The earth dragon's roar rang high and clear, its echo carrying through the sky of the
The earth dragon Subarus called Patrasche had raced onto the scene as though its will was linked with Subaru's, and delivered the perfect assist at the final moment.
"————————————————!!!"
This was actually the second time Garfiel and Patrasche had faced off in the Sanctuary.
On the first day of visiting the Sanctuary, Patrasche—drawing the dragon carriage—had clashed with Garfiel, who had appeared to repel intruders, and suffered a crushing defeat.
Naturally, there was a clear divide between a warrior and a noncombatant, and there was no reason to fault Patrasche for being forced to lick the ground in that encounter. Subaru, needless to say, never once blamed his beloved dragon for it.
But the feelings of the party involved—or rather, of Patrasche—were another matter entirely.
The humiliation of that day, when it had failed to protect its master.
For the Diana breed, descendants of the proudancestral dragons, this was a stain that had to be wiped away no matter what.
The fact that this opportunity had been granted so quickly did not result in any clear communication between the wordless Patrasche and Subaru.
And so Patrasche proved itself through action, covering everything words could not convey.
The earth dragon's roar was dedicated to its master and the ancestral dragon.
That it mingled with something like satisfaction and fulfillment—anyone could have seen that, just by witnessing the female earth dragon press her snout against the unconscious Subaru.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Listening to Patrasche's roar of redeemed honor,
It had felt as though even breathing was forbidden. No—it had been the kind of battle that made you forget to breathe.
She had been told by Subaru to watch the battle through to the end, and so Emilia had continued to fix her eyes on the two men's savage confrontation right until the very last moment, all the while keenly aware of her own powerlessness.
Subaru coughing up blood, groaning in pain, crumbling to the ground.
How many times had Emilia been on the verge of crying out and rushing over?
Yet every time her weak heart threatened to throw caution to the wind, Subaru's words—"Watch"—and, as if timed perfectly, the gaze he turned toward her, held her back.
A scene in which she was absolutely forbidden to intervene. Forbidden to speak.
It was agonizing. It was unbearable. And yet she absolutely could not look away.
No one had pointed it out to her. But her heart quietly understood that she must never look away.
What was the emotion that surged through her chest, pulling her feet back from charging forward? She didn't know.
What had driven Subaru to cling so stubbornly, what had driven Garfiel to roar so fiercely, what had underpinned the muddy brawl between two men until a conclusion was reached—understanding the men's reasoning from outside the fray, as a woman who found the logic of men difficult to grasp, Emilia could only perceive fragments of it.
But Subaru had shown his stubbornness and conviction in that fight, borrowing the strength of many to bring Garfiel down. That much was certain. And the fact that an indescribable emotion was swelling within Emilia's chest—that too was an undeniable truth.
Spurred on by that emotion, Emilia acknowledged that the battle between those two men was something worthy of praise.
And precisely because of that, the meaning of their fight must never be sullied.
And therefore— "…Roswaal."
Closing her eyes just once, leaving her hesitation behind, Emilia turned her gaze forward.
Past the fallen Subaru and the others below, past the gap between the trees beyond— There, in silence, a single sorcerer stood.
"You standing there so silently like that makes me nervous. I can't help wondering if you're planning something."
"My, my, what an unfair thing to say. I came all this way despite my injuries to help Emilia-sama and Subaru-kun, you know."
"If that's really what you're thinking, then I'd like to feel relieved…"
Before the faltering Emilia, the tall figure withdrew his foot from the bushes—it was Roswaal.
In the days since arriving at the Sanctuary, Emilia had only seen him in bed, and she felt a faint unease at his having come out like this to be present at the scene.
Normally, Roswaal was Emilia's backer in the Royal Selection. In terms of power, he was arguably her only ally. He was the one who had taken Emilia out of the forest, pointed her toward the throne, and shown her the possibility of saving the villagers frozen beneath the ice.
And so, until very recently, Emilia had never truly viewed Roswaal as an enemy, never found him irksome, never regarded him as dangerous—eccentric personality and all.
But that, too, had been true only until just moments ago.
"The lesser spirits have been restless and noisy for a while now."
"…Is that so."
"They're all saying they sense something terribly ominous. …And now, even I can see it clearly."
Speaking in a low, tense voice, Emilia slowly descended from the entrance of the tomb to the plaza.
She took a position beside Patrasche, standing between the satisfied-looking collapsed Subaru and the grimacing Garfiel, ready to protect all three if the need arose.
