Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 7 Page 4

  “Guess I managed to save face for staying behind in the capital, Rem.”

  “Yes. You are incredible, Subaru, as I knew you would be.”

  He lifted up their still-clasped hands as he and Rem, the unsung hero of the negotiations, shared in each other’s joy at their success.

  There probably wasn’t anyone happier at the result of the negotiations than Rem.

  Originally, these negotiations had been Rem’s appointed duty. He could easily imagine how being unable to divulge her task to Subaru and having to speak with Crusch day after day had whittled away at her spirit.

  Subaru had continually rotted by himself while the future of the Emilia camp had been entrusted to her—she must have suffered under that burden.

  He hoped that in some small way, this victory repaid the girl whose feelings had supported him for so long; if so, then for the moment, that was enough for Subaru to be happy.

  “—Sir Subaru.”

  As Rem and Subaru celebrated together, a voice suddenly called out to him.

  When he looked over, he saw Wilhelm, standing with his back straight as he watched Subaru with a serious demeanor. When the aged swordsman’s eyes met Subaru’s, emotions flooded onto Wilhelm’s wrinkled, fearless face.

  “Thank you.”

  With that brief statement, he went down on one knee on the spot.

  The suddenness of it jolted Subaru. However, he was not alone in his surprise. Not only Crusch and Ferris, who knew Wilhelm, but even the others like Rem and Anastasia were startled.

  “I offer thanks to you as deep as that I offer my lord, Duchess Crusch Karsten. I thank you for giving this elderly man an opportunity for vengeance.”

  “Uhh, that’s…?”

  “As wise a man you are, Sir Subaru, you have likely already deduced this, but allow me to reintroduce myself—”

  Wilhelm paid no heed to Subaru’s confusion, drawing his sword from its sheath. He lowered the blade onto the floor, then placed his hand upon it. It was the greatest possible gesture for paying the utmost respect.

  Then, he spoke his name.

  “Previously, I was known by Trias, my old surname. My true family name is Astrea. I took the previous Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea, as my wife, sullying the family line of the Sword Saints—that is I, Wilhelm van Astrea.”

  After a breath, Wilhelm’s eyes were filled with a glimmer of hope as he carried on.

  “My warmest thanks, for granting this withered body a chance to slay the damned demon beast that robbed me of my wife.”

  Wilhelm deeply bowed his head, the emotions of his powerful, heartfelt plea slamming into Subaru all at once.

  Everyone listening to the exchange was waiting in anticipation of Subaru’s reply. To meet their expectations, Subaru drew a deep breath and answered.

  “R-right…o-of course I knew. Naturally, that’s how I was sure Crusch would agree to wiping out the White Whale!”

  “Subaru Natsuki.”

  Crusch calmly interrupted Subaru’s oddly flailing reply. Her amber eyes peered into Subaru’s floundering expression when she sighed softly.

  “A deceitful wind is blowing from you.”

  The power of the wind reading underscored how plain Subaru’s paper-thin lie was.

  CHAPTER 2

  EVE OF THE DECISIVE BATTLE

  1

  —Slaying the White Whale.

  With negotiations concluded, everyone involved acted quickly to make the word hunt a reality.

  Just as the two merchants Anastasia and Russel had proclaimed, weapons and equipment were scrounged up from all over the royal capital, with Crusch mustering the punitive force she’d prepared beforehand. The rest, arranging dragon carriages to transport the additional people and supplies, was taken care of in short order.

  “With so many dragon carriages being hired for this, no wonder I had so much trouble finding one to get back to Roswaal Manor.”

  As Subaru watched people and goods rapidly flow in and out of the mansion, he realized how much had been happening behind the scenes during the loop, completely without his personal involvement. During his previous trips through, Crusch and Wilhelm had already been preparing to fight the White Whale, even while Subaru was off in his own little world. Subaru had a rude awakening when he finally realized it after all that time.

  He’d caused them trouble on three different occasions. He wondered if there was anything he could do to help.

  “Hey, if there’s anything I can…”

  “Ehh, Subawu, there’s nothing at all you can do, is there, meow?”

