Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World. Volume. 17.
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‘Chapter 3:- WITCH CULT DISASTER RESPONSE HQ.’
Sub-chapter 1.
—Dong, dong, dong.
The low, weighty percussions of gongs seemed to come from everywhere at once, near and far.
The flow of his blood had slowed—it was an unpleasant feeling akin to having mud coursing in his arteries. His internal organs barely seemed to be working, and his guts felt like they were a rough collection of clay work; these kinds of mismatched sensations dominated his body.
Oxygen wasn’t traveling to his brain properly, either, making it hard to form thoughts, and what thoughts did form were unreliable.
He felt a feeling of loss, as if his body was no longer his own—
“—Ah.”
Abruptly, he felt his fading self being pulled back from the brink as raspy breaths trickled out from his lungs.
Instantly, his hazy consciousness miraculously pieced itself back together, and Subaru Natsuki slowly opened his eyes.
After becoming accustomed to darkness, his eyes were not ready to fully accept the white light now shooting into them. A shadow crossed right and left across his indistinct vision. It took him thirty seconds to realize that these were human silhouettes.
He sensed the presence of hastily moving people, a dirty ceiling, and air that seemed to have a whiff of rust to it—finally, he found that he was lying on something hard and that he was staring at those silhouettes in a daze.
“—Ohh, looks like ya woke up, Bro.”
Just when Subaru returned to reality, someone abruptly peered at him from close-up.
This person was wearing a jet-black steel helm. From that gear alone, some might have taken him for one of the city’s heavily equipped guards, but considering how much skin he exposed from the neck down and his obvious lack of one arm, those characteristics immediately told Subaru this was someone he knew.
“Al…?”
“Yep, it’s Mr. Al. See me once, and you can’t forget me even if you tried. This is still one helluva situation, though.”
The man in the steel helm—Al—shrugged and chuckled at his own words.
As Subaru continued to grasp more and more of the situation, his mind began to whip around chaotically. What was a mercenary in the employ of the Priscilla camp doing there? —No, to begin with, where was he?
Then just as that question occurred to Subaru—
“Aah! Subawu woke up, didn’t he?! I told you to call me if he woke up, meow!”
A loud voice rose as someone rushed over with a swift patter of feet. The newcomer thrust a finger not at Subaru, who was lying down, but at Al, who was standing beside him in his familiar steel helm.
“You need to do as you’re told, meow! Really, you’re useless if you’re just going to stand around, doing nothing helpful!”
“Aren’t you bein’ a bit harsh? I’m the one who did all the work hauling Bro and the young lady over here, y’know.”
Al shrugged at being chewed out so much, but the one lecturing him didn’t pay that the slightest heed. Instead, this person—a lovely girl, or rather, a young man dressed like one—turned to face Subaru.
“Even Ferris…”
“Yes, yes. It’s Ferri, beloved by one and all. Okay, Subawu Natsuki, let me explain. This is a field hospital, and you were brought in with heavy injuries. Still with me?”
Upon speaking those words, Ferris gave him an adorable wink. That cute gesture was very much at odds with the blood splatters that marred his white cheeks and outfit, a sight that conveyed in simple terms that the conditions here were nowhere near normal.
Once he looked around, spurred by Ferris using the term field hospital, Subaru realized that what he first guessed was the scent of rust was actually the heavy odor of blood. He could see a whole slew of faintly moaning casualties. There seemed to be so many that even the gravely injured were lying on nothing more than sheets of cloth. Subaru belatedly found that he was in the exact same state.
“What…is this…? The hell happened…?”
“It seems you’re still a bit confused, meow. Take it slow and remember what went down before you fainted. If you can recall that, then you’ll have your answer.”
Ferris spoke to the confused Subaru in a hard and unkind tone. However, this wasn’t an effort to dismiss Subaru; it was just a sign of how pressed Ferris was.
As healers went, Ferris possessed peerless skill. With such a large number of wounded needing help, it wasn’t hard to imagine just how critical his power was.
In the first place, what kind of terrible incident could have produced such a large number of casualties—?
“!! The Witch Cult!”
“That’s right… Honestly, they’re just the worst, meow. I knew that already, but this made me feel like I didn’t really understand until now. I never imagined they’d go this far.”
Biting his lip with regret, Ferris affirmed what Subaru had realized.
Subaru understood his anger toward the Witch Cult. But as his memories gradually returned, Subaru had something even more important that he absolutely had to know.
“E-Emilia?! What happened to Emilia and Beatrice?”
“”
“Both of them were in the square with me, and then…”
Sitting up, Subaru grasped Ferris’s slender shoulder when his words failed him. This was because from the way Ferris averted his eyes, Subaru could tell he was right to be worried.
“Calm down and listen, okay?” said Ferris as a preamble to Subaru. “First, you absolutely need to rest, Subawu. You were badly hurt… As for Lady Emilia, we can’t get in touch with her. From what you said just now, it doesn’t seem like…you got separated because the city’s in chaos, huh.”
Sure enough, Subaru’s energy faded as Ferris gave him what could hardly be called good news.
Emilia’s safety or lack thereof was completely unknown. Paired with his memories from just before fainting, he certainly hadn’t been wrong to think that Emilia had been whisked away by Regulus of Greed. Subaru had been helpless to stop him.
As for Beatrice, if she was in the same place as he—
“Bro, if you’re worried about your partner, she’s sleepin’ soundly over there.”
“!!”
Al sat cross-legged, pointing toward Subaru’s right side as he spoke. When he turned that way on reflex, he saw a curtain covering the space immediately beside him. He rushed over and practically tore it down.
On the other side of that curtain, he spotted a girl wearing a dress, slumbering on a sheet of cloth.
It was Beatrice. She lay faceup with her eyes closed. He couldn’t spot any external injuries. When he took in the familiar sight of her sleeping adorably, Subaru let out a sigh of relief.
“Beako…! Ahh, I’m glad she’s safe. Really, I… Er, gyaaah!”
“Ferri said to rest, yes? Do you understand what ‘absolutely need to rest’ means, meow?”
Ferris was on him in moments, poking at Subaru’s right leg and berating him in a voice that quivered in anger. Instantly, Subaru screamed, feeling as if a thunderbolt had struck the crown of his head.
The back of his eyes flickered from pain that was intense enough to make him taste blood inside his mouth. When he looked down, wondering what was up, he saw that there was a thick bandage wrapped around his right leg.
“Bro, when I found ya, it was so grotesque that I got cold, cold feet. Your leg was hangin’ by the smallest flap of skin. A little bit more, and you would’ve ended up one limb short, just like me.”
Al revealed some information about what transpired after Subaru had passed out, indicating his own missing left arm with a flippant tone of voice for a bit of emphasis. His explanation, plus the thick bandage around his leg, made Subaru’s hazy memories come back with a vengeance.
