"Having compatibility doesn't mean you can walk the path of a Spirit Arts User. If you're lucky, you might manage a Contract with a Lesser Spirit. Assuming one bothers to give you the time of day."
Betty delivered the verdict without an ounce of mercy.
"Think of it this way. Subaru and I are both guys, but girls are naturally going to prefer the better-looking one. Which is me."
"I know you're handsome. You don't need to spell it out for me to get it."
Subaru couldn't even muster the energy to fire back properly. Gojo was twisting the knife and smiling while he did it.
"What on earth have you three been going on about this whole time? Could you at least try explaining it in a way that makes sense?"
Felt had been listening for a while now, understanding approximately none of it.
"It's complicated and I don't feel like explaining. All you need to know is: stick with us, big pile of Holy Gold Coins at the end."
"Oh. Works for me."
Felt's guiding principles were simple. "Obedient" and "agreeable," so long as money was involved.
"Gojo, could I... talk to him first? Before you do anything?"
Betty looked up, and buried beneath her usual tone was something that almost sounded like a plea.
Gojo knew exactly who she meant.
"That's not really my call. You should ask Subaru. He's the one who got possessed. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have bothered with that lunatic in the first place."
Betty turned to Subaru. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to.
"It's fine. If we're talking revenge, I already got mine."
He waved it off, generous about the whole thing. Whatever Betty had said earlier, he wasn't petty enough to hold it against her now.
Relief softened her expression, though she caught herself almost immediately.
"Don't think this means I owe you anything. I'm not going to..."
"Yeah, yeah. You know, being that dishonest all the time really does cut into your cuteness factor."
Gojo ruffled her hair with a grin, cutting her off mid-sentence.
Betty didn't deny it. She gave a small huff, chin tilted up, pride fully intact.
"I'll need your help in a bit, Betty. Teleport us there. First stop is Flugel's Tree. We wait for the White Whale, take it out, then deal with the Witch Cult. Your teacher is holed up in a cave right now and shouldn't be going anywhere."
She nodded. No objections.
The Dragon Carriage carried them out of the Royal Capital. Once they'd sent the guards and carriage back, Betty tore a rift in the air ahead of them, revealing a yawning darkness that swallowed the light.
They stepped through one by one. A flash, and the space sealed behind them. Several jumps later, they stood beneath the enormous canopy of Flugel's Tree.
Same as before. Merchants clustered in the area, wagons parked, campfires burning.
Reinhard surveyed the crowd and gave Gojo a nod.
Gojo stretched lazily, dropped himself at the base of the massive trunk, and jerked his chin in a go ahead gesture.
Reinhard turned and walked toward the merchants.
"I am a knight of the Lugunican Royal Guard Knights. Reinhard van Astrea..."
"He really doesn't cut corners, does he."
Subaru watched Reinhard calmly directing the evacuation and settled in beside Gojo.
"He's more of a protagonist than the actual protagonist."
"Can't argue with that."
The thought of Reinhard's ability to manifest whatever Divine Protection he needed, whenever he needed it, drew a quiet sigh out of Subaru.
"Hey, Gojo."
"About Petelgeuse. What's the plan if Betty can't talk him down?"
"Simple. We leave you somewhere far away."
Gojo leaned against the tree, watching a merchant hitch up his Dragon Carriage and pull out.
"Betty, could any of us besides Subaru serve as a vessel for Petelgeuse?"
"No."
The answer came without hesitation.
"Though if you hadn't formed a Contract with me, you'd qualify too."
"But since we do have a Contract, he can't touch you."
"That explains it. I was wondering why he never tried to jump into me."
The question had been nagging at him. He'd considered half a dozen theories, and the answer turned out to be that straightforward.
"Good. Last loose end tied up. You're our only weak point."
"I'm painfully aware of that, but hearing you say it out loud still stings."
"When the time comes, stay back with Reinhard and the others. Betty and I will handle it."
"Got it. I'm counting on you two. Going through that again... I'd rather not."
Subaru rubbed the back of his head, wincing at the memory.
Before long, every merchant in the area had been cleared out. Reinhard had been thorough enough to stagger their departures, sending them off in small groups rather than one conspicuous caravan. No sense attracting the White Whale's attention and causing unnecessary casualties.
With the last wagon gone, silence settled over the landscape.
Gojo glanced at the sky. Late afternoon. Still some light left, but not for long.
"Reinhard, you should contact the Royal Guard Knights now. Have them start heading this way. It's about half a day's ride from the capital. By the time we've dealt with the White Whale and the Witch Cult and made it back here, they should be arriving."
Reinhard drew the Conversation Mirror from inside his coat, then hesitated. "The White Whale hasn't appeared yet. Should I really be making the call now?"
He believed Gojo. That wasn't the issue. There was no reason to lie about something like this. But contacting the Knight Order was another matter entirely.
What was he supposed to say? That the White Whale had been spotted? He hadn't seen it. That would be a lie. But the alternative, telling them a whale might show up in a few hours based on intelligence he couldn't explain the source of, wasn't exactly going to get a battalion mobilized.
"Felt, your loyal knight could use a little help here."
Gojo nudged Felt, who was leaning against the tree beside him.
"Reinhard, you idiot. Tell them the White Whale showed up and you killed it. A white lie doesn't violate the knight's code."
