The young man visibly lost his temper as he shouted, instantly making Subaru's words catch in his throat.
The youngster's voice echoed around the village, spreading unrest among the villagers, and, naturally, among the traveling merchants as well. There was no unrest in the expeditionary force, but the turbulent flow of discourse made their faces grow graver as well.
"You're…not denying it, are you…?"
The young man weakly murmured, finding his answer in Subaru's silent demeanor. The sight caused an outburst of unrest among the villagers, making their pent-up worries pour out all at once.
"So the people from the mansion really were talking about the Witch Cult yesterday… Why are they in a remote place like this…?"
"That's obvious, that's obvious, isn't it? It's because the lord did something like that!"
"Why must he support a half-elf…a half-demon…?"
The worries spoken by one set of lips after another made it painfully clear that Subaru's efforts to smooth things over had resulted in the opposite effect. The villagers had understood long before: the unrest enveloping their village was not unrelated to Emilia, residing at the mansion of the lord of the land.
They were not conveniently ignorant. It was only natural that they would reject Subaru's plan.
"Hold on a minute! I'm sorry! I was wrong, and I apologize! But…"
"—"
Accepting that his effort to convince them had failed, Subaru voiced an apology. At the same time, he realized something.
Among the villagers, some lamented, some raged, some glared. Those negative actions were not caused by their difficult-to-resist fear of the Witch Cult. Their negative energy was trained not toward the Cult, but toward the half-elf who had yet to show herself.
"What makes you think that?! Don't you realize it's got nothing to do with half-elves or Emilia?" Subaru exclaimed.
"How can it not be related?! The Witch Cult rampages against anything related to half-demons. Even the children of the village know that much! And yet, the lord not only shelters a half-demon, he nominates her to be the nation's king! This is no joke!"
"—!"
The youth's anger shocked Subaru; the near scream cut into him like a blade. His reaction made the youth's eyes freeze over as he looked downward. But he did not amend his statement.
When Subaru looked around, he saw, to a greater or lesser extent, the same emotion in the eyes of the other villagers.
"Is that what you all think? You think it's all the fault of the half-elf in the mansion?"
There was no reply. They seemed to think silence was more eloquent than anything they could say.
These were the friendly villagers he'd spent so much time with. Though it had only been two short months, so many things had happened that Subaru felt deepened the friendship they shared with one another. That was why he had been so desperate to save them.
He'd believed that they would accept his feelings without suspicion or doubt…and yet.
"This was just me getting ahead of myself again…?"
He'd underestimated the deep-rooted fear of the Witch Cult planted in every human being of that world. Even people who believed in Subaru's innate goodness could not defy the scars of history.
That fact made Subaru weakly slump his shoulders—but the next moment, his shoulders were slapped from behind.
From very close, an individual patted Subaru's shoulders, moving parallel to him while exhaling.
"Raise your head—after all, Lady Crusch says you should never lower your sights."
"You…"
"Do you think what you're doing is wrong…? If you don't think that, you don't need to look down."
Ferris's firm declaration surprised Subaru, coming from the last person he would have expected to console him. So, too, was he surprised at the memory that Ferris's words spurred him to recall.
They were words Crusch had actually spoken to Subaru, albeit during a different time around from the present.
"Besides, wasn't recklessly picking fights at the castle a lot harder than raising your head here?"
"…Now hold on."
Ferris's taunting comment made Subaru's shoulders go slack in a way that was very out of place. Subaru wondered just how long he was going to be made fun of for that single moment. But— "—Yeah. Compared to that, this is nothin'."
As much as his words had been rejected, he did not doubt that he was doing the right thing.
He understood that the villagers had an aversion toward half-elves. That very cruel fact caused a dark shadow to fall over Subaru's heart. But that reality was absolutely not something he could do anything about now. It was something to be changed by Emilia's future actions, with Subaru at her side.
"It's not somethin' I can do anything about just by saying 'I'm gonna change it.' Not when I haven't managed anything else yet."
As much as he thought their assessment was unfair, all he could do was show them results big enough to make them see her in a new light. And Subaru and the others were acting to create the time necessary for him to do so.
—Subaru Natsuki wanted to believe that was the reason he had come again like this.
"From what you've said, I understand how you all feel. I won't tell you, 'Drop everything and come with me.' It's natural you all have your thoughts on it. It hurts, but I get that, too."
"Master Subaru…"
"But for now, please, swallow it down. I really do understand all the feelings you're trying to put into words. So please, do as I say right now so we can speak properly about it later. The village really is in danger."
When Subaru spoke those words, training earnest eyes toward them, the villagers kept their silence, saying nothing. With silence falling over the village, Subaru thought their reaction very sad. At this rate, all he'd have done was spend time in futility.
However, it was Ram who sternly smashed the stalemate asunder.
"—The words of a servant of our house are the commands of Master
Roswaal, lord of this land. You serfs never had any right of refusal to begin with. Come now, hurry and obey your instructions."
Having observed on the sidelines up to that point, Ram had stepped out of the ranks of the expeditionary force to stand alongside Subaru as she confronted the villagers. The overbearing glint in her eye and the authority of her statement surprised and unnerved the villagers.
"H-hold on! I get why you're putting it harshly, but you don't have to put it like that. Everyone has their own lives. It's only natural they'd be thrown off like…"
"It would seem you, like these villagers, are insufficiently aware of the greatness of your lord."
When Subaru objected to Ram's high-handed statement, Ram glared at Subaru with an exasperated air.
"If you incur issues or damages due to the evacuation, our landlord shall take responsibility and compensate you. If any of you object, come forth and state your names. This is Master Roswaal's decision."
The way she said it was stern; her meaning was severe as well. But though she had been uncompromising, the contents of her proposal soothed the concerns of the populace, leaving Subaru and the villagers in awe. Everyone understood: by backing up Subaru's words with the authority of the landlord, Ram gave the villagers what they needed to agree.
"Ahh, sorry for Ram's harsh way of saying it, but what I want hasn't changed. Everyone needs to evacuate the village. I realize that it's so sudden you can't properly prepare."
"…"
"That's why I'll take responsibility and talk to Roswaal about proper compensation for damages. I want everyone to at least believe me about that.
Please."
Accepting Ram's viewpoint, Subaru appealed not to emotion, but to logic. Between Ram's calm and Subaru's urgings, the villagers were silent for a time. Then they nodded in apparent resignation.
They were a long way from liking it. However, they'd given their consent. The evacuation could begin.
"Sigh…"
When, with one thing settled, Subaru breathed out with relief, he was joined by the comrades standing in a row behind him. Everyone had been tense and anxious, but somehow, they'd climbed that mountain.
"I've gotta say, though."
"What?"
Subaru shared in his comrades' relief before proceeding to look at Ram, standing right beside him. Ram had a suspicious look in response to that gaze, but there was no question that it had been her words that had given the final push. He thought that was very Ram-like—hard edged, difficult to fathom, but kind.
"Having you tell people to do what I say is new. Does this mean you've accepted me?"
"Hah!"
Ram snorted. Somehow—just a little bit—he took solace in her demeanor.
6
The evacuation would last for two days at most. So it would begin as soon as the minimum supplies needed for that time were loaded.
