Chapter 663 — Arc 10, Chapter 12 – “Groan”

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――Clear skies graced the day since the early morning, as if it were blessing the triumphant future to come.

Subaru: [Or, is it a bit too optimistic of me to be thinking something like that?]

Beatrice: [Betty does not think so, in fact. In all actuality, if Filóre’s Sacrament proves capable of exhibiting the anticipated results, then Subaru’s cheerful mood would be nothing more than an advance celebration, I suppose.]

Subaru: […If it’s just me celebrating in advance all on my own, then I get the feeling that it really was a bit too cheerful.]

Hearing Beatrice’s follow-up as they walked together, hand in hand, Subaru scratched his cheek with his unoccupied fingers.

Given the situation, a part of him did want to stick up for those feelings of unavoidable cheerfulness, but considering how little he himself had actually contributed to that, he could not deny that his spirits were too high.

In reality, for their upcoming itinerary―― making for the Watergate City of Pristella, and using the Sacrament of the Church of the Divine Dragon to provide aid to the victims of the Witch Cult, there would arrive no moment in which Subaru would be of any particular use.

Only, as the Knight of Emilia, who would be performing a distinguished role there, and above all, as an individual who had experienced the fierce battle that raged in the city, he wanted to be present to witness the moment in which the abhorrent scars left behind by that struggle were healed once and for all.

Subaru: [So that’s why, we’ll rely on Reinhard to keep up the hard work for this part, and have him take us along to Pristella as a member of the expedition.]

Beatrice: [Naturally, Betty will be coming with you, in fact. Together with Emilia, who will thaw the residents she had encased in ice, and with Garfiel and Otto, who still have unresolved matters in that town, I suppose.]

Subaru: [Garfiel said something about the father of a family he got along with there being a victim of Lust, and Otto… is going to collect the book he had entrusted to that restorer, huh?]

Beatrice: [Seems like it, in fact… Good grief, what a cunning man, I suppose.]

Puffing out her cheeks, Beatrice grumbled so, and Subaru pondered her complex feelings on the matter.

The book, which Otto had entrusted to the restorer in Pristella, was one of the Tomes of Wisdom considered to have been left behind by the Witch of Greed, Echidna―― however, it was the volume that had been inherited by Roswaal. With the singleminded wish to verify its contents, Otto had retrieved the book after it had been mostly reduced to cinders, and while that persistence of his went without saying, it was also difficult to believe the skill of the restorer who claimed he would be able to reconstruct it.

But, for Beatrice, who had lost her own Tome of Wisdom in a fire, it must have put her in an extremely delicate state of mind.

Beatrice: [Do not worry, in fact, Subaru.]

Subaru: [Beatrice…]

Beatrice: [If it’s the matter of Betty’s guide for the future, Subaru now fills that role, I suppose. It is shocking to witness Otto’s destitute disposition as he attempts to recycle burnt cinders, in fact. But, if he can get the better of Roswaal, it is not a bad feeling, I suppose.]

Subaru: […I see.]

Indifferent to Subaru’s worries, Beatrice powerfully puffed out her chest, and finding her to be incredibly lovely, Subaru caressed the head of his adorable Contracted Spirit to his heart’s content.

As mentioned previously, the ones travelling to Pristella on the Reinhard Express were, strangely enough, the same members who had gone to Pristella the previous time. If it were possible, Subaru would have liked to mobilize all members of the camp, but he could not put too much strain on Ram, who was currently down on account of overworking.

As for the personnel accompanying them from other camps, there would be Reinhard, tasked with the duty of carrying the dragon carriage, and Felt, who seemed to be responsible for supervising him. ――Then, there would be the central figure of this expedition, Filóre, as a key person, and Sakura, serving as her chaperone.

Subaru: [To be honest, given the congestion of things that need to be done now, it’s not like I don’t get the feeling that it might be way too dangerous to bring Felt and Filóre together in the same dragon carriage so suddenly.]

Beatrice: [However, as per what is being said, the two of them have already encountered each other face to face, in fact.]

