Arc 5 – 37, 'Regroup”

Arc 5 – Chapter 37, “Regroup”

A distant, distant echo.

Unfamiliar voices. Or were they familiar voices?

Were they masculine? Feminine? Did they come from above or below? Everything about that was unknown.

???: “——”

An angry voice. And a sighing voice.

And also something like an accusing voice. And was that a crying voice?

Sound.

A waterfall of sound poured down, its rough waves an ensnaring whirlpool.

As if someone had been kind enough to answer a question deeply rooted in his heart. His turbid identity was swept away, lost to the tides.

Hands and feet, head, bottom, chest, back. Melting, mixing, blending together.

Even his own existence, incomprehensible as it was, was swallowed up by the waterfall of sound, flowing away as if lost forever.

All he knew was the black haze that swallowed the world he could perceive.

It was thus that he realized that the dark haze was disintegrating his body, allowing it no form of resistance, ushering in a steady end.

But an untieable knot was, at this very moment, resisting that erosion.

Even being dismantled, even being shriveled, even being denied, that knot refused to shrink back.

By no means had all of him succumbed to the haze in his body, by no means had all of him surrendered to that dark battlefield.

And finally, finally...

???: “——”

The first noise that flooded into his ears was someone’s enraged roar.

While hearing that sharp voice, he opened his eyes to be greeted by a white ceiling. At the same time, he realized that he was lying spread eagled on a hard surface.

???: “—useless!”

His newly regained consciousness brought that angry cursing in with a clearly sound.

It seemed to encompass an outbreak of feelings, and was displayed with some specific action. He heard the distinct sound of a hand slapping against skin.

???: “Stop it! You should understand that the responsibility for that blame doesn’t lie with anyone here.”

???: “Shut up! I don’t want to hear those empty platitudes! An outsider shouldn’t interrupt!”

Accusatory voices and unquenchable anger.

From what he could hear, allies seemed to be arguing in a spacious room. He stretched out his left hand, trying to support himself with the wall as he got up.

But, halfway through, a nail encountered his skull, and his breathing suddenly stopped. His eyes felt as if they were sticks of combusting dynamite, and his field of vision was suddenly stained a vivid blood red.

As the impact of the pain ravaged him, he finally pulled his upper body upright, taking in the scene of the quarrel.

—Three men and women quarreled in the middle of a room... or, rather, all three of them were men.

A tearful Ferris was hitting Wilhelm with his fists, while a desperate Julius tried to stop him. The sound that he had just heard was the voice of Ferris fanning to the cheek of Wilhelm. The red-faced old man had bowed his head in shame.

Wilhelm: “From the bottom of my heart, I apologize.”

Ferris: “At least give an excuse! Give me a reason that I can accept it! Just your apology is useless!”

Julius: “Ferris, you’re creating a pointless commotion! Calm down! Can’t you see that Wilhelm-sama is incredibly remorseful?”

Ferris: “Remorse...!? What’s remorse going to do? Useless! Pointless! Everybody, everybody... why this hell is this...? Why couldn’t you all think to rescue Crusch-sama!?”

Ferris exploded toward Wilhelm and Julius with another fit of rage, but almost immediately sank to the floor, defeated and weak.

And as the crying Ferris issued a condemnation, the two men could say nothing. Ferris slammed his gloved hands on the ground contemptuously.

Ferris: “Am I supposed to be Blue? ... I can’t even do anything right now... useless, useless, useless useless useless...”

Ferris sobbed as he continued to curse angrily.

This time, however, his anger was directed at himself.

That was another option he could take. After all, no one could interfere with the lament he’d directed toward himself.

Julius: “——”

Ferris’s sobs and Julius’s sighs intertwined. Wilhelm remained silent. The crushing atmosphere shrouded the room around them.

Garfiel: “Yo, Captain. Finally up?”

Garfiel appeared in the doorless doorway, spotting Subaru, who the other three had missed. Julius followed Garfiel’s gaze and noticed the awakened Subaru, wearing an expression of relief.

Julius: “Excellent. Ferris, Subaru’s finally awake.”

Ferris: “...right.”

At Julius’s call, Ferris swiped at his face with his sleeve as he stood. His disgraceful attitude

vanished as he examined Subaru’s body before firmly fixing his eyes on Subaru’s.

Ferris: “Well, you seem to be fine. Your mind is clear, right? Do you know your name and place of birth?”

Subaru: “I’m Natsuki Subaru, from Japan.”

Ferris: “A hometown I’ve never heard of... I was born in Crusch-sama’s territories.”

Ferris’s expression revealed that he believed Subaru’s answer to be a pointless joke. He stood and immediately turned to leave. No one was willing to throw accusatory words at him, and so everyone watched in silence.

