Arc 10 - Chapter 6 - "Instant-Boil Kettle"

The Prison Tower was thrown into an uproar for a time, people with aghast faces hurrying frantically to and fro.

Watching that scene from a distance, Subaru leaned his back against a section of the outer wall a little ways off, hugging his knees.

——

Resting his forehead on his drawn-up knees, Subaru let out a deep breath.

There had been far too many shocking things. Not only had he come face-to-face with a gruesome corpse without any mental preparation, but that body turned out to be—

"—Are you all right?"

Addressed while his face was buried in his knees, Subaru slowly lifted his head. Standing there was Rem, her expression clouded with concern.

Crouching right beside him, she peered into his face and gently wiped his dejected features with the handkerchief in her hand. The slightly damp handkerchief was cool, and Subaru, feeling rescued, breathed out, "Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for. ...I hear you saw something terrible inside."

"Yeah... right. I also didn't want you to have to face him, but just in case, I'm glad I had you wait outside. This way, I didn't have to show you something like that."

"Please don't be overprotective. In the Vollachia Empire, I've seen plenty of deaths. At this point, a little of that..."

"I get it. But if you don't have to come into contact with it, I'd rather you didn't. Trying to save someone and, because you're not strong enough, letting them die—that kind of situation can't be helped, but... that was the kind of death you get nothing good from even touching."

Even Subaru doesn't deny the existence of meaningful deaths, or deaths that come as the result of carrying one's convictions through.

If he could deny even those, he wouldn't have silently seen Priscilla off.

However, the death he had just witnessed at the watchtower—the gruesome way 'Gluttony' Roy Alphard died—was far removed from any sort of nobility like that, something ugly and loathsome.

There is no sane meaning in taking another's life and then degrading the corpse to that extent.

What lies there is either some wicked scheme, or such a powerful rage that you can't be satisfied without hurting even a soulless cadaver—hatred is something an Archbishop of Sin richly deserves, but no one should meet such a miserable end.

"Damn it...!"

Feeling a queasy churn in his chest, Subaru clicked his tongue in frustration.

It was anger at the one who had torn Roy to pieces, and at the same time the vexation that the clue he should have had to resolving the Authority of 'Gluttony'—its solution—had slipped farther away again.

Honestly, the thought does cross his mind—if, after linking up with Reinhardt, they had hurried straight to the Royal Capital without detours, Roy might have survived.

And ultimately, Subaru has a way to verify that. In fact, back when his body had shrunk and he'd had that Empire mentality, Subaru would have carried it out without hesitation.

But—

"—Al."

Gripping the Al Orb hanging from his neck, Subaru bit the inside of his cheek.

Hypothetically, if Subaru were to lose his life now and Return by Death, the most recent restart point would be at the Pleiades Watchtower, before Subaru sealed Al away with Ol Shamak. It's possible the restart point has shifted since then, but as he presently feels it, that's the last one.

—And Natsuki Subaru cannot go back to that timeline and repeat that moment of preemptively suppressing Al just as he was about to act.

——

It's not that it's impossible as a choice. Nor is it because of Ol Shamak's limitations.

It's simply that Natsuki Subaru doesn't have the courage to go back to that scene and face Al again. Hoping for the possibility that he might change Al's mind through discussion, he might fail to stop Al—and Subaru might be the one to get sealed instead.

If that happened, the task of fixing Subaru's blunder would again be left to his comrades. To avoid that, Subaru couldn't entertain a rash Return by Death.

But then—Rem, and the victims of 'Gluttony'—when he thought of that—

"...There you go again, trying to shoulder everything yourself."

Suddenly, as Subaru gripped the Al Orb, Rem said that and laid her hand over his.

Subaru involuntarily caught his breath. Fixing him with a direct gaze, Rem narrowed her pale blue eyes and—

"Let me make one thing clear. —Don't make restoring my 'Memories' into your duty. My 'Memories' are my issue... It troubles me when you try to shoulder it all, as if my problem were yours from start to finish."

"—No, that's not it. That's not what I mean. Your 'Memories'—I have to get them back."

"That's exactly what's wrong. Why is it that with my problem, you're the one agonizing over it the most? It's my concern. It doesn't belong to you alone."

"That's..."