—Regulus.
That man, the white-haired villain who spirited Emilia away, had launched an attack as he was leaving, gouging and ruining Subaru’s leg as a parting gift. That was the source of the pain that had rendered him unconscious.
“So you see, lovely Beatrice grafted your torn leg back together, and Ferri treated you on top of that. It should be just about healed right up, but you can’t do anything crazy for a while, you hear me?”
Crossing his arms to form an X, Ferris sternly forbade Subaru from straining his body. Subaru nodded listlessly at the instruction, as he was more preoccupied at seeing Beatrice asleep.
“Beatrice…?”
Having spent most of the last year in the same bed as her, he could tell that Beatrice was sleeping very soundly. But he had to wonder if this sleep was a little too deep, even for her.
Though he had shrieked right beside her, she hadn’t stirred in the slightest.
“Is she really…sleeping? She didn’t even twitch, did she?”
“…Sleep might be the wrong word. Her state is closer to a coma than real sleep.”
“A coma?!”
Upon hearing that far more dangerous-sounding term, Subaru hastily touched Beatrice’s sleeping face. It was cold to the touch. Not a single cute reaction stirred her eyelashes or her lips.
The echo of the word coma grew more credible as all traces of blood seemed to drain from Subaru’s head.
“It’s a reaction from using every last bit of mana she had to spare. I told you, didn’t I? Lovely Beatrice desperately grafted Subawu’s leg together using healing magic.”
“That’s… But even if she’s been almost out of gas forever, I never thought she’d slip into a coma.”
“That would be true if Subawu was the only one hurt, right?”
Ferris narrowed his eyes as he watched the pale-faced Subaru inhale sharply. Taking stock of the pair’s conversation, Al used a finger to toy with the metallic parts of his steel helm as he spoke.
“By the time I got to the square, they were all rollin’ on the ground with the same wounds as you, Bro. That moppet managed to treat all of ’em with healing magic. Damn impressive, I gotta say.”
Subaru recognized the faces of the other patients who were lying down on sheets of cloth all around him, just like he was.
The fox-man, the eyepatch woman, blood-drenched Lachins, and more, all of them with wounds on their right legs just like Subaru— No, the wounds weren’t merely in the same locations. They were identical.
—The resonance that came with Sirius’s soulwashing had mauled everyone in the square the same way.
Beatrice had wrung strength out of herself to heal not only him, but also everyone else as well.
“Is Beatrice all right? You think she’ll get better if she keeps resting like this?”
“…To be honest, I think there’s little hope of that. I might be the top healer in the kingdom, but spirits are outside my specialty. I think the best we can hope from letting her rest like this is maintaining her current condition.”
“!”
Ferris’s explanations made Subaru harden his cheeks. If that was the most they could manage, then that meant she would have to remain asleep. When he heard that, the first thing that came to mind was the girl he’d left at the mansion despite how much he’d wanted to keep her near him.
Seeing that remorseful reaction, Ferris realized his own slip of the tongue. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t have spoken like that just now. But I should mention that letting her sleep won’t help her recover, and unlike an injury, it’s not something Ferri can heal. The reason she’s asleep is because she lacks mana, so if she gets supplied with some, she should awaken, but…”
“Supply her with mana? If I could do that, things would be easy…”
His insufficient mana supply was a chronic problem that had plagued him and Beatrice ever since they first forged a pact.
As a special type of spirit, Beatrice could not accept mana unless it was supplied by Subaru, her contractor. And Subaru, the source of that all-important mana supply, was a louse who was incapable of properly storing sufficient amounts of mana.
Subaru’s helplessness was always a burden on Beatrice. He already owed her enough that it’d take a lifetime to pay her back, yet his debt to her seemed to constantly be growing.
“It’s not just about Beatrice, either. Emilia also needs my help…but here I am, stuck like this…!”
His connection to Beatrice ran deeper than one nearly torn-off leg. Beatrice was also Subaru’s connection to the possibilities beyond his reach, to his few fleeting hopes.
Emilia was in peril. The city was in peril. He had to do something. If it was for their sake—
“Am I an idiot? Nah, I’m definitely an idiot. If I have time to cry about it… Mnghhh!”
“Okay, that’s far enough!”
When Subaru tried to ignore the pain in his leg and stand, Ferris clamped both his hands down on his face. Ferris then forced Subaru to turn his head toward him, bringing their faces close, until they were only inches away from each other.
“Why does it always have to be zero or a hundred with you, Subawu? Getting all mopey-dopey is bad, but running around willy-nilly puts everyone in a bind, too. Don’t you get that?”
“Mopey-dopey? Willy-nilly…?”
“It’s true, though, right? You don’t even have little Beatrice to stand by you right now, so what can you do running off all by yourself? You are absolutely not allowed to waste the life you’ve been given.”
The way he said it might have sounded silly, but Ferris’s words were infused with powerful, sincere feelings.
“”
After hearing Ferris’s plea, Subaru felt the strength drain from his legs as he stopped trying to forcibly stand up. Then he heaved a great big sigh and decided to stay put while sorting out his feelings some other way.
“Sorry. I got too restless… Come to think of it, I didn’t thank you for the leg, either.”
“I don’t really do this for words of thanks, you know. Though it’s always nicer to hear some than not.”
“Thanks, really. You’re a lifesaver. I owe you.”
“You are very welcome, meow.”
When Subaru piled on the thank-yous, Ferris gave a curt reply and finally took his hands off Subaru’s face.
“Al, you were a huge help, too. You carried me and Beako all the way here, right?”
“Yep. By the way, I wanted you to thank me properly, too. That said, there’s someone else you really oughtta be thankin’ here, Bro.”
When Subaru tilted his head, wondering what that could mean, Al amusedly motioned with the jaw of his steel helm. When Subaru glanced in that direction, he saw a boy holding his knees as he slept in a corner of the room.
“Lusbel…”
“The little guy called me over with tears in his eyes, so I just couldn’t ignore him. I followed him to the square that got painted red, red, red with Bro’s and everyone else’s blood, y’know? Seriously, I wanna praise myself for not blacking out then and there.”
It was in Al’s nature to talk about everything like it was all a long-winded joke, but Subaru really did owe him a great deal. The same went for Lusbel, who had bravely returned with help. Even if he was with an adult, Subaru truly respected the boy for deciding to head back to that terrifying square, knowing full well what awaited him.
It was thanks to Al and Lusbel’s help that Subaru could hold Beatrice’s hand as she slept.
“So Beatrice’s condition isn’t going to deteriorate right this minute or anything, right?”
“That, I can guarantee. All I’m saying is that we can’t help her wake up right this minute.”
