Chapter 4 - You're Welcome

"—We need to hurry up and develop something like a magic-stone engine instead of a steam engine."

Holding the reins on the driver’s bench and staring straight ahead, Natsuki Subaru said that. At his words, Beatrice, plopped on Subaru’s lap, knit her brows.

"…You’re spouting off something odd again. A 'magic-stone engine,' what is that supposed to be?"

"A technology this world doesn’t have yet. Like, if we could make a system that uses magic-stone energy and works kind of like a steam engine, maybe we could do locomotives or something."

"Locomotive?"

"An iron dragon carriage that can keep running forever as long as the magic stones don’t run out—no need for Land Dragons. It can only run where there are rails, so the freedom’s low, but once you’ve laid and connected the rails, you can go back and forth at a pretty good clip within that range. How’s that?"

"One way or another, I do think it would be convenient—if we turn a blind eye to how far-fetched it is."

At Beatrice’s unabashedly exasperated reply, Subaru pursed his lips in protest. He thought it was a pretty viable idea, but if you’ve never seen the real thing, it’s hard to get the image across. In terms of not knowing much about actual, working locomotives, Subaru was about the same as Beatrice anyway. If only he knew a little more about how steam engines worked, he could make it sound more realistic.

"—!"

"Whoa, whoa—my bad, Patrasche. I’m not trying to make light of you, when you even came all the way to the Empire to fetch me. I’m just talking about using the right tool for the right job…"

"—!"

"Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem willing to be fobbed off by that. If you sour Patrasche’s mood, getting home will be even farther off."

"That’s a situation I really want to avoid… Come on, don’t be mad."

Even if the precise image of a locomotive hadn’t gotten across, she’d probably understood that its role would clash with her own. Scratching his head at the protest from his beloved dragon, Patrasche, Subaru took hold of the reins again and narrowed his eyes at the unchanging vista of sand.

—After sealing Al at the Pleiades Watchtower, Subaru and the others set out straight for the Royal Capital, to learn the facts that had come to light in the loop that was erased and the circumstances they needed to know.

The shock of Al’s betrayal was great, and to swallow it down, they left the tower almost over-eagerly—but the road to the crucial Royal Capital was far. They were going from the easternmost to the westernmost edges of the Kingdom of Lugunica, nearly crossing the whole kingdom. Even borrowing the speed of the hale and capable Patrasche, it was going to take quite a few days, and the more fired up they were, the more their frustration piled up.

Given that strained state of mind, it was half inevitable that Subaru’s thoughts would drift into a kind of escapism, like groping around for new means of travel.

"If locomotives and trains actually became a thing, how much would travel times shrink…? I’m sure they could move faster than Land Dragons without any rests."

He had no leeway now, but he wondered if, once things settled down a bit, he should bring it up more seriously with Roswaal or Otto. The Linked Dragon Carriage conceived in the Empire was similar in concept, but that still depended on the speed of mounts like Land Dragons, so a magic-stone engine should be superior in convenience.

"If we pulled it off, I feel like it’d blow Abel’s mind. Just imagining him, all frustrated, asking me to tell him how we did it makes it feel worth doing."

"If it involves magic stones, Betty might be able to help, but if the point is something silly like putting that Abel in his place, I won’t cooperate."

"Yeah. Making Abel pull a crying face is a dumb reason. Forget it, forget it."

Wiping away with his hand the hazy image of Abel’s scowling face, Subaru rested his chin on Beatrice’s head and let out a small sigh. Naturally, the sigh above her head—and the hard sensation against the back of her own head, the black sphere hanging from Subaru’s neck—made Beatrice aware of it.

"Subaru, that forbidden art—"

"You’re the one who unraveled it for me. …Sorry that’s the only way I can explain it."

"I’m not blaming you or anything. What Betty’s concerned about is the abnormal precision of that magic’s construction and how it selects its targets… I felt a trace of Mother in it."

"Mother… Echidna, huh."

"Perhaps."

Beatrice gave a small nod, and Subaru thought of the Witch of Greed he had encountered in the Sanctuary. As for that hateful face, he’d also seen it when he faced the Sphinx, who had taken on her likeness, amid the Great Calamity of the Vollachia Empire. Given the depth and number of the scars that Witch of Greed left behind, Subaru no longer trusted the credibility of his dealings in the Tomb.