Subaru: [Yeah, it was the day when Filóre first showed up at the Castle, and when she treated Crusch-san. On that day, the two of them met for the first time… it also seems like it was Felt who gave Filóre an insignia, and verified if she held the qualifications to be a Royal Candidate.]

Beatrice: [That girl is far too reckless, I suppose. Usually, the idea of placing one’s own position into jeopardy, is something one would think twice about, in fact.]

Subaru: [To begin with, she isn’t the type of person who depends on her ancestry. That unwavering part about her really gives off a cool impression.]

Felt’s resolute way of living harbored a charisma capable of attracting many people.

In actuality, those who wished to have Felt take the throne were those who had been enchanted by her words, actions, and way of being, perceiving their ideals upon those small shoulders of hers, and choosing to follow her.

If those were the results brought forth by the radiance of Felt’s soul, bereft of any other factors, then the current situation was tantamount to an unnecessary plot being thrust upon her.

Subaru: [Felt and Filóre, which one is the real princess, and which is the fake, I wonder?]

Beatrice: [It is a strange premise to begin with, I suppose. Regardless of which of the two is the real one, if they intend on leveraging the possibility, they ought to be proclaiming it more assertively or so it doesn’t go to waste, in fact. Get the masses to believe, get the masses to harbor suspicions, that would be the route with the greatest utility, I suppose.]

The more he thought about it, the more unreasonable it seemed to leverage the surviving-princess theory.

As Beatrice said, not only were they failing to capitalize on a rare, powerful advantage, but if it turned out that either Felt or Filóre was indeed the real deal, it could even be said that one of them would incur a negative image as the definite fake.

When it came to that, the first thing that weighed on his mind was――,

Subaru: [――In the end, what in the world was the Church thinking when they decided to keep Filóre’s existence a secret.]

According to Filóre, she was abandoned at the doorstep of the Church fifteen years prior, and from there was taken in and raised as an orphan within the children’s house of the Church of the Divine Dragon. There, she received a considerably sheltered upbringing, without much knowledge about the outside world, forming her as a monster of ignorant initiative.

Regardless of the fact that her initiative was what gave rise to today’s disorder, the Church of the Divine Dragon would have been fully aware of her distinct outward appearance, her age, and her name.

There was absolutely no possibility that they had failed to draw the connection with the Lugunican Royal Family.

Not to mention, if the Sacrament that Filóre wielded had the power to combat the Authorities of the Sin Archbishops of Lust and Gluttony, would it not have been capable of exhibiting its power against the illness that befell the Royal Family?

In that case, why had the Church of the Divine Dragon abandoned the Lugunican Royal Family to perish?

Subaru: [So long as that mystery remains unclear, nobody’s going to be satisfied.]

With the holding of the Royal Selection known far and wide all across the Kingdom, the citizens of the nation were all paying attention to who would take the throne in this epoch. In both a positive and negative sense, the people would not turn a blind eye to any conspicuous deeds of the Royal Candidates, nor would they forget them.

Hence, he wanted to know what the Church of the Divine Dragon was thinking, no matter what.

For that purpose――,

Subaru: [――Miklotov-san’s invitation was really a godsend.]

Beatrice: [In fact.]

Beside the nodding, taciturn Beatrice, Subaru recalled the matter from the previous day―― when they had accompanied Filóre as she went to assent to participation in the Royal Selection, and, together with Emilia, they had held an exchange with Miklotov in one of the conference rooms of the Castle.

Filóre’s bombshell announcement when it came to the selection of her Knight: he had been sent into a great spur of befuddlement when that had been dropped, and the scene had ultimately concluded rather chaotically, but Subaru had also managed to secure a benefit.

An important member of the Council of Wise Men, and likely one of the foremost intellects in the Kingdom of Lugunica, that Miklotov, had agreed to set aside some time to chat with Subaru.

While the clamorous Filóre Theater raged on in the background, given that there was no harm in asking, Subaru had told Miklotov that he wished to speak with him, to which the latter graciously agreed.

Miklotov: [Hrrmmmm. In that case, I shall fit you into my schedule, Natsuki-dono. It just so happens there is a matter about which I would like to speak with you in private as well, Natsuki-dono.]