  “Hey, I said if!”

  Subaru, swept up by the busy atmosphere, was on the verge of offering some kind of help, but Ferris, concealing a yawn with a hand over his face, foiled Subaru’s half-hearted attempt.

  “Don’t assume other people share your laid-back attitude. Even I must have something I can…”

  “Preparing supplies and organizing troops are both outside your areas of expertise, aren’t they, Subawu? And we can’t have outsiders running all around, so sit and behave, okay?”

  “Well, I can’t do that. It’s just that I’m the one who said ‘let’s do this’ and everyone else is working into the dead of night while I’m…”

  “That’s where you’re dead wrong!”

  With Subaru all worked up, Ferris thrust a finger into the tip of his nose, interrupting with some terse words. Forced into silence, Subaru yelped as Ferris flicked his nose as he spoke.

  “Ferri really doesn’t like that it’s-my-fault way of thinking. Or rather, I hate it.”

  “…I really am the reason why they’re pulling an all-nighter, though.”

  It seemed strange for him to blithely sit around and quietly wait for the results.

  “—Nowadays everything’s all about the royal selection, but way back when, Crusch was just a normal, adorable princess without any thoughts of participating in kingdom politics.”

  “Huh?”

  “Ah, did the princess part throw you off? She’s always looked lovely, but Lady Crusch has become so strong and gallant since then that even men can’t keep up…”

  Subaru, bewildered by the topic’s sudden onset, felt left behind as Ferris’s cheeks flushed. Ferris let out a flustered sigh, swooning at the image of the young Crusch in the back of his mind as he continued.

  “Lady Crusch is kind, wonderful, and invincible, earnest and valiant and more forthright than anyone…but the reason Lady Crusch turned into this Lady Crusch, strong enough to aim for the throne, is because she was at a certain someone’s side.”

  “What are you talkin’ about? And what do you mean, a certain someone…?”

  “—His Highness Fourier Lugunica. This nation’s late fourth prince.”

  Subaru, completely lost in this conversation, drew in his breath just a bit at Ferris’s words. But he had more reasons for being at a loss for words than surprise at the name of a dead person he never knew.

  “”

  The fleeting, sad look on Ferris’s face when he spoke the name had grabbed his attention.

  His smile included a feeling of nostalgia and loneliness but, somehow, also a faint measure of pride. Even keeping his gender in mind, it was a beautiful sight that left Subaru short of breath.

  “Watching you, Subawu, makes me remember Prince Fourier just a tiny little bit.”

  “…Was he someone with a mean-looking face?”

  “Nah, he was handsome. You’re not even in his league, Subawu. But the willful personality, the simplicity, the pure, blatant conceit… Well, I won’t say any more, since it might insult him.”

  “I think that’s already pretty insulting—and also a backhanded slap at me, too?!”

  Apparently, it was their shared character flaws rather than similar faces that had gotten Ferris all sentimental. Sadly, Subaru couldn’t deny any of them, but Ferris shook his head at Subaru’s words.

  “Prince Fourier was a confounding man to deal with, but he tried his very b
est. He always worried about how to act properly as a royal, and his inspirations caused all kinds of trouble for those around him. The prince wasn’t talented, but he was full of drive, and he’d always listen to anything you wanted to ask him, meow.”

  “…Sounds like a pretty difficult guy to handle.”

  “That’s right! He’d say, ‘When everyone is working so hard, I simply cannot bear to be the only one standing still!’ Exactly like you are now, Subawu. But His Highness would never, ever say anything like, ‘’Tis my fault.’ He wasn’t someone to consider it, or even to think it at all.”

  The strained smile Ferris wore as his reminiscing words trailed off showed how much he cared for the prince. Was that really such an important person? Subaru wondered, before it finally dawned upon him.

  The fourth prince of the Kingdom of Lugunica meant this Fourier person they were speaking about had died in the plague that became the impetus for the royal selection.

  And if he was the reason why Crusch was aiming for the throne, that would mean—

  “So this Prince Fourier and Crusch were…close?”

