[User] "Touching it might make you go weird in the head…!"

[Assistant] "It—it might be better to burn it…”

[User] Ignoring TB’s concerns, Subaru opened it and glanced at the pages.

[Assistant] However, he was unfortunately unable to identify the characters in which the words were written. They were neither I-script nor R-script, nor even H-script, but some other, mysterious language. They kind of looked like hiragana scribbled way too fast, so much so as to be illegible. On top of that, the latter half of the book was comprised of blank pages; a reasonable person might call it a misprint.

[User] “…Well, I can’t read it anyway. I know it was careless of me, so both of you calm down, okay?”

[Assistant] "—My apologies.” Wilhelm drops the combat posture.

[User] “Well, it’s your fault, Subawu.” Ferris drops the combat posture.

[Assistant] With a touch of cold sweat from that, Subaru showed the two the book in his hand, trying to wrap his head around it.

[User] “Does either of you have a clue about this book?”


[User] The return of Subaru & Co. with the bodies of their comrades was a great shock to those who had remained at the camp. Fortunately, nothing had happened to the camp whatsoever, but the reports of combat and casualties in the forest spread gloom among the faces of those waiting in reserve. All shared the disappointment of not having been able to partake in the battle. Like the others, they too renewed their vows of support toward Subaru. And, having linked up with additional allies, they began to discuss their plan of action henceforth. However, the new issues and obstacles that had floated to the surface were all difficult ones. The existence of the Archbishop of Sloth continued to stand before the expeditionary force as a high wall impeding their progress.

[Assistant] "First, my report after examining the corpse of the second Sloth: As you can see, the corpse is a little different from that of the other Witch Cultists. There are traces of a strange ritual.” The first to offer information was Ferris, once his examination of the madwoman’s corpse was complete.

[User] The word ritual brought a grimace to Subaru’s face.

[Assistant] “You mean one besides the Witch Cultists embedding magic crystals into themselves for suicide?”

[User] “Exactly. The fusion was hard to see, but when I compared on a hunch, it became clear as day… I think the same Sloth-like cultists have the same setup.”

[Assistant] “So this setup, it’s the trigger for that authority thingy?”

[User] “I don’t know that far. But when I think of some of the cultists getting this special treatment, it makes me suspect it has something to do with the weird power the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins controls.”

[Assistant] The information suggesting there were multiple Sloths had already been shared within the expeditionary force. Given Ferris’s examinations to date, the possibility loomed ever larger.

[User] “If that’s so, the problem is how many Sloths besides these two are there, huh?”

[Assistant] “There have been two to date, but considering what it took to bring them down, the situation is extremely dangerous. Worst case, we should presume that it is possible all the individuals known as fingers are Sloths.”

[User] “…That’s jumping ahead a little much, ain’t it? If they could all use that authority, they’d use it to hit back at us, right? But no one’s done that.”

[Assistant] “It would be so if the individuals known as fingers appeared as a group under the archbishop’s command.”

[User] Julius’s reply didn’t really answer Subaru’s question. But Ferris and Ricardo registered agreement on their faces.

[Assistant] “I see, I see. In other words, I think Julius means the fingers are like the archbishop’s right hand and left hand.”

[User] “—? Aren’t the right and the left hands both part of the same body?”

[Assistant] “Not that, more in the sense of your confidant or right-hand man."


[User] "Weren’t you the one to guess what the fingers were to the Witch Cult to begin with, Subawu?”

[Assistant] “…Ah!” After all that, Subaru finally clued into what the three of them were saying.

[User] Subaru knew of several cases where Petelgeuse had referred to his subordinates as fingers, but he’d had to guess heavily as to the details. In point of fact, Subaru had thought that the term fingers was what Petelgeuse used to refer to groups under his command.

[Assistant] But what if, instead, fingers was the name borne by several special cultists, and the same authority as Petelgeuse’s resided in each of them?

[User] “So that’s saying that Petelgeuse was just one Sloth counted by the number of fingers?”

[Assistant] “If there are a maximum of ten, and each base has a single Sloth assigned to it, that might explain why we have been lucky enough not to give them an opportunity to strike back so far. That is being optimistic, however.”

[User] “So that means three bases left, and three fingers to go…so we should assume there are three more of ’em.”

[Assistant] One should hypothesize the worst case in any situation. Subaru had paid the heavy tuition fee for that lesson many times over. And given the worst-case possibility they could hypothesize at present—

[User] “—As soon as possible, I want to begin evacuating the mansion and the people in the village.”

[Assistant] “…To be honest, I was thinking that if you did not propose it, I would myself.” Julius agreed, closing one eye.

[User] “Now that we are uncertain of having eliminated the menace of Sloth, our greatest concern should be for their future objective—to do harm to Lady Emilia and the villagers, I imagine.”

[Assistant] “There’s less than half of ’em left now, so we should assume they’re onto us bein’ after ’em. That bein’ the case, the biggest fear is ’em tryin’ to take folks down with ’em.”

[User] With Julius and Ricardo in agreement, Subaru nodded, too, his worry evident in the creases of his brow.

[Assistant] There was no mistaking that the Witch Cult was aware of the expeditionary force. The earlier raid had established that well enough.

[User] “The second Sloth was waiting for us. They noticed us at some point. It’s fine for us to be exposed at this point, but it’s bad if our objective is exposed.”

[Assistant] On a combat level, it hurt to lose any advantage, but the expeditionary force’s biggest issue was accomplishing its goal of rescuing Emilia and the others.

[User] The Witch Cult ought not to have known just yet why Subaru & Co. had entered the Mathers lands. If the Cult knew that both sides were after the mansion and village, both were certain to become battlefields.

[Assistant] “Right now, the Witch Cult hasn’t noticed that the plain is wide open yet.


[User] “If we can get Emilia and everyone on dragon carriages, they should be able to make a clean getaway.”

[Assistant] “If Lady Emilia and the others escape, we can concentrate on subjugating the Witch Cult without any worries about the future. It’s really hard to fight with a weak point like that on your shoulders, meow. Especially for Ferri and Subawu.”

[User] “Hurts to hear that…but that’s how it is.” Having received Ferris’s dry approval, Subaru asked for any objections to the plan. Fortunately, with time so precious, no objections were raised, so Subaru slapped his knee and made the call. “Thanks, big help. We’ll take the traveling merchants with us and all go to the village. No leaving me behind, okay?”

[Assistant] “From here, there is no telling when the remaining Sloths might attack. Your eyes will be irreplaceable, yes?”

[User] With Julius’s roundabout assent, the expeditionary force’s plan was set.

[Assistant] “Ohh. So you’re finally calling on us, then. It’s a relief to get some work.” As it turned out, the traveling merchants were unexpectedly eager when they finally received the order to move out. Sitting and waiting seemed to suit them poorly. Everything about the Witch Cult was, as usual, shrouded in mystery. But with the current setbacks, there was no option but to rely on their hauling capacity to fulfill Subaru’s long-delayed goal.

[User] “Sorry to keep you waiting, too, Patlash… Hey, don’t be that angry, geez.”

[Assistant] “—” Patlash, left behind at camp while Subaru walked through the forest without her, was quite miffed at Subaru. The pitch-black land dragon turned her sharp, refined face aside, thoroughly sulking when Subaru called her.

[User] “Er, I mean, it was the middle of a forest? If you tripped and broke a leg there’d be no coming back, you know?”

[Assistant] “This breed of land dragon, known as the Diana breed, is the highest breed of all land dragons. There are dragons specific to desert or arctic climes, but the excellent Diana breed can handle any terrain.”

[User] “Eh? Any terrain, what, you mean forests, too?”

[Assistant] “Forests, deserts, waterside, or glacier.” Wilhelm’s lofty appraisal left Subaru gaping in wonder. He’d picked the land dragon based on his first impression, but apparently, she excelled more than he’d ever imagined. Perhaps that should have been obvious given Patlash’s intelligence and ability.

[User] “After all, it takes a pretty decent noble house to buy a girl like her, meow.”

[Assistant] “Hey, stop that! Don’t talk about price! That’s gonna stick in my head!” Ferris smiled as Subaru raised his voice, feeling almost afraid to mount the dragon. But Subaru thought that smile was gloomier than one from Ferris’s usual self. Subaru, largely able to fathom the reason why, stood beside his land dragon and lowered his voice. “Sorry, making you act considerate to me like this.”

[User] “—What is it all of a sudden? Did you eat something bad? Should I heal you?”

[Assistant] “Don’t paper over it. You said it yourself."


[User] “I’m not the only one who doesn’t want anyone to die.”

[Assistant] "…" Ferris was cowed into silence with a guilty look.

[User] Subaru had apparently hit the mark. Subaru wasn’t the only one who felt deeply responsible for the deaths of his allies. Perhaps the mental anguish was much stronger for someone with a direct means of saving others such as Ferris. Subaru thought Ferris was strong to hold that inside him and not let it come to the surface, though. “Maybe my saying this isn’t worth much, but…having you here is a big help. Seriously.”

[Assistant] “Oh, stop it. I know best how useless I’ve been. I’ve let eleven people die, and couldn’t even stop enemies from killing themselves… I’m all talk.”

[User] “But you saved one. He didn’t die, thanks to you.” Subaru motioned to the casualty sleeping in the back of a dragon carriage as Ferris berated himself. His endurance was heavily depleted, and he had not regained consciousness. But he was in a stable condition. That was Ferris’s achievement. Subaru knew how hard it was to save even a single person. “You’re a bigger deal than you think you are. No, really, I’m totally serious.”

[Assistant] “…Wha—? Are you trying to seduce cute little Ferri? Coming to my side of the fence?”

[User] “I am not, and I’m not seducing you, either! I’m trying to be serious here!” Subaru knew well enough that he wasn’t suited to the role, but the counterattack, harsher than even he’d expected, left him reeling.

[Assistant] Ferris’s lips immediately loosened as he exhaled at length. “If you meant it seriously, I’ll take it seriously. Don’t worry, I’m not questioning my purpose in life. I crossed that bridge a long, long time ago, meow.”

[User] “Th-that so?”

[Assistant] “Just, well, it might make me feel a little better? They feel like words I’ve heard before, so I feel relieved, just a tiny little wee bit…” Ferris glanced sidelong at Subaru, teasingly showing with his fingers just how tiny that relief was.

[User] From that reaction, Subaru felt he’d contributed some small part to cheering Ferris up, which left him relieved as well. “So, this is a good time, so Ferri is going to say it…Subawu, you really should make up with Julius as soon as you can.”

[Assistant] Ferris switched subjects so abruptly that Subaru’s eyes popped wide.

[User] “It’s not a soon or not-soon thing… You saw, right? It’s not making up, but our clashing is water under the bridge.”

[Assistant] “On the surface, sure. Deep down, you’re still snapping at him subconsciously. That’s why, when something comes up, you’re dropping Julius off the list of choices first thing.”

[Assistant] “You can rely on Julius. Though I grant you that he’s hard to deal with and tough to understand, meow.” Fluttering his palm to indicate the end of the conversation, Ferris concentrated on examining the magic crystals from the Witch Cult. In contrast to Ferris, those last words had unsettled Subaru’s mind. Am I subconsciously snapping at him…?


