“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.”
“Hu-hu-hu-hu-hu.”
As the two exchanged dry laughter between them, the atmosphere began to feel like a powder keg.
When Subaru thought of how those around him were taking this, he saw that Ferris and Ricardo were watching with the look of amused bystanders, while Mimi mingled with the other group in search of her younger brother.
Naturally, the duty of calming things down fell to…
“It is good to warm over old friendships, but perhaps this is not an appropriate time?”
Advancing to the fore, riding a land dragon and making that argument, was an aged swordsman—Wilhelm.
Reproaching the two as they glared at each other, his calm, blue eyes reflected Julius within them as he said, “I cannot thank you enough for coming in aid. Our fighting strength is rather depleted from the battle with the White Whale… As a man coming along for his own self-satisfaction, I was concerned.”
“Wilhelm, that’s not…”
When Wilhelm lowered the tone of his voice and stated that, Subaru interjected.
To Subaru, subjugating the White Whale was the first must-clear hurdle on his list.
Subaru had intervened firmly out of his own self-interest, so he could not possibly think of Wilhelm as a burden. It pained him that he could not explain everything, but he at least wanted to wipe away that sense of being indebted.
But before Subaru could raise his voice—
“It is a fine face that you have become able to make, Master Wilhelm.” In a quiet voice, it was Julius who addressed Wilhelm. Moved by Wilhelm’s eyes, which no longer looked haunted, he nodded deeply and said, “It is as if you are a different man from the one I met previously… Surely, this shall also be some small comfort to Reinhard.”
“I…suppose it might.”
Wilhelm put a hand to his chin and lowered his eyes.
How deep, Subaru wondered, must the conflict within the old man’s chest have been to give rise to that momentary hesitation?
The various people around them took their exchange in a variety of ways. Sympathy, relief—knowing the circumstances, many must have had those reactions. Subaru, the only one not to know, was left behind.
“Regarding that, I was unable to face up to it. Even if he did no wrong, even if he meant no harm, I could not forgive him—one day, I shall pay the consequences.”
“Even those thoughts alone are surely enough to ease his heart.”
Wilhelm held back something bitter in his reply, but Julius took his words well. Then he slowly turned a gentle gaze back toward Subaru, as if all was water under the bridge.
Naturally, Subaru girded himself for a resumption of the earlier war of words, but…
“I must give you my thanks.”
“—Ah?”
In front of Subaru, unwittingly raising his voice, Julius lightly hopped off his land dragon onto the ground. Then, he looked up at Subaru, still riding Patlash, and went down on one knee.
“Properly speaking, this subjugation of the White Whale was the longstanding desire of the Knights of the Royal Guard. For bringing a final end to the disaster neglected by every nation for many years, I thank thee.”
When he proceeded to display his gratitude with an elegant gesture, Subaru, who had held only enmity toward Julius to date, was unable to muster an immediate reaction.
Meanwhile, beside the perplexed Subaru, Ferris interjected.
“Now, hold on! Don’t misunderstand, the subjugation of the White Whale was led by the Duchess of Karsten—so it’s Lady Crusch’s achievement, meow. And importantly, Old Man Wil’s the one who slew it.”
“I understand very well that there is no power within him to directly slay the White Whale, having crush—having heard from Julius, who crossed swords with him directly.”
Julius showed every sign of sticking to the notion that he was the mercenary Juli to the bitter end.
But having recognized Ferris’s statement, he continued his words.
“However, there is no mistaking that his existence was a major impetus for the subjugation of the White Whale. Ferris, is it not right that you, too, acknowledge this?”
“Meow!! That’s… Well, that may be so, meow…”
When that was pointed out to him, Ferris hemmed and hawed as he wilted. Having put those kitty ears in their place, Julius turned his gaze to Subaru once more.
“Thanks to you, people can forget the days they spent in fear of the mist—Lady Anastasia shall surely be overjoyed as well.”
“Even though I can accept the first half straight-up, it’s a lot harder to accept that second half as is.”
“And my friend can…begin to put his regret of many years behind him.”
Subaru understood that by “friend,” he probably meant a certain red-haired hero, but Subaru didn’t know the fine details of what regrets that complete super-human had harbored for many years.
Did someone like him really have a past he needed to regret…?