Subaru: [I’m extremely grateful, but… there’s something you wanna speak to me about?]

Miklotov: [Indeed. There is a matter I wish to ascertain, a matter about which I wish to inform you, and a matter on which I wish to consult you… I beg your pardon, but it would be a blessing if you could join this old man for a long chat.]

With those words, Miklotov flashed a smile that gave the impression of a good-natured old man,  informed Subaru of the location of his residence, and scheduled an appointment for their agreed upon private discussion.

That appointment was today, where he was scheduled to depart for Pristella after the passing of Fire Time.

Before that matter of great importance, as Subaru had promised to Miklotov, he was en route to the specified location by himself―― no, having received permission beforehand, he also brought Beatrice along with him, as their two hearts beat together as one.

Subaru: [As per what Miklotov-san said… setting aside whatever he wanted to ask and tell me, it’s kinda scary that he said he wants to consult me on something, though I’ve also got a whole bunch of questions to unload on him. Ideally, I’d like to get him to show us the actual Dragon History Stone, but…]

Beatrice: [The Dragon History Stone is said to be managed as strictly as the Dragon’s Blood, I suppose. However, if Betty were to get a glimpse of it, it should be possible to formulate a hypothesis of what its mechanisms resemble, in fact.]

Subaru: [It’s not like I really think the Dragon History Stone is suspicious in and of itself, but the fact that it completely overlooked the annihilation of the Royal Family, and instead completely described the following Royal Selection is, well…]

It made him begin to suspect that there might have been some sort of malice or contrivance behind that. He did not wish to believe that even the deaths of the Royal Family had been orchestrated.

Subaru: [――――]

In the mausoleum, he had laid eyes upon the sarcophagi belonging to those departed members of the Lugunican Royal Family. ――Considering the impact the deaths of the widely beloved Royal Family had borne, especially that which the death of the fourth prince had borne on Crusch and Ferris with whom Subaru was well-aquanted, if there had been somebody’s will interfering with that, Subaru would never forgive that person, no matter what.

Then, it happened just when Subaru thought so, and firmly clenched the hand opposite to the one holding Beatrice’s.

???: [――Seems like you’re thinking of some awfully unsettling things again, my friend.]

As a witty voice suddenly called out to him from the side, Subaru swiveled his head around in surprise. Upon doing so, his eyes caught sight of a stylish young man waving at him from the vertex of a T-junction in the road.

At that friendly greeting, Subaru broke into a broad grin, and,

Subaru: [My friend? You’re acting pretty over-familiar all of a sudden…]

???: [Oi oi oi, you were the one who called me that first! Don’t leave me out to dry!]

Subaru: [Just kidding. I’m happy to see you again, Tiga.]

A look of shock upon his face, the young man―― Tiga, glared at Subaru’s face with squinting eyes as the latter extended his hand with good graces, and after a shrug of his shoulders, he shook the proffered hand.

With the successful exchange of the handshake, the revalidation of their friendship was completed, though,

Tiga: [It seems that you too are in lovely spirits, Miss Beatrice. It is an honor to meet you again.]

Beatrice: [There are no objections from Betty either, I suppose… However, why are you here, in fact?]

Tiga: [Well then, allow me to return the very same question to the two of you. Albeit it is not as though I was sneaking around, but just in case, this was supposed to be a confidential summons.]

Subaru: [Confidential… no way, don’t tell me you were also invited by Miklotov-san?]

Tiga: [――. So that would mean, you as well?]

Subaru and Tiga’s eyes widened as they pointed fingers at each other, and Beatrice, standing between them, stood up on her tippy toes to reach up and pull both of their arms down.

Seeing her help out with that cute gesture, Tiga exhaled a soft “Ha”, and,

Tiga: [Wow, and I got myself panicked thinking that I was being tailed. No matter how you look at it, you wouldn’t bring a child along with you if you were on someone’s tail, that’s what I thought, but… nevermind, I’ll leave it be.]

Subaru: [What, don’t call it quits midway through. I won’t get mad so spit it out.]