“Got it… Please fill me in on what’s been happening. How’s the city right now, and what is the Witch Cult up to?”
Striving to maintain calm, Subaru tried to get a grasp on how things had been developing. When he posed that question, Ferris and Al exchanged looks, wondering where to begin. Before they had a chance—
“—It would seem your timing is very good. I was just about to speak regarding precisely that.”
The new voice carried well and was backed by an undercurrent of strength. When he turned, Subaru caught sight of the speaker now arriving at the entrance to the field hospital. Long, green hair danced around her as the refreshing beauty came to a halt—
“Lady Crusch! This place is full of wounded… You didn’t have to go out of your way to come here.”
“I am sorry, Ferris. I had no intention of invading your battleground. However, I heard that Master Subaru has awakened. How could I possibly ask him to come to me in his state?”
As she explained her thought process, Crusch approached the cloth where Subaru sat. As opposed to what she had worn earlier in the morning, her attire retained vestiges of elegance while prioritizing ease of movement.
He couldn’t help but recall that this was very close to what Crusch looked like before she lost her memory—
“Seems like you’re geared up for a fight, too, Crusch.”
“The circumstances being what they are, I made some preparations. Master Subaru, how is your leg injury?”
“Thanks to your Ferris, me and Beako made it through somehow. If I tried hard, I think I could jump a couple of times without crying.”
“That is good to hear…or is it?”
After hearing Subaru’s irreverent quip, Crusch innocently tilted her head in apparent confusion. Out of the corner of his eye, Subaru could see Ferris silently mouthing the words You have to reeeeest! Subaru donned a proper and serious look.
“So can you tell me what’s going on in Pristella right now?”
“Of course. However, there is something I must ask of you first—Master Subaru, is there no mistaking that you encountered the Witch Cult’s Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins?”
“…Yeah, no doubt about that. My leg injury, and Emilia… Her kidnapping was all their doing as well. I saw them with my own eyes, and no one goes around pretending to be those guys.”
Surely, no one would be so suicidal as to falsely claim the title of an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins. Regardless, Subaru had also seen part of Sirius’s and Regulus’s Authorities. And considering their revolting personalities, their identities were almost certain.
After hearing Subaru’s reply, Crusch murmured, “So Lady Emilia really was…” as she lowered the tone of her voice before continuing. “…It would seem we should indeed think of that broadcast as fact.”
“Broadcast?”
Crusch drew herself up as the unexpected term reached Subaru’s ears.
“Well, there was a broadcast about one hour ago. Just like the morning broadcasts, it was conducted by using the metia in Pristella’s city hall.”
“…Wait, it was the Witch Cult that made a broadcast? Did they hijack the metia there?”
When Crusch had trouble picking her words, Subaru asked about the worst case he could think of. Crusch, Ferris, and Al nodded in silence, confirming his suspicions.
“The broadcast was sudden, but the culprit’s identity is clear. They were considerate enough to openly announce who they were, you see.”
“Announce… Right, that’s exactly what they do. They always announce themselves before doing anything.”
Crusch’s words, filled with righteous indignation, drew a deep nod from Subaru.
Thinking back to the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins whom Subaru had encountered to date, all of them had stated their names and titles without fail. It seemed like it was the one rule that was actually observed by these morally bankrupt people who were unable or unwilling to uphold any other societal norms.
Was it Sirius who’d seized the broadcast, compelled by her incoherent delusions and a twisted desire to enter the limelight? Or was it Regulus, who cloaked himself in self-deception like a suit of armor?
“—Capella Emerada Lugunica, the Archbishop of Lust.”
“…Eh?”
When a totally unfamiliar name made a sudden entrance, Subaru was dumbstruck as he looked at Crusch.
She met his gaze head-on, the intensity in her amber eyes only growing stronger.
“The broadcast made this declaration: The Water Gate City of Pristella has fallen into the hands of the Witch Cult.”
Sub-chapter 2.
“So you woke up, Natsuki. I’m glad; that’s such a relief.”
Anastasia flashed Subaru an elegant smile the moment she saw him come in, with Al lending his shoulder for support.
Unlike Crusch, she was wearing the same outfit as earlier in the day: a kimono and her white fox scarf wrapped around her neck. Combining that with her calm outward demeanor, she seemed to be the only one who was acting like this was just another day— No, even she couldn’t manage that. Subaru could see faint traces of fatigue pulling at the fringes of Anastasia’s face.
That only made sense. She was one of the concerned parties that was deeply affected by the Witch Cult’s mayhem.
“Sorry for oversleeping, Anastasia. Do I still have a seat?”
“Not to worry, I have arranged a spot just for you. It’s critical to talk to you about the people you ran into as soon as possible, Natsuki. So come on—sit, sit!” Anastasia beckoned him by hand.
Subaru favored his right leg as he walked to the round table at the center of the room. Borrowing Al’s assistance, he plopped down into his chair, taking a breath as he scanned the room.
“Whew, that’s a lot comfier… Uh, so this is where we’re gathering?”
“This is the Witch Cult Disaster Response HQ. It is a bit seedy-lookin’ for that, though.”
Chiming in after Subaru, Al played with the metal fixtures on his helm as he heaved a hearty sigh. Overhearing his murmur, Anastasia put her hands on her hips and closed one eye as she scolded him.
“Come now, don’t be like that, Al. I can appreciate how worried you are since your precious princess isn’t here.”
“Well, not so much worried as scared. She’ll definitely be angry that I’m not by her side in a situation like this.”
He shook his head in dread. The roster of attendees at the meeting certainly made his fears seem credible.
They were inside a conference room, which was wide enough to accommodate twelve people. Multiple royal-selection candidates, including Anastasia, had assembled, but Al’s master—Priscilla—was not among them.
Of course, she hadn’t been present when Emilia was whisked away by Regulus, either.
“Come to think of it, my party’s way too short on people. Not even Otto or Garfiel are here.”
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to gather everyone involved in the royal selection. On my end, Mimi hasn’t come back since last night, either. Hopefully, Garfiel’s with her.” Anastasia touched a hand to her cheek, concerned that she didn’t know the whereabouts of the girl whom she seemed to treat like a precious daughter.
“If they’re together, then there’s no need to worry about them running into trouble… Anyway, why meet at this place?” Subaru gestured at the building in general. “Al called this the Witch Cult Disaster Response HQ, and that really does seem to be spot-on. The situation in the city sounds serious enough to warrant it, too… But why is the HQ set up inside the Muse Company?”
Subaru finally asked the question that had been bugging him for a while now.
Indeed, Subaru and the others were currently inside the Muse Company building, which was located on the affluent main boulevard of the city.
