Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World. Volume. 16.
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‘Chapter 5:- THEATRICAL MALICE.’
Sub-chapter 1.
When Subaru’s conversation with Julius, part momentous and part silly, had run its course, Subaru departed from the Water Raiment with Emilia and Beatrice in tow.
“Hey, Subaru. You seemed to be getting along really nicely with Julius in the garden. What did you talk about?”
“I wouldn’t say we really got along or anything, but what do you think we talked about?”
“Where to go to play next time or something?”
“What are we, school buddies?!”
Unfortunately, their relationship was not nearly as friendly as Emilia imagined, and even if Subaru and Julius did attend the same school, the natural energies inside a school would keep them from ever being friends.
In one sense, a school was as much an exclusivist, discriminatory society as any system of nobility.
“Thinking of it that way, bridging social classes is a really tough thing to do in either case.”
“There’s no need to keep it that secret. You can just come out and tell me.”
“Hey, we really were just scouting out the enemy a bit. The rest was just some chitchat about the world around us.”
“Isn’t that something friends do?”
When Emilia curiously tilted her head, Subaru tilted his, too. “Who knows?” he said.
Viewed objectively, it did seem to resemble friendship, but there was no way Subaru and Julius shared that. They were something worse than friends, but Subaru couldn’t put his finger on what exactly.
“Well, we’re not friends. That much I’m sure of.”
“So stubborn…”
“He really is, I suppose.”
Emilia looked exasperated while Beatrice simply sighed and agreed with her. For some reason, the two were so in sync that it made Subaru feel like he was being left out somehow.
In any case, setting aside whether he was friends with Julius or not, he had no intention of telling Emilia about the details of what they’d discussed—namely, the problems of the Astrea family. He didn’t want to thoughtlessly divulge someone else’s private family circumstances, but the biggest reason was the burden that knowing such information would inevitably create.
The deep-rooted problems of the Astrea family were not the sort that outsiders could approach half-heartedly.
Julius had been keenly aware of this when he revealed the details to Subaru alone. Julius had judged him as someone with enough consideration not to burden his own liege with such knowledge.
The fact that Julius had thought that much of him had left a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, though.
“So, Subaru. I’m happy you invited me on a stroll, but what are you up to?”
Then as Subaru wrestled with an unsettling feeling that he struggled to identify, Emilia smiled and asked him.
For a moment, Subaru raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he immediately shrugged to try and gloss that over.
“Hey, that makes it sound like I’m plotting something. I’m not up to anything. I just wanted to have a lovey-dovey time in this crazy-beautiful city of water.”
“Hmm, so that’s what you’re going with? Subaru, honestly, you’re so stubborn and hardheaded. Even I won’t fall for your sweet talk in a situation like this.”
When Emilia pouted, Subaru put a hand to his forehead with a resigned look on his face. When he glanced at Beatrice for aid, who was in between Subaru and Emilia and holding one hand of each, she pretended not to notice—it seemed she had no intention of taking his side.
Meanwhile, Emilia’s gaze was relentless. Subaru promptly crumbled.
“I get it; I’m raising the white flag. I wanted it to be a surprise for you, Emilia-tan.”
“A surprise… You mean, you were planning to startle me with something kooky?”
“No one says kooky anymo… Hey, I’m sorry, sorry!”
When Emilia puffed her cheeks up in anger at Subaru reacting like he always did, this time, he surrendered for good. Afraid of what might follow otherwise, Subaru suppressed his feelings of disappointment and put everything on the table.
“It’s really not anything I’d call a scheme, though. Right now, we’re heading for a park in the middle of the city, the one where Liliana performed yesterday.”
“Wow, really? Then maybe Liliana will sing there today, too?”
“Your eyes are so cute when they sparkle like that. Well, I’m interested in Liliana’s songs, too, but I also want to do some scouting and give Otto some fire support.”
Subaru had no idea just how much trouble he’d caused for Otto, off on his own for solo negotiations with Kiritaka, who Subaru had angered with his botched plan from the day before.
It was absolutely not that he lacked faith in Otto’s negotiating skills.
“Of course, I have just as much faith that he never gets lucky except at the very last moment.”
“That does not mean you need to do something as ominous as rely on Liliana again… Well, things with Puckie are riding on this, so I understand why you want to take your chances, I suppose.”
Even Beatrice, torn between the previous day’s failure and her partiality for Liliana, did not object to something that would ostensibly help Puck. However, that opinion brought a stern look over Emilia’s face.
“But it sounds like you’re using Liliana, and that’s just…”
“I know. I thought Emilia-tan would feel that way, too. I really don’t like saying this, but…”
“Yes?”
“I guess I should say it anyway… Emilia, now and in the future during this royal selection, we can’t afford to not be calculating or to ignore the pros and cons of choices and people. Of course, I want you to be able to stay true to yourself.”
“”
As Emilia worried about various implications, Subaru tried to dispel her concerns.
There was no mistaking that Emilia’s honesty, sincerity, and the way she always believed in the good of others were some of her strongest virtues. However, Subaru felt that a virtue founded on ignorance was a weakness all the same.
If that virtue was truly a part of who she was as a person, then eliminating ignorance would pose no danger to her way of being—Subaru wanted Emilia to learn and become stronger without losing sight of herself.
That had been Subaru’s wish when he vowed to remain at her side ever after.
“Well, even ignoring all the benefits and stuff, you did make a promise to chat with Liliana. You get along really well with her, Emilia-tan, so it’s not like you’re doing anything bad.”
As Emilia continued to mull over it, Subaru relaxed his tone a little and tried to introduce some levity. Emilia lowered her eyes, which were rimmed with long lashes, and sighed slightly.
“Mm, I understand. I’ll try to keep what you said in mind, too. Thank you for always being here, Subaru.”
Emilia nodded with an earnest look on her face. “You got it,” replied Subaru.
He’d conveyed everything he wanted. The determination he saw in her and her response was enough. At the same time, he felt a small pang of regret over sticking his nose into something that clearly wasn’t his business.
“Ahhh, maybe I said something pretty weird. Know what? Let’s forget meeting up with Liliana and go on a date instead. I think doing some water-dragon cruising would be pretty romantic.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by cruising, but you’ll get seasick if you get on a dragon boat, won’t you, Subaru? I don’t really want to walk around the city carrying you on my back.”
“Besides, the park is already right in front of our noses. Would it not be a waste to turn back now, I wonder?”
Though Subaru was on the verge of giving up, Emilia and Beatrice opted to stick it out to the end. The public park had indeed come into view; this time, Subaru had fortunately arrived at his destination without getting lost.
Water gushed up from the fountain, turning into a spray of water that glimmered in the sunlight as an ephemeral scene unfolded before them.
This day, a great throng had assembled near that water fountain rather than the commemorative statue.
