—He awoke to the sensation of something rough stroking his cheek.
When Subaru became aware that consciousness was surfacing, what he felt was a weariness that pervaded his entire body. It was so oppressive he wondered if someone had filled every vein with lead instead of blood.
When he tried to breathe and parted his lips, his dry, stuck-together mouth split open, and a sharp pain gave way to the taste of blood seeping across his tongue. His saliva had dried up entirely; inside that parched mouth, he could feel his tongue scraping around in desperate search of whatever moisture blood could offer.
His limbs moved sluggishly, and his head worked about as well as it did when he had a fever.
He lacked even the strength to push his eyelids open, so he rolled his heavy eyeballs around until he managed to crack them apart.
And then— "…It's you?"
The instant his field of vision bloomed with color, Subaru saw a漆黒 silhouette—something different from the hues behind his eyelids—right before him.
It moved, exhaling a distinctly animal musk, yet continued licking his cheek with its tongue as if comforting the sleeping Subaru. A sleek, glossy black body with a slender, refined form. Sharp yet somehow endearing reptilian eyes, and fangs like knives that could send him straight to the afterlife with a single bite—sticking out from that fanged mouth, a red tongue lapping at Subaru's cheek. It was his beloved dragon,
When Patrasche noticed that Subaru had awakened and become aware of her, she stopped licking and sat back, waiting for words. The surprisingly deft earth dragon was capable of sitting down on her haunches like this.
Looking at Patrasche head-on, Subaru realized he was leaning against something hard, his legs sprawled out across the ground. Tilting his head to glance behind him, he saw a moss-covered stone wall—unmistakably near the entrance to the tomb.
"I'm pretty sure I was inside… So how am I out here…?"
Normally, when he woke from the Dream Castle, he'd find himself inside the tomb. Of course, if someone had dragged his unconscious body out, that would be a different story—but in the current
The idea that either of them had pulled Subaru outside felt far too implausible.
"Then again, I can't exactly picture myself crawling out on my own, so what the…"
He was about to ask "who," when another voice cut him off from afar.
A figure was running toward them from beyond Patrasche, shouting. Out of breath, stumbling with nearly every step as they drew closer— "Hey! Pa—Patrasche-chan, wait… Wait a second! Haa, haa… If you managed to get away from me, I'd be in serious trubl—huh?"
The gray-haired young man who skidded to a halt with an expression of genuine relief upon spotting Patrasche was Otto. He let out a breath of relief at Patrasche's presence, then noticed Subaru right beside her and cocked his head.
"Natsuki-san? What are you doing in a place like this?"
"Isn't it obvious? Moonbathing. What about you, loitering around this late at night? Depending on your answer, I might hand you over to Garfiel."
"I don't know why you always assume I've done something wrong, but for the record, the reason I'm out here sweating buckets at this hour isn't entirely unrelated to you, Natsuki-san."
At the sight of Otto, Subaru somehow managed to piece together his usual composure and shot back a quip. Otto shrugged and shook his head with a weary, exasperated look.
"Unrelated to me?"
"There was a lot of commotion, so I went to check on the earth dragon stables, and Patrasche-chan was making a racket. I figured maybe something was up—could be stress from being cooped up for days on end, right?—so I undid the latch to take her for a little walk and then… BAM."
Otto clapped both hands together for emphasis, then glared daggers at Patrasche's regal profile. But Patrasche paid Otto no attention whatsoever, her gaze fixed solely on Subaru.
"She's completely ignoring me, isn't she? Well, whatever. The thing is, she knocked me flat on my back and bolted out of the stable. I was seeing stars for a while, but if she'd gotten outside and escaped, that would've been seriously bad for me professionally, so I panicked and chased after her. And that brings me to… here."
"So the fact that she came to me means she's accounted for?"
"Yes, exactly. Natsuki-san, did you give Patrasche-chan some kind of command?"
"I didn't have time for that. I haven't even been able to show my face outside of meal delivery…"
"Then you can imagine how worried I was. She tore out of there at full speed, after all."
"————"
The word "worried" from Otto's murmur stopped Subaru's retort in his throat.
A thought sprang up—no way—and seeking proof, Subaru checked the state of his own body. The evidence was immediately apparent.