He’d visited the magic crystal trading company’s main store just a day earlier, and now it was operating as an emergency shelter. The wounded were being treated underground, while refugees were given guest rooms. With the state of his leg, Subaru, too, had been carried underground, where it was so overcrowded that coming up to the conference room had been quite a journey.
“It’s a nice, big building, so I get the appeal of using it as a shelter when push comes to shove, but a company’s still a company, right? They’re not usually the first choice for setting up a response HQ.”
“That’s what you’d think at first, right? But there’s a good reason. The biggest one is that Kiritaka is on the Council of Ten, which runs Pristella… Really, when you get down to it, he’s the leading member of the city’s top ten most influential people.”
“Are we talking about the same Kiritaka? Seriously?”
Subaru’s face tensed up as he recalled the not particularly pleasant run-in he’d had with the man just the day before. Of course, judging from Kiritaka’s station and how much everyone seemed to trust him, Subaru figured that he possessed a talent that matched his status.
It was just that his first impression of the man and the latest incident from the day before were difficult to reconcile with this new information.
“—Master Kiritaka is an upstanding and capable man. There’s no reason to be concerned, Master Subaru.”
Crusch had read his thoughts right as she joined them in the conference room.
Having split off midway up from the underground treatment area to fetch Wilhelm, she’d returned with a freshly dressed Ferris and the Sword Devil in tow.
“Thank you for coming, Crusch. What about Kiritaka?”
“It would seem he is too busy with the evacuation and dispatching of personnel to attend at this time. He said he would join our conference once matters calm down a little.”
After hearing Crusch’s reply, Anastasia went, “I see, I see,” with a nod. Watching the exchange, Wilhelm glanced at Subaru in his seat and the bandage on his leg.
“Sir Subaru, what is the condition of your leg?”
“About as good as it looks. Sorry for the pitiful state I’m in. Wilhelm, you’re…”
“I originally came to seek Sir Kiritaka’s opinion on how to best allocate the city’s forces. Having completed that bit of business, I am currently escorting Lady Crusch. That man is quite accomplished for his age.”
“Hnnngh… At this point, that’s the only thing I can say…”
With both Crusch and Wilhelm vouching for him, Subaru could only conclude that his doubts about Kiritaka’s ability had been misplaced. But if that was true, then just how important was Liliana to Kiritaka if she was able to provoke him that much?
He brushed those pointless thoughts aside when Crusch called his name.
“Master Subaru, it was immediately after hearing the broadcast that Lady Anastasia immediately suggested we relocate here. Thanks to our acquaintance with Sir Kiritaka and this building being designated as a shelter, Ferris has been able to use his abilities where they are most needed.”
“The fact that we were able to keep Subawu’s leg in one piece was also thanks to that decision.”
Apparently, Kiritaka was so reliable that he was the main reason Anastasia had suggested they set up here. Crusch and Ferris both seemed to concur with that assessment. From the way they put it, Subaru had lucked out, given the terrible ordeal he’d been through.
“Worst-case scenario, I could’ve bit the dust right then and there and taken Beako with me…”
“But that didn’t happen. That little girl did everything she could to get ya outta there. You’re a lucky dude, Bro.”
Subaru managed a smile at Al’s lighthearted take on things. If Subaru actually had any luck, he would’ve made it through the day without dying multiple times.
Sadly, reality was not so accommodating. That was why Subaru didn’t trust fortune even a little.
—Subaru Natsuki’s good luck dried up in a back alley on the same day he’d been summoned to another world.
“I’m all out of luck, so the only thing I can do is stay steady and work with what I’ve got.”
Even now, it was only thanks to Beatrice’s sacrifice that he had any moves to make at all. Subaru had to rise to the occasion.
“Incidentally, is everyone here? Setting aside Crusch’s crew for the moment, Anastasia’s team seems way more understaffed than usual…”
Focusing on the matter at hand, Subaru mentioned the missing faces that he expected to be attending. Otto, who should’ve been at the Muse Company already for follow-up negotiations, was concerningly absent. Additionally, Julius, Ricardo, and the Iron Fangs, who served as Anastasia’s main combat forces, were nowhere to be seen.
On top of all that, neither Felt nor anyone associated with her was anywhere in sight.
“Julius, the big doggy-man, and the Iron Fangs escorted Ferri over here. After that, they left to check on the other shelters.”
“They’ve been instructed to contact Ferris if they happen upon anyone gravely injured in the hopes of saving even one more life.”
“Gotcha. That’s… Wait, what do you mean, ‘contact him’?”
In a world where cell phones weren’t widespread or really available at all, there shouldn’t have been an easy way to stay in touch remotely. However, Ferris responded to Subaru’s doubts by saying, “Look,” and raising his hand. In his palm was a folding mirror—or more precisely, a metia that looked like one.
“A conversation mirror?!”
“Heh-heh, that’s right. It’s the same one we seized after the battle against the Witch Cult a year ago. Lady Anastasia has been keeping it safe, and she let us take it out for a spin.”
Ferris winked as he held up the metia that made it possible to communicate with anyone holding its opposite. It really did perform the same role a phone did.
A year ago, this had been part of the spoils of war acquired after the battle with Petelgeuse, the Archbishop of Sloth. Now these metia were apparently seeing use again in another battle against the Witch Cult.
“The ones that can connect with three mirrors at once are rare. It’d be a waste not to break them out at a time like this.”
“So the other ones got distributed to the guys out on patrol—gotcha.”
It was karma that metia once owned by the Witch Cult would end up being used to fight them. Anastasia was incredibly well prepared to have them on hand, ready to go.
“Okay, all that makes sense. But Otto’s not involved in that, is he?”
Subaru asked about Otto, who probably would’ve been irritated that he was being treated like an afterthought.
It was none other than Subaru who’d proudly refer to Otto as a domestic adviser who could hold his own in a fight, but compared with Julius and Ricardo, he was overwhelmingly outclassed as a warrior.
Subaru figured there was no way he’d be part of the crew that went out on patrol, but his question made Crusch lower her eyes.
“Unfortunately, Master Otto is not here. He was nowhere to be seen by the time we arrived. He might be at one of the nearby shelters…”
“Th-that guy’s bad timing is just legendary…”
Subaru cursed Otto’s inability to be at the right place at the right time despite the fact that he was already supposed to be at the Muse Company to begin with.
Regardless of where he was or what he was doing, it would be a serious problem if he wasn’t safe and sound—
“—I guess there’s no need to worry. He’s the last person I expect to slip up, so I’ll save him for later.”
“I-is that really fine? Perhaps you should worry somewhat more…”
“Nah, it’s all good. In terms of pure fighting strength, he can’t hold a candle to a guy like Wilhelm, but…when it comes to staying alive, Otto’s basically second to none.”
“…You must…really trust him a great deal.”