“Feels like these recitals hold their popularity day after day, but…”
The fervent audience’s energy suffused the air in the park, but it was strikingly different compared to what it had felt like the day before. The main cause was probably the hands clapping in time with the music and singing.
“Wow, it looks really lively.”
“So it would seem. Unlike yesterday, this all sounds rather rowdy, I suppose.”
While Emilia was delighted, Beatrice cocked her head dubiously, sharing some of Subaru’s doubts.
Liliana’s song choices for her performances often contrasted greatly with how she normally behaved. The metia broadcast from that morning was no exception. With song and sound, she lured the audience into another world, giving a bewitching performance that charmed all five senses.
However, the song they were currently listening to seemed ever so slightly different from usual.
It had the unsettling feeling of some foreign entity adding an impurity to the mix.
“”
As if trying to determine what that dissonant element was, Subaru had unconsciously joined one edge of the audience.
Male or female, young or old, there was a vortex of passion surrounding everyone enchanted by the Songstress’s song. Wedging themselves into their ranks, Subaru led Emilia and Beatrice by their hands as he plunged deeper and deeper.
Then the instant he emerged onto the front row, his face contorted amid thunderous applause.
The beautiful timbre of the lyulyre’s final twang signaled that the song had reached its end and that it was time to bid the intoxicating music farewell.
Then the Songstress who had just put on a stunning performance turned around to reveal a smiling, satisfied face.
“Such wonderful dancing! Seeing footwork like that almost made my eyeballs fly out!”
“And your performance was quite entertaining. You have done well. It has been some time since a performer of the arts has amused me so.”
A woman in red smiled charmingly as she exchanged a firm handshake with Liliana the Songstress.
Watching this unfold, Subaru let out a long breath as one phrase rose in the back of his mind.
—Danger: do not mix.
Sub-chapter 2.
“I was so moved.” “What an amazing dance.” “I wanna see that again!”
Commenting as if they were being filmed for a TV commercial, the audience members waved to the Songstress-dancer duo and dispersed. They were every bit as touched as the crowd from the day before.
Hearing their praise made Liliana flare her nostrils in a satisfied and very un-Songstress-like manner. Unexpectedly, Priscilla’s lips were curled up, showing she was in an exceptionally good mood as she fanned herself beside Liliana.
“And here I was thinking Priscilla wasn’t the type to care what others thought…”
“My, oh my, oh my?! Is that Master Subaru and Lady Emilia over there, and Lady Moppet as well?!”
Right as she said her good-byes to the last of the audience, Liliana noticed the remaining three people left in the park and made her pigtails bounce. How she managed that was totally beyond him.
As Liliana raced over, practically flying through the air, her words made Beatrice narrow her brows.
“I believe I heard Lady Moppet. Exactly what might she mean by this, I wonder? Subaru, explain.”
“Go ask her; she’s the one who said it. Here, have a sugar plum and behave.”
“Do you think you can…lick, lick…distract me with this, I wonder? Lick, lick…”
As Beatrice rolled the candy around in her mouth, Subaru left her behind. He turned toward the pigtailed Liliana darting about in front of him and grabbed her hair with both hands. “Gah!” shouted Liliana. But it did stop her from moving.
“Yesterday got all crazy, meaning we couldn’t keep our promise, so it’s good you were here today, too. Actually, don’t tell me… Does Kiritaka show you out the door during work every day?”
“Why would you put it like that?!! It is nothing of the sort. Certainly, Mr. Kiritaka devotes his heart and mind to his job whenever there’s work to be done, but he always tells me that he wants me to be happy doing whatever I like outside!!”
“So you do get thrown out a lot.”
Kiritaka had his own unique issues, but this was his way of keeping things in order. It made sense—if Liliana was at his workplace, there was no way anyone could hold a proper conversation.
And if she had to spend her day somewhere, then holding recitals was a fine use of her time, but—
“—Since earlier, you have been staring intently at me, have you not? ’Tis most rude.”
Liliana puffed out her nonexistent breasts, which was a lot like stroking a nonexistent beard. Beside her, Priscilla crossed her arms to proudly display her ample bosom, snorting toward Subaru with visible scorn.
“Though it is only natural to be enthralled at the sight of my dance, it is unbearable to have such an obscene gaze turned toward me. Even if my charm does make others lose their way, the likes of you are only permitted to appreciate it from a distance.”
“Just so you know, I didn’t watch you dance, and I don’t have any fetishes like that. I prefer pure and lovely girls like Emilia-tan. Girls as over-the-top as you actually make me less excited.”
“What a pitiful man to pick that thin half-demon over me. However, I am not so narrow-minded as to disallow bad taste. If you know not what true beauty is, it cannot be forced upon you. But someday, I shall pry open that narrow-minded world with my own two hands.”
Their values clashed, but Priscilla’s philosophy robbed Subaru of all willpower to shoot a response back. Priscilla considered it a matter of fact that she was the center of the universe; Subaru’s idea of common sense held no meaning whatsoever.
“But that means Priscilla was dancing, right? I really didn’t expect that.”
“You should curse your fate for allowing you to miss it. I do not dance, save when the mood strikes me. And that is rarely the case. This artist’s song was simply that alluring.”
“For real? So you’re a Liliana fan, too…?”
Subaru acknowledged that Liliana’s singing was incredible, but not nearly to the extent that everyone else seemed to. As far as Subaru could tell, every girl who heard Liliana sing became her ally. She had a perfect record.
Honestly, if she could woo even Priscilla, her status was pretty much unassailable.
“But to have Lady Priscilla and Lady Emilia both come here, candidates for the royal selection that’s the glimmering issue of the day, Liliana is grateful and even moved to tears!!”
Even with the uneasy atmosphere that came with two rival candidates meeting, Liliana’s powerful ability to set her own pace was undaunted.
Of course, even she understood that relations between Emilia and Priscilla were delicate at best. The profound silliness of her statement was no doubt intentional.
“Mwa-ha-ha-ha, so my songs are that incredible? Oh wooow, I’m gonna blush!”
“On second thought, maybe she’s just being herself.”
Liliana’s bashful reaction gave Subaru renewed doubts. He concluded with a shrug that he had simply been overthinking things. After that, Subaru abruptly noticed that Priscilla was alone, lacking even a single escort.
“You’re by yourself? Not with Al or the shitty bastard or your cute butler?”
“Schult gets lost whenever he walks out the door. He is earnest and adorable to console, but that is all, really. Having Al at my side means putting up with his annoying little comments, so I left him behind. As for the shitty bastard, I would not know.”
“So you also call him that, huh…?”
Subaru was surprised by her unexpectedly blunt replies. He was similarly surprised at just how poorly she treated Heinkel even after taking him as a follower.
Granted, he obviously deserved such treatment, but why bring him into the fold, then?
“No doubt that’s also ’cause it amuses you.”
