"————"
——The Holy Volachia Empire, seventy-seventh Emperor.
Hearing the title Abel had declared, Subaru's mind went blank.
This wasn't a failure to grasp the meaning of the words, nor was it fear from having come face-to-face with royalty.
It was true that even in this otherworld, this was the first time Subaru had met royalty directly.
By the time Subaru had been summoned to this otherworld, every member of Lugnica's royal family had already succumbed to illness.
In that regard, the highest-ranking person Subaru had encountered in this world was probably either the members of the Council of Wise Men he'd seen at the Royal Selection, or Crusch, who held the rank of Duke.
Even Roswaal, who held the position of Marquis, was in a comparatively high position. —And above all, what kind of standing did
"...No, this is hardly the time to escape into thought."
He stopped his thoughts from scattering just before they ran wild.
What mattered most right now was Abel—the man who had declared himself 'Emperor.' Since meeting him in the jungle plains, Subaru had sensed he was no ordinary person.
But having him turn out to be someone of emperor caliber was completely beyond imagination.
However— "If that's really true."
"You doubt my word?"
"Of course I doubt it! Why would I run into the most important person in the entire country in the middle of a forest? I'm willing to believe your arrogance is emperor-level, but..."
There Subaru cut himself off, staring Abel—who wore his vicious mask—straight in the face.
This standoff, where only the sharpness of Abel's gaze could be felt from his side, was far from fair. Abel's voice carried the strength of will that only a person of considerable standing could possess.
Subaru's intuition—honed through his encounters with people of all walks of life in this otherworld—confirmed this. —But that was separate from this.
"I told you before, didn't I? How am I supposed to trust a guy who won't even show his face?"
Across the campfire, flickering in the flames, Abel received Subaru's words.
Subaru brought up the conversation they'd had while gazing bleary-eyed down at the burning encampment, and glared hard at Abel behind his mask.
He'd said the same thing to Abel back then, when Abel had hidden his face not behind a mask, but behind a ragged cloth.
And hearing that, Abel had removed the cloth and shown Subaru his face.
"What a noisy, whiny man."
Saying this, he set his removed mask aside—just as he was doing now.
"————"
"What's with that rude stare? There shouldn't be anything different about my eyes compared to yours."
"...The features, sure. I'd say the arrangement feels like divine malice."
Abel's retort pierced through as Subaru stared intently at his face.
As he'd said, Subaru and Abel could be considered the same kind of person. However, that was a matter of category—upon further subdivision, their affiliations were vastly different.
Lustrous black hair, sharp and dignified eyes. A striking and intimidating presence, yet possessed of a unique charm impossible to look away from—the demonic visage of...
...this was the face of the Emperor of the Holy Volachia Empire.
Yet Subaru had absolutely no recollection of Abel's face. Even as the First Knight of the royal candidate Emilia, and someone nominally involved in the affairs of a neighboring nation.
"That's how it works? Your face isn't known even though you're at the top of the country..."
"You would have no way of knowing. My face was never meant to be seen outside the Imperial Capital. There are far too many in this country who would seek my head."
"Self-defense, then? Have you really made that many enemies?"
"No. It is because the creed of the Imperial people is that the strong must prevail. The weak should die. The feeble should die. The cowardly should die... Thus, the strong are entitled to everything."
"————"
"The throne of Emperor is no exception. That is what makes this empire a power unlike any other."
Leaning on one knee and speaking of Volachia's extreme philosophy, Abel left Subaru speechless.
Subaru, having spent several days at the Imperial soldiers' camp, knew Abel's words were no lie. Todd and the other Imperial soldiers would likely agree wholeheartedly with what Abel had just said.
Including them, the Imperial people seemed to genuinely believe that victory justifies everything.
It was, quite literally, the ideology of "long live the Empire."
For that end, they would not hesitate to burn down jungles to annihilate entire tribes.
For that end, they would storm a fellow Imperial encampment and slaughter every last soldier— "—Wait, something doesn't add up."
"What doesn't?"
"If... if you really are the Emperor, then why did you attack the Imperial soldiers' camp? Couldn't you have just walked out and talked to whoever was in charge—"
"Don't be ridiculous. You think I could just stroll out like that? I have no death wish. Don't lump me in with yourself."