  “They were similar in age, and Prince Fourier visited Lady Crusch’s mansion a great deal. He’d drop in here and there, making an excuse every time, but he was bad at hiding things, so his real goal was obvious.”

  Ferris made a little smile as he cast his thoughts back in time, clueing Subaru in to how Fourier felt.

  Ferris and Crusch’s relationship went beyond that of mere lord and servant or man and woman. But for that Fourier person to be included in that relationship was no doubt very important to Ferris.

  The relationship between the three was probably very special, and very precious.

  “Ninety-five percent of the Ferri you see now is all because of Lady Crusch. But the most important part of that remaining five percent is thanks to Prince Fourier… That, I’m sure of.”

  The way Ferris gently lowered his eyes and put a hand to his chest as he spoke gave Subaru an odd feeling deep inside. Until then, he’d been firmly convinced that Ferris had never opened his heart to anyone besides Crusch. He thought it might be the healer’s experience related to life and death that let Ferris dole out looks cruel enough to give people chills.

  But when Ferris spoke of how he remembered Fourier, there was not even the tiniest trace of that.

  “But what, you feel friendliness from me that’s the same as what you felt from this Fourier person?”

  “Hah? Why does that make Subawu and Fourier the same? I’ll kill you.”

  “That’s so mean it’s scary!”

  The sharp, impaling voice and dangerous look in his eyes made Subaru retreat a step, unnerved. Seeing this, Ferris cleared his throat.

  “That’s not how I meant it… I’m not going out of my way to talk to you about this right now because of that, Subawu… Aw, sheesh! Why don’t you understand already, idiot!”

  “Hey, that’s not even the tiniest bit reasonable! The conversation jumped everywhere, so I didn’t get it! What do you want from me, anyway?!”

  Ferris stomped his foot on the floor in annoyance, with Subaru still cringing as a loud voice responded:

  “Subaru, Master Felix, you are both speaking rather loudly, is something wrong?”

  Rem, ostensibly packing luggage in the guest room, heard the ruckus and came down the stairs. Seeing the worried look on Rem’s face, Subaru scratched his head, unsure how he ought to explain things.

  “Er, I was thinking that maybe I could help out with something, but Ferris was saying I’d be in the way, and now I’m not even sure what he was trying to tell me.”

  “Subawu, you’re just awful at putting things together. Sheesh, I tried to tell you… It’s all because you tried to get in the way of everyone’s work…”

  “Don’t call it ‘getting in the way’! I wanna help. I mean, all this started because of me…”

  “It’s that!”

  Ferris lifted his face, powerfully interrupting Subaru’s meandering words. Then, the cat ears on his head made a little twitch as he poked a finger into Subaru’s chest.

  “Subawu, I hate how you say ‘because of.’ It’s not ‘because of,’ it’s ‘thanks to.’ That’s why everyone’s pulling an all-nighter and why Old Man Wil finally has a chance to fight the White Whale.”

  “Thanks to me…?”

  Subaru quizzically tilted his head at words that didn’t seem real to him. But Rem, standing close by, smiled at Subaru, agreeing with Ferris’s satisfaction.

  “Competing in the royal selection, fighting the White Whale… It’s not really for Lady Crusch’s own benefit. It’s for everyone.”

  With Subaru cowed into silence, Ferris continued on.

  “Hunting down the White Whale is Old Man Wil’s fondest wish. Apparently, he wasn’t able to be at his wife’s side when the White Whale took her, the previous Sword Saint.”

  “The previous Sword Saint…”

  “To take his revenge, Old Man Wil chased after the White Whale like he had a death wish. Without anything concrete to go on, it was a lot like trying to grab mist with your hand. He recorded the places the White Whale appeared, the time of day, the weather… For that, we went all over the place, testing different hypotheses, and finally, he figured out that there’s something like an order to it.”

  Subaru wondered just how deep Wilhelm’s vindictiveness ran.

  Everyone knew of, and feared, the Demon Beast of Mist, a mighty foe in no small part due to how everything about the creature was shrouded in mystery—and yet, all alone, this elderly man continued to struggle against that being.