The conditions Subaru placed on the villagers were very grudgingly accepted.
"There's fifteen dragon carriages. If we put seven people on almost each one, we should be able to get everyone aboard with room to spare."
Subaru had asked the young men of the village to take a roll call, ensuring every villager was accounted for. Now that they were evacuating, they surely didn't want to cause any extra trouble. Though they still dealt with the expeditionary force rather awkwardly, they dutifully did as they were told.
There was just one issue that couldn't be left unresolved—
"Explaining this to Lady Emilia and Lady Beatrice at the mansion, yes?" Ram said, hands on her hips as her eyes shifted to the path going from the village to the mansion.
The issues for proceeding with preparations to evacuate had been resolved. The mansion was another issue. And for Subaru, it posed the largest problem of all.
"I thought the village was pretty agitated, but what's Emilia been up to?"
The time had moved past early morning, finally entering the period one could call "morning" proper. Even if most human beings would be asleep at that hour, it was difficult for him to believe that Emilia could sleep soundly given the state of the Mathers domain over the last few days.
Ram's testimony had already made clear that Emilia had had no role in Ram's attack. But the fact that Emilia hadn't responded to the unrest in the forest tugged at his mind.
Ram responded to Subaru's suspicions by lowering her eyes with a faintly melancholic look.
"She was busy until late evening, so she should still be resting at the moment. Ever since returning from the capital in a state of despair, she has been weary, lacking any time to put her heart at ease."
"Unghh…"
"She has the look of someone who has been put through a distasteful ordeal by a man."
"Don't attach distasteful to it, okay?! …Not that I'm denying it…"
Her third-party opinion magnified Subaru's feelings of guilt all at once. It was natural that the events at the capital had greatly wounded Emilia. He could not disagree with Ram's scornful opinion of him.
"While Master Roswaal is absent, it is up to Lady Emilia to deal with anything amiss at the mansion and the village. But you can understand the villagers' reactions to Lady Emilia from their earlier demeanor, yes?"
"I can picture it, but I don't really want to put it into words… Rejection, huh?"
"'Rejection'? A rather simplistic impression, isn't it?"
Ram laughed loudly at Subaru's words, her face immediately turning more cheerful.
"—More like repudiation. If you have been rejected, you can always reach out again. If one's outstretched hand has been brushed aside, that means there has been contact. But what if you have been repudiated instead?"
"…"
"If it is disgusting to even touch, one must wonder how one closes the distance."
Subaru made no reply to Ram's argument, seemingly made to test him. Ram didn't seem to be looking for an answer, either. "I said something mean," she said immediately with a sigh.
"Lady Emilia realized there was something amiss in the forest and attempted to have the villagers take shelter in the mansion. Then the villagers repudiated her. She is not someone sensible enough to withdraw immediately after being repudiated, something I imagine you know for yourself, Barusu."
"But I also know that she's not a girl who'll get hit with cruel words and not be hurt."
Emilia had been trying to deal with the Witch Cult unrest in her own Emilia-like way. However, that way was not enough to soften the hard hearts the villagers bore toward half-elves.
Or perhaps the villagers' excessive reaction was the result of their speaking with her.
"So what'd Emilia do after?"
"After repeated attempts at persuasion were declined, she was unable to sit still, so she went around reweaving the barriers around the village. After all, as we had not judged the unrest to be from the Witch Cult, she feared it might be demon beasts."
"Well, that wasn't really a bad call, but…"
"After that, the blank declaration of war arrived last evening, so she was fretting about that until the morning."
"So that pops up here, too…"
While Ram spoke as if it were light banter, Subaru could only lament that the letter had done damage on another front. The report on events in the capital, evacuation preparations, Emilia and Ram's concerns, Ram's independent actions—the secondary damage was a gift that kept on giving.
For such a simple trick, the effects were all too painful.
"In any case, with this much advance preparation to evacuate, Lady Emilia is unlikely to object. If we report to her at the mansion, it should make her agree immediately."
"…"
"Barusu?"
"No, I get it. Just makes my heart hurt a little."
With Ram looking suspicious, Subaru shook his head, conscious of his quickening heartbeats. Here, on the brink of a reunion with Emilia, his tension was at its zenith.
Just as Ram saw it, Emilia was not the kind of girl who'd reject the cooperation of so many people. Hence, Subaru's stress and worry were an issue of Subaru's own heart.
"Julius, come with me, 'kay? I'm heading to the mansion to convince Emilia and the loli."
"Me?"
As he hardened his resolve, Subaru looked around him and called for Julius. Subaru nodded at Julius, whose face showed that the nomination had come unexpectedly.
"Yeah. I'm a lot more convincing with you beside me than not. You'll be my proof that I've behaved and repented after all the stuff at the castle."
"I see, very well. If it will make the talk go more smoothly, use me to your heart's content."
His handsome face indicated consent, elegantly nodding at Subaru's suggestion. The gesture made Subaru grimace.
Ram, glancing sidelong at the exchange, sighed as she said, "A petty and very Barusu-like little trick."
"Hey, don't call it petty. Call it paying attention to the little details. Ahh, Julius, besides that."
"What is it?"
"You're the one who stuck a spirit on me, right? I want a proper explanation."
The offhanded way Subaru made the remark made even Julius look apprehensive. His reaction made Subaru avert his eyes, a guilty look on his face as he continued:
"Now look, I've been saved two times now with my life on the line, so I get that you're a spirit mage whether I like it or not."
"I would prefer you called me by the proper title, spirit knight. I employ spiritual spells, of course, but I do not recall skimping on my sword training."
Giving that reply, Julius stared at Subaru's face with utmost seriousness.
"…You are unexpectedly calm. I was thoroughly convinced you would find my being a spirit user to be distasteful."
"Even I can account for time, place, circumstances, and person once in a while. There are times when I haven't, though."
Subaru, eyes still averted, made a pained smile as he motioned toward Julius's right arm. There emerged the minor spirits that Subaru had seen during Ram's attack, seemingly orbiting the arm. The flickering spirits numbered six in total, each one lovingly nestling close to Julius's arm.
However beautiful and fickle they looked, they were beings imbued with supernatural power.
"As you have surmised, these girls are spirits—known as common spirits —that I have formed a pact with. They are buds yet to bloom into distinct categories of spirits. I borrow their strength through my pledge to become a knight worthy of the beautiful flowers they shall become."
"So you had the red one keep an eye on me?"
One of the minor spirits resting on Julius's palm was the red one that had leaped out of Subaru's hair during the illusion. When he thought back, it was that same scarlet minor spirit that had appeared when he had been captured by the crazed woman.
All of it was Julius's doing. Twice, Subaru had been saved by him in his time of need.
"It is hurtful to hear you call it keeping an eye on you. She was protecting you from the shadows."
"…Incidentally, what was that thing you used when you were breaking the illusion?"
Julius had used some kind of magic to share the method of breaking the illusion with every member of the group. As a result, Subaru's brain had been put through the wringer from the multiple thoughts passing through it.
"That was magic cast through borrowing the power of In and Nes, combining Dark with Light…that is Nekt, an advanced magic spell. It links the Gates of all human beings within range, enabling thoughts to pass between them. Though it seems to have been rather too effective upon you."