On the right shoulder of his jacket, there was a faint indentation in the shape of teeth, along with traces of saliva. And the entire back of his body was filthy, caked with dirt as though he had been dragged along the ground.
"Patrasche…"
"————"
Round eyes turned toward Subaru.
The earth dragon silently awaited her master's words. Subaru swallowed hard, then— "Did you… pull me out of the tomb?"
Of course, Patrasche couldn't respond in words. But after becoming aware of the grime on his body, Subaru looked at the earth dragon and noticed multiple laceration-like wounds across her glossy black hide.
Even with tools, it was no easy feat to inflict wounds on an earth dragon's skin, which was covered in tough scales. More importantly, to Subaru's eyes, those wounds appeared to have come from inside—as though her own body had torn itself apart.
A thought suddenly came back to him.
—The tomb had the power to repel anyone who lacked the qualification to face the Trial.
Roswaal's injuries while recuperating in his quarters had, at their root, started from exactly that. Those without qualification who set foot inside would have the tomb bare its fangs at the intruder—in other words— "You got yourself hurt just to drag me out of there…?"
"————"
"Why would you do something so stupid…? I would've been fine—I'd have woken up and walked out on my own, and that would've been the end of it. There was no need for you to go this far, to injure yourself just to pull me out in a panic…"
The lacerations carved into Patrasche's skin were sharp enough that the red flesh beneath the black hide was faintly visible. The sight of blood seeping from them made Subaru's face twist in pain just from looking.
And the fact that Patrasche had sustained wounds like these just to bring Subaru outside—plainly put, it was a pointless act.
Unable to fathom the true meaning of what Patrasche had done, Subaru lowered his eyes. The earth dragon pressed her snout against him. Against Subaru's neck—where he still sat listlessly with his legs splayed—that rough, gritty texture rubbed against him again and again.
They couldn't exchange words. Even the communion he'd thought they shared turned out to be one-sided. It was the kind of relationship where he was constantly being looked after across all manner of situations.
"Otto."
"Y-yes? Things seemed to be going a rather tender moment, so if you'd like, I can step aside and give you some spa—"
"Listen to me. About why Patrasche tried to save me."
Otto possessed the Blessing of Words, which supposedly allowed him to communicate with creatures of entirely different ecosystems—animals, insects, and the like. Naturally, that meant he should be able to communicate with Patrasche as well.
Why Patrasche had been willing to get herself hurt in order to drag Subaru out—that was what gnawed at him now, more than anything.
But Otto made a face, twisting his lips in reluctance at Subaru's request.
"Honestly, I'm not too eager, Natsuki-san."
"Don't say that. Please."
"Based on what you just muttered about Patrasche, I gather you were inside the tomb dealing with this so-called 'Trial,' right? I'd already half-suspected you had qualification for the 'Trial' from your behavior during the day and just now, but given your current state—didn't you fail?"
"…Yeah. That's right."
The impact of his exchanges with the witches had left his memories hazy, but in this loop, Subaru had not told anyone that he'd cleared the first Trial. He'd confided only in Garfiel, and then gone straight into the tomb for the second Trial—the witches' tea party.
Being beaten to a pulp wasn't solely because of the Trials, but Subaru couldn't think of a reason to correct Otto's misunderstanding, so he simply nodded as asked.
At that, Otto's shoulders drooped, and he let out a conspicuously exasperated sigh.
"I can more or less guess the reason you'd do something like that… But that was a stupid thing to do, Natsuki-san. And on top of getting yourself beaten up in there, you ended up worrying your beloved dragon, leading to this whole situation. Patrasche-chan has good instincts, so she must've sensed something happened to you. That's why she knocked me flying and came charging over here… And those wounds—they're not unrelated, are they?"
"————"
Otto had traced the same line of reasoning Subaru himself had arrived at just moments ago.
That much Subaru had already figured out. The crux of the matter was why Patrasche had gone so far—and that was what he needed Otto to help him find out.
"What's with that look? Don't tell me you were serious about what I just said?"
"Well, can you look at me right now and honestly say I'm in any condition to crack jokes?"
"I feel like even in your sorry state, you'd have it in you to throw out some lame joke. And honestly, if I were told right now that it was all a joke, I'd probably find that funnier. —You really don't understand?"