  “But when he finally figured it out, no one would believe a word he said.”

  So the aged swordsman had spent night after night nursing his desire for vengeance as he pored over tomes with bloodshot eyes. Yet, when his fervor finally turned up a tangible lead, no one had the power to act on it—

  “The kingdom’s wounds from the Great Expedition still run deep. With the throne vacant, there wasn’t anyone who could help Old Man Wil. No one had the will to fight the White Whale, or the resources to spare… I think Old Man Wil was probably on the verge of despair when he couldn’t find anyone to cooperate with him.”

  Wilhelm had yearned for vengeance, yet he could not even crawl to the foot of his hated foe.

  Subaru knew the despair that came from crushing helplessness, for weakness was a sin that he himself couldn’t escape.

  “It seems like he thought about leaving behind everything and everyone he knew to fight the White Whale completely alone. I think his shame from not fighting it was outweighing the fact that he couldn’t win—men really are idiots. His wife wouldn’t have wanted him to do that, I’m sure of it.”

  “I suppose not…”

  Yes, it was Rem, silent to that point, who agreed with Ferris.

  Rem touched a hand to her own chest as she gently glanced at Subaru with her pale-blue eyes.

  “I want the person I love to be happy forever. Even if I am gone, I want to be remembered with a smiling face.”

  “…It’s way too soon to talk about remembrances, y’know.”

  Subaru couldn’t help turning down Rem’s sentimental words. He reached out with his hand and gave Rem’s head a tiny poke, then gently touched her with his palm and caressed her.

  Rem fondly narrowed her eyes at Subaru’s open outburst of emotion.

  “Then, it was Lady Crusch who approached Master Wilhelm?”

  Ferris nodded, averting his face with a distant look in his eyes.

  “That’s because Lady Crusch is truly kind at heart. She’ll reach out to someone drowning in grief and despair, or speak to a person everyone’s turned their backs to, and she’ll help anyone who wants to take care of someone precious to them— She’d say, ‘That’s what His Highness would do.’”

  For a moment, Ferris closed his eyes; then, he lifted his face with a normal expression on it, sticking out his tongue.

  “All right, weird talk
over. It was a long talk, but the point is, Subawu, you don’t need to brood over this one itsy bit! Besides, it’s not like we’re doing any of this for your sake, anyway! No one’s as interested in you as much as you think they are!”

  “Maybe you were trying to hide your embarrassment or something, but that was actually mean!”

  “It is all right, Subaru. I am very interested in you. If this is what others think of you, then my feelings are ten times stronger.”

  “That’s scary, too!”

  After Ferris’s harsh statement came Rem’s very different follow-up. Buffeted by both, Subaru nonetheless tried to understand the core of what they were telling him.

  “Man, that was a convoluted conversation…”

  “That ‘oh, now I understand’ attitude really annoys me, meow. Hmph, that’s Subawu for you.”

  “All that said…your tongue is somewhat too glib, Ferris.”

  “Meow?!”

  Though he had adopted a blunt demeanor, Ferris jumped in surprise at the voice that suddenly came from behind. Anxiously, he looked back to see an aged gentleman standing behind him, arms folded.

  Wilhelm’s sharp stare seemed to make Ferris shrink.

  “I cannot say it is a good hobby to speak excessively of a man’s shame to others?”

  “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, meow. It’s like a Ferri-style literary deconstruction of Old Man Wil’s character?”

  Ferris brought his fingers from both hands together and stuck his tongue out in a flirty pose. For all the world, he seemed like a pretty, adorable, cat-eared girl, but sadly, he was very much a guy.

  Of course, that sex appeal was unlikely in the extreme to work on Wilhelm.

  “At any rate, do not prattle so much about a person without his permission.”

  “Gooot it.”

  Curtly dressed down, Ferris’s shoulders drooped as he meekly backed away. It was just like Ferris to bid them farewell, only to slip in a wink at the end.

  But it was Subaru whose mental state was in chaos. Having unintentionally heard all the details about Wilhelm’s past, he couldn’t help feeling guilty.