Subaru's eyes darted, and under Rem's gaze he couldn't say a word.

What flashed through his mind was the chill that had made him think he might die, when back in the Fortress City Rem told him, "You are not a hero." Would even the right to struggle for Rem's sake be taken from him again, like back then—?

"…Please don't make a face like a soaked puppy."

"Huh?"

"No, that's putting it too kindly. Even soaked, a puppy would be cute, so you look more like a wet… a wet flying dragon, or something."

"…I'd prefer being called cool to being called cute, though."

"I'm not complimenting you. And don't get the wrong idea."

Told not to misunderstand, Subaru faltered; Rem gave it a beat, gathered her words in the pause she'd made, and, after prefacing it with "All right?," said,

"I understand the rough outline. The person who was imprisoned in this tower… someone connected to Spica-chan… was the clue to regaining my『Memories』. But that person died, and you're very frustrated about it… all while setting aside me, the person actually involved."

"—Put that way, I sound like a really selfish guy."

"Looks like you've finally gotten a fix on where you stand."

Calmly, Rem patiently paved the way until Subaru could understand. As he listened to her, even Subaru, who had cornered himself, found room to breathe returning.

Perhaps seeing that in the change in his expression, Rem, too, let the corners of her eyes soften in relief,

"I'm feeling down too. I'm on the brink of maybe getting my『Memories』back… but when I see you being more upset about it than I am, I don't have time to mope."

"Uh, well, I'm glad you didn't have to get depressed, Rem."

"Huh? Instead, you're the one getting depressed and making us worry, you know?"

"I'm sooorry!"

Under Rem's stern gaze, Subaru clutched his head and offered an apology.

He never thought he'd be treated like a thief stealing the right to be depressed. But it's how he truly feels. Subaru would be happiest if Rem and Emilia and the others never had a single moment in their lives to feel down.

"I don't like how you seem to think it's fine if you're the only one who gets to be depressed like that."

"Rem…"

"When something goes wrong, you have this bad habit of thinking it's all your fault. So you try to look for solutions all by yourself… Can we stop that already?"

"…So, basically, you're saying I shouldn't stew over things all on my own?"

"That's what I've been saying from the start."

"Did you say that!? No, maybe you did. Yeah, you did. You did. I'm an idiot for not realizing you said it! Idiot, idiot!"

In front of Rem, who turned her face away with a huff, Subaru bopped himself lightly on the head. As he smacked himself, he felt yet another wave of self-reproach start to rear its head.

After all, Rem was simply, sincerely worried about him and had reached out like this. Yet because Subaru wouldn't face it properly, he couldn't take her kindness head-on and even made her say things she shouldn't have had to say.

"Sorry. I got all fired up and dragged you out, only to get your hopes up for nothing."

"I don't think it's something you're responsible for. It's just…"

"Just?"

"We’ll end up putting an extra burden on Spica-chan."

With the two who called themselves the Archbishop of Sin of『Gluttony』—Lye Batenkaitos and Roy Alphard, the『Gourmand』and the『Gourmet』—having lost their lives, the only remaining person who holds the rights to that Authority is Spica alone.

Which is to say, the hope of safely retrieving the『Names』and『Memories』devoured by『Gluttony』—which still have yet to return—now rests on Spica's shoulders.

Rem looked uneasy about putting that kind of pressure on Spica—but—

"Spica won't think of it as an extra burden. …But I'll get in touch with Abel and have him make sure the area around Spica is watched carefully. I'll ask Ceci to be properly on guard, too—though whether Ceci can manage it is another matter."

"—Yes."

It was a tragedy that befell『Gluttony』. There's no guarantee the same threat won't come for Spica, so Subaru shares in Rem's worries and decides to reach out to Vollachia. He sets what he has to do: he doesn't want anything to interfere with Spica, who remained in Vollachia.

Whatever measures he can take for that, overprotective or not, he has to put them in place.

"—Sorry to keep you waiting."

As the conversation between Subaru and Rem reached a pause, the one who came over with a small wave was Reinhardt, who had emerged from inside the Prison Tower. Reinhardt had Beatrice at his side, and Subaru hurried to his feet, brushed off his rear, and went to meet the two.

"Reinhardt, how is it inside? That bastard Sirius…?"