Besides, the very existence of the 'Witch of Greed' has been covered up far too thoroughly compared to the claw marks she left all over this world. It isn't something that weathered away with time; it's more natural to think it was deliberately erased from history. —The question is, who did it?

"Technically, Echidna was dead, so she couldn't have done it herself. Well, if we start saying she was popping into people's dreams and causing trouble even after death, that gets suspicious too."

"I doubt that could be the case. Even a dream sorcerer, a practitioner of the dream arts, shouldn't be able to freely come and go through people's dreams after death."

"D-dream sorcerer? Dream arts?"

"It's magic that uses dreams as a medium to interfere with another's mind. It's also a kind of forbidden art, and its practitioners were mostly wiped out."

"Which totally means there are survivors! Mind interference? Sounds like they just planted the convenient memory of 'We wiped them out—' and let the real ones slip away."

"Y-you're being too pessimistic! ...Ahem, anyway. The way Mother approached Subaru and Emilia in the Tomb seems to borrow the principles of the dream arts, but strictly speaking it's different, so she shouldn't be able to drift through the consciousness of the living the way one passes through dreams."

Subaru nodded to Beatrice, who wagged her raised finger and lectured adorably. He didn't know the exact principles, but that dream castle of Echidna's was anchored in the special site known as the Tomb and didn't spread beyond it—that was apparently how it worked. If so, that would rule out the concern that Echidna did all the cover-up on her own.

"But in that case, it means someone who inherited Echidna's will has been diligently handling the cover-up, and the most likely candidate for that is Roswaal..."

"If it's an inside job, we'll just have to swallow our tears and hand him over."

"Which is why we can't hand him over until the Royal Selection is over, and even after it's over I'd rather not if we can help it. Also, there's the classic entertainment twist where Beako, who plays the pretty girl in front of me, is secretly working behind the scenes as Echidna's apostle, right?"

"Betty being the final boss? That plot was scrapped ages ago. It's a trash idea with not a shred of credibility or internal consistency—just a cheap attempt to be unexpected."

"I mean, I agree, but you don't have to say it that harshly..."

She wouldn't even entertain, not even as banter, the notion of turning against Subaru. Taking that as proof of just how much she cares about him, he let the moment warm his heart. Be that as it may, if we assume the one going around erasing Echidna's traces was neither Roswaal nor, of course, Beatrice—

—Witch Cult

——

Beatrice stirred faintly and held her breath. That tense reaction was proof that, inwardly, she agreed with Subaru's murmur.

The 'Witch of Greed'—no, not just information about Echidna; the traces of every 'Witch' bearing a deadly sin other than the 'Witch of Envy' are being erased. And when the Sin Archbishops appeared en masse in Watergate City Priestella, each thrust selfish demands upon the city in exchange for the lives of its residents, claiming there was something they wanted. At the time there were ones like Regulus who simply sought to satisfy their own desires, but among the demands were items that hardly seemed like something the person would actually want.

"Also, I heard this from Otto before. No matter where in the world it is, if something related to a 'Witch' is found by accident, the Witch Cult will come to seize it... something like that."

In fact, the fortress city of Garkla in Vollachia, which Subaru and the others also visited, was said to have been left in ruins as a result of that Regulus running amok. Being forced to recall someone he'd rather not kept dragging his mood down. Anyway—

"The rampage in Priestella feels like it backs up the rumor Otto talked about. Which would mean their rampages aren't just the terrorism of a cult group, but have another agenda—namely, that they're trying to hide the 'Witches' from this world."

The Witch Cult professes faith in the 'Witch of Envy' and deems it proper to worship her existence. Because that boilerplate information passes for common knowledge, the fact that they're trying to erase the traces of 'Witches' other than the 'Witch of Envy' may be getting covered up.

"If you hide a tree, you hide it in a forest; to hide 'Witches,' you tuck them inside the episodes of the 'Witch of Envy,' huh. ...But if that's the case, then the one who created the Witch Cult—"

"—It couldn't have been Mother."

