, he continued, and continued to endure――,
△▼△▼△▼△
――When he next awakened, the first thing he sensed was an odor.
It was neither the stench of a rotten egg, nor the stench of polluted sewage.
The aroma was one reeking of alcohol, along with the scent of a dry cloth. The air, heated without the use of fire, passed through his nostrils, and as he deeply inhaled that which had an awfully hygienic sense to it―― it suffocated him.
Subaru: [Gehk! Gohkk! Oeuffhk!]
???: [Wakyaa, I suppose!]
Then, as Subaru's body sprung up in a horrendous fit of coughing, the weight that had been resting upon his chest and abdomen also jumped up, giving rise to such an adorable scream.
Widening his eyes, he adjusted the focal point of his blurred vision with a series of several blinks. Doing so, he was able to locate Beatrice, donning a sour expression right next to where Subaru had been sprawled out.
Laying his eyes upon Beatrice, with a blanket draped over her shoulders, Subaru's lips trembled.
Subaru: [Beako… are you, alright?]
Beatrice: [Somehow, in fact. Rather than a hair's breadth, it was a close call by the breadth of a hundred hairs, I suppose.]
Subaru: [A hair's breadth means a single strand of hair, so increasing the number actually just changes the meaning… or rather, that doesn't matter. More importantly, if you and I are safe, then the others――]
Beatrice: [Calm down, in fact. Before you panic, take a look around, I suppose.]
Before Subaru could get too ahead of himself, Beatrice stopped him with a firm hand to his brow. Then, with his forehead pinned by her small palm, Subaru moved only his gaze, and realized.
In the bed adjacent to the one Subaru found himself in, Crusch had also been laid down.
Subaru: [Crusch-san… thank goodness. She's unharmed… right?]
Beatrice: [From what has been said, she is fine, in fact. However, she has not reawakened even once since then, I suppose. Just how long her exhaustion from that eye will continue, is unknown even to Betty, in fact.]
Subaru: [I see… ah, Chin's also here, eh. What a relief.]
While he was comforted by the sight of Crusch, who lay asleep on the bed as her chest regularly rose and fell with her breathing, further beyond that sight, sprawled out on a couch and wrapped in a blanket, was Rachins.
Though he was not awake, his brow was furrowed, and he mumbled something to himself as he slept, perhaps because the couch was not a very comfortable place to rest. ――For the actors who had saved Subaru and the others with such tact, this was quite the crude treatment; a wry smile emerged on his face with that thought, but,
Subaru: […Where, is this place?]
His relief compelling him to release his strength, Subaru's hands fell onto the bed as he finally arrived at that question.
It was a place that completely differed from the sewers not only in smell, but also in appearance. A room of stone construction bereft of windows, the only source of illumination being a small lamp. There were bandages and a water pitcher placed by the bedside, with cloths that had been folded and neatly arranged, prompting the term "doctor's office" to vaguely flash through his head.
Subaru: [Is this kinda like, a hidden medical clinic? Something like a back-alley doctor's hideout…]
???: [――Hk! Have you awakened, Natsuki Subaru-san!?]
Upon expressing his miscellaneous impressions, a surprised voice was hurled at Subaru from the side.
When he turned his gaze around, there was a lone girl standing at the entrance of the room―― the person whom he had seen across the mirror. With long indigo hair tied into twin tails on her left and right, was the girl in the black suit―― White Sheep.
Not across the mirror, but now in person, White Sheep clasped her hands together before her chest, opened them, clasped them again, opened them, and after repeating that several times,
White Sheep: [Th-thank goodness… what if something had happened to all of you, I was just so worried thinking about that…]
Subaru: [That's… thank you for worrying about me?]
White Sheep: [Yes! No! Umm? Which one fits best here…?]
Unsure of the correct order to proceed with his apology, thanks, and complaint, Subaru and White Sheep both short-circuited, unable to make a judgment.
"You helped me out there", there was no doubt about that. However, before that, it was also true that he had been threatened by White Sheep's comrade, Black Dog, so he was endlessly confounded about how to correctly approach the situation.
And, just as he thought that――,
???: [――White Sheep, you mustn't trouble Natsuki-dono. You ought to be different from Black Dog. If not, the need arises to reconsider our course of action.]
White Sheep: [――――]
The voice came from behind White Sheep, flustered as she was at the room's entrance.
Hearkening that voice, and laying eyes upon the visage of its owner, Subaru gulped down his breath, and his eyes grew wide. Within the course of this single day, he had already received more than enough shocks, and yet, they only continued to come.
After all, the person who had appeared together with White Sheep, was somebody whom Subaru was also familiar with.
Subaru: [You're… Russell… san?]
In a faltering voice, what Subaru's lips wove was the name of an individual he had been involved with quite a long time ago―― having been acquainted right at the outset of the Royal Selection, he was someone with whom Subaru had negotiated to provide support and supplies for the White Whale Subjugation that had immediately followed, and while he had not saddled up amongst them on the actual battlefield, he was a merchant who had nevertheless fought against that same enemy.
Bearing the title of chairman of the Royal Capital's Commerce Guild, it was Russell Fellow who was present here.
Subaru: [――――]
With his mind at the apex of turmoil and confusion, Subaru could only look at Russell's composed demeanor in mute amazement. Receiving that gaze, the gentleman clad in a well-tailored suit smiled, and gave a deep nod.
For some reason, that smile sent a chill down Subaru's spine. ――For a person who was supposed to be a mere merchant, that smile felt far too laden with ulterior motives.
And so, Subaru's chills were right on the mark.
Russell: [It is truly fortuitous that we are able to meet like this, Natsuki-dono. Arriving at this unprecedented crisis for the Kingdom, your strength and discernment, Natsuki-dono, are things we wish to borrow by all means.]
Subaru: [An unprecedented, great predicament for the Kingdom, that would be…]
Russell: [Indeed.]
It was a situation that was by no means laughable; however, Russell maintained his smile, and continued.
That was――,
Russell: [――The enemy's aim is a silent, thorough invasion of the Kingdom. The very core of the Kingdom has already fallen into the hands of our long-sworn enemy, verging on a crisis of total downfall.]
Translation Note:
[1] – Subaru changes his usual second-person pronoun here from お前 (omae) to 君 (kimi). Subaru's usual omae can be construed as rude when used with people you aren't close with or who have high standing, though Subaru doesn't usually seem to care too much outside of quite formal occasions. In this instance though, he opts for a middle road, using a somewhat more polite but still relatively casual option in kimi as he figures out how he should talk to White Sheep.