Chapter 98: Not Feasible
Standing in front of Emilia's door, Natsuki Subaru reached out and gently knocked.
Emilia's voice came from inside.
After a short wait, the door opened. Subaru looked at Emilia standing in the doorway.
When she widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing him, Subaru spoke.
"Good morning. This is your breakfast."
"Subaru? I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Subaru looked at Emilia's slightly dazed and cute expression.
"Is it that strange to see me back?"
Emilia blinked a few times, came back to her senses, and shook her head.
"I just didn't expect you to be back so soon. Are you already recovered?"
Hearing Emilia's concerned words, Subaru handed her the tray in his hands.
"Well, I'm mostly fine. Besides, staying over there too long would only cause trouble for others. And anyway, you're all royal selection candidates, basically competitors. Me being someone from your camp staying there too long wouldn't be right."
"But I—"
Under Subaru's somewhat puzzled gaze, Emilia withdrew what she was about to say.
To her, having Subaru receive treatment from Felix had been a reasonable trade.
Now that Subaru had returned before he was fully recovered, she felt that she should speak properly to him about it. But when she recalled what Subaru had said—
Essentially marking himself as being on her side—just that alone made Emilia happy, and everything she wanted to say got stuck in her throat.
"It's nothing. Anyway, welcome back. But Subaru, when did you leave the royal capital? How come you're back so early?"
"Hmm, I left yesterday afternoon. There was something I wanted to talk to Puck about, so I rushed back."
"I see… something to talk to Puck about, huh…"
Seeing the slightly disappointed expression on Emilia's face, Subaru was about to say something when he suddenly heard Puck's voice.
"Take this punch!"
"…What are you doing, Puck?"
Puck retracted his little paw with a sulky look, landed on Subaru's shoulder, and folded his arms.
"I'm just a little irritated, that's all. Didn't you say you had something to tell me? Let's go, let Emilia eat her breakfast."
"Oh… got it. Then, Emilia, I'll be borrowing Puck for a while."
"Okay." Emilia nodded and watched Subaru turn and walk away, then closed her door with a somewhat downcast expression.
Meanwhile, Subaru, having returned to his own room with Puck, flopped down onto his bed.
"So, Subaru, what is it you wanted to say? It must be something important."
Puck, having left Subaru's shoulder, now hovered in front of him with a serious expression. After all, he could sense Subaru's emotional turmoil.
"The White Whale will appear tomorrow night."
Subaru spoke while quietly watching Puck, but saw no sign of surprise on his face. Puck noticed the doubt on Subaru's face.
He sighed, held his head with one paw, and looked like he had a headache—as if everything was within expectations.
"Subaru, don't be surprised that I'm not shocked. You should already know why."
Although Puck didn't state the reason outright, Subaru still understood what he meant.
"Lia is now a royal selection candidate. Once the selection starts, all participants' information will be made known throughout the kingdom.
Honestly, I didn't want Lia to participate, but it's tied to her wishes.
All I can do is protect her. From the very beginning of the selection, I knew those Witch Cult bastards would show up."
Sighing again, Puck settled on Subaru's lap.
"I don't know where you got the information that the White Whale will appear tomorrow night, but I believe you. I don't doubt you.
I've seen with my own eyes the effort you've put in at the mansion. The Jealous Witch, the White Whale, the Witch Cult—you've come to understand a lot.
If the White Whale appears, then the Witch Cult members will definitely appear as well. I don't need to explain their purpose."
"Their goal is… Emilia…"
Subaru said this while looking at Puck, who nodded slightly. Subaru frowned and asked:
"Then Puck, do you have any way to take care of the White Whale and the Witch Cult?"
Puck shook his tiny head gently.
"If I were in my true form, dealing with the White Whale and the Witch Cult wouldn't be much of a problem. But if I transform into my true form, it would pose a serious threat to everyone's lives. So my answer is no.
All I can do is protect Emilia's safety. As for everyone else, I don't have the ability to protect them all."
After hearing this, Subaru sighed.
"So in the end, we can only take everyone to a safe place… By the way, Puck, do you have any way to contact Roswaal? If it were you two together, you could probably handle this situation."
"If Roswaal and I teamed up, we could indeed handle the Witch Cult and the White Whale. But I don't have any way to contact him. More importantly, Roswaal is probably in the Sanctuary right now."
"The Sanctuary?"
"A place very important to Roswaal. Even if we go there now, we wouldn't make it back in time.
So the only option is to evacuate everyone and return after the situation is over.
But Lia doesn't know about the Witch Cult or the White Whale, and the villagers already have some resistance toward her.
What reason should we use to persuade them to leave? If we tell them the truth, it'll only increase their hostility toward Lia. Without a proper excuse or Roswaal's presence, the villagers won't leave easily.
Subaru, you know this too, right? I honestly don't care about the lives of people other than Lia. But Lia is a kind girl, and you… you wouldn't abandon the villagers either, would you?
So Subaru, what are you planning to do next?"
Puck's serious expression made Subaru smile wryly.
There's no way to fight head-on, and escaping had its flaws. But even so, Subaru had long since made up his mind.
"Do I even need to say it? Of course I'll take everyone and leave. No matter what the villagers think, it's better than losing their lives."
Having read about the Witch Cult in books, Subaru understood—those people were lunatics. Hoping that they wouldn't harm the villagers was completely unrealistic.
Sure, it would make the villagers resent Emilia more, but ignoring the situation wasn't even an option.
More importantly, as long as they were alive, everything could still be resolved.
"So where should we escape to? And what can we use to convince the villagers to come with us? The Sanctuary? I don't even know where it is.
That pink-haired maid might know, but taking a whole group of people on foot to an unknown location is clearly unrealistic.
Same goes for heading to the royal capital—it's not an option. If we hide in the forest, there are magical beasts, and moving a large group would leave tracks. That wouldn't escape the Witch Cult's notice either."
Puck's words poured over Subaru's heart like a bucket of cold water—because everything Puck said was true.