“Reasons are such trifling things. To begin with, he came to me with an offer, and I accepted, nothing more. I shall use him for my entertainment while I can, but if he ceases to have value, I shall discard him instantly. That is the extent of how much I care.”
“Nah, I wonder about that… If you didn’t care about him, you wouldn’t have beaten him down like that, would you?”
For that matter, had Al not intervened, she might well have sliced him apart then and there and walked away. Subaru figured Reinhard would’ve probably intervened and stopped her short of that, though.
“Come to think of it, you’ve broken my jaw with a kick once before, huh…”
At one point during the loop at the capital a year before, Subaru had once been kicked by Priscilla when he’d procured her ire. His memory of being in a near-death state from a single one of her kicks came flooding back.
Thinking of that, he could accept the overwhelming combat strength she’d displayed back at the hall.
“Isn’t it dangerous for you to ditch Al and the rest of your crew like that?”
“And what, pray tell, would suddenly become a threat simply because my three retainers are absent? About the only advantage of their presence is to have eyes to see directly behind me.”
“So your dancing with Liliana here was just coincidence?”
Emilia’s question made Priscilla fold her arms with an audible snort.
“Unlike the dull streets of the capital, this city’s sights are salve for my tedium. I was enjoying the flow of the water when this artist’s song reached my ears.”
“I mean, wow, yeah, I didn’t know what to expect when she suddenly came in and started dancing. Usually, I give people who get too worked up a good smacking with my song, and most of the time, they settle back down right away…!”
“You really don’t act like a songstress at all…”
Driving interlopers back with your song was way too rock and roll.
Besides, the only word he had for Priscilla suddenly breaking into dance was shocking. Considering how rapt the audience was, it must have been quite the performance.
“To gather the hearts of so many people and leave me behind is self-centered to the extreme. However, such is the appeal of your music. How about it? Would you care to serve as a singing girl at my side?”
“Oh, thank you, thank you so very much!! I am honored and very, very proud that you praise me so! But! But! I must respectfully decline!”
Priscilla’s invitation showed she had taken a liking to Liliana’s singing even more than Subaru had first assumed. Liliana responded with a smiling face and a refusal with virtually no hesitation.
Instantly, the park was enveloped by an aura that pricked Subaru’s skin. His body tensed up on its own.
Liliana had made a frighteningly, spectacularly momentous decision in a flash. She understood nothing about Priscilla’s character or the instant and even cruel threat Priscilla could pose. She was totally oblivious.
“Oh, you refuse me? Why do you refuse my invitation?”
Like clockwork, the tone of Priscilla’s voice dropped an octave as she responded, her crimson eyes running cold.
Even Subaru, who wasn’t the target of her ire, felt like a blade had been pressed to his throat.
In that situation, where a single word could cost her life, Liliana stroked her musical instrument with her hand.
“I am Liliana the minstrel. Though I have stopped in this city for a time, I am destined to wander again before long, traveling wherever the wind carries me. It is an occupation and way of life of not being bound to any one land or one person.”
“And so you decline my invitation.”
“It was the same for my mother, my mother’s mother, and their mothers before that. It is our family’s way. We leave nothing behind, save for our songs in people’s hearts. Just as one cannot fence in the wind, no one can keep us in one place. Your invitation makes me happy, but I must decline. Even I do not know where my songs shall echo. I leave that up to the wind.”
Raising her musical instrument high, Liliana spoke the words proudly, not a single reservation upon her face.
Her usual demeanor—the way she made fun of everything and consistently got on people’s nerves—was nowhere to be seen.
There was only the simple pride of the creature known as a minstrel—those who passed down tales through song.
“”
After listening to Liliana’s answer, Priscilla kept her arms folded and one eye closed. Then her remaining eye shot straight through Liliana, her gaze redder than an incandescent flame.
When even this failed to make Liliana falter, Priscilla abruptly let out her breath.
“—Very well. Your resolve is commendable. Forgive me; ’tis I who was rude.”
“Not at aaaall. I’m really sorry I couldn’t accept.”
Priscilla’s remark made Liliana proudly thrust her chest out as if it was the obvious thing to do.
Subaru could only be amazed. He never thought Priscilla would actually accept someone else defying her will.
“What is it, filthy peasant? What is the reason for this distasteful face you are showing me?”
“Hey, there’s nothing on my face except surprise. I was scared because I thought for sure you’d slice Liliana in half for refusing your invitation…”
“A ridiculous concern.”
Priscilla spat out her reply with a snort, but was it true?
Until she heard Liliana’s reply, Subaru had no doubt whatsoever that Priscilla’s bloodlust was balanced on a knife’s edge. Wasn’t Liliana spared only because it didn’t happen to tilt in the wrong direction?
“But I’m a little surprised by Priscilla, too. I thought she was the sort of person who would do anything to get something she wanted.”
It was then that Emilia spectacularly stepped upon the land mine Subaru had painstakingly tiptoed around.
Emilia’s blunt impression made Priscilla sigh with displeasure.
“Lowly half-demon, would you cease your prattling? Just what do you know about me when you see with such clouded eyes? Rudeness and insult can be forgiven only so much.”
“This girl is an expert at being all talk. If she has enough spare time to criticize and lecture others for their outward appearance, would she not be better served spending it reflecting on her own words and deeds, I wonder?”
“Beatrice…”
When Priscilla’s merciless words brought a conflicted look over Emilia’s face, Beatrice squeezed her hand. When she shot back at Priscilla in Emilia’s stead, Priscilla looked like she’d noticed the girl for the first time.
“Such brave words for a little girl. I shall have you know my tolerance is not dependent on age. Do not beguile yourself with the notion that I will turn a blind eye to your rudeness because of your youth.”
“Your advice is unnecessary. Do you even realize, I wonder? Little girl, Betty may be cute, but do not think that is all there is to see.”
Instantly, sparks of hostility flew between Beatrice and Priscilla.
Both were wearing dresses, but their compatibility couldn’t be worse. Of course, Subaru was on Beatrice’s side, but just the fact that she was picking a fight with a royal-selection candidate made this problematic.
“Beatrice, it’s okay. I’m all right.”
“Why try to stop me, I wonder? Surely, we cannot simply let her slights pass in silence.”
Fearful of the problem growing larger, Emilia tried to rein in Beatrice, but the spirit refused to budge. After hearing her comment, a realization dawned on Emilia. The same went for Subaru.
Beatrice wasn’t angry because Priscilla’s attitude or insults had bothered her personally. She was angry because Priscilla had belittled Emilia.
Emilia was deeply moved by this. Of course, Subaru was, too.
“Beatrice, it’s fine. I mean it. I’m really grateful, though.”
Emilia used the hand Beatrice wasn’t holding to stroke her on the head. The action made Beatrice momentarily gaze at Subaru and Emilia alone, a tearful look in her eyes.
