2
The Holy Volakian Empire.
That was the name of the country where Subaru was currently being held prisoner.
The impression Subaru had from his studies of this world mostly amounted to Empires tend to be sources of evil, like in games, right?
Volakia was one of the four major powers in this world, like Lugunica, and it controlled the most territory, dominating the south end of the map.
Unlike Gusteko to the north or Kararagi to the west, Volakia was blessed with fertile lands and temperate climates, and seemed to have naturally developed a culture that followed the law of the jungle.
Dozens of races, tribes, and peoples lived within its borders, where the strong did whatever they wanted and the weak endured what they must.
A place where violence of that sort was tolerated—in other words, a land that Subaru Natsuki was uniquely unsuited for.
“The Holy Volakian Empire.”
Seeing the martial banner fluttering next to the tent, the words slipped from his lips.
Hearing Subaru’s dumbfounded murmur, Todd cocked an eyebrow slightly.
“Hail Volakia!”
“Whoa?!”
Subaru jumped in surprise at the sudden shout that went up behind him, and Todd laughed.
“What’s with that reaction? You’re the one who started it.”
“Hail Volakia?”
“Hail Volakia.”
That confusing response was enough for him to figure things out.
Whenever someone invoked the name of the Holy Volakian Empire, the standard response was to say “Hail Volakia.” That was a custom cultivated in the empire’s citizens.
The other thing Subaru had figured out was…
“…Now I can’t let it slip that I’m from Lugunica.”
This was actually a bad situation for Subaru.
He was the knight of a candidate participating in the royal selection currently taking place in Lugunica. Under Roswaal’s guardianship, Subaru had received an official knighthood, granting him a noninheritable, lowest-tier title of peerage.
And even without that title, there was no one in Lugunica who didn’t know about the royal selection. Because of that, if they had still been in Lugunica, he could have gotten some accommodations by revealing his identity. At the very least, after making sure Rem was safe, he had considered bringing it up with Todd, who seemed like a man who could be reasoned with.
But if this was Volakia, that was a different story.
“ ”
Even Subaru could tell from reading the history books of this world that Lugunica and Volakia did not get along great. Four hundred years ago, they had fought repeated, major wars that spanned both of their territories, but there hadn’t been a major war since Lugunica had sworn its covenant with the Holy Dragon. But there had been plenty of smaller border conflicts, and there was no question that both countries were currently in a cold war. He had heard that before the royal selection was announced, they had reached an agreement that the empire wouldn’t use the opportunity to start a war.
But what if he started talking about being a minor noble of Lugunica here in the heart of Volakia? If he were dealing with a sensible Volakian noble, that might have been one thing, but this was a military camp out in the field. Even if he gave Todd the benefit of the doubt, could he really expect a VIP reception from hot-blooded guys like Jamal?
“Not a chance.”
Meaning he had to be careful with his identity.
Looks like there’s a silver lining to Rem forgetting everything. The tiniest, micron-thick silver lining.
“Hey, what happened? Your legs bad, too?”
“Nah, it’s not that. Just the reverence welling up in my heart after hearing ‘Hail Volakia’…”
“I see. Can’t help that. I wasn’t considerate enough.”
Subaru put on the best fake smile he could manage, hoping that cheap excuse would convince Todd.
I only really know about it from books, but looks like this is the empire.
It was safe to assume that his potential trump card of revealing his identity and getting back to the Mathers estate was off the table.
If I run into a sensible sort of person, then maybe they’ll respect my standing, but…
“The odds are a bit low for a gamble.”
“What are you muttering about? C’mon, this is the meeting you wanted so bad.”
“Ah.”
A slap on Subaru’s shoulder pushed him forward as he continued taking small steps.
Looking up, he found he had been brought to metal cages set up on the edge of the camp. And among the cages sat a girl—
“Rem!”
“Ngh! You’re…”
Seeing the girl he had been looking for, Subaru reached out to the cage. Having noticed him, she furrowed her eyebrows and stared at him with the same hostility as before.
That’s fine. As long as she’s okay…
“Thank goodness! They didn’t do anything to you, did they? Are you hur—? Gh!”
Because he was hurrying while taking small steps, his feet got tangled up and he toppled forward. He couldn’t use his arms to catch himself, either, so he slammed headfirst into the metal cage and slumped down with a groan.
Seeing such a shocking display, even Rem’s wariness lost out to her surprise.
“Wh-what was that?!”
“Sorry… I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I am not scared! Don’t belittle me… Are your nose and teeth all right?”
“Eh?! You’re worried about me?” Subaru sniffled while wriggling himself up like a worm.
“Huh? Of course not.”
Rem’s response was cold.
But when he looked into her blue eyes, Subaru let out a little joyful sigh. Rem’s expression stiffened even more.