"Yeah. I thought I wasn't gonna be me anymore."
"As a matter of fact, there is no question it is a difficult spell to employ. After all, it is a ritual to thin the boundaries between you and the minds of others. If deepened to excess, not only thoughts but also the five senses can be commingled. I'm sure you experienced the fear of being consumed by others to a fair extent?"
"That's walking one hell of a tightrope!"
Subaru was aghast at learning far too late that he had crossed a more precarious bridge than he had even imagined.
Julius turned a look of deep interest toward him and said, "But it is rare for the buds to make a mistake when tuning it. Perhaps you possess an unusually high affinity for spirits… Does anything along those lines come to mind?"
"Sorry, the only spirit I get along with is a mouse-colored cat."
On top of that, right then, he had no confidence that he could ever approach that cat in the same way as before.
"If you have an opportunity, you should try to learn the basics of spiritualism from Lady Emilia. If she is resistant to teaching you, I would be willing to aid you myself."
"I'm not sure what brought on this sudden outpouring of friendliness, but it doesn't sound like an instant process, so I'll pass for now."
He didn't deny that the suggestion held its attractions, but Subaru reflexively declined the offer. His reaction made Julius pull back, seemingly disappointed, when Subaru simultaneously remembered something.
Ferris had told him. Subaru was still subconsciously harboring enmity toward Julius—just as he had at that very moment.
"Can't I do something about that?"
The first time, Ram had interrupted, but was it not the time to properly clear up the ill feelings between them?
With such thoughts in Subaru's mind, his gaze caused Julius to incline his own head. Subaru narrowed his eyes at the handsome young man fluent with words, anguished in the attempt to somehow spit out serious words of his own. But—
"…I understand that you don't feel like putting all your cards on the table, but right now you've gotta put up with it. There'll be problems with our teamwork if we don't know what the other can do, right?"
"—Mmm, understood. If possible, I would like to put Ia on you again. Please grant your consent."
In the end, hesitation clogged up Subaru's throat, and all he could manage was to keep his statement inoffensive.
While Subaru's thoughts were elsewhere, the red minor spirit called Ia circled above his head. It proceeded to land on the crown of Subaru's head, asserting its existence with a faint emission of heat.
"Hey, this isn't gonna make me bald, is it? I'll have you know I'm trying to go through life without becoming bald or chubby…"
"She's been nestled against you until now without you even noticing, yes? It is especially so for those with a high affinity for spirits. Your Gate will acclimate quickly, and you will cease to notice her."
In accordance with this lecture, Subaru immediately stopped feeling the heat on the crown of his head. The principles were unclear to him, but she had apparently slipped inside Subaru. That faint heat was the only thing he'd felt from it.
"What should I do to call it out?"
"She responds to the name Ia. As she cannot respond to commands that are too complex or beyond her power, please do not forget to be as considerate as when approaching any lady."
Apparently, in other words, read the mood—not Subaru's strong suit.
"Now then, Barusu, will you finally put your cowardice aside?"
Ram, looking tired of waiting, cut into the pair's conversation. She was leaning on a fence, and her jaw was firm as she indicated the road running from the village to the mansion.
"Or do you intend to let a defenseless girl, her mana all used up, walk such a dangerous mountain road alone?"
"More like you ran out of gas doing friendly fire. To be honest, I didn't know you had that in you…"
He was genuinely surprised at her combat ability. She could even take Wilhelm on, if only for a short period. However, he could not wipe away his disappointment—including at how a crucial scene had gone up in smoke.
"Had Master Wilhelm been at full strength, I would not have lasted ten seconds. After all, my power has fallen two steps…no, four steps from its peak."
"Why'd you make it double Wilhelm's? Stubbornness?"
"Pride."
It was an exceptionally Ram-like statement, and for that matter, it was likely the literal truth. Subaru couldn't even imagine how astounding Ram had been before she had lost her horn.
"That probably accounts for why Rem dwelled on it so much…"
"Did you say something, Barusu?"
"Nothing at all, Big Sis. If I spill the beans that much, it'll make for more scary people to deal with."
"—?"
Ram was suspicious about his demeanor, but Subaru avoided saying any more at that juncture. He was hesitating about Rem—her little sister—and all the feelings Subaru bore toward her. More than any other, it was thanks to Rem that Subaru had overcome his trials at the royal capital and was standing there.
In that moment, the importance of Rem's existence rivaled that of Emilia's inside Subaru. But considering the time and place, explaining those difficultto-describe emotions to her older sister just wasn't happening there and then.
He could face that, and all the other concerns, after everyone had overcome the current state of affairs.
"We have to explain the alliance, too, so we should grab Ferris and head to the mansion, huh?"
Someone from the Crusch camp was required for smoothly clearing up the misunderstanding from the letter of goodwill incident. They'd leave most of the expeditionary force to guard the villagers, with several heavy hitters joining him on his way up to the mansion.
"So about Ferris… What's he up to anyway?"
Subaru, searching for any sight of the kitty-eared knight in the village, finally spotted him at a corner of the village square. There rested the merchants' dragon carriages in a line; Ferris was surrounded by their owners, engaged in some kind of argument.
"It is because the circumstances with the Witch Cult have come to light.
They might be venting their frustrations about it."
"Geh… Well, I suppose they would. Sorry, I'll go mediate a little."
Scowling at Julius's guess, Subaru headed toward them. Ram seemed beside herself as she watched him go. Ferris was clearly relieved when Subaru wedged himself into the center of the dispute.
"Ah, Subawu…"
"Okay, that's enough! Can someone explain to me what this argument's about?"
"They keep saying, 'This wasn't the deal'! Even though I told them again and again that Ferri doesn't represent the group…"
"That's right, pal. You're the one we wanted to talk to!"
This time, instead of Ferris, whose cheeks swelled up in a huff, the angry voices poured onto Subaru. Breathing raggedly through his nose, the merchants' representative—an individual named Kety—jabbed his finger into Subaru.
"The deal… Well, I suppose not?"
"Of course it's not! There's no mistaking what you told us: 'Help us evacuate people while we exterminate demon beasts.' And when we open the lid, what's inside?!"
Kety, his face red with anger, pressed roughly against Subaru's chest and said, "It turns out to be trouble involving the Witch Cult! This is quite a fraud, you know? What the hell are you up to, dropping that kind of huge lie at our feet?!"
Accosted in such a threatening manner, Subaru was of course taken aback by the sheer force of it.
They were right to be angry about circumstances not corresponding to the explanation they'd been given beforehand. That said, Subaru was at a loss for how to apologize to Kety, who was vehement to the point of incoherence.
Then—
"If that's the case, how about we make a more tangible apology by raising the reward, meow?"
"—Wha…? You sure got more sensible than earlier all of a sudden."
Kety's smile toward Ferris, hiding behind Subaru's back as he made the proposal, deepened further. Inside, Subaru breathed a sigh of relief that his demand was so straightforward. If they'd gotten bent out of shape Subaru would be right back to square one. A little extra damage to Roswaal's coffers was no great concern.
"The original condition was to name our price. Can we expect double that?"
"Because you're greedy, meow… Where is your register? I'll review the contents with Subawu."