"I don't have a death wish either. But death wish...?"
The notion that contacting his own Imperial soldiers would be considered a suicidal act made no sense to Subaru.
For Abel, the Imperial soldiers should all be his subordinates. How could contacting them be considered suicide? —No, there was a way to make sense of it.
That was— "If I didn't mishear... you said you were driven from the throne?"
"You didn't miss it. But I also told you I would say no more."
"Don't brush it off! This is important. Being driven from the throne means..."
Abel, whose expression never changed, made Subaru doubt whether he was really the same kind of human being.
After all, if Abel's situation was as Subaru suspected, it should be a desperate one.
That thought made Subaru hesitate before his next words.
"—Your thinking is correct."
However, Abel brushed past Subaru's hesitation without a moment's pause and nodded.
Before Subaru, who held his breath, Abel's gaze lowered slightly to the burning campfire. The fire crackled as a log burst, the faint sound reminiscent of a piece of wood's death throes.
Listening to those death throes, Abel quietly closed one eye— "The Imperial troops deployed outside Badheim were dispatched by my political enemies to eliminate me. You were, quite correctly, caught in the crossfire."
"But... the people in the camp didn't say anything like that. They said their purpose was to negotiate with the 'People of Shudrak' in the forest."
Subaru didn't have the ability to see through other people's lies.
Even so, it seemed unrealistic that dozens of people in a crowded encampment would all coordinate a cover story just to deceive outsiders like Subaru and
Therefore, the Imperial soldiers—Todd and the others—must have genuinely believed their objective was the 'People of Shudrak.' "And yet the real target was to capture you..."
"Spare me the euphemisms. You yourself said they were planning an attack. And you weighed the Shudrak against the Imperial soldiers to protect yourself and the girl."
"That's not—"
"It is not. What happened cannot be changed. They will not come back to life. The dead cannot speak, nor can they affect the living."
"————"
—The dead will not come back.
Struck by Abel's devastating words, Subaru shut his eyes tight.
This guy who knew nothing—absolutely nothing—was saying whatever he pleased.
—There was a way to bring back the dead.
The sole authority that Subaru possessed was that very means.
"————"
If he used 'Return by Death,' Subaru could have gone back to before the camp's annihilation.
That way, he could have warned the Imperial soldiers and potentially saved them from their fate of death. But doing so would put the 'People of Shudrak' in danger.
Saving one meant sacrificing the other. It was difficult to save both sides of a conflict.
More than anything— "I don't have..."
The resolve to use 'Return by Death' for their sake.
Even if he started over, how much better could things go? Right now, Rem and Subaru were safe—if not in the best possible state, then at least the second-best.
To ask for more was tantamount to undertaking an endless challenge.
To whittle down his own life for that purpose, to what extent— "You are a foolish man burdened by incomprehensible anguish."
Abel's words suddenly struck Subaru's eardrums as he questioned himself.
For an instant, not understanding what had been said, Subaru opened his eyes in stunned silence. Ahead, beyond the flickering flames, Abel was gazing at him.
That gaze seemed almost... pitying.
"Why do you always wish to defer to others?"
"Defer to others... me?"
"You are always looking at others. You have intentionally crafted yourself to be that way. Like a warrior honing their skills, you have covered your own heart with a facade of servitude."
"Don't—you have no right to lecture me like that!"
Subaru felt an unbearable anger at Abel's words, as though the man understood everything.
Abel knew nothing of 'Return by Death,' nothing of Subaru himself. He couldn't possibly understand even a fraction of what Subaru carried.
There was no reason for Subaru to be lectured, no reason for him to be pitied.
"In the first place, you haven't answered my question! The Imperial soldiers' target was the 'People of Shudrak.' They didn't say a single word about you—"
"That is not a story you spread to every last soldier. Perhaps even the commanders didn't know. An emperor descending into the wilds is not something that should leak beyond the Imperial Capital. Those who ousted me would not want the empire shaken."
