To slay the
Russell and Anastasia's two merchants dashed through the city to gather every weapon and tool they could lay their hands on, as they'd declared. Crusch, meanwhile, threw herself into recruiting the subjugation squad she'd been preparing for some time, and securing their means of transport—dragon carriages.
Watching those movements, Subaru understood why arranging a dragon carriage became difficult after three days in the world he'd known before. The news of the White Whale's appearance would reach the
Seeing people rushing about one after another like this, even as the night grew late, Subaru couldn't sit still.
"I should too—"
"Isn't there nothing you can really do, nya?"
Before Subaru could volunteer to help with something—someone was there to crush his enthusiasm. It was Felix, yawning behind a hand, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.
When Subaru glared daggers at that feminine face, Felix twitched his chestnut-colored cat ears and said, "Arranging supplies and assembling the squad—that's not in your wheelhouse, is it, Subaru-kun? It'd be obvious that you'd only make a mess of things, so you'd better behave, nya."
"Like hell I will. I'm the one who set all this in motion, and now everyone's running around because of it. So for me to just..."
"Right, that's exactly the mistake."
Felix thrust a finger at Subaru's lips, cutting him off with a sharp tone. When Subaru squinted at being silenced like that, Felix flicked his nose with the finger that had been on his own lips.
"That whole 'it's my fault' way of thinking—Feli really doesn't like it. Doesn't like it at all, nya."
"Why not? I mean, everyone's pulling an all-nighter because of what I said, aren't they? If I just sit here and wait like the person who started all of this—"
"Crusch decided to slay the White Whale for Old Man Wil's sake, you know, nya," Felix murmured suddenly, his voice small.
Subaru let out an involuntary "Huh?"
"Slaying the White Whale was Old Man Wil's lifelong wish. When the previous Sword Saint—Old Man Wil's wife—was killed by the White Whale, Old Man Wil wasn't by her side, it seems."
"The previous..."
"He scrambled desperately for information on the White Whale. Where it had appeared before, where it had appeared since. The timing, the time of day, the weather—every conceivable condition laid out, and he finally grasped a faint pattern. But no one would listen to what he had to say..."
Alone, confronting books and documents with bloodshot eyes—Wilhelm. How many nights had that old swordsman spent, seeking his chance to avenge his wife against the monster that killed her?
—and that obsession bore fruit, granting Wilhelm the faintest glimmer of hope in tracking down the White Whale. That was: "Taking on an opponent powerful enough to annihilate a squad led by the Sword Saint—the Kingdom no longer had the will for that. And when he tried to seek support elsewhere, he got nothing but silence. Old Man Wil's state of mind must have been utterly despairing, nya."
Even if he wanted to avenge his wife, he couldn't even reach the feet of his hated enemy.
Subaru knew that powerlessness—the despair born of it. The sin of weakness would never let him escape.
"He threw everything away and considered challenging the White Whale alone, apparently. He thought losing wasn't as shameful as not being able to fight at all. —Men are stupid, aren't they, nya? His wife would never have wanted that."
"Indeed," said the one who agreed with Felix.
It was
She'd been listening silently until now, but she swayed her blue hair, glanced softly at Subaru's profile, then placed a hand over her chest.
"Rem wants the person she loves to stay strong and healthy forever. Even if Rem is gone, she wants to be remembered with a smile."
"...Don't start saying stuff that makes it sound like you're already gone," Subaru muttered, unable to bear Rem's sentimental words. He lightly bonked her blue hair with his fist, then opened his palm and gently ran his fingers through the soft strands.
Rem accepted Subaru's rough gesture, her eyes narrowing with affection.
"It was Lady Crusch who reached out to Master Wilhelm—"
"It was Crusch, wasn't it, nya." Felix let out a wistful sigh, as if recalling that moment. "Lady Crusch is truly a kind person. Even when someone is despairing and grieving, someone that no one else will even look at—she extends a hand. Just like back then—ah, ah, ah—"
Felix suddenly pressed his own mouth shut, sealing the rest of his words, then stuck out his tongue with an embarrassed grin.