Following the same train of thought as Subaru, Beatrice preempted the conclusion and denied it. Purse-lipped and facing forward, her expression was hidden from Subaru. But what filled her words was far too fragile to be called conviction—a faint, feeble prayer.

If you think about it logically, Subaru’s reasoning should make sense. However, the fact that the one in question is her creator and the family with whom she spent precious time is something Beatrice can never accept. Subaru understood that so well it hurt, and at the same time, it turned into anger toward Echidna.

"Making my cute Beako go through something this hard..."

The “witch” who ordered Beatrice to wait for “that person,” leaving her behind in the Forbidden Library for four hundred years. Subaru knows that the true intent behind Echidna’s instruction was a terrifyingly wicked curiosity—she wanted to know whom Beatrice would choose as “that person.” Of course, he can’t say that directly to Beatrice. He has no intention of telling her.

To deny Beatrice’s feelings for Echidna and try to overwrite them with himself would be a base and shabby way of thinking. There’s no need for that; Subaru just has to become an even bigger presence to her while she continues to cherish Echidna.

"Beako, I love you."

"—!? Did the flow of the conversation just change!?"

Overflowing with affection and a sense of mission, Subaru hugs Beatrice tightly from behind. At that embrace, Beatrice’s quietly somber face turns bright red. This. This. This doesn’t mean they’re going to gloss over and neglect this conversation, but—

"For now, we can’t get the answer here yet. We have to go to the Royal Capital... which, yeah, means the conversation just circles back to that. Damn it, the development of a Magic Stone Locomotive can’t come soon enough...!"

Saying so, Subaru clenches the black orb hanging at his chest and lets out a frustrated sigh. The road ahead is still long, and the Royal Capital he aims for lies far, far away—

And then Subaru’s impatience would be eased in an unexpected way. That was—

"Well, well, I’ve grown tired of waiting. You’ve finally come back, eh."

It began with the surprise of being greeted by the bald giant with arms folded like logs—Old Man Rom—who awaited Subaru and the others in Milura, the post town they reached after crossing the Sand Sea.

△▼△▼△▼△

"—I’m surprised there are still survivors of the Giant Tribe. Like the Demon Tribe, I thought their blood had almost entirely died out."

"Unfortunately, I haven’t run into any giants besides myself in ages. For all I know, I might be the last surviving giant in this world."

"For real? That’s not even countdown-to-extinction territory."

Beatrice stared up intently at his massive frame, and the giant in question, Old Man Rom, answered. Hearing that, Subaru knit his brows at the Giant Tribe’s hopeless situation. After all, if the last survivor is none other than super-elderly Old Man Rom, there’s no hope for descendants and extinction is all but certain. If the last of the race had been young, there might have been a thread of possibility left to grasp, but—

"Well now, a race that has fulfilled its role dying out is only natural. There’s no reason to keep the likes of the Giant Tribe or the Demon Tribe alive in the ages to come. Go on, live as you please and perish as you please... something like that."

"I don’t much like that kind of fatalism. Yeah, I know, saying so when it’s already too late is pointless, but still."

"You say something commendable. Seems you’ve learned a bit of prudence, too."

Subaru prodded the inside of his cheek with his tongue to show his frustration, and Old Man Rom, grinning wryly, clapped him on the shoulder with his big palm.

In fact, this is the first time Subaru has had a proper conversation with Old Man Rom since that day when the start of the Royal Selection was announced—the day they wracked their brains over ways to sneak into the castle. He’d heard that he was serving as a brain at Felt’s side, but meeting face to face like this and exchanging words at last makes it feel real.

"Thinking back on it, Old Man Rom and Felt are people I ran into in this world even before Beako, so it’s kind of moving. ...If I think too hard about it, though, it means I met the old guy at the fruit stand before Emilia-tan, so there’s that."

If he starts talking about the order of encounters, even Tonchin-kan gets tossed into the mix and his head glitches out. In any case, reunions with old acquaintances are a joy for Subaru—especially when it’s someone he met on the very first day he was summoned to another world. And so—

"—You’re one of those people too, Reinhard."

"Good. The conversation with Lord Rom was so lively, I thought for sure I’d been forgotten."

"Forgotten? You? Ever had that happen?"

