Crossing the long and far-reaching forest, there are lonely tribes living in the open space. Compared with the impression given by the name "sacred area", it is really poor and lacks the impression of sanctity.
There is an upside-down stone tower covered with moss at the entrance of the tribe, and the stone dwellings dotted in the distance are all covered with vines and moss, making them look very ancient.
It feels very similar to the ruins, but if you want to give a straightforward impression of this tribe——
"There is an air of depression everywhere..." A pithy sentence came out of Subaru's mouth
"Let me tell you first, the guys inside are even more depressing. Every one of them is a shit-faced old man and old woman. Don't follow suit and become like "people and Kegelmers will age".
"This is the first time a common saying appears that seems to understand the meaning, but it sounds like a curse word."
Even towards the tribe where he lives, Jaffier's mouth is merciless. Although he may be describing his hometown in a humble and polite manner, there is no such politeness in his tone.
Maybe he really doesn't like it here
"Keep walking and find a suitable place to park..."
"——Come back, Jia Fei, it's very slow."
"ah"
When the dragon chariot was about to enter deeper into the tribe, everyone on the chariot was startled by the familiar voice.
The sound came from deep within the tribe on the dragon chariot route.
What appeared there was a girl standing upright. As soon as he saw her, Jaffier jumped off the dragon carriage quickly, raised his hands and smiled heartily
"Oh~ He even came out to greet him. It's really strange. Is that guy finally screwed up?"
"If what you say is true, Ram will get angry and turn this place into a barren wasteland. The reason why it didn't become like that is all thanks to Lord Roswaal."
"What a stupid reason! I can't even understand it——!"
The girl was wearing a familiar maid outfit and was as venomous as usual, but Jaffier was particularly happy.
"It's been a while since we last met..." Looking at the interaction between them, a smile appeared on Yuexing's face.
"Oh - it sounds like that girl is my sister. I see... It's natural, but she really looks exactly like the sleeping Ms. Rem."
Otto, who saw the girl for the first time, murmured with emotion. As he said, the person who appeared was someone who looked exactly like Rem, but had a completely different personality.
The one who came out to call for someone was Ram, the servant who was not working in the Roswaal mansion. This was the reunion of Suida after a few days.
"——Ram"
Subaru leaned out of the dragon carriage and waved vigorously. Ram noticed and narrowed his light red pupils, then shrugged deliberately.
"I don't know which family Barus belongs to. He is so late. It's disappointing. I thought Barus would notice something wrong early and rush over...ah, Ram who is looking forward to it is really like a fool."
"Since you say you don't know, then implement this setting until the end! And Roswaal too, your requests are too difficult to understand. I will tell him in person later!"
Ram's attitude did not change, and Subaru retorted as before. As a result, Ram snorted as a greeting, and then moved her eyes back to the moon star beside Subaru.
"I didn't expect you to come here... That's right. A guy like Barus will cause trouble even if someone is watching. It's really hard for you to clean up the mess."
Ram looked at the bandage wrapped around Yuexing's shoulder, as if he understood what was going on, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
Yuexing helplessly spread her hands
"Don't take it for granted! I work hard too, okay?!"
Being targeted again, Subaru said angrily.
"Ram——" Emilia stepped down from the dragon carriage and waved hello.
Ram immediately bowed slightly towards Emilia and said
"Lord Emilia, welcome to your presence. Lord Roswaal has been waiting inside for a long time. Please let Ram lead the way. Jiafei can bring the dragon carriage and driver to wherever he wants."
"The treatment is really bad! Let's go over there. Hey, driver, I'll lead the way. Follow up."
"Yes, are you talking about me!? This is the worst acquaintance process I have ever encountered in my life!"
After giving his name but being called the driving boy, and having to be alone with Javier, Otto looked to Subaru and the others for help.
Facing his look for help, Subaru understood and nodded deeply in response.
"I'll pick up the bones for you!"
"That sentence definitely doesn't mean anything good!?"