She said it with a perfectly straight face, plucked the Conversation Mirror right out of Reinhard's hands, and fiddled with it for a moment before the connection went through.
Reinhard could only offer a rueful smile. He didn't stop her.
"This is Felt. Reinhard and I ran into the White Whale at Flugel's Tree. He's already cut it down. Get over here and haul the carcass back."
"The White Whale?!"
The voice on the other end was impossible to see, but the commotion bleeding through made the shock obvious enough.
Marcos Gildark's voice came through a moment later.
"Lady Felt, if I may confirm..."
"Confirm what? Get moving. You think Reinhard would lie to you?"
She angled the Mirror to flash Reinhard's face at it, then launched into a rapid-fire exchange that left no room for argument. When she was done, she snapped the connection shut and tossed the Mirror back to Reinhard.
"Done. Knights are on their way."
"My apologies, Lady Felt. The Knight Order has its own constraints. They aren't permitted to intervene in competition between Royal Candidates..."
Reinhard began the explanation the moment the call ended, his tone apologetic.
"Whatever."
"It's not like I was planning to become qu... a national disgrace! I fully support fair competition!"
Felt caught herself half a syllable too late, pivoted hard, and barely stuck the landing.
"More importantly, when does this whale actually show up? If the knights get here and there's no whale, we'll never live it down."
"Relax. What's coming can't run. Sit tight."
Gojo turned to Reinhard, eyes bright with anticipation.
"Reinhard, I hear you're a pretty good cook."
A slight tilt of the head. Mild confusion.
"I do have some skill in the kitchen. Where did you hear that, though?"
"What if I told you that you're the one who told me?"
"I can't verify that. But I can tell you're not lying."
Reinhard's tone carried a strange, resigned familiarity, as though this kind of thing happened every time he talked to Gojo.
"So, any chance we could sample your work?"
The memory of last loop's flavors was still fresh. Gojo asked with genuine sincerity.
"If there's dessert, even better."
"If you'd like, I could certainly try once we're back in the capital. Out here, though..."
Reinhard looked around and shrugged, helpless. The merchants were gone. No forest nearby for hunting.
"Even with the skill, I don't have any ingredients."
"Then it's a promise. I want to try your desserts, Reinhard."
Gojo beamed, not the least bit disappointed. This had clearly been his angle from the start.
"He's my knight, you know. Could you stop making bizarre requests of him?"
"One silver coin."
"Deal. Reinhard, you're not doing much in your downtime anyway. Just make this guy some sweets now and then. Can't take that long."
"Let's say ten Holy Gold Coins a month. I think that's reasonable."
"Ten? Why don't you rob a bank?"
"This is dessert handmade by the strongest man in Lugunica. The Sword Saint himself. Ten Holy Gold Coins is a bargain!"
Felt and Gojo haggled back and forth right in front of Reinhard, neither one sparing a thought for the man they were bartering over.
Faced with such a money-obsessed liege, Reinhard had no recourse. He stood there and watched, the picture of resigned patience.
After spirited negotiation, Gojo successfully hired the Sword Saint of Lugunica as his personal pastry chef for five Holy Gold Coins a month.
By the time the deal was struck, the sky had gone dark.
Gojo estimated the hour and spoke, voice even.
"It's here."
On cue, a pale mist materialized in the distance. It rolled in fast, swallowing the landscape in every direction, and within moments Flugel's Tree stood wrapped in a fog so thick that visibility beyond ten meters from the campfire dropped to nothing.
"It's all yours, Reinhard. Want me to share some intel on this thing?"
Gojo settled back to watch, as relaxed as a spectator at a show.
"If it's no trouble."
A knight did not let pride override practicality. Reinhard would never refuse intelligence from an ally out of arrogance.
"Besides its massive body, the White Whale attacks by spewing that fog. Other than that, it doesn't have much in its arsenal. But when it feels threatened, it splits into three. Two decoys covering the real one."
A long, resonant cry echoed through the heavens as Gojo was still speaking.
"Understood. I won't let your information go to waste."
Reinhard tilted his head back and gazed upward, as though his eyes could pierce the wall of fog and find the beast gliding through the sky above.
One slender hand moved to his hip.
Fingers closed around the hilt of the Dragon Sword Reid.
He lifted the weapon, sheath and all.
"Even the White Whale isn't worthy enough for you to draw it, huh?"
"Picky sword."
Gojo clicked his tongue, eyeing the thick scabbard still firmly in place.
"Let's see what you've got, Reinhard."
Come to think of it, in all the time he'd known the Sword Saint, Gojo had never once seen him fight. Everything he knew about Reinhard's power came secondhand. Rumors, reputation, hearsay. Not a single demonstration.
The curiosity lasted about three seconds.
A blaze of light erupted before them, so brilliant it seared the eyes.
Reinhard gripped the sheathed sword and raised it high.
Radiance exploded outward.
It shredded the fog, split the sky, and set the ground trembling beneath their feet. The air itself shuddered. Standing there, doing nothing more than existing, the shockwaves rolling off him felt like the world was ending.
The force of his presence alone was enough to make your eyes sting if you looked too long.
And through the gaps torn in the fog by that light, they saw it. A colossal silhouette drifting through the sky above.
The White Whale.
Its enormous eyes locked onto the figures below.
...
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