"That's it. No more. Anyway, what Feli's trying to say is that this is all thanks to you, Subaru-kun."
"Mine...?"
"We went off on a tangent, but that's what we were talking about originally, wasn't it?"
The conversation had veered into Wilhelm's past, and Subaru remembered the topic they'd forgotten. Originally, it was about the cause of the frantic rush to prepare for the White Whale's subjugation.
"'Because of' and 'thanks to'—those two sound similar but are completely different, nya. Now Old Man Wil can finally repay his wife. He even properly announced his family name again..."
"Felix. You talk too much," said a voice from behind.
"Nya!?"
Felix flinched at the voice behind him and turned around with an awkward expression. Standing there, hands clasped behind his back, was an elderly gentleman.
He squinted at the shrinking Felix and said, "I don't think exposing people's past embarrassments is a particularly good habit, do you?"
"I wouldn't call it exposing the past... more like Feli's biography of Old Man Wil, nya..."
Felix pressed his fingertips together, pouted his lips, and drew out the end of his sentences in a coaxing manner. With his adorable looks and cat ears it was almost enough to be disarming—but he was a man.
Naturally, that sort of charm had no effect on Wilhelm.
"Either way, one shouldn't go blabbing about things without the person's permission."
"Fiiiine."
Dismissed coldly, Felix drooped his shoulders and slunk away. Subaru watched his retreating back, and in an instant, silence fell over the room.
Having inadvertently heard about Wilhelm's past, Subaru felt mortified. He briefly considered spilling his own dark history to even things out, but decided at the last moment that it would only come across as the desperate move of a socially inept person.
As a result, the silence dragged on, and Subaru wracked his brain for another topic— "I'm sorry for making you listen to such an unpleasant story. It's just the ramblings of an old man's worthless time. Please forget it."
But Wilhelm spoke first, before Subaru could find a way out. A bitter smile hung weakly at the corners of his mouth, and Subaru decided to respect his wishes.
Don't ask anything more—that was the old man's will. So Subaru wouldn't.
"—You love your wife, don't you?"
—Rem-san!?
His internal cry of alarm was so intense he nearly added an honorific. With that same force, Rem had stepped into a minefield no one expected.
Oblivious to Subaru's anxiety, Wilhelm raised his eyebrows and paused for a beat.
"Yes. I love my wife. Above all things, above anyone else, no matter how much time has passed."
The years condensed into those words gave Wilhelm's confession a weight that pressed down on the room.
In the past, Subaru had heard Wilhelm speak of being a devoted husband on several occasions. Each time, he'd sensed how much Wilhelm cherished his family. But knowing now that she was gone, reflecting on those words brought a different kind of emotion entirely.
"I have preparations for tomorrow, so I'll excuse myself here. You two—please rest well tonight."
With that said to the silent pair, Wilhelm turned his back and walked away.
"Tomorrow—"
Subaru called out to that retreating figure without thinking.
Wilhelm stopped. Without turning around, Subaru said, "Tomorrow, Rem and I will be joining the battle."
"That is..."
"Our ally is about to fight a powerful enemy, and you think there's a man who'd just sit by and watch? Don't worry—Rem can fight. And even I... can do something."
The words tumbled out one after another, preemptively cutting off any refusal from Wilhelm. Then: "Let's combine our strength and smash that whale bastard! I'll help with everything I've got!"
Subaru gave a thumbs-up, flashing a grin, and swore to fight alongside Wilhelm.
Wilhelm was silent for a long moment in response to that declaration.
"My wife was a woman who loved flowers."
It came as a quiet aside, its tone nothing like a reply to Subaru's vow.
"She didn't care for swinging a sword, yet she was loved by the sword more than anyone. She was only allowed to live by the sword, and my wife accepted that fate as well."
Having witnessed the power of the current Sword Saint, Reinhard, one could understand just how overwhelming that divine blessing was when bestowed upon a human.
It was so immense that it constricted the future and the possibilities of the one who bore it, narrowing them to a vanishing point.
"It was I who broke her sword and made her cast aside the name of Sword Saint."
Wilhelm had once told Subaru that he was a man of no talent.