"————"
"Furthermore, their targeting of Shudrak was inevitable. With the emperor driven from the throne and having fled the capital, the only ones who might take the emperor's hand are the Shudrak. —Therefore, killing the Shudrak is tantamount to severing the limbs of someone barely afloat and dragging them to the bottom of the sea."
Abel's calm explanation sank into Subaru's mind, dissolving his doubts.
The reason Todd and the Imperial soldiers had surrounded the jungle, their purpose of neutralizing the 'People of Shudrak' through negotiation or annihilating them—all of it.
"...Why are the Shudrak the only ones you can rely on?"
"Long ago, a Volachian emperor once saved the Shudrak from a dire situation. The Shudrak do not forget a debt. The 'Rite of Blood Destiny' also exists. That is my winning chance."
An ancient obligation crossing racial lines toward an emperor, and the Shudrak's way of honoring sacred rites.
Driven from the Imperial Capital, Abel wagered on this, attempting to make contact with the 'People of Shudrak.' And Abel's political enemies, to prevent this, dispatched Imperial troops into the jungle to bury the emperor.
It was a gamble with poor odds, but Abel could be said to have won that gamble.
He had brilliantly outmaneuvered his enemy's schemes and repelled the first wave of those seeking to corner him. But Subaru could tell—this would not make the enemy back down.
"Your fight with your enemy isn't over."
"Of course not. —If I die, that's the end. But I am alive. And if I am, then I will use everything at my disposal to reclaim what is mine."
That was Abel as Emperor of Volachia—Vincent Abelch's choice.
The word 'thing' from his lips seemed to have 'country' annotated over it in Subaru's mind. It was a perspective on a completely different scale.
Overwhelmed by its magnitude, Subaru belatedly realized something.
"Then from here on, you're going to start a war with the Shudrak people!"
"Yes. I have secured their cooperation. The result of the 'Rite of Blood Destiny,' and the covenant with the previous emperor. Those who sing of pride are easy to handle. They will fight alongside me."
"After all of that, it's still not enough!?"
The recapture of the throne—and the inevitable fights that would follow.
This was war—a brutal struggle where humans fought humans and took each other's lives.
"————"
At the burned Imperial camp, there had been, as far as Subaru knew, over a hundred Imperial soldiers.
If the camp attacked by Abel and the Shudrak was not the only one, and some had escaped, the casualties would number over a hundred. Perhaps not quite a thousand, but somewhere in that range.
—During the few hours Subaru had been unconscious, over a hundred people had lost their lives.
"Just that alone..."
It was the greatest loss of life in all the days Subaru had experienced in this otherworld.
People had died in the fight against the
The number of lives lost here exceeded even those unavoidable casualties.
And the opponents had not been Mabeasts or evil entities, but fellow humans.
Not people he couldn't communicate with, but people he could have talked to and understood.
"Why do you have to kill...?"
"There is no other way. That is all."
"...Is that really true? Did you seriously look for any other means? Before taking their lives and robbing them of every possibility, did you look to the very, very end?"
"————"
Abel narrowed his eyes at Subaru's feeble plea, thin as a mosquito's buzz.
Rather than weighing Subaru's opinion, it seemed he was questioning the fundamental premise of why such a thing needed to be done at all.
It wasn't that words didn't reach him, nor that he had no desire for dialogue.
The reason they couldn't communicate despite this was the terrifying gulf between their values.
Until now,
Most of the people he encountered in this otherworld were rational. They listened to Subaru's words, shared their own perspectives, and engaged with him honestly. There had been times when Subaru, too stupid to understand or appreciate their consideration, had ruined things—but even so, he had managed.
The only people whose values had been so alien that conversation was impossible were, quite literally, witches and Archbishops of Sin.
But even then, Subaru had defined them as clearly 'different' beings, which meant he never truly had to clash values with them.
Abel was different. The 'People of Shudrak' were different. The Imperial soldiers were different.
They harbored no malice, nor did they toy with human life or abuse supreme power for their own ends.
Strip away the root of their thinking, and they were the same kind of human as Subaru.
And yet— "...I just want to take Rem home."
Starting now, the battle to reclaim Abel's throne would begin.
If this were someone else's problem, or a past event passed down through biography, Subaru might have felt his heart stir and his fingers itch to turn the pages.