Only Wilhelm chased after Ferris. Before he left, the elderly man turned to give Subaru a ceremonious bow.

After the two left, the tense atmosphere in the room finally thinned.

But, at the same time, another oppressive feeling grew stronger and stronger.

Garfiel: “Captain, even if y’can get up, ya shouldn’t be forcin’ yerself t’do anythin’ right now.”

Subaru: “...those are my lines, you look like you’re in terrible shape.”

Leaning against the wall, Garfiel greeted Subaru, who responded to the haggard looking teenager with his own greeting.

His cheeks and blond hair were saturated with blood, and his clothing was torn in too many places to count. His pallor was just as awful as when he’d first carried Mimi to the shelter.

As he considered this, Subaru’s own sluggish thoughts finally caught up.

Subaru: “We’re alive, huh.”

Garfiel: “Right. My amazin’ self and Captain survived, so that’s all good ‘n well, but we can’t even celebrate it. Fuck!”

Affirming Subaru’s mutter, Garfiel grinded his teeth down bitterly.

As he watched Garfiel, Subaru once again confirmed his own survival — that is, he understood that Return by Death hadn’t triggered, and that he hadn’t witnessed the end of this struggle in the City Hall.

Of course, since he was still alive, he had to have been rescued, but...”

Subaru: “What’s going on in the City Hall? How did I get here?”

Julius: “We’re still in the City Hall right now. The Witch Cult conceded it, and we took back our target. Looking just at that result, we could call the operation a success, but...”

Julius knelt next to Subaru as he began to answer his questions.

Upon closer inspection, the Knight of Knights looked awful. His hair was uncharacteristically messy, and his face and neck were covered with wounds. His knight’s uniform was also dirtied with blood, bringing no peace of mind.

But, most importantly, his normally graceful features were currently twisted with remorse and humiliation.

Julius: “First and foremost, it’s good to see you up again. If anything had happened to you, we would have lost our source of morale.”

Subaru: “... don’t say useless shit like that. What happened? The Witch Cult chose to abandon the building, exactly how did that come about?”

Julius: “As we’ve established, the Witch Cult abandoned the building, and we took back the City Hall. But the hostages that were turned into inhuman things, and the devils who caused all this managed to escape after everything they’d done. This can hardly be called a good result.”

Compared to the anxious Subaru, Julius stated the situation in mellow tones.

However, that stiff tone and those drooping eyes... it was obvious that Julius was explaining their circumstances with irrefutable indignation in his voice.

And, Subaru couldn’t ignore what he’d just been told.

Subaru: “Inhuman things, meaning...”

Julius: “You should have seen that unending, nightmarish sight when you were on the upper floor.”

Shaking his head, Julius affirmed that cruel reality.

Subaru vividly remembered the shiny red compound eyes and the sound of the wings desperately beating out a cry for help. His nausea was held in check by the knowledge that they’d been looking to him, another human, for aid.

His heart seemed to tighten with a pain that was neither truly sympathy nor fear.

The Witch Cult’s Sin Archbishop of Lust, Capella, was a truly despicable monster who trampled freely on human dignity and values, all while spitting her brand of ridicule.

What that monster played with was neither the human spirit nor the human heart, but something even more sacred.

Julius: “The entire square, from the highest floor to the exterior premises. After our division of labor to gain time, the Witch Cult had too much of an upper hand.... They could have easily, little by little, killed us all. The reason why that didn’t happened was your keen judgment and the black dragon who fought his hardest.”

Subaru: “My... judgment?”

Julius: “The conversation mirror was activated before you made a move on the top floor, and, as a result, the status of the City Hall was successfully communicated to Anastasia and Ferris. The prompt arrival of our reinforcements, the Iron Fang and Ferris, was all due to your actions.”

Subaru: “Did you think those kinds of words would bring me comfort?”

Julius: “...that wasn’t my intent. I was merely stating the truth. Facts, as it were.”

Subaru was irritated by Julius’s poised answer. However, Julius’s cold reply was also evidence that he himself wasn’t calm either.

Confirming that neither’s mental state was great, Subaru took a deep breath.

Subaru: “One more thing about what you said just now, what happened to the black dragon?”

Julius: “This happened on the top floor, so I may not know any more than you do... but Lust’s power is transformation, right? And surprisingly enough, a man who had been turned into a black dragon made his way to the top of the building, even as he was on the verge of death, to battle with Lust. We were only able to save you thanks to him.”

The one who Julius was referring to was no doubt the dragon that Subaru and Crusch had so fiercely attacked.

Since Capella’s power was variation and transformation, then that black dragon was more than likely one of the hostages in the City Hall. And Subaru had disregarded his call for help, abandoning that man.