That was precisely why he had dedicated the better part of his life to the sword, striving to reach his current heights.
How many times had this old man been defeated on the way to fulfilling that lifelong wish? How many times had his heart been broken? And— "I made her give up the sword and became her husband as just a woman—not as the Sword Saint, but as Theresa. That was supposed to mean I'd forgiven her, that she could live as herself again. —But the sword never let her go."
Why had a woman who supposedly abandoned the sword joined the White Whale subjugation squad?
But Wilhelm's reminiscence didn't touch on that point.
"Subaru. Thank you."
All in one breath.
"In tomorrow's battle, I'll find the answer I've been seeking with my sword. And at last, I can finally visit my wife's grave. At last, I can go to meet her."
With those words left behind, Wilhelm finally left the room.
Alone with Wilhelm's resolve, Subaru couldn't help but feel a certain respect—as a fellow man.
That a person could be so earnest, and hold fast to love so completely.
"Subaru-kun..."
Rem's voice fell quietly into the still room.
When Subaru wordlessly turned to look, their eyes met—hers gazing up at his.
"If Rem were gone, would you remember her for just as long?"
"...Don't want to answer that. It's bad luck."
He spoke in a gruff voice and lightly poked her forehead with his finger.
She placed her hand on the spot where his finger had touched, and smiled with a happiness that suggested she had received exactly the answer she'd been looking for.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ The next morning. The time limit before the White Whale subjugation—seventeen and a half hours.
"Ah'll be countin' on ya, bro!!"
In the garden of Crusch's mansion, where the cold air of early morning still lingered, that bright, boisterous voice rang out at full volume.
It was the kind of voice that seemed to reach from one corner of the sprawling estate to the other.
Having it blasted at him from point-blank range, Subaru was understandably overwhelmed. He clapped his hands over his ears, twisted his face into a grimace, and glared with as much protest as he could muster.
"The missus already filled me in! So today, you're gonna let us join the whale hunt, right? Ah'm countin' on ya!!"
"Your voice is too loud!! Can't you see my signals with those beady eyes of yours?!"
Ricardo's voice crashed over him like a gale, and Subaru's own voice rose involuntarily in response. The beastman—a man with a dog's face—took Subaru's best efforts at volume with apparent relish, then split his mouth wide open in a grin that revealed rows of sharp teeth.
Covered from head to toe in short, reddish-brown fur, with slightly darker, burnt-sienna hair running in a mohawk-like strip down his elongated head, his eyes were sharp and his mouth bristled with blade-like canines. But when his eyes crinkled and he broke into a dopey grin, there was a certain charm to the look.
Though his frame stood just over two meters tall, and his muscular body was wrapped in what appeared to be black leather attire, his overall appearance gave off the impression of wilderness and civilization having clashed and then reached a reconciliation.
He'd introduced himself as a kobold, but he was clearly not built like any kobold Subaru knew. In Subaru's mind, a kobold was a short, bipedal creature with a dog's face. Two of those three traits matched, but the difference in that last one made all the difference in the world.
"No worries, bro! Ricardo's got ears that just don't hear things he don't wanna hear. The trick to dealin' with him is keepin' your distance when you talk!"
"So you're standing way over there even though you're the one who introduced us?! My hair—what's left of it—keeps getting messed up!"
Ricardo snickered from a distance, and Subaru whirled around to direct his complaint at Anastasia, who was making no effort to hide her amusement.
Ricardo gave Subaru a nudge on the shoulder with his massive palm.
"How can you talk to the missus like that, bro! She's my employer—be a little nicer, yeah? Thing is, she can't have a normal conversation without bringin' up money, so she's dead hungry for regular friends. If you want, she's totally an easy mark!"
"Ricardo. You ain't exactly cut out for keepin' secrets, so maybe you shouldn't badmouth people, yeah?"
"That ain't badmouth!! The missus is worried, bro! She came all the way from
"Don't yap back and forth over people's heads! And stop shakin' my head around like that! My neck's gonna snap!"
With strength that was superhuman—in this case, literally inhuman—he whipped Subaru's head back and forth, and Subaru felt the joints of his neck creak in protest, so he retreated.