[User] He thought about it, he couldn’t conclusively say he hadn’t been. Of course, he hadn’t judged based on such personal feelings to that point. But he had no confidence that he had his subconscious under control as well. "…" He’d turned his still-stern face forward when suddenly, the sweet aroma of flowers leaped into his nostrils. A lovely little flower with blue petals was blooming on the edge of the road, swaying in the wind. Subaru recognized it and its scent, which triggered a memory of a vivid flower garden—the flower garden where he and Emilia had once spent time together. "I really wanted to put an end to all that and have more of a triumphant return, but…" Emotionally, Subaru wanted to hurry and hesitate in equal measure. If they continued along the highway and entered Earlham Village, he’d begin to urge the villagers to evacuate. Naturally, that meant the people from the mansion as well; in other words, a reunion with her. "Would’ve been much cooler to see her again after taking care of it all…" Partial. Partial. Everything was halfway. The subjugation of the Witch Cult was halfway; so, too, the duty entrusted to him at the royal capital. More than anything else, Subaru’s heart was only halfway prepared to face the future, his mind-set not having changed since he’d aired his feelings several hours prior. Subaru had yet to make up for all that he had done in the royal capital. He couldn’t puff up his chest while reuniting with Emilia in a situation like that, and the knowledge caused a harsh throb in his chest. Of course, Subaru’s discomfort was not something he could weigh against her safety and that of others. "—I committed three sins, he said?" The words had been tossed his way just before he perished in a world dyed white. The words had convicted him as the fool who had broken his promise to her, trampled upon her feelings, and even robbed her of her life. Such was the curse left from when Puck killed him the third time around. "Eii, cut that out! Why do I have to feel like that anyway? I’m heading to save her like a prince on a white horse. My land dragon’s black and I don’t make much of a prince, but I should be more up front about…er." Fight. Had Wilhelm not told him this? That mind-set was not only for the battlefield. That mentality was precious strength, bolstering your spirit against any aspect of life threatening to crush you. "That’s how it is, huh, Wilhelm?"

[Assistant] "Hmm? Yes, it is so." Wilhelm hesitated for a brief moment before giving his assent.

[User] Julius, glancing sidelong at just the right time to catch the exchange, sighed as he said, "That is not something you should bother Master Wilhelm about."


[User] "It is natural for you to be thinking of certain things, but would it not be better if you retained a little composure?”

[Assistant] “…In the first place, the stuff I’m thinking about has nothing to do with you.”

[User] “I thought you should admit you are in the wrong in this so as to clear the air, but?”

[Assistant] “Well logic’s different from sentiment! Sheesh, that’s right. Push comes to shove, that’s how it is.”

[User] “—?” Subaru berated himself in a ragged voice.

[Assistant] Julius inclined his head, watching uncomprehendingly.

[User] “Ah, er, yeah. There might be something I need to…say to you before we move on.” Without looking at Julius as he rode beside him, Subaru haltingly and carefully broke the ice.

[Assistant] “When we linked up on the highway, I thought we’d already made the stuff before water under the bridge…but sorry. It seems that I still haven’t been able to digest it.”

[Assistant] “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just, I guess there’s still dislike of you in my mind, and that’s why I’ve been giving out bad orders here and there… Well, that’s what Ferris told me.”

[Assistant] “No, this isn’t because Ferris told me that, but we’re in a situation where we all need to work together, and I agree with him that you can’t have feelings of mistrust between people like this, so…”

[User] “…” With Julius silent, Subaru beat around the bush as he continued the conversation.

[Assistant] “Hey, have you been listening to me? It’s just me talkin’ like I’m the only—” Subaru, glaring forward with a look of guilt, let spittle fly at that point as he turned to face Julius.

[User] “—? !” The instant Subaru vented, a sudden gust of wind blew, making him subconsciously cover his face with his arms.


[User] The unexpected gust, mixed with the scent of flowers, sent his forelocks aflutter, and after a moment of shock, wondering what had just happened, he realized— —the long line of land dragons had vanished, and he was alone.

[Assistant] "What the—? !" He immediately realized he was in an emergency situation. But he didn’t know what had happened. Wide-eyed, Subaru surveyed the area, hands still gripping the reins.

[User] "No, I’m not alone."

[Assistant] "…" Drawing the reins close, the stiff-bodied Subaru was still riding on Patlash. The low body temperature conveyed through the saddle was intact; he figured he hadn’t been split off from things he was in physical contact with.

[User] "If that’s so, some kind of spatial distortion or teleport… Then…?" He’d been split off from his allies in the blink of an eye, so he figured the method had to be along those lines. The scenery Subaru was looking at had not changed. Maybe it was everyone but Subaru who’d been jumped somewhere else. And naturally, only the Witch Cult benefited from isolating Subaru from the others.

[Assistant] "Shit! This ain’t the time to stare into space, Patlash!" Subaru cracked the reins and sent the land dragon galloping as he berated himself for being so slow to grasp the situation.

[User] Patlash neighed, and her strong legs propelled them in an instant—Subaru was attempting to use speed, enough to send the wind itself flying, to extricate them from their isolated situation. During that time, Subaru squinted, wary of attack from any direction. If his guess was right, Unseen Hands might well come flying from yet another Sloth.

[Assistant] "…" But in spite of Subaru’s wariness, there was no sign of Unseen Hands coming. Doubts crept in, and simultaneously, uncertainty formed in Patlash’s steps. The cause was the same thing that was giving Subaru pause: though they’d sprinted at full speed for tens of seconds, the scenery didn’t seem to have changed at all. Mere teleportation could not explain this situation. It made him recall a similar experience.

[User] "This is like Beatrice’s infinite corridor…? But there’s no doors here!" Only once had Subaru experienced a similar phenomenon: when Beatrice, a little girl living at Roswaal Manor, had used magic to turn a corridor into a spatial loop. At the time, Subaru’s keen judgment had led him to open the correct door, immediately bringing the matter to an end. However, it would not be so simple this time around. They were in the wild, and there were no doors to be had, correct or otherwise. In other words, Subaru’s intuition was useless for resolving the situation.


[User] “Damn it, just after I stop worrying about things all on my own, this happens!” He lamented that he had stood and faced one hardship with all his being, only to have this happen immediately. Subaru surveyed the area, clicking his tongue at the unchanging scenery.

[Assistant] “Heyyy! Anyone there?! Is it just me here?! Answer me! Someone—! !” Subaru desperately raised his voice. Worst case, he’d be drawing the enemy to his position, but he didn’t care. If he could draw even a single foe away from his allies, it was better than doing nothing at all.

[User] However, Subaru’s idea was fruitless, with no sign of either friend or foe answering his call. It was odd. It was strange. Had Subaru been sent to another dimension all by himself? He was not thoroughly versed in the rules of magic of that world; was such a thing even possible?

[Assistant] “Hold up, Patlash. Let’s be cool… Calm down and think…”

[User] Accepting Subaru’s instruction, Patlash slackened the speed of her run and came to a standstill.

[Assistant] That instant, when they were stopped, was the perfect moment to strike, but there was no sign of that, either. The forest had returned to eerie silence, with nothing to hear save the wind and the voices of insects. With so many living, breathing humans erased, desolation dominated the world all the more. The situation was truly what the world would be like if it came under the Witch Cult’s dominion— …No? No, this is different. Once he’d thought that far, a palpable sense of wrongness made Subaru jerk his head up. He looked around the area. The scenery had not changed. However, when he focused his ears, he heard his own heartbeat mixed with Patlash’s breathing, and something like the sounds of crickets—sounds that would have been extinguished if it were a world ruled by the Witch Cult.

[User] “It’s not teleportation. Then what the hell is it…?” He hadn’t been transferred to a place under the Cult’s dominion. Furthermore, making the same highway scenery loop over and over should have been impossible even for ultra-top mages. If that was the case, something was wrong with his premise. He thought back to what had initially taken place. What had happened at the instant when he thought, I’m alone? First had been a gust of wind. That was strange all by itself. Patlash’s wind repel blessing should’ve been up. If I wouldn’t feel shakes or wind normally, where the heck did that gust come from?

[Assistant] “— Something happened the moment that wind blew. No, if something was the trigger, it happened before that. If this was an attack, what stood out was…the scent of flowers? The scent of flowers. Yes, the sweet scent of flowers. The thick aroma had mixed with the gust of wind, slipping into Subaru’s nostrils, soaking into his brain. And that very moment, the aroma was thick enough to make his chest feel awful.”

[User] “—?! Uh, eh, what the heck…?”


[User] The instant he thought about it, the scent of flowers, which he had ignored to that point, invaded his nostrils. He instinctively rejected the clearly abnormal aroma, instantly shielding his nose in the face of the dangerous scent. "Have we been walking around in this flower scent all this time?" Subaru shuddered at the indecipherable power that had slipped in without his notice. Simultaneously, he realized that if the scent was the cause of his circumstance, there had to be flowers. Therefore, the scent was coming from—

[Assistant] "These flowers blooming on the side of the road." Subaru dismounted Patlash and walked over to the flowers blooming right at the roadside. The flowers, petals gently swaying in the wind, resembled the flowers known as pansies in his world. However, now that Subaru had determined that flowers were the cause, he was suddenly at a loss. If the flowers were the cause, should he uproot them? Stomp them underfoot, maybe? Without any firm idea of how to deal with them, Subaru decided to first snap a flower off with his hand—

[User] "Urgh…? !" The instant he tried to touch the flower, wriggling vines became like whips, lunging for Subaru’s neck.

[Assistant] "Ack…agh…!" Falling on his backside, Subaru tore at the vines as they tried to strangle him. Hard. The vines were so tough that you wouldn’t think they were plants, rejecting his fingernails, trying to kill Subaru with the bloodlust of an animal. Subaru bent back, reaching out with a hand, calling for aid from Patlash.

[User] The black land dragon stood behind Subaru, quietly staring at his battle with the flower. She merely watched, with no sign of making any move. Subaru lamented with a sense of despair. But that despair was overshadowed by the sense that something was off.

[Assistant] "—" Having served Subaru so faithfully thus far, it was unnatural for Patlash to overlook this situation. Why, then, was this the case? The possibilities were twofold: Patlash had abandoned him, or she didn’t see the struggle. Subaru dismissed the former out of hand, concluding it had to be the latter. Patlash didn’t see it. Flower scent. Hallucination—

[User] "...There…is…no…flower…! !" He denied it—the flower bringing death right before his eyes. No such dangerous flower existed. Subaru was seeing a world that was not possible. Accordingly, it was a sham. Tears clouded his vision. No, something other than tears was clouding it. Patlash’s form wavered, and the fraud that he’d thought was his companion vanished. There was no one else in Subaru’s virtual world. —It was all a fraud!!


[User] Right in front of Subaru, the flowers that had put him through a terrifying experience were burning. Petals, vines, roots—all were enveloped in crimson flames, burning black and falling to pieces. And the one doing this was a flickering red light floating right above the burning flowers—a minor spirit.