At any rate, Subaru had no intention of fiddling with how to take all those words. It was right to be happy for Wilhelm having achieved his long-cherished desire, and at the very least, he recognized that his own cooperation had been useful to that end.
But even so, Subaru felt extremely conflicted having Julius praise him so.
“”
He put on a strong front, but he couldn’t wipe away his weakness, flinching and recoiling from the handsome man.
Even had he overcome his own weakness, all that awaited him was the unsightly image of a rebellious child having a tantrum. Even though he felt genuinely grateful for the reinforcements, the fact that it was Julius was hardening Subaru’s heart, enough that deep down, he wanted to give his superior, Anastasia, a piece of his mind.
Taking pains not to let such negative emotions come out onto his face, Subaru exhaled at length.
“So in the end, what are you doing here? What’d you come for?”
“—You really pulled it off, didn’t you?”
“Ah?”
Julius did not reply to Subaru’s question, but somehow, Julius’s murmur sounded like he was deeply moved. When Subaru prompted him, he commented, “Nothing,” and shook his head before saying, “I wished to ask if you comprehend that the contract with Lady Anastasia lends the Iron Fangs to Lady Cru— Rather, to you, only during the subjugation of the White Whale?”
“Huh? Was that the deal? But I’m sure the lady said that…”
“Big Sis, please be quiet.”
Hearing Julius’s declaration, Mimi tried to interject, but a little feline beast man with identical facial features sitting right beside her stopped her from doing so. That was probably the talented younger brother.
Glancing sidelong at the exchange, Subaru grimaced at Julius’s words.
“What are you trying to say exactly?”
“It is a simple story. Having succeeded in subjugating the White Whale, we no longer have any reason to cooperate with you. The job is done—yet here you are, trying to take them somewhere this very moment?”
“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Julius, you’re so forgetful! The lady said this and that before we left and everything! Mimi’s forgotten what it was, though!”
“Be silent.”
Though the kitten-sibling interplay tugged at his mind, Subaru finally grasped what Julius was trying to say. In other words, it went like this:
“You want me to choose, here and now, whether to let the Iron Fangs pull out or stay on as reinforcements.”
“I am under instructions to sell our services at a high price, you see. Or perhaps our strength is not necessary at this juncture?”
Julius indicated the others watching from behind him, pressing Subaru to decide.
In spite of himself, Subaru could not easily permit his irritation to slip into the decision. It would be simple to give in to anger and chase them off, but that would be a fool’s choice, diminishing his fighting strength while the tallest hurdle loomed ahead of
him.
That said, readily accepting the “high price” Julius had invoked brought its own problems. It was a bad move in negotiations to make promises you couldn’t keep, and moreover, Subaru’s decision had numerous lives, and the future of a particular girl, hanging on it.
“……”
With Subaru pushed into silence, Wilhelm and the others beside him watched without saying a word. Even if Subaru had requested support from them at that juncture, it would turn the negotiation into the Iron Fangs entering the employ of the Crusch camp. But that would only serve to create one obligation to satisfy another.
At present, Crusch was lending support to Subaru from a position of equality between them; put bluntly, he didn’t want to upset that balance.
“……”
When he looked next at the mercenary band under Ricardo’s command, Ricardo was folding his arms, keeping his silence. Beside him, Mimi copied her captain, folding her arms as she twitched her ears.
When he thought back to Ricardo’s earlier display of willingness to fight the Witch Cult, it all came together. He was getting in Subaru’s good graces in anticipation of this negotiation with Julius.
“That’s dirty. You Kararagi folk sure play dirty…”
“That’s a harsh thing to say to someone, ya know. By the way, I ain’t really into this whole ‘takin’ advantage of people’s weaknesses’ thing. I just like money more, so…”
“You’re so shallow it’s depressing! Not that I was expecting more to begin with!”
Even if he was boss in name only, he still had no intention to seek aid from Ricardo, part of the enemy camp.
At any rate, it was disgustingly obvious that the negotiation left Subaru no option but to say yes. Unlike the Crusch camp, lending him help so they could call it even, Anastasia was creating a one-sided debt. It was a painful decision, but there was no move to make save for grudgingly accepting the situation.
Declining reinforcements would be a far stupider decision.