"Hey! Do we have to do that…? Doesn't human life come first?" Subaru's eyes widened as Ferris drove the conversation further and further afield.
Kety, having just handed the register over to Ferris, gave a mean-spirited look down at Subaru and said, "This is a huge issue related to the lives we'll be leading tomorrow. But if you don't want to, that's fine."
"…I'm just grumblin'."
Cowed by Kety's downward gaze, Subaru grudgingly climbed into the wagon of his dragon carriage. So far as he could tell, the register listed all the cargo the carriages hauled, as well as personal accessories and jewelry and the like, in an unexpectedly meticulous manner.
"Even though the owner's so violent, meow?"
"I had the same thought, but why are we doing this together? Go thataway or somethin'."
"This'll be done faster if two people are checking, yes? And it's not like he minds, meow."
Ferris snuggled against Subaru as they checked the cargo in the curtained wagon. Subaru raised his eyebrows at Ferris's pushy demeanor when Ferris narrowed his eyes and said, "More importantly…making up with Julius? Did you do it?"
"…Concerning that issue, after much consideration and study, I wish to approach the matter with positivity and discretion."
"I thought so, meow. I thought, It's Subawu, so he'll mess it up for sure. And after you said all that cool stuff in front of the villagers, too—"
Ferris put a hand on his mouth and giggled, showing no sign of ceasing his teasing look. Subaru, feeling burned at the teasing over earlier events and his lingering resentment toward Julius, continued the inspection, comparing cargo to the register.
"Well, it wasn't a bad try, meow? All you have to do is apologize to Julius with the same intensity…"
"Why you little…!"
"Hey now, don't start a lover's quarrel inside someone else's dragon carriage. Get the work done already."
When he talked back at Ferris for making light of his situation, Kety made his disapproval with both of them very clear. When his tall frame lumbered over, he was even more sour about Subaru and Ferris's lack of concentration. "I can yell at you more, you know. If you'd rather I don't, get serious."
"Y-yeah, sorry. We'll do it right…"
"Uh-oh, he's angry with you, Subawu. Sheesh, you really are a handful, meow."
Seizing on Kety's anger, Ferris hopped away from Subaru's side. Subaru had just about had enough of his antics. But before he could raise a coarse voice—
"—So careless of you."
"Guh—?!"
When Ferris murmured, narrowing his yellow eyes, he touched Kety's exposed arm. The next moment, the tall man let out an anguished cry, his eyes rolling up as he toppled onto his side.
"Huh…?"
"Subawu, don't just stare like that. Stand watch outside so that no one notices."
All trace of levity gone, Ferris gave crisp instructions to Subaru, who was taken aback by the sudden series of events. But Subaru was rooted to the spot, unable to understand what had just taken place. Seeing this, Ferris sighed and explained.
"This person is part of the Witch Cult. I touched him to check earlier when all those people were around me; he has the same weird ritual embedded in him as the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins' finger had earlier."
"—?! He's a Witch Cultist?! And a Sloth on top of that?!"
"The possibility is high. That's why I thought I'd get into the dragon carriage to lower his guard."
As Ferris replied to the wide-eyed Subaru, he checked Kety's fallen body and found something. When he lifted a hand, it was holding a cross-shaped sword furnished by the Witch Cult.
"That's one of the swords the Witch Cultists… They seriously infiltrated the traveling merchants…?"
"But we captured this one alive. The instant I touched him, I made the water in his body run wild and knocked him out. Though if I've directly affected someone even once, I can do the same thing without even touching, meow."
"…Meaning you can do the same thing to me. Kinda gives me the chills to hear that…"
Grudgingly, Subaru did as Ferris directed and checked on things beyond the curtain. Fortunately, no one on the outside seemed to have noticed the skirmish inside the carriage. No one else seemed to be coming aboard.
"But if one of them was a Witch Cultist, that changes everything."
"We can't be certain they don't have others among the merchants…but we can check that from here on out, I suppose?"
Subaru was chagrined at the plan backfiring, but Ferris shook his head as if it was no big deal. After that, he gave the unmoving Kety a smack on the cheek, then pressed a palm, glowing with a pale light, to his face and said, "Now, spill out everything that you're planning, would you? Ferri's hand is the gentlest in the world…but it can do such terrible things, meow?"
"—"
Subaru's body shuddered when he remembered the phrase Those who know how to heal people also know how to break them.
Ferris's request made Kety open his eyelids a crack, gazing at Ferris with unfocused eyes. His lips frailly struggled to move, but Ferris's power was supreme. He apparently couldn't move at all.
"Ferris, be careful. If he is a Sloth, even if he can't move his limbs…"
"He can still use his power, yes? That's why I have you watching, Subawu."
Just because the flesh could not move didn't mean Unseen Hands couldn't be put into motion. In accordance with Ferris's request, Subaru squared his shoulders and kept the closest eye possible on what Kety was doing.
With Subaru and Ferris both hemming him in, Kety breathed out, seemingly deflated. Then—
"—"
"What?"
When Kety seemed to murmur something, Ferris narrowed his eyes, demanding he repeat himself. Subaru hadn't been able to hear the statement, either. Kety opened his mouth once more—
"—YES."
"—! Ia! Protect him!!"
Ferris seemed to leap to his feet the instant the whisper reached his eardrums, calling to Subaru, at the entrance to the wagon—no, to the common spirit tethered to him.
Ferris's gravity, normally unthinkable for him, made Subaru stare for a second, wondering what had happened, when…
"Ah?"
With a burst of heat, the common spirit flew out, deploying a crimson wall of shimmering light around his entire body. It enveloped Subaru,
completely isolating him from his surroundings—
"Now cooomes the beginning…of the end!!"
Frozen stiff, Subaru heard a shrill voice saying that right before his eyes.
The next moment, Subaru was engulfed by the flames of the exploding dragon carriage, losing all track of which way was up.
CHAPTER 4
A CRAFTY SLOTH
1
When Subaru's mind returned to reality, the first thing he took in was the powerful stench of something burnt.
It was like meat that had been barbecued to ash, stir-fried vegetables that had been fried black, completely and thoroughly burnt from too much heat inside and outside, a scent that brought one's mood to its nadir.
"—"
He opened his mouth, trying to get his voice out. He couldn't hear a thing. It was not that sound did not reach his eardrums, but rather that too great a sound had slammed into them a moment prior. A sound far too great to be termed ringing echoed through his skull at length, leaving Subaru to expect little from his hearing for the time being.
"—"
Subaru continued instinctively raising his voice as he relied on his other senses. His eyelids were open, but his field of vision remained pitch-black, ruling sight out. His sense of smell was dominated by the stench of something burnt, and there was a strong taste of rust inside his mouth. The fact that he lay faceup, limbs spread wide, meant he'd probably fallen onto the ground.
"—Aah."
During the time he checked to see that his limbs could move, his own voice faintly slipped past the ringing in his ears. As the ringing began to fade, he began to be able to hear himself. At the same time, he began to hear the sound of his own blood coursing through his body, and the darkness in his field of vision gradually brightened.
His five senses were functioning. Sight and vision were returning, allowing him to sense the world around him. And then— "—!!—!—!!"