To protect the three of them—it was the kind of thinking that showed just how alien the aura Roswaal was emitting had become.
The atmosphere around Roswaal was warped by dense, abnormally concentrated mana.
What was the density of the mana being brewed within his body? Roswaal L. Mezart—the man known as the kingdom's greatest mage, capable of wielding all six elements of magic.
When this man unleashed his magic at full power, what miracles could he perform?
"—"
Tasting the dizzying illusion of drowning in dense mana, Emilia held her breath.
Patrasche, standing beside her, had also moved to position itself between Subaru and Roswaal's line of sight, stretching out its long neck and emitting a threatening growl aimed at the sorcerer.
Patrasche too sensed the danger of Roswaal's extraordinary aura. Seeing the two of them on guard, Roswaal shrugged in his usual manner.
"How scary. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't look at me like that. As it happens, I have a quality that animals are particularly averse to—including earth dragons. If the spirits feel the same way, I suppose it makes sense that
"Don't joke around. And besides, I'm sure this one's bad mood has a different reason. …I don't know if it was like that in the past, though."
"Oh, no. In the past… truly the distant past, that wasn't the case at all. Back before there were earth dragons, I used to ride a Ghost Whale—Fallow—to come to this very place."
"Before there were earth dragons…?"
Emilia furrowed her brows, unable to grasp the meaning of Roswaal's words.
She wasn't particularly well-informed on the subject, but earth dragons had become so deeply woven into daily life, and their culture and history—and their connection to humanity—had continued for so long.
Did Roswaal mean "in Lugunica"? She wasn't sure when earth dragons had first come to be valued in Lugunica—a gap in her knowledge.
Noticing the question marks floating in Emilia's expression, Roswaal let out a small sigh. It carried a sense of disappointment, as though he had already known the answer.
"Emilia-sama doesn't know, does she. Well, of course. Even though Emilia-sama is an Elf who has inherited a long life, you're still only a little over a hundred years old… and having spent most of that time asleep, you wouldn't remember anything about the world of that era."
"You're being strange, Roswaal. If you start saying things like that, you're far younger than I am. I mean, in terms of how long you've been awake, sure, I lose—but still."
Having spent roughly a hundred years inside the ice, left behind by the world's passage of time, was a source of shame for Emilia.
She should have been clearly among the eldest, no matter where you looked in the world, yet she hadn't accumulated a single shred of the experience or knowledge befitting that age.
Including her inability to pass the Trial—during these days in the Sanctuary, she had come to realize anew just how much she was "lacking."
But Roswaal laughed off Emilia's modest worries with a snort.
That reaction caught her off guard, and the surprised Emilia immediately furrowed her brows.
"Hey, Roswaal. What's so funny about that?"
"…My apologies. It's nothing important. It's just that ignorance can, at times, create situations that are so absurdly comical it's almost sad."
"…You're making fun of me, aren't you? I understand at least that much, you know."
Sensing something condescending in Roswaal's words, Emilia's brows drew together and her wariness deepened.
The abnormal mana swirling around Roswaal. His demeanor toward Emilia had shifted in a way it never had before—as though directly influenced by the mana he was brewing.
Until now, Emilia had never experienced such open malice from Roswaal.
The Roswaal she knew was always fooling around, made outrageous remarks, and traded the same kind of pointless banter as Subaru or
That was because Emilia's existence was necessary to his goals—he needed her as an ally and as someone he had to treat as the "King" placed above all else.
So paradoxically, the current Roswaal no longer saw that value in Emulia.
Had he grown frustrated with Emilia for never passing the Trial and given up on her? If that was the case, that would be understandable. She could accept that.
But what Emilia feared now, more than that, was something else entirely.
"Roswaal… when did you start watching Subaru and the others fight?"
"When, you ask?"
"I noticed you… a little while ago. Right around when Subaru and Garfiel started going at it… right after Subaru used Shamak."
Using the battered Gate at its limits, Subaru had cast a spell—one he had lost count of how many times he'd used before.
Scraping together what little mana he had left, wringing out the last of his strength, the spell was unleashed, its power manifesting immaturely before dissipating.
If she thought about it, that was probably the moment Emilia had been on the verge of rushing to Subaru.
Once before, Subaru had used Shamak with the same desperate effort in front of Emilia, and the result had been an overwhelming defeat of the worst kind.