[Assistant] "You again…"

[User] It was the red minor spirit that had also saved Subaru earlier when he was the madwoman’s captive. While he gasped for breath, the spirit that had rescued him from peril came right before his eyes. Subaru immediately put his hand out, receiving the light’s warmth with his palm.

[Assistant] "—! This means…!" He took in that heat at the same time that the flowers finished burning away. The petals had become ash and the sweet aroma had been swapped for the stench of something burnt; immediately after, the world changed. The highway he had thought infinite began to waver, bleeding into the sky and the forest to the left and right. The world was warping like a painting being dissolved by water. Then, in an instant, it seemed to snap right back. The world had reconstituted itself—no, he had been freed from the illusion, and returned to the real world.

[User] "—Subaru!" A voice called out to him. Raising his head at the sharp voice, Subaru returned to the world as it was. Standing right in front of him was Julius, calling to Subaru as the red spirit rested upon his shoulder.

[Assistant] "So it was you…"

[User] "There is no mistaking that abusive tongue. I do not believe anyone could reproduce your invective toward me this faithfully." Subaru was sour at Julius’s face being the first he saw upon his return;

[Assistant] Julius responded with mild sarcasm. However, Julius immediately pulled Subaru’s arm, bringing him to his feet, and motioned with his chin toward the surrounding area. When Subaru followed suit and looked around the area, he stood dumbfounded, gaping at the state of the expeditionary force. All the neatly lined members of the expeditionary force, man and mounted beast alike, were at a complete standstill.

[User] "Someone has attacked us. An illusion-type incantation, but it only sent my mind astray for several seconds. At present, only you and I have returned from it. How did you come back?"

[Assistant] "A few seconds? On my end it was minutes. Maybe ’cause it was all in my head?"

[User] "I never would have thought that you possess the power to resist such magic. How did you make it back?"

[Assistant] "Wait, everyone got trapped by this? Seconds or minutes, at this rate we’ll all be stuck in place and make a real nice target. We’ve gotta do something!"

[User] "That’s why I’m asking you how you came back!" With their mutual doubts clashing, the lack of headway aroused Julius’s anger. The rare reaction shocked Subaru.

[Assistant] Realizing it was no time to argue, he switched gears. "It was burning the flowers inside the illusion that caused it all."


[User] "Flowers…flowers, you say? I see…a suggestion incantation carried by a flower’s aroma… But…" Julius let his words trail off as he surveyed their comrades still under the spell. Then, in front of Subaru—who was wide-eyed and at a loss for what to do—he slowly raised his arms. As he did, his arms served almost like a perch as several lights emerged into view. They glowed in different colors, six in all; among them was the red light that had saved Subaru.

[Assistant] "You! Then that’s…"

[User] "This is the radiance given off by my little buds. I shall henceforth inform everyone of how to break the illusion—In! Nes!" Julius, indirectly responding to Subaru, spread the fingers of his outstretched hands. The lights that seemingly glided onto his fingertips were colored white and black. The two lights intermingled, growing in intensity, and before Subaru’s amazed eyes, their light enveloped the world around him.

[Assistant] "Wh-what’s…?" Going on? Subaru was about to say, but the change jabbed into Subaru’s brain faster than he could say the words.

[User] "Nn! Choiya! Choiya! Huh, no one’s here! Where is this? !"

[Assistant] "Huh?" He heard the girl’s faint speech expressing incomprehension of her situation—no, strictly speaking, it was not speech. This was not a voice, but rather thoughts; not sound, but emotion, her will conveyed not to Subaru’s eardrums, but rather directly to his brain. Nor were the thoughts hers alone.

[User] "I’ve gotten lost…no, split off. This is bad, at this rate…"

[Assistant] "Darn it, this is the worst. I keep wreckin’ the forest and it don’t change a thing."

[User] "This sort of trick at a time like this…! Lady Crusch…!"

[Assistant] "Sis! Sis! Where are you? !"

[User] "TB might be crying by now!"

[Assistant] "Gaaaa…!" They were flowing, flowing into him. The muddy stream of thoughts was merciless, slipping through his ears into his skull, through his skull into his brain, and pressing down upon that brain with a weight beyond what it could handle. The big helping of multiple thoughts and emotions, barbs and all, leaped around inside Subaru’s skull, leaving him moaning in anguish. He couldn’t really tell if it was pain or suffering. It wasn’t really pain. It wasn’t really suffering. It was simply…heavy.

[User] "—Was the sensitivity too high? I’m sorry. Please breathe deeply and bear it."

[Assistant] "Aarrghh, you jerk…!"

[User] "Right now I have no time to calibrate solely for you. Getting everyone back takes precedence." That was all Julius said before closing his eyes and ceasing to move to concentrate on his incantation. Amid his agony, Subaru levied curses upon the handsome young man responsible for that suffering. Even when he did as told and took a deep breath, not even a smidgen of relief was forthcoming. Then, as before, his brain was filled with a multitude of thoughts. At this rate, it would soon liquefy and pour out of his ears.


[User] I’ve gotta put these thoughts in order. Subaru thought.

[Assistant] The muddying of thoughts and stirring of minds was Julius’s doing. He’d used some kind of magic to produce that situation, allowing him to convey the means of breaking the illusion. Think. Someone spread the flowers around inside the illusion. Several people are free of the illusion and are breaking through the vortex of thought. Still so many. So many still captured. Brain waves intermingled time and time again. But like thorns being removed or teeth being pulled, the number of thoughts was dropping. People were returning from the illusion’s evil hand to the real world. “At this rate, everyone shall be freed, and…” Subaru kept scratching at his thick sweat, enduring the ragged brain waves even the ringing in his ears could not blot out.

[User] He brusquely wiped off the cold sweat dampening his brow, panting as he looked up to the sky.

[Assistant] “—!” He heard faint breathing.

[User] The source was the sky, right above Subaru’s and Julius’s heads. There was a break in the forest canopy in which the sun was floating in the sky, and with that sun at its back, a figure in white landed at Subaru’s side.

[Assistant] “Oh, wai…!” The figure in white, face concealed by the white robe covering it from head to toe, was set to drag Subaru off without asking. Instantly, he instinctively realized that the person before his eyes was the caster of the illusion. Of course, the Witch Cult had to be involved. If Subaru was dragged off, the expeditionary force would lose its means of resisting the Unseen Hands.

[User] “Shit! Wait, there’s no way anyone’s letting you do whatever you… Uu? !” The instant Subaru braced himself, trying to resist, his planted foot was swept away, sending Subaru flipping over, unable to even cry out.

[Assistant] Duaaa—! A cloth-rending cry and the unleashing of silver light interrupted the attempt. Stepping forward and pounding home a sword strike.

[User] With the speed of a god, the Sword Devil unleashed his sword, seemingly to vent his rage at the one who had ensnared him in the spell. The arc traced by the slash was without mercy, set to run straight through the slender figure in white.

[Assistant] “Wbah? !” The figure in white violently tossed Subaru into the grass and, with frightening dexterity, barely evaded the sword strike.


[User] “—Fulla!” Action/Narration As if to blow that admiration aside, the figure thrust a cane forward with an explosion of magic. The target was the ground under Wilhelm’s feet, gouging the surface out in a circle, slowing the Sword Devil down.

[Assistant] “Guh…!” Action/Narration Wilhelm’s well-honed abdomen creaked as his body was sent flying by force unthinkable for the tiny figure’s size.

[User] Action/Narration In an instant, Wilhelm went from narrowly escaping death to going on the attack, closing the distance with the white figure.

[Assistant] “Doraaa! !” Action/Narration A great hatchet flew into the air, bearing down on the white figure’s rear in a ferocious assault.

[User] “What the hell? !” Action/Narration But Ricardo, having delivered a blow of certain death, shouted not in victory, but in shock.

[Assistant] “Your skill is splendid—but…”

[User] “You’re makin’ a big mistake if you think you’re walkin’ away from this!”


[User] The entire expeditionary force had been freed from the illusion. Having lost all opportunity to buy time and escape, the white figure ceased to resist.

[Assistant] It was not just Julius, but also Wilhelm and Ricardo, from the right and left, holding the figure in check. “The battle…has been decided.”

[User] There was nowhere to run, a fact their opponent conceded. “…Kill me. I will not be defiled.” Surrounded by hostility, the white figure accepted its own demise with extreme apathy.

[Assistant] The voice was high-pitched; the shoulders under the robe were slender. From the tone of voice, Subaru knew it was a girl.

[User] Wilhelm’s eyes widened at the prideful declaration; Julius’s and Ricardo’s eyes met.

[Assistant] Unrest spread as the expeditionary force, now back to reality, grasped the circumstances.

[User] “W-wait! Wait, wait! Wait a sec, please!” It was then that Subaru, covered with grass from his tumble, raised his hand and his voice.

[Assistant] After being thrust into the weeds, Subaru had watched the battle, unable to help in any way, but with the match decided, the sound of the girl accepting her defeat made him come rushing to the spot.

[User] He did it not because the opponent was a girl, but because he knew that voice. And when Subaru leaped forward, the opponent recognized him as well.

[Assistant] “—Barusu.”

[User] “Ahh, been a while since I was called that. Wait, it seriously is you?” Deflated at the unexpected assailant’s identity, Subaru let out a very long sigh.

[Assistant] At Subaru’s reaction, the person in the white robe pulled down her hood. And so, the girl’s lovely, stern face appeared, with pink hair and pale-red eyes.

[User] “—Ram.”

[Assistant] It was Ram, maid of Roswaal Manor.

[User] “Now I suppose you will explain the meaning of all this, Barusu.” Having plunged the expeditionary force into unprecedented crisis and spectacularly giving Wilhelm and others the runaround, Ram brushed dirt off her body as her extremely displeased eyes stared daggers into Subaru.

[Assistant] “What’s the meaning of this? Isn’t that our line…?” Squirming under the stern gaze, Subaru surveyed the sorry state of affairs along the highway.

[User] Along the highway and forest were traces of the recent battle, along with allies now freed from the illusion. Fortunately, the aftereffects from the incantation were limited to light headaches, and there were no wounded, Ram included.

[Assistant] However, the lack of casualties did not in any way mean that the issue was settled. How in the world did it come to this? thought Subaru, holding back a sigh as he looked at Ram.

[User] “The gist is, you launched a preemptive strike and people fought back. Fighting your own side really sucks… Wilhelm, you’re not hurt?”

[Assistant] “A small scratch from wind magic. I will ask Ferris about it later. More importantly, I am glad I did not get ahead of myself and slice her down. There would be no taking such a thing back.” Wilhelm lifted an arm up, showing off his sliced cuff with a strained smile.


[User] Responding to the magnanimity, Subaru put a hand to his own chest in relief.

[Assistant] “Wilhelm…Wilhelm van Astrea?”

[User] Ram, arms folded while listening to Subaru and Wilhelm speak, murmured thus when she heard the old swordsman’s name.

[Assistant] Addressed by his full name, the Sword Devil turned toward her.