There’s no way that would happen, but even if ‘Gluttony’s’ Authority ate his ‘Name,’ Reinhard’s presence is so overwhelming you still couldn’t forget him. Or knowing him, it might not even be possible for his ‘Name’ to be eaten in the first place. At Subaru’s remark, Reinhard gives a wry smile and shrugs his shoulders,

"Fortunately, there's been no such opportunity so far. That said, it's not as if I don't feel it as a burden. I can't pretend my actions never happened."

As he said that, Reinhard cast a quick glance past Subaru—at Garfiel, who stood there in imposing fashion. With only the barest reunion greetings exchanged, Garfiel had wordlessly trained his sharp emerald eyes on Reinhard. Bathed in that gaze, Reinhard lightly narrowed his own blue pair, and then,

"You've improved a great deal since before. To do that in such a short time is impressive."

"Tch, easy for ya to say. I've gone through near-death crap over and over just to finally level up, and I still can't see the bottom of your strength."

"You won't challenge me anymore like you did back in Priestella?"

"Even if we did it now, I don't see a path to victory. Besides, if I go and lose on my own, that pecking order's just gonna cause trouble for Emilia."

Turning his face away with a click of his tongue, Garfiel forcibly tamped down his fighting spirit. It couldn't be called overthinking. In reality, since he couldn't hold a candle to the knight in sheer capability, the one who would be compared to Reinhard was Garfiel, the man-at-arms of Emilia's camp. If word got out that Garfiel had lost in a head-on duel with Reinhard, even if it was a ranking everyone already took for granted, it could still leave the impression that their camp lacked strength. Garfiel had thought it through that far himself, and held back.

"Garfiel, you've grown up…!"

"Huh!? The hell, boss, don't go rubbin' my head! I just said the pathetic crap that I can't win right now! Ain't no reason to be praisin' me!"

"There is, there is, there totally is. Hey, everyone, let's praise Garfiel!"

"G-gaoo!"

Blushing and flustered, the shy Garfiel was surrounded by Subaru, Beatrice, Petra, Meili, and the others, who praised him with cheerful "there, there"s. It was the exact reverse of when Subaru had been comforted at the Pleiades Watchtower. After doting on Garfiel to their heart's content like that—

"—So then, what business do the two of you from Felt's camp have with us?"

It was Petra, the most level-headed of the group, who properly brought up the main issue. Hands on her hips and raring to act as the camp's negotiator, her small back filled Subaru with unexpected reassurance, warming his chest. Unwittingly, he felt he could glimpse fragments of that lost loop—just how hard she'd fought in the battle with Al to get Subaru back.

"Wh-why do you look all choked up, Subaru?"

"I dunno, I might be kinda quick to cry lately. Beako, will you keep hugging me?"

"I-I suppose I have no choice, you big baby."

Reluctant as she seemed, Beatrice, who had been holding his hand, switched to clinging tightly around Subaru's waist. Like that, Subaru focused on the conversation in front of him. Here, the reason Reinhard and the others had gone out of their way to wait for them—

"Of course, we came to pick you up. —There's an urgent situation in the Royal Capital. On Felt's orders, thinking Emilia must be in no state to sit still."

"Emilia? But then why is Felt…"

"The two of them have become friends. So she said she'd like to lend a hand for a friend."

"Oh my, sounds like little Felt's been won over by Emilia. I get the feeling. Maybe I could get along with little Felt too."

Reinhard's reply to a suspicious Petra made Meili grin mischievously. The way she put it, though, she was all but admitting she'd been won over by Emilia herself—but was Meili aware of that? Subaru said nothing.

Even Subaru was surprised. Of course, he hadn't thought Emilia and Felt had a bad relationship, but Felt moving for Emilia's sake…

"Hard to imagine, thinking back to when the Insignia got stolen at the very beginning…"

"Let me tell you, kid, we can't have you making that public. If you lot are going to spread that kind of bad press, we'll have to pull some tricks of our own."

"It'd be one thing if you had nothing to feel guilty about, but this is rust of your own making… Well, you're not the only ones who'd be in trouble if that business got dug up, so we won't."

