“Gah-ha-ha-ha! That’s our lady! Whether it’s people or dogs, she works them to the bone!”
Anastasia seemed to agree with Ricardo’s assessment of Crusch. Maybe she and the stupidly laughing Ricardo had been working together for a long time, for Anastasia seemed like just a regular young girl when talking with him. She must have had a soft spot for him.
Loud voice aside, Subaru didn’t sense any problems dealing with Ricardo, either. Maybe it was just his personality as a man, or perhaps he should say as a dog? However, Subaru did feel like he was just a bit too outspoken…
“Did you rest well last night?”
Crusch shifted her gaze away from Ricardo to show Subaru some consideration. Subaru was still massaging the neck Ricardo had twisted a short while ago as he responded.
“Yeah, thanks. It didn’t seem like a good thing to be sleeping so easily while the rest of you were busy, though.”
“There is a time and place for everything. Your job was assembling myself, Russel Fellow, and Anastasia Hoshin last night and accomplishing the formation of the White Whale expeditionary force. Indeed, from my perspective, your offering to assist in fighting the White Whale was unexpected.”
After a faint smile, Crusch’s lips became taut as she stared straight at Subaru. Seeing the complex emotions behind her amber eyes, Subaru wilted at what might be coming next.
“I am grateful for assistance in fighting the White Whale…but can you fight?”
“Not really? If you count me in, I’m like the cat’s claws you borrow, because you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. A dog’s claws can get pretty big, though.”
“Hey, were you talkin’ ’bout me just now?!”
“I was, but you don’t need to butt in! Man, you’ve got convenient hearing!”
Subaru yelled at Ricardo for interrupting the conversation, but Crusch’s eyes had gone wide when he openly declared that he was useless in combat. Subaru racked his brain over how to explain it to her.
“So as fighting goes, it’s like that…but I think I’ll be a help against the White Whale.”
“Let’s hear it, then. What do you mean?”
“I’m not all that happy about this, mind you…but it seems that I have a peculiar scent that attracts demon beasts.”
The odd nuance of Subaru’s statement once again pressed Crusch into silence. However, when Rem stated, “There is no mistake,” in an odd agreement while standing beside him, Crusch displayed only a brief hint of concern before asking him to continue.
“I shall tentatively state that I understand. Please give us the details.”
“Maybe scent isn’t quite the right word, but it’s a physical condition I have. In fact, when we had that demon beast incident back at the mansion we mentioned last night, I used it to lure the demon beasts.”
“Is that so…? Then the fact that you possess a metia to warn you of the danger of demon beasts is connected to this?”
“Ah, that’s some unexpected foreshadowing you— Er, I’m just talking to myself.”
With suspicious gazes trained on Subaru, he shut his mouth before he said too much.
“Anyway, I think that characteristic of mine will probably work on the White Whale, too. If I’m there, we can predict to a decent degree where the White Whale goes. But when we do, the demon beast’s danger level is off the charts, so expecting me to actually fight it is a little much.”
An Urugarum was about as dangerous as a large dog. Even so, they had nearly killed him. Not that threats were proportional to body length, but the White Whale was thousands of times larger than an Urugarum. By himself, Subaru couldn’t outrun the White Whale, let alone counterattack.
“That’s why I’ll take the land dragon you lent me and run around right under the White Whale’s nose to draw its attention. While it’s doing that, you’ll go after it full force…or at least that’s the tactic I’d recommend.”
To be blunt, it was a plan he wasn’t sure he could speak from his own lips. He was saying they couldn’t count on him for fighting strength but that he’d be useful running around the battlefield as bait. It was a role that would make even those with a death wish turn pale.
“—I do not sense any deceit from you, which surprises me greatly.”
Crusch put a hand to her chin, barely able to believe her eyes as she let out a sigh of resignation. She’d no doubt weighed Subaru’s statement with the blessing of wind reading, considering how the truth or falsity affected its effectiveness for the operation.
“Many times in the half day since last night, I have wanted to doubt my own blessing. I do not claim it is infallible, but…”
“You’ve lost a little confidence in it?”
“No. I simply get tense when the world exceeds my expectations in various ways.”
As she said those words, a smile came over Crusch that did not seem sore or bitter. It was the expression of a beautiful lioness, which she immediately hid under a gallant expression as she continued speaking.
“I heard from Ferris that you selected a fine land dragon even by my house’s standards. If that is the role you desire, I have no objections. However, I require that you obey my commands.”
“Also, I guess it goes without saying with that outfit, but you’re planning on fighting, too, Crusch?”
“Do you think I can simply sit in a chair at my mansion and await good news?”
Crusch flicked a finger off a fitting on her armor, puffing out her chest as if the answer was obvious. Subaru, seeing her so valiant, politely lowered his head for having asked about something so self-evident.
“—It seems everyone has assembled.”
Accepting Subaru’s apology, Crusch closed one eye as she murmured. As if taking those words as a signal, people trod into the mansion’s great hall one after another. All of them were clad in combat gear and possessed stern visages. Their various pieces of equipment seemed well worn, giving off the impression of seasoned veterans. But Subaru was struck more by their ages.