That image overlapped with this one, and no one could blame her for almost crying out. However, when Subaru had played his trump card—driving a crystal stone into Garfiel and shifting the balance to even—Emilia's heart had begun to harbor something other than anxiety.
And only after losing that particular sense of urgency did Emilia finally notice.
The alien aura of something watching the battle from the shadows—just as she was.
"At first, I thought Roswaal would step in to help Subaru once he reached his limit.
"Just as you said, I did come to back Subaru-kun up. Though I suppose even saying that wouldn't make you believe me."
"Even without Puck, I can sense the flow of mana. The way Roswaal was watching the fight, always ready to step in… which side were you aiming for?"
"—"
Roswaal's mismatched eyes narrowed as they fixed on Emilia.
Those eyes had been narrowed the same way during the battle—as though always targeting Subaru, ready to release his heightened magical power at any moment.
"Answer me, Roswaal. What were you planning to do to Subaru?"
Emilia raised her palm and directed it toward Roswaal as she pressed the question.
Puck was not at her side. She felt anxious about controlling her mana. The lesser spirits, terrified of the ominous magical power cloaking Roswaal, were crying out desperately to Emilia.
If she couldn't borrow their full power, then she had to do it herself.
"Please. Answer me. If you don't, then I…"
"At a moment like this, you still can't make up your mind. Truly, you remain an impossibly naive person. Or perhaps you rely too much on others' goodwill? After days of nothing but malice being thrown your way, how can you still be so wide open?"
"—!"
Emilia's pleading words were overwritten by Roswaal's merciless malice.
The twin eyes, each a different color, harbored equal ill will as Roswaal refused to yield. Within him, multiple forces of mana swirled together like chaos.
A sense of ominous foreboding. Emilia instinctively reached for her chest, then gritted her teeth as she remembered the familiar touch was no longer there.
She hated her own weakness for unconsciously trying to entrust her anxiety to Puck.
To mask that weakness, Emilia poured strength into the gaze she leveled at Roswaal.
"I know you have no intention of answering my question. Then I, too—ah!"
Determined to press Roswaal for the truth, without holding back, she was about to concentrate her mana when something struck her lightly on the side of the head.
Startled by the sensation of her silver hair being ruffled, Emilia turned to find an earth dragon's snout there.
Patrasche. The shove was far too forceful to call a simple push, and Emilia's eyes went wide. Then, with its refined features unchanged, the pitch-black earth dragon tapped her forehead once more with its nose.
"You…"
They couldn't understand each other's words, yet to Emilia, it felt like a voice of encouragement from the earth dragon.
—Calm down. And composedly, do what you must do.
Sensing that message in the dragon's sharp gaze, Emilia realized she had been getting worked up. She closed her eyes, turned back to face Roswaal, and her hand was no longer pressed to her chest.
"I really… have no fond memories of earth dragons."
Seeing Emilia's changed expression, Roswaal looked at Patrasche with undisguised irritation.
Patrasche's concern had been effective enough to throw a wrench in Roswaal's plans. In other words, Roswaal had been hoping Emilia would strike.
"I have no idea what Roswaal is thinking right now. Even just now, if this one hadn't stopped me, I surely would have… Yet it seemed like you wanted exactly that."
"Just for the record, I don't enjoy being hurt either, you know?"
"…? Who does?"
At Emilia's puzzled response, Roswaal's lips curled into an ironic smile. She couldn't fathom what kind of smile it was.
In any case, force was not the path Emilia should choose here.
"Talk to me, Roswaal. It's obvious from looking at you that you're not your usual self. Why are you… acting like you've given up? Tell me that."
"…Given up? Hmm, how unexpected."
"You're acting so detached, so ready to fling magic at me without a care in the world… If you told me that wasn't giving up, I wouldn't believe it."
The impulse to destroy—to give up on yourself and run wild—was something Emilia could understand. The only difference was whether you directed it inward or outward.
Emilia was the inward type. Was Roswaal the same?
"If that's the case, then tell me. I don't know what I can do, but I'll help. Because Roswaal, you've helped me so much…"
"—No. That's quite enough, Emilia-sama."
But the hand Emilia extended was rejected by Roswaal's hoarse voice.
The flattest tone she had ever heard from him. Emilia looked up to find Roswaal's frozen eyes gazing down at her. Beneath the jester's makeup—that face that always seemed to be smiling—she could see that his true expression was killing every emotion with desperate intensity, and Emilia caught her breath.
