Volume 4, 86 [Against All Odds]

Volume 4, Chapter 86 [Against All Odds]

Subaru was so stunned by what had just happened that he all but forgot about the pain of being punched.

Toppled across the ground, he looked up to find Otto glaring at him. On that usually pathetic, dead-pan, definitely-not-intensely-emotional face, there was a definite, blazing fury in his eyes.

Otto Suwen’s eyes were looking down on Subaru, full of rage.

[Otto: You don’t know what to do, and your head’s all messed up]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Otto: When you’re in a place where you need help, when the strength of your own arms and mind aren’t nearly enough, all you do is frantically scramble around accomplishing nothing but wasting time, isn’t it?]

Saying this to the silent Subaru, step by step, Otto drew closer.

On his hands and knees, paralyzed on the ground and feeling the heat swelling on his left cheek, all Subaru could do was stare at Otto.

[Otto: Your silence means you aren’t denying it, then. At least in our world, getting yourself trapped is about the lowest you can go. ――You hear me?]

Otto reached his hand to the speechless Subaru and hoisted him up by the collar,

[Otto: If you hear me, say something!]

[Subaru: ――――!]

A sharp, solid impact rammed into Subaru’s forehead, sending sparks flying.

Feeling the world spinning before his eyes, Subaru realized that he had taken a headbutt from Otto. Then again, another headbutt sent him flying backwards.

With his forehead and cheekbone aching, Subaru was shoved stumbling backwards. Naturally, no one could be expected to just sit there and take it――

[Subaru: The hell’re you doing......!?]

[Otto: Oh, so you were conscious when I beat you just now? I was pretty sure I was roughing up someone asleep, you know]

[Subaru: What’re y――!?]

Tearing up from the second headbutt straight to the nose, Subaru lashed back in rage, trying to grab Otto. But Otto slipped aside from Subaru’s reaching arms and violently swept out his legs from under him, sending him tumbling to the ground.

[Subaru: Gha!?]

[Otto: Just when your head’s getting some blood-flow, you’ve left your footing unattended. Isn’t that’s just like you, Natsuki-san, pathetic]

[Subaru: Oh...... you think!?]

Springing to his feet, Subaru threw the fistful of dirt he had grabbed on the way down straight at Otto’s face. But, having read his movements, Otto guarded his face with his arm and quickly closed in before Subaru could react. Just like that, in the time it took to gulp, Otto had place one hand on the back of Subaru’s collar and the other on his waist and tossed him.

Slamming back-first into the ground, Subaru bounced off of the impact, choking from the pain.

Even though the ground was thick with dead leaves where he landed, that didn’t absorb half of the shock.

Gasping, with numbness running all the way to the ends of his limbs, Subaru couldn’t get up again.

[Otto: Resorting to dirty tricks as usual, Natsuki-san? Too bad they don’t work on me once I see them coming]

[Subaru: .......Ghh, khha]

[Otto: See, Natsuki-san? This is what your strength amounts to. You’ll never reach the level of the Knights or Roswaal-sama, nevermind Garfiel. Even against me, you end up like this]

Watching Subaru desperately sucking oxygen into his convulsing lungs, Otto shook his head with exasperation as he prodded him with these words.

Walking over to the helpless Subaru’s side, Otto drew his face closer,

[Otto: Picking fights with the White Whale and the Witch Cult was stupid. You’re weak, and you wouldn’t have lasted a second in a straight-up fight. Surely, you understand this]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Otto: So, were you going to compensate for your lack of strength with wits? From what I’ve seen, there is a bit of cleverness about you...... but certainly no above-average judgement or decision-making abilities. Even your common sense is lacking]

Not sure what Otto was trying to say, irritation began showing through Subaru’s ragged breaths.

By now, the convulsions of his lungs, the shock of being thrown, and the pain on his forehead and cheek had somewhat faded. In their place, what accompanied his returning calm was only confusion regarding the true intention behind Otto’s words.

Looking down into Subaru’s black, non-understanding eyes, Otto continued,

[Otto: Both your strength and wits are lacking, and if there’s anything else that can compensate...... well, there really isn’t anything. You’re small, your reach is short, you’re the kind of person that can be found anywhere. You are just a commonplace nobody, and yet you’re aiming for these disproportionately great things]

[Subaru: What...’re you...... even trying to say?]