"Fortunate... if I can call it that. I'd been almost certain, but the woman confined below is safe. The cells in the Prison Tower are isolated from one another, and it seems she didn't even know that 'Gluttony' was imprisoned in the same tower. And not just her. Not a single other prisoner suffered any harm."

"Sirius is safe, and so are the other inmates... Whether we should just call that good news aside, one thing's clear."

At Reinhardt's report, given after he'd finished checking the inside of the tower, Subaru nodded with a bitter look.

In other words, the culprit who committed the deed in the Prison Tower had only one target—

"—the Archbishop of Sin, 'Gluttony.'"

Subaru and Reinhardt's answers overlapped; they met each other's gaze and nodded.

Given the state of the scene, there was no other way to put it. And yet, even that conviction was not without lingering doubts.

"…From what Beatrice-chan said, that isn't something easily done, right?"

"I've finished my examination, I suppose. And that understanding is not wrong."

Beatrice dipped her chin at Rem, who cast her a glance, and stepped up beside Subaru. As she quietly laced her fingers with his, she watched him and then,

"Feeling any better, I wonder?"

"Not good, but better. Sorry for leaving all the on-site examination to you."

"Betty said she'd do it herself, I suppose. Besides, even Betty can't do anything for the dead. What Betty can offer is only from the perspective of a great spirit, you know."

"I'd very much like to hear that opinion. I'm not well-versed in matters like these."

Prompted by Reinhardt, Beatrice closed one eye in a wink, drawing the three pairs of eyes to her. She gave a small "ahem" and looked over the three as if to lecture,

"To begin with, that 'Gluttony' body had been fixed in place with yin magic, I suppose. Betty and Julius did it together, so it was rock-solid security that a little poking and prodding couldn't do anything about. …I'm vexed I couldn't come up with that evolved form on my own, though."

"We've confirmed that with the person in charge of the Prison Tower. The imprisoned 'Gluttony' was completely—stopped as if he'd been turned into a single stone tablet."

"It was something that neither the prisoner himself nor anyone from outside could meddle with, I suppose. To undo it would require a corresponding level of proficiency with yin magic."

"That's not all. Even if you took him out of the monolith, you'd then have to fight Roy as he came bursting out. Fight him and—"

"—take his life. In other words, there are two stages that have to be cleared."

At Rem's concluding summary, Subaru and the others fell silent, their expressions clouded.

As has become clear, to kill Roy in his monolith state, you need the yin magic skill to release that monolith, and then the strength to kill Roy afterward. Neither is something you acquire overnight, nor are there many people like that just lying around.

"On top of that, the intruder slipped through the Prison Tower's security net. Having all three—yin magic, power, and stealth—is no simple matter."

"With all the grudges and everything, I'd almost like to cling to the conclusion that Olbart-san is the culprit."

Unfortunately, even the "Wicked Old Man" wouldn't meet the condition of being a user of yin magic.

Or if someone told me there was a shinobi art that produced a similar effect and that Olbart had done it on the sly, I wouldn't be completely shocked, given his skill.

"It's true that Vollachia has a bellicose national character, but even so, given the country's current situation, they wouldn't blindly choose to endanger diplomatic relations. In the first place, I hear it wasn't unrelated to the Vollachia affair that Emilia-sama and the others came to the Royal Capital."

"…Yeah. Rather than suspecting Vollachia of having a death wish, I'd prefer to believe the wolves of that country have gotten a little more sensible. But I'm sorry for everything, Reinhardt."

"Sorry? Did you have anything to apologize for?"

"You even went out of your way to make a detour to get Rem out, and then pulled strings so we could enter the Prison Tower. And yet it still turned out like this, and—ah."

"—stare."

Just as he was about to apologize for making them come for nothing, Subaru suddenly noticed Rem's cold gaze fixed on him.

So this too was part of Subaru's bad habit of blaming himself for everything.

Still, since the thought had already occurred to him, it felt wrong to swallow it back down.

"It's a shame the results were underwhelming, I suppose. But I'm grateful you did everything you could."

"That! As expected of my Beako! And you, Rem?"

"Sigh…"

"A sigh!"

At the sudden shift from a cold look to a sigh, Subaru covered his face with his hand. Watching them, Reinhardt let a small smile play at his lips.

Then, still wearing that smile, he said.

