3
“Listen up. This tower is in a bad place. If you want to know exactly how bad, imagine losing all four corners of the board in Othello.”
“That’s…fairly bad.”
Ram’s expression clouded as she listened to Subaru’s exposition. She wasn’t the only one to sink into a grave mood. Emilia and Beatrice had the same reaction upon hearing that.
Othello, also called Reversi in lots of places, used pieces that were white on one side and black on the other on an eight-by-eight board: sixty-four spaces where the players stole others’ pieces back and forth. Subaru had introduced the game to Roswaal Manor quite a while back and inadvertently started a movement. Emilia was a particularly big fan.
In other words, that explanation was enough to instantly convey just how grave the situation was.
“That is outrageous…even for a handicap that’s too much.”
“With that much of a handicap, even I’d have a chance of winning despite being busy as a beaver these days…”
“Now there’s a phrase you don’t hear too often anymore…”
“—! Subaru, say that again.”
“Later. I will later.”
Emilia instantly latched onto Subaru’s standard retort and was understandably disappointed to have her request denied. Feeling a bit guilty, Subaru made a note to say it a lot more later.
Getting out of this situation is top priority. To do that…
“The two Gluttonys and the demon beast stampede. And—”
“Shaula attacking us makes four, I suppose,” Beatrice summarized.
Emilia and Ram fell silent with a complicated look on their faces. It wasn’t unreasonable. The watchtower was being hit by an unprecedented and terrible set of problems. And then Shaula joined the list.
“Someone broke the tower’s rules, and she’s an enemy… Even if she did warn us, that is a tricky situation.”
“But it’s Shaula, right? Is there not any way we can talk to her and explain things? She is really attached to Subaru, so if he tried hard to explain things…”
“I would love things to go that peacefully, but it looks like it will be difficult to get her to sit down at the table and negotiate. Though in a sense, she is still attached to me, I guess?”
“Meaning she will come targeting you specifically, Barusu. Good work narrowing down her target.”
It could also be interpreted as aiming for their weakest link, but either way, Subaru agreed with Ram. Having her stubbornly target Subaru was easier to plan around than her slinking around hidden in the tower.
“The silver lining is that, thanks to Beako’s deployments, we’re addressing two of the corners already.”
While Subaru was facing Louis in the corridors of memory, the smart and adorable Beatrice had given directions to the others, working hard to deal with the enemies attacking from the outside.
Thanks to that, Meili was dealing with the stampede, and they had safely gotten Rem out of the green room. Of course, somewhere along the way, they had run into Lye, and Emilia got her name stolen while holding him off so they could escape…
“No, it’s fine. You remember, so I’m fine. Even though you always forget your promises, you still remembered me.”
“What was that little knife in the back all of a sudden?”
“It seems your habits have caught up to you. It appears she understands you well, Subaru. Even if not so well as your Betty.”
“Ladies, ladies, please.”
For just a moment, Subaru got to bask in the feeling of being loved.
“Barusu,” Ram cut in. “You said two corners were dealt with. Meili is holding back the swarm of demon beasts, but what about the second?”
“Julius. He’s in the middle of fighting the enemy on the second floor right now.”
Subaru grabbed his chest and focused on the Lion’s Heart. What Cor Leonis relayed was a light giving off an intense heat on the second floor.
It had already started—Julius and Reid’s rematch.
“In the end, there’s no choice but to settle that once and for all…”
This time, Beatrice had been the one who gave everyone their instructions. But even so, she had reached the same conclusion as Subaru: Julius had to be the one to face Reid Astrea. From his experience, there was something he understood.
It’s aggravating, but turns out there is such a thing as fate.
A steadfast reality that refused to change, no matter what path he took. If that could be called fate, then Subaru, who had repeated the same moments time and time again, had no choice but to believe in its existence.
But while fate might exist, it also embodied a sort of hope. If there was no way to avoid pitting Julius against Reid, then…
“That Reid is an insane product of him taking over Gluttony, but we can leave him to Julius. Everything else is gonna be dedicated to dealing with the last three.”
“And that’ll be enough, Barusu?”
“—? What is?”
Subaru cocked his head pretty seriously when Ram said that, but seeing that reaction:
“Right,” Ram murmured quietly. “I can accept that Barusu is Barusu. I must’ve lost my touch if I’m relying on your proposals.”
“I don’t really get it, but it’s safe to assume you’re insulting me?”
“Eh? No, not at all. It’s a compliment. Ram is really relying on you, Subaru. Hee-hee, we’ll have to do our best.”
“…We are going to have to have a talk after this, Emilia,” Ram fired back indignantly.
“Okay!” Emilia answered a little happily.
Despite the situation, Emilia was probably enjoying Ram being informal with her. With their bond of lady and maid lost, Ram’s treated Emilia more like a friend, or a troublesome little sister. The main reason Subaru had noticed this was because of how unnaturally positive Emilia was being.
“Anyway, that’s the situation in the tower! Next is deploying the right people to the right place. That division of forces is Natsuki Subaru’s big chance to shine!”
“That’s a little too plain…”
“It’s plain, but it’s an important job! This is the key to a retained, masterful performance. This is a job only I can do…something only I can do! This is my batt… Ow!!!”
“Get on with it already.”
Because he was taking too long, Ram slapped him upside the head. Taking a bit of damage from that, Subaru looked to the three people—and the one ground dragon.
“Ready?”
Starting now, it was going to be an all-out fight in the truest sense. The difference between a person and ground dragon was minimal, and Patrasche was usually more help than Subaru anyway.
And adding the newly reformed Super Subaru to the mix, the possibilities were limitless.
“We’re going to win without losing anyone. Since we—”
“Came to this tower to get things back, not lose anything more.” Emilia snapped her fingers.
“Exactly.”
Subaru responded, and then tensing himself…
“First of all is Gluttony. Lye Batenkaitos…I want to leave him to you, Ram.”
“…Of course. Vengeance for Rem. I’ll destroy him.”
Ram put her hands together and answered Subaru’s deployment, but even as she nodded:
“Wait!” Emilia raised her hand. “Lye is the boy from before, right? It would be dangerous for Ram alone. Since she’s…”
“A hornless has her own way of fighting. I’m not going to face him without a plan.”
“Really…? Then how?”
“By adapting on the fly while maintaining a high degree of flexibility.”
“That’s exactly what someone without a plan would say! …Don’t worry, I have a proper idea, too.”
Whether that was Ram’s actual plan or not, Subaru wasn’t going to send her out empty-handed. As the other three turned to look at him, he closed his eyes, and…
“Cor Leonis.”
He called upon the Lion’s Heart again.
It was the odd twinge he had felt while trying to meet up with Beatrice and them, and while he was racing toward Emilia, too. Reaching his hand out toward a closed door.
Cor Leonis meant “Lion’s Heart” in Latin. And Regulus meant…
“…Little King.”
In that moment, a new power awakened in the authority that originated in the Witch Factor of Greed.
There was a warm pulse as he selected Ram right next to him. And then he reached his consciousness out toward the faint, warm light gleaming inside her.
Using a power that should have been impossible, he vowed to support Ram in her fight.
And then something changed…
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