Chapter 169-170-171
"Garfiel, you're back. Who is this coachman with such a miserable look on his face?"
"Ah, Ram, did you come to greet me? At last, you're showing a little of the proper attitude a female should have toward a male."
"Garfiel, if you think your head isn't working properly, Ram doesn't mind helping you treat it. So, the only one who broke through the barrier and entered the Sanctuary is this one coachman?"
"Don't you know this coward? He said he came from Roswaal's mansion. I thought you two would know each other."
"Ram doesn't remember when the mansion ever needed to hire someone like this as a coachman. If Roswaal-sama were to hire him as a coachman, Roswaal-sama's dignity would be utterly destroyed."
"Is that so? Personally, I think this man suits Roswaal pretty well. After all, that guy's exaggerated way of dressing hardly makes him look like someone who cares about dignity."
"Garfiel!"
Garfiel scratched his hair impatiently, paying no mind to Ram's angry scolding voice. What concerned him more now was that, from the very beginning, Otto—who hadn't said a word—seemed to have some kind of opinion.
After all, judging from Ram's answer, the three outsiders he had brought back might have deceived him. Since Ram didn't even recognize this Otto person.
Garfiel's fierce gaze focused on Otto. And Otto, who had been silently observing, just stared blankly into the void with dead-fish eyes, his head filled with nothing but the word coachman.
If someone kept calling you "coachman, coachman," while looking down on you and showering you with verbal humiliation, anyone would feel annoyed or even explode with anger.
But for Otto, such slander only brought a trace of helplessness.
His childhood had both warmth and malice, and Otto had long since grown accustomed to malice. Moreover, the hostility from these people wasn't true malice in the real sense.
It felt more like playful provocation—a kind of testing. This level of hostility didn't bother Otto in the slightest.
Sighing, Otto reached out and opened the door behind him, calling out to Ram:
"Miss Ram, the person you know is inside. Also… could you please say something about this Garfiel beside me? The strength in his arm just keeps getting tighter."
By the time he got to the end, Otto's expression was growing uglier and uglier. He even regretted following Subaru here in the first place. Ever since meeting Subaru and traveling with him, everyone's attitude toward Otto had been extraordinarily "cruel."
"It seems you have at least a bit of insight, coachman. If you continue to show effort, you might even serve as Roswaal-sama's exclusive coachman."
"Is that so? But from the start, every time I've seen Roswaal, I've never seen him ride a dragon carriage. He's always flying around in that ridiculous outfit of his."
Hearing that, Otto's face froze.
His gaze slid from Ram's face, and then, silently, he shoved both hands over his ears. This wasn't because he was afraid Ram would start yelling.
From their short time together, Otto was already sure—this maid was not the type to shout indiscriminately, but the type who could calmly deliver biting insults with a quiet tone.
The real reason he plugged his ears was because of Garfiel at his side.
And sure enough, as he expected, after he blocked his ears, the pink-haired maid opened her mouth to say something he couldn't hear, but the Garfiel beside him erupted in an emotional roar. Even with his ears covered, Otto could still hear Garfiel's shouting.
When the commotion finally settled down, Otto lowered his hands, his expression now serious.
"Um… terribly sorry to interrupt you two, but shouldn't we be treating Mr. Natsuki's injuries first?"
"Injuries?" Ram blinked. Folding her arms, she lowered them at that moment and took a step forward. But she quickly halted her movement, shifting her gaze from inside the carriage to Garfiel's face.
"Hmph! Garf, Ram should have reminded you not to be too impulsive."
"This has nothing to do with me! That guy inside went out of his way to provoke me. I just gave him a light lesson—he should count himself lucky."
While saying this, Garfiel released Otto and turned, stepping into the carriage. Under Ram's doubtful gaze, a moment later he reappeared in her sight, carrying the still-unconscious Subaru on his shoulder.
Garfiel jumped down from the dragon carriage and, under everyone's eyes, slowly started walking toward the house, tossing back one last line:
"I did hold back. If you're going to blame someone, blame that guy for bringing up that other guy."
Watching Garfiel leave, Ram frowned, then turned her head toward Otto and spoke:
"Coachman, tell me everything that happened."
"Even if you ask me, Miss Ram, I really don't know! I was only woken up later on!"
When consciousness returned, the very moment he opened his eyes Subaru felt sharp pain across his face. Sitting up, he rubbed at his cheek while scanning the room around him.
It was an ordinary little room, though filled with the necessary daily goods—almost to the point of being cramped. Adjusting his posture, Subaru began recalling what had happened before he lost consciousness.
After thinking for a while, Subaru came to a conclusion: the reason his face hurt so much was entirely because he had brought it upon himself.
Still, even though he had only been unconscious briefly, he had managed to gain some useful information—quite a profitable harvest.
Judging from Garfiel's behavior back then, though he held some dissatisfaction toward his sister Frederica, he clearly valued her deeply. That much was obvious from how furious he became upon hearing Subaru's words.
But the one thing that left Subaru puzzled was this—why had Frederica warned them to be careful of Garfiel when they left the mansion? No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't come up with an answer.