“Somehow, some of these members…don’t look so young.”
Subaru gave voice to what immediately came to mind.
The people passing before Subaru’s eyes were probably participating in the expeditionary force. In one line, there were ten or so men with a rather high average age; it was probably that none of them were younger than fifty.
It was unlikely that anyone had heard Subaru’s comment, but suddenly, one of the men turned to look his way. Before he knew it, Subaru froze as the man stepped toward him.
“Lady Crusch, we have arrived— Is this him?”
“Yes, it is.”
The one posing the question to Crusch in a sober voice was a middle-aged man with both hair and beard graying. The man nodded to Crusch and faced Subaru once more, stretching a hand to his shoulder. Then, he spoke.
“Thank you, lad.”
“Eh?”
“Thanks to you, our dearest wish has been granted. We have never been happier.”
Subaru unwittingly lost his bearings as the hand grasping his shoulder conveyed the man’s strong feelings.
“Thank you,” said the man, patting a rocked Subaru on the shoulder before walking off.
From behind, Rem watched the men leave as she whispered into Subaru’s ear, “All of them most likely have some connection to the White Whale.”
“Connection to the White Whale… You mean, related to the old expeditionary force or something?”
“Though there were many who had already retired from fighting on the front lines, these are the warriors who answered Wilhelm’s call to participate in the current expeditionary force. Their morale and level of training are in no way inferior to any currently serving as a royal knight.”
“So it’s some old men who are dying for a chance at vengeance, huh…? I’m getting all fired up.”
Subaru felt something stir within him as he glanced over, watching Crusch examine the soldiers. It was Crusch who had set her sights to even exterminat
ing the White Whale so that Wilhelm might realize his vengeance. The old men joining the battle must have felt the same gratitude toward her for giving them a chance to fulfill their greatest wish.
It was probably partly the “kindness” of Crusch that Ferris had spoken of the previous night, and the will of “His Highness” who had so greatly influenced her way of life.
“You’re not telling me that those guys are all the forces we’ve got for this fight, right?”
“Those that arrived here are the principal members. The remainder should have already set out for the Great Flugel Tree to facilitate the force’s deployment along the Liphas Highway.”
In other words, with the appointed hour impending, those assembled were the VIPs of the expeditionary force. The participation of the old veterans really imparted the feeling that the decisive battle was finally drawing near. As he might have expected, the tension in Subaru’s heart rose, along with the feeling that it was a must-win battle.
“The time is ripe. I want both of you in the hall as well.”
Crusch looked up at the time crystal above the entrance, speaking curtly. She was surely to address the troops before departure, a kind of motivational speech to boost morale.
Just as Crusch set out, Subaru saw Wilhelm and Ferris entering from the hall. Ferris was dressed in the same outfit Subaru had already seen him in when encountering him in the courtyard earlier, but Wilhelm was not.
Gone was the usual black uniform; instead, he wore a light, minimalist suit of armor protecting only the most vital of organs. On both sides of his hips, he wore a total of six slender swords, and he seemed almost too ready to fight.
“Oh, so you’re here, too, Russel. Maybe we can chat a bit?”
Following behind Wilhelm and Ferris was dark-blond-haired Russel. He looked like he had been working all night, but with the great battle before them, his eyes were overflowing with vitality.
“If you’re making that face, then it’s probably safe to say that you held up your end. How about you, Anastasia?”
“Did you really think I’d come up short?”
“Not really, but I just thought I’d ask.”
When it came to who seemed the most meticulous out of all the royal selection candidates, Anastasia was second to none.
With preparations steadily completed and the appointed hour fast approaching, the hall was tense with fighting spirit. In moments, all would be set into motion toward the decisive battle.
“But before that…”
Subaru had one thing he had to do.
Rem, standing beside him, tilted her head and glanced sidelong at Subaru as he called out to Anastasia just as she turned to head off as well.
“Anastasia. Would you mind letting Russel join us for a little chitchat?”
“Heh…”
When Anastasia stopped and looked back, her face was all business. She was acutely sensitive to the fact that Subaru had something to offer. The girly attitude vanished from her eyes, replaced by the glint of a merchant flicking an abacus in her head.
In that moment, the transformation was reassuring.
Subaru headed for Russel, an impish Anastasia in tow. Noticing the pair’s approach, life returned to Russel’s tired face.
Truly, merchants were a reliable bunch.
“I have something to discuss with you, as two merchants who are successful and possess a sharp eye for the future. You might laugh this off as counting my chickens before they hatch, but this is about after the whale’s taken out.”
With that preamble, he proceeded to “prepare the battlefield” on the eve of the White Whale’s extermination.
3
“—Four hundred years.”
The appointed hour came, and with those words, she began to address the assembled troops.
Her voice was grave; the atmosphere, strained.
Amid sharp sensations akin to pain running up a spine being stretched, Crusch stood perfectly straight, chest thrust forward, as all eyes rested upon her.