「No, it's nothing major.――You're welcome,」 came the reply.

△▼△▼△▼△

「…Yes, 'Gluttony.' …Somehow, things just aren't going well and it's frustrating.」

In a room of The Marquis' Manor, after receiving the report about what had happened at the Prison Tower, Emilia murmured this, slanting her well-shaped brows, her complexion notably pale.

Showing signs of fatigue like that was rare for the always-energetic Emilia. Even so, knowing he bore part of the blame for that weariness, Subaru felt pathetic.

—After parting with Reinhardt, who was returning to Felt, Subaru headed for The Marquis' Manor where Emilia and the others were staying, taking Rem and Beatrice along. There, they joined up with those who had arrived ahead.

At The Marquis' Manor, with the exception of Roswaal and Frederica—who had taken Schult and set out for the Barielle Territory—almost everyone in Emilia's camp had gathered.

In other words――,

「I cracked the whip on my exhausted body to dash all the way to the Royal Capital, only for it to be a wasted trip. How dare you get my hopes up for nothing, Barusu.」

「For the record, everyone except you, Sis, is disappointed—and even among them, my regret is top-class. I nearly shed tears of blood.」

「Hah! Tears of blood? That's just the blood vessels around your eyeballs bursting. Ram can make you shed them right now if you like.」

「Scary! Just because you're in shock, your viciousness is off the charts!」

And so, Ram—more aggressive than usual—was seated there with them as well.

Naturally, when taking Rem to the Royal Capital, Ram, having heard the purpose, insisted she would absolutely come along. The sisterly heart that refused to accept not being present when Rem's 'Memories' returned was understandable, and Subaru, who wanted Ram there, agreed.

Even so, from the challenge at the Pleiades Watchtower to the forced plunge into the Empire, the burdens of these past few months' journey must have been heavy. Ram, who had been holding herself together on sheer willpower, finally had the tension snap when this attempt came up empty; even as she sniped at them, she was left groggy and spent.

In the end, after finishing her snide remark to Subaru just now, she was escorted by Rem and Petra straight to the bedroom, where it seemed she'd be nursed for a while.

「All the same, it's not only Miss Ram who's in dire straits—it's all of us. The troubles surrounding Subaru's group, the murder case in the Prison Tower, the appearance of the 'Dragon Church,' and the chaos in the Royal Selection caused by the person at its center.」

Seeing Ram out, Otto, his brows drooping, grumbled so.

Having gone on ahead to the Royal Capital with Emilia, he had intended to report in detail to the Royal Castle about the 'Great Disaster' of the Vollachia Empire, including the news of Priscilla's death. Among those agenda items was also the matter of the future accords between the Empire and the Kingdom entrusted to them by Abel, and he surely felt it was a major responsibility both for their camp and for the Kingdom.

Then, out of the blue, they were blindsided from a completely unexpected angle and thrown into a situation for which no amount of preparation meant anything. Even Subaru couldn't think of anything to tease Otto with.

Amidst all that, Subaru wondered what on earth they ought to start talking about first—

「—Will you tell me about Al?」

As if seeing through Subaru's hesitation, Emilia chose that topic as the first item on the agenda.

Flam, Felt's retainer, can, by the power of her Divine Protection, send information to her twin sister regardless of distance. Borrowing that power, they had conveyed in brief what had happened to Subaru and the others at the Pleiades Watchtower. However, it was only a rough outline; the details were another matter.

Understanding how on edge Emilia and the others were, Subaru explained everything as fully as he could.

They went to the Pleiades Watchtower to search for the 'Book of the Dead.' That night, Al betrayed them and tried to harm Subaru and the others, but they preempted him and restrained him. They weren't given the chance to discuss the reason that drove Al to such violence—the root of it.

And also, that he had no intention of ending his relationship with Al while remaining ignorant of those things.

「Mm, I feel the same as you, Subaru. I think that's the best way.」

He was happy that, after listening and thinking it over for a while, Emilia affirmed Subaru's thinking. Her Deep Purple eyes wavered with complex emotions, yet she fixed them quietly on the Al Orb at Subaru's neck and gave him a nod.