“Anyway, if you’re all right, that’s what matters. Nothing strange happened, right? Can you move your legs now? You must’ve gotten soaked, but you didn’t catch a cold or anything, did you? Just tell me if there’s anything.”
“Please stop clinging to me and acting so devoted. I cooperated with you in the jungle because I had no choice, but that has not changed anything about your—”
“Actually, since you were asleep for so long, your immune system might not be one hundred percent yet. Hey, Todd! It would be really bad if Rem caught a cold. Could you give her a blanket?”
“Don’t just ignore me and move the conversation along!”
He was trying to improve Rem’s situation, but she was furiously fighting him on it.
Looks like she isn’t any less suspicious of me after all we went through getting away from the hunter and that demon beast.
Subaru was scratching his cheek with almost amused exasperation when Todd clapped his hands.
“All right, I get that it’s an emotional reunion, but you two don’t seem to be on the same page. Now then, is it safe to say you’re Ms. Rem?”
“…I wonder.”
“Well, that’s a problem. There’s gotta be a limit to your stubbornness.”
Todd grimaced at Subaru and Rem’s awful communication.
Rem turned away in a huff, but apparently her cold reception was not reserved for just Subaru. It was apparently dispensed freely for everyone in this camp—Todd included.
Every dog is a lion at home was an apt description for Rem’s personality.
“If you snap at everyone, people will think you’re a mad dog.”
“There’s no need for that. Calling me a dog? Not only do you have an awful odor, but you are also rude.”
“What, you think someone with body odor has to have bad manners? Like cleanliness is next to godliness or something?”
There was a saying that went something like hate the priest, hate the vestments, and that was pretty much exactly how Rem was reacting to Subaru.
The bad first impression I made is really not going away.
Knowing it would be difficult to get Rem to back down, Subaru turned to Todd.
“Anyway, she’s Rem. Thank you for helping her…though when I see her in a cage like that, it’s hard to be too grateful.”
“I told you, didn’t I? Jamal and his unit got walloped. He has a reputation to uphold. He won’t hurt her, though.”
“…Can I trust that?”
“I wouldn’t lie to a noble. Even Jamal won’t grumble too much.”
Todd reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the knife. Subaru’s eyes opened wide as Todd used the knife to cut the rope tying Subaru’s hands and legs together.
“Ohhh… Are you letting us go?”
“Just take her and go…is what I would like to say, but I can’t, sadly.”
“ ”
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not malicious. As you can see, we’ve set up camp here to fight the Shudrak in the jungle. But we’re not the only ones out here. If you go wandering around, you’ll get caught by guys from another camp.”
That meant there were other encampments also here to search the jungle. It was a warning that if they ended up wandering into the territory of another camp, there was a danger they would be captured and interrogated again.
“Meaning the chance to eat my fill of boots in a camp full of Jamals.”
“I don’t like pain much myself, so I try to resolve things with words where I can. I’m not really one to talk, but I’m a bit of an outlier when it comes to imperial soldiers.”
“In other words, most of your comrades are as overbearing as that rude man.” Rem’s voice was dripping with loathing.
“Pretty much. And I guess that’s what made you angry, so they brought it on themselves.”
Subaru did not exactly have any love lost between him and Jamal, but Rem’s first encounter with Jamal must have been awful. That Todd did not try to protest meant that, even though they were allies, he couldn’t really defend Jamal’s actions.
“I get that you’re worried about us, Todd. But what should we do, then? You were bemoaning your fate and all earlier, too, but we can’t exactly just wait for you guys to finish clearing out this jungle.”
“Of course not, and we’d never hear the end of it for letting an outsider kick around our base forever. You don’t have to worry; a supply unit is going to the nearby town in a few days. You can leave the camp with them.”
“I see—a supply unit.”
It was obvious, but a massive amount of food and water was needed to support a large number of active people. And there was no way of providing that solely with what they could procure locally, so supply units were just as important to an army as combat troops were.
There was a logistics unit attached to this camp, and Todd was recommending that Rem and Subaru accompany them.
“Then it’s all right for us to crash with you…I guess?”
“Why not? The fighting shouldn’t start that quickly… But you should probably stay away from Jamal. Unless you feel like chowing down on another boot.”
“I’ll take that to heart… You all right with that plan, Rem?”
Rem was still looking away coldly, not responding.
But if she wasn’t actively arguing with him about it, that meant she did not have an argument or a better suggestion. I’ll just think of it as an adorable rebelliousness. No—a super cute and adorable rebelliousness.
“You two sure have an odd relationship. What’s between you two?”
“Just think of us as travelers. Rem is precious to me, and I don’t know the other girl—”
“After all this, you still…”
As she listened to his words, Rem’s disbelief seemed to grow.
Subaru knew that he had messed up, but he just couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge that Louis was with them.