“It’s actually kinda embarrassing, so don’t tell him I said that, okay?”
If nothing else, Subaru fully intended to take that secret with him to the grave.
Either way, he decided to trust that the patrolling unit was on the right track and that Otto was safe for the moment. The same went for the absent Garfiel. He’d worry about the lack of combat strength later.
Setting them aside, the concern that suddenly came to mind was—
“Are Patlash and Fulfew still back at the inn? Both of them are sharp, so there’s probably nothing to worry about… Come to think of it, Priscilla’s one thing since she’s staying in a different inn, but where’s Felt and her people?”
“We currently don’t know the whereabouts of either party. I heard Lady Felt left the inn on some errand, but there is one element of uncertainty.”
“And that would be…?”
“Apparently, she was planning to have a chat with a certain redhead who ruined the mood this morning.”
A troubled expression appeared on Anastasia’s face. Subaru’s was much the same. However, the one with the most concerning face of all was Wilhelm, who found it difficult to maintain his composure for obvious reasons.
Seeing Wilhelm harden his cheeks as he went silent, Anastasia let out a little sigh.
“That being said, Felt has Reinhard with her, so we shouldn’t worry too much… Still, it’s scary to not have any idea what that other little princess is up to.”
Changing topics, Anastasia pressed a hand to her cheek as she pointedly tried to probe Al for information. Al simply went, “Gimme a break…” as he responded with a throaty voice. “A guy like me can’t tell what the princess is thinking. Well, I don’t think she’s gotten herself in trouble or anything, but my guess is that she ain’t gonna just patiently sit and wait this out.”
“Come to think of it, Priscilla was with Liliana at the park in the First District. After we split up, I bumped into the guys who turned my leg into a chew toy, so I’m not sure what happened to her after that, but…”
“The princess was in First District? …That ain’t too far from here.”
Processing the new information that Subaru had offered, Al rubbed his steel helm’s jaw and sank into thought. Of course, the proper thing for a retainer to do after learning of his master’s location would have been to rush out to her side.
“Well, the princess probably has thoughts of her own. No need to dash off in a panic or anything.”
“Are…are you sure?”
“Didn’t you say so yourself, Bro? It’s all about that trust, man. This is embarrassin’, so make sure you don’t tell the princess I said that.”
Subaru made a face when Al took his words and turned them around on him. Subaru’s reservations aside, both of them understood the thought process behind the other’s decision.
“All right, sorry for making you bear with me while I took time to figure things out. Let’s get to the topic at hand. Since we’re in the Witch Cult Disaster Response HQ, tell me—what’s the plan?”
“First, we’re waiting for word from the unit we dispatched. However, the very fact that the Witch Cult broadcast originated from the government office’s metia means…”
“There is no mistaking that the city’s four control towers have been seized.”
As she said that, Crusch stood by a window and gestured outside with her hand. Following where her fingers pointed, if Subaru squinted, he could make out a stonework tower connected to the city’s exterior wall—that must have been one of the control towers.
These structures were administration facilities that regulated the amount of water as well as the flow rate of the city’s always-running waterways. They occupied the cardinal directions, with one each in the north, south, east, and west. Only one of them was visible from the conference room, but—
“—What’s that flag I see up top?”
In the distance, there was a fluttering banner rising over the tower. Subaru didn’t remember seeing one while wandering around the city that morning or the day before. The flag had some kind of strange symbol traced on it using red dye.
The eye pattern pricked at an unpleasant part of Subaru’s memories.
“That is the symbol of the Witch Cult. It’s rare for them to engage in such public displays, but…”
Like Crusch said, that symbol was the same one that marked the signature black outfits of the Witch Cultists. The robe that Sirius had been wearing sported it as well.
And now it was on a flag flying over the control tower—the message was crystal clear.
“Let me guess: All four control towers have the same flag?”
“That is correct. Now that they have seized the control towers, should they wish it, our enemies can submerge Pristella in water at any moment… Action must be taken immediately.”
Crusch made it obvious what an awful situation the city was currently in.
This was like if a baby was holding the detonator for a nuclear bomb—what made it far worse was that unlike a baby, the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins understood perfectly well the value of the switch in their hands.
“Are the city’s residents panicking? Hearing that the Witch Cult has taken over the control towers can’t be good news.”
“Thanks to Pristella’s extensive preparations for floods, chaos in the city has been kept tamped down to a surprising degree. However, evacuating the city is no simple matter.”
One of Lugunica’s five largest cities, Pristella had a population of roughly a hundred thousand. It wasn’t impossible, but conducting a major evacuation of that many people without sparking a panic was far from easy.
Factoring in the Witch Cult only made matters even more complicated, since it would be essential to avoid drawing their attention.
“The city’s main gate is the only real way in or out of the city, and one of the control towers is very close to it, so the enemy’s really got us by the scruff of our necks. Speaking of those guys…”
“—The three Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, huh?”
Taking Ferris’s meaning, Subaru highlighted the reason that the situation was so dire.
Judging by the reactions around the room, everyone else was up to speed. It certainly wasn’t good news, but it wasn’t particularly surprising, either. They were simply wary of the threat that the enemy posed.
“There’s Wrath, who wounded me along with the other people in the square; Greed, who carried off Emilia; and Lust, who’s apparently broadcasting from the municipal offices… An all-star team of assholes.”
“You seem unexpectedly calm about this, Natsuki, even though Emilia was kidnapped and everything.”
“That’s exactly why. If losing my cool and going berserk would get her back, I’d raise enough hell to make it into the history books. But it doesn’t work that way, so…”
Subaru had already made one blunder by losing his cool. The price was Emilia’s abduction. Beatrice had settled the tab in his stead.
He couldn’t afford any more screwups. He needed a heart of steel so that he could take back everything.
“Sir Subaru’s feelings are admirable. I shall do everything in my meager power to assist you.”
“Thank you so much, Wilhelm. That’s super reassuring.”
Wilhelm, who was incredibly invested in helping the two troubled lovebirds for personal reasons, had just pledged his support. That was alone was a big comfort. The Sword Devil’s strength was indispensable if they wanted to last in a direct fight.
“? What is it, Al?”
It was then that Subaru abruptly noticed that Al had been watching the exchange between him and Wilhelm in silence. But when Subaru posed the question, Al offered a noncommittal “Nothing, really” and shrugged. “I was just thinking that you’re pretty twisted in your own way, Bro— Anyway, let’s push on to the main topic.”
“R-right, suppose we should. Uh, so about that broadcast…”
Even though what Al said bothered him, Subaru turned his attention back to the room as a whole to bring up something that had been bothering him since the initial discussion.
Namely—
“—This Archbishop of Lust called herself Capella Emerada Lugunica? What’s up with that?”