Rolling out of Ricardo's reach, Subaru twisted his neck back into place and checked the muscles.
"That was close—getting injured before the big fight because of small talk would be no laughing matter. Even I'm fired up right now and I couldn't accept that kind of ending..."
"What's up, weird bro? Ah'm just sayin' we should be friends!"
"That came with physical force, didn't it?! I can't deal with guys who have more aggressive energy than me!"
Subaru shook his head like a Pez dispenser as he used circular movement to keep his distance from the approaching Ricardo.
The two of them circled each other, neither able to close the gap, locked in a staring contest. Anastasia watched from outside their orbit, the whole spectacle making no sense to an outside observer.
Then— "It seems the introductions are complete."
Descending into the garden was a beautiful woman with green hair—
She wasn't in her usual formal attire but instead wore lightweight armor with minimal decoration. The joints at each section were left open, prioritizing mobility—its defensive capability seemed questionable, but: "Battle gear should prioritize mobility. Don't worry—it's armor inscribed with the Earth divine blessing. As long as my mana holds out, it'll prove more resilient than it looks."
"Magic and divine blessings really do make this world feel like cheating... Maybe I've just got a dormant one sleeping inside me."
"Even if you slept forever, you wouldn't forget how to breathe. Divine blessings work the same way for those who have them. If you're not aware of it, you might as well give up."
Subaru remembered a similar dismissal from someone long ago, so he stuck out his tongue with a click and let his wish go.
Watching Subaru's childish reaction from the corner of her eye, Crusch turned to look up at the beastman scratching his head directly in front of Subaru.
"I see. I'd heard the stories, but you're even more impressive than the rumors, sir. You are one of
"Ah'm just hired help. As for you, Crusch—yer even more impressive in person."
Ricardo looked down at Crusch with a snort, folding his arms over his massive frame. He wrinkled his snout, squeezed out a throaty laugh, and said: "You're somethin' else. This Royal Selection's gonna be pretty intense, ain't it, missus!!"
"That's exactly why I'm keeping you on. How much I can put on your price tag depends on how well you perform, Ricardo."
Anastasia shrugged, and Ricardo erupted into explosive laughter.
Sububar worried that Ricardo's overly brazen attitude might rub Crusch the wrong way, but Crusch showed no sign of being bothered.
She glanced at Subaru.
"Did you manage to rest last night?"
"Thanks to you, yeah. Though knowing you guys were all out working, I couldn't really sleep well."
"Right place, right time. Your job was already done last night when you brought me,
Crusch turned to face Subaru head-on.
Her direct gaze made him uncomfortable, and he shrank back slightly.
"You said you'd participate in the subjugation battle... Can you actually fight?"
"Fight? No way. If you're counting me as fighting strength, I'd say that's even more desperate than borrowing a cat's paw. Make it a dog's paw—bigger that way."
"Weren't you just talkin' about me!?"
"I wasn't! You really do only hear what you want to hear!"
Subaru shouted back at Ricardo, who had butted in mid-conversation, then scratched his forehead to collect himself and prefaced with "But—"
"I think I might actually be useful against the White Whale... in my own way."
"Tell me. What's the basis for that?"
"I'm not sure even I believe it myself... but apparently my body has a scent that attracts Mabeasts."
Choosing his words carefully, Subaru outlined his plan for joining the battle.
The
The problem was that the White Whale's threat was dozens of times greater than the Juggernaut's, and Subaru alone couldn't evade its approach, let alone counterattack.
"So I figured the best way would be to have someone put me on a fast dragon carriage or something and ride circles around the White Whale's nose to keep its attention... That way we minimize casualties while still putting me to effective use."
Honestly, even as he said it, the plan sounded absurd.
He was offering himself as live bait. Not as a fighter, but as something to lure the monster with. The role division was so grim that even a suicidal person would blanch.
"And surprisingly, there's no hint of deception in what you're saying," Crusch said, touching her chin with a look that hovered between skepticism and consideration.
Her 'Wind-Watching Divine Blessing' had no doubt verified the truth of Subaru's words, and she'd come to weigh the plan's viability.