Crusch stood upon the floor with a treasured sword bearing the mark of the House of Karsten, the Lion Rampant, and rested her hands upon its hilt as she slowly surveyed the faces of all present and said:
“Four centuries have passed since the Witch of Jealousy, the worst calamity in all of recorded history, threatened the world. During this time, the White Whale born of the Witch’s hand has made the world its very own hunting ground, dominating and savaging those weaker than it.”
The Witch of Jealousy was the one who had apparently swallowed half the world in ages past. Her very name had been synonymous with fear for as long as anyone could remember. Having lost its master, the Demon Beast of Mist danced to its own tune.
From the Great Expedition launched fourteen years prior on down, the monster had given rise to many casualties in every nation, swallowing one’s very will to fight.
“The lives the White Whale has taken are beyond measure. Perhaps it is better to say, the mist’s vile nature itself ensures that we will never know the true number of casualties. Over the course of four hundred years, the number of names on tombstones, and the graves that do not even have names, have only increased.”
Crusch’s words made some old men stare at the ground, gritting their teeth as they held back sobs. There were others whose chests contained fierce, inexhaustible emotion, quiet anger they had carried with them, waiting for a chance to let it explode.
Their regrets, their hatred piled up with every corpse, began to envelop the atmosphere of the hall in stagnant darkness.
However—
“But today, that time is over.”
“”
“We shall bring it to an end. When we slay the White Whale, it will dispel so much sadness. Those who have never permitted themselves a moment shall finally be granted a proper chance to grieve.”
“—!”
“We shall end this pathetic demon beast, unceasingly obeying the command of its dead master.”
Subaru’s chest was on fire.
Without saying a word, everyone conveyed the same heat that was burning inside him.
The old veterans were looking down; the warriors clenching their fists. The aged swordsman had closed his eyes—but now, all of them stared at Crusch, standing before them.
Accepting their gazes, Crusch thrust a hand out, speaking in a great voice.
“We march! To the Liphas Highway! To the Great Flugel Tree!”
“—Yes!!”
The stomping on the ground accompanying the roaring response seemed to make the very earth quake. Subaru realized that the hot fighting spirit surging within him had made him shout as well.
Among them all, Crusch stood stronger and taller as she raised her drawn treasured sword to the heavens and made a proclamation.
“This night, by our hand—the White Whale will fall!!”
The Battle of the White Whale, the largest operation since Subaru had been summoned to that world, had commenced.
CHAPTER 3
THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE WHALE
1
With Duchess Crusch Karsten at the head, the latest expedition to defeat the White Whale set forth.
It was the first operation of its kind since the Great Expedition of fourteen years prior, undertaken with the expectation of fierce combat few would ever see.
The expeditionary force assembled for the campaign was under Crusch’s command—with Wilhelm van Astrea, member of the family of Sword Saints, appointed as captain.
The troops serving under Wilhelm were divided into fifteen platoons, with each headed by one of the old veterans who had attended Crusch’s address in the great hall. Each platoon was composed of fifteen men, so the combined force under Crusch’s command numbered roughly 220.
However, the total combat strength was not limited to that. A wagon train under Russel’s command was apparently running ahead of them to the site of the decisive battle, the Great Flugel Tree, so they could begin transporting the supplies neces
sary for deployment.
On top of that, thirteen members of the beast-man mercenary group Iron Fangs, on loan from Anastasia, had joined under Ricardo’s command. Ricardo was in overall command with two lieutenants reporting to him.
And the “lieutenants” of the Iron Fangs were…
“I’m Mimi!”
“I’m Hetaro!”
With great energy, the two kitten-like beast people waved, then politely bowed.
They had orange fur, and their heads didn’t even reach up to Subaru’s hips. They had adorable faces, and really, the snow-white robes covering them up to their necks suited them very well, so if Subaru was to put his thoughts bluntly—
“They’re so cute I wanna steal them for myself!”
“The miss says that a lot, too!”
“Th-there you go saying that again, Big Sis…”
The girl calling herself Mimi laughed vibrantly at Subaru’s thought, with the young boy calling himself Hetaro appearing oddly ruffled as he rebuked her. Based on how he addressed her, they were siblings—probably twins. They looked like a tomboyish older sister with a straitlaced, docile younger brother following in her wake.
Subaru had no objection to the charm, but what mattered here wasn’t appearance but ability. They weren’t heading off to a picnic.
“So it’s not that I’m doubting you, but…you’re really lieutenants?”
“Mm? Mister, have you met Mimi somewhere before? Mmmm, I can’t remember, but it really feels like it…!”
Mimi crossed her arms and cocked her head, but Subaru glossed it over with a strained smile.
It couldn’t be helped that she didn’t remember him. To Subaru, the first time he met Mimi was during the events of the last go-around. Furthermore, it wasn’t an occasion he wanted to remember.
However, then and now, Mimi’s bottomless cheer was completely unchanged…
“Don’t worry about it. My name’s Subaru Natsuki. So are you two good?”
“Okay, won’t worry! And Mimi and Hetaro are the best! If TB’s with us, we’re even stronger! Super bestest! Ka-ching!”
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 7 Page 6