Roswaal's face looked as though he had thrown absolutely everything away.
"Enough? What does that mean?"
"It means exactly what it says. I have no intention of having you understand my plans, and these two's injuries and the Trial… before all of that, even the Royal Selection has ceased to matter. —Because it's a world that's about to end."
"A world about to end?… And what do you mean, it doesn't matter? You're saying the Royal Selection and the Trial don't matter… Roswaal, what are you talking about?!"
At his sudden outburst, unable to comprehend his true meaning, Emilia raised her voice in anger.
Roswaal, who had been radiating an air of ominous foreboding. But now, emptiness had filled his expression, and the mana surrounding him was a suffocating void.
Roswaal's heart was at the very peak of instability.
Even understanding that, Emilia could not accept his argument.
What he was trying to discard was everything dear to Emilia—something Subaru had risked his life to prove, something that could not be put into words.
Garfiel's claims, which had put him at odds with Subaru, had been made abundantly clear by his screams.
Garfiel had tried to destroy the tomb and stop the Trial.
What had he been seeking by not letting the Sanctuary escape its barrier? Emilia understood, vaguely, that perhaps he had been seeking unchanging days.
And Garfiel's position was not something Emilia could feel no empathy for.
For things to remain as they were. For things to keep happening as they did. That was comfort. That was the easy path.
If it meant spending everyday life in a peaceful place with the people precious to her, then wanting to continue dwelling in that time was a sentiment no one could deny.
And yet Subaru had denied it head-on, demonstrating his stubbornness and rejecting it.
Emilia, in terms of her position, was on the same side as Subaru—she advocated change in the Sanctuary. But she didn't have the conviction Subaru did, nor had she fully grasped the feelings of the Sanctuary's people.
She had simply stepped into territory that was a necessary step toward her goal. She had never once questioned what those around her thought of the change it would bring—she who only ever looked inward.
Hadn't Subaru been the one to ask and plead on her behalf?
She had once again loaded onto Subaru the burden she herself should have carried, and watched it all unfold without intervening.
That keen realization was what drove her now.
And yet Roswaal was trying to discard the present that Subaru had risked his life to open up.
"Roswaal… what are you trying to throw away? You… it was something you and I started, wasn't it? To abandon it halfway—there's no way that's acceptable!"
Emilia's voice, sharp with accusation, drew a reaction from Roswaal's brow.
He returned a sliver of force to his eyes, covered one blue eye with his hand, and let his yellow eye tremble.
"Something you and I started…? What are you saying?"
"…What?"
"What was started was between me and the Master. —Under no circumstances was it you. So ending it should be my freedom and the Master's. That goes without saying."
"You can't just do whatever you want!"
Despite being overwhelmed by his extraordinary aura, Emilia raised her voice.
Glaring at the jester's face that was losing its grip on composure, Emilia raised her arm.
"Maybe it was started by Roswaal and that someone at first… but it's not your problem alone anymore. It's not my problem alone either. We've dragged so many people into this, caused trouble for so many people, and that's how we've come this far! You can't just end it on your own!"
"The road ahead leads only to the end. If that's the case, then what's the harm in ending things ourselves before reaching that end? This time around, we turned out to be no good after all… Let us place our hopes on the next us—and on Subaru-kun."
"On Subaru…?"
What could it mean to place hopes on Subaru?
Glancing at the collapsed Subaru, Emilia redoubled her resolve not to let Roswaal carry out his intentions.
Of course.
Because Subaru had already done everything he was supposed to do. He had more than answered the expectations placed on him. There was no more to ask of him, nothing more he should be made to do.
For what he had been given, he should respond with the worthy things that were rightfully owed to him.
"How can you say the road Subaru opened leads to an end? It was a road that was closing, and Subaru and the others combined their strength to open it. Isn't that what this conflict was about?"
"Whether you go right or left, it's a dead end. What happened was nothing more than futile effort in front of such a fork in the road. The truly righteous path is all recorded here."
As he spoke, Roswaal withdrew a black-bound book from the collar of his butler's uniform.
Emilia didn't recognize it, and yet she felt an inexplicable urge to claw at her own chest, her eyes widening.
It was an awful, unpleasant book.
Though the title and cover were invisible and it looked like an unremarkable book of no particular significance, just looking at its binding seemed to send Emilia's psyche spiraling into instability, pressing down on her with a sense of oppression.