On the road, Subaru had already told Beatrice, Petra, and the others what he was thinking. So the only ones forming a fresh opinion from Subaru's explanation now were Emilia, who had just answered him so, Otto—wearing a face like he'd bitten into an unripe persimmon—and—

「—Al loved Priscilla. There is not much I can say.」

It was Rem, who had put Ram to bed and returned to the lounge together with Petra.

With that, the Emilia camp’s stance toward Al’s actions was, for the moment, decided. Perhaps so as not to spoil the mood, Otto had said nothing—Subaru figured they’d have him vent about it later together with Garffiel—and he slapped both his cheeks with his hands.

As for Al, as for the Prison Tower—there was nothing they could do about either right now. In that case, if there was anything they could discuss at present, the remaining agenda was—

「――Let’s talk about the person from the 『Dragon Church』, Filore.」

It was about Filore, a presence that could shake the very foundations of the royal selection.

「――――」

The moment that topic was broached, the atmosphere in the lounge changed completely. But rather than drawn taut with urgency or tension, it thickened with a vaguer sense of bewilderment and confusion.

In truth, Subaru included, they were all greatly at a loss.

「To begin with, what are they saying at the castle right now? The premise that the 『Dragon Church』 wouldn’t get involved in the political core, the story that a sixth person who can make the emblem shine has shown up, and that they’re claiming the same Names as the Princess who disappeared fifteen years ago—it’s all out of the blue, right?」

「Uh, it seems they’re right in the middle of discussing all of that… But the reason the Church broke the ‘ruuule’ this time is because they want to help the people who suffered in Pristella, right? No one can say that’s bad, and in fact…」

「――They healed Ms. Crusch’s body. Emilia-tan and Otto saw it too, right?」

「Yeah, I made sure to see it. Right, Otto-kun?」

「I couldn’t very well stare blatantly at a lady, but at the very least, the black, puckered-looking marks that were within view seemed to have vanished.」

Beside Emilia as she nodded, Otto answered thus, his gaze flicking to Subaru’s leg.

Was he implying that, under the same conditions, they could heal Subaru’s leg too? To be honest, it isn’t a big inconvenience, but every time they take a bath together it might have made Otto and Garffiel feel awkward, so if it can be healed, he’d like to have it healed.

「But making us owe the 『Dragon Church』 for that is scary too… ha!」

「Geez, big bro, what’re you so jumpy about?」

「Well, I figured this might be another case of me putting myself last and getting scolded for it…」

「If you know that, then carry yourself with more confidence.」

Poked by Meili and drawing a look of exasperation from Rem—that’s where Subaru ended up. Still, saying out loud that, since there’s no concrete harm, he doesn’t think they should make any deal that would disadvantage their camp would probably get him yelled at, so all he could do was cover it clumsily with an “ahem, ahem” of throat-clearing.

Then—though he probably wasn’t trying to assist Subaru—the one who spoke up with an “Hey, uh,” was Garffiel, perched on the room’s windowsill.

Scratching roughly at his head—scritch, scritch—he hesitated, then,

「I know there’re all kinda messy circumstances. So what I’m gonna say from here is nothing more than my own feelings, is all.」

「Garffiel… mm, let me hear it. What is it?」

「――If we can heal the folks in Pristella, I wanna hurry up and heal ’em, an’ I want ’em healed. It’s been nothin’ but rough stuff—the Black Dragon an’ the flies an’ all that, ain’t it.」

Garffiel’s appeal—one knee hugged up, half his body bathed in sunlight—was earnest.

Garffiel had a family he’d grown close to in Pristella. The father of that family, in the midst of that battle, was turned into a Black Dragon by the clutches of “Lust,” and even used as a decoy once. Even now, his body transformed into a Black Dragon remains as it is; by Emilia’s hand, like the other victims, he has been laid to rest in a corner of the city, in a Frozen in Ice state.

What he was saying was that if people in such a situation could be healed, then who they relied on came second.

「And I’m of the same opinion. If there are people suffering and in pain, and there’s a way to help them, it doesn’t matter who does the helping. That’s what I think.」

「Huh, Subaru says things like that? Even though you were all, ‘I want to be the one to wake Big Sis Rem,’ and went diving headfirst into danger yourself.」

「Now that you mention it, I might’ve said something like that, but you sure remember it well, Petra!」

「I won’t forget. I was pretty shocked, after all. Part of me thought Big Sis Rem was unfair, and part of me thought, even hearing that, I’m a girl who won’t get discouraged.」

At Petra, who puckered her lips mischievously, Subaru could only scratch his head, at a loss for words.