But this was for only a single moment. Immediately after, Beatrice glared at Priscilla with renewed heat.
“I will do as Emilia wishes, I suppose. You should be grateful.”
“Surely, you speak for yourself. Count your adorable appearance among your blessings.”
With ragged breaths, Beatrice got a hold of her temper; Priscilla responded in kind by suppressing her ghastly aura.
Subaru almost felt like the last line was just pure praise for Beatrice’s looks. The gist was, You’re cute, so I’ll let it go this time, which was fine and well with him. Priscilla’s thinking remained a mystery.
“You really are a woman I can’t understand one bit…”
“But of course. I do as I please more than any other. It is a gross conceit to even attempt to understand me.”
“So now it’s my fault…? In the first place, this all started because you wanted Liliana for yourself.”
In the end, it was unclear just what had made Priscilla allow Liliana to slip from her grasp.
Seemingly gleaning the question from the doubts on Subaru’s face, Priscilla hid her own lips behind her fan.
“Everything in this world is mine. Therefore, I need not personally own everything that is beautiful, proud, and valuable in order to appreciate it. It is sometimes best to leave them as they are. That is all.”
“”
“If this entire world becomes my garden, where little chirping birds sing matters not. It would not only be crude but quite unpleasant to place every one of them in birdcages to protect them from all outside dangers.”
This was the first time Subaru had ever heard Priscilla break her aesthetics down into a digestible form.
The sheer scale of her inaccessible, overwhelmingly aloof rationale left Subaru at a loss for words.
It wasn’t that he failed to understand the meaning or the logic. She simply perceived things on a fundamentally different level.
Subaru thought that this difference, or perhaps the very scale of it all, was terrifying. But at the same time, those feelings of terror were accompanied by the awe that came from gazing up at an overpowering being.
He wasn’t sure, but maybe that was why Al stood by Priscilla.
“Now, now, now! With everyone having calmed down a notch, how about I present to you a song in honor of our friendship?! But noooo! Not one song, but maybe two or even three!”
With swift pulls of the strings of her lyulyre, Liliana made an abrupt proposal.
“This time, Lady Priscilla should simply enjoy herself without being concerned about dancing!! And, Lady Emilia, it looked like earlier you arrived just as the song was ending!! This time, we shall joyously celebrate our reunion, and you shall see for yourself how Liliana’s unique singing voice lets her make off like a bandit in this city!”
“My word.”
“Wow, really?”
“The result isn’t elegant at all, but you are satisfied with this?”
Setting Liliana’s assertion aside, the fact remained that her song was currently the key to a peaceful resolution.
At present, Emilia and Priscilla stood side by side with an odd sense of distance between them as they prepared to listen to Liliana’s performance. It was in that situation that Liliana beckoned Subaru over with her hand. Then when Subaru approached, she whispered in a low voice.
“Could it be that Lady Emilia and Lady Priscilla don’t get along too well?”
“Are you kidding? It should be kinda obvious based on their positions. Incidentally, there’s pretty much no such thing as a person who gets along well with Priscilla, and she treats Emilia-tan like that.”
“My oh my, this is quite a serious matter!!”
Liliana gazed up at the heavens, the tails of her hair furiously bouncing, much like a dog warily wagging its tail. Maybe they were connected to her nerves or something. He had a sudden urge to grab them, pull them, and twirl them all around.
“But, but! Here, I shall do everything in my power to seduce them both with the power of music! Ah, just now, you thought of something dirty because I said seduce, didn’t you? You can’t do that—it’s indeeecent!”
“I’m beat, so could you not make me feel admiration and disdain from the same damn line?”
Even as he sighed, Subaru admired how Liliana could show such consideration amid her fits of madness.
Her goal of sweeping away the bad atmosphere with a song was something he could appreciate. As a matter of fact, it irked him a little that Liliana’s voice made such a thing actually possible.
“After the song, we’ll have a pleasant chat, so could you prepare some snacks, Master Natsuki? Do you not think that sweets will make everyone happy and bring us all closer together?”
“Not particularly.”
“After the song, we’ll have a pleasant chat, so could you prepare some snacks, Master Natsuki? Do you not think that sweets will help make everyone happy and bring us all closer together?”
“What is this? Are you an NPC who just repeats your lines until someone picks yes?”
When Liliana stubbornly asked the exact same question without a single change in tension, tone, or even word choice, Subaru gave in and selected yes. Liliana’s face brightened, but surprisingly, her proposal was not a terrible one.
If the atmosphere improved, maybe they could have a proper conversation with Liliana and Priscilla.
“So while Liliana’s singing, I’ll head off to buy some drinks. Emilia-tan, stay here, behave, and don’t get into any fights while I’m gone.”
“Well, I don’t want to have an argument with Priscilla, either. Don’t worry—it’ll be fine.”
Subaru reminded her to be careful just to be on the safe side, and Emilia responded with a buoyant smile. Of course, even if Emilia wasn’t looking for a fight, there was no denying the possibility that Priscilla might offer one regardless.
“Beako, take care of Emilia-tan if anything happens.”
“I understand, I suppose. Next time that whelp says something out of line, I shall reduce her to ash.”
“Don’t pick a fight with her, either, okay?”
After entrusting Emilia to Beatrice, who was possibly a much greater cause for concern, Subaru got ready to leave the park for the time being. But before he did—
“Priscilla, any foods you can’t eat?”
“How unexpected that even an unremarkable man such as you understands how to be considerate. Very well. If you must present me with something, you should prepare something appropriate. Present me something boring, and I shall slice off the hand with which you offered it and place it upon your head.”
“It’s not like I lost at rock-paper-scissors to be the errand boy, so you’ve got no right to take it that far!”
Subaru decided then and there that if anyone was selling a delicacy advertised as only for the bold, that’s what he’d give her.
For her part, Priscilla knit her refined eyebrows at Subaru’s response.
“Rock-paper…scissors?”
She tilted her head while murmuring in confusion.
If she’d forgotten about Subaru, maybe she’d forgotten about rock-paper-scissors, too. In many ways, she was a very hard woman to get along with.
“Subaru, be careful.”
“If something happens, would you immediately call Betty, I wonder?”
After Emilia and Beatrice saw him off, Subaru waved and rushed out of the park.
When he tried to wink at Liliana, he was thwarted because she had closed both eyes.
“Oh…”
A little after that, right when he was reaching the entrance to the park, he heard the melody of the lyulyre echoing behind him.
With that sound at his back, Subaru quickened his steps as he headed toward the shopping district.
Sub-chapter 3.
—And some ten minutes later after Subaru left the park…
“Man, I’m just a chicken. Really, I am.”
As he exited the store, Subaru glanced at the products inside the bag, and his shoulders sagged.