[Otto: You know that you’re powerless and weak, so what’s the backup plan you came up with? It’s to corner yourself even further, whittling yourself down trying to pull something out of nothing...... I finally understand how Patrasche-chan feels]

[Subaru: Patrasche......?]

Hearing the name of his ground dragon, Subaru’s eyes widened in surprise.

Patrasche. The black ground dragon who got herself injured to save a master who didn’t even know why she would do such a thing for him, who had taught him so much and to whom he owed so much―― who was so utterly wasted on Subaru,

Now Otto was saying that he understood how she felt.

While Subaru lay there, blinking, Otto stuck his fingers through his grey hair, and, with thorns in his voice, [So, you see], he continued,

[Otto: It’s fine to show off in front of the girl you have a crush on. That’s a necessary vanity, and I’ll respect that. I suppose it’s inevitable that you’ll be boasting things that are way out of your calibre. So I’ll be willing to overlook that]

That would be Emilia. And the way Subaru acts in front of Emilia.

[Otto: And I’ll forgive you for showing off in front of the girl who has a crush on you. Again, that’s necessary. When love’s involved, I believe the one on the receiving end carries a certain responsibility too. So it’s important to be putting on airs when you’re around someone who loves you, and I can forgive you for that]Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

That would be Rem. Once, Subaru had told Otto the exact same thing. That he wanted to show off in front of Rem, because she was a girl who loved him.

[Otto: But, that’s where you stop]

With this, Otto stuck his face even closer.

Subaru shrunk up his shoulders in anticipation of another headbutt, but Otto went on, practically snarling,

[Otto: You know that you’re lacking. You know that you’re insufficient. You want to show off to the girl you like. And you want to be something that the girl who likes you could be proud of]

[Subaru ――――]

[Otto: So, to make up for the parts that you don’t want those girls to see, shouldn’t you be enlisting some help from others? ――Say, from a friend?]

Pulling his face away, Otto said the last part holding his palm to his own chest.

[Subaru: Haa...]

Listening to those words, Subaru let out a small sigh.

Honestly, for a moment, Subaru thought something along the lines of [Yeah, you’re right].

With those parts left out, the foundations were definitely a bit shaky. Even Subaru himself felt that the connections between everything were way too vague.

And so he was pretty on edge to see what Otto’s reaction would be. Although Otto had promised to say “I believe you” at the end, just what would he actually think about everything he said just now?

[Otto: Natsuki-san......]

[Subaru: ............]

After a long silence spent in thought, Otto dropped his folded arms and looked at Subaru. Seeing himself reflected in Otto’s green pupils, Subaru unwittingly held his breath.

What’s he going to say first? Subaru could hear his own heart pounding.

And, to this stiffened Subaru,

[Otto: There’s no way I can pretend I didn’t hear any of that and just run away, is there?]

[Subaru: Wh――haa!?]

Subaru yelped, thrown off by that off-kilter reply. But Otto shouted right over Subaru’s yelp with, [After all!],

[Otto: We’re trapped in this place with the Great Rabbit approaching, the only way to get out is if Emilia-sama breaks through the Trials, if we try leaving with just the people not affected by the Barrier we’ll get stopped by Mr.Clueless there, and even if we make it back to the Mansion we’ll get murdered by an assassin hired by the owner of the Mansion....... What kind of a situation is this!?]

[Subaru: That’s what I wanna know! Why do I have to be herded into a stupid ridiculous situation like this!? I mean I already knew it, but is this how much Kami-sama hates me!? Well, I hate him too!!]

If there really is a God of Fate, there is no doubt that god really hates Subaru. And since Subaru didn’t think he did anything atrocious to actually deserve this, it was just plain unfair.

But cursing the Gods wasn’t going to move this situation anywhere nor make things any easier. And, even before that,

[Subaru: Wait, Otto. I can see why you wanna flip out right now, but...... you mean you actually believe all those crazy things I said?]

[Otto: ――――]

[Subaru: That these bloodthirsty Mabeasts are coming, that even if we wanna run we don’t know if Emilia’ll succeed or not, that Garfiel’ll get in our way, and that Roswaal’s already betrayed us for his bat-shit insane ideas...... you really believe all that?]

