Subaru, who was standing there, came back to his senses when he heard the voice.
In front of him, Wilhelm and Yuexing stood in front of him
"Now, I'm afraid you are experiencing all kinds of complex emotions in your heart. No matter what kind of emotion you feel, it's probably not even the slightest bit... But, even if you feel extremely ruthless, please allow me to say something."
Wilhelm looked at Subaru, his eyes as quiet as the surface of a lake
"--war"
Lowly, making the surrounding air tremble
The violence emanating from Wilhelm swept through the surrounding area. Naturally, the eyes of other warriors were focused here.
"Even if you have regrets, even if you have extreme regrets, you must fight, fight, and resist. As long as you make up your mind, you must put everything you have into fighting. Don't give up for a second, a moment, or a moment, and greedily bite the victory in your eyes. As long as you
As long as you can still stand up, as long as you can move even one finger, as long as your teeth are not broken, stand up, stand up, stand up, stand up, and fight, -- fight."
"Are you saying you want me to become stronger?"
"No, - I mean, stay strong"
Requirements, beyond reach
"I want to do that too, but it's too difficult. I obviously don't want anyone to die like this... but it's because of my shortcomings!"
"If I don't do this kind of thing...it all started because of me."
"Because you were involved, and because I followed your orders, there will be dead people? - This is not right," Wilhelm said, opening his arms.
"No one here thinks that they are forced to be involved in this situation. Even if you are the one who gives this opportunity, we are the ones who choose to fight. You all stand here based on your own will."
"Please don't bear their death alone anymore. They don't want to be a burden to you. But please keep it in your heart and never forget it. That's all."
"Never forget, forget what...?"
"...They were once comrades-in-arms"
Yuexing said, dragging the sword on his waist with his left hand, looking at the rising sun hiding behind the clouds, which represents hope.
"The so-called lending a hand does not necessarily mean wielding a sword to help, challenging the same enemy, worrying together when facing obstacles, and sharing pain and burdens with each other. These are exactly what I have learned in the past." Will
Heim said, pointing with his chin
Looking in that direction, I saw that the eyes of everyone present were focused here.
The same emotion as Wilhelm's flashed in his eyes.
Facing the unknown enemy, no one showed the intention of leaving the team when the situation was unfavorable.
There were no looks of reproach because it was different from what was planned, nor was there a scolding voice of arrogance.
"Until now, I still don't know what to do, but I know that this is what must be done, and we must defeat them."
Subaru looked at everyone and said
"To help Emilia and defeat the Witch Cult, in order to achieve these two goals"
"Do what you must do, not for other people, but for your own wishes."
"I am willing to contribute to this," Wilhelm, all members of the expedition team agreed in unison.
"...It's great that I'm so weak."
…
——Returning with the remains of his companions, surprising the knights who stayed behind.
Fortunately, there were no changes in the position, but after hearing the reports of battles and casualties in the forest, melancholy appeared on the faces of the personnel on standby.
Everyone felt the same regret for not being able to participate in the battle, and like their other companions, they once again vowed to provide assistance to Subaru.
So, they and their companions after rendezvous began to discuss the next course of action
"First of all, let me report the investigation results of the second Sloth's corpse - as expected, it is slightly different from the corpses of other witch cultists, with traces of strange magic spells."
The first person to raise her hand to report was Phyllis, who had completed the investigation of the woman's body.
"In other words, isn't it different from the suicide spell used on witch cultists?" Yuexing asked
"That's it. It's hard to see because it's mixed together, but if you look at it with knowledge in advance, it will be clear... Presumably, other lazy believers also have the same spell."
"It's not like it was done with power."
"Then I don't know, nya. However, since this special treatment appears among the believers, we can only suspect that it is related to the strange power used by the Sin Archbishop, nya."
"Then the question is, besides those two "lazy" ones, how many other "lazy" ones are there?"