But this was reality.
In a foreign country with no one to rely on, a devastating internal conflict that shook the nation to its core was on the verge of erupting. The notion of intervening in this situation and changing the course of history—such thoughts were entirely absent from Subaru's mind.
His objective was to take Rem and return to the Kingdom of Lugnica.
To reunite with Emilia,
He could afford to be involved with nothing else.
"—Tell me the nearest town or village. I'll find a way home from there."
Slapping both cheeks with his hands, Subaru declared, narrowing his focus to a single objective.
Hearing this, Abel let out a small "Hoh" and said— "That is only logical. But even that will not be an easy road."
"Easy or hard, I'll walk whatever road I need to. Paved, if possible."
"Hmph."
Standing up before the snorting Abel, Subaru bit hard into his own cheek.
Stimulating his brain with pain, he brushed aside the various doubts that arose and faced forward. Then he looked toward Abel, who hadn't changed his posture.
The solitary emperor who kept one eye closed, crossing gazes with Subaru.
"I still haven't thanked you. ...Whatever the method, thank you for saving Rem. I'm grateful for that."
"I saved more than just that girl. There was another, too."
"That was unnecessary. ...Thanks to you, my problems are going to stay on hold for a while."
Of course, if Louis had been lost at the Imperial camp, that wouldn't have neatly resolved the issues Subaru faced. If anything, it would have likely deepened the problems—especially regarding his relationship with Rem.
Which would have been better? He didn't know. Because he didn't know— "I'll choose the option I can live with. ...It's complicated, but you do your best too. But the Shudrak people..."
"Don't want me to involve them? Either way, if you and I hadn't intervened, they would have been burned along with the jungle. This is their fight now too."
"————"
There was no room for denial.
They were now in a position where they had to fight to protect themselves.
However— "I could never do it. ...I could never be like you for the rest of my life."
Shaking his head, Subaru murmured as he looked at Abel.
Abel with one eye closed—his shut eyelid was the opposite of before. In fact, Abel's blinking was peculiar. He closed his eyes one at a time, never both at once.
Subaru understood that this was so he would never close both eyes, even for an instant.
And the Emperor of Volachia, the peak of an empire of sword wolves, who had survived by living in a world where that habit was necessary—Subaru feared and dreaded him.
Hearing Subaru's murmur, Abel, still with one eye closed, said— "Naturally. Neither you nor anyone else could take my place."
And that was that.
△▼△▼△▼△ Parting ways with the 'People of Shudrak,' they headed for the nearest town to the Badheim jungle.
When they heard of Subaru's decision, the reactions from those around him were surprisingly composed.
"That's so, unfortunate but can't be helped. If that's our fellow's decision, then—"
That was Mizelda's response upon hearing Subaru's plan.
True to her words, Mizelda respected Subaru's choice, even as she looked slightly saddened beneath her dignified expression.
Honestly, Subaru had been prepared to be cursed for not fighting—told that he wasn't a warrior if he didn't fight—so Mizelda's concern made him feel rather apologetic.
Once he had the tribal chief's permission, nothing stood in the way of Subaru's decision.
He felt a twinge about Utakata, who looked even more dejected than Mizelda, but even that couldn't serve as a reason for Subaru to stay.
"Suu, going away. Uu is sad..."
"Yeah, sorry. ...Hey, Utakata, do you understand what's going to happen from here on?"
Patting the head of the girl who tugged at his hem, Subaru asked Utakata.
There was no doubt about the values and solidarity of the 'People of Shudrak,' and Mizelda's decision was undoubtedly the tribe's decision. But Utakata was still young.
If Utakata knew nothing and was simply swept up in the fervor around her— "—? This, war starting. Uu will also fight, with Mii and Taa and everyone."
"...I see."
Saying this, Utakata showed Subaru the bow equipped on her back, and Subaru let out a sigh.
He wished that young children didn't have to know anything. But that pretense, too, was apparently a naïve notion that didn't hold up in this jungle.
After all, Utakata had once killed Subaru with a poison arrow.
Despite appearances, Utakata was one of the 'People of Shudrak'—of that there was no doubt. The resolve to fight, and the resolve to kill, were firmly in place.