Honestly, if they’re willing to take her off my hands, I’d love for them to do that.
“Oh yeah—she’s not in the cage with Rem. Where’d she go?”
“…That girl was taken for healing,” Rem said, looking away from him. “When you recklessly jumped into the river, her face was cut somewhere along the way.”
“Healing… Healing?”
Subaru was confused for a moment, and then his expression became serious.
“Did you say ‘healing’?!”
“Wh-what? That’s right. Healing. Or are you saying you’d try to stop her from being healed because you hate her?”
“I mean, you aren’t wrong there, but that’s not the problem. Hey, Todd! Where’s Louis getting healed? Which tent?!”
Todd looked surprised by the sudden change in Subaru’s attitude. The man clearly didn’t grasp the seriousness of the situation. Subaru gripped his shoulders and asked again.
“Where?”
“If she’s getting healing, then she’ll be at the tent over there with the red banner. But what’s the big deal?”
“Everyone’s life is in danger!”
Pushing Todd back, Subaru hurried over to the tent with the red banner.
Rem and Todd looked at each other, confused by Subaru’s sudden change in demeanor.
“What was that? Anyway, I’m gonna follow him, but…”
“Please go. If you don’t stop him, he might do something absurd.”
“Why do I have to be the one being told that, though…?”
Todd scratched his head and chased after Subaru, who had suddenly raced off.
And while watching Subaru’s back disappear in the distance…
“…What is with him? Everything he does perplexes me.”
Rem murmured softly, unheard by anyone.
Meanwhile, Subaru’s eyes were scanning the camp, looking for the red tent.
The moment he’d heard that Louis was being healed, the worst possible outcome had crossed his mind.
For whatever reason, Louis was currently not herself, but if she was healed and regained her senses, there was a chance she would return to being the Archbishop of Gluttony.
If that happened, Subaru and the amnesiac Rem wouldn’t be able to fight her. There would be terrible losses even if Todd and Jamal and the rest of the camp fought together.
Subaru’s heart was uneasy.
I can’t let that happen. It has to be stopped.
And facing the red tent that caught his eye, he charged inside.
“Sorry! Is there a scary, blond kid—”
“Aauuuaaah!!!”
Just as he started to push past the tent flap, a blond bullet shot forward. It landed on his upper lip, right under his nose. He recoiled with a grunt and fell backward. He reflexively stopped his fall with his left hand.
The same hand that sported three broken fingers.
“Ghgyaaaaaaa!!!”
“Aaa! Aaa! Uuaaah!”
Subaru almost passed out from the pain. And as he writhed in agony, there was an imp standing over him and dancing almost joyously: Louis.
This was just like when she had woken him up in the meadow. She wore an innocent, abominable smile and kept clinging to his chest.
He wanted to knock her away, but the almost blinding pain stopped him.
“Gh, kh, aaah, aaah…”
“Oof, you land on your left hand? That’s rough…but the girl looks pretty normal from here. Looks like she got the cut on her forehead checked out, too.”
Catching up to Subaru, Todd lifted Louis up off his chest, where she had been playing. She swung her arms and legs, but Todd paid this no mind.
There was a bandage on her head. She had been given treatment, but it was just simple first aid, not magic.
“Kh, gah… R-right. That’s what you meant by treatment for her head…”
Subaru had been mainly concerned about magical treatment, which could potentially heal things he didn’t want healed. But apparently he had been worried for nothing.
“Treating this affectionate kid like you don’t know her, and having the girl you like be so cold… I can’t say I understand, but looks like you’ve got it rough.”
“…I won’t deny it. There aren’t a lot of people who have had it as rough as me.”
If there was a limit to how much suffering someone could experience in a lifetime, then Subaru was just racking up lifetimes’ worth of suffering at this point. On the other hand, if the count reset with each death, then maybe he would never know peace.
The thought alone is terrifying, but…
“For now, just live. That’s the important part.”
“That feels like a low bar… So what are you going to do? Am I safe to assume you’ll wait for the supply caravan and go with them in a few days?”
“Hmm? Ah, right. Yes, please. Sorry for having to count on you for everything.”
“Hmm? You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t plan to let you freeload.”
Subaru looked up in confusion. Todd set Louis down and put his hand on his hip, then gestured to the imperial camp behind him.
“Look at this camp. There’s never enough hands. We’ve got lots of jobs to do, so you’ll have plenty of work.”
“…What, so he who does not work shall not eat?” Subaru muttered.
Hearing that, Todd started rolling the proverb around in his mouth.
“Yeah, exactly. That’s a nice turn of phrase.”
Todd nodded, and beside him Louis started nodding, too, copying him.
Looking up at both of them, Subaru cracked his neck loudly.
“…It’s better than being told not to do anything or having to eat more boots, I guess.”
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