In truth, before Rem awoke—while he’d said that if it meant the girl who kept sleeping would open her eyes then it didn’t matter who did it—it was also true he’d boasted that he wanted to be the one. He’s a little scared to see what kind of face Rem is making hearing that, and can’t bring himself to look her way.

At any rate—

「Setting aside what I've said in the past, let's look to the future. ……However the talks at the castle shake out, now that it's been proven the Dragon Church has a way to cure this, treatment for the people of Pristella will be carried out…… right?」

「Yes. No matter which way the heated debate tilts, I don't think there will be any hesitation on that point. Whether to regard it as merely a debt owed to the Dragon Church, or as something more—that will be the crux.」

「The sixth, a shrine maiden candidate…… huh.」

Ultimately, how to handle that person's position is beyond Subaru and the others' purview.

Depending on how the people of the Royal Castle—more precisely, the Council of Wise Men—decide those matters, this camp centered on Emilia will also determine its stance.

With that in mind, what weighed on Subaru was the Filore in question.

「Emilia-tan, you've met her in person, right? What was she like?」

「Let's see…… I thought she was reeeally earnest, a good girl.」

「I see. What do you think of Meili?」

「Huh? Meili? I think Meili is reeeally hardworking, very considerate of her friends—a good girl.」

「I get what you're trying to say, Big Bro Subaru, but don't use me as a pretext, okay?」

It wasn't that he doubted Emilia's eye for people, but when it came to Emilia, she could easily deem just about anyone a serious, sincere, hardworking good person. That said, Subaru's appraisal of Meili was similar, so it would be wrong to doubt Emilia's discernment on that alone.

If anything, it might have been more on the mark to ask for Abel's assessment.

「How about you, Otto? Even if you only caught a glimpse, what did you think?」

「I didn't exchange many words with her, but I got the impression she was a devout believer of the Dragon Church. She sincerely thinks serving others is best, and then……」

「And then?」

「She seems to be a bit thoughtless. From what I heard, this whole matter was Ms. Filore's unilateral decision, ignoring the Church's wishes.」

「Unilateral? You mean helping Crusch, and making the insignia glow?」

「The former is a yes, and the latter was apparently just how things played out. Circumstantially, it really seems like the Dragon Church wanted to keep her existence hidden.」

「Well, that's…… something……」

No one there had an answer to Subaru's question of why.

In fact, whether Filore's true identity is the princess who disappeared fifteen years ago or not; her appearance said to show the traits of Lugunica's royal line, and what her Names are; why the Dragon Church kept her existence hidden and let the Royal Selection begin and proceed.

There were just too many mysteries. Too many, and so――

「Hey, Emilia-tan――」

「Listen, Subaru, actually――」

Subaru and Emilia both suddenly lifted their heads, about to voice the same idea, and their voices overlapped. They exchanged wide-eyed looks, felt their thoughts pass between their eyes, and laughed together.

Apparently, Emilia was thinking the same thing.

Namely――

「――Um, don't you want to meet that Filore in person and talk to her?」

△▼△▼△▼△

――Come to think of it, Subaru didn't have a proper grasp of the Royal Capital Lugunica as a whole.

He had attachments to various spots—the fountain near the commoners' quarter where he'd been boldly summoned to another world, the shopping street with the fruit stand whose shopkeeper he often saw, the bases of the various candidates where, after a terrible falling-out with Emilia, he went through one ordeal after another, and the slums where the stash of stolen goods had been—but those were only a tiny part of the vast Royal Capital.

Thus, the Dragon Church's chapel, quietly standing in a corner of the Royal Capital's commoners' district, was, to Subaru, a case of hidden in plain sight—something that might as well have been built outside his awareness.

「I can't believe there was a church this obvious……」

「You were suuuuper surprised, huh. But if it's a church…… remember, in Pristella you saw the place where my and Regulus's wedding was about to be held, right?」

「The place where we smashed through the doors! Come to think of it, that was a Dragon Church church too?」

With that classic combo of a church and a wedding, his sense of mission to rescue Emilia no matter what had run ahead of him, and he hadn't had the leeway to take in the background at the time. But looking back now, that was indeed a church, and in a kingdom with no custom of worshiping gods, any church would naturally be connected to the Dragon Church.