As his hearing recovered, stringent shouts flew his way. Some voices were bloodcurdling; others were those of crying children. Screams. The mansion, burnt—instantly, his thoughts came to a boil.
"—! What the—?!"
When his thinking processes recovered, bolstered by his five senses, Subaru sat up with a start and looked around the area. His entire body, covered in burns and scrapes, pleaded for mercy, but the spectacle before his eyes made him forget all that.
—Right before Subaru's eyes were the burning remains of a dragon carriage, with several land dragon corpses scattered around it.
"Ex—plosion…"
His memory from just before came back, allowing Subaru to properly grasp what had happened.
Explosion. Yes, an explosion. Explosion was the only word he had for the supreme might of the destruction wrought.
Such was the power of it that the dragon carriages lined alongside had been blown away and a good chunk of Earlham Village completely leveled. The homes bordering the village square had been engulfed by the spreading fires from the explosion, with flames licking at the familiar scenery.
The blackened, charred objects scattered around the area were partly the dragon carriages and the corpses of their land dragons, but that none were intact made him unable to differentiate between organic and inorganic matter. It was surely a foregone conclusion that the dense scent of burning flesh invading his nostrils was from the land dragons that had perished in the blast.
Aghast that land dragons had been blown away without a trace, Subaru bit down on his back teeth and said, "Ia! Come on out, Ia! You're here, aren't you?!"
When Subaru slapped his chest and desperately called out, the red common spirit instantly responded. The red light appeared before his eyes, making no complaint at being called on repeatedly as she silently asserted her existence with her heat.
—Subaru remembered that Ia had protected him, deploying a wall an instant before the explosion. If not for the common spirit's protection, Subaru would have died in the explosion just like the land dragons around him. However, Subaru had not been the only one in the dragon carriage. It would be meaningless if he had been the only one saved.
"Ia! The person with me… Where's Ferris?! Where's…"
"—I'm here."
Subaru was on his knees when a frail voice reached his ears. As it was truly the voice he'd yearned to hear, Subaru practically tumbled as he turned toward it. He heard the voice from the shadow of a ruined house.
"Ferris?! Are you all right, Fe—"
"All right…might be a hard sell, meow."
When Subaru practically crawled in that direction, Ferris, the one he sought, revealed himself out of the smoke.
Subaru had feared the worst but was relieved to the bottom of his heart when Ferris emerged. But an instant after that relief, he realized that something was very off. He was happy Ferris was all right, but he was too all right.
"Ia's magic wall didn't deploy in time…? Some sort of super-powerful defensive spell, then?"
"Nothing of the sort…I died once, that's all."
Ferris, with one eye closed, bore no wound worthy of the name. Unlike Subaru, he surely didn't have the protection of a common spirit, and yet his fur and flesh were in tidy shape.
But his attire was not the uniform of a Knight of the Royal Guard, but merely a tattered cloth wrapped around his naked flesh. Given the little time available, the cloth must have come from a dragon carriage curtain.
"Why are you dressed like…?"
"Well, I can't help it! Clothes can't be regenerated with magic! And more to the point…"
Ferris thrust his palm forward, interrupting Subaru's question as he turned hard eyes elsewhere. Following his gaze, Subaru clicked his tongue. The situation was even worse than he'd imagined.
—In the blink of an eye, Earlham Village had transformed into a battlefield—a clash of fire and sword taking place.
"No retreat, push them back! Cut open a path! Evacuating the villagers comes first!!"
On the other side of the village square, one of the knights shouted to that effect as he and an attacker crossed blades.
A large number of people were gathered together in the square, knights included. However, the majority were noncombatants—villagers and merchants. The expeditionary force was surrounding them in a circle while resisting the enemy.
The attackers were dressed in black robes, carrying cross-like straight swords in their hands—it was the Witch Cult.
"How did they enter the village…?"
"That's obvious: they were in the dragon carriage wagons."
"Shit!"
His "insurance" had backfired in every possible way. Subaru cursed his own stupidity and god-awful luck.
They hadn't placed any restrictions on the merchants aiding with evacuation. Realizing that the merchants had ferried the Witch Cult in made the phrase the Witch Cult is everywhere ring painfully true.
—Particularly if an Archbishop of Sloth was among them.
"Subawu, you don't have time to get depre—"
"I know! Scrap the evac plan! Anyway, let's get everyone up to the mansi
—"
Poor strategy or not, they had no choice left but to go and hole up. The instant after he made that judgment, Subaru saw it.
Repeated spells by the Witch Cultists tore the knights' circular formation apart, causing the combat strength resisting the Cult to collapse. The blackrobed figures proceeded to leap into the village square, waving their swords as they assaulted the helpless villagers.
"Those bas—!"
Their short swords reflected the flames; their glints burned into Subaru's eyes as he yelled at the top of his lungs. However, his voice could not halt the vile blades. Nor could the knights halt their wicked deeds in time.
Mother protected child. Husband shielded wife. Young stood before old.
And crosses would impale them all— "Al Clauzeria—!"
A brief moment before that tragic scene was to unfold, a chant resounded, and simultaneously, Subaru saw light in the sky.
Light spawned and swirled about in midair, swelling into a rainbowcolored aurora that poured down onto the village square.
The vivid aurora traced a beautiful arc, indiscriminately bathing the knights, villagers, and Witch Cultists with its colors. But a moment later, the effects upon them were at polar extremes.
The rainbow softly enveloped the knights and villagers, transforming into a wall for them. The Witch Cultists impaled the rainbow with their daggers, and the next instant, they were enveloped in an unimaginable shock wave that sent them flying.
The square upon which the Witch Cultists had intruded was conquered by the overpowering light of that rainbow. And this had been wrought by a handsome young man in white armor, appearing in the square as if he had flown there.
"None shall mar the beautiful radiance of the rainbow—this is the truth of the heavens."
"The Finest of Knights," master of the aurora, snobbishly spoke those words as he thrust his cavalry saber toward the sky. The cavalry saber that had swept the Witch Cultists clean was surrounded by the lights of five common spirits—all except Ia, who had been assigned to Subaru. The way Julius had turned the battle around at its darkest moment was truly worthy of his other name.
Seeing the result for himself, Subaru clapped his hands as he rushed over to Julius.
"Incredible! Good job, well done! You really let loose! I'm glad you're here for once!"
"Somewhat vexing praise, but I shall accept. I am glad you and Ferris are safe."
Julius, thanks to whom the front line had recovered, was relieved to see Subaru and Ferris rushing toward him. But unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate their safety.
"Sorry, I messed up. There was a Sloth with the traveling merchants, but I couldn't deal with him."
"It is the result of the enemy outthinking us. I have no intention of criticizing you. Right after the dragon carriage you and Subaru entered exploded, the Witch Cultists in the village went on a rampage. The damage from the explosion and the surprise attack is not shallow, but I had TB and Ram evacuate the wounded to the mansion."
"There's a lot of enemies, though. The evacuation didn't go well, I take it?"
Julius had avoided spelling it out, but the authority of Sloth was without doubt the cause of their disadvantage. That power could change the course of battle all by itself, and Subaru's eyes were the only counter.
