The voice came from the entrance of the settlement. As the dragon carriage approached, they saw a girl in a pink maid's uniform standing ramrod straight.
The moment he saw her, Garfiel leaped nimbly from the carriage, waving his arms with a brilliant smile. "Ram! I'm ba—"
"Ram will be very angry and will level this place to the ground. You should all be grateful to Lord Roswaal that it remains intact," the pink-haired maid, Ram, cut him off, not an ounce of warmth in her tone.
Garfiel was momentarily speechless, his expression twisting.
Just then, Subaru poked his head out of the carriage, breaking the tension. "Ram, long time no see."
At the sight of Subaru, Ram's light red eyes narrowed slightly. She then deliberately feigned an exhausted look. "It's the unknown Barusu. To be this late is truly disappointing. Ram thought you would at least have the sense to hurry... ah, for Ram to have such expectations was foolish."
"The difference in treatment is too obvious!" Garfiel grumbled, then gestured to Otto. "Fine, fine, my Great Self will take them to the clearing in the east to park. Hey, you... the driver boy, come with me."
"Are... are you talking to me?!" Otto's eyes went wide. This had to be the worst way to meet someone in his entire life. He was expected to be alone with this fiendish psycho? Otto immediately shot a desperate, pleading look at Subaru.
Subaru, completely understanding Otto's terror, just gave him a smile that said, I feel you, man. "Go on, Garfiel isn't as scary as he looks."
Otto's shoulders slumped. Looking like a kicked puppy, he drove the carriage toward the east side of the settlement.
Watching them go, Subaru turned to Ram. The pink-haired maid was silently observing him. When their eyes met, she raised an eyebrow. "Barusu, have you been staring at Ram this whole time...?"
"Not really, just noticed you seem to be in good spirits," Subaru said. "Things were so critical when we parted ways, and we had no contact after that. I was actually pretty worried." It was the truth. He remembered Ram leading half the villagers to evacuate to the Sanctuary during the attack. While he knew rationally that she was more than capable of handling herself, a part of him had never stopped worrying.
Emilia, standing beside him, nodded. "Yes, we were worried about everyone."
"That is to be expected," Ram said, her expression still neutral. "As you can see, the Ram of today is as lovely, healthy, and lively as ever. The villagers who came to the Sanctuary are also safe and sound. You can rest assured on that point."
"As expected of Ram!" Subaru put his hands on his hips. "You can handle anything perfectly."
"Barusu is being exceptionally talkative today," Ram said, giving him a suspicious look. "You aren't planning some mischief, are you?"
"You wound me! I'm being completely sincere," Subaru said, waving his hands.
Emilia gently intervened. "Shouldn't we stop standing around out here? Ram, could you lead the way? It's getting dark."
"As you command, Lady Emilia." Ram immediately performed an elegant curtsy, turning with a crisp swish of her skirt. "Please, follow Ram."
Subaru and Emilia exchanged a look and followed her. They walked down a small, stone-paved path deeper into the Sanctuary. Their destination soon came into view: a simple, one-story house built of greyish-white stone, equivalent to a two-bedroom home in Subaru's world.
"Lord Roswaal is inside. Please enter," Ram said, pushing open the heavy wooden door.
The moment they stepped inside, a familiar, sing-song voice filled the room. "Myyy, if it isn't Lady Emilia and Subaru-kun. It feels like we've been reunited after a loooong time, you see~"
Roswaal was waving at them from a bed, his face covered in its usual clown makeup. But the rest of him was a shocking sight. He was wrapped from head to toe in bloody bandages, looking as if he were on the verge of death. The contrast between his perfect makeup and his grievous injuries was bizarrely unsettling.
"Roswaal! Are you hurt?!" Emilia cried out, her purple eyes wide with confusion and worry.
"To see Lady Emilia safe and sound is the greatest news of all" Roswaal said, dabbing at a non-existent tear with a handkerchief. "Ram told me about the Witch Cult's attack. If anything had happened to you, I, as the head of the house, would have had no face to continue living"
"Roswaal, if you really thought that, you should have been more proactive..." Emilia began, her voice filled with a mixture of anger and helplessness, before she was cut off by his appearance.
"Seriously, Roswaal, what happened to you?" Subaru asked, feigning surprise, though his mind was perfectly clear. This old schemer! He already knew what had happened. Roswaal had tried to enter the Witch's Tomb, the core of the Sanctuary, but lacked the proper qualification. The tomb's defense mechanism had counterattacked. The strength of the counterattack was proportional to the intruder's power, which was why Roswaal, the strongest mage in the kingdom, had sustained such heavy "injuries."
And of course, he's faking how bad it is. It's all an act.
"My, my, are you asking about thiiis?" Roswaal drew out his words. "Whether to call it a glorious wound, or an unavoidable development It's so hard to decide how to answer, you see"
"Why must you ask the reason?" Ram interjected, her sharp gaze sweeping over Subaru's clean clothes. "It seems Barusu has finally learned to keep up appearances. What a gratifying improvement."
"Hey, I've always cared about my image!" Subaru protested.
"It's barely passable," Ram sniffed, though her gaze softened slightly. "At least you didn't embarrass Lady Emilia."
"I can't NOT ask!" Emilia's voice rose, a rare flash of anger in her eyes. "What on earth happened to you, Roswaal? To be so badly hurt, and yet you..." She trailed off, at a loss.
In the heavy atmosphere, Roswaal slowly closed his blue eye, fixing his remaining golden eye on Emilia. "Then, please do not divert the topic," Emilia said, her voice now cold and steady. "I am asking you seriously, and I ask that you answer me seriously."
Roswaal let out a light chuckle. "My, it seems Lady Emilia is not in a good mood. To deign to visit such a place, it is no wonder~"
"About this place..." Emilia took a deep breath. "No, from the moment I touched the barrier, my heart has been in turmoil. What is this place? It is called a Sanctuary, yet I feel nothing holy here. Instead, it feels like..."
"The Witch's Tomb," Roswaal interrupted, a meaningful smile on his clownish face, looking exceptionally eerie in the dim candlelight. "If I call it that, you should understand, shouldn't you~?"
"The Witch's... Tomb!" Emilia gasped, recoiling in shock.
In this world, the word "Witch" inevitably brought to mind one being: the Calamity that had devoured half the world four hundred years ago, the Witch of Envy, Satella. Because of her uncanny resemblance to that legendary figure, Emilia, no matter how kind her actions, had always been shunned as one of her kind.
Subaru watched the exchange silently. He not only knew that this was the tomb of the Witch of Greed, Echidna, but he also knew far more about its inner workings—and about what the old fox lying in the bed was truly planning—than anyone else.
____
Unfortunately, two of our stories were removed... so I created a new account to post them: MikuDayo.
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