Chapter 162: Throw Ram!

[To save Rem, Natsuki Subaru set out for the forest together with Ram.

The good news was that Ram possessed an ability called "Clairvoyance," which let her locate Rem by borrowing the vision of insects and animals whose wavelength was close to her own.

The bad news was that Natsuki Subaru was practically dead weight in a fight, and Ram's wind-attribute magic had no staying power whatsoever. By any measure, the two of them were walking straight to their deaths.

But even so, the two, who cared equally about Rem, had reasons they simply could not stay put.

Just hearing that Rem had gone off adventuring alone was enough to throw Ram into a panic. She couldn't wait even a second before springing into action.

As for Natsuki Subaru, he was hardly the kind of man who could sit still while someone risking her life to save him—Rem—was in danger!]

"Huh? With Ram's scrawny little constitution, luring all those brutes over would just drag the Cap'n down, wouldn't it?"

Garfiel couldn't stop the frown, pulling a thoroughly disgusted face as he spoke.

"I should have gone with him back then. Even if healing Subaru left me weakened, it would've been better than being this badly short on firepower now. Then Subaru wouldn't have ended up in such danger!"

Emilia's face clouded with regret, a note of self-reproach in her voice.

"Lia, you burned through too much of your soul power healing Subaru back then. If you'd gone, you might've ended up just like Ram—a few casts of magic and you'd be spent."

Puck patted Emilia on the shoulder, pointing at the scene playing across the screen to comfort her.

[At that moment, Natsuki Subaru, gripping the finest sword in the village the villagers had given him—useless as it was—suddenly thought of something.

He volunteered to declare that he could Return by Death, using the Witch's lingering scent to draw the Mabeasts to him, and thereby lure over Rem, who was off hunting them.

"Its name: Operation Natsuki Subaru Bait!"]

["And here I trusted you to be a real fighter—turns out you're this weak, Ram?"

Natsuki Subaru sprinted along at full tilt with a limp, strengthless Ram in his arms, a dozen-odd Mabeasts drawn in by the Witch's scent hot on his heels.

"I did actually fight, you know. It's just that Ram's stamina isn't as good as you imagined."

Ram cracked her eyes open weakly, mustering what little strength she had to defend herself.

Watching this, the viewing seats filled all at once with a mirthful air.

One second they'd finished watching the tangled love and hate, the emotional knots, of Ram and Natsuki Subaru from the Wrath line—and the next the whole mood flipped, into two hopeless amateurs huddling together for warmth.

As far as they were concerned, it'd be a miracle if these two clowns didn't drag the other Rem down, and yet here they were, loudly insisting they were off to save her.

It was honestly kind of comical.

[To escape the Mabeasts, Natsuki Subaru fled with Ram and had no choice but to leap off a cliff. Now the pair's only lifeline was that finest sword in the village, still gripped in Natsuki Subaru's hand.

That sword was, at this moment, barely wedged into a crack in the rock below the cliff, holding the two of them up.

But the very next second, the blade let them down completely and snapped with a sharp crack.

"The finest sword in the village breaks just like that?!"

Natsuki Subaru let out an unwilling shriek as he plummeted.

"El Fura!"

Ram, remarkably calm in that instant, seized the timing and unleashed a current of air toward the ground below to cushion them, and only thanks to that did the two land safely.

"That was close—thank the spirits, and thank Ram for nailing the timing. Otherwise today really would've been two corpses, two lives lost!"

Natsuki Subaru let out a long breath.]

"It really is one twist after another… watching it had me tensing right up along with them."

Anastasia dabbed at nonexistent sweat on her brow and exhaled at length as she spoke.

"After all, Subaru's plans always cut it dangerously fine. Is it recklessness, or something else entirely…"

Julius shook his head with a rueful chuckle as he offered his assessment.

[Rem appeared soon enough, leaping down from the very cliff Natsuki Subaru and the others had just fallen from and landing steadily.

To his great dismay, though, Natsuki Subaru discovered that Rem happened to be the type whose settings had her lose all reason once her second stage kicked in.

"Who in the world designed this cheap, hackneyed trope?!"

Natsuki Subaru griped in grief-stricken indignation while dodging the shockwaves of Rem's battle with the Mabeasts.

But he was Natsuki Subaru, after all, and he soon found the crucial opening to snap Rem out of it.

This too was information gleaned from Lady Sister, who had only just woken up:

"If you can strike the horn on Rem's head hard enough, that should probably wake her up!"

"Um, Lady Sister—I've thought of a workable method, but you're definitely going to be angry about it afterward."

Natsuki Subaru said, a little awkward, as though issuing some sort of criminal declaration.

"…So long as my little sister returns to normal, Ram won't be angry."

Ram said without a moment's hesitation.

"Good, that's exactly what I was waiting for!"

The corners of Natsuki Subaru's mouth split into an excited grin.

After backing up a few steps and stringing together a short charging run to build momentum, Natsuki Subaru heaved Ram on his shoulder straight at Rem!—

Take that, Ram~

In that moment, the excitement on Natsuki Subaru's face as he flung Ram, the blank bewilderment on Ram's as she was hurled through the air, and the suddenly crystal-clear light in Rem's eyes as she watched a great big Sister come pouncing at her—together they formed a peerless masterpiece.

"Gotcha!"

Natsuki Subaru gripped the broken sword tight, cocking his swing ahead of time, and charged at Rem at the fastest speed of his life.

Across from him, the berserk Rem caught Ram, first puzzled, then—as Natsuki Subaru closed in—her gaze abruptly sharpened, and she shot him a vicious glare.

Not good!

That one glare left Natsuki Subaru drenched in sweat, and the thought of having to swing a blade at Rem made him waver for a single instant.

And that gave rise to an absurdly comical scene.

By the time he trotted up beside Rem and struck out with the do-or-die swing he'd been so sure of, Rem dodged it with an effortless little sidestep.

I'm done for! Just now, in that split second, I actually hesitated!

The instant the broken sword cut through empty air, terror washed over Natsuki Subaru's face, cold sweat beading thick across his forehead.

But there was no time left to do anything else. He could only stumble a couple of steps and watch, helpless, as his face went pitching toward the ground.

"Ahaha, the sneak attack he'd prepped so carefully came up empty."

Puck sucked in a sharp breath and let out a dry laugh.

"He's not going to have to start all over again, is he? I can't even see how he wins!"

Felt clutched her head, wearing the look of someone with a splitting headache.

But the very second after those words left her mouth, a sudden shift on the screen gave her the answer:

At some point a little earth-puppy—the mastermind behind it all—had appeared right in front of Natsuki Subaru, and in the instant he was about to fall, it unleashed an earth magic like an earthquake that flung Natsuki Subaru up into the air.

And that enormous commotion successfully drew Rem's attention as well.

Seizing the chance, Natsuki Subaru adjusted his posture in midair, took aim at the single horn on Rem's head, and brought the blade down hard!—

"Land it, damn it—"

"The me of today is more possessed than any vengeful ghost!"]

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