"There are only two now, but it is very dangerous to think that there are only two. In the worst case, all the people called "fingers" may be "lazy". We must do this well.
kind of psychological preparation”
"...Anyway, this is too much of a leap, isn't it? If everyone can use powers, they should use them when counterattacking. There shouldn't be anyone like that."
"But this is only if the beings called fingers only represent the subordinates of the Sin Archbishop," Julius said.
"I see. In other words, what did Julius want to say? Could the "finger" also mean the left and right hands of the Sin Archbishop?" Ricardo said.
"——? Whether it's the left hand or the right hand, aren't they both part of the body?" Subaru asked, not knowing why.
"It's not like that. It means something more like a confidant, a right-hand assistant. Originally, the status of "finger" in the Witch Cult was just Subaru's speculation, right?" Phyllis raised a finger and said.
"The number of sloths is the same as the number of fingers, and Petelgeuse is but one of those fingers."
"It would be better to say that "finger" is something similar to a clone." Yuexing said while holding her chin.
The new possibilities brought by the words made everyone look at the source of the sound.
"So far, there has been no sudden "lazy" situation in combat, and the same applies when killing "finger".
"In other words, "Sloth" was occupied by other "fingers" at that time, and it was killed before it could transfer its "consciousness" in time..." Julius said after thinking.
"Assuming that the number of clones that "Sloth" can control is the same as the number of fingers, and each stronghold is assigned a "finger", there will be three remaining strongholds and three more "fingers"..."
"We should consider that there may be some "lazyness" involved."
Yuexing nodded and said
"——The people in the mansion and the village must be evacuated, the sooner the better"
"Now that we are not sure whether the biggest threat has been eliminated, what we should be most wary of is the original purpose of those guys - to harm Emilia-sama and the villagers."
"Their number has also been reduced by most. The hostility on our side has been completely exposed. In this case, the most feared thing is that they will kill every fish."
Julius and Ricardo agreed, Yuexing also nodded.
The Witch Cult has undoubtedly noticed the existence of the expedition team. The previous surprise attack fully demonstrated this.
"When "Sloth" appears again, it casts a net for us to pass by. Where were we discovered? If only our existence was exposed, then it would be okay, but what if our purpose is also exposed?"
"Right now, the Witch Cult hasn't noticed that the plain's defense line has been breached. If Emilia and the others get on the dragon chariot, they should be able to escape directly."
"Let Emilia-sama and the others escape, so that they can concentrate on defeating the Witch Cult without any worries. It will be a disadvantage to fight with weaknesses, especially for people like little Fili and Subaru."
"It's really harsh...but that's what it's all about."
At present, time is the key to victory. Fortunately, no one raised any objections, so the decision was made immediately.
"Great, - then you can take the merchants to the village and don't leave anyone behind? Is that okay?"
"After this, I don't know where I will be attacked by "sloth", so it is necessary to have eyes that can see "darkness" clearly"
Julius looked at Subaru and Tsukisei and said
"Oh, finally we have something to do. We can't settle down without a job."
Then, the merchants on standby were surprisingly enthusiastic about the departure order that finally came.
Probably it was not in their temperament to stand still, but the matter related to the Witch Cult was still concealed, because if they were to make their steps heavy now, it would probably dampen their enthusiasm for waiting for the opportunity.
…
Ahead, the forest path extends into the distance. Calculating the distance, Alam Village, which should have come into view, seems to be still far away.
Suddenly, the sweet floral fragrance penetrated into the nose, and the blue flowers blooming on both sides of the road were swaying in the wind.
Yuexing frowned and looked around, fragments of memory emerged.
"Something is wrong here……"
Before she could finish her words, a sudden storm made Yuexing unable to open her eyes.
The unexpected strong wind mixed with the fragrance of flowers and blew my hair. I was surprised at this inexplicable situation for a moment, and then noticed
——The long line of earth dragons disappeared, leaving me alone.