[User] When Subaru’s mind returned to reality, the first thing he took in was the powerful stench of something burnt.

[Assistant] “—” He opened his mouth, trying to get his voice out. He couldn’t hear a thing.

[User] “—” Subaru continued instinctively raising his voice as he relied on his other senses.

[Assistant] “—Aah.” During the time he checked to see that his limbs could move, his own voice faintly slipped past the ringing in his ears.

[User] “—!!—!—! !” As his hearing recovered, stringent shouts flew his way. Some voices were bloodcurdling; others were those of crying children. Screams.

[Assistant] “—! What the—? !” When his thinking processes recovered, bolstered by his five senses, Subaru sat up with a start and looked around the area.


[User] The blackened, charred objects scattered around the area were partly the dragon carriages and the corpses of their land dragons, but that none were intact made him unable to differentiate between organic and inorganic matter. It was surely a foregone conclusion that the dense scent of burning flesh invading his nostrils was from the land dragons that had perished in the blast. Aghast that land dragons had been blown away without a trace, Subaru bit down on his back teeth

[Assistant] "Ia! Come on out, Ia! You’re here, aren’t you?!" Subaru slapped his chest and desperately called out.

[User] The red common spirit instantly responded. The red light appeared before his eyes, making no complaint at being called on repeatedly as she silently asserted her existence with her heat.

[Assistant] Subaru remembered that Ia had protected him, deploying a wall an instant before the explosion. If not for the common spirit’s protection, Subaru would have died in the explosion just like the land dragons around him. However, Subaru had not been the only one in the dragon carriage. It would be meaningless if he had been the only one saved.

[User] "Ia! The person with me… Where’s Ferris?! Where’s…"

[Assistant] "—I’m here." A frail voice reached his ears.

[User] As it was truly the voice he’d yearned to hear, Subaru practically tumbled as he turned toward it. He heard the voice from the shadow of a ruined house.

[Assistant] "Ferris?! Are you all right, Fe—"

[User] "All right…might be a hard sell, meow."

[Assistant] Subaru practically crawled in that direction, Ferris, the one he sought, revealed himself out of the smoke. Subaru had feared the worst but was relieved to the bottom of his heart when Ferris emerged. But an instant after that relief, he realized that something was very off. He was happy Ferris was all right, but he was too all right.

[User] "Ia’s magic wall didn’t deploy in time…? Some sort of super-powerful defensive spell, then?"

[Assistant] "Nothing of the sort…I died once, that’s all." Ferris, with one eye closed, bore no wound worthy of the name. Unlike Subaru, he surely didn’t have the protection of a common spirit, and yet his fur and flesh were in tidy shape. But his attire was not the uniform of a Knight of the Royal Guard, but merely a tattered cloth wrapped around his naked flesh. Given the little time available, the cloth must have come from a dragon carriage curtain.

[User] "Why are you dressed like…?"

[Assistant] "Well, I can’t help it! Clothes can’t be regenerated with magic! And more to the point…" Ferris thrust his palm forward, interrupting Subaru’s question as he turned hard eyes elsewhere. Following his gaze, Subaru clicked his tongue. The situation was even worse than he’d imagined.


[User] In the blink of an eye, Earlham Village had transformed into a battlefield—a clash of fire and sword taking place.

[Assistant] "No retreat, push them back! Cut open a path! Evacuating the villagers comes first!"


[User] "!” On the other side of the village square, one of the knights shouted to that effect as he and an attacker crossed blades.

[Assistant] “How did they enter the village…?”

[User] “That’s obvious: they were in the dragon carriage wagons.”

[Assistant] “Shit!”

[User] Subaru cursed his own stupidity and god-awful luck.

[Assistant] "Subawu, you don’t have time to get depre—”

[User] “I know! Scrap the evac plan! Anyway, let’s get everyone up to the mansi—” Poor strategy or not, they had no choice left but to go and hole up. The instant after he made that judgment, Subaru saw it.


[User] The pale light danced violently, covering Earlham Village, crimson from blood and flame, with its twinkle. The frigid air spawned fine fragments of ice, reflecting the light to create a fantastic sight—a phenomenon known as diamond dust, robbed of its beauty by the reality of the tragedy beneath it.

[Assistant] "Enough—I will tolerate no more violence from you." The beautiful voice cut through that surreal scene like light through a clear piece of glass. The battlefield was dominated by that voice, clear as a bell, and everyone’s eyes were stolen by the girl who appeared upon it. Her long, silver hair flapped in a warm wind. Her violet eyes were imbued with a powerful will. Her beauty was so great that none who witnessed it could ever forget. Her outward appearance was enough to draw the eyes of others several times over. However, in that instant, her appearance was not why she had stolen the gazes of all present. Everyone’s eyes had been stolen for no reason beyond the overwhelming awe of her presence.

[User] "…" The sound of steel against steel, the cries of anger and sadness, and even the flames burning homes fell into silence, seemingly holding their breath. In such a world, the silver-haired girl—Emilia—quietly gazed at her foe.

[Assistant] "Emilia…" Subaru put her name on his lips, all of his complicated feelings enveloped him. Of course it had come to this. There was a battle raging on the mansion’s doorstep. Villagers were evacuating to the mansion one after another. Someone was fighting to protect her. There was no way she would stay quietly shut in.

[User] Emilia’s eyes contained sorrow—and enmity toward the Witch Cult that had created the field of battle. "Step back, villain. I won’t…let you do such terrible things."

[Assistant] "Ahh, how can this be…?" Identifying the madman standing in the square as her enemy, Emilia pricked him with a stern tone of voice. However, the madman was hardly thrown off by that voice; his blood-smeared face registered surprise before beaming with delight. Sloth twisted his body, stretched both hands toward Emilia, and continued to smile as he shouted. "Ahh, ahhh! What a fortuitous, wonderful day! Such marvelous fate! To think such a wondrous opportunity would come to fruition! Truly, the living image! Never, amid these repeated trials, did I believe I would have the chance to come across a vessel of such magnitude…!"

[User] “…What are you saying?” So deeply moved was the fifth Sloth that he wept, a flood of tears pouring out of him. Seeing the madman’s out-of-place tears, Emilia raised her eyebrows, bewilderment plain on her face.

[Assistant] "Ohh, ohh, O Witch…the beacon of love that guides me…!" The madman stumbled forward, narrowing the range between himself and Emilia.

[User] With the distance counting down to ruin, Emilia turned a palm toward him. "Don’t move!"


[User] "I won’t warn you again.” Emilia kept her palm thrust out, making the statement as the madman stepped closer.

[Assistant] However, her call for him to halt never reached the madman’s ears. He took one step, then another, narrowing the distance— “This time! Or the next! Someday, someday, I shall…!”

[User] “I told you, don’t move.” As she had said, this time was not another warning. She coldly switched from an ultimatum to an implementation of force. The light wildly dancing in the sky cracked open, and a surge of mana froze water droplets in the atmosphere. This created a total of four sharp, icy spears—and these, she launched in an instant.

[Assistant] “—” The chill of overwhelming death was merciless. A single blow would sever the thread of life without fail; a being impaled with a solid blow would have his flesh dyed white, frozen down to the soul to become an icy statue. However— “No hesitation, no pity, no mercy… Truly, truly, truly a diligent decision!”

[User] “…Aren’t they your allies?” The sight made Emilia uncomprehendingly furrow her brow.

[Assistant] Responding to her doubts, the madman tilted his head at a ninety-degree angle, stretching an evil hand to a frozen subordinate, shattering him. “They are disciples! Furthermore, my fingers! However, before you, before the vessel, these things bear no meaning! It is the same even for ME! Right now, now, nownownownownownownownow! My will, my reason for existence! All of it, unto you!”

[Assistant] “Unto you, unto you, unto you… However, that is not where it must end.” To Emilia, aghast at his madness, the madman opened his eyes wide and raised a bloody finger. He trained the crushed fingertip on Emilia—or, more precisely, Emilia’s left shoulder. Atop her slender shoulder, a little cat spirit was nestled against her silver hair. It was to this being that Sloth turned his hated. “Spirit, spirit, spiriiit! Diminutive in stature, knowing neither love nor righteousness! Unaware of just how grave a crime it is to cuddle up to the vessel! Ignorant, in other words, sinful! What blasphemy! !” Sloth vented excessive rage and hatred toward Puck.

[User] However, when the madman addressed him with a torrent of enmity, Puck trained cruel eyes upon him.

[Assistant] “Unfortunately, being with her is the reason for my existence. I do not need anyone’s permission, nor do I intend to seek it—besides, you’re the unpleasant one here.”

[User] Both were set in their ways, making the hatred they turned toward each other all the clearer. The madman had rebuked Puck with fierce emotion; Puck responded to the madman’s disgust with scorn.


[User] “Wait, that’s…”

[Assistant] Someone suddenly tugged him back by his sleeve. The force took Subaru by surprise.

[User] Ferris, who’d appeared at some point, was the one pulling his sleeve. Ferris, still wearing the tattered mantle from earlier, stroked a heavily wounded Patlash as he sighed at Subaru. "Subawu, she’s terribly wounded, and so are you. You need absolute rest. That’s an order, meow.”

[Assistant] “Like this is the time! I can’t just make Emilia fight that…”

[User] “It was Ram and I who decided to call Lady Emilia—trust her a little, okay?”

[Assistant] With a stop put to his nervous feet, Subaru grimaced at Ferris’s words.

[User] In response to the perplexed Subaru, Ferris closed one eye and said, “Trust that the person you want to protect isn’t only fit to stand back and watch.”


[Assistant] The walls of icy mist Emilia had scattered around her were smashed as she leaped heavily backward. Just then, the ground where she had stood until a moment before exploded; she blinked at the clumps of excavated dirt. "So you really can’t see them at all.”

[User] Puck whispered from atop Emilia’s shoulder. “This needs extra attention.”

[Assistant] She straightened herself out as she lightly touched down on the tips of her toes.

[User] "I’ll get close and hit him right away.” As Emilia murmured, the ground tapped by her tiptoes was being dyed white. Centered on Emilia, the frost covering the ground spread farther, turning it into frozen earth for a twenty-yard radius around her in the blink of an eye.

[Assistant] “Before my love, such petty moves! Tricks! SCHEMES! Merely futile resistance!” The man shouted at the gliding Emilia, reaching top velocity from the first step toward her. The next moment, he pressed on with an oppressive cry, ripping away the icy mist floating around her.


[User] Freely dispersing ice over the ground, she could escape anywhere.

[Assistant] “I understand you falling for my beloved daughter. I’m very proud of her. But no pests allowed.” Emilia’s reliable protector completed his encircling snare.

[User] “Nn—? !” The instant Puck made this laid-back statement, thick walls of ice rose up, surrounding the man on four sides. His path of escape blocked, the man’s eyes went wide with wonder, leaving him completely defenseless.

[Assistant] The icy walls let out a creak as they shot spikes from the surfaces within. There was nowhere to run; a lethal attack without any forewarning. Prey struck squarely would be impaled inside the walls, frozen to the last drop of its flowing blood, and shattered. It was an attack that embodied the innocent cruelty under Puck’s adorable surface.

