Arc 6 – 57, 'Let’s Disregard It For Now”

Arc 6 – Chapter 57, “Let’s Disregard It For Now”

???: “Betty was dragged into this against her will, in fact. But since it was Subaru’s request, it had to be properly answered to, I suppose.”

???: “Master-sama is an invulnerable man, after all. I wasn’t worried or anything. In fact, I was suspecting the possibility of little girl number two going off and exploding the moment she stood behind Master-sama.

Meili: “Ah, uh......”

Upon looking at those faces slowly climbing up the spiral staircase, Meili had her white cheeks go red and tried moving her lips as she stood at a loss for words.

Viewing the changes occuring in Meili from the side, Subaru then raised his hand and said “Hey” to the shadows on the staircase.

Subaru: “Thank you for being on the rear guard. I’m relieved that falling down could be avoided somehow.”

???: “......No matter what Subaru may say, there’s no saying she would’ve been forgiven if you really came down falling, in fact. That is why this is a matter of being lucky, I suppose.”

Snorting her nose, climbing up the staircase holding the hem of her dress was Beatrice. Behind her was also Shaula’s figure, with her hand behind her head, laboriously returning to the fourth layer after having been far down below on the spiral staircase.

Meili: “W-W-Wha...... o-onii-san? Those two, what is the meaning of thi~s......?”

Upon seeing Beatrice and Shaula’s figures, Meili looked back at Subaru in astonishment.

Subaru crossed his arms upon the bewilderment of the young girl who had been unaware of this.

Subaru: “Well, I don’t really know how to word it, but the plan just now was a lot like walking on a tightrope...... I don’t like to think this way, but the pattern of me being pushed by you and just dying had also been quite possible, you know? It turned out all nicely cause I happened to have stylishly caught your arms beforehand.”

Meili: “B-But, onee-san was also keeping a watch over us, no~......?”

Subaru: “Well I also know about Emilia-chan being powerful despite her mad cute looks, so it was for just in case of an emergency. Though it’d be no joke if Emilia-chan also jumped down with me in an effort to save me.”

The truth was, at the very end of where they had been in the past, Subaru had fallen alongside Emilia. He had embraced her, but had been unable to save her. ーーThis had been etched into his heart profoundly.

If the same happened again then Subaru shall surely push Emilia to someplace safe, is what he would like to say, but it could not be helped that his body wouldn’t be able to process any more data when already at its limits.

Subaru: “Why, I simply played this card just to make sure that emergency doesn’t happen. I judged it’d be alright if two people...... Beatrice and Shaula were watching from below.”

He had witnessed that Beatrice was a skilled magician with his own eyes, and when it came to Shaula, the specifics remained unknown but there was no need to confirm that she possessed strength unfitting of her appearance.

No doubt with regards to that, since Subaru had her lift him up just in case when he was requesting them and discussing this plan.

Meili: “Why go so far, there must’ve been much simpler and wiser ways and ye~t.”

Upon hearing Subaru’s explanation, so whispered Meili with a downcast gaze. Her embarrassment for having been seen at a disgraceful spot was fading away, what she felt instead was perhaps the negativity of punishment.

Upon her words, Subaru said “Yeah” as he touched his cheek with a finger.

Subaru: “Just as you said, I think there had been easier and wiser ways. I think so, but......”

Meili: “Think so bu~t......?”

Subaru: “At the level my mind operates on, easiness and compromise are two sides of the same coin, and wiseness is partnered with unfairness. I...... hm, I did not want to resort to compromise and unfairness.”

“ーーーー”

Upon hearing those words, Meili’s eyes somewhat straitened, as she softly bit her lips.

Looking at her with a wry, strained smile, Subaru clenched his fists.

He thought of somehow fixing everything.

He wished to somehow fix everything.

Henceforth, in order to somehow fix everything, he wanted to do everything he was capable of.

Subaru: “That’s why, I didn’t hesitate in asking Emilia and the rest for help.”

Emilia: “Mhm, that’s right. I was also very surprised when Subaru first told me about this.”

So pronounced Emilia, still hugging Meili from behind. She had her chin rest on Meili’s petite shoulder, and glanced up towards Subaru,

Emilia: “But I knew Subaru was rea~lly serious at a single glance. Besides......”Geett the latest novels at novelhall.com

Subaru: “Besides?”

Emilia: “ーーI was happy that Subaru was willing to discuss. Because Subaru always makes preparations to put an end to everything by the time I even take notice.”

Smiling with her eyes upturned, Subaru halted his breath before the young girl with amethyst eyes.

As Subaru stiffened his cheeks, Emilia instead loosened her cheeks and lips, following with a nodded.

Emilia: “That’s why, I was happy that you came asking what to do and allowed us to think alongside this time. Hehe, it’s a bit strange, isn’t it.”