Even so— "Don't die, Utakata."
"Uu won't die! Suu don't die either, do your best!"
His words of encouragement were met with even louder encouragement in return, leaving Subaru at a loss for words. He managed a weak smile in response.
Honestly, he had no idea what the odds were in Abel and the Shudrak's fight.
Abel had been driven from the throne, and the enemy had dispatched a subjugation force into the Badheim jungle.
In other words, the enemy was in a position to mobilize Imperial military power at their own discretion. Meanwhile, Abel's only forces were the Shudrak, a small group numbering fewer than a hundred.
Of course, it was possible that Abel would achieve victory after victory using the same brilliant strategic cunning he had employed to single-handedly attack the Imperial camp and repel the subjugation force—but— "—I'm ready."
"—!"
As Subaru's switched-over thoughts were once again overtaken by anxiety, someone called out to him from the side.
Startled, Subaru flinched and turned around, and the sudden movement made his companion's eyes go wide.
"—? What's wrong? Why are you so surprised?"
Saying this, the one looking at Subaru with a stiffened expression was Rem.
Staff in hand and light luggage on her back, Rem appeared to have finished her own preparations to leave the forest—just like Subaru.
—Indeed, when it came to informing others of his choice to leave the forest, the most surprising reaction had come from none other than Rem.
Honestly, Subaru had expected Rem to stubbornly resist and that he would need to persuade her.
In the worst case, he had even been prepared to drag a sleeping Rem out by force and separate from the Shudrak settlement in the dead of night.
But when Subaru had first laid the situation bare, bracing for refusal, Rem's response had been unexpectedly simple and straightforward.
'—. I understand. I'll have my preparations done by tomorrow.' And so, even now seeing Rem all packed for the journey, Subaru still couldn't quite accept it as reality.
"...Um?"
"Ah! No, sorry, I'm fine. Yep, everything's packed. Cute, cute."
"Huh?"
"—I mean, reliable! You being so dependable makes me a lucky guy."
His response was so awkward that Rem gave him quite a peculiar look.
He wasn't trying to curry favor, of course. It was a relief that Rem wasn't pushing back, so ideally he'd maintain the status quo of their relationship.
Ideally, he'd like to get closer, but— "————"
That could be attempted again once Subaru's mental state was more settled.
The honest truth was that he wanted to get away from the scent of war hanging in the air as quickly as possible.
"So, are your preparations finished? You seemed to have some time to spare for goodbyes, but..."
"Yeah, I'm fine on that front. I didn't have much to begin with, and Rem's carrying most of it anyway."
"...But you'll be carrying me too, you know."
Rem's voice dropped as she glanced toward the handmade wooden frame sitting in the square.
Constructed from thick branches and vines, it was essentially a carrier frame that Subaru had assembled to carry Rem on his back.
With her staff, Rem could walk, however haltingly. But traveling to the nearest town from here would still be a journey of several days.
Matching Rem's pace the entire way—who knew how long that would take? That was why Subaru had built this with the Shudrak's help.
"The craftsmanship is pretty rough, but the structural integrity should be fine. I tested it with Taritta, who's heavier than Rem, so it should hold up."
"I'm not particularly concerned about the weight, but I think you're being rude to Taritta."
Once again earning Rem's displeasure, Subaru gave a wry smile and scratched his cheek.
Then Subaru turned his gaze behind Rem—to Louis, their traveling companion. Naturally, if Subaru was taking Rem with him, Louis would be coming along as well.
"I can't exactly dump a bomb on the Shudrak people and leave..."
Even setting that aside, taking his eyes off an Archbishop of Sin was absolutely out of the question.
There had been countless opportunities to do so before, and each time, Louis would have had a chance to reveal her true nature. He didn't want to allow that going forward.
Even if Subaru was beginning to think that Louis's behavior might not be an act—that it might be genuine.
"Ohh, ahh."
Louis, for her part, had tied her long hair behind her head, tidied her white outfit, and cut a remarkably different figure.
It seemed she had been well-liked in the Shudrak settlement; even her mended clothes appeared to be gifts from the villagers.
"Sorry for all the trouble everyone went through on our behalf."