[User] “—Naive!! Naivenaivenaiveveveeeeee, yessss! !” A bellow rose from inside the icy encirclement. The next instant, the icy walls broke into smithereens with a high-pitched sound. The ice-turned-shards twinkled as the man leaped out of them, unharmed. The instant he was showered in spikes, he’d created a wall of invisible force against the interior of the walls of ice. Unable to withstand the pressure from within, the icy walls had been smashed to pieces.

[Assistant] “That mere tricks could defeat me is absurd! A trial is not so easily—”

[User] “Eiiya!” Emilia launched from her powerful glide into a flip.

[Assistant] “—Kwaa? !” Emilia’s kick, slipped in without a sound, drove into the man’s defenseless solar plexus. The speed and force of the unexpected kick were of sufficient power to lightly blow the man off his feet.

[User] "This time…eh? !" Emilia proceeded to beat the man to where he was due to fall and deploy her magical energy, making icy flowers bloom—but the spectacle she witnessed made her doubt her own eyes.  Tracing an arc, the man she had knocked away halted in midair, flying up in another direction. The movement was unnatural, as if something had caught him out of thin air before hurling him in another direction—

[Assistant] “Using it like that…”

[User] “Ahh, the repudiation of thought is the essence of Sloth! Apply! Redirect! Reappropriate further!” When the man, dancing in the sky, reached an arm toward her, Emilia instantly formed a pillar of ice, driving it toward her opponent. But as the icy pillar flew toward the man, it struck something and shattered, failing to reach him.

[Assistant] Glided across the ground, moving forward—and proceeded to use the momentum from her glide to sail into the air.

[User] “—” With both rising into midair, Emilia and the man exchanged glances. Madness met righteous indignation, and once again, it was Emilia who first went on the attack. The next things she created were multiple icy disks that she pounded toward the man, sending them through the air in erratic curves.


[User] “Yesyesyesyes, YES—! !” However, the man did evade the flying, icy disks, moving unnaturally via the most absurd of methods. He bounced erratically in the sky, and though he was uncontrollably spun round and round, the man escaped the disks, shouting in delight.

[Assistant] "What was…what?”

[User] “THIS is love!”

[Assistant] When the creepy movements made even Emilia exclaim.

[User] The man gave a reply that was not an answer. His ferocious desire to return the favor transmuted into stabbing bloodlust that made goose bumps stand on Emilia’s pale flesh. The man’s combativeness was more than a match for her wariness. He poured his hostility into the hands he powerfully brought together—

[Assistant] “Be baptized by Her favor, the symbol of my love! Prepare to undergo the trial! !”

[User] “—!” When Emilia felt the icy mist being destroyed, her face stiffened for the first time in the battle. That was the result of detecting the invisible menace unleashed upon her from all sides, denying her any avenue of escape. She was in the sky, unable to move freely. The difficult-to-evade blow was truly retribution for the earlier attack.

[Assistant] “—” And then the center of Emilia’s chest was impaled, brutally run through. The destructive power gouged out her breasts, punching right through her chest.

[User] The man’s eyes bulged at the results, the wound so deep that he could see through to the other side.

[Assistant] “This is the result of Her favor! The fruit of my love! The proof that the Witch responds to my love! But there is no cause for despair! Even if what is within is lost, the vessel is ours to—”

[User] “Eiiya!”

[Assistant] “—Kuwaa? !” The man’s declaration of victory was interrupted by a kick. The blow from behind sent his body flying.

[User] Before him was Emilia, with Puck riding on her shoulder, clapping his paws with no hint of sarcasm. That instant, the ice statue of Emilia pierced through the chest shattered into dust. Even the light had been fine-tuned to create a false Emilia that looked just like the real thing.

[Assistant] “That’s no good, looking away in the middle of a fight—you’ll get sucker punched, you know?”

[User] The man she had kicked into the sky, spinning round and round, had no time to get his bearings. He’d fallen for Puck’s fake Emilia hook, line, and sinker, exposing his defenseless back.

[Assistant] “You won’t get away this time.”

[User] “—!” The man was hurtling downward from the kick when his arms and legs were buried in manacles of ice. He was no longer able to move, no longer able to resist, and Emilia’s blow was already prepared in full. The man slammed into the ground; his frozen limbs pinned his body there.


[User] Emilia proceeded to fall straight down, aimed right at the man’s torso.

[Assistant] The man’s eyes widened as the distance narrowed, then he laughed. "Ahh. This—is truly diligent!”

[User] Descending straight down, Emilia thrust the heel of her palm into the laughing man’s torso. “Thank you—now die properly!” The force made his bones creak.

[Assistant] The man let out a painful cry, stunned by the blow.

[User] "—" Unable to even raise a death cry, the man became part of an ice flower in full bloom and perished.


[Assistant] Watching the outcome of the battle, Subaru was rooted to the spot, unable to make a sound.

[User] "—" Overwhelming was insufficient to express it.

[Assistant] Standing beside him, expressed admiration for Emilia’s battle. “You see? It’s just like I said, meow?” His basic healing magic had closed up the land dragon’s wounds; now he reached a hand out to heal Subaru’s.

[User] “Ah, Subawu…doesn’t this really hurt? Your ankle, your shoulder…”

[Assistant] “Where’s your bedside manner?! Put my mind on the parts that don’t hurt or something! !”

[User] “Ahh, this might be pretty bad. You might die from it, meow…” When Subaru made a grandiose show of pain, Ferris teasingly poked his ribs, then withdrew his hand.

[Assistant] Subaru sighed as he looked toward Emilia once more.

[User] Emilia looked surprised at the rolling tear on her face, quickly wiping it off. Emilia knit her brows with a conflicted look.

[Assistant] “…?” As Subaru watched Emilia, he suddenly noticed deep emotions strangely stirring in his chest. For some mysterious reason, he had a deep urge to scratch his brain.


[User] "My, my, they’re all so hasty." Ferris, hearing battle cries in the distance from all over the village, gave a slightly pained smile as he spoke.

[Assistant] To Ferris, a healer, the real battle had now begun, for the number of casualties, and the number of casualties who could be returned to health, rested upon his skill.

[User] "Ferris."

[Assistant] "Yes, yes, Ferri at your servi—er, Old Man Wil?!" When addressed, Ferris turned around with a lighthearted greeting, but was taken aback at who the speaker was.

[User] Wilhelm, breathing raggedly as he dragged his half-bloodied body around. "Wait a—! You can’t walk around with those wounds! If I don’t lay you down and heal you right now—"

[Assistant] "I can wait. More importantly, there is something crucial I must say."

[User] "You might die, you know?! Don’t tell me it’s more important than your l—"

[Assistant] "Even so, I must speak it now. Where is Sir Subaru?"

[User] Both surprised and exasperated at the fact, Ferris immediately looked back and said, "Subawu? He’s right h—"

[Assistant] "—Subawu?" When Ferris looked back, Subaru Natsuki was nowhere his eyes could see.


[User] Clutching his head, he barreled through the thickets, running deeper and deeper into the forest.

[Assistant] "Haa, hu…haa!" Short of breath, he earnestly, desperately ran across the poor footing of the forest.


[User] "Subaru, where are you going?!"

[Assistant] "-?!" Subaru had headed toward the uninhabited depths of the forest, and yet someone had called out to him even so. He stopped; his eyes turned back, watching the slender figure with wonder.

[User] Julius, wiping his bloodstained uniform with a sleeve, put a hand against a large tree beside him as he gazed at Subaru. "I am glad that you are safe…but what happened? I hear cries of victory from the village. If you are here like this, that Sloth must have been slain. And yet, why are you here?"

[User] "If something troubles you, please, speak of it. After all that, we are comrades through thick and thin." Hand-combing his disheveled hair, Julius spoke patiently to the stiff-faced Subaru.

[Assistant] Subaru could still hear their comrades’ voices from the direction of the village. They were still close enough that he could hear them, even though he needed to be farther, much farther away… After all, if he didn’t get farther away—

[User] "Subaru?" Julius knit his brows at Subaru’s persisting silence, saying nothing. Sensing that something was off, the knight took a step forward, approaching with concern in his eyes. It was the look of concern one gave the ill or wounded. However, it was not his body that was the problem. Ferris’s no-frills healing let him move without any difficulty. —That was why he was using that flesh to the fullest.

[Assistant] "Suba-"

[User] "Julius, get away fro—but it is TOO late!!"

[Assistant] "-?!" Desperately, Subaru resisted with all his body and soul, managing to partially hold it back. But even the fragmented, cut-off words made the knight instantly put distance between them to avoid the risk.

[User] "Subaru" raised an arm, swinging it in the air, and tilted his head in dissatisfaction—at a ninety-degree angle, straight to the side. "A fine reaction, yes! Though this flesh resists, you evaded WELL. You truly, truly, truly are a diligent person! All the greater the pity…"

[Assistant] "-I had a bad feeling when I was suddenly expelled from Subaru’s body." On one knee, cavalry saber drawn, Julius murmured with frustration. Complex emotions swirled in his yellow eyes: anger, regret, and inexhaustible hostility and hesitation.

[User] Seeing the wavering of his eyes, "Subaru" squared his shoulders in approval. "All the more promising! The way you are, you think, you waver, is all proof of your diligence! The only thing that sullied that was your base, filthy soul…"

[Assistant] "Truly, it is he who has been sullied by something base and filthy. Namely, you-" Mad hatred and hatred mixed with righteous anger clashed as Julius and "Subaru" glared at each other, their fierce emotions at polar opposites. And then—


[User] A jet-black land dragon appeared, kicking up a cloud of dirt, and riding on its back were Ferris and Wilhelm. Atop the dragon, Ferris’s eyes widened as he saw Julius and “Subaru” facing off.

[Assistant] Wilhelm leaped down from the dragon, standing at Julius’s side. Then he turned to “Subaru” with a grave look in his eyes. “Sir Julius, Sir Subaru…”

[User] Hearing Julius’s hushed reply, "Master Wilhelm—that is not Subaru.”

[Assistant] Wilhelm radiated hostility, clenching his teeth enough to make them creak. The atmosphere tightened. Their faces contorted—Ferris’s with worry, Julius’s with righteous anger, Wilhelm’s with fierce emotion.

[User] “Subaru” was the only one having a good time, clapping his hands as a crazed smile came over him.

[Assistant] “Now that you are assembled, allow me to reintroduce myself—I am the Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins entrusted with Sloth…” His head tilted at ninety degrees, “Subaru” opened the front of his jersey—and the madman laughed grandly.

[User] “Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti! !” Thus did he give his name.


[User] Grimm learned the name of Wilhelm Trias some days later, when honors were being conferred for the battle in which Grimm had lost so much and achieved nothing.

[Assistant] He was in the barracks of the royal army after the ceremony was over.

[User] "That guy they said killed two of the enemy captains? Awful young, wasn’t he?" The speaker was a man with dull, short-cropped golden hair, Tholter Weasily.