Sub-chapter 3.
—Capella Emerada Lugunica. That was the name the Archbishop of Lust had used to introduce herself.
Subaru hadn’t personally heard the introduction, but the name alone was more than enough to catch his attention. In particular, he couldn’t simply dismiss the Lugunica part.
“The only people with Lugunica as their family name should be in the royal family, right? Why claim that name?”
“Isn’t it just to mess with us? The royal family all dyin’ of illness is a pretty famous story, y’know?”
“There must be some kind of scheme behind it. I believe it would be hasty of us to dismiss the matter as nothing more than a prank in poor taste.”
Al and Crusch aired their respective opinions about the doubt that Subaru harbored.
Given this was the Witch Cult, either explanation was entirely possible and worth considering.
“—One thing does come to mind.”
It was then that Wilhelm raised a hand, cutting in with a new perspective.
“And what might that be?”
“While I do not have anything to add about the name Capella…there was most certainly a member of the Lugunica royal family who went by the name of Emerada Lugunica.”
“!!”
Everyone blinked in surprise at this unexpected reveal. Wilhelm touched his chin and half closed his blue eyes as he rummaged through his memories.
“Lady Emerada was alive prior to the Demi-human War…over fifty years ago. I have never met her personally, but records mention that she was a woman of exceptional beauty and wisdom.”
“So is this a case of them impersonating someone who actually existed? Maybe it’s an attempt to ruin someone’s good name?”
That would be a rather petty and spiteful thing to do, but such an unsavory pastime was far from unthinkable when the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins were involved.
But then Wilhelm retorted with a quick “No,” shaking his head at Subaru’s remark.
“I do not know the opponent’s aim in doing this…but Lady Emerada was not someone who passed away with great deeds to her name. If anything, it is the opposite.”
“You mean…”
“Lady Emerada succumbed to illness at a young age. However, not only was her death not mourned by the kingdom, but she was also denied a state funeral, as would be standard. The stated reason was that conditions at the time were too dire to hold a formal ceremony. However, the real reason is that the kingdom’s people had no desire to do any such thing.”
Wilhelm’s explanation left Subaru with such a disturbing sense of foreboding that he said nothing. Noticing this, Wilhelm let out a tiny sigh.
“Lady Emerada was a terribly beautiful and wise person…but she was also reportedly cruel in the extreme, and constantly shrouded in an unfathomable darkness. As such, though she was part of the royal family, she was branded a heretic, and even news of her passing seemed to have been suppressed for some time.”
It must have been painful for Wilhelm to speak in uncertainties that reflected on the dignity of the kingdom he once served with his sword arm. He had sounded increasingly tongue-tied by the latter half of his tale.
In contrast, choosing to go by the name of Emerada seemed to be a comment on the poor character of Lust after this revelation.
“…There’s no way it’s the real person, so Lust is almost certainly just pretending to be Emerada.”
“Claiming the name of a royal who fell victim to illness is most likely an indirect form of harassment aimed at those who knew Emerada. I believe that most who masquerade as a member of the royal family do so to invite suspicion and mistrust.”
Wilhelm’s conclusion made everyone present sigh with unsettled looks.
Unlike Subaru and Al, who did not feel any particular allegiance toward the kingdom itself, Crusch and Wilhelm seemed stricken by what was happening.
However, the strongest reaction came from someone besides them.
“—That’s unforgivable.”
“Ferris?”
Murmuring in a low growl, Ferris was shaking a fist.
Though Ferris usually seemed ever aloof, rarely concerning himself with anything besides Crusch, he currently wore a mask of raw anger. The sight shocked Subaru.
Lust’s evil intentions were tantamount to spitting on the faces of the royal family of Lugunica. There was no doubt that to Ferris, a knight of the royal guard, this was a desecration of the highest order.
At the same time, Subaru sensed that there was another reason for Ferris’s rage that had nothing to do with fealty for the kingdom.
“—Ah.”
As Ferris harbored such deep, silent anger, Crusch moved close, gently taking his hand. Instantly, Ferris gasped and lifted his face, only to be met by Crusch’s steady gaze and soft smile.
“I-I’m sorry, Lady Crusch. I shouldn’t have lost control like that…”
“It is fine, Ferris. I am the one who should be sorry, for I suspect your anger is largely on my behalf.”
“”
From the way Ferris lowered his head, Crusch’s words must have hit the mark. It was probably true that Crusch’s lost memories were the source of his aggravation.
That they could not share that burden gnawed at him, undermining the powerful bonds that should have connected the liege and her retainer.
“Yes, yes, let’s all simmer down. Getting worked up at every little bit of mayhem our opponents cause would just be playing into their hand.”
It was then that Anastasia gathered everyone’s attention with a resounding clap. As Subaru had surmised, she was quite accustomed to presiding over meetings with large numbers of people. She looked at everyone in the room before continuing:
“Whatever Lust might be planning doesn’t change the fact that she’s our enemy. And it doesn’t change the fact that she holds the control towers, which means she has us by the scruff of our necks.”
“Man, you change up fast… No wonder you’re the one Princess pays the most attention to.”
“Why, thank you. The way you put it wasn’t the most comforting, though.”
As Anastasia restored their focus and cleared the air, Al praised her by using his own frame of reference, drawing a troubled smile from Anastasia. Then he twisted his neck and said, “If anything, these Archbishops are so messed up in the head that trying to find the logic in their plans is probably a waste of time. More importantly, what are we gonna do about their demands?”
“Demands? Wait, wait, this is news to me. What demands?”
“Ahh, right, I was just about to bring up the contents of Lust’s threat to get you up to speed, Natsuki.”
Subaru voiced his surprise at Al’s mention of demands, and Anastasia confirmed that an explanation was coming. Her word choice hinted at the menace they were facing.
“The Witch Cult took over the control towers and the city hall, but it would seem their objective is different than, say, destroying the city or massacring the residents. According to Lust, they’re searching for something, and threatening the populace is simply a means to that end,” Anastasia explained.
“Then…in other words, they’ve taken the city hostage as some act of terrorism?”
The reason he hadn’t ever considered the possibility of the Witch Cult doing this sort of thing was simply because terrorists took hostages as a means of negotiation. Such rational acts of evil didn’t match up with Subaru’s internal idea of what the Witch Cult stood for and how they operated.
“Natsuki, are you all right? You seem startled.”
“Nah, nah, I just didn’t see that coming from their crew… Sorry, getting sidetracked. Anyway, what are they looking for?”
It probably wasn’t anything decent. There was also the possibility that with Emilia already secured, they had already gotten what they came for, but from the looks of things, that was unlikely.
As Subaru made those deductions, Anastasia gently stroked the white fox scarf around her neck before she replied:
“—The Witch’s bones.”