"That book…"
"A copied copy of the Gospel. Or shall we call it a rather fine book of prophecy? It's nothing but a mischievous scribble of unreadable text to anyone but me—but to me, it is something different. It is the guiding scripture that records the correct history I must follow."
"The correct history I must follow…? Something like the Dragon History Stone, you mean?"
"If you trace it back, it's the same principle, as the Master told me."
Whenever Roswaal uttered the word "Master" these days, a flicker of emotion returned to his eyes.
A voice that revealed so much—that even now, he harbored feelings for someone precious that he could not entirely kill. Even through the simple, four-character sound of that word.
Roswaal, too, was capable of thinking of someone as naturally as breathing. And yet he was now ready to declare everything before him worthless.
"So you want to throw it away because it's progressing in a different form than what's in that book? What's supposed to happen if you do that? If we just find a different path that isn't a dead end…"
"You're saying the same thing Subaru-kun does. Is that a borrowed argument of his as well?"
"—!"
Feeling as though she had been hit with a piercing truth, Emilia's throat went dry.
At her expression, Roswaal let out an exasperated sigh.
"Borrowed words. A borrowed position. Even taking on the Trial—someone else pushed you into it, telling you that was what you should do… Well, I won't blame you for that. It was I who told you to do it, as were the people around you—not you. Knowing that you, empty and with nothing, had no choice but to comply… Subaru-kun can be quite cruel in his demands."
"Cruel? What are you…"
"He's that kind of person, isn't he? I'm sure he didn't lecture you about the necessity of the Trial or anything of the sort. He probably just berated and encouraged you, forcing his selfish ideals upon you and spouting nonsense about willpower and effort. I understand. I understand, truly. After all, he and I are cut from the same cloth, you know."
"Subaru and Roswaal, the same? What do you mean?"
"That you impose your ideals upon the woman you desire."
A flat declaration.
Roswaal closed one eye and stared at Emilia with just his yellow eye. He wore a feeble smile, and yet the words continued to pour toward the speechless Emilia.
"What kind of words were you showered with? Nothing but pleasant-sounding things, I'm sure. You were pampered, your ideals were imposed upon you, and you were handled as delicately as if touching fragile glasswork. Never once considering that Emilia-sama is truly weak, fragile, and possesses an ordinary heart that can be frightened and want to flee. He has absolutely no interest in the real you. He only loves the version of you that shines inside his own head. —Isn't that right?"
"—"
"And I'm the same. With her, I only ever saw my ideal. 'How wonderful. As expected. No one is greater than you.' I said those things over and over, pouring affection on her like one handles glasswork… When none of it meant a thing."
Speaking rapidly, Roswaal turned his gaze away with visible irritation.
Was he talking about Subaru, or was he talking about himself? Even Roswaal himself might not have been able to clearly draw that distinction anymore.
Overwhelmed by the force of his words, Emilia took a small breath.
She needed to say what had to be said, despite being intimidated by Roswaal's current demeanor.
"…Is that all?"
"—"
"That's all you think you have in common with Subaru?"
At Emilia's question, Roswaal turned a confused gaze toward her.
A doubt had taken root within him. The fact that he didn't continue speaking was itself a clear answer to Emilia's question. If so, then she absolutely had to tell him.
She had to correct his thinking.
"If that's all you want to say…"
"—"
"Subaru and Roswaal are nothing alike."
After all, the Subaru who had chased after Emilia all the way to the inside of the tomb had indeed piled up idealistic arguments, and had never explained to Emilia what it meant to free the Sanctuary.
But he had never merely offered beautiful words and flowery rhetoric.
"Subaru once told me I was a troublesome woman."
"…What?"
"That despite everything I do, all I bring is trouble—who do I think I am? That I'm hung up on the past and only creating expectations. That I'm all talk and everything about me is lacking and he can't stand to watch. —Subaru told me that."
"—"
"Subaru sees me for who I am. And I feel like I can't keep showing him only my uncool side. So compared to Roswaal, who's pretending to look ahead while seeing nothing at all right now, Subaru is completely different."
If
Even Garfiel—having known Subaru beyond his ideals—would never have listened, had Subaru not continued to speak to him of ideals despite knowing the truth.
Subaru had seen Emilia's weakness, and had still told her he loved her.
Subaru had known Garfiel's kindness, and had still told Garfiel to change.
One after another, Subaru continued to challenge those who wanted to stay right where they were.
You can't stay here. There's more you can do. Lift your head. Look forward. Raise your fists. You have no time to stand still.