[Assistant] He and Grimm had become close since joining the ranks, and now they were brothers in arms who had survived their first battle together.

[User] Tholter was blessed with an excellent physique, but he saw himself as having more aptitude for archery, and he didn’t hesitate to regale Grimm with the story of how he had helped support the rearguard. In fact, he had actually carried himself admirably for his first battle.

[Assistant] "Was he?"

[User] "They stuck us foot soldiers way off in the wings for the ceremony. I couldn’t see a thing."

[Assistant] "Trust me. I’m an archer. If I didn’t have good eyes, I wouldn’t be able to hit anything. I saw him, and he was young—practically a kid."

[User] In response to the jeers of his audience, Tholter tapped his own eyebrows proudly.

[Assistant] But this only caused the people watching him to look at one another and laugh. It was a natural reaction.

[User] "What, none of you are gonna believe me?"

[Assistant] "Hey, Tholter, are you really sure you got a good look at that guy?"

[User] "I’m telling you, I did! Don’t tell me even you don’t believe me, Grimm. That hurts. I saw him with my own eyes! I hate to say it, but a great fighter is a great fighter, no matter how young he is." Tholter seemed annoyed at the reaction of the crowd.

[Assistant] Grimm cast his eyes down and said quietly, "No, I do believe you."

[User] In his mind’s eye, Grimm was picturing the last thing he had seen on the battlefield several days before—the mountain of dead demi-humans and the boy swordsman who had most likely killed them.

[Assistant] War was no place for normal expectations, age included. The memory was enough to send shivers down his spine even now. The hellfire of his first night at war had consumed any dreams he may have had of doing great deeds. Now all he remembered was that boy.

[User] If it’s true heroes are forged in the flames of combat, Grimm thought, then he must be one of them.


[User] Suddenly the door of the changing room flew open.

[Assistant] “Men, attention!”

[User] Grimm had fully absorbed the habits of military life. He straightened up, clicked his heels, and turned to face the door, all practically in the blink of an eye. Everyone else in the room did the same.

[Assistant] A man with a well-trimmed beard entered, nodding approvingly at this display of discipline.

[User] Grimm recognized him because he had spent his first several weeks in the army training under this man.

[Assistant] “Ready to react at all times. Good work, men. Never forget it.”

[User] “Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!” Grimm and Tholter chorused along with the platoon leader.

[Assistant] “Very good. I don’t suppose you want to see a knight’s face while you’re trying to get your chores done. Something came up that needed taking care of.”

[User] “What is it, sir? Our unit was just recently reorganized, and we’re anxious to do anything we can.”

[Assistant] “No worries, soldier. I know you’ve only just been thrown together, and this might not be the best time, but I want to add one more person to the squadron. All the paperwork is done; I’m just dropping him off.”

[User] “Yes, sir. If I may ask, sir, is he a decent fighter? I respectfully request we not be burdened with anyone who can’t pull their own weight.”

[Assistant] “Calm down. He’s a bit young, but he’s capable. That last engagement was his first battle, but he killed a couple of the enemy captains—they even singled him out for honors.”

[User] Grimm, along with the rest of the unit, gulped at this.

[Assistant] Razaac, detecting the change in the mood, nodded and said, “I can see you’ve already got the details.” Then he turned to the door and called, “Come in. This is your new unit.”


[User] “Everybody play nice.” Wilhelm stood at attention, silently bearing the gazes of the other soldiers.

[Assistant] Razaac surveyed the nervous locker room, then nodded in satisfaction.

[User] "Then again, it’s thanks to that war that we get to be soldiers. I’m not gonna say I love fighting or anything, but we get to eat every day.” Tholter drained his glass in a single gulp and slammed it back onto the counter as he laughed with a little foam still stuck around his mouth.

[Assistant] Grimm sat next to the slightly drunk Tholter, taking little sips of his alcohol and nodding. "I guess we’ve got that in common, Tholter. If not for the civil war, I would never have thought I could be a soldier. Even if I’d wanted to, I bet they would’ve turned me away at the gate.”

[User] “There used to be some little skirmishes with Volakia, but things were mostly peaceful. I guess a demon beast might cause trouble every once in a while. But guys like you and me? If we ever want to be more than just peasants, war’s the name of the game. A man proves himself by doing great deeds in battle.” As his companion eagerly ordered another mug of ale,

[Assistant] “Great deeds in battle, huh?” Grimm murmured.

[User] Tholter noticed the downcast expression of the young man beside him and gave a friendly shake of his head.


[User] "You just survived your first battle, and you still aren’t happy? Isn’t it about time you started enjoying yourself? What, you feel bad for our fallen comrades or something?"

[Assistant] "That’s not it. Call me heartless, but as far as I’m concerned, that battle never happened. I’m just…sorry that I can’t dream like I used to."

[User] "Dream?"

[Assistant] "Like you were just talking about, Tholter. Doing great deeds, showing my bravery…becoming a hero. I used to think I could do that. Nice and easy. But now…" Grimm let go of his glass and looked down at his hand. It trembled ever so slightly. White burn scars remained on his palm and wrist. That first battle had marked him. Not only his flesh, but his heart and mind, too, and he would never escape it.

[User] "You can’t survive on a dream."

[Assistant] "Everything I thought was in my future is…gone."

[User] "So…what?" Tholter asked. "You’re gonna quit the army? You’re going to give up just because you’ll never be a hero?"

[Assistant] "Unfortunately, facing reality doesn’t fill your stomach. If anything, when you can’t dream anymore, all you have left to think about is how hungry you are. So no, I’m not quitting. I’m going to keep at it." Grimm smiled at Tholter, trying to hide the trembling of his hand holding the glass.

[User] Studying Grimm with wide eyes, Tholter started scratching vigorously at his head.

[Assistant] “…Hrmph. Somehow, all that sounds just like you. Okay, you do that. Leave the hero stuff to me. You just follow along—you can be the hero’s assistant."

[User] "But, Tholter, you’re an archer. I’m the one who’s up front with a sword."

[Assistant] "I know you’re embarrassed, but just nod along." Tholter took the new mug that had been brought to him and held it up to Grimm. Taking his cue, Grimm raised his mug as well, and there was a clink of pottery as they tapped their vessels together.


[User] "So you go through combat and decide you’ve found reality."

[Assistant] "And I go through it and still have my heart set on being a hero. It’s like night and day. What about that new guy? I wonder what he thought…"

[User] "You mean Wilhelm?" Grimm felt a jolt of anxiety when he brought up the young swordsman.

[Assistant] "I believe he’s good, even if he’s just a kid."

[User] "I mean, they don’t hand out military honors for nothing. I bet we’ll see him on the parade ground as a full knight before long."

[Assistant] "I heard he didn’t even have to do the drills they make all the new guys go through."

[User] "Instructor Razaac himself said it wasn’t necessary. A lot of people won’t believe he’s fifteen.”

[Assistant] Were those the eyes of someone who should be hailed as a hero? The suspicion dogged Grimm that he might become something far more terrible.

[User] "I definitely get the worry."

[Assistant] "He’s, like, the least-friendly fifteen-year-old you ever met."

[User] "Wait, what?"

[Assistant] "No, it’s true. I invite him along every time we go for a meal, every time we go for a drink, but he never comes. If he has one minute of spare time, he’s doing sword practice. Morning, noon, and night. I swear, it’s gonna make him sick. Or maybe he already is!"

[User] "Huh. You might actually be right."

[Assistant] "Ain’t I always?" Tholter was completely oblivious to the dark undertones in Grimm’s remark.

[User] "But do you think he might be onto something?"

[Assistant] "Using his free time to train instead of drink?"

[User] "Aw, don’t start. Anyway, whoever has the most fun is the winner at life! Even the first Sword Saint, Reid, didn’t spend all his time waving his sword around. He liked his wine and his women, too! Heroes have more fun than anyone. Enjoying ourselves like this just shows that we have what it takes to be legends!" As Tholter’s logic grew louder and louder, he collected a few shouts of “Yeah! That’s right!” from the surrounding drinkers.

[Assistant] "My friends! My brothers in arms!" Tholter stood nimbly on a chair and raised his mug.


[User] "Here’s to all the future heroes sitting in this tavern right now! Cheers!”

[Assistant] "Cheers!” All the men raised their mugs together with a chorus of raucous laughter. Splashing alcohol and the sound of clinking mugs filled the air.

[User] Tholter gestured insistently at Grimm with his mug.

[Assistant] The young man finally raised his own cup, and they pressed the drinking vessels together, smiling and basking in the atmosphere. All the while, Grimm was thinking that the drinks didn’t seem to be going down so well today, but he didn’t know why.


[User] Grimm left Tholter in the tavern and headed out into the cold, breezy night. He turned toward the barracks. He felt bad leaving Tholter, who had wanted to drink the night away in honor of their day off tomorrow, but Grimm couldn’t bring himself to enjoy the alcohol just then, and he wandered through the moonlit night, his ale-warmed body rapidly cooling.

[Assistant] "What a gorgeous crescent moon… It looks like a sword." The military really had gotten to him. One had to have a certain lack of refinement to notice not the beauty but the sharpness of the moon. But then, in times of war, indulgence and luxury were stripped away from human hearts. This inability to enjoy drink—that, too, had been a new problem for Grimm ever since his first battle.

[User] "Tholter’s certainly brave. Maybe he really can be a hero.” Almost every night, Tholter would make for the tavern, sharing drinks with a crowd of strangers. Grimm tried to tell him to stop this behavior, but in truth, he was envious. At least Tholter didn’t freeze up every time he thought of that initial engagement. And what about Grimm himself? Would the next experience of combat make him any happier than the last one? The question tormented him. When he closed his eyes, he saw the flames; when he fell asleep, he saw his comrades who had been reduced to ash; when it was quiet, he could hear their final, agonized screams.

[Assistant] "And yet I can’t bring myself to quit the army. If I did, I wouldn’t have anything left. Maybe that’s what scares me.” He had left his family and his home behind to come to the capital. Sick of the daily routine, he had joined the army, but now that he knew the fear of death, he wanted to run away from this, too. He hadn’t changed. He was still weak. He had clung to a childish dream in the hope that he would find a place where he might be acknowledged, but then he had hardly been willing to work for it. That, he was sure, defined who he was now.

[User] "—?" But then, on his way back to the barracks, absorbed in self-hatred, Grimm stopped. The reason was a noise. He thought he’d heard a faint sound from around the back of the soldiers’ quarters.


[User] He could hardly imagine anyone being stupid enough to try to break into the barracks of the national army, but this was a time of war. A demi-human on a secret infiltration mission, perhaps? No, that was overthinking it. But he had to be sure. Grimm touched the scabbard of the sword he carried and, as silently as he could, made his way to the back of the building. He peeked out from the shadows, attempting to find the source of the ongoing sound. There, late at night behind the barracks, Grimm saw a young man single-mindedly swinging his sword. "…Wilhelm?”

[Assistant] The blade flashed silver as it danced through the night air.