Being pressed in that low voice, Subaru found himself overwhelmed by Otto's gaze before he could even mount a rebuttal.
Otto was looking down at him as if he were staring at something unbelievable—or more bluntly, like he was looking at an idiot. Was Subaru guilty of some monumental oversight?
But try as he might, Subaru couldn't think of what it might be. He furrowed his brow in confusion. Anxiety alone was enough to bring sweat to his brow, but not a single thought came to mind.
At this, Otto sighed for the second time.
"My Blessing isn't as omnipotent as you think, Natsuki-san. Even when I say I can communicate, that doesn't mean it gets translated. I can understand perfectly fine myself, but when I try to relay it to someone else, it gets murky because of nuances."
"————"
"But you're giving me that 'do it anyway' look. Fine… But is there even a point to this?"
Muttering complaints under his breath, Otto nevertheless relented and agreed to Subaru's request.
He approached Patrasche, who was still pressing her snout against Subaru, and gently stroked her black back.
'————' From Otto's opened throat came a high, rasping sound.
It was nothing like human speech—rather, it was a vocalization transformed by the Blessing of Words into the form most suited for communion with an earth dragon.
Patrasche raised her head and responded with a similar cry. Otto listened, then opened his mouth again, and after several more exchanges of calls— "I'm done, but… hmm, it really is hard to express this clearly. Their way of conveying emotions is fundamentally different from ours, so explaining what only I can understand…"
"Don't stall. Please—just tell me."
"I'm not stalling… Ugh, this really is a headache! Honestly, the idea of conveying this to you takes a really weird kind of tact."
Otto scratched his head furiously, looking up and then bowing his head in thought over and over, until even Subaru—who remained seated—had started fidgeting with restless impatience. Finally, Otto let out a breath.
"…All right. I've picked the word that's probably closest."
"Yeah… What did Patrasche say?"
"Um… I think it's something like: 'Don't make me say something like that.'"
"…Huh?"
Rubbing the back of his cheek awkwardly, Otto delivered those words. Subaru's eyes went wide.
He waited, expecting Otto to follow up with something more, but nothing else seemed to be coming. Otto looked at the stunned Subaru and said, "So, you see—"
"Patrasche-chan is saying, 'Don't make me say something like that.' Well, that's my take on it, anyway."
"Don't make you say something like that… What's that supposed to…"
"It means exactly what it says, no more and no less. If I had to add my own opinion: 'Don't you already know, even without being told?'""
The bewildered expression on Subaru's face deepened further. Otto held up one finger and prefaced it with, "Listen, okay—"
"When someone learns that a person they care about is in danger, they can't sit still and rush over. They don't hesitate to get hurt in order to help. They stay by that person's side until they wake up, and when they see them finally open their eyes, they feel relief and smile. —I think the way you feel about someone who does all that is the same, whether you're a human or an earth dragon."
"Ah—"
"I mean, even if it weren't Patrasche, you'd still say, 'Don't make me say something like that.' When someone shows you all of this through their actions, if you still can't see it—that goes beyond dense. You really are blessed, you know that?"
Listening to Otto's exasperated answer, Subaru became painfully aware of his own idiocy.
And when he turned to look at Patrasche right beside him, the earth dragon gazed back at him with that same gentle, steady expression. Perhaps sensing the shift in his mood, she swished her long tail, rose to her feet— "————"
And pressed her snout against him once more.
Without thinking, Subaru's hand moved to stroke her.
Running his palm over her rough, rock-like hide, he spoke in a trembling voice.
"Is… is that… So you love me?"
"————"
"You love me, and you want to stay with me. Is that it?"
Something that had been lodged in his chest fell away with a soft thud.
Patrasche let out a cry at Subaru's words, and—as if hiding her embarrassment—roughly scraped her snout against his palm. Subaru winced at the sensation of skin being abraded, then opened his mouth to speak— "Oh… ah…"
"Natsuki-san?"
A hot droplet suddenly traced down Subaru's cheek.
Tears. Without his awareness, something had surged up violently inside him and spilled over. He hurriedly raised a hand to wipe them, but it was too late to hide. Otto had already seen.