After setting off in the name of procuring sweets, Subaru had found some appropriate stores and finished his shopping in short order. Along the way, his interest had been temporarily drawn by “gina jelly,” a strange Pristella specialty, but he hadn’t summoned the courage to buy it for Priscilla.
It sounded better to say he was fearful of worsening relations between the camps, but he’d simply chickened out.
“But it looked kind of like eel jelly… I’m not brave enough to taste test this one, but I liked that stuff.”
Berating himself for his complex personal biases, Subaru jogged until he reached the street that led back to the park.
Fortunately, in the ten or so minutes he’d been away, Beatrice hadn’t warned him about something going awry in the park. They were probably in the middle of the recital without any problems.
Even though he understood that, he instinctively wanted to return as soon as possible. But—
“Oops, my bad.”
—after rounding a sharp corner a little too fast, he nearly bumped into someone as soon as he entered a public square. After narrowly evading the passerby, Subaru immediately apologized as the other party raised a cry of “aah?” with a foul-sounding voice. “Hey, pal. Is that how ya apologize? You better put more sincerity into… Geh!”
The man with the crude demeanor was in the middle of picking a fight when he noticed Subaru and froze. Simultaneously, Subaru was shocked to realize he recognized this man.
“Huh, it’s Larry? You still act like a street thug even though you work for Felt now?”
“Oh, shaddap! And my name ain’t Larry! The hell are you doin’ here?!”
The one letting spittle fly as he complained was Lachins, who’d played the hoodlum role just the day before. According to Felt, he’d been assigned errands and was off on independent action within the city.
“Curly and Moe aren’t with you? Kinda rare to see you on your own like this.”
“How the hell would you know what’s rare for me? We ain’t known each other enough for this to feel like anythin’. Shoo, scram.”
“Hey, don’t be so cold. Aren’t we buddies who’ve gone through life and death together?”
“I don’t remember anythin’ like that!”
Lachins shot him a disgusted look when Subaru got too chummy.
Even Subaru wasn’t very sure why he had a soft spot for the guy. It was probably because Subaru’s Everyman Sensor picked up that Larry, Curly, and Moe were fellow commoners. In this world, Subaru had met so many incredible people that seeing ordinary people like them once in a while came as a relief.
Though he’d been killed by them once, his fondness for them had actually grown since.
“Anyway! Don’t get close to me! I’m doin’ work right now!”
“For you to have work after being unemployed for so long… I’m so happy for you!!”
“Get lost!!”
As Subaru acted tearful, Lachins clicked his tongue and brushed him off, vanishing into the crowds. Subaru reflected on the fact that the cold reaction was a great relief to him for some reason.
Lately, he’d been greeted with receptions befitting his title practically everywhere he went. He was worried that he’d let it go to his head if he didn’t get a reality check like this once in a while.
Of course, he belatedly realized he really had been a nuisance to Lachins, so he decided to apologize the next time he had the chance.
“Mm?”
Then, with Lachins having vanished into the throng, Subaru turned around and began to walk when he came to a halt.
—No, it wasn’t just Subaru who’d stopped. Within his field of view, a great many people within the square had come to a halt as well.
“What the—? If it ain’t one thing, it’s another! The hell y’all lookin’ at?!”
Speaking those words, Lachins pushed his way out from the frozen mass of pedestrians. Just like he had complained, everyone had stopped to stare up at a tall building overhead.
—This was a spire standing at the back of the square, extremely prominent even in such a large city.
A magic crystal clock was embedded into the upper portion of the building; it was a time tower that functioned much like a clock tower.
These towers were common in large towns and cities, and several of them were scattered around Pristella. This time tower was simply one among many.
But then that changed.
“—To all those whose conversations and busy schedules I’ve interrupted, I offer my apologies.”
At the upper portion of the time tower, a lone figure emerged from an open window to stand precariously on the edge.
As all eyes gathered on the stranger standing before them in such a bizarre manner, the voice addressing the crowd trembled, seemingly overcome with emotion at being the center of attention.
“Please lend me but a tiny instant of your time. Thank you.”
The tone of the voice that opened with an apology and a word of thanks was particular to those who were more concerned with their appearance than genuinely showing gratitude. Everyone listening was assailed by an uncomfortable sensation, as if that voice itself mercilessly clawed at their hearts.
These disturbing feelings were doubtlessly amplified by the speaker’s bizarre outward appearance.
This person’s head was covered in raggedly wrapped bandages that left one eye visible, gleaming mysteriously as it surveyed the world below.
For clothes, they had a black robe with long, misshapen gold-colored chains wrapped around both slender hands, ending in hooks. These were dragging across the floor as the speaker came forward one purposeful footstep at a time, hastily heading to the top of the tower.
Glancing at the audience, unable to peel their eyes from the bizarre sight, the speaker smiled—at least, the gloomy contortion of their mouth, which was hidden by bandages, made Subaru think that was a smile.
“Thank you, and sorry. I am the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins, charged with Wrath—”
Voicing that terrifying preamble aloud, the eccentric offered an introduction.
“—My name is Sirius Romanée-Conti.”
Sub-chapter 4.
In contrast to the other Archbishops, the tone of Sirius’s voice was chummy, outgoing, and even cheerful.
This strange announcement delivered by someone wrapped in bandages left everyone looking up at the tower and unable to speak.
Perhaps it was partly due to the speaker’s surreal appearance, but the greater factor was almost certainly the crowd’s inability to process what they just heard.
Of course, these were nothing more than secondary reasons. There was a reason more fundamental than any other.
—How could anyone take their eyes off something that threatened their very lives?
“Eh, wha—?”
“What did they say just now?”
“You’re kidding, right? The Witch Cult, here…”
The realization and chaos that had been delayed by the initial turmoil began to gradually spread through the mass of people.
But not a single person there instantly adopted the best countermeasures available. Everyone listening to the contents of the message doubted their ears, and the only thing rippling through the crowd was confusion.
“Hey, what did that bastard say just now?! Did you hear that?!”
And the same went for Lachins, who noticed Subaru and came running.
Lachins kept one eye on what was happening overhead as he wove through the crowd toward Subaru, who also couldn’t take his eyes off the eccentric, despite standing apart from the rest of the audience.
For some reason, he could tell that letting his attention lapse would be an irrevocable mistake. There was no need to doubt the individual’s identity.
—That was the exact same malice Petelgeuse had.
“Plus, Romanée-Conti…?”
The surname the bandaged eccentric had invoked—Romanée-Conti, just like Petelgeuse.
Of course, as Petelgeuse had been an evil spirit, a blood relative sharing the same name was highly unlikely, but—
“Don’t tell me all the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins use the same family name…”
The existence of a famous Romanée-Conti family within the Witch Cult churning out Archbishops one generation after the next was a concept so twisted that even the thought of it was enough to make Subaru crinkle his nose.