Subaru: “......No point in saying it, but the me who was there until yesterday really pisses me off. No, but since getting to look at this face and hearing this voice is my special privilege, did something rather deserved happen to the me until yesterday......? What do you say, Emilia-chan?”

Emilia: “Sorry. I don’t get what you’re saying.”

Subaru, continuing to smile, blathered and loosened his shoulders.

And, the two who were climbing the staircase below these three finally joined them.

Beatrice: “Once again, it is relieving to know that nothing happened, in fact.”

Subaru: “Nothing happened would be a bit of a faulty expression. Considering tons of reformations occurred within Meili’s consciousness...... so something did happen.”

Shaula: “O~h, as expected of Master-sama! Absolutely no idea what you’re on about, but when it comes to your cool aura then there’s nothing that can surpass it!”

Subaru: “Do you actually even hold any respect for me?”

Shaula seemed to be regardlessly? impressed by anything she was told, but when Subaru consulted regarding the principle of saving Meili, the first one to endorse him had also been her.

Naturally, it also did feel like she put no deep thought to it and simply wanted to support Subaru with what he wanted to do, but it was also certain that he had been saved by such existence of hers.

Meili: “Um, Beatrice-chan...... are you, not angry with me?”

Beatrice: “It’s a matter of course that Betty is angry, I suppose. But you seem like you’d get popped to shreds by Betty, so Betty has somehow managed to shut it off, in fact. There’s also what happened in the sand dunes, so what happened now shall be written off, I suppose.”

“ーーーー”

Beatrice: “However! Writing off what happened now only goes for this one incident, in fact. You still bear the sin of burning the forbidden archive in the previous mansion, I suppose. As long as that exists, Betty will probably never forgive you, in fact.”

Crossing her short arms, Beatrice responded to Meili’s doubt with a stern look in her eyes. Meili halted her breath upon her words, but Emilia immediately laughed with a “Hehe”,

Emilia: “It may be a bit difficult to grasp, but Beatrice just now said “probably”. She’s saying she’ll properly forgive Meili if she stays a good girl. You’re rea~lly so kind.”

Beatrice: “Emilia! Don’t go saying unnecessary stuff, I suppose!”

Meili: “......I’ll do whatever I can, to touch your heart.”

Exposing the other side of the strict comments, Emilia laughed before the blushing Beatrice. Seeing them, Meili responded with a soft voice.

Witnessing the scene, Subaru nodded several times in satisfaction.

Could he not say that finally, the progress before his eyes had actually happened.

At the very least, her actions, having ultimately believed that Subaru must be killed, had been prevented. Though this was yet merely one of the tragedies which occur in this towerーー,

Shaula: “ーーSo, is this really fine, Master-sama?”

Subaru: “Hm?”

Said Shaula with an innocent and calm voice, standing behind Subaru, who was drowned in thoughts. Standing beside Subaru, narrowing her dark eyes, she was glaring at the spectacle where Beatrice and Meili went back and forth with Emilia in between them.

And as Subary furrowed his eyebrows, she resumed with the same tone,

Shaula: “The girl who tried to kill Master-sama. Is it, really okay to let her go with no reproach?”

Subaru: “You sure ask some dangerous stuff...... it’s fine. Meili’s already gotten reproached. But, things ended up like this because nobody actually taught her about why she was being reproached. She shall be taught about that, now onwards.”

Shaula: “Master-sama also said the same, but what if she tries to kill Master-sama again because of that?”

Subaru: “That’d happen if I’m extraordinarily bad at teaching, But, it’s not like I’ll be the only one at it.”

That was how Subaru responded to Shaula’s questioning.

If Subaru were to aim for changing the sense of ethics of someone fostered to be an assassin from a very young age by himself, then it would be extremely difficult, and in all honesty, he did not possess the strength to shoulder this responsibility either.

However, Subaru did not think of doing anything and everything by himself.

He had relied on Emilia and the others for stopping Meili’s crime as well. He shall have Emilia and Beatrice go along with him ahead of this as well.

Subaru: “Of course, I’ll have you helping? as well, Shaula. Because it’ll be a long road of her objecting individual sense of values.”

Shaula: “......Me, too?”

Subaru: “That’s of course. You...... well, on the flip side you have teacher-like ambience, and I won’t leave you out alone. Your body is overflowing with motherhood, use it nicely to break through to Meili’s obstinate heart.”

The present Subaru could not say he had been with him much, but he had still witnessed that Julius possessed a strong sense of self-denial and excellency in various kinds of conducts.

Those were the fruits of his own ready wit, an indication of the refinement of the environment he grew up in, and at the same time they also symbolised the hard work he had put into applying them to himself.

Through evident hard work, he had applied those to himself. Them being something valuable, something priceless.

Emilia: “ーーSubaru, are you okay? Do you think you’ll be able to converse?”

Subaru: “Woah!?”