“…What?”
That answer was so far beyond Subaru’s expectations that his brain was unable to process those words. While he was reeling, Anastasia spoke up again.
“The Witch’s bones. That’s why they came to this city.”
“”
When that incomprehensible fact was thrust in his face once more, Subaru’s words failed him.
Trying to imagine what the Witch’s bones were and their significance was a demand far beyond Subaru.
In the first place, the very notion of the Witch having left her bones behind as some sort of relic sounded like a complete hoax. After all—
“The Witch of Jealousy, who swallowed up half the world long ago, was never destroyed and continues to slumber in a land far to the East, still coveting the world—or so goes the tales that have been passed down for generations.”
Still holding Ferris’s hand, Crusch directly addressed the source of Subaru’s agitation. Swallowing, he simply responded with a “yeah” and a nod. “I heard that from Beako, too. The Witch of Jealousy isn’t dead; she’s just sealed away. But if that’s the case, then how would she leave bones behind?”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but remember his fleeting encounter with the Witch of Jealousy in the Sanctuary.
She was a black shadow of a woman who exchanged only several scant words with him in the span of a few moments—but for some reason, Subaru’s heart rejected, stubbornly, the notion that she was dead in any way. He had no choice but to reject it.
Subaru’s soul wanted to cry out: It’s impossible for her to be dead.
And someday—you will come to kill me, yes?
Yes, those words, which were not a real promise, demanded and begged for him to reject the possibility that the Witch was dead.
“That’s right. There’s no way that’s true. It can’t be…” The uneasiness filling Subaru made his breathing uneven.
“—Calm down, Bro. Look, about these Witch’s bones… It’s not like they have to belong to the infamous Witch of Jealousy, right?”
“—Wha?”
Al grasped his shoulder, speaking those words in an effort to soothe him. Everyone else in the room turned their eyes on Al, though they couldn’t see his expression under his steel helm.
“So how about it? Like Bro and the young duchess were sayin’, the most famous Witch was sealed away and all, but there were other Witches, too, right?”
“There are beings besides the Witch of Jealousy who we call witches as a term of convenience. During the Demi-human War, magic users cooperating with the Demi-human Alliance were often called witches as well, and they were greatly feared.”
“Meaning there’s a precedent. Then…”
“Well, it’s a little different for this city. If a witch is mentioned here, then it must be about a real one rather than some imitation who’s only a witch in name.”
Wilhelm had been the first to answer Al, but Anastasia’s follow-up confidently drew a conclusion that Subaru found difficult to accept.
“From that manner of speaking…I take it that Lady Anastasia has something in mind?”
“Even I wouldn’t be talking like this if I wasn’t almost certain. The reason I wanted to meet up with Kiritaka after hearing Lust’s broadcast is because of that same hunch, even if it meant going out of my way to make it happen.”
Anastasia narrowed her light-blue eyes as she divulged what she’d kept hidden up to that point. She then surveyed everyone’s faces all at once.
“Anyone can find this out with a little digging, but does everyone know how this Water Gate City came to be?”
“…I heard that way back, this was originally supposed to be a trap for catching something.”
Subaru recalled that upon first arriving in Pristella, Beatrice had given him a history lesson as he admired the beautiful urban landscape. She hadn’t elaborated on exactly what was supposed to be trapped, though.
“That’s correct,” said Anastasia, nodding at Subaru’s reply. “Apparently, this city was a trap set for the Witch. The Witch met her end here when the entire place was flooded. According to legend, her bones remain somewhere in this city, even today.”
“But the Witch of Jealousy was sealed and…”
The full story about the city’s past had been revealed in an unexpected fashion. Still, nothing seemed to add up.
As Subaru began to disagree—
“—Typhon drowned in a flood, right…? So this is where that happened, huh?”
—he was interrupted by a faint, halting murmur that originated from inside a steel helm.
“”
When Subaru looked over in surprise at the unanticipated mention of a certain name, Al was blithely playing with the metal fixtures of his helmet, having fallen deep into thought. But Subaru had no doubt that he’d just said the name Typhon.
This was the name of the Witch of Pride, one of the six other Witches from the same era as the Witch of Jealousy.
“The answer to your question is simple, Natsuki. There are Witches besides the Witch of Jealousy. There are almost no records remaining, but there certainly are oral legends. And one of them states that in this city…”
“—This is where the bones of the ancient Witch remain.”
Neither Anastasia nor Crusch heard Al’s murmur as they steadily advanced the conversation. As a result, Subaru missed his chance to investigate deeper into Al’s cryptic remark.
Of course, when he took a moment to consider their current priorities, it was obvious this wasn’t the time to get sidetracked.
But if what Al murmured under his breath really was true, the Witch of Pride, whom Subaru had encountered at the Sanctuary—the Witch who was a bundle of youthful innocence—had perished in the very city that Subaru currently stood in.
The thought alone made Subaru’s chest ache.
“What is the connection between the Witch’s bones and Lady Anastasia making haste to meet with Master Kiritaka?”
Returning to the topic at hand, Crusch once again asked about Anastasia’s true intentions. Anastasia began her reply by winking.
“The existence of the Witch’s bones is a closely held secret in the Water Gate City…and the only people familiar with the legends and supposed whereabouts are on the Council of Ten. I figured I might as well try asking one.”
“Meaning only the big shots of the city have any idea… Anastasia, does that mean what I think it means? That you think it’s better to give in to Lust’s demands?”
“Of course not. Complying with someone who threatens people to get what they want will only end with you being taken advantage of every single time. Anyway, I just wanted to confirm the current location of the bones… There’s no guarantee that one of the Council of Ten won’t do something stupid and tell Lust where they are, right?”
“…I suppose that’s true.”
Unlike Subaru’s shallow mindset, Anastasia’s assessments were swift and accurate.
Negotiating with terrorists often did make things worse. In their current situation, the Archbishops would almost certainly flood the city the instant they recovered the Witch’s bones.
That was how assured Subaru was about their deceitful character.
“See, I was looking into the details of this while you were asleep, Natsuki. When Kiritaka makes it up here, we can talk about these bones in more detail. Then we can decide on a proper response.”
“By ‘response,’ you mean…”
“—Whether to fight or to flee, of course.”
There was quiet determination in Anastasia’s low voice. It was as if an angry blue flame had been lit within her.
“I’m the one who called all the royal-selection candidates here to Pristella. Of course I feel responsible for the way things have turned out… I need to extract some compensation from these unexpected visitors after all they’ve done.”
Anastasia was the owner of a major company who didn’t have any notable ability in combat worth speaking of. And yet her soft-spoken pronouncement made Subaru feel like a great beast had just clamped its fangs down on his neck.
