Chapter 92: The Fog Blocking the Road
"Have you packed everything?"
"What is there to pack? If there's anything that needs to be packed, it's probably the things I asked you to hold onto for me, Felix."
"Oh, those? If you want to take them with you, you totally can."
"No need. If I get injured again and have to come back, I'd just have to ask you to find them for me again."
"There's no way anything will happen. Look at Rem—she's not even flustered, so things over there can't be that serious. But Subaru, even if you don't get hurt, you still have to come visit me, okay?"
"I will. But it's just you seeing me off—I thought Wilhelm would come to see me off too."
Standing beside the dragon carriage, Subaru Natsuki looked past Felix's shoulder, but didn't see the person he was hoping for.
Although he hadn't spent a long time with Wilhelm, he had already come to regard him as a master.
All the beatings he'd taken over that time were enough to defeat five of his past selves.
Not that there were literally five of him—it was just a metaphor.
Subaru clearly understood that if he really had to fight five versions of himself, he'd end up getting beaten horribly.
"Ah, Gramps Wilhelm and Lady Crusch have quite a lot on their plate today. Unless something unexpected happens, we'll probably be heading out soon as well."
"Of course I know that. Everyone has their own responsibilities. It's just… I'm feeling a little down, that's all..."
Subaru scratched his head awkwardly as he looked at Felix.
"That's a surprise~~~ I didn't think you'd be someone who's afraid of being lonely."
"It's not about being afraid of loneliness! This is just a normal emotion people feel when parting!"
Looking at the quietly chuckling Felix, Subaru shook his head with a helpless smile, then extended his hand.
"Well, here's to seeing each other again soon."
"Mm, here's to seeing each other again soon."
The two tightly clasped hands, bid farewell to each other, and then Subaru departed from the royal capital, heading toward Roswaal's mansion.
After being away for so long, it was time to return.
The scenery along the road was the same as it had been when they first came.
Now that he was seeing it again, it had lost much of its novelty.
On the road back, the thing Subaru was most interested in was how to drive a dragon carriage. But since they were in a rush to return, even if Rem had agreed, he wouldn't have asked her to teach him.
"Rem, how's Ram doing?"
"Still the same as yesterday, but it shouldn't be serious."
Sitting beside Rem, Subaru glanced at her profile and let out a sigh.
"So something did happen after all."
Rem flinched at those words and turned her head to look at Subaru. They were on the main road, so even without her guidance, the carriage wouldn't go off course.
"Why do you say that, Subaru-kun?"
"Your face."
"My face?"
Subaru nodded and looked ahead, frowning as he spoke.
"If yesterday your face only showed worry, then today it shows tension. That means whatever's happening with Ram has taken a turn for the worse."
Hearing this, the tension vanished from Rem's face. She turned her head and earnestly focused on driving the carriage again, a happy smile forming on her lips.
'Subaru-kun is watching me,' she thought.
The two of them didn't speak any further and focused solely on the journey.
The dragon carriage drove on throughout the morning, and if they kept following the road, they'd probably reach the mansion by nightfall.
But not long after continuing along the road, they were forced to stop.
Subaru and Rem looked in confusion at the dragon carriages stopped along the roadside, a sense of unease growing in their hearts.
When Subaru stepped forward to ask someone by the roadside what was going on, his unease was confirmed.
"Excuse me, may I ask why you've all stopped here?"
Subaru got off the dragon carriage and casually asked a middle-aged man, who turned to him with a troubled expression.
"It's the fog. The fog."
"Fog? But it's already the afternoon. How could there still be fog? Even if there is, that doesn't mean you need to stop, right?"
The man looked at Subaru's puzzled expression and his gaze shifted to something more serious.
"A fog that appears at such an unnatural time... there's only one possibility. I can't believe you don't know something so basic."
Subaru froze at those words.
In his mind, the words White Whale surfaced.
He remembered reading a book while studying in the forbidden library—it had detailed the Witch of Envy, who had devoured half the world. The White Whale was a creation of the Witch of Envy, Satella.
Not only the White Whale—there was also the Great Rabbit and the Black Serpent—all terrible creatures created by the Witch of Envy.
Even after her sealing, they continued to wreak havoc upon the world.
"Are you saying... it's the White Whale?"
The man looked at Subaru's stunned face, sighed helplessly, and nodded.
"Fog appearing at an abnormal time is the calling card of the White Whale. The road ahead is completely covered in fog. We can't be certain it will appear, but none of us are going to risk our lives just to prove it won't. So we're stuck here, as you can see."
Hearing that, Subaru glanced back at the dragon carriage where Rem sat.
Judging by her expression, she had likely overheard his conversation with the man. Subaru turned back and asked after thinking it through:
"Is there another road we could take?"
"There is, but it'd take an extra two days to circle around the foggy area."
"What about going through the forest?"
"Someone already checked—the forest around the road is also filled with fog. Are you in a hurry or something?"
When Subaru nodded, the man smiled faintly and said,
"Then just wait it out. The fog won't last forever. Once it clears, you can continue on. Should be about a day, give or take. If you're lucky, it might even clear in a few hours."
"I see. Thank you, sir."
Subaru waved at the man, who pulled out a book—looked like an account ledger—and began reading.
On the back of his dragon carriage were boxes that probably contained goods for sale.
Subaru turned and walked back to their carriage, looking up at Rem.
"They say there's fog."
"Rem heard it… Looks like we have no choice but to wait here."
"Do you know of any hidden paths we could take?"
Rem shook her head.
"Rem doesn't go out much either, so I don't know about any such routes. Subaru-kun, what should we do now?"
Subaru sighed and looked at the carriages lining both sides of the road.
"We'll just have to wait... Let's hope they're able to hold out until we get back."