Suddenly, Emilia grasped Subaru’s arm whilst he stood with halted breath, looking at him in concern. Seeing how close he was to her, Subaru regained his senses and jumped backwards, flustered.

Witnessing Subaru’s overreaction, Emilia spilled out a faint “Ah......”,

Emilia: “You know, ever since you’ve woken up...... no, ever since you said you lost your memories, Subaru just keeps getting surprised by me, no? Is there something strange about me? Is there something on my face?”

Subaru: “No, um, not at all. There’s just your cute eyes and cute nose and cute lips and cute ears.”

Emilia: “Cute...... hehe, thank you. But if that’s the case, then why?”

Subaru: “I guess it’s because it feels like Emilia-chan’s features aren’t just the parts added up, but multiplied such that they compliment each other. Also, your voice is cute. You’re also cute. This won’t do, what an angel.”

Subaru covered his face with his hands and looked at Emilia through his fingers, suggesting she was too dazzling to look at. Hearing Subaru’s comments, it was Beatrice who responded suddenly,

Beatrice: “ーー~hk! Try saying that in a more Subaru-like fashion, I suppose!?”

Subaru: “Huh!? Eh, what’s wrong!?”

Beatrice: “Again, say the words Emilia looks like an angel in a Subaru-like fashion, in fact.”

Subaru: “What kind of public shaming is that!? I’m not doing it! It’s embarrassing! Beatrice, you’re also cute like an angel! Don’t sulk!”

Beatrice: “It’s true that Betty is cute like an angel, but that’s not what its about, I suppose......”

Heartbroken, Beatrice lowered her shoulders in dejection. This made him feel guilty, as Subaru then patted her head and everyone now was in formation of a circle in the Common-Use Room.

Now this made for a proper place to converse. It was regrettable that the real progress sought after had not been realised yet, but it was about time to continue the conversation rather boldly.

Subaru: “With all the being said, once again, Meili’s a part of our team now. For having a societal inspection of Meili, having her entered genuinely now, I would like to hurry up and leave this sandy tower as well. Any objections?”

Ram: “That manner of speaking really makes one question if you’ve truly lost your memories or not...... But, Barusu’s memory loss is a rather light problem when compared to more serious ones, but its still a problem.”

Emilia: “Mhm, that’s right. Its not like they could’ve just suddenly disappeared out of nowhere, so we have to make sure Subaru gets his memories back......”

Subaru: “Ah, about that, how about we disregard it for now?”

After raising a hand and seeking approval, Subaru interjected a pause between Ram and Emilia’s comments. Everyone in the conversation, not just the two of them, responded with a “Huh?” in surprise.

The only one not surprised was Shaula, but she was busy tending to Meili after earnestly accepting Subaru’s requests so he left her out for the moment.

Beatrice: “Subaru...... please don’t make Betty and the others worry too much, in fact. Your memory loss was sufficiently surprising, yet saying that it’s alright to not recover them would be far too self-abandoning, I suppose.”

Emilia: “Yeah, that’s right, Subaru. Are you perhaps thinking that you don’t want to cause problems for us? But, Subaru, you consulted us regarding Meili, didn’t you. Similar to that, we will all think together with regards to Subaru’s memories as well. Please, okay?”

Subaru: “That persuasion makes my heart ache! No, but well, listen to me for a second! It’s not like I’m saying this out of self-abandonment. There’s a proper reason behind it!”

That was the excuse Subaru made against Emilia and Beatrice’s concern. Following, Subaru raised a finger making sure everyone could see it and said “Listen”.

Subaru: “I do think that me suddenly losing my memories in this situation is regrettable, and it rea~lly makes me happy that everyone wishes to get them back. However, is there anyone here who thinks this memory loss is unrelated to the existence of this tower?”

Shaula: “Master-sama hit his head in the toilet’s urinal and lost memories before. There’s no end to it.”

Subaru: “Outfielders to remain quiet for a second! What you said certainly can’t be ignored, but its fine for now!”

Irritated by the outfielder’s disruption, Subaru brought the conversation back together by saying “Anyway!”.

Subaru: “What I want to say is that there’s a relation between the tower and my memory loss. In other words......”

Echidna: “ーーIn other words, upon fulfilling the conditions for capturing the tower, the cause behind Natsuki-kun’s memory loss or the key to it might naturally be obtained. Is that what you mean?”

Subaru: “Ah, yeah, that’s right that’s right. That’s what I mean!”

Subaru nodded several times upon Echidna’s words, who had read into Subaru’s thoughts. Hearing Echidna’s view, Julius put his hand on his chin and said “I see”,

Julius: “If the tower’s mechanism has stolen Subaru’s memories, we might get closer to the answer upon capturing the tower. Or instead the occasion of Subaru losing his memories might have happened because he got too close to the answer.”