"Are you seriously crying because you realized an earth dragon is attached to you, Natsuki-san…"
"No, that's… that's not it… It's just that the timing was so perfectly awful. The one area where I was really lacking certainty just got slammed with an answer I wasn't prepared for…"
It was a cruelly timely turn of events, and Subaru fought desperately to hold back what was still rising inside him.
At the witches' tea party, Subaru had recognized his true feeling of "I don't want to die." As much as he wanted to protect the people precious to him, he equally craved simply being with them.
And he had just sworn to confirm whether he even possessed the worth to be mourned by those precious people.
And now here came Patrasche's unconditional, devoted love.
What was he supposed to do when something like this was done to him before he could even make the first move?
The answer to what Subaru had been agonizing over, the question of what he should do—Patrasche had brought it to him the moment he awoke.
At the very least, to Patrasche, Subaru was someone who had such a profound impact on her that she would tear herself apart just to pull him from a nightmare, even at the cost of her own injury.
"I never expected the first one to teach me that would be you. —Thank you, Patrasche."
Returning the devotion she offered, Subaru stroked Patrasche with equal feeling. Savoring the sensation of his palm against her, Patrasche stood tall with her spine straight and proud. Though the swaying of her tail betrayed just how pleased she was.
"Now that you've reaffirmed your bond with Patrasche-chan, are you feeling all right, Natsuki-san?"
"Yeah, thanks to you. I'm fine. …What do you mean, 'all right'?"
"Well, your body and your head, obviously. The 'Trial' inside was pretty grueling, wasn't it? You were so lonely you were on the verge of tears, and Lady Emilia looked like a mess too."
Subaru wanted to push back against the teasing, but they had him dead to rights, so he chose not to address that part. Instead, he recalled the state Otto had mentioned about Emilia.
"It's no walk in the park. But mine is probably easier than whatever Emilia has to go through. Even so—even you're worried about me now? Are you in love with me too, Otto?"
"Could you please stop saying such disgusting things!? Seriously, how lonely can you get? You can't possibly be going around asking every person you meet if they love you, now that you've got Patrasche-chan on top of all that?"
"Is that so wrong? Honestly, right now I'm on the brink of whether I can even affirm my own existence, so I could really use all the encouragement I can get."
"Yes, yes, it's wonderful to hear that your usual obnoxious tone has returned. …My concern for you, Natsuki-san, is purely because of our future business relationship, so please don't get the wrong idea."
Making a sour face at Subaru's declaration of eccentric intent, Otto held both hands up and delivered his caveat.
Considering their "future relationship" did sound rather pompous, but for someone who wanted to make his position as a merchant crystal clear, it was a necessary statement.
"I associate with you, Natsuki-san, because I want to maintain a good relationship with Border Baron Meiers. If anything were to threaten that, or if I myself were placed in danger, I will absolutely run for the hills without a second thought. Just remember that."
It was a heartless thing to say, but rather than being harsh, it was more of an unspoken understanding between them. That Otto would voice it out loud spoke to his guileless nature—even now.
"Yeah. You're… no."
Receiving Otto's realist declaration, Subaru went to nod, then stopped.
Hearing that preface, he felt a faint unease in his chest.
The answer came to him immediately, and Subaru let out a short breath.
"…What is it?"
"Just remembered, is all. Oh yeah, right, right."
Nodding several times at the puzzled Otto, Subaru placed a hand on his head and looked up at the sky.
In this loop that had started from the Sanctuary, Subaru had fought alongside Otto many times. And each time, he had seen who Otto truly was.
That was why, looking at Otto— "If things ever got dangerous, you'd run for the hills, no questions asked…"
"Of course. That's the obvious answer. I have no reason to go out on a limb for you or anyone else. You can't do business if you're dead, after all—"
"You won't run."
"…Huh?"
In a light, almost cavalier tone, Otto had been playing the part of a pragmatist. Subaru said it quietly.
And then, meeting Otto's wide-eyed stare head-on, Subaru spoke.
"You won't run, Otto. Not while leaving me behind."
He remembered how Otto had infiltrated Garfiel's hideout in order to save Subaru—even resorting to force—when Garfiel had gone berserk.
And how Otto had stood alongside the villagers to hold back the beast-like Garfiel in order to protect Subaru.
Even when Otto put on a cynical act and lined up cold-hearted words, Subaru knew the person beneath.
So— "Otto. —Because you're my friend."