—You can never stop.
"Natsuki Subaru making the correct choice in this Sanctuary…? That's absurd… If that's true, then the entries in this Gospel…"
"When my memories came back, I was frightened. With Puck gone, I felt like I was being crushed."
Seeing the discrepancy between her own thinking and the answer Subaru had shown, Roswaal was bewildered.
Emilia pressed her hand to her chest—not to confirm the familiar touch that was no longer there, but to confirm the existence of herself, beating beneath.
"I thought that when I remembered everything, I would become someone different. And when that happened, I thought the me who had come this far would become a mistaken version."
Even now, the memories still tangled in her mind—when they finally took clear shape, something irreversible would emerge.
Obtaining that would change Emilia's world entirely.
Emilia had feared that change, had wanted to reject it, but had learned it was necessary.
No matter what changed, the path she had walked would not vanish.
No matter how Emilia might change from here on—no matter if she became a different version of herself from the one beginning now—the feelings she held at this moment would not become a mistake.
Even if she faltered, even if she came to a standstill, she would start walking again.
She would look in the direction she believed was forward, and move ahead.
"I learned that when I felt like doing something, when I felt I could change, when I wanted to change—there was someone who would still be there for me, telling me it would be all right."
"That's a deception…!"
"It's not a lie. I want to believe in Subaru—the one who told me he believed in me. Right now, I might feel that what Subaru said was baseless nonsense. I might want to call it a lie… But making sure it isn't a lie—that's what I have to do."
She absolutely could not let anyone put that label on him—on Subaru—who had been called a liar for running around telling a powerless, helpless Emilia things that weren't true, giving her hope that didn't exist.
Natsuki Subaru had declared to Emilia: "You can do it."
The current Emilia could turn those words into a lie.
But if Emilia broke through her shell and made "You can do it" a reality, then the lie would cease to be a lie.
People call that kind of thing a "wish."
"Turning a lie into a wish—that's what I have to do now, and what I want to do."
What Subaru had desperately, earnestly taught her.
What had taken shape inside Emilia—that which hadn't quite become form—was finally binding itself into words.
She didn't know if this was the truly correct answer.
Taking something that hadn't yet taken form and guiding it toward what was right—that was Emilia's role.
She wanted to move forward without hesitation, without doubt, toward that purpose.
"—! Idiotic!"
At Emilia's answer, the one whose face changed color and stumbled backward was Roswaal.
He cast aside both his usual composure and the emptiness from moments ago, and with an expression of utter despair, he wrung out his voice, shaken to his core by her answer.
He raised his arm, pointed at Emilia, and screamed with a voice that cracked.
"Why—why now? Why do you reach that answer here and now? What I couldn't convey to the Master—how is it that Natsuki Subaru reached you with it first? How can he—now, at this stage—be allowed to arrive at that feeling?"
"I remembered what I was afraid of. And I'm in the process of mustering the courage to face it… What are you afraid of?"
"Obviously! Deviating from what's written! Failing to follow the recorded history and losing the promised reunion! What else could there be?!"
"But the problem Roswaal is grappling with right now seems like something different from that."
"—!"
Anger blazed in Roswaal's twin eyes.
What he spat out was frustration at his inability to empathize with Subaru's resolve. Roswaal had wanted Subaru to feel the same thing he himself had experienced in the past.
His words—that he and Subaru were the same—may not have been mockery or metaphor. Perhaps Roswaal had stubbornly believed that was simply how things should be.
Perhaps he had believed that he and Subaru, in how they approached the ones they loved, should flow from the same current and bear the same wounds.
That foundation was now shaking, and his confidence was crumbling.
That was how Emilia interpreted Roswaal's current panic.
"Oh, what have I done… To think I, of all people, could end up in this situation."
Roswaal pressed a hand to his mouth, twisting his cheek without caring if his makeup smeared.
"Was I dancing in the palm of someone's hand from the very moment I placed my wager? Garfiel's defeat, Emilia's recovery—all of it was calculated? …Did I err the moment I plotted against the Sage's deterrent power…? Then what was it all for…"
"Roswaal?"
Sinking into a whirlpool of frantic thoughts, Roswaal pushed Emilia's very existence out of his consciousness.
His desperate expression was consumed with how to put a world that had deviated from his plans back on track.
But such a method no longer existed anywhere in this world.
Emilia had no idea what was written in the prophecy book he possessed.