And if he could not fulfill that duty, all they could do was await their fated destruction.
"Anyway, we've got to smash all the Sloths! I'll do the looking! Julius, lend me your strength!"
"Of course. Ferris, link up with the evacuees and treat them. You are our lifeline."
Subaru clenched a fist, Julius nodded, and Ferris winked. Acknowledging their mutual roles, the three instantly separated. Subaru and Julius were to wipe out the Sloths; Ferris was to bolster the knights and villagers and form a defensive line at the mansion.
"Now then, stand up! We'll head to the mansion and hold out there. Run, run!"
With Ferris's gallant voice at his back, Subaru turned his attention to the clashes of blades he heard all over the place. The combat, far fiercer than what had come before, showed that the Witch Cult had gotten serious.
"How many Witch Cultists are in the village, roughly?"
"The precise number is unclear. However, there were many participating
in the height of the battle. The entire force of the remaining fingers has likely entered the village. Clearly, this is a difficult foe."
If there were three fingers left, and each had ten people with them, the number of enemies had to be creeping toward forty. Beyond tangling with a force of that size, the expeditionary force had people to protect, a disadvantage that put it in a difficult situation. However, there was hope—if the enemy's entire force was assembled in the village, at least.
"If we can take down the last three Sloths, we can win this in one…
Ah?!"
Subaru saw a chance to turn things around, but that instant, he saw the sky ahead blotted out by blackness. Directly above the flames in the village, countless black hands were covering the sky. The numbers were straight out of a nightmare.
"—Unseen Hands!!"
When Subaru looked up and shouted that, Julius's expression grew graver still. But his eyes were glazed; he could not see the same nightmare. In a sense, that was fortunate. After all, it would not be strange if seeing lethal violence on such a scale caused the heart to falter.
"Probably under there…!"
Subaru had to take Sloth on, but someone was taking Sloth on without him.
His intuition soon became firm belief.
The black hands cascaded from the sky, destroying trees, houses, and the ground itself with their overwhelming power. It was without cessation, over and over again, destroy, destroy, destroy—fueled by the anger of being unable to finish off one's foe.
"We have to hurry! Wilhelm's fighting right near there!"
There was only one human being who could take Sloth on without Subaru.
2
Wilhelm broke through the downpour of invisible attacks by moving beyond the limits of his own vision.
He swayed from left to right, suddenly accelerated and decelerated, did as many flips as he could, toying with his enemy and drawing ever, ever closer through each repeated skirmish.
The authority known as Unseen Hands would be a dangerous attack even if it weren't invisible. It could freely alter its range and direction, both able to overwhelm the enemy with numbers and destroy him utterly with a single blow. These constituted countless advantages in every kind of battle, making it the ultimate technique for bringing death to one's foe.
Only because he was the more experienced fighter was Wilhelm able to manage.
"Accordingly, I shall nail you to the wall here and now, Witch Cultist—!"
"It cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot be! To think you would resist to this extent!!"
To the fore, farther down the road, a tall man stood opposite Wilhelm. His posture, with his head bent at an unnatural angle, resembled that of a doll that oozed creepiness as some human hand toyed with it.
In point of fact, the madman had lost free use of his flesh; instead, it was the authority that held his body in its grip and controlled it, but such considerations were worthless to the Sword Devil.
What he required was the fact that the man standing there was an enemy, and one of the three Sloths remaining—the man, dressed in traveling merchant attire, did not appear to be making the slightest effort to conceal his identity.
He'd slipped into Subaru's painstakingly arranged "insurance," craftily manipulating it for his own wicked intentions. Simultaneously, Wilhelm wondered about the safety of Subaru and Ferris, who should have been right by the dragon carriage that had exploded. But in the heat of battle he instantly thrust such melancholy thoughts aside, and the Sword Devil immersed himself in his own fight.
It wasn't that he lacked concern. He would never be able to face his master, Crusch, unless Ferris returned safe and sound. However, his heart pleaded that he did not really need to worry too much.
They would break through that crisis, Subaru and Ferris both. Such was the great faith he had in them.
"Rrrrraaa!!"
He swung his sword, splitting the earth, kicking up a shower of dirt that allowed him to read the arcs of the invisible attacks. With superhuman evasiveness, Wilhelm broke through the wall of bloodlust burying the path between him and his foe and charged.
He didn't need to concern himself with Subaru or Ferris. This had been the only thing he'd wanted to begin with. What he could accomplish was settled from the first moment he'd held a sword in his hand.
"Such favor, to increase the numbers so! Such tenacity in the face of them!
Such conviction! As a diligent disciple, I cannot praise it enough! Ahh, ahh! Oh, love! My brain is shaaaaking!"
Different eyes, different face, different voice—even so, they shared the same madness-filled look. Though a different being with a different appearance, this Sloth was obsessed with Wilhelm just the same. As he received the repulsive praise, Wilhelm moved farther from the battlefield, pursuing the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins on his own.
Given the current balance of forces, he was the only one who could take the madman on. He was the only one who could keep the damage to a minimum and strike the man down.
Wilhelm glared at the insane man before him, increasing the speed of his steps. The invisible attacks slammed down, trying to pursue him, but the Sword Devil sprinted like an arrow, leaving them behind.
"—"
Heedless of the shower of dirt, Sloth recklessly repeated the invisible attacks. It was as if not only was he insane, but his tactics were stupid, as well. Of course, the duel would be settled just as stupidly.
"—!—!!—!!"
The madman made some kind of lament, but Wilhelm, running straight forward, did not hear. He stripped away all that was unnecessary, charging forward as he became a single blade, the steel that would rend wickedness asunder.
Naturally, as he drew closer the obstacles increased. The number of grazes grew greater, and the inside of Wilhelm's body was bathed in sharp heat as he poised his sword, lashing out.
The earth split apart, and the madman's posture tilted. Wilhelm turned his sword tip toward the center of the body's mass, driving it home.
"—I have you!"
There was not even slight resistance to the tip of his blade. The feeling of rending a life was one the Sword Devil had oft tasted.
His treasured sword impaled the madman through the left of his chest, completely destroying the beating heart within. Not even Ferris could have pulled him back from the brink of death. The merciless strike had brought his life to a conclusion.
"…Yes, if it was you, then…"
Failing to die instantly with the blade running through his back, the madman spewed blood as he tried to say something. Wilhelm drew his sword back to cut his last words and testament short.
It was then that the madman said into Wilhelm's ear, "When you focus on fighting invisible arms, you lose sight of what you can see… Lazy, is it not?"
"—"
His thoughts contorted for a second.
An unnecessary crack in the Sword Devil's belligerence was pried open, as if he was trying to think of what the words could mean.
An instant later, the madman lunged at Wilhelm, his shaking arm raising a dagger. Then, without hesitation, he employed the dagger to stab his own left eye.
Through the eye socket, the tip of the blade invaded his skull, piercing his brain and cutting short his own life.
"Wha—?"
The instant the blade robbed him of his eye, and his life, light surged out
—
3
The instant he rushed around a demolished house and onto the broken road, the earth shook.
"—"
The shock wave coursed underfoot; the shudder in the air made it hard to breathe. Then, as Subaru sprinted forward, the delayed flames and wind from the blast followed suit, mowing down everything in front of him.
