3
Going through the main doors and back into the Pleiades Watchtower, the dragon carriage that had brought them to the tower was waiting on the fifth floor, and they were greeted by a familiar face.
“Emilia, and Natsuki, too. It’s been a tick.”
“…Is that…Anastasia?”
Subaru’s eyes widened at the person waving her hand and smiling with an elegant restraint.
He confirmed the gestures, behavior, and even expression were natural. This was a complete reproduction of the person that the artificial spirit Echidna couldn’t quite perfectly pull off. No, not a reproduction.
Since it was her natural character. Reproduction wasn’t the word…
“Anastasia! You woke up?”
“That’s right. Looks like I had a long nap there. Sorry for the worry. Echidna told me what’s been happening.”
“Echidna’s still okay, then?”
The response came from the white fox wrapped around Anastasia’s neck.
“Somehow,” she answered apologetically. “It doesn’t seem like I’ll be dying for the moment, aside from kicking myself.”
“Don’t be like that.” Anastasia rubbed Echidna’s head. “I told ya, I chose this myself, so you don’t need to go blaming yourself. You agree, right, Julius?”
“Me? …Indeed. Honestly, even though I was kept in suspense for quite some time by your decision, Lady Anastasia, I agree with your actions, though it is difficult to say so.”
“Why’s that?”
“As your knight, I felt myself blessed at hearing the reason you chose to hide within yourself,” Julius answered gracefully as he broke into a smile.
“Well, don’t get too excited.”
“Anastasia…you forgot Julius, didn’t you? You seem to be getting on pretty well in spite of everything.”
“I forgot whatever our original relationship was…and at least for me, I’m definitely madder than a wet hen, but…! But…!” Anastasia’s lips quivered, so Echidna chimed in to translate.
“She’s enduring it as best she can, as you can probably see. Fortunately, I can tell her about the Julius I’ve gotten to know these past two months. Seems like maybe that was the reason I was born.”
“…You’ve gone a little over the edge in your own odd way, from the sound of it,” Beatrice replied, with ever-so-slightly gentle words.
There was a snort from the fox’s snout.
“Yeah.” Echidna nodded.
Echidna, the artificial spirit without a past, came to the watchtower in Anastasia’s stead, and after a long, winding road had finally reached a satisfying conclusion for herself.
Part of that was thanks to Anastasia safely reinhabiting her own body.
“…Hey, Anastasia. I’m really glad you came back, and there’s a lot I want to talk to you about, but…”
“I know. The Archbishop who Julius smacked upside the head, right?” Anastasia shrugged. “With a little this and that, Julius tossed him in the back of the carriage.”
As Emilia pondered her words, Subaru gulped at seeing the carriage. Roy Alphard, Archbishop of Gluttony, was tied up inside there.
“ ”
Before moving to the door of the carriage, he gave the harnessed ground dragon Joseph a pat on the neck. The Gilas ground dragon, with his four thick legs, had been the final protagonist in the battle with Shaula. They had not managed to achieve the best outcome, but that didn’t make Joseph’s thoughtfulness any less meaningful.
“You were a huge help… Gimme a hand in the future, too, in case anything happens.”
Joseph snorted, as if to say that was a lot to ask.
As Subaru awkwardly smiled just a little, his face soon became serious before he stepped toward the carriage’s passenger compartment. With a nod from everyone, he peered inside.
“This is…”
His nerves were tingling as he looked in, but what he saw made his eyes widen.
Roy was indeed inside. However, the way he was tied up was a bit different from how Subaru had imagined. Roy Alphard’s whole body was covered in what looked like a black crystal, and he was still unconscious—or rather, sealed.
“It is an application of shadow magic, I suppose. Using Shamak to render him unconscious and freezing him like that… This is quite the nasty method.”
“So then that black stuff is like a big wad of Shamak…?”
Startled, Subaru looked at the seal again after hearing Beatrice’s explanation. It was safe to say that Shamak was the magic he had relied on the most before his pact with Beatrice. He was stunned by Julius’s ability to use it as a seal.
“Do not misunderstand, please. This is not a method I created myself. It follows the same theory as the most well-known seal in this world. Though the difference in scale is incomparable.”
“The most famous…you don’t mean?”
“The Witch of Jealousy,” Emilia said, looking at the locked-up Archbishop.
“Indeed.” Julius nodded deeply.
Roy’s seal was the same as the one used to seal the Witch of Jealousy in a land farther still to the east, keeping her in slumber these past four hundred years.
“…Why did you leave him alive, Julius? When the other one, when Lye Batenkaitos died, Emilia’s name returned. So then…”
“There was no proof. That was the greatest reason I chose not to execute him.”
“ ”
“It is true that Ms. Ram has slain Batenkaitos. However, do we know if that is the sole reason Lady Emilia’s name was returned? If it is not, then we might lose everything.”
“—In that case, what about using the book of the dead?”
Julius’s logic was sound, so Subaru suggested the back door that existed in this tower.