She gave a single nod.
"In that case, I'll assign you an earth dragon with superior speed and endurance. With Rem riding alongside you, there shouldn't be any issues regarding mobility. However, you will follow my orders."
"Oh—so you're heading to the battlefield too, Crusch."
"Do you really picture me sitting deep in a chair at the manor, waiting for good news?"
She flicked the metal clasp of her armor, and a sharp, spirited smile crossed her striking features.
Subuar shook his head at her warrior-like bearing and muttered an apology for asking the obvious.
"—It's almost time."
Receiving his apology, Crusch closed one eye and murmured.
As if those words were a signal, people began streaming into the garden one after another.
Leading the way was Wilhelm, changed into his battle attire.
The lightly armored old swordsman wore minimal protective gear, covering only his vital points, and carried six slender swords—three on each side—at his waist.
Behind him came Felix, clad in a knight's armor with a curved, feminine silhouette. His weapon of choice? A single short sword at his hip. Having assessed his own abilities, he'd committed fully to rear support—a pragmatic attitude reflected in his equipment.
Following them was the owner of the dull gold hair—Russell. His face showed the fatigue of an all-nighter, but his eyes burned bright with spirit.
Anastasia, who had already arrived in the garden, linked up with Russell, and the two began some manner of conversation. Meanwhile, Ricardo rolled his massive shoulders and grinned ferociously.
As the principal figures assembled, others began to file in—seasoned veterans whose names Subaru didn't know. They were likely members of the subjugation squad Crusch had assembled. Only the key players had been called here, and their numbers were quite small—about ten. And even among them— "Man, this really doesn't look like a young bunch," Subaru murmured, voicing the thought that had come to mind.
Before him, the subjugation squad members had formed a line behind Wilhelm. Their average age was clearly on the higher side. Wilhelm himself was well past sixty, and not a single knight in his entourage looked to be under fifty.
As someone who knew firsthand the depth of Wilhelm's strength, Subaru had no concern about the old swordsman's skill—but what about the rest of them?
"I'm told all of them have some connection to the White Whale," Rem said.
"Rem."
"Yes. Subaru-kun's Rem."
As she spoke, Rem reappeared at his side as if she'd materialized out of thin air.
Her expression was the same as always—unchanged despite heading into battle—and her outfit was still her maid uniform. When Subaru had pointed this out during their morning gathering: "This uniform was handcrafted by Master Roswaal and is a combat maid outfit with a defensive divine blessing. So there's absolutely nothing to worry about."
That was the answer. For formal occasions, cooking, chores, recreation, and combat—there was a wide variety. Yet the only option was always a maid uniform. Roswaal's tastes were truly something.
In any case, "A connection to the White Whale... You mean people involved in past subjugation efforts?"
"Many of them have faced the White Whale before, apparently. They gathered in response to Master Wilhelm's call. Their training and morale are more than adequate."
"Veterans burning with the desire for revenge... That's quite the scenario. It gets you fired up."
As he said this, Subaru couldn't help but wonder if their inclusion in the subjugation squad—those who bore grudges against the White Whale from the past—was another expression of the 'kindness' Felix had spoken of the night before.
If it endangered the mission itself, that would defeat the purpose, but Crusch wasn't the type to compromise on something like that. Wilhelm's obsession, too, wasn't something that would lightly bring along dead weight to the battlefield.
Depending on the situation, he might even cut the excess baggage before they reached the fight.
"Now that I think about it, that role is exactly me this time..."
"Crusch's subjugation squad may be composed that way... but those people over there—"
Subaru, quivering with sudden realization, was left aside as Rem's attention shifted to the opposite end of the garden. A group of men had deployed there, radiating an atmosphere like they existed in a different world.
Following Rem's gaze to take in that group, Subaru let out a knowing "Ah."
"Anastasia's private army... or rather, the mercenary company she hired. They're from Kararagi, so their way of talking is pretty unique, and their appearances are unique too."
"They're unique all around. But that group there—are they...?"
He'd get used to the Kansai-like speech patterns eventually, but the appearances were another matter entirely.
