Chapter 159: Arrogance line Reinhard sharply critiques 486: He is simply a saint

"Heh, go get 'em, Cap'n! A pack of lousy animals like that ain't ever gonna be a match for you!"

Garfiel shouted, baring his signature shark teeth to show just how delighted he was.

He'd been sick of watching Natsuki Subaru stuck in that cramped, powerless position for ages now. Were they finally getting to the fighting?

Fighting. Now that was more like it!

"Garfiel, honestly, you could stand to think about Mr. Natsuki's situation a little. He's just an ordinary person, and none of his reliable teammates are unlocked yet at this point. Charging in like that won't work."

Otto pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed, but after thinking it over for a moment, he shook his head with a wry smile.

"That said, if I put myself in his shoes, I honestly wouldn't know what to do either. I'm a coward. I might well have run."

He paused there, and something bright kindled in his eyes.

"But - I know Mr. Natsuki won't run. That's exactly where he and I differ. He's a man with a hero's spirit."

"So yes, going off alone to save those children is reckless. But it's so very much Mr. Natsuki's style!" Otto said, admiration coloring every word.

"Subaru, back then, Rem should have gone alone. It was all Rem's fault that Subaru was hurt so badly."

Watching Natsuki Subaru about to throw himself into danger, Rem felt her chest tighten.

She had never forgotten that it was here, in this place, that Subaru saved her again and again, that he took the Mabeast's curse onto himself for her and came within a breath of dying.

It was here, too, that she first began to love him, that the distance between their hearts closed and the story of the two of them truly began.

Even so, if Rem could do it all over, she would rather Natsuki Subaru never risked himself at all, never fought those vicious Mabeasts. She could have handled it alone.

All Subaru needed to do was stand behind her and let her protect him. That would have been enough!

["Don't be rash, Subaru. Can you say for certain this isn't a feint meant to draw us away from the manor?" Rem said, trying anxiously to hold him back.

"Then what do you suggest? We turn around and go defend the manor? If you don't mind every villager being dead by tomorrow morning, sure, let's do that!" Natsuki Subaru shot back, forcing his anger down. The blunt truth of it left Rem with nothing to say.

It was true. The villagers couldn't be allowed to die either. That was part of her duty too.

"Let's go, Rem! I promised those brats I'd do radio calisthenics with them again. And just so we're clear in advance - even if you don't come, I'm not giving up on going!" Natsuki Subaru drew a deep breath and held out the invitation.

In the end, Rem nodded slowly, and agreed.]

"I really don't get it. What is it about that manor that's got them so fixated on it?" Felt said, hands on her hips, exasperated. Her view lined up exactly with Crusch's.

"That earlier possible world line already showed us - there's no protective magic barrier in the manor, no traps to hold off an enemy. So why treat it as such a priority?"

"And in the end, because they're short on hands, they're hemming and hawing over whether to even go save the kids in the forest. Wouldn't moving together be safer than splitting into two groups?" Felt shook her head and sighed.

"Guarding the manor - with nobody there to drag her down, Betty alone is plenty to handle any situation, I suppose," Betty said, her expression flat.

"Besides, with Emilia and the rest away, no one would go out of their way to attack the manor under normal circumstances, would they? Unless it's for me and the Forbidden Archive? Strange."

Betty shook her head and let the thought drop.

[Natsuki Subaru and Rem soon found the missing children in a wide clearing.

The problem was that almost every one of them bore bite marks, and under the torment of the curse their breathing came fast and shallow. None of them would wake.

Worse still, Petra, forcing herself awake for a few moments, told them that one more girl - a girl with a braid hanging down - had been dragged deeper into the forest.

So Natsuki Subaru made his decision fast.

"Rem, you stay here and treat the kids. At the very least ease their pain a little. I'll be right back, and I'll bring that braided little girl back with me, guaranteed!"

"No, it's too dangerous! And if she's already been taken away separately by the Mabeast, that means she's already-"

Something pained flickered through Rem's eyes, but she stood firm in trying to stop Natsuki Subaru - an ordinary person, barely a combatant at all - from walking to his death.

"I know what you mean, Rem. But listen - when her friend was taken, the first thing Petra worried about was her friend. She put someone else ahead of herself. That feeling, at least, is one thing I refuse to let down."

Natsuki Subaru met Rem's eyes with an unwavering gaze, then broke into an unbearably dashing grin.

"If I've decided to save them, then I've got to save every last one!"]

"Now that is arrogant of you, Subaru," Julius said with a soft laugh outside the screen, shaking his head.

Reinhard picked up the thread, a smile of genuine appreciation on his face. "But that resolve to protect, that conviction - anyone would praise it."

"Looking at it this way, Subaru truly has excellent foundations. He carries so many of the knightly virtues - kindness, compassion, mercy... he's a born knight!"

Reinhard's tone lifted, and anyone could see he was in high spirits.

And in fact, he was.

The memories he possessed covered only what he had experienced in the world of the Pride-if line, and the one that had left the deepest mark was Natsuki Subaru setting the Royal Capital ablaze.

True, after watching the One Day in the Royal Capital arc, and a small portion of Natsuki Subaru's experiences in the Pride line, he had come to understand why the man fell into darkness. His impression of Subaru had shifted enormously, and he'd come to regard him as a friend.

Still, the shadow that the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Pride, Natsuki Subaru, had left on him wasn't something he could simply shrug off.

But now things were different once again-

This viewing had shown him far more clearly what kind of person Subaru really was, exactly as he'd just said.

And if he set the title of knight aside, Reinhard thought there was probably only one word that fit Subaru.

Saint.

In the Wrath-if line, Natsuki Subaru had chosen to forgive Ram, who had turned her grief into rage against him and hunted him across the world.

Even when Ram's strength gave out, he hadn't killed her; instead he racked his brain for ways to keep her alive.

And beyond that, once he returned to the main line, simply because he remembered the kindness of the twin sisters - without even confirming it - he'd resolutely killed himself to start over.

It was almost like he was coaxing himself along. The mere possibility was enough that he refused to let them down... Thankfully, in the end he did take both sisters' hands, and confirmed that the warmth had been no illusion.

And then there was what the screen had just shown -

Facing a group of helpless children, he refused to abandon a single one of them, pressing forward into a situation he had no power to overcome, without a trace of fear...

Reinhard rejoiced for Natsuki Subaru, rejoiced at this beautiful quality in his friend.

Because it proved that the choice he had made back then had not been wrong!

["But Subaru, if you go alone, Rem might not be able to find you again after handing the children over to the villagers," Rem said after a moment's hesitation.

"How could you not find me? If it's you, you definitely can," Natsuki Subaru said with a smile, not looking back.

"How can you be so sure...?"

"Even if nobody else can find me, you'd still catch that stench on me. The lingering scent of the Witch, right?"

Natsuki Subaru turned around and gave Rem a complicated smile.

"Subaru, how do you know about that?" Rem asked, disbelief in her voice.

Natsuki Subaru shook his head without answering directly. He turned, dropped to one knee, hooked his pinky around Rem's, and looked straight into her eyes.

"I've got a lot I want to ask you, and you've got a lot you want to ask me. So let's save it. When this is all over, we'll talk to our hearts' content."

"What is this...?" Rem tilted her head, watching his gesture in confusion.

"I believe in Rem, so I want to earn Rem's trust through what I actually do. Let's make our promise on that foundation."

"Mm... then, it's a promise." Rem stared blankly for a moment, then nodded hard as she said it.]

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