Leaving behind a wailing lament, Otto and his carriage were forcibly taken away by Javier. When they were leaving, Patrasio approached Subaru with her nose worriedly, but as long as she followed him, Otto should be fine.
Although it sounds strange to entrust people to the care of earth dragons.
"Patrasio-chan is extremely reliable."
"And no matter how much you worry about Otto, there will still be an element of uneasiness left... Okay."
After watching the driver and Dilong leave, Subaru turned back to look at Ram. She silently watched their interaction and responded to Subaru's gaze with an expressionless face.
"what?"
"...No, I want to say that you are very energetic. The situation was very dangerous when we finally separated. We haven't contacted you since then. In fact, I am very anxious and uneasy."
"This is normal. As Barus saw, Ram is pitiful and healthy today. None of the villagers who took refuge in the "Sacred Area" were harmed. You can rest assured about this."
"Well, that's really...well, it's really a relief...a relief."
"——?"
He lowered his shoulders in relief, but the end of his words was inexplicably weak. Ram looked at Subaru like this in surprise.
In response, Subaru gritted his teeth and tried to translate the emotions welling up in his throat into words.
"————"
"Ram, it's not in line with hospitality if you stand here all the time, right? How about changing to a different place?"
Taking over the topic from the silent Subaru, Yuexing said to Ram
Ram frowned slightly, and after seeing Emilia nodding, she immediately saluted and said: "Understood" and turned around
She didn’t ask any further questions, and the cheerful way she walked was very characteristic of her.
"Subaru, why bother?" Yuexing turned around and said
"But... I still want to confirm... But at this juncture, I don't have the courage to speak."
Subaru shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly.
In fact, even though it has come to this point, Ram did not ask where Rem is, which is enough to prove that she does not remember Rem.
"It's normal to be afraid and I don't think it's shameful."
"Emilia?"
Holding the hand of Subaru who was bowing his head, Emilia said to him with a sincere voice and eyes. The blue-purple pupils revealed deep worry and great kindness - giving people a slight feeling of being saved.
"Let's go, I can solve Rem's matter, and other things too," Yuexing sighed.
"Yuexing... you don't have to put too much pressure on yourself, we... can also help."
Emilia's words of concern sounded so weak
"Well, let's take it one step at a time. There are still so many unknowns waiting for us to explore, right? Let's work harder towards the future!"
Subaru laughed, patted Yuexing's shoulder, and put his hand on his shoulder
"You guy, you came to enlighten me instead."
Yuexing smiled and took steps towards the depths of the "sacred realm"
…
——That residence is in the "Sacred Area" and is one of the buildings that still retains its original shape.
The residence made of stacked stones is equivalent to a bungalow in size by the standards of Subaru's original world. With just a few rooms separated into the house, there shouldn't be any big problem in living there.
The ones I had seen before were all mansions such as Roswaal Mansion and the Noble Street in the Royal Capital. Buildings of this size actually gave people a sense of intimacy.
"Oh, it's Emilia-sama, Subaru, and Sun Moon Star. It feels like they're reunited after a long separation."
Roswaal waved to the two of them with a strange smile. The strange feeling emanating from the temporary residence was extraordinary.
With his strange clown makeup and weird words and deeds, his sense of existence is different from ordinary people. He is also like this at home. It is extremely weird.
——It’s just that the strange and weird feeling now is just a trivial matter to him now
"First of all, it's the greatest good thing that Lady Emilia is safe~ Well, I heard what Ram said. If something happens to you, then I won't be able to live anymore~"
"If you really think so, you should be more proactive in dealing with it... No, compared to that, what are you doing now?"
Roswaal was reassured that Emilia was safe, but Roswaal's situation was not quite right.
Roswaal was lying on the bed, wrapped in bleeding bandages, and greeted the three people with a miserable look. His naked upper body was completely wrapped in bandages, and he looked like he was seriously injured and about to die. Even so, the look on his face
The makeup is still perfect. It’s more abnormal than strong.
