Volume 4 - CH 31.3

[Frederica: Since the Master hasn’t returned, it would seem that the Trials haven’t ended yet?]

After leaving Rem’s bedroom, the two of them moved to the drawing room.

Placing a steaming cup of amber-colored tea in front of Subaru, Frederica sat down across from him and opened with these words. Receiving the cup, Subaru nodded [Yeah] as he stirred his tea with a spoon,

[Subaru: You sure got straight to the point. ――So, don’t you feel a little guilty about knowing all that inside information and yet giving us so little when you sent us off?]

[Frederica: I won’t make excuses. After all, it is true that I did not tell you everything about the Sanctuary and the Trials and that no-good little brother of mine]

Frederica’s detached tone did not seem to be carrying any sense of guilt about that fact. However, he couldn’t say for certain that she was entirely without remorse. Perhaps, she was merely suppressing such feelings and pretending to be without emotions so as not to reveal the contents of her heart.

It was the same with Ram―― but considering the lengths of time he had gotten to know them, it was far more difficult to tell with Frederica.

[Subaru: As I said back in the room, there’re all sorts of things I want to ask you…… Can I expect to get answers to all of them?]

[Frederica: ……I don’t imagine I would be able to meet such expectations. Since the Sanctuary is not yet liberated, I am still bound by my contract to the Master. As long as I must abide by that contract, there is a limit to what facts I can convey to Subaru-sama]

[Subaru: Contracts again…… it’s the same with everybody here]

Subaru pressed a hand to his forehead and felt an especially bitter sense of disappointment.

As much as he wanted to raise his voice and scream that contracts could be interpreted more freely, when he remembered his promise to Emilia, he realized he couldn’t bring himself to force anyone else to break theirs.

[Subaru: What if I were to ask you about the details of your contract?]

[Frederica: I’m sorry. As long as the contract exists between Roswaal-sama and myself, the information I can reveal is limited. ――I’m afraid that is all I could say on that subject]

[Subaru: There’s no new information at all. Damn it, that asshole always has to do these baffling things. Looks like this time I’ll have no choice but to treat him as an enemy from now on]

Clicking his tongue at the culprit responsible for this disappointing reality, Subaru tried to pull himself together by taking a sip of his tea. He could still only taste leaves, but after drinking them over and over, Subaru could already distinguish the expensive leaves from those that are not. ――And his tongue told him that these were expensive leaves.

[Subaru: This may not be the right occasion, but…… Frederica, you originally came from the Sanctuary, and you’re Garfiel’s older sister, right? Or you can’t even tell me that much?]

[Frederica: No, that is not a problem. What you said is…… correct. Although, more accurately, I am not from the Sanctuary, but only grew up there. However, since I have lived in the Sanctuary from as early as I could remember, it would not be incorrect to put it that way]

[Subaru: Not from the Sanctuary…… that’s what Lewes-san said as well. Sounds like Roswaal likes to bring half-bloods to live there, huh?]

In the dragon carriage on the road home, Lewes, who tagged along, had mentioned this.

Back then, because of Lewes’ refusal, he didn’t manage to get to the true intentions behind Roswaal’s actions, but,

[Subaru: Half-bloods can’t pass through the Barrier, so bringing them in is basically the same as imprisoning them there, isn’t it? Then why would he do such a thing…… and the people there, despite knowing that they’re being imprisoned, they……]

They didn’t seem to be particularly upset and instead appeared to be living peaceful lives there.

At least, they didn’t seem to be people who had been forcefully dragged in and trapped, nor were there any signs of outrage at their treatment in the course of their daily lives.

In other words, it was as though they had accepted their lives within the Sanctuary. ――Could there be some significance to that?

[Frederica: Subaru-sama, do you know about the Demihuman War?]

[Subaru: ……Demihuman War. If it’s just the word, I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before]

If he sieved through his memories to the very beginning, he must have heard that word two or three times before. Subaru remembered being struck with the impression that that name more or less conveyed the basics of what had occurred.

[Frederica: If you wish to unravel the purpose of the Sanctuary’s existence and Roswaal-sama’s considerations, we would first have to talk a bit about the Demihuman War]

Saying this, she stood up and walked to the back of the drawing room. Sensing Subaru’s gaze trailing behind her, Frederica picked up a box from the table in the back of the room, and,

[Frederica: Don’t be so alarmed, I am merely getting some confectionaries]

Revealing a slight smile on the corners of her lips, she returned and set down the box in front of Subaru.

Laid out inside, were assorted sweets unique to this world which he had only tasted on extremely rare occasions in Roswaal’s Mansion.

While Subaru looked back and forth between the treats and the face of the girl who presented them,

[Frederica: Since it will be a long and tiresome story, please enjoy, and bear with me]