「That being the case, Wedding Emilia-tan was a feast for the eyes, but the incident itself is a detestable memory for me, so my impression of the Dragon Church starts in the negative.」

"Betty wasn't there at the time, but as expected of an Archbishop of Sin, they don't do anything decent. Still, letting that drag down the image of the 'Dragon Church' is just nitpicking."

"Well, it's not as if this man's flippant talk started today."

"Getting booed by both Beako and Rem... Do girls really yearn for wedding dresses? So if I badmouth a church it tanks my image, that kind of thing?"

At Subaru's timid question, Beatrice and Rem exchanged glances, then shrugged in unison. Seeing that, Subaru's shoulders slumped, and Emilia covered her mouth with a giggle, smiling to ease the mood.

Taking that smile in the corner of his eye, Subaru took the opportunity to pull himself together.

"Anyway, whatever circumstances got mixed up in this outing, me and Emilia-tan, plus Beako and Rem... moving with this lineup is, in a sense, a dream party, isn't it?"

"Dreamy or not, it's certainly unusual, that's for sure."

"Now that you mention it, that's true. Until Subaru took Beatrice out of the Forbidden Library, Beatrice hardly ever went out with us. I'm sure Rem before she fell asleep was the same."

"I don't remember that myself, but I'm sure that's how it was. Getting to walk around with Emilia-san and Beatrice-chan is fun for me, too."

"Hey, you left me out on purpose just now. I'm so lonely, so sad."

Even so, since it was a rare yet delightful combination, Subaru didn't mind at all.

For the time being, this group was the Let's-Go-Visit-Filore-of-the-'Dragon Church' team, a lineup charged with the mission of scouting the enemy.

At last, the chapel where the 'Dragon Church' people should be was coming into view; they were thinking what pretext to use to call out Filore—when, right then—

"Hey! Stop calling people liars already! Fine, I'll show you. This is proof that I was admitted to the castle!"

A bold, spirited voice came from within the grounds where the top of a large building ringed by a stone wall—judging by the roof and structure, likely a church—was visible.

Blinking at what that might be, Subaru and the others saw it: beyond the stone wall, a bright-red light swelling faintly, asserting its presence.

"Is that, maybe...?"

"Wow! Amazing, amazing!"

"It really lit up! What did you do? What did you do?"

"You finally stole it! Thief!"

"First you call me a liar, and now a thief!? What do you think I am!? I am a Nun! Bearer of the Sacraments! All but a saint!"

They heard the chatter of small children and the voice of a woman who seemed to be dealing with them. At what they heard, Subaru and the others exchanged looks, then hurried around the stone wall.

And when the stone wall ended and they reached the main entrance to the church grounds—

"Now, behold. This is the radiance of our 'Dragon' that burns away those of wicked heart! The scripture also says this: 'Man is born of earth, and the Dragon descends from the heavens. Those who forget to look to the sky and overestimate the wings on their own backs shall know their sin by their fall'!"

"Kyaaa!"

"Waaah!"

"Gyahhh!"

Having proclaimed that loudly, they witnessed the figure of a Nun chasing the squealing children around, making the red light in her upraised hand—the dragon jewel of her emblem—shine.

Unaware of the visitors, she went "O-ho-ho-ho-ho!" as she chased after the fleeing children with her emblem aglow, but—

"Now then, before the dazzling brilliance of the most high and noble 'Dragon', who will repent...—oh?"

"——"

She came to an abrupt halt and, with a creak, looked back over her shoulder. Spotting Subaru and the others watching that scene, her mouth fell agape.

Seeing the reaction of the blonde, red-eyed Nun, Subaru couldn't think what to say. Right then, beside him, Emilia rustled about in her bosom,

"Look, look, I can do the same thing."

And, making the emblem she'd taken out glow red just like the Nun—Filore—she innocently, like an angel and without a trace of malice, tried to show she was the same.

Immediately afterward, as Filore's white skin—from her neck to her face to her ears—flushed red with shame all at once, Subaru vaguely thought she was like an instant water heater.