Echidna: “It seems quite possible. His insight at the time of capturing “Taygeta”, to say it clearly, he utilised knowledge we couldn’t possibly ever have. Due to the knowledge only Natsuki-kun possessed, he went far too ahead of even us and resultantly had his memories lost.”

Subaru: “Wait wait wait wait, that would be way too much overestimation. I’m just a shut-in, you know? My speciality is like, spreading bedsheets open cleanly and sewing, you know?”

Emilia: “Ah, look, Subaru. The embroidery on these clothes, Subaru did it. Did you start remembering something upon looking at it? It’s cute, right? It’s Puck.”

Subaru: “Hmm, embroidery of a cute cat. But, I don’t really have an idea~.”

Digesting the conversation which required a great deal of thinking ability, Subaru denied Emilia, who was caressing the picture of a cat embroidered on her clothes, downhearted.

Perhaps a cat she had kept and even given a name to. It seemed she did not bring it along to the tower, so he wanted to hurry up and return safely, and make her reunite with her pet.

Regardlessーー,

Ram: “Barusu learnt something there was no need for, and as a result, lost his memories out of rashness...... certainly seems convincing.”

Beatrice: “Ram’s way of saying it is quite thorny, but Betty generally agrees as well, in fact. Besides, Subaru’s thoughts of the tower’s capture being prioritized...... the prospect seems repulsive, but it does have a point, I suppose.”

Subaru: “Beatrice......”

Beatrice’s dissatisfaction was perhaps directed towards the situation of not giving topmost priority to Subaru’s memories, after all. It made him happy from the bottom of his heart that she would think this way, but Subaru had his own reason for not prioritizing his memories. ーーIf they leisurely search around for his memories or, they wouldn’t make it in time to prevent the tower’s tragedies.

What had happened. What was going to happen. Subaruーー no, Subaru and everyone else, must become one and prepare for those calamities.

Subaru: “And so, I want to prioritize capturing the tower. I want everyone to understand for now as well.”

“ーーーー”

Subaru: “I don’t think its fine if things remain this way either. But, my problem can be dealt later. If we postpone the initial problems, we won’t ever reach our goal. I want to do what we should do.”

So appealed Subaru to everyone, earnestly.

He put in as many efforts as possible to cover the demerits of “Natsuki Subaru” not being here. And that he wanted everyone to lend their strengths in return.

Subaru’s request had everyone at a loss for words, howeverーー,

Ram: “ーーTruly, such a fool.”

Sighed Ram, turning her head and looking at everyone with her light crimson eyes.

Ram: “Even after losing memories, your deplorable intellect won’t change. In other words, even if your memories return, there’s not much the present Barusu can contribute...... then, prioritizing Barusu’s memories would only be wasteful. Let’s capture the tower, and subsequently anticipate their return.”

Subaru: “Subsequently you say, don’t you have any other ways to put it.”

Ram: “No. You lost your memories subsequent to attempting to capture the tower, isn’t it? In that case, kindly find them subsequently as well. Don’t cause Ram problems.”

ーーHe promised Ram, that he will remember, he will get them back, no matter what.

That is why, he couldn’t possibly weigh the impact Ram’s heart must’ve received when he said he wanted to postpone matters regarding his memories. However, precisely because of that promise, Ram had said this in the first place.

She had made the promise with Subaru, despite him being a habitual breaker of promises.

Echidna: “Progressively speaking, it’s not like we have a way to recover memories. I shall also agree with Natsuki-kun and Ram’s say. Speaking optimistically here, but there’s also the possibility that the memories come back with time.”

Julius: “I’d say a passive agreement for me. I shall not give utmost priority to it. I shall prioritize the tower’s capture. But should I find a chance to recover your memories, I shall prioritize that. ーーEmilia-sama and Beatrice-sama mustn’t be made to make such a sad expression.”

Subaru gave a deep nod in response to Echidna and Julius’ words.

He then turned his eyes towards the two of Emilia and Beatrice. Receiving Subaru’s gaze, the two ultimately hesitated a bit butーー,

Emilia: “ーーThis time, even if it’s tough, I’ll be patient. But”

Subaru: “But?”

Emilia: “Sometimes, do excuse me for worrying about Subaru the most.”

Subaru: “Uh...... I’m sorry.”

Noticing that it was equal to what he had said about keeping worrying about him later, Subaru turned his head down in response to Emilia’s request.

Seeing the two, Beatrice let out a sad sigh.

Beatrice: “Emilia said what Betty wanted to say, I suppose. That was supposed to be the most effective one, so do properly reflect on yourself, in fact.”

Subaru: “ーーYeah, I got it.”

Henceforth, gaining everyone’s approval, Subaru once again firmed his resolve for capturing the tower.

And what Subaru wanted to first propose thus forward wasーー,

Subaru: “ーーHow about we all go and search, if there’s Reid’s book in the library of『Taygeta』?”