At Old Man Rom's token caution, Subaru just gave a shrug. The Insignia theft uproar in the Royal Capital had Roswaal's schemes involved behind the scenes—he had put in a request to Elsa. And since Elsa is tied up with Meili over there, it's actually Emilia's camp that would get a stomachache if people start prying into things. To begin with, it's hard to imagine Emilia bringing up how Felt stole the Insignia at this point—especially now that they're friends.

「If anything, there's even the suspicion that Emilia-tan might have forgotten that Felt stole the Insignia... no, probably not?」

「As for me, I think that even after overcoming that past, Emilia sought friendship with Felt. That's how I see it.」

「Yeah. I like that Emilia-tan better too. But...」

The problem was the fact that that Emilia had been driven into a state where she couldn't sit still. Wondering what on earth had happened in the Royal Capital, Subaru suddenly realized there was a possibility he himself was the cause of Emilia's current state of mind. It might be the effect of the “message” he'd asked Flam to send before they departed the Pleiades Watchtower—

「No, I've heard about Lady Priscilla and the matter with Lord Al as well. Emilia's distress was great, but she was rather worried about you all. So that's not the direct cause.」

「I see. That's goo... well, not good, but I get it. But if it's not that either, then what happened?」

「—You could call it an incident that shakes the very foundation of the Royal Selection.」

「「——！」」

At Old Man Rom's weighty tone, everyone with Subaru changed their expressions. Just hearing “an incident that shakes the foundation of the Royal Selection” makes it a grave matter, and the fact that Reinhard didn't deny it was proof there was no doubt in that assessment.

Whether that was because Priscilla, who had died, had dropped out as a Royal Selection candidate, or whether there was some other cause, he didn't know—

「There's going to be a need for the camps to discuss that issue in various ways. So, after I took on the task of fetching Lord Rom, who had remained in the domain, I came straight to pick you up as well.」

「Then you'd want to link up with Felt in the Royal Capital as soon as possible too...」

「Rachins and the others are in the Royal Capital as well. In this case, following Felt's orders had higher priority. I actually wanted to go all the way to the tower to fetch you, but I didn't want to head into the Augria Sand Dunes without Meili's help and end up missing each other.」

「And so, we waited in this town for you folks to come.」

Hearing Old Man Rom wrap it up like that, Subaru finally had his questions settle down. Given those circumstances, Reinhard and Old Man Rom had been waiting in Milura for Subaru and the others to arrive. While he felt grateful for that, he also grew afraid of what kind of issue would make them go that far. However—

「We can't not ask. Time's precious. Let's talk while we move.」

「Right, let's do that. I, too, have an unusually large number of things I want to hear straight from you, Subaru. After we parted in Priestella, what happened in the Empire and the like—tell me what you can.」

「It's not like there’s anything I can’t tell you. I’ll lay it all out. I’ve also got a bunch of things I want to ask someone carrying a billboard-sized title like『Sword Saint』.」

「——。If it's something I can answer, anything at all.」

After nodding to each other, consensus was reached between Subaru’s group and Reinhard’s. For Subaru, who'd been feeling as impatient about travel as someone pining for a locomotive that didn't exist, being able to borrow Reinhard's power wasn't just a godsend—it was the Millennium Falcon. And then, before they set out again toward the Royal Capital—

「Oh right, Reinhard.」

「Hm? What is it?」

「You probably won’t get what I mean, but just hear me out.――Thanks.」

At Subaru’s words of thanks, Reinhard, who likely didn’t understand just as prefaced, raised an eyebrow. Subaru let a smile slip at the fact he’d caught the『Sword Saint』off guard, and—

「I don't know the details myself, but I'm just sure I put you through a hell of a lot. So, thanks.」

「Nothing comes to mind, so I'm not sure how I should respond.」

「Then just say,『You're welcome.』」

「Got it.――You're welcome.」

「Your pronunciation's amazing.」

Grateful anew to Reinhard for responding like that even to unexpected thanks, Subaru patted the head of Beatrice clinging to his waist and began to make ready to move. Since Reinhard had crossed in a flash what would normally take days, he was probably going to hit them with some outrageous way of traveling. He had to steel himself.

「――――」

Subaru, busy making preparations to depart with his companions, failed to notice that Reinhard—his hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist—was watching Subaru's back as if to size him up.