[User] By the moonlight, Grimm could see how astonishingly clean Wilhelm’s technique was. At the sound of Grimm’s voice, Wilhelm looked up. Grimm caught his breath as the sharp eyes fixed on him. “Um…”

[Assistant] “Oh, Grimm, it’s you." Wilhelm said with disinterest. "Don’t bother me.”

[User] After a while, Grimm spoke hesitatingly. “You…know my name?”

[Assistant] “Why shouldn’t I? We’re in the same squadron. You know my name, don’t you? Or did you think I’m one of those idiots who can’t remember a name?”

[User] “N-no, I… I mean, I thought maybe you didn’t care about anyone else…”

[Assistant] “I don’t remember people’s names because I care. I do it because it’s necessary. If I don’t remember the names of at least the people in my squadron, it’ll cause me problems later. Have I explained myself thoroughly enough for you?”

[User] He was right, but Grimm found himself agape at having Wilhelm tell him all this. He had never so much as had a complete conversation with him before. The boy didn’t engage in small talk; he seemed to say the absolute minimum required to communicate. In fact, Grimm wondered sometimes if the boy was even really human. “So you do think like a normal person sometimes…”

[Assistant] “Say what?”

[User] “Erk, sorry! I didn’t mean it the way it sounded…” He searched for a better way to explain himself but found none. Instead, he said, “Er, or maybe I did…”

[Assistant] Wilhelm shot Grimm a dubious look, but he quickly appeared to lose interest. He raised his sword and began swinging it again. “Have you been doing that ever since training ended?”

[User] “Yeah. Don’t talk to me. It disrupts my concentration.”

[Assistant] “We went out to get a drink after training. I think Tholter is still there.”

[User] “Oh yeah? I thought I smelled alcohol. Don’t talk to me.”

[Assistant] As he gave his curt answers, Wilhelm began swinging the sword faster and faster as if to lose himself in the act. Grimm found he could hardly follow the blade as it whipped high and low. So instead, he slumped against the side of the barracks and stared distantly. “Why are you so into sword fighting? Isn’t there anything you do for fun?”

[User] “Maybe there would be, if we weren’t at war. But we are."


[User] “Practicing with the sword is a lot more likely to keep you alive than getting drunk or having sex.”

[Assistant] “So you’re training yourself because you want to survive?”

[User] “No. Frankly, you guys don’t make any sense to me. Why would you waste your time on booze and women instead of working on your swordsmanship? You think anything I’m saying is wrong?” Frighteningly, Wilhelm’s blade made no sound as it sliced through the night. It was as if the sword was so sharp the air itself didn’t realize it had been cut. Only his short breaths and the sound of his shoes sliding across the earth indicated the movements of his sword.

[Assistant] “No…I don’t think you’re wrong. But not everyone is as gifted with the blade as you are. Not everyone can devote themselves to it like you do. Sometimes you turn to wine or sex just for a little comfort.”

[User] “I’ll tell you one thing you’re all better at than I am. Making excuses.”

[Assistant] “If you keep everyone else at a distance,” Grimm said, “you’ll find yourself alone on the battlefield someday. And what can you do when you’re all by yourself?”

[User] “Use my sword. One swing, one dead enemy. Two swings, two dead. That’s all it takes, one slash after another. To me, you just sound like you’re trying to protect yourself.”

[Assistant] “That look in your eyes… I remember it. We saw each other on the battlefield, didn’t we, Grimm?” Wilhelm let his sword rest, straightened, and stared at Grimm.

[User] He felt his throat tightening. To think Wilhelm would have remembered him. Remembered him like that.

[Assistant] “So you weren’t just full of it when you talked about being alone on the battlefield. But you should know better than anyone. I was alone, too. And yet I killed enough of the enemy to earn distinction. That’s all there is to it. Ridiculous.”

[User] “I… I…” Grimm’s voice was trembling.

[Assistant] Wilhelm grimaced, pointing at the other boy with his sword. “If you want to run away, don’t try to cover your ass by pretending it’s logical. You want your friends because you’re scared? Then I guess I misjudged you. You weaklings should stick together. Or do you have proof that I’m wrong about you?”

[User] Grimm understood Wilhelm was telling him to draw his blade. To take the sword at his hip and show what he was made of.

[Assistant] “You can’t even draw your sword? Coward.” No, he couldn’t draw his sword. He couldn’t even stand up, much less reach for his scabbard. Wilhelm looked almost disappointed as he turned his back to Grimm and resumed his practice.


[Assistant] Despite the events of the night before, when morning came, Grimm returned to his duties with an outward facade of calm. This was, perhaps, an unfortunate talent of his. He was perfectly able to look Wilhelm in the eye during chores and training. Nothing about his manner had changed. Wilhelm, for his part, also acted as though he had forgotten everything from the previous night, annoying the squadron by keeping to himself as usual. Hence, the squadron was home to two armed bombs, one visible, one invisible. And the proof that they weren’t duds came with a sudden, major clash with the demi-humans. Grimm’s squadron was thrust into it, along with the rest of the royal army. The fuse of this decisive moment was lit as the sun went down. When the battle began on the plain, the royal army appeared to have the upper hand. They leveraged their numerical superiority to smash the demi-humans’ coalition forces and push back the front. Grimm and the others, assigned to the tip of the spear, were swept up in their allies’ joy at their success and pressed forward, slaying one demi-human after another.

[User] "I don’t know what the problem was last time," Tholter said giddily, shooting an enemy with his arrow and then drawing another one. "But this is easy!"

[Assistant] Grimm heard Tholter behind him. He kept his sword and shield up, carried along by the momentum of the attack. Morale was high. The retreating enemy could barely resist them. The royal army had every advantage, yet Grimm couldn’t bring himself to move as he desired.

[User] "Damn it… Then why am I even here…?" In a tiny whisper, Grimm cursed the weakness of his own spirit. His only salvation was his friends’ success; he himself had yet to kill a single enemy. He only used his shield, desperately fending off the foe’s attacks. True, this did his forces some good, but it was cold comfort to him.

[Assistant] "Wh-what the hell? !" Cries of shock rose up from the ranks. Everyone looked to see what was going on. Someone dashed across the battlefield, cutting off demi-human heads as quick as the wind. It was like an explosion of blood and limbs, echoing with the sounds of steel cleaving flesh and dying cries.

[User] "Ruuuuahhhhh!" The cause of all this was the dark figure of a young boy flying across the field like an arrow.


[User] He leaped into the enemy ranks, his stance low. His sword worked tirelessly, stabbing and mowing down demi-humans in an ever-increasing pile of lifeless corpses. Friend and foe alike watched him in amazement.

[Assistant] "Wilhelm…" The squad leader didn’t order them to advance behind this murderous dervish, as he should have done when momentum was on their side. He, like everyone else, feared that anyone who got too close to Wilhelm would be cut to ribbons, enemy or not.

[User] As everyone else stood transfixed by Wilhelm’s display, Tholter gave an excited shout. "Commander! We’ve crushed them here—let’s get a move on!"

[Assistant] That brought the squad leader back to himself, and he ordered everyone to advance into the breach Wilhelm had carved.

[User] "We might not show up Wilhelm, but we can do our part!" Tholter could be heard laughing wildly.

[Assistant] But their clear advantage failed to excite Grimm. He only felt a chill running down his spine. "Doesn’t this feel wrong to you?"

[User] "Huh? How can it feel wrong? We’re kicking ass!"

[Assistant] "Think how they decimated us last time! Why is it so easy now?"

[User] "Maybe we’ve learned how to handle them. Or maybe our commander last time didn’t know strategy from a hole in the ground. But it got them killed, and now we’ve got someone who knows better." Tholter accompanied this casual disrespect with a continued hail of arrows.

[Assistant] Grimm, still holding his shield at the ready, watched out of the corner of his eye. He still couldn’t shake the anxiety.

[User] "Way to go, Wilhelm!" Although everyone continued to keep their distance, Tholter cheered with his customary enthusiasm as a cheer rose in front of him as Wilhelm cut down an especially large demi-human.

[Assistant] Wilhelm, covered in the blood of his enemies, didn’t react to this acclaim but suddenly looked up and said, "…Something stinks."

[User] "Well, yeah. You’re dripping with blood!"

[Assistant] "That’s not what I’m talking about. Squad Leader, I have a bad feeling about this. They’re planning something…" He had turned back, about to offer his advice, when the earth shook. It was so powerful it made Grimm’s vision blur; he lost his balance and fell down. Several of the other soldiers collapsed, too. Only Wilhelm and a few others remained on their feet.

[User] "What…? What just—?"


[Assistant] "Fall back! Fall back! Fall baaaaack! It’s a trap! Demi-human ambush! They’ve got magic circles on the ground! We’re going to be destroyed!"

[User] "Valga is here! Valga Cromwell! Bring me his h— No, retreat!"

[Assistant] "Fire! Fire is coming! My—my feet! No, wait for meeeee!" The awful screams came from everywhere at once.


[User] The soldiers, blinded by dust and now in a panic, started shoving one another in the scramble to retreat. Grimm found himself in danger of being trampled.

[Assistant] “Grimm!” Tholter grabbed his arm, pulling him to safety in the nick of time.

[User] But the chaos was worsening by the moment. The mood of victory was shattered.

[Assistant] “A—a trap?! How can we be surrounded? When did that happen? !”

[User] “I can’t see anything! Damn it! Squad Leader! What do we do? !”

[Assistant] Out of the cacophony, Grimm’s ears picked up the most dangerous words, and his teeth chattered as his terror built.

[User] Tholter looked grim, too, as they turned to their leader for their next instructions.

[Assistant] “R-retreat! We fall back, and link up with the other units…!” The terrified squad leader answered Tholter’s shout with a tremulous cry.

[User] “No!” Wilhelm bellowed. “Don’t! Advance!”

[Assistant] “—? !” Wilhelm grit his teeth and snarled at the squad leader, as well as all his subordinates attempting to withdraw. He raised his blood-soaked sword and pointed it at what had been the vanguard a moment before.

[User] “Retreating is exactly what the enemy wants us to do! Why can’t you see that?! Our only hope is to move forward!”

[Assistant] “Are you insane?! If all you want is to kill the enemy, then shut up and leave us out of it!”

[User] “The enemy laid a trap for us using magic circles! They only pretended to fall back so they could draw out and destroy our army! They would obviously count on a fear-crazed, ambushed enemy making a retreat!”

[Assistant] The squad leader shut his mouth, not expecting such a thoughtful response.

[User] “Go forward!” Wilhelm pressed closer to the mute commander, his bloodied face twisted as a demon’s. “The only way out is through! Fall back, and you’ll be surrounded and die! We have to break through before the net gets any tighter—it’s our only hope!” he howled.

[Assistant] “Th-that’s impossible! Retreat! There’s no help ahead! Marching into the enemy territory alone is suicide!” But the squad leader lurched and exclaimed.

[User] Wilhelm bit his lip fiercely, and with blood pouring from the edge of his mouth, he began striding away. He readied the sword in his hand, turning his back to the squad leader.

[Assistant] “Stop, Wilhelm! You can’t just—!”