Tiga: [Really? I guess I’ll say it then, but, I thought that if it was the famous Lolimancer, Natsuki Subaru, then it might be a piece of cake for you to bring a child along while actively tailing someone…]

Subaru: [Asshole, who’re you calling a Lolimancer, you bastard!]

Tiga: [I only said it because you said you wouldn’t get mad!]

At the shameful pseudonym that had resurfaced for the first time in a while, the indignant Subaru attempted to lunge at the other party. But, Tiga skillfully evaded both of Subaru’s hands before quickly hiding behind Beatrice.

Watching over that refreshing, futile struggle, Beatrice faced Subaru and shrugged her shoulders,

Beatrice: [This matter will not proceed otherwise, so you must reconcile right here, I suppose. Subaru needs to act as an adult, in fact.]

Subaru: [Tsk, fine. I’m an adult, so I don’t want to be told this and that by you when you’re made to imitate a child. After all, I’m an adult.]

Tiga: [I don’t think an adult would need to make such a huge display about how adult-like they’re being, for Dragon’s sake.]

Springing his crouched body back up, Tiga readjusted his hat as he gestured his chin in the direction of their shared destination, at the intersection where they had come to a halt.

Tiga: [We are headed for the same destination. And likely, the appointed time is also the same. Let’s go together.]

Subaru: [I’m fine either way, but in that case, he shouldn’t have had to make that odd specification about me coming alone. Wouldn’t it’ve been fine if Emilia-tan or Rem came along with me?]

Tiga: [Setting Rem aside, Emilia-sama is your master, correct? Would you truly drag her along for your own errands?]

Subaru: [It wouldn’t be dragging her along, I just don’t want to leave her side for even a moment if I can help it.]

Tiga: [That’s――]

To meet banter with banter. Although Subaru had merely intended to retaliate in the back-and-forth, Tiga’s mouth closed as if he was at a loss for words, and for a moment, he avoided eye contact.

Seeing that reaction, Subaru exchanged glances with Beatrice, and tilted his head in confusion.

Subaru: [What’s wrong? Did I scare you with my big love towards Emilia-tan and the rest?]

Tiga: [It’s not that your big love or whatever you call it was frightening. Merely, that weighty affection of yours, Subaru, it struck a chord in my heart that even I do not fully understand… something like that.]

Subaru: [――. I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ve already got lots of people whom I’ve set my heart on, so…]

Tiga: [Pretending to be all devoted, you then go with the declaration of a scumbag!?]

Feeling like their usual rapport had returned, Subaru smiled at Tiga’s sentimental riposte. From the beginning, he had thought him to be a person on similar wavelengths to himself, and sure enough, my friend was not just for show.

Tiga was also taken in by Subaru’s grin, smiling as he cast aside the unease from a moment prior.

Beatrice: [That is enough merrymaking from both of you, I suppose. It has come into view, in fact.]

At some point, Beatrice had started to walk a bit further ahead of Subaru and Tiga, and now standing at the corner bend in the street, she beckoned them with her hand. With long, fast strides, Subaru and Tiga hurried as quickly as they could without breaking into a sprint, and both arrived at Beatrice’s side at roughly the same time.

Then, at the outskirts of the Noble District, finding the designated address and a large mansion with the matching roof color he had been told, he fathomed a guess that this must be Miklotov’s residence.

Subaru: [Tiga, what did you have to discuss with Miklotov-san?]

Tiga: [Consulting him about something I’m searching for, I guess. What about you two, Subaru?]

Subaru: [Beako and I are pursuing a grand quest of history, we wanted to ask about various things regarding the dark aspects of the Kingdom, and we also were going to see if we could maybe get just a single glimpse at the Dragon History Stone.]

Tiga: [I see. So that ties back to those unsettling things you were saying earlier. I offer this warning out of consideration, but it would be best if you did not speak of your plans regarding the Dragon History Stone so casually out on the――]

Roadside; right as he attempted to conclude his sentence, Tiga cut off his words there.