That bastard Capella had indeed mentioned, while torturing Subaru with her blood, that her own blood was mixed with dragon’s blood.

That hadn’t seemed to be a jest, a bluff, or a lie. And it provided several clues.

Julius: “Blood of the Dragon... does that mean that she received it from the royal family?”

Subaru: “I don’t know of the details, but is there something that convenient really on hand?”

Julius: “It was one of the treasures granted by the contract with the dragon Volcanica, famous for being potent enough to even turn barren soils fertile again.”

Subaru: “The almighty dragon’s blood... I don’t know how relevant it is, or what it implies.”

Considering that Capella had called herself a Lugunica, this was an object of concern, especially, as Wilhelm had said, due to Emerada Lugunica being a real historical figure.

She couldn’t really be of royalty, could she? But the dragon’s blood being mixed with her blood stirred questions.

Julius: “Anyway, it’s good news to know that it might be blood-related, Ferris might be able to help her with that information.”

Subaru: “Ah, that’s right. Let’s hurry...”

Garfiel: “Wait, Captain. Don’t go with him.”

Finally, there was information that may lead to a turnaround.

Subaru wanted to rush to share that information, but Garfiel, arms crossed as he leaned on the wall, had poured a metaphorical bucket of ice cold water over his head. In response to Subaru’s accusatory glare, Garfiel dropped his gaze.

Garfiel: “Captain hasn’t seen it yet, ‘n the fewer people see, th’better.”

Subaru: “...what does that mean?”

Garfiel: “It means what ya think it means. That pretty nee-san won’t like it’f ya see her.”

Garfiel turned away from Subaru’s probing gaze.

Growing increasingly uneasy, Subaru instead turned to Julius, who, like Garfiel, only shook his head.

Julius: “In fact, I’m afraid that Crusch-sama is very much hoping to avoid the gaze of others right now. Because she’s a noble person, so she doesn’t want anyone to see her in such a weakened state.”

Subaru: “Is it... really just because she’s weak right now?”

Julius: “——”

Julius says nothing.

He merely quietly turned his gaze from Subaru. And just that one small action answered everything.

Subaru: “...it’s all my fault.”

Julius: “Subaru, that’s—”

Subaru: “It’s all my fault! I... obviously, I should have known better than anyone else how underhanded they can be! I should have foreseen at least some of this!”

What was happening to Crusch? The more he tried to imagine, the more horrified he became.

And the intense self-reproach those thoughts brought to Subaru... those were a product of his anger at his own incompetence, as well as of their own anger, as well as courage and regret to go to challenge.

The Witch Cultists... Subaru knew of their awful natures, right down to his bone marrow.

And it wasn’t just Petelgeuse. Before entering the City Hall, Subaru met Sirius and Regulus firsthand, in rapid succession. After those encounters, how could he have underestimated Capella?

Was it his arrogance in deciding to fight back even at a disadvantage? This had all happened because of his judgment.

Subaru: “A-All mine...”

???: “—That’s enough. Whether you’re cryin’ or complainin’ it’s really becomin’ quite bothersome, so would ya mind stoppin’?”

Subaru, bearing all the blame, was about to sink deeply into the sea of self-loathing.

At this moment, however, it was not a gentle voice who guided his from those dark thoughts, but a cold, apathetic one which was accompanied by a frigid gaze.

Subaru: “——”

His turned to the the entrance of the large room.

Standing there with her hands clasped together, under the gaze of everyone in the room, was a purple-haired businesswoman with a gentle face.

However, the lethal glare she fixed on Subaru was completely out of character for those gentle features.

Subaru: “Anastasia...”

Anastasia: “I don’t misunderstand disappointment after a defeat on the battlefield, but if all ya do is mope and complain, you’ll disturb those around you like a fool. Even if you do all that, the losses you’ve taken won’t return to ya.”

Anastasia’ reprimands were directed toward Subaru, who had been crushed by defeat.

For a second, Subaru was too stunned to understand. As he began to react, he found his mind swimming with rage, but,

Julius: “Anastasia-sama, please retract your statement. Subaru was the one who had the most direct contact with the sinners of the Witch Cult. Even if he’s moping or sighing...”

Anastasia: “How unlike ya, Julius. You can usually focus on the issue at hand, but right now you’re being so precocious... if you came here just to play with your friends, you might find that Joshua suits you a lil’ better.”

Julius: “......”

Julius, who had attempted to defend Subaru, withered under that frosty sight. Subaru’s white-hot rage cooled somewhat, but he still felt incredibly confused about Anastasia’s attitude.

Then, looking at the antagonized Subaru, Anastasia fiddled with the fox-fur scarf around her neck and spoke to the other two occupants of the room.