Saying it out loud again, it just sounded like a list of unfortunate situations all bunched up into one.

In particular, the approaching Great Rabbit and Roswaal masterminding the attacks on the Mansion were all without any proof whatsoever. Those were the two most important parts, and Subaru had nothing he could use to convince anyone.

For the Great Rabbit, how could Subaru possibly predict the movements of Mabeasts when almost everyone in the world had already been trying?

As for Roswaal, why would he be plotting against Emilia, the candidate he is backing in the Royal Selection?

None of this Subaru could explain.

[Otto: Natsuki-san]

Otto briefly closed his eyes before addressing Subaru’s question.

He raised a single finger, and,

[Otto: I’ve been to quite a few places up to now, and I might not look like it, but I’ve interacted with all sorts of people on the way]

[Subaru: ......Unless, you can tell if someone’s trustworthy just by looking at them?]

[Otto: No, I don’t believe in that kind of superstition. When you’re a merchant, you’ll come to learn very quickly that there are people who can lie to anyone without a single cloud in their eyes. I’ve had more than my share of experience in that regard]

He’s bragging about it, but doesn’t that just mean Otto has been duped enough times for him to have learned his lesson?However, deciding that this was too important a conversation to stick that quip in there, Subaru kept his mouth shut and allowed Otto to continue,

[Otto: Well, after meeting all those people, I’ve also learned to do business in my own sort of way. It’s been four years since I left home and, for better or for worse, I survived]

Otto made it sound simple, but it probably wasn’t an easy road.

He too must’ve been thrown into life or death situations more than a few times.

In this world, where one could run into the White Whale just by crossing a field, it’s not hard to imagine the kind of dangers a travelling merchant would have to face. Stray dogs, burglars, those kinds of things.

[Otto: And so, day after day like this, I’ve managed to make a life for myself as a merchant...... and I can confidently say that, up to now, I’ve always picked the side that was favored by the odds. Though things don’t always turn out the way I’d hope...... and there were times when what I thought was the winning side turned out to be unmitigated disasters and were never heard from again...]

[Subaru: Oy, oy, oy......]

[Otto: But, regardless of the outcomes, I’ve always tried to make choices that I don’t end up regretting. When I’m putting myself on the line, I think it’s obvious why that’s necessary]

Subaru still couldn’t exactly tell what Otto’s criteria is, but it sounded like he always picked the side with the best chances.

Hoping to establish a connection with Roswaal, Otto had accompanied Subaru to the Sanctuary with his personal advancements in mind. In that sense, Otto behaved like a realist, through and through.

That’s why Subaru figured that Otto would have no reason to listen to his baseless words without the slightest hope of――

[Otto: And so, this is a first, Natsuki-san]

[Subaru: ――Huh?]

Not sure what he was saying, Subaru only stared at Otto with his mouth gaping open.

And, seeing this, with a stupidly cheerful expression,

[Otto: Going against all odds and joining the side with no visible chance of success is definitely a first for me]

Otto stated his decision.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Running as fast as his legs could carry him. Out of breath.

Chasing his bolting heart across the meadow, without a second to lose, Subaru’s body was shrouded in wind.

Slicing through the crisp morning air, making great swings of his arms, he sprinted, step after leaping step.

Kicking up soil, trampling over rocks, he dashed straight along the shoddy path.

At last, the destined building entered his field of view.

His cheeks twisting with unwitting exhilaration, Subaru bared his teeth. Huffing like a dog with his tongue sticking out, he bounded for the building’s entrance, reaching for the door.

And,

[Subaru: ――ROSWAAL!]

Violently flinging it open, Subaru tumbled into the building. Through the entryway and past the adjacent living room, he shoved open the flimsy door with nearly enough force to break it.

Inside, were Roswaal, sitting up on the bed, and Ram, diligently tending to him, while their expressions were painted over with surprise.

It was rare to get such a startled reaction from the usually carefree Roswaal and the always brazenly unemotive Ram.

And, since Subaru was about to do something never done before, that would be a good omen.

Counting on their surprise to be the winds of his good fortune, Subaru jutted out his finger at the speechless master and servant, and,

[Subaru: ――Let’s make a bet. With your wish and mine as the chips]

-=Chapter 86 End=-