With a sigh, Subaru realized he was still missing far too much information.
At present, what he did know was only this: that this so-called "Sanctuary" was actually the Witch's Graveyard. If he wanted to learn more, he would have to seek out the most crucial person.
Thinking this, Subaru slipped on the shoes set beside his bed, patted the wrinkles out of his butler's uniform, and his already sharp eyes now looked even harsher.
"Roswaal… what exactly are you plotting…" Subaru muttered softly as he slowly made his way toward the door.
It should have only taken five or six steps to leave this room, but with so many thoughts weighing on his mind, that short distance felt endlessly long.
Puck had warned him a second time to be careful of Roswaal. And as the village's lord, as well as Emilia's supporter, Roswaal was always absent whenever something happened to their side. If it were only absence, it wouldn't have stirred so much suspicion.
But not only was he absent, he had done nothing beneficial for Emilia's camp. He knew full well how Emilia's appearance would affect things, yet he had made no effort in his own domain to build support for her.
Even if people in this world were fixated on their fear of the Witch of Envy, that wasn't enough reason to give up on campaigning.
And despite tragedies happening more than once, Roswaal had still taken no precautionary measures.
He hadn't strengthened their fighting power, hadn't reinforced their defenses, hadn't even left behind any plans. It was as if he didn't care about the Royal Selection at all.
It was almost laughable. No matter how many times Subaru had said he wasn't part of any faction, everyone around him treated him as Emilia's faction. But in truth, Emilia's "faction" hardly had any members at all!
In fact, one could say Emilia was the only true member. Ram and Rem were Roswaal's maids, and Roswaal was Emilia's backer. That was the only reason the maids were tied to her camp.
If that were all, it wouldn't be too bad—they at least had some combat ability. But Roswaal's actions (or lack thereof) were another matter.
Compared to other candidates' factions, they couldn't match anyone. Combat strength? Not worth mentioning. As for wealth? Anastasia was a merchant with her own mercenary band.
Crusch and Priscilla lacked nothing in terms of money or resources. Even the "impoverished" Felt at least had the Sword Saint by her side, whose depths no one could fathom.
Shaking his head, Subaru decided not to dwell on these things. When he reached out and opened the wooden door in front of him, he had not expected to see Ram standing there, hand raised as if about to knock.
"So the lucky Barusu didn't end up sleeping forever. What a pity."
Looking at Ram, who seemed no different than usual, Subaru wanted to crack a joke back, to banter like always—but no words came out. Instead, he even felt like turning and fleeing on the spot.
"Ah… it's you, senpai. Sorry for not managing to… sleep forever."
As he spoke, Subaru's gaze wandered, and he stepped back a few paces, trying to widen the distance between them. It was a pointless effort—he knew that very well. But he couldn't stop himself from doing it anyway.
That failure… her cries, her screams laced with killing intent—that scene still lingered vividly in his mind.
After all, it had been less than two months ago.
Even with his Return by Death ability repeating events several times, that image remained clear.
That was precisely why he couldn't bring himself to speak certain truths. Because if he were forced to hear from her lips the words he didn't want to hear, that tearing sensation would stop his heart in an instant.
Clutching at his chest, Subaru trembled at the thought alone.
Just like when he saw Rem lying lifeless on the ground—that unbearable pain that robbed him of breath, that stabbing ache in his heart that stopped its beat for a moment…
Even afterward, during the time he cared for the sleeping beauty, each time he gazed at her adorable face, his heart still twisted in agony.
"Barusu, did Garfiel knock you stupid? Looks like I'll have to demand compensation from him. After all, Barusu, who was never very smart to begin with, has now become even dumber. This has caused an irreparable setback to Ram's grand plans."
It was the same familiar sharp tongue. And beneath that sharp tongue was Ram's unique kind of gentleness. But—it was precisely that gentleness that was the root of Subaru's pain!!
Taking a deep breath, Subaru worked to steady his emotions, forcing his face into his usual mask.
"I'm not stupid! I'll have you know that in everyone's eyes, right now, I'm a bona fide he—" The last word caught in his throat.
He couldn't say it. He couldn't call himself a hero.
"A hero, is it? How arrogant, Barusu. Even if you did manage to resolve the crisis at the mansion, in Ram's eyes, you're still the same useless Barusu."
"Then, senpai—what do I have to do to be acknowledged by you? I really think I've done… at least decently well…"
"Hmph. If you think you've done decently well, then shouldn't you wipe that annoying expression off your face? That kind of expression—save it for fooling Emilia-sama."
His breathing stopped.
His face stiffened. Looking at Ram standing there with her arms crossed and a displeased expression, Subaru's head turned into chaos, as though something had exploded inside and left nothing but a blank mess.
"Barusu."
Ram's voice barely managed to draw a response from him.
"Since you look so pitiful, Ram-sama has no choice but to show great mercy and begrudgingly praise you with a single line."
After a short silence, Ram turned her head away, then slowly spoke the words that sank the ship called Natsuki Subaru:
"You did well."
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