Anastasia: “...Hey, Julius, things with Crusch-san seem kinda busy right now, don’t they? Why don’t you see if you can go and help? And, blond child over there, would you mind accompanying him?”

Urging Julius and Garfiel from the room, Anastasia fixed her eyes on Subaru.

If two of the four people in the room left, a confrontation between only Subaru and Anastasia would happen.

Anastasia: “Don’t worry, I won’t do anythin’ untoward.”

Anastasia promised so with a decidedly uncute smile.

Julius bowed and left, and Garfiel trailed behind him, a cautious light in his eyes. Until the very end, he kept his concerned gaze trained on Subaru, before giving him a nod and leaving.

Anastasia: “Garfiel-kun seems to be quite the dutiful boy. Until the very end, his worried gaze was fixed on Natsuki-kun. He seems like he takes good care of people.”

Subaru: “...I’m sure you didn’t get me alone just to gossip.”

Anastasia began quietly chattering about Garfiel as he left. This had happened in a previous interaction, where she’d been intending to catch Subaru off of his guard.

Subaru turned to see Anastasia stroking her hair as she surveyed the half-destroyed room, before lifting a chair and seating herself.

Anastasia: “My, having a leisurely chat like this with Natsuki-kun really takes me back... all the way to the eve of the battle with the White Whale.”

Subaru: “Back then, we were scheming a plan for success. This time, nothing like that is in sight... Even though we recaptured the City Hall, the situation hasn’t improved at all...”

Anastasia: “Yes, nothing has changed. Everything’s gotten worse, and we have no optimal course of action to follow...”

Subaru realized that her carefree voice had, for a second, honed itself into the razor sharp blade of a knife.

He couldn’t help but straighten his back, while Anastasia glanced at his foot.

Anastasia: “Is there no problem with your feet? Last I heard, it had been shredded.”

Subaru: “Fortunately, I can run and jump just find, although this looks kind of gross.”

Anastasia: “Well, being able to run and jump right now is what matters most. After that, there’ll be a lot to do, but until then...”

Anastasia let the conversation drift lightly toward Subaru’s injury, before inhaling sharply.

Subaru realized that she was finally arriving at the point and frowned. She pointed her hand at the ceiling— no, through it.

Anastasia: “Did ya ever end up hearin’ the third broadcast?”

Subaru: “No, I didn’t, what did they say? ... it was probably some kind of request right?”

Anastasia: “Natsuki-kun missed two of the three broadcasts, how careless.”

Anastasia giggled softly, holding a hand to her mouth, and Subaru put on a unhappy pout. Even so, she kept her hand over her mouth, and narrowed her eyes.

Anastasia: ‘The demand that was given— it seems that only Natsuki-kun and I could understand it.”

Subaru: “Only me... and Anastasia-san?”

What exactly did that mean? Subaru’s mind swam with questions.

He’d never felt that they particularly held anything in common. After all, this was their first time engaging in such an interaction.

With such a shallow relationship, what exactly did they...

???: “— My my, Ana, there are times when your manner of speech is demoralizing. Sometimes it ends up only serving to annoy others, you know. Isn’t that exactly the case here?”

Subaru: “——!?”

The voice of a third person suddenly echoed in Subaru’s ears.

This voice belong to neither Subaru nor Anastasia. Instead, it felt lighter and more neutral.

Subaru toured the room with confused eyes, but there was not a single unknown figure in their surroundings. Julius and Garfiel had left, and showed no signs of reapproaching.

Where in the world had that voice come from?

Anastasia: “Ya say that, but don’t ya do the same thing I do? Look at poor Natsuki-kun. He’s in such a chaotic state of confusion right now.”

???: “Oh, that won’t do at all.”

Subaru: “That, who is...!?”

Anastasia spoke to the third voice as if all were natural.

Rather than relieving Subaru’s frenzy, he verged on hyperventilating as he demanded “what’s going on?”

???: “You do seem quite frightened, my apologies.”

Subaru: “——”

His eyes fell upon it.

Suddenly, the owner of the other voice intruded loudly into this scene.

No, that third voice hadn’t intruded. It had been in this room since the very beginning. In fact, it had entered the room with Anastasia.

Echidna: “I’m Echidna. Well, I say that, but what I really am is an artificial spirit.”

Subaru: “Echi—!?”

“It” smiled deftly at Subaru, who was busy being swept away by shock.

Lips curling up on both sides, eyes narrowing slightly. That should... probably, be something like the imitation of a smile.

—Wrapped around Anastasia’s neck, her scarf of what appeared to be faux fox fur beamed. The witch whose name he couldn’t forget had just revealed herself to be a spirit.