There was nothing better for knowing the thoughts of others. Since it allowed the reader to experience a person’s entire life.
“Even if we interrogate him, there’s no guarantee he’ll tell it straight. So using the book of the dead to know his innermost mind is…”
“Subaru, that’s…I don’t think that’s good…”
“But it should be guaranteed. With that—”
“Ummm, mind if I break in here?”
Anastasia raised her hand as Subaru started to argue with Emilia, who reacted negatively to the idea of the book of the dead. Glancing at Subaru, who was looking frustrated, she put her pale hands together in front of her chest.
“I just heard about it some from Echidna, so maybe there are gaps, but…those books of the dead or whatever? Isn’t it kinda dangerous to be trusting them?”
“Dangerous how?”
“What do you mean? You experienced it yourself, didn’t you? Did you lose yourself for a while there while I was out?”
“Ack…”
How much had Echidna told her in such a short time? She hit him in a sore spot.
To be precise, the books of the dead were not the true source of his memory loss. But it was true that reading them meant being heavily influenced by the person in the book.
There was the example of Reid, too. There was no guarantee Roy Alphard wouldn’t be reborn if Subaru’s ego was overwritten while reading his book of the dead.
“Then…then are you saying letting him live is right? After all he’s done?!”
“If you’re asking me right and wrong, then I don’t really think letting an Archbishop live is right. But I have a theory about things.”
“A theory…?”
“When it comes to lives, taking them should be a last resort—anyone who thinks it’s easy to kill another person ain’t gonna meet a happy end. And that’s not Hoshin talking, that’s me.”
Subaru’s eyes widened.
He recoiled at the idea that such naïveté existed in this brutal fantasy world of swords and magic. But at the same time, it felt right to him, too.
He also thought that the fewer people who had to die, the better.
That went for allies, of course, but even for enemies, it was better to end things with fewer deaths.
“But this guy… All the things he did… Does he deserve that sort of kindness…?”
“I’ll kill when I don’t have a choice. That’s my resolve, and I’ll get my hands dirty if I have to. But acting on impulse ain’t right… And I think you’d agree with me there.”
“That’s…”
“That’s why you can cry over someone.” Anastasia traced a line on her cheek, pointing out the traces of tears on his face. “…I’d rather have a long and fruitful relationship with that Natsuki, ’stead of the merciless and cold-blooded one.”
The ache of having lost Shaula made Subaru look down quietly. It wasn’t fair when she put it that way. But it was undeniably effective.
“…Subaru, I agree with Anastasia. When I think about Julius and Rem, I want to resolve this as fast as possible, but…”
“At the very least, you need not trouble yourself over me. Having come this far, I believe caution should be prioritized over speed… My brother is on the line as well.”
Joshua had been left behind in Pristella. His memories being recovered was crucial, too, and Julius’s opinion was guarded but prudent.
A swift conclusion to make up for the pain of loss…that was what Subaru impulsively desired.
“To sum it up, Ana and Julius believe the Archbishop of Gluttony should be transported to the capital, where he should be interrogated for the method of saving those afflicted by his authority. After that, he will not escape a death sentence.”
“There are limits to taking age into account, too. I’m sure it will get to that in the end.”
Seeing the strength seep from Subaru’s clenched fist, Echidna and Anastasia wrapped it up nicely.
Emilia didn’t express any arguments with that treatment of Roy. Taking him to the capital sealed like that was in a sense the same as had been done with Sirius.
“Are y’all okay with that?”
“Yes. I want to be able to remember all the people who have been forgotten, too,” Emilia answered, raising her head.
Feeling encouraged but at the same time bitter that she didn’t disagree, Subaru looked away from the Archbishop in the carriage and then suddenly sank to his knee.
“Ah…”
His head grew heavy, and the world reeled.
“Subaru! Argh, you did push yourself too much! Carrying something that unpleasant this whole time, of course you’d end up like this!”
Beatrice yelled as she supported Subaru’s shoulder.
Her cute voice echoed angrily in his mind, and he realized he was a lot more exhausted than he had thought.
It was obvious, really.
Losing his memories, dying so many times, dying some more, coming to terms with himself to get his memories back, waking up to the five obstacles threatening them, fighting while carrying some of the burden of his comrades using the authority, and losing Shaula in the end…
“…Ah, I…”
“Subaru, it’s okay. Everything will be fine. Rest for now. Just a little is fine. Let’s talk more when you wake up. There’s a lot that I want to say, too.”
Slumping weakly, Emilia hugged Subaru from the front. The soft feeling and sweet scent ordinarily would have made him tense up, but to Subaru right now, they were a panacea. His consciousness faded into darkness.
If he somehow died in the depths of that darkness, would he come back to where everything was still rampaging, would he be able to search for a way to save Shaula?
Even though he half understood that there wasn’t a way, he couldn’t help wishing for it.
And slowly, his consciousness faded to black.
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