Chapter 158: What Treasures Are in Your Manor That You Divide Your Forces Like This?

[Natsuki Subaru, carrying a huge armload of supplies, made it back to the manor with Rem and Ram without a single incident along the way.

The sun sank low in the west.

At the manor's front gate the three of them ran straight into Roswaal, and learned that he was about to leave on business.

In the end, with the three of them watching him go, Roswaal shot up into the sky and vanished beyond the horizon.

"Roswaal heading out - that never happened in any of the earlier runs. It's because I went to the village ahead of schedule today, isn't it? Which means the bait plan worked!"

Subaru gave himself a mental cheer, but he didn't relax. He knew this was only the beginning.]

"Ah, thaaat? Let me think - there was no paaarticular reason for me to leave the manor~ I simply wanted to clear some space for Subaru's coming trial~"

Roswaal, silent for so long, explained to everyone in that strange, sing-song cadence of his, and a smile crept onto the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

"How vile of you, Roswaal. You can actually smile in a situation like this?"

"The sins you have committed against Subaru could not be repaid even if you were pierced by ten thousand arrows, in Betty's opinion!"

Betty swept a frigid look toward Roswaal, displeasure written all over her face.

Yet in the face of Betty's hostility, Roswaal only smiled, as though the offense meant nothing to him at all.

On the contrary, he was brimming with excitement right now.

At last, they had arrived at the world that matched his memories. This time, surely Natsuki Subaru would pass the trial.

True, at the start - once he learned that the world-altering authority recorded of Natsuki Subaru in the Gospel was nowhere near as formidable as he had imagined, and once Natsuki Subaru's performance proved so disappointing - he had barely wanted to speak another word.

But he had lived through Greed IF himself, so he understood exactly how far Natsuki Subaru would eventually grow, and his outlook had gradually righted itself.

It was nothing more than a repeat. He would simply wait for Natsuki Subaru to grow up all over again.

Until, in the Sanctuary, he made Natsuki Subaru the vessel for his teacher Echidna's consciousness once more...

Seated in the corner, Roswaal watched the Natsuki Subaru on the screen with a blank face, his gaze deep and distant, as though brewing some scheme no one else could see.

["And there we have it. Now it's time for the moment you've all been waiting for - Betty's grand entrance!"

Natsuki Subaru stood in front of the shelves of the Forbidden Archive, delivering his lines to a camera that did not exist.

"Who exactly have you been talking to this whole time? It is far too stupid, so kindly stop doing that, I suppose."

Betty propped her cheek on one hand and watched, speechless, as Natsuki Subaru padded out his own part.

"So? What business brings you here?"

At that, Natsuki Subaru's face turned serious. He bowed to Betty and solemnly asked her to check whether he had been cursed - and, while she was at it, to undo the curse.

Betty was the keeper of the Forbidden Archive for good reason. In a matter of moments she unraveled the spell formula, and showed Natsuki Subaru where the curse had taken hold.

And that place was - the back of his hand?!

Natsuki Subaru stared in disbelief at the back of his own hand, black smoke pouring steadily off it. One glance was enough to make anyone feel misfortune coming.

So the so-called Curse Caster was that dog?

Natsuki Subaru remembered that scruffy mutt vividly, because in every loop where he went to the village, it bit him without fail.

This was bad!

Something clicked in Natsuki Subaru's mind. That mutt's appearance was far too deceptive, and it ran around with the village children. If he left it alone, the kids - and the whole village - would be in danger!

The thought filled him with urgency.

He left the Forbidden Archive at once, found Rem and Ram straight away, laid out the whole story from beginning to end, and wheeled out the manor's most senior authority, Betty, to back him up.

After some discussion, they decided that Rem and Natsuki Subaru would go to the village together to see what was happening.

Ram, meanwhile, would protect Emilia, in case this was a ploy to draw them away from the manor.]

"Splitting their forces at a time like this - no matter how you look at it, that isn't a good choice."

Crusch frowned slightly. After all, the manor was hardly something that had to be defended.

If anything, in terms of importance, the safety of the village outweighed the manor - outweighed everything.

If the village ended up destroyed while Emilia came through unharmed, she would still be judged incapable of protecting her own people, and stripped of her Royal Selection candidacy for it.

So the two maids on screen splitting up was an extremely foolish move.

The manor's camp had precious little fighting strength to begin with, once you set aside the traitor Roswaal, the Phantom God of Civil War Puck, and the shut-in Great Spirit Betty.

And faced with a situation this suspicious, they sent one little maid along with her husband and no one else?

Crusch shook her head, but kept watching patiently.

[Natsuki Subaru and Rem raced to the village at top speed, and the moment they arrived they knew something was wrong. Villagers were running everywhere with torches raised, as if searching for something.

"Some of the village children have gone missing. All the adults are out looking for them."

A villager passing by, caught by Natsuki Subaru, told them how things stood.

Natsuki Subaru's first thought was the very place where he had been playing with those children that afternoon, so he took the lead at once, bringing Rem and the villager along.

"The barrier is broken. Mabeasts will come pouring into the village."

Rem stretched out her senses and found that the barrier laid down here had been destroyed at some point. Now the village was at risk of a Mabeast incursion.

"Then the kids are in the forest..."

Natsuki Subaru gritted his teeth. He hesitated only a moment before striding forward, determined to follow the Mabeast tracks left in the dirt.

"Subaru, what are you doing?!"

Rem caught the movement and shouted, worry breaking through her voice.

"Going to save those brats!"

There was iron in Natsuki Subaru's eyes. He could hardly stand by and watch those adorable little brats die - the same ones he'd been chatting and playing with not long ago!

Call it reckless, call it biting off more than he could chew. The fact was there was no time to waste.

He had already sent the villager who came with them running back to raise the alarm.

But with every passing second, those kids' odds of survival dropped.

In other words -

If he didn't step up now, no one else was going to step up at all!

A wild, unrestrained grin pulled at the corner of Natsuki Subaru's mouth. At this point he had well and truly cut himself loose.

Ah, that was right. Wasn't this exactly what a hero was?]

Outside the screen, Natsuki Subaru's grand declaration set the mood in the viewing area ablaze.

"Hahaha, a fine look in his eyes! Just what one would expect of the benefactor who slew the White Whale and laid this old man's years-long wish to rest. Was the hero's spirit in him already showing its edge even back then?"

Old Wilhelm was the first to burst into hearty laughter, sweeping the others up with him, his eyes brimming with admiration and fondness as he looked at his "little benefactor."

If only his own grandson had turned out so well - how wonderful that would have been.

____

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