Without such trivial thoughts running through his head, Subaru would have already blown his lid.
An Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins was right there. It wasn’t the Gluttony he was pursuing, but there was an Archbishop right there.
“—Gotta nab ’em and make ’em spill the beans.”
He’d blaze a trail to Gluttony one way or another.
With that decided, Subaru calmed his blazing heart. Simultaneously, he focused on the link with Beatrice within his chest. By calling out to her, Subaru could convey that something was wrong. This was the firm bond that tied a contractor to his contracted spirit.
In the innermost depths of his body, he’d grasp it, pulling it toward him all at once—
“—That’s quite enough!”
“—?!”
But his attempt to call Beatrice was terminated, abruptly blown away by a dry, rupturing sound.
This was the sound of the bandaged eccentric clapping their hands together. Subaru’s breath caught from the noise, which was so loud that it seemed to reach every corner of the city and rocked the square itself.
Then, looking down upon the multitude frozen with shock, the eccentric’s exposed, lolling eye wandered around.
“It took twenty-two seconds before everyone fell silent. But I thank you for quieting down. I am sorry. I am also very happy. And…”
Speaking sarcasm along with their thanks, the eccentric—Sirius—kept both hands together as their body swayed. Sirius really did seem to be enjoying the show, but the crude-looking chains hanging from both hands continued to undermine that impression. The discordant sound of the hooks scraping against the tower’s platform and the chains rubbing against the walls really grated on the ears.
“You and you over there, and you two sirs over there also, I am sorry. Do not be so cross. I offer you my heartfelt apology for taking up your valuable time. Sorry, and thank you.”
“Is…!”
Sirius squirmed all around while doing their best to convey sincerity.
The only reason Subaru did not instantly shout, Is this a joke?! and go deliver a beatdown was precisely because he was included among those Sirius had pointed to that moment, urging them to not be so cross.
Subaru noticed the three others whom Sirius had pointed at—a beast man with a sword on his hip, a woman with an eye patch, and Lachins—had all gone pale. They were probably the only ones present with any fight in them.
This was without doubt a warning: Any sign of hostility, and Sirius would nail them to the floor first.
Feeling sweat beading on his brow, Subaru cursed the stalemate he had fallen into.
Allowing the Witch Cultist to take the initiative was a terrible misstep. Including Subaru, some thirty people were in the square, trapped in Sirius’s field of vision—hardly a trivial number.
One false move, and there would be instant carnage.
Everyone indicated by Sirius’s finger understood this, blocking them from making a move. From the expression on his bitter face, Lachins was the only one hesitant in his decision.
Lachins probably had a wild card to play—specifically calling Reinhard over.
If he could do so in time, there was no one who could best Reinhard. It was a certainty that he’d settle matters with a single blow—however, the sacrifices incurred in the time it took him to arrive could never be undone.
If Lachins didn’t care about casualties, he could have Sirius taken care of…hence his inner turmoil.
“Yes, thank you. It would seem that everyone has calmed down a little. I understand that you are uneasy. The ring of the words Witch Cult never fails to leave a poor impression. That is why even I will not ask you to disregard this. I merely wished to have all of you give me this time today because there is something I sorely wish to confirm.”
“And what’s that…?”
“I am sorry; please do not be noisy. I am not very smart, so if everyone talks at once, I won’t know what to do. And then I’ll be quite sad. That’s not good, is it? But if something’s wrong, please let me know. I’ll do my best to answer for everyone’s sake.”
Sirius’s insistence on maintaining a pretense of friendliness and that somewhat logical manner of speaking only made the situation all the more unsettling.
Most people also found Sirius’s fashion sense, which involved covering everything but their left eye and lips with bandages, predictably disturbing. And if wariness about this was keeping everyone from making a move—
“Can I take you at your word and ask a question?”
When it felt like no one wanted to take the initiative and single themselves out, Subaru Natsuki raised a hand anyway.
Even as he sensed a wave of surprise spreading around him, Subaru did not avert his eyes from Sirius, who was still standing overhead. Looking down upon Subaru, Sirius opened their purple eye wide.
“Yes! You over there, please do. Thank you. To think you were so angry before, yet now you are willing to speak with me. What a happy occasion. Ask me anything.”
“I’m not sure what you want, but I have some girls waiting for me, and four of them at that. I’d like to settle this as quickly as possible and get back to them.”
“My! That is terrible; I am so sorry. Surely, we are troubling these girls and causing them sadness or maybe even anguish. That is wrong so very wrong impermissible unforgivable.”
“Um, excuse me?”
As they spoke, the cheer in Sirius’s voice faded, their gaze began to grow ominous, and they gasped in surprise when Subaru’s bewildered voice called out.
“Oh no, oh no, I was about to get emotional. I am so sorry. I really try to watch out, but I get easily excited. Thank you for your concern.”
“…Nah, that’s fine. I’m just grateful that we can have a nice and calm conversation.”
“I am sorry you need be so considerate. Thank you. But it’s all right. I am famous for being one of the doves of the Witch Cult. I am quite sorry that the others are problematic children to some extent.”
Something shocking dawned on Subaru as he continued having a surprisingly coherent conversation with Sirius.
The unexpectedly gentle demeanor, the insistence on keeping the conversation going, and the sheer impact of the initial encounter had shoved this fact aside, but Sirius, the mystery person standing above on the tower, was a woman.
Judging from the way the incredibly white fabric wrapped around her head and how it poked out from the standard Cult-issue black robe, her entire body was probably covered in bandages. Even so, Subaru had noticed telltale bulges on the chest of her tall, slender body. That combined with her manner of speech convinced him that Sirius was female.
“”
Setting aside the issue of gender, Sirius’s words and actions conveyed no sense of an immediate threat for the time being.
At first, Subaru had been extremely wary, but after conversing with Sirius for a bit, he realized that she came off as more of a true human being than Priscilla did. The initial tension in everyone’s expressions fell away, leaving most people more interested in Sirius’s true intentions rather than worry and fear.
In spite of the hatred he supposedly harbored toward the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, Subaru was no exception.
“Thank you; I am so sorry. Truly, I had not intended to surprise everyone. But I am pleased from my heart that we have overcome this and you are now lending me your ears.”
“It’s not like we’ve accepted or forgiven you, but we’ll at least hear you out first.”
“I suppose that will do. Well then, I shall get to the point about the reason why I have appeared before you like this.”
As she swayed her body and rubbed the chains on both of her hands together, the high-pitched sound tore at the air around them.
Now that he took a good look, her appearance was more comical than creepy. If he thought of her as some sort of clown or entertainer, he had to wonder if she was really that far removed from someone like Liliana.
Subaru’s expression softened, and the guarded walls he’d raised around his heart slowly crumbled away.