"Whoaaa—!"
"Don't move! Aro! Iku!"
With Subaru frozen in place, Julius raised an arm before him, calling out to the spirits glowing green and yellow. A green blade came to be, and a bulwark of earth and stone rose before them. The wave of heat rushing from ahead was sliced apart before bouncing off the stout wall, protecting the pair from its wrath.
"What happened?!"
"I do not know. Just before the explosion, I felt like I saw a human silhouette pass through, but…"
As the reverberations of the blast relented, the two rushed past the broken ground toward the center of the blast zone. The surrounding area looked as if it had sustained a ferocious shock wave from the blast, enough to send the rooftops flying off brick homes. Naturally, there was a crater in the ground at the center of the blast, adding poignancy to the sad tale.
And when Subaru saw who lay at the center of the blast zone, his voice went cold.
"Wilhelm…?!"
Raising his shaking voice, Subaru rushed over to the white-haired, aged swordsman who was lying curled on the ground. He had sustained grave wounds from blast winds and flames over his entire body; it was almost strange to find his body in one piece.
His face was a grimy black; Subaru couldn't tell if it was from blood, dirt, or burns. But he was faintly breathing. Knowing at least that was true, he let out a long, long breath.
"But he's in big trouble at this rate! We've got to get him to Ferris, or—"
When Subaru went down on one knee, intending to carry Wilhelm, Julius stepped beside him and said, "It does not seem things will be quite that simple."
Sensing the urgent warning embedded in those words, Subaru lifted his head.
Julius swept the tip of his drawn cavalry saber around the area. His reason for doing so was simple: the enemies he was holding in check hailed from several directions, not just one.
Carrying cross-shaped swords, Witch Cultists blocked them on each of four sides. But that was not the largest problem. A final person arrived with the four, removing her hood as she appeared.
It was a small-statured woman, with short hair the color of black tea.
The cultist's hands were empty; she stood before them seemingly defenseless and wide open. However, her bloodshot eyes and the way she hurt herself, biting her shorn-nailed fingers, were all the proof they needed that she was the most dangerous of all.
After Petelgeuse, the madwoman, and Kety, this was the fourth Archbishop of Sloth.
The woman bit the nail of her right thumb, twisting her hand as she tore the nail off. The sight and liquid sound of blood droplets and exposed flesh made Subaru grimace in pain and disgust.
"Comin' out one after another with timing like this… How many of you are there, damn it?!"
"Why, why, why, why…why is it youuu yet live? All of those measures, and yet…why is it you do not fall before my diligence?!"
"Well, that's my line! Cut it out already! Doing continues over and over like this! You have some kind of grudge against us?!"
Probably words of complete and mutual hatred, enmity, and vilification were the only ones Subaru and the woman could share. Then Wilhelm stirred in his arms.
Perhaps it was due to external stimulus, but the Sword Devil was still unconscious when his lips faintly moved. The way his anguished breaths held increasing anger toward their foe felt ghastly to Subaru.
It was almost as if he was subconsciously trying to tell them something— "Wilhelm?"
"Same…ne—per…"
He couldn't completely make out what the trickling voice tried to say. And the Witch Cultists were not merciful or polite enough to wait for him to hear it once in coherent form.
Subaru was clutching Wilhelm on one knee when the woman turned a nail-less finger toward him and shouted.
"You! If the lazy you and the diligent you backed away, all would be firm! All would be decided! Everything arriving at its proper conclusion! Thus, scatter here! Scaaatter to the winds!!"
Spewing spittle, the woman put her hand into her own robe. However, she did not find what she was looking for. Pulling her hand out, she gnashed her teeth hard enough to break them. Subaru had a hunch as to why she was in such a mortified rage. That flash of insight let Subaru understand what role was his to play.
Witch Cultists were on all sides, whereas Wilhelm was gravely injured and Julius was exhausted. The only one left to take on the fourth Sloth was Subaru Natsuki, useless at anything but decoy duty.
But even if his Witch Cult attraction was of no use, there yet remained something he could do.
"Julius, can you fight off the four besides Sloth while covering Wilhelm?" "Subaru?"
Shifting his gaze alone, Julius gave Subaru a slight, questioning rise of his brows. However, there was no time to explain the fine details. Subaru glared at his amber eyes and repeated himself.
"Can you do it? If you can do that…I'll do what I can do."
"—"
"Right now, you're the only one I can count on. If you're willing to put yours in my hands…I'll put mine in yours."
"Put what?"
It was obvious. Subaru responded to Julius's words by pointing at Sloth and saying, "I'll smack that idiot. I'll fight and take your life in my hands. In return, I'm putting my life in yours—so can you do it?"
Subaru declared his determination to take on the Archbishop of Sloth single-handedly to Julius, his one and only ally. At his words, Julius drew back his sword.
His hesitation and silence lasted a second. Julius closed his eyes, opened them, and poised his sword.
"If I did not say I could do it, 'twould be my shame as a knight."
"Fair enough—!!"
They were still at a disadvantage. Subaru knew it was reckless. But his battles had always been reckless. So once again, his disadvantage was like a tightrope. He'd simply cover his eyes—and run across.
Subaru, gently laying Wilhelm down on the spot, put a hand into his own pocket. The Witch Cultists were gradually tightening the encirclement, but he detected no sign of Sloth moving a step. Subaru did not underestimate her.
Distance and range were meaningless words to Sloth.
But that only applied to every opponent who wasn't Subaru Natsuki.
"Now, let us finally end this! Great love abooove all! Exalted love above all! Before my diligence, to repay Her favor! You were born worthy of being the first offered up to…"
"Hey, chick Petelgeuse— Look at this."
Subaru called out to the madly raving Sloth with a snort. Then, he stuck
his hand in his pocket.
—When he withdrew his hand, he was holding a book bound in black. It was the Gospel that Subaru had recovered from the corpse of Petelgeuse
Romanée-Conti—
"You're looking for this, right? The thing sent by Miss Witch you love so, so much."
"Thief!! So IT truly was you who had it?!" Sloth screamed, eyes bulging.
The way she'd rummaged in her pocket had made Subaru realize something was off.
The other two Sloths had done the same thing. They'd searched for something that ought to have been in a certain pocket with their hands, been irritated not to find it, and raged at he who had stolen it. The object of their desire had been the same: that single book.
"Guess you even tried digging up Petelgeuse's corpse to get the Gospel back. I've heard of book junkies, but come on, robbing graves to get a book back?"
"Silence! Cease your prattle! Give that book back, right—"
"Hey, don't shout. If you get too angry, you know—your brain'll shake."
"—! You mussst die!!"
No one present could outdo Subaru when it came to taunts and provocations.
As Sloth exploded in a rage, the shadow at her feet swelled up. The shadow split into an innumerable horde above her head, seemingly covering the sky in pitch-black hands whose fingertips bore down on Subaru all at once.
But if the intent was to kill Subaru, that was the wrong call.
"My favor! The manifestation of my love! Crumble BEFORE them, sinner
—!"
Sloth shouted, and the black arms pressed toward Subaru like an avalanche. The veritable manifestation of destruction loomed before him like a tsunami as it advanced.