Subaru and Beatrice turned around, wondering what the matter was, and as they were about to proceed through the front gate of Miklotov’s mansion, Tiga halted in his tracks, glaring at the surrounding stone walls.

Then, with a definite vigilance in his graceful side profile, he muttered.

That was――,

Tiga: [――This is bad, the smell of blood is in the air.]

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Beatrice in his left hand, Guiltywhip in his right. ――With those two reliable partners firmly equipped in his hands, Subaru stifled his breath and proceeded into the premises thick with the scent of blood.

???: [――Subaru, don’t stray from me. We’ll cover each other’s blind spots.]

The one addressing him in such a hushed voice was Tiga, keeping guard at the front of their formation.

Keeping low to the ground and erasing the sound of his footsteps as he walked, within Tiga’s hand was a sword he had drawn in one smooth, soundless motion―― a silver crescent that carved deep, sharp arcs: that which he grasped was a shamshir.

From the air of his demeanor, Subaru could presume he was a ready master of that curved blade, and bore an ill-timed thought that Filóre had quite the poor eye for Knights.

Subaru: [――――]

Through their clasped hands, Beatrice and Subaru’s anxieties were transmitted to each other.

Fortunately, thanks to Beatrice, who was far and away more composed than Subaru, they managed to avoid falling down a vicious spiral of their anxieties being reciprocally elevated by the other’s, akin to a self-inflicted Authority of Wrath.

――Miklotov’s mansion had been transformed into such a hideous scene that it made him want to avert his eyes.

Having entered the mansion from the rear, they had already discovered over ten people, but every last one of them had already breathed their last, hideously slaughtered corpses each slain with but a single stroke.

Whether those blows that had not inflicted suffering ought to have been branded mercy, or the utter dominance that did not permit any show of strength ought to have been appraised as ruthless, he could not think of any parting words to adorn those who had perished.

Merely, with the fresh, vibrant breath of death so close at hand, Subaru’s heart pounded as if it was about to burst.

Subaru: [――――]

The situation had already eclipsed Subaru’s capacity. Having reached such a judgment, he was convinced that the best course of action would be to immediately leave the mansion and seek aid and reinforcements elsewhere.

But at the same time, there was certainly a chance they could still save lives by proceeding onward now.

That was because――,

Subaru: [All of them were only just killed.]

Beatrice: […We are in agreement, in fact. If there was even just one person still breathing, I suppose…]

They discovered the mark of a slash carved into the corridor’s wall, and the remains of yet another person collapsed directly underneath. A large, sweeping stroke had been unleashed, and had obliquely sliced through that person together with the wall behind him.

Sliced open by a diagonal slash, the blood of the regrettable dead body had yet to dry, and the bloody stench tinged with heat possessed the characteristic cloying scent of a corpse, peculiar in how the vitality of that which had been alive but moments ago mingled with death.

Subaru: [It pisses me off that my experiences in the Empire are coming into play at a time like this…]

In the life of Natsuki Subaru, there existed one most atrocious, most hellish sight―― though it troubled him greatly, it was the gruesome massacre upon the Gladiator Island, where a mountain of corpses had been erected from the faces he knew well. The calamity wrought by the accursed Todd Fang, had scorched Subaru’s world to ashes across innumerable deaths.

There, he had seen much death. That was why he could recognize it. Approximately how long ago the living had been made into the dead, and approximately how much suffering they had experienced before they passed on.

Subaru: [They… didn’t suffer.]

This now brought the number of corpses they had found within the mansion to thirteen, but not a single one of them had suffered. However, he was unable to make out whether that was the result of mercy or skill.

The fact that they had died without suffering would likely only serve as consolation to the hearts of those who were able to ascertain it, such as himself. Prideful; even at a time like this, that malediction from Ferris flashed through his mind.

Why was that? Perhaps it was because he thought the one who had said he hated death more than anything else in this world would be able to understand Subaru, who currently felt utterly helpless in the face of this tragedy.

Subaru: [Shit.]

While burdened with the sense of nausea and loss that he still could not grow accustomed to, despite having borne witness to an incalculable number of deaths, Subaru closed the eyelids of the dead, and moved onward.