However, his behavior was as funny as usual, making it impossible to feel that he was seriously injured.
"It's impossible! What happened to you, Roswaal, to be so seriously injured... And, you..."
Faced with Roswaal, who had no intention of beating him up but still kept talking, Emilia was really angry, but she couldn't do anything about it. After all, his injuries were so serious that people hesitated to approach him. Although she wanted to ask him something, she didn't want to.
force him
Just as Emilia was fighting in her heart, Roswaal, who had heterochromatic eyes, closed his blue eye and said:
"Where should I start? Regarding my injury... Is it an honorable injury or something unavoidable due to the development of the situation? It's so troublesome how to answer it."
"Please don't change the topic. I'm asking you seriously, and I ask you to answer seriously."
"Huh...it seems that Lady Emilia is not in a very good mood. It's no wonder that she condescends to a place like this~"
Emilia's interrogative tone struck Subaru as something strange. Roswaal also agreed with this point. After hearing his reminder, Emilia faltered for a while, then sighed in introspection.
"About this place... No, I think it's because I haven't been able to calm down since I encountered the barrier. Where is this place? It's obviously called a "sacred area", but I don't think it's sacred at all. It's better to say
, the atmosphere is like..."
"Witch's grave, if you call it that, you - you understand, right?"
"——!"
When Roswaal mentioned the nickname "Sanctuary", Emilia immediately gasped in surprise.
When someone other than Jaffier said this word, the meaning suddenly gained a lot more meaning, but that also meant that the amount of information to be gleaned increased——
"Wait a minute, let's sort out what you want to ask first. If things continue like this, the topic will jump around in all directions, making it impossible to reach a conclusion."
"Ah-ah, that's a solid proposal. After not seeing each other for a while, Subaru's mood has also changed?"
"It's boring and long to talk about, but I'm very proud of the result... Ah, there's only one thing I want to say first."
Pointing at Roswaal, who was trying to deal with it, Subaru glared at him hard and said:
"Our camp has formed an alliance with Miss Kursch. This is the result of leaving me alone. Are you satisfied?"
"——Oh, satisfied——extremely, you are really a once-in-a-lifetime unexpected gain."
"……Yeah"
Subaru was surprised to receive an affirmation that exceeded his expectations and was filled with a sense of reality. At the same time, he completely agreed with his statement.
Although I had already guessed it, the outcome of Subaru's struggle after being left in the royal capital was indeed in Roswaal's control. From another perspective, it was being used, so it was not interesting at all.
What's more, this fact further highlights the serious deficiencies in his strategy for dealing with the Witch Cult, which makes people even more angry.
"Ask what you want to ask first. Don't you have a lot to say to Roswaal?" Yuexing reminded
Subaru nodded and said:
"First of all, the villagers of Alam Village. I heard that Lamu said everything was safe, but is this really the case?"
"Don't worry, even though I'm in a sorry state and I'm not convinced, I'm still a lord, so I negotiated hard for them and was able to open the Great Cathedral as a refuge."
"The Great Holy Cathedral, I'll ask about the details there later. Next is..."
"What do you mean by "Witch's Grave" just now? Tell me."
Emilia intervened in Subaru's question and chose this as the second topic
This was originally part of the question, so Subaru had no objection. He just felt that his voice was a bit stiff and his questioning attitude was not very Emilia-like.
Hearing Emilia's nervous question, Roswaal smiled lightly and closed one eye.
"It doesn't mean anything. It's just like the name. This is the place where the person who used to be called the "Desire Witch" - the witch Echidna died. To me, this is a land that should be called a sanctuary."
"Witch Echidna..."
Roswaal's answer and voice took Subaru's breath away.
His answer was calm and steady, but full of pain that scratched his heart. It was not an ordinary clown's voice. It was obvious that there were heart-wrenching emotions inside.
Also, when Echidna's name was mentioned, Roswaal had a serious expression for the first time.