There didn’t seem to be a need to call over Beatrice anymore. He’d hear Sirius out and then ask her to depart quietly.
—Peaceful and proper, not making any waves whatsoever. Wasn’t that a good thing?
“So what did you wanna ask?”
“Yeah, yeah, hurry up and ask already!”
“That’s right, that’s right. If ya don’t hurry up, I’ll be late for work.”
When Subaru prodded her to go ahead, the people around him raised their voices, almost jeering at her.
The last man pointed at the magic time crystal over Sirius’s head, an act that was enough to provoke uproarious laughter. The wave of laughter made Subaru unwittingly relax his lips.
The amicable atmosphere brought a blushy smile over Sirius as she pressed her hands to her cheeks like she wasn’t sure what to do.
“Sorry, so sorry. I really am sorry. I know you all must be in a hurry. I will soon be finished, so please bear with me a little while longer.”
“I told ya, hurry it up already—!”
“Yes! Well then, I shall do just that. Er, you see, there is something I wish to confirm. To come out and say it…it concerns love. Ohhh, I am so embarrassed.”
Thanks to the bandages, he couldn’t see the color of her face, but Sirius was covering it with her palms to conceal her own bashfulness. The gesture made Subaru break into spontaneous laughter. There were grins all around him as the gradually warming atmosphere infected others, making Sirius tremble in even greater embarrassment.
“I—I expected everyone to laugh, but even so, I can’t seem to look you in the face. But thank you for listening. Thank you, and also, I have a request.”
“A request?”
“I am so sorry. Could I ask you to put up with me while I try to confirm love?”
Fidgeting, Sirius rubbed the chains from both hands together as she made that request.
The pathetic sight elicited a collective that’s all? from the audience. As a matter of fact, Subaru had no particular objection, either. His heart warmed by the sight, he politely nodded.
When he did, Sirius brightened, her eye twinkling as she clapped her hands together.
“Really?! Thank you, thank you, and also sorry. The world truly is kind. It is kind and filled with love. I am grateful I can savor the feeling like this. We are capable of permitting and yielding to one another. That is why I say not only thank you but I am sorry.”
“We get it already! Sirius, what are you gonna do now?”
“Ahhh, so sorry!”
Sirius looked deeply moved when the swordswoman with the eye patch over one eye jeered at her. The voice was casual, as if she was speaking to a friend she’d known for a decade or a classmate at a girls’ school, which seemed to help Sirius relax.
As if finally remembering something, Sirius walked to the time tower window from which she had emerged, reaching her arms inside the structure.
And then—
“I am so sorry to have kept you waiting. Come on—right this way.”
“!!”
Calling out with a gentle voice, Sirius pulled something from beyond the window.
Thrashing in Sirius’s arms was a tiny, moaning figure—a boy still early in years, his entire body firmly bound.
The child, ten years old give or take, was wrapped in chains from his ankles to his shoulders; there were blood droplets where a chain had bit into his mouth. He was desperately moving what he could above his neck, tears coursing in some kind of muffled plea.
“I am so sorry this is so confining. But you are a boy, so you must not cry. I wished to keep that a secret between us, but you are drenched. Now everyone will know your shame.”
“Nn—! Nnn!!”
“Yeah—! It’s embarrassin’—!!”
“You’re a boy! Don’t cry, don’t cry!!”
“There’s only three times in a man’s life that he can cry, ha-ha-ha!”
Warm voices called out to the tearful boy as the audience joined Sirius in trying to console him.
Overcoming the urge to be scared and cry from small frights was something everyone had to go through. There was no malice involved, but a number of the comments were rather lacking in delicacy.
“Yes, yes, everyone, please do not say such things. Certainly, he is cowering a little at the moment, but this is a very brave child. Isn’t that so, young Lusbel?”
With his entire body bound by chains, the kid had to weigh a fair bit, but Sirius easily carried him with one arm. Gently stroking the boy’s chestnut-colored hair, she turned him toward the crowd while praising his courage.
Lusbel—the boy squirming with all his might in his effort to escape from Sirius’s hand. The contrast looked humorous and laughable, just begging for someone to laugh at how pathetic he seemed.
“Yes! Now then, may I have everyone’s attention? This is the young Lusbel Callard. He is a native of Pristella. He is still only nine years old. My, such fine future prospects.”
“Nn! Nnn!!!”
“His father is Muslan Callard. He is an observer for the city waterways. His mother, Ina Callard, is currently pregnant and showing at this very moment. Will Lusbel be blessed with a younger brother or a younger sister…? Quite a happy thought regardless of which is born. Young Lusbel has a childhood friend, a cute blonde with curly hair named Tina, who he gets along with very nicely. Since the pair care deeply about each other and seem to have an ideal relationship, I spent a considerable amount of time mulling over which one I should bring here. At first, I thought I’d bring Tina, but Lusbel asked me so earnestly, it struck a chord deep within me… Therefore, I yielded to young Lusbel’s enthusiasm and had him cooperate with me. He is a very brave child. You all understand that now, don’t you?”
For an instant, the tale of Lusbel’s courage was greeted by pure silence.
But a moment later, riotous applause thundered in the square. The audience extolled Lusbel’s courage, regretting the way they had laughed at his tears, for he was a true hero.
—No, that wasn’t it. It was not the time to feel remorse for their thoughtlessness. It was time to praise courage.
“Lusbel, don’t cry! You’re the best!”
That was why Subaru raised his voice, celebrating the heroism of the tearful boy.
“That’s right, don’t you be cryin’! We know ya got stones, so hang in there till the end, kid!”
Beside Subaru, Lachins had tears in the corners of his eyes as he raised a crass cheer for the boy.
“That’s right, you go, Lusbel! You’re the pride of Pristella!”
“Lusbel! You’re marvelous! I’m sure you’ll become a fine man!”
As one, the audience filled the square with cheers, applause, and acclaim for their hero Lusbel.
This beautiful scene of human virtue had been made possible by the courage and dedication of a single boy. No matter how unseemly he might have looked, it was genuine courage that gave birth to true light.
“Ahhh, ahhh…thank you, thank you, thank you! Ahhh, this is so wonderful! You all understand. I believed that you would trust in young Lusbel’s courage! After all, his way is the way of love! I thought that by knowing him, you would come to love him as well! The more you understand him, the deeper you know him—your thoughts become one, and that is love!”
“Thank you, Sirius! Thank you!”
Sirius hoisted Lusbel aloft with both hands, the bandages on her face drenched with tears. Seeing this, Subaru couldn’t hold back the hot tears he hadn’t even noticed until moments ago.
He felt a poke on his shoulder. Beside him, Lachins pointed at Subaru and laughed at his free-flowing tears. As he did so, tears trickled down his cheeks as well, and before long, everyone in the square was overcome by the same emotion.
That moment, everyone’s hearts had truly become one. They were linked by an undeniable bond.
