Chapter 200: Patrasche, truly a virtuous and attentive good woman!

"Whoa—"

Just as the ground dragon-drawn carriage rolled through the manor gate and strode past a fountain not far from where Natsuki Subaru and the others stood, an old, steady voice rang out from the driver's seat, seemingly trying to order the dragon pulling the carriage to stop.

But unexpectedly—

the ground dragon pulling the carriage—one small even by the standards of its own kind—completely ignored the old man's command to halt. Instead, it barreled straight ahead in one particular direction.

Had the dragon gone berserk, or had something startled it?

That was the first thought that crossed the minds of everyone present who didn't know what was going on.

The sudden emergency made them all whip their heads around to see exactly where the charging dragon was headed.

What they found was that the dragon hauling the carriage was charging straight at Natsuki Subaru, dead center!

"Subaru, look out!"

Emilia cried out in alarm, her face tense with worry, and thrust her hand forward, ready to conjure her specialty—a fivefold Ice Shield—to protect herself and Subaru.

But if she did that, the small dragon charging toward them would likely crash straight into it and end up bloodied.

Realizing this, Subaru and Petra exchanged a glance and, without a moment's hesitation, rushed forward, each grabbing one of Emilia's arms from either side, interrupting her spell.

"Eh...!"

Suddenly seized by both of them at once, Emilia was thrown into confusion.

She canceled the spell of her own accord—it wasn't that being held back by the two of them had actually disrupted her casting. A disturbance that minor could never have interfered with her magic.

The only reason she gave up on her defense was her trust in Subaru. Even with the dragon now bearing down on her from mere steps away, she didn't hesitate for an instant to cancel the spell she'd been about to unleash.

"Subaru, and Petra too—what are you two...?!"

Emilia asked, bewildered. From where she stood, this unfamiliar, seemingly berserk dragon looked nothing but dangerous—so why were the two of them stopping her?

"Please, Emilia, don't!"

"Because—because Patrasche will get hurt if you do that!"

Petra shouted this with her eyes squeezed shut, still clinging tightly to Emilia's arm.

Unlike Emilia—whose experiences with the Wrath line or the Greed line had given her no real connection to Patrasche, to the point she couldn't even tell it apart from any other ground dragon—

Petra, as a manor maid, had once cared for Patrasche, and had recognized it the instant she laid eyes on it.

What's more, she'd heard from Subaru himself about the bond between him and Patrasche, something like love at first sight. So Petra was certain that whatever Patrasche was doing now, it was absolutely not an attempt to hurt Subaru out of some berserk rage.

After all, the chemistry between this man and this dragon was clearly excellent!

As for Subaru, faced with Emilia's question, he broke into a cold sweat. Should he admit that he already knew Patrasche—that he had memories of a future that hadn't happened yet?

There was no one here who was really an outsider, so admitting it outright wouldn't cause any real harm.

But the problem was—

most of the people here came from "other possible" worlds whose memories diverged wildly from his own, while he knew nothing at all about them!

Don't trust. Don't believe.

That was the state of Subaru's heart right now. The only ones he could trust unconditionally at this point were Betty, Emilia, Rem, Ram, and Petra!

Without even realizing it, Subaru's thinking had gradually merged with that of the Purge King. The seed of distrust toward everyone had already taken root the moment he absorbed the Purge King's Book of the Dead.

And so—

"Ahem, right, Betty told me that Patrasche would become one of our most reliable companions in the future!"

"Isn't that right, Beako?"

Subaru turned to look at Betty as he spoke, blinking pointedly at her.

"Yes, that's right!"

Betty, who had been slowly walking over after Subaru suddenly dashed toward Emilia, blinked in surprise at first, but the unspoken understanding between the two of them made her instinctively back him up.

"Oh! That's the dragon our boss is especially fond of, huh! I know that one—she's a good woman, that lady!"

Garfiel struck fist to palm, grinning with his trademark shark teeth, sounding a little excited.

"I can sense that this lady means no harm."

Halibel said, rising up from Subaru's shadow at some point without anyone noticing, shaking his head gently. He didn't know Patrasche, but he too addressed her as a lady.

"See? It probably doesn't mean to hurt me, so relax, Emilia-tan!"

Subaru shrugged, and once he saw Emilia nod, blushing slightly, he finally let go of the arm he'd been holding onto this whole time.

And as if responding to his words—

the dragon Patrasche, still pulling the carriage as it charged toward them, suddenly slowed as it drew close to Subaru, its footsteps growing gentle.

It lifted its head high, chest out, and walked forward slowly, finally coming to a stop right in front of Subaru.

That short stretch of ground somehow gave everyone present the illusion of solemn, sacred ceremony—as if this weren't the courtyard of a manor, but a church in the middle of a wedding.

Patrasche locked eyes with Subaru for a long moment, its gaze filled entirely with his reflection and nothing else.

Then, as if it had confirmed something just by looking into his eyes, it threw its head back and let out a joyful roar.

It lowered its head again and nuzzled Subaru's cheek gently with the softest part of its own face, letting out a low, humming purr, as if it were pampering itself against him.

"There, there, Patrasche, you really are a devoted, wonderful dragon!"

Subaru laughed heartily and rubbed Patrasche's head with rough affection.

When he'd first seen Patrasche charging toward him, his gut reaction had been that it was about to slam right into his arms.

But instead, Patrasche had held back with surprising restraint, simply pressing gently against him.

Had it already realized that, given its size, it would have sent him flying?

What a thoughtful dragon!

"Roar!"

Patrasche lifted its head and called out once, as if in reply to Subaru.

At that moment, the red curtain behind Patrasche, hanging over the carriage, was suddenly swept aside, and a slender, sharp figure vaulted lightly out from within.

Ferris landed steadily on the ground, her soft white legs barely making a sound, dressed at the moment in a blue-and-white halter sundress with frilled edges.

Atop her short, light brown hair sat a pair of cat ears, pink on the inside and brown on the outside, with a blue-and-white ribbon bow pinned beside her right ear as decoration.

The only slight disappointment was her modest chest—barely more than the faint, budding curve of a lotus shoot just breaking the water's surface.

The instant her eyes met Subaru's gaze, the cat ears atop Ferris's head twitched upright for a split second, as if startled, before relaxing again.

On the surface, though, her expression showed no great shock. She merely twisted her hands together behind her back, then flashed Subaru a natural, easy smile.

That smile held both the relieved, contented joy of a cat who'd found her home, and the sly determination to claim this cozy little spot for herself.

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