Chapter 157: Since your sister said so—then sit down?

"Hmph, servants really are-"

After watching Ram try to lay hands on her only to be punished by the rules and frozen stiff, a flicker of contempt crossed Priscilla's eyes, and out of sheer habit she started in on another mocking remark.

She hadn't gotten more than a few words out before she discovered that she couldn't move either.

The next second, a sharp crackle of electricity ran through the viewing space.

Ram and Priscilla both took a violent jolt, and in the blink of an eye the two of them were twitching like stunned fish as they collapsed back into their respective seats.

They went quiet at once.

Everyone else who had been about to step in and break up the fight stopped where they stood, exchanging looks with one another.

Right. So violence really was off the table. The rules of this space were not for show!

In any case, with matters settled, they silently got the disheveled, unconscious Ram and Priscilla arranged in their seats, and the viewing continued.

"That night, Natsuki Subaru woke to find himself already in bed.

After a long spell of embarrassment, he pulled himself together and decided not to waste a single moment. Once everyone had fallen asleep, he set off for Betty's Forbidden Archive.

As a Great Spirit, Betty had no need for sleep, and he needed exactly this chance to ask for her help.

"Contact with the target is a necessary condition for laying a curse!"

Mercifully, in this loop he had finally gotten the key piece of information out of Betty's mouth.

That narrowed the search for the Curse Caster's identity enormously.

All he had to do was recall who had touched him. The culprit was among them!

Natsuki Subaru frowned, pacing back and forth in front of Betty in the Forbidden Archive, turning it over in his mind.

As for the people he'd had contact with - besides those in the manor, there were the villagers, from when he went out to buy supplies!

The more Natsuki Subaru thought, the brighter his eyes grew and the clearer his reasoning became.

It had been the same when Rem died. Precisely because he hadn't gone to the village that day, Rem, who went alone in his place, had taken the curse instead of him and died in her sleep!

So that was it. That was really it!

Realization hit Natsuki Subaru, and it left him buzzing.

Seeing him like that, Betty sighed, closed the book in her hands, propped her chin on one small palm, and looked over at him with a bored expression.

"Honestly. You're the one who came begging me for help, I suppose. If what I just told you was any use at all, you ought to know what you're supposed to say, no?" Betty said, prickly and proud, a thread of expectation in her voice.

"Yeah. You're absolutely right."

Natsuki Subaru blinked, then broke into a delighted grin.

The next second, under Betty's stunned gaze, he caught her around the waist, hoisted her into the air, and spun her in a circle like she was a little girl.

"Aaaahhh-"

Hauled up without warning, Betty shrieked in a panic, thrashing her small arms and legs with everything she had, to absolutely no effect.

"Beako, love ya!"

Natsuki Subaru beamed as he offered his thanks, paying no attention whatsoever to the fact that Betty was on the verge of being spun dizzy.

"The confident Natsuki Subaru I know has come back at last."

Outside the screen, Julius smiled faintly, genuinely glad that his friend had found his footing again.

"That little girl played a crucial role. Still, one can finally say it - things are back on the right track."

Wilhelm smiled, satisfied, admiration filling his eyes as he watched the Natsuki Subaru on the screen laughing openly, spirits high.

"Aaaah, why did so many people have to see that, I suppose-"

Betty's face went scarlet as she flapped her small hands in front of her, no longer daring to look at the screen.

That little bit of fun between the two of them was something she and Subaru could enjoy in private. Why did it have to be put on display like this, I suppose.

It made them both look childish, and it was far too mortifying besides...

"Dawn came quickly. The moment Natsuki Subaru woke, he found Ram and Rem in the kitchen and asked them to move tomorrow's supply run to the village up to today.

Ram agreed, on the condition that she come along.

"An arm around each of us. How very indulgent, Barusu," Ram said, spreading her hands with a teasing smile.

"I'm truly humbled..."

Before long they were in the village. When Rem and Ram finished their purchases and arrived at the meeting point, they found Natsuki Subaru already thick as thieves with the villagers.

He was even leading them all through morning exercises, and the whole place was lively as anything.

Of course, this wasn't some spur-of-the-moment idea. He was making contact with every single person in the village to confirm that his theory - that the Curse Caster was hiding among the villagers - was correct.

But a moment later, a blue-haired little girl in a dress tugged at his hand, signaling that she wanted to play with him.

And in the swarm of village children that followed, Natsuki Subaru was accidentally bitten by the mutt the blue-haired girl was holding.

With that, he had successfully made contact with every living thing in the village. Plan accomplished.

Next, all that remained was to head back to the manor and ask Betty to take a look..."

On the screen, the situation looked very promising indeed.

Outside it, though, the moment that blue-haired little girl appeared, the expressions of everyone in the viewing seats turned strange all at once.

Because that meek, quiet little girl who looked like just another member of the village - every single one of them knew her!

Not only did they know her, she was sitting right there among them at this very moment - over on the other side, in the seat beside Elsa the Bowel Hunter!

And one look told you that girl was no ordinary child. Even those in the audience who had never laid eyes on her before, who knew nothing of her identity as a Mabeast tamer, had just watched how unhinged that little girl Meili became after Ram attacked Elsa - she'd turned into an animal, going straight for the throat, and once her teeth were in, they weren't coming out.

Anyone who could stand alongside Elsa had to be someone of no ordinary standing!

So - case closed!

As for who that Curse Caster was, the one Natsuki Subaru had been chasing so desperately on screen, there was essentially one answer and one answer only.

Who else could it be but Meili, disguised as a villager and clearly up to no good?!

"Oi, shrimp. If I just take care of you right here, all that mess afterward never happens, yeah?"

Garfiel shot up out of his seat and jabbed a finger at Meili beside Elsa, murder in his eyes, looking ready to move the very next second.

"Garfiel, calm down. The rules here don't allow force."

Frederica pleaded with her brother, going so far as to point at the two cautionary examples slumped up front - but Garfiel, being a warrior, didn't understand. Or rather, pretended not to.

"Garfiel, even if we're going to do something, we ought to ask Mr. Natsuki's opinion first. Save it for after we're out of here," Otto said, frowning in thought for a moment before addressing him calmly.

He glanced at Frederica, who was trying to talk him down from the other side, then raised a hand and pressed it downward in the air.

"Let's leave it at that. Your sister's asking you too, so listen to her. Sit down and watch how the rest of it plays out."

"Fine. I'll do what you say, Brother Otto."

One word from Otto, and Garfiel dropped back into his seat without hesitation.

As the sole warrior of the God of War Trio, Garfiel did tend to listen to Otto whenever Cap'n Natsuki Subaru wasn't around.

"Ah...?"

Watching her own words accomplish nothing, only for Otto to speak from the other side and have her brother obey on the spot, Frederica was left staring blankly.

Did her word as his sister really carry less weight than that grey-haired man's?

She ground her teeth in frustration.

____

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