Anastasia's mercenary company, led by Ricardo, was composed entirely of bipedal animals—that is, beastmen.
At a glance, Ricardo was clearly the most combat-capable. From there, you had figures with similarly imposing builds all the way down to a beastman that barely reached Subaru's waist—fluffy white fur giving it the look of a bear. It carried a staff, suggesting a specialization in magic rather than direct combat.
About thirty of them stood in formation, and for Subaru, they nicely stoked the flames of his isekai fantasy expectations.
"Since Anastasia herself can't fight, she's lending us the power of money, apparently. Ricardo is going to be hovering around me, so try not to pick a fight."
"Rem has no intention of causing a scene, as long as no harm comes to Subaru-kun. —Oh, Subaru-kun, the hair I carefully fixed for you is getting messy again."
"Ah, that was because that Ricardo guy was shaking my head around just now—"
"Let's smash him."
"That was fast!?"
The barely-messy hairstyle nearly became a spark, and Subaru quickly restrained Rem.
Then he happened to check the time—it was nearly time to depart.
"But before that—"
The air in the garden was growing taut. Those already in formation straightened their posture, and one by one the others followed suit. The atmosphere suggested Crusch was about to deliver her pre-departure address.
Slipping through that moment, Subaru—with Rem in tow—headed toward the two merchants who were in conversation.
"I'm counting on you two being the type of merchants who'll at least hear someone out as long as the money's good—because I've got a little something to discuss."
First, he intended to lay one piece on the board before the whale hunt.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "—Four hundred years."
At the appointed time, that declaration rang out before the assembled warriors.
The weight of those words, the tension in the air. With a sharp sensation that seemed to run straight up his spine, Subaru watched as Crusch stood proudly under the focused gaze of everyone gathered.
She drove the Karsten family's engraved sword into the earth, rested her hand on the pommel, and swept her gaze across every face in a single breath.
"The world's worst catastrophe. The reign of the Witch of Envy, and born from that Witch's hand—the White Whale turned the world into its hunting ground, trampling the weak with impunity, and four hundred years have passed."
The Witch of Envy—who had once destroyed half the world, and whose name still lingered as a tale of terror.
Her servant—a Mabeast of mist that, even now that its master had fallen, still roamed free. A true monster that had claimed far too many lives and swallowed the fighting spirit of countless others.
"The number of lives taken by the White Whale is beyond counting. And given the malicious nature of its mist, one could say that the true number of victims is known to no one. Over the course of four hundred years, the count of tombstones bearing an inscription—and those too poor to even bear one—has only grown."
At Crusch's words, an old veteran bowed his head, teeth clenched, suppressing a sob. Another dug his nails into his fist until blood seeped through.
And there was an old swordsman—the one who had harbored a boundless fire within his chest, quietly awaiting the chance to unleash that long-simmering rage.
Their regret—the accumulated hatred born from a mountain of corpses—had begun to coil like a dark, stagnant shadow around the garden's atmosphere. But— "But those days of regret end today."
"————"
"We will end them. We shall slay the White Whale and put an end to the countless sorrows it has wrought. We shall give proper cause for tears to those griefs that never even had the chance to grieve."
"————!"
"Let us put an end to this miserable Mabeast—a creature that, having already lost its master, still obeys an order that was never finished."
Their chests burned.
Without a word, Subaru felt the same stirring resonating through every person present.
The veteran who had been looking down. The veteran who had been clenching his fist. The old swordsman who had closed his eyes. Now they opened their eyes and fixed them on Crusch, standing before them.
Receiving the heat of those gazes, Crusch thrust her hand forward and raised her voice.
"We march! —To the Lifaues Highway,
"——Yeah!!"
The answering voices overlapped, and the thunderous sound of feet striking the ground created the illusion of the garden itself trembling.
Swept up by the rising tide of fighting spirit, Subaru bellowed his own affirmation.
Among them, one voice rang out stronger and higher than the rest as Crusch drew her sword and thrust it skyward.
"Tonight, by our hands—slay the White Whale!!"
The battle against the White Whale—the greatest operation since his Otherworld Summoning—was about to begin.