This was a sharp reminder that Anastasia Hoshin was one of the last people he wanted as an enemy.
“—Ahh, wait, wait. The conversation mirror’s responding! It must be Julius and the others.”
Just as the conversation reached a lull, Ferris raised a hand with a look of surprise. He was holding the metia up, showing how the mirror’s surface glowed white in search of a response.
Setting it down on the round table so that everyone could see, Ferris gently touched the surface of the mirror with his hand.
“—It seems that Ferris and…everyone else is over there. I take it you can see me?”
A tall, handsome man with purple hair rose to the mirror’s surface. It was Julius Juukulius, who had gone out into the city to save lives.
As soon as it was clear that Julius was on the other end, Anastasia rushed to place herself in front of the mirror with a rapid patter of feet.
“Julius, I was getting worried after you didn’t get in touch for a while. How’s it looking outside?”
“I am very sorry to have troubled you. The situation in the city is chaotic. The residents are becoming increasingly enraged by the Witch Cult… More importantly, there is something I must urgently convey without delay.”
Quickly cutting his reunion with Anastasia short, Julius instantly vanished from the mirror’s surface. Displayed in the mirror in the stead of the tall, handsome man was a little cat-person wearing a monocle—TB.
It turned out that he, one of the three sibling lieutenants of the Iron Fangs, had been accompanying Julius.
“TB? What’s wrong? You seem upset…”
“L-Lady Anastasia, this is very, very bad. Has my older sister returned yet?”
Interrupting Anastasia, TB asked a frantic question. Bewildered by his disheveled appearance, Anastasia answered with a quick no, shaking her head.
“Mimi hasn’t been back. I was worried about her, too…TB?”
A profound sense of dread could be felt from the other side of the mirror. However, there was still more to come. Suddenly, what looked like a ripple glided across the conversation mirror’s glass surface.
“Excuse me! Is Lady Anastasia there?! This is bad! Hetaro says that Mimi’s in trouble!”
An instant later, the third of the linked conversation mirrors connected to the call. Displayed on the mirror’s surface was the dog-man Ricardo, staring into the mirror with his mouth wide open. But as soon as the image became clear, Ricardo’s head was immediately pushed aside by a teary-eyed kitty-person.
“Lady! Lady!! Big Sis is— She’s…!!”
The one pleading in a tearful voice was Hetaro, TB’s almost identical-looking brother. While the boy normally wore a meek expression, his face now was twisted up in abject sorrow.
“Hetaro, calm down. What happened? Speak slowly and clearly.”
“Th-the effects of our blessing— It’s flowing from Big Sis and into us! Sh-she must’ve gotten hurt really bad… At this rate, Big Sis won’t…!”
“‘Blessing’… You mean the blessing of thirds, yes? In other words, Mimi got injured at some point, and it’s affecting Hetaro and TB, too? Do I have it right so far?”
Hetaro and TB nodded simultaneously to confirm Anastasia’s deductions.
Listening to the conversation from behind, Subaru recalled hearing from Mimi that the blessing of thirds—the one that tied the three siblings together—made them share wounds and fatigue.
Once upon a time back at the Roswaal Manor, a sudden change came over Ram when Rem had been in danger. This was similar to what Mimi and her brothers had—which meant Mimi was currently in trouble.
Urgency raced through everyone present, including on the other ends of the conversation mirrors, as they grasped this new development. Just as they processed the striking revelation that one of their own was clearly in mortal danger—
“Yoo-hoo, yoo-hoo-hoo, yahoo-hoo!”
—a brash voice that seemed to not care about the situation at all reverberated throughout the city.
“What the…?”
Subaru, unsure how to react to this abrupt announcement, instinctively turned his face toward the ceiling. The voice was coming from somewhere above. Not from the ceiling, but quite literally from the sky itself.
This was the work of a metia that reached every corner of the city—and the one using the municipal office’s facilities to make this broadcast was the same Archbishop of Lust who had come up in conversation several times already.
“To all you meatbags in the city: Are you having fun? Have you gotten hammered and horny from hearing my lovely voice for the umpteenth time today? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
It was a high-pitched, grating laugh. That haughty voice paid no heed to the feelings of those who were forced to listen. This was an assault on the ears of every person in the city.
It had only taken Subaru moments to come to a realization—the person making this broadcast had a vicious, ugly character.
“So this is Lust… Man, does she have perfect timing or what?!”
“Now then, all you meatbags who can’t help but get hot and heavy at the sound of a beautiful girl’s voice, I have a very important announcement from your oh-so-gentle and merciful broadcaster! So listen up! Pay attention! Cleaned out your ears yet?!”
In contrast to Subaru, who was unable to conceal his restlessness, those hearing this kind of broadcast for the second time displayed a variety of reactions. Wariness, anger, hatred—in any case, they were not nearly as shaken while waiting for the words that were bound to follow.
What was the owner of this maddening, agonizing voice going to tell them?
“Soooo it turns out that even though I asked you so, so nicely, a couple of people who clearly didn’t get the message decided to target the municipal offices… This upsets me so much! Really, I can’t exaggerate what complete and total morons you ignorant meatbags are!”
“…We’re not putting up with this anymore. Ricardo, Julius, listen closely: Go back to the municipal offices with Hetaro and TB and have them find out where Mimi wen—”
As the broadcast continued, Anastasia decided to address the most pressing issue. She gave orders to her knight and her loyal hound through the conversation mirrors to try and secure Mimi’s safety.
However, even as Anastasia strove to maintain her calm, the change in the situation made sport of even her.
—And this came in what was, to all concerned, the worst of all possible forms.
“—Who goes there?!”
Abruptly, Wilhelm shouted sharply toward the entrance to the conference room. As the Sword Devil readied his now-drawn blade, Subaru and the others turned in the same direction.
An instant later, the door practically burst open as a lone figure raced into the conference room.
For a moment, the sudden appearance of an intruder startled Subaru and the others, but the first to shed his surprise and raise his voice was none other than Subaru himself.
“Garfiel?!”
The familiar voice made Garfiel, out of breath and slick with sweat, lift his face.
Noticing Subaru’s presence, he drew near with a tottering, uncertain gait. Subaru only belatedly realized the cause of this uncharacteristic behavior and the strange atmosphere that had befallen the room.
Garfiel was carrying something in his arms.
No one was able to speak a word as Garfiel stopped before Subaru. Once he got that far, Garfiel crumpled to his knees, lowering his head as if clinging to Subaru.
Then when he presented what lay in his bloodied arms, his throat trembled.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, General!! I’m…! I’m useless! Worthless…!!”
There was a shriek. Garfiel howled in grief.
Cradled in his bloodied arms was Mimi, who was visibly at death’s door.
◇◇◇
Diamond. Diamond. Diamond.
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