[User] “If you want to run, then run. Run and run, and when you’re finished with that, just die. As for me, I’m going to fight. I’ll fight and fight, and when I’m done, I’m going to live. You insufferable cowards.” But Wilhelm wasn’t listening.

[Assistant] This tirade left everyone in the unit speechless. Grimm alone felt differently from the others, because he was the only one not hearing it for the first time.

[User] “Wilhelm!” The boy didn’t stop at the sound of his name but dived forward. He was going to attack the enemy alone, in defiance of the squad leader’s orders—an indefensible choice, surely.


[User] As soon as Grimm realized what was happening, he demanded his shaking feet to move, to take one step after another, and ran after Wilhelm.

[Assistant] “Grimm! You too? !”

[User] “I’m bringing him back! I’m going to bring Wilhelm back! He can’t die on us yet! This army still needs him!” His feet pushed into the dirt. His body felt heavy as he struggled to stay upright and advance.

[Assistant] A hand reached out to stop him, but the fingertips only brushed him and fell short. “Grimm! Don’t you die! You damned idiot!” Tholter’s condemnation was also a bold encouragement.

[User] “You think I’d die? I’m just a coward!” Even Grimm barely understood what this meant, but his friend’s shout gave him strength. A warm emotion filled his heart as he chased after Wilhelm.

[Assistant] “—” Breathing hard, dust in his eyes, stepping over the bodies of his fallen comrades, Grimm immediately began to regret his decision. He always did. Whether he had run after Wilhelm or not, he was sure he would have regretted the choice. But now, for once, he put it aside and kept running. He had his shield up but realized he had lost his sword somewhere. Most likely, it had been when he’d fallen after that first impact. It didn’t matter. Who needed a sword when the boy ahead of him was ten times the swordsman he would ever be? A fresh geyser of blood, a death rattle. Grimm had lost sight of Wilhelm, but he was easy enough to find—just follow the noises of battle. Grimm crested a hill, jumped over a rift in the earth, wove around corpses he couldn’t even identify as friend or foe. Finally, swallowing hard, he caught sight of a faint gleam. In front of him, the ground gave off a dull glow. The shimmering lines formed a geometric pattern.

[User] “Is this what a magic circle looks like…?” Grimm wasn’t one for the mystic arts himself, nor was he familiar with the glow of mana. Even in the capital, magical devices like crystal lights weren’t universal, and rare was the individual with the talent for such techniques. The demi-humans as a race were more magically inclined than humanity, and one result of that disparity was the trap the humans had fallen into in this battle—or anyway, so the bits and pieces he had heard suggested. At the sight of the faint glow from the magic circle, Grimm experienced a wave of the greatest fear he had yet felt.

[Assistant] “Err— Gh— What…? What is this feeling? I hate it! Go away! Go away!” He rubbed the back of his own head vigorously, hoping to banish the terror. It was a habit he had developed ever since that first battle had taught him to fear. But he hated doing that, too, and began kicking at the magic circle with his feet in an attempt to erase part of it. Almost immediately, the glow faded until the shape was just a scribble on the ground.

[User] “Huh?”


[User] "Is that all it takes…?”

[Assistant] "Hey, Grimm.” The voice came from behind. He looked back, his heart in his throat. Wilhelm stood there. He was covered in a fresh layer of blood. He looked Grimm up and down, his mouth twisted into a frown.

[User] “What are you doing here?” he asked. “I thought the squad made for the rear.”

[Assistant] “Y-you just went off on your own, and I came to stop you! Come on, let’s go back! We can’t just stand here alone, no matter how good you are…”

[User] “I don’t need you to worry about me…but you do have the strength to survive. As only a coward does.”

[Assistant] Grimm found he could say nothing.

[User] Wilhelm, however, looked at the other boy’s feet with a puzzled expression. “Grimm, what happened to that magic circle?”

[Assistant] “…It was glowing, and it gave me a bad feeling. So I kicked at it until it stopped. Was it supposed to be a trap?”

[User] “Yeah, it was. Maybe it still is. You doused it while it was still in the preparation stages. Which means…” Wilhelm’s gaze hardened, and a second later, Grimm’s eyes were wide, his intuition of terror back in full force. A red tracer was streaking toward them from the right, trailing a cloud of dust.

[Assistant] “Get down!” Grimm was shoved to the ground and landed on his backside. Wilhelm was in front of him, his sword at the ready. He deflected the bullet and dived in the direction the light had come from. He swung his sword in a sidelong motion, cutting into the dust cloud. A green-skinned demi-human emerged from the haze. Covered from head to toe in a robe, he had a long tongue and a reptilian appearance. The small demi-human jumped backward, targeting Wilhelm with more tracer rounds from three-fingered hands. But if they hadn’t worked with the element of surprise, they certainly wouldn’t be any use in a frontal assault. Wilhelm wove from side to side, dodging each round by a hair. In the space of a breath, he had closed distance with the demi-human, and with a swipe of his sword, he sent its head flying.

[User] “Wilhelm! That demi-human was—!”

[Assistant] “He was probably the one controlling this circle. With him dead, the trap is disarmed. Now we have a marker to judge by—let’s push through to the other side!” Wilhelm kicked away the enemy’s body, shook the blood off his sword, and faced forward once again—away from the retreating squad. Grimm grabbed his shoulder.

[User] “Just wait, will you?! If we’ve disarmed it, then let’s go call everyone up!”

[Assistant] “Don’t be an idiot! If we backtrack, we’ll just get caught up in another trap. They planned on the royal army retreating. That’s how this is set up. We can’t save them. You and I would just be two more useless corpses. Do you understand?


[User] He tore Grimm’s hand away and turned the point of his sword to the withdrawing boy’s throat.

[Assistant] "If you want to die, then go back alone! If you want to live, you have to struggle and fight for every breath!" With that, Wilhelm set off running again.

[User] Watching him disappear into the distance for the second time, Grimm had only a moment to make one of the most important decisions of his life.

[Assistant] “Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Bellowing inarticulately, Grimm dashed forward. Away from where Tholter and his other friends had fallen back. Toward where Wilhelm inexorably advanced.

[User] He ran through the faded magic circle, ran wild and shouting across the battlefield.

[Assistant] He crested a hill.

[User] He heard a terrible screech and saw a demi-human sliced in two.

[Assistant] Wilhelm met one attacker after another, cutting them down in a fountain of blood that covered him; he raised his strained voice as the dead piled up.

[User] Could see Wilhelm’s face as he howled, bathed in the blood of his enemies.

[Assistant] “Devil…” A devil. That was what he was. A devil with a sword. A demon who laughed as he cut down his enemies. A death-dealing monster who loved the blade. A sword devil.

[User] "Come! Face me, all of you! Come and be destroyed that I may live!" With each shout, the sword devil’s weapon flashed and took the life of another demi-human.

[Assistant] The awful scene inspired Grimm to turn slowly around and survey the hill he’d come up. Smoke rose over the battlefield, pierced only by the faint light of magic circles.


[User] He couldn’t have counted them all if he had used both hands and all his toes. The field was brimming with power beyond human understanding, and it would soon destroy a royal army that had foolishly let itself be enveloped. A scorching wind, the rumbling of the earth, and the dying voices that rose up into the red sky

[Assistant] “Is this…what came of my choice?”

[User] Behind him, the sword devil was creating mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. In front of him, the screams and wails of the friends he had abandoned sounded like curses. Grimm found that he had fallen to his knees with both hands over his face and was weeping piteously.

[Assistant] “I’m s-sor— Sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!”

[User] The battle ended, the royal army well and truly shattered, until a friendly force came to collect them. Grimm sobbed and apologized, and the sword devil fought and howled with joy. Grimm’s squadron, including Tholter Weasily, didn’t come back.


[User] “Weeell,” Roswaal interjected. "it wouldn’t do for you to be so formal that you couldn’t do your work. I was having a little fun with you by concealing my gender, but please carry on as usual. My name is the one that each head of the household inherits—it just happens to be male. Our family is raaather unique, you see.”

[Assistant] “You heard Lady Mathers. About your business, everyone.”

[User] Wilhelm sensed someone in the dragon carriage. This person had been waiting for the conversation to conclude, and now slipped out and stood by Roswaal.

[Assistant] It was another woman. She wore light armor and had a sword at her hip. She appeared to be in her late teens; she had a pretty face, but the dangerous glint in her eye would make one hesitate to approach. Her gorgeous golden hair was cut short, and she seemed prickly. A swordswoman.

[User] “Oh, leeet me add,” Roswaal said, “this is my personal bodyguard, Carol Remendes. She’s quite skilled, so I’m sure you’ll all get along.”

[Assistant] “Thank you, Lady Mathers,” the girl said, “but I wouldn’t concern myself. I doubt we’ll see them again after today. There’s no reason to get close to them—and they don’t seem like the types to get friendly.”

[User] Was she arrogant, or just nervous? Either way, she looked on edge.

[Assistant] “…What, both women?” Wilhelm whispered in disbelief.

[User] “You! You there!” Carol immediately singled out the source of the disbelieving whisper: Wilhelm. She looked ready to draw her sword right then and there. “Are you looking down on me because I’m a woman? That sort of prejudice carries a high price around me.”

[Assistant] “Oh, stop whining. You’re obviously more worried about it than anyone else here. Anyway, my job is to guard your friend there, not to make sure you feel all warm and fuzzy.”

[User] “Th-that’s enough, Wilhelm!” As the boy and the girl glared at each other, Grimm tried with a trembling voice to control his squad mate.

[Assistant] Wilhelm raised an eyebrow at him.

[User] Grimm's eyes burning with anger. "I don’t know what your problem is—not in the carriage, and not here. But you need to put a lid on it. Picking a fight with the people we’re supposed to be working with? Do you know how much trouble you’ll cause for our squad leader?”

[Assistant] The other members of the squadron fixed Wilhelm with angry stares, siding with Grimm. Between his typical behavior and the way he’d been acting that day, Wilhelm had few allies.

[User] “…I’m sorry,” he said at length, although his face suggested it was only because he knew further argument would be useless.

[Assistant] That seemed to placate Grimm, who turned to Carol and bowed his head. “I’m very sorry about that. We’ll make sure he’s dealt with…”

[User] “You do that,” Carol said.


[User] She withdrew, and the tension in the air relaxed.

[Assistant] Bordeaux, who had been watching the entire episode with a smirk, called the unit to attention. "Right! We’re going to split up into three groups. One will accompany Lady Mathers and make sure she’s safe while she inspects the magic circle. The remaining two groups will set up a security perimeter. Watch out for looters and any demi-human stragglers. There ain’t much glory in dying here, boys, so look sharp!"

[User] "Excuse me, Squad Leader. May I ask one thing? One small, selfish request in the assignments?" Roswaal raised her hand.

[Assistant] "If I can do it, ma’am, certainly."

[User] "I want that little boy from earlier to be in my group." With a smile, she pointed at none other than Wilhelm. She winked, so that only her yellow eye was watching him. "I think the outcome will be much better that way, for me and for everyone." All present were mystified by her request.