To Subaru alone, it was all too visible. And even to him, the attack was far too obvious.
"Ra-aa—!"
The evil hands were countless, but slow. Now that he had witnessed, however imperfectly, combat between superhumans, they looked like stopped flies to Subaru. No, that was going too far. They were like flies in flight. But they were by no means impossible to evade.
Subaru took a large detour, evading the savagely onrushing horde of Unseen Hands. The Sword Devil would have leaped between them, but such inhuman feats were beyond Subaru. He used his endurance to make up for it.
The bombardment of power had missed its mark, the invincible authority wasted by its user.
"My authority…?! Then, you shall die at the hands of my disciples—"
"Unfortunately, I have been tasked with denying you that option."
By the time the woman, realizing her failure, regained her composure and commanded her underlings, it was too late.
Sword in hand, Julius assaulted the Witch Cultists, vividly hindering them from pursuing Subaru. On top of that, the cultist in the direction in which Subaru had fled had been tragically caught in the wave of evil hands and dismembered.
"Huh, huh, huh?! You took out your own guy?! What kind of a sorry villain are you?!"
"G…gah…! How dare you, dare you, dare youuuu! My disciple of love!!"
"Don't gimme that, you're the one who mixed us up! Tunnel vision! What, are you lazy?!"
Subaru raised his middle finger as he rearranged the trademark phrase of Sloth.
Just as intended, the woman was incandescent with voiceless rage, savagely running after Subaru as he fled.
"—Julius! Manage your end somehow! I'll handle mine!"
"A most vague command. But understood."
To Subaru, thrusting a fist and raising his voice, Julius raised his cavalry saber aloft. Now that they had divided the battlefield between them, Subaru's and Julius's battle lines were wholly separate.
On Julius's side were the wounded Wilhelm and three Witch Cultists. For his part, Subaru had one Sloth, mad with rage—the right person for the right fight.
After all, Subaru had no chance against the Witch Cultists, and had the best chances of anyone against the Archbishop of Sloth.
"See ya later!!"
"Fight valiantly!"
Vowing to meet again, Subaru left Julius behind and darted across the battlefield. Evil hands rolled across the ground like a surging sea, but Subaru could see them. He leaped over them and took off, unharmed.
"Wait, wait, waitwaitwaitwait, I say! You despiiicable, foolish knave!"
As Julius began his clash of swords with multiple opponents, Subaru drew the madwoman off to another location. To draw Sloth to a place where her attacks would ensnare no one else, unwittingly doing just as Wilhelm had. Subaru pressed a hand over his heart, seemingly ready to burst, and ran at full strength.
He had a destination. He would not go as far as to say that reaching it was linked to victory. However, if he arrived there, he could buy time for victory to come calling. For that reason, he ran and ran toward it.
"—! You can't—hit me! You're one—heck of a klutz!"
Behind Subaru, the madwoman chased after him on her own two feet. However, her speed was slow. In addition, for some reason, her deployment of countless Unseen Hands was sporadic, allowing him to narrowly evade them even while on the run. He was completely shaking off her ability.
The number of arms chasing him was some sixty or seventy, clearly the most of any Sloth to date. In spite of that, her skill in using them was the worst so far. The balance was all off.
That being the case, it must have been the first and foremost Sloth, Petelgeuse, who'd used his authority with the greatest skill.
"I guess Petelgeuse really was the main Sloth…not that it matters!"
He could think about that later. It didn't change the fact that all the Sloths had to be wiped out. He didn't have time to reach for anything else. If Subaru's foe wasn't in tip-top shape, all the better for him.
He curved around corners, darted down the straightaway, curved around another corner, and leaped.
"Made it—! But…"
Arriving at his destination, Subaru surveyed the area. There were signs of combat all over the place, and the fallen did not stop at one or two people. He saw not just Witch Cultists but knights and beast people among them. Subaru felt blame for his own powerlessness pressing upon him.
He closed his eyes and forced it back. The next moment, he leaped sideways and rolled, evading the evil hands striking where he had stood. The ground split open, causing a cloud of dust to rise. Behind it stood the hatefilled Sloth, huffing and puffing.
The number of arms stretching from her back was greatly diminished, limited to some twenty or so at present.
"Guess you learned you were wearing yourself out."
"And ooonly for making me realize that do you have my thanks! However, your escape ends here! Or do you still possess some way to resist?!"
"Way to resist…"
When those words trailed off, Subaru blinked for just a moment. Along the line of his gaze was the madwoman, and behind her— However, he immediately hid behind an impetuous smile.
"…love and courage, I suppose."
Subaru licked his lips and made a big fuss as the madwoman stood with her arms spread wide, her eyes full of bloodlust. His statement sent the eyes of Sloth bulging wide, causing her creepy voice to begin to laugh.
"Very good! Then challenge my faaavor with this love of yours!"
"I said love and courage!"
Taking a breath, he went into a sprinter's crouch and practically leaped as he rose, shooting his body forward. After having fled so thoroughly, he now charged straight forward, leaping into the woman's flank. Sloth blinked in surprise and, perhaps thinking charging in was the height of idiocy, instantly flew into a rage.
"This is your love?! Your love has this little resolve?! No crafty schemes, simply running like a fool, ahh, your love is so reckless! So powerless! So thoughtless! In other words, lazy!"
"Ooooh—!"
Subaru let out a shout from the pit of his belly, as if to overwrite the despair the woman's shout drove his way. Shout and shout he did, enough to make himself hoarse, calling out love, and calling for courage.
"Then you shall die, and pay for your laziness with your lo—"
"Now, Patlash—!!" "—! What are—?!"
The impact cut off the latter half of the cry of surprise.
Sloth was triumphant one moment; the next, her diminutive frame was caught by the land dragon charging into her side. Its huge frame, several hundred kilograms in mass, slammed right into the defenseless woman's body, blowing it away as if it were a leaf.
"—"
The woman proceeded to bounce along the surface of the village square, flipping over as she sailed into a half-destroyed house. The glass window made a sound as it shattered; the house, unable to take the blow, was smashed, and dust slowly rose from it after.
The blow, even greater than he had imagined, sent Subaru leaping to glom the land dragon's head and rub her nose.
"You did great, awesome teamwork! Above and beyond the call, Patlash!"
"—"
With Subaru trying to kill her with compliments, Patlash raised her head and gave a high-pitched neigh.
Subaru returned to the village square he'd started from, luring the woman to Patlash, the dragon's valuable legwork part of his escape plan. But having failed to locate her just after arriving, he'd started to worry that he'd been wrong, and she, too, had been burned to a crisp—
"When I saw you'd doubled back behind her—that was a seriously devilish move."
The instant his shifting gaze located the land dragon behind Sloth, he seriously shouted like a girl on the inside. The next instant, with zero prep work, he and the land dragon did a combo attack, pulling it off perfectly. This was the result of trusting everything to love and courage—albeit love really meant "bluff" and courage meant "reinforcements" in this case.
"Now, it'd be great if that settled things, but…"
Climbing onto Patlash's back, Subaru glared at the wreckage of the house Sloth had sailed into. If she'd died from the crushing weight of the mountain of debris, it would be a big help.