For Roswaal to be this cornered, the deviation must have been enormous.
It must have been enough to place the world in an entirely different realm— "—Ah, I see."
In passing, a murmur slipped out from the depths of Roswaal's confusion.
Its tone had returned to something rational, and Emilia held onto a flicker of hope that his turmoil had temporarily subsided. Perhaps they could find a compromise through rational conversation— "There's no need to worry about any of it. After all, there is the 'Contract.' Whether he can reach the 'real thing' or not—I shouldn't have been agonizing over that."
"What are you saying? Roswaal, what is it this time—"
"Nothing. Nothing at all, Emilia-sama. I'm sorry for worrying you and causing confusion. You need only do as you please and move as my expectations dictate."
Bowing, Roswaal assumed his jester-like demeanor and flashed a smile.
Of course, Emilia could not accept that. After the disarray he'd shown moments ago, he had done a complete one-eighty right back to his usual manner. It was the earlier version that had looked far more "sane," if anything.
"…What does Roswaal expect of me? What do you want me to do?"
"Simple. —I want you to take on the Trial with all your heart and produce a result."
Whether which result he meant, Roswaal did not specify.
And Emilia had a vague sense of which one was desired.
What she didn't understand was why Roswaal desired it.
Or why he had given up, and the reason he had swallowed that resignation and set it aside.
There was so much she didn't understand. But— "I'm sure you won't tell me about that right now… will you?"
"…………"
"Fine. I won't try to force the truth out of you. I'm sure I don't have the right to, not in my current state. —But don't think you can keep hiding it forever."
"I'd expect nothing less. Having regained yourself and learned the truth—let's see if that bravado of yours holds."
That final barb, tinged with malice, nevertheless struck Emilia as something close to a plea.
With that, Roswaal turned his back and walked away. His destination was likely the temporary lodging where he had been recovering.
In the end, Emilia never learned why he had come all this way and watched the battle unfold. The only certainty was that the density of the swirling mana remained unchanged, waiting with burning impatience for the moment of miracle within Roswaal's body.
"Oh, right. —Emilia-sama, one last piece of advice."
"What is it?"
Emilia raised her brows as Roswaal stopped and raised a finger.
Seeing Emilia standing before him in an unguarded posture, after an exchange that was practically an act of hostility, Roswaal let out a wry smile.
"Don't underestimate the depth of Garfiel's roots. It would take more than simply punching him down to change his mind—his stubbornness runs that deep."
"…I understand."
Accepting his words, Emilia watched as Roswaal finally left the scene.
After he was gone, only Emilia's breathing and the huffing of the pitch-black earth dragon—who continued to glare at Roswaal's retreating back until the very end—remained in the plaza.
And the deep breaths of the two unconscious men, barely distinguishable from sleep.
"—Haah."
Suddenly, Emilia's shoulders trembled, and she let out a long breath.
Noticing Patrasche looking at her with round eyes, Emilia gave a rueful smile.
"No, I'm fine. Thanks to you, I was able to stay calm. …But that was really nerve-wracking. I might have ended up fighting Roswaal."
"—"
"Yeah. I don't want to fight someone when I don't even understand why. Roswaal too—why did he become like that… Subaru might know."
Meeting Patrasche's concerned gaze, Emilia knelt beside the supine Subaru and gently lifted the bloodied young man.
Wiping away the drying blood with her fingers, she lightly touched his swollen face. His expression twitched slightly, as if he felt pain—or perhaps a tickle.
"I need to heal you. Both Subaru and Garfiel—getting hurt hurts, you know."
"—"
"Ah, don't look so worried. I know it's a little uncertain without Puck, but I can borrow the power of the lesser spirits for a simple healing spell."
As she spoke, Emilia reached out to the lesser spirits around her. Bathed in a faint glow, she borrowed their power. A gentle light enveloped Subaru and Garfiel, and their wounds began to mend.
Somewhere within it all, the tension drained from Subaru's face.
Emilia smiled softly and gently placed his head on her lap.
How many times had she offered her lap to Subaru like this?
She had received so many things from him that she had lost count of what she could possibly give back.
"When you wake up, I have so, so many things I want to ask you."
Murmuring softly, Emilia slipped her fingers gently through Subaru's bangs.
Subaru's brow furrowed ever so slightly, and the corner of Emilia's lips relaxed.
—It was about ten minutes later that Otto, carrying Ram on his back, joined them from the direction of the forest.