The reason he refused to withdraw was because the possibility remained that someone still survived in the midst of this tragedy that had only just begun.

He did not wish to withdraw and allow that possibility of life to be destroyed.

In addition――,

Subaru: [――Miklotov-san, is someone this country still needs.]

Certainly, Subaru had by no means exchanged many words with Miklotov.

The Council of Wise Men: he did not possess a single good memory of those men who stood at the zenith of those possessing acumen within the Kingdom.

Merely, amidst the few points of contact and recollections smeared with negative thoughts that he would rather forget, there was certainly something Subaru remembered.

Miklotov: [At the very least, he has shown that you are not the sort of half-elf so feared by the world. ――You have a fine attendant.]

When Subaru’s shameful conduct was laid bare before a great many people by his egotistical outburst, and he was driven from the throne room without a single ally remaining, those were the words that had been spoken.

Until now, this moment, this very instant, he had not recalled it. ――However, that day, in that place, there had been someone who had viewed Subaru’s actions through a different perspective to everyone else.

He had failed to realize that. But, why had that been? Whatever the case, Subaru was grateful.

Subaru would repay Miklotov with fortune surpassing this feeling of salvation.

Tiga: [――Subaru, Miss Beatrice.]

Steeling himself with firm resolve and determination, Subaru used that as motivation to keep himself from running away. Calling out to Subaru and Beatrice was Tiga, who had reached a set of enormous doors.

He could not claim to have examined every corner of the mansion, but he had finished checking all of the large chambers. Insofar as the layout of the mansion was concerned, the very room now before his eyes was the one that would serve as a place of refuge in an emergency.

Therefore, this room was the mostly likely location for the master of the mansion to be――,

Subaru: [――Hk!]

With nary a word of warning, immediately following a nod to each other, they plunged in through the opened door with Tiga as the vanguard.

As soon as they entered, the first thing his eyes landed upon was a great and enormous flag of the Kingdom of Lugunica spread out over the white wall within the modest room―― that which depicted a single sword at its center, and two dragons facing each other on either side, had been cleaved in twain diagonally, with one of the halves falling to the floor.

And there, he could see, with the national flag that had slumped down to the floor seeming to wrap around their body, a single individual who seemed to have suffered the same slash, dead with their back against the wall in a pool of their own blood.

Subaru: [――Aah.]

A groan had involuntarily escaped the back of his throat.

A figure was reclined against the wall, their head hung low and their face not clearly visible. And yet, he knew exactly who it was. Even the distinctive white beard that made it impossible to mistake them for another had been soaked in the vast quantity of blood that had gushed forth, staining it a bright crimson.

Subaru: [――――]

It was Miklotov McMahon, never to rise again―― a merciless end that came all too suddenly for the great wise man who had sustained the Kingdom of Lugunica for so long.

However, nevertheless, even that death, even that end, served not as the reason for Subaru’s groan.

The reason Subaru had groaned was not because Miklotov had been the victim. ――It was due to the assailant.

In the center of the room, directly in front of the corpse of the departed Miklotov that was seemingly wrapped in the diagonally bisected banner, stood the figure of the assailant, their back turned.

Upon a slender, well-proportioned back, there swayed beautifully captivating long, dark-green hair. The curves of her body, abundant in femininity, could not be fully concealed by her dark blue attire, painting an aesthetic of fallen virtue upon this terrible scene.

And, not a single drop of gore clung to the long, sharp, straight sword clutched by her hand. ――That was only natural. For the strokes of her sword hewed through her opponents not with steel, but with wind.

Subaru: [――――]

Aghast, Subaru and the others stood motionless as she slowly turned her head toward them. With one eye covered by an eyepatch, the beauty in men’s clothing captured them in her remaining eye of amber hue――,

Woman: [――Ah, Natsuki Subaru, is it? ――Pray tell, are you truly the “real one” I know?]

――At that query from Crusch Karsten, amidst the horrid spectacle of rampant blood and death, what escaped from the throat of Natsuki Subaru, was naught more than a pathetic groan.