“We rifts are born because we do not know one another. Conflict arises because we do not understand one another. And when we give up because we are different from one another, bonds cannot be wrought. Everyone, how are your hearts now?”
“It’s not like that at all! None of us is giving up! Our hearts are one!”
“Thank you! Thank you! Then I take it that everyone is happy right now?”
“Damn right we are! It’s the first time I’ve felt like this! Thank you, Sirius! Lusbel!”
With sounds of admiration and applause trained toward him, Lusbel sobbed at the highest point of the time tower. Finally, heedless of the gashes at the corners of his mouth, the boy bled as he desperately raised his voice.
“Gu, gii! Aurr!! S-svv…sv—ve…mhhh…!”
“Young Lusbel, they extol your courage; they extol love! Look down. So many people admire you. Ahhh, thank you! I am so sorry, young Lusbel. This may not be what you intended. But now I know. The world is indeed a kind place!”
Embracing Lusbel, whom she held aloft, Sirius turned her head toward the heavens as she continued in a loud voice.
“Yes, there truly is love in this world. Everyone’s hearts have become one. Their feelings of happiness are the same. No one needs tragedy. A world where people must cry is nothing but a nuisance. The greatest emotions come when people’s hearts are joined together! No one needs tragedy! No one needs Wrath!”
“That’s right! No one needs tragedy!”
“Ahhh, abominable Wrath that makes my heart tremble so! Anger—in other words, rage! If this is indeed one of the Seven Deadly Sins that afflicts human hearts, if it is fate that it can never truly be cut away, then one should fill the heart with tremendous joy until there is no room left! Just like how it fills everyone’s hearts this very moment!”
Letting spittle fly, Sirius shared what she had learned about love from on high as if it were the judgment of the heavens themselves.
Then from her upraised arms, she hurled the courage that had received envy from one and all into the sky.
“May I have your applause?!”
Sirius hurled Lusbel into the sky on the greatest stage imaginable.
Watching the boy fly toward the sun, everyone clapped. Subaru brought his hands together over and over again as hard as he could.
Uproarious applause rang out, blessing Lusbel as he soared into the sky.
The tiny body spun in midair, finally reaching the zenith of the throw, then proceeding to plunge straight toward the ground. He was inverted, falling toward the stone-paved square headfirst.
The audience cleared his impending point of impact—applauded endlessly all the while, awaiting his triumphal return.
“Nnnn!!”
Lifting his head, Lusbel glared at the approaching ground and screamed.
Though his strength should have been exhausted, he thrashed wildly, desperately struggling until the very, very end. Sensing they had caught a glimpse of a human being truly worthy of praise, the audience was moved to tears.
And then—
“—Ahhh, what a kind world!!”
—just before the impact, Sirius shouted.
Hearing that voice, the audience’s applause became one, growing louder and louder as the echoes boomed.
—Then there was a sound of something hard and fragile breaking, like an egg falling onto the floor. Everyone’s vision was filled with red.
Falling headfirst onto the hard surface, the entire body crumpled, and that which had once been Lusbel transformed into a pile of crimson flesh. Fat globules of blood scattered across the square in all directions as the hero spectacularly flew apart.
And then right after witnessing this—
“—Bhhh.”
—like applause that refused to end, the sound of countless eggs smashing reverberated across the square.
The ground was drowned in a crimson pool of blood.
That was how it ended.
Sub-chapter 5.
“After the song, we’ll have a pleasant chat, so could you prepare some snacks, Master Natsuki? Do you not think that sweets will make everyone happy and bring us all closer together?”
Just after he thought he’d blinked, he saw an olive-skinned girl shoot him a clumsy wink.
“”
As he watched the girl sticking her tongue out in a playful pose, Subaru Natsuki forgot to breathe.
When he shifted his unsteady gaze, he saw a silver-haired girl with a soft, charming smile beside him, and also standing there was a redheaded girl, arms crossed with an arrogant look on her face.
Then he noticed the presence of a little girl in a dress gently holding his hand—
“Errr, is something amiss? Ignoring? Are you ignoring me? P-please cut that out; it’s very depressing… Aah, cut—cut that out… D-don’t sigh after listening to my song… Don’t make such a sad face; forgive meee…!”
As Subaru fell into complete silence, the girl before his eyes—Liliana—was trembling awkwardly as if she was undergoing some kind of trauma.
Subaru set his eyes upon her, and his stiff lips trembled.
“…I feel sick.”
“Wha—?! H-how can this be?! How can you look at a girl’s face and say something so cruel?! Liliana has never been humiliated like this before!! My goodness, on behalf of Master Natsuki’s mother, I am completely embarrassed for you!! Compwetewy!! Embawwassed!!”
As Liliana faked anguished tears, her mouth bled from the impressive way she had bitten her tongue. It was a ridiculous and transparently comical sight, but Subaru couldn’t bring himself to laugh even if he wanted to.
His head was heavy. His vision was flickering. Unable to stand, he sank to his knees then and there.
“Subaru?! What’s wrong?”
“Wait a—What happened, I wonder?! Subaru, Subaru?”
Beatrice, who was holding his hand, and Emilia beside them peered at Subaru’s face as he hugged the floor.
Then with a face so pale that the two unwittingly gasped, Subaru—
“—I feel sick.”
Even more than the death loop a year prior, he was at a loss for how to process his death. His knees continued trembling as nausea welled up.
“I feel sick.”
The shock was almost impossible to endure. He felt revolted by the corruption that made his insides roil. His mind and body were buffeted by raging waves of loss. Subaru Natsuki was overwhelmed by a disgust that outweighed even the horror of death.
In his memory of the moment just prior to his death, the past felt like the blink of an eye to him. He remembered how the corruption of his soul had blotted out his mind and left him unable to recognize the abnormal for what it was. And then he recalled the mysterious behavior of that disciple of abomination—
—Archbishop of Wrath, Sirius Romanée-Conti.
Without any doubt, the being was one of the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, kin to Sloth and Greed and Gluttony. They were all envoys of vice and destruction, embodiments of nightmares that by rights should not exist.
The feeling of losing himself, of ceasing to be himself only to eventually return, was a first even for him.
“I feel sick.”
The horrifying experience made him shudder. Feeling a chill coming on, Subaru trembled uncontrollably.
Like an old friend celebrating their reunion, death had clawed Subaru Natsuki to pieces.
What’s more, Subaru hadn’t even realized it yet.
He was only tens of minutes before the scene of his death, from which he had just returned.
The time limit was approaching again, at which point he would have to rise, clench his teeth, and fight.
A maelstrom of death enveloped Subaru Natsuki once more.
And so it began. In fact, it had already begun.
—The loop to overcome the worst day in his life was set here in the Water Gate City of Pristella.
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Diamond. Diamond. Diamond.
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