"Don't worry about it, Subaru. You have passed the 'Rite of Blood Destiny' and proven the brilliance of your soul. That we lend you our strength is only natural as a mark of honor toward a fellow kinsman."
"Kinsman..."
Arms crossed, Subaru lowered his gaze at Mizelda's words.
He couldn't face Mizelda, who called him a kinsman with such genuine warmth. Because Subaru was about to flee this place, fully aware of the brutal battle ahead, and knowing that he himself was one of the people who had dragged them into it.
Was that truly what a kinsman—one spoken of with pride and honor—would do?
"Don't trouble yourself, Subaru."
But Mizelda seemed to read right through Subaru's thoughts.
"Mizelda..."
"We fight to prove our own worth. But we also create the future by protecting what matters most. It is a way of thinking necessary for protecting one's clan."
"————"
"Protect Rem and Louis. That is the honor I expect of a kinsman."
At Mizelda's straightforward words, the corners of Subaru's eyes grew hot.
He didn't even feel the urge to correct Mizelda about Louis being a misunderstanding. At the very least, he had to fulfill that role and live up to the Shudrak's trust.
Perhaps he would never see them again—but— "We're ready to go too. About time we set off, wouldn't you say."
Having received Mizelda's send-off, a woman with bright yellow-tipped hair—Holly—waved her hand broadly, calling out to Subaru with a wide grin.
Beside Holly stood Kuna, her green-dyed hair framing a slender frame. Where the cheerful Holly gave a warm impression, Kuna was the quiet counterpart. The two of them would serve as Subaru's escorts.
On the road to the nearest town—'
"I thought having an escort was excessive, but..."
This was a foreign land, and in just a few days, Subaru had already died several times over.
He couldn't deny that the circumstances had been unusual, but there was no harm in being cautious. Subaru himself had no combat ability to speak of, and relying on Rem and Louis was out of the question.
He didn't know about Kuna, but Subaru had seen with his own eyes how Holly could lift massive boulders with ease. As an escort on the road, she was more than trustworthy.
And— "—Rem, you're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
Hoisting the carrier frame onto his back, Subaru called over his shoulder to Rem.
With the frame between them, they were essentially back to back, so Subaru couldn't see Rem's face. He had stuffed as many soft leaves and cloth as he could to cushion Rem's body, but over a long journey, there would be no shortage of inconveniences.
"I'm fine. ...Are you sure you can handle this?"
"I've been keeping up with my training, more or less. Stamina hasn't fully recovered yet, but when the time comes, I'd rather not have Holly and Kuna's hands tied."
In the first place, just having an escort was already a tremendous help. Asking them to also carry Rem was something he couldn't bring himself to do, no matter how he looked at it.
With that stubborn determination, Subaru carried Rem on his back, Louis walked quietly beside them, and Holly and Kuna, though lightly equipped, stood ready for the journey.
Then, one by one, Shudrak people gathered at the entrance to the settlement.
"So then, for the well-being and the fulfillment of purpose of our kinsman Natsuki Subaru—"
"—Fulfillment of purpose!"
The other Shudrak joined their voices to Mizelda's call at the front.
Feeling as though a gust of wind had swept through, Subaru responded to their spirit with at least a smile and a "Yeah!"
"Thank you, everyone. Stay safe!"
After saying it, he thought how terribly hollow and deceptive those words were.
Thinking of the tumultuous road that awaited them, "stay safe" was an impossibly empty and meaningless thing to say.
But he couldn't say anything more. He couldn't hope for anything more.
He wanted these wonderful people to keep living, to stay safe.
"————"
With that wish, Subaru scanned the farewell crowd for the presence of that fearsome mask.
But, unsurprisingly, he couldn't find it anywhere.
They didn't have that kind of relationship, and Abel was not the type to come see someone off.
Even if Subaru spotted him here, there were no words he could offer.
So— "—We're off!"
"Uu!"
Subaru's somewhat reckless shout was met with Louis's voice ringing out above it.
And so, Subaru and his companions left the 'People of Shudrak,' and took their first step toward Guaral—the nearest town—as they sought to escape the flames of war that were surely about to ignite.
※...Subaru will die!