If only there was some magical means to make the Iron Fangs fight the Witch Cult under the existing contract—
“Magic, magic…? Mist, White Whale…and the contract for the highway…”
Subaru, searching for some kind of convenient means, suddenly lined up side by side what had been mere words in his head. Upon examination, they seemed to be unconnected terms, but that little nudge made his thoughts burn white-hot.
Bit by bit, a vague image began to take form inside Subaru’s mind, turning into a coherent answer.
And then—
“…How about this: The subjugation of the White Whale…ain’t over yet.”
“—That is an…interesting statement.”
Julius narrowed his eyes as he replied to Subaru’s desperate-sounding words.
Subaru’s statement unsettled not only the Iron Fangs behind him but the expeditionary force as well. Among them, Wilhelm’s wide-eyed look tugged especially strongly upon Subaru’s conscience.
But in a meaning separate from Wilhelm succeeding in his long-cherished aim, it was his idea for addressing a problem that could not be set aside.
“It’s possible that the White Whale is a demon beast acting for the Witch Cult. I’m…aware of people in the Witch Cult saying something like that.”
—It was the third time around, in other words, the final scene before that world came to an end.
Facing off against Petelgeuse in the forest, he’d lost to the madman’s Unseen Hands. After that, Subaru thought Petelgeuse’s kicking of Emilia’s remains was like he intended to force Subaru to feel powerless.
At the time, as the madman’s filthy mouth berated Subaru, he definitely ran his mouth to the effect of…
“—The highway is sealed by the mist, so there is no one to interfere with my love!”
How did he know that?
Why did he speak of it like it was his own doing?
And buttressing that was a word spoken afterward by the Beast of the End, freezing the world over with its breath.
“Someone who knew the White Whale called it ‘Gluttony.’ If I’m not wrong in thinking that means something to the Witch Cult, the cause of the demon beast appearing is where I’m heading.”
If Petelgeuse had called the White Whale to the highway, obstructing entry to and exit from the Mathers domain, his objective could have only been to further his own mad ends.
In other words, covering the highway in the White Whale’s mist was preparation for the attack on the mansion—and Emilia.
“The Witch Cult’s got a chip on its shoulder, so we’ve gotta knock it off. With this added, that’ll be four centuries of failure set straight. When we’ve done that, then we can say we’ve finished taking care of the White Whale.”
“”
Subaru looked Julius’s way as he continued with a strong declaration, “The job of the employer is to give orders and dish out rewards. Don’t cut out on me midway, merc. Or are you gonna pay compensation for cutting and running?”
The basis of his statement was so thin that, on the inside, even he was amazed. But Subaru was now able to maintain a bold, smiling exterior while saying such a thing.
He’d gathered scattered bits of information from each repetition, piling them together to hazard a guess. He’d had that experience several times before, but this time, the guess was on spectacularly thin ground. After all, the crux of the information was gleaned from things he’d overheard while his mind was clouded.
Even linking them together in some semblance of coherence, he had no idea if it would sway them. If it could not, at least it could be the thread leading to further negotiations—
“Mm, I think I shall grant you a passing grade.”
“Huh?”
“You could make it sound a little better for our ears, but in general, your claim passes muster. Nor shall Lady Anastasia lose face.”
“W-wait a minute!”
Subaru raised his voice in haste at Julius’s know-it-all reply. In response, Julius casually looked at the agitated Subaru.
“What is it? You need not be concerned; the Iron Fangs shall continue their assistance in accordance with the collateral that has already been paid to Lady Anastasia. There is no problem, is there?”
“That easy…? I mean, what’s with that know-it-all stuff! Why, you…!”
When Subaru began to voice the words that were to follow, he came to realize a very disagreeable part of himself.
Julius had considered Subaru’s circumstances, cooperating by taking Subaru’s guess at face value. Subaru just hadn’t wanted to notice his benevolence.
Subaru wanted Julius to be a hateful person he could never see eye to eye with.
—He realized the vulgarity of his own feelings in wishing that it were so.
“Well, it ain’t like we’re doin’ this for free. A dumb robber only takes from ya once, but a clever one gets as many chances to take from you as he likes.”
“Doesn’t change that in the end, you’re getting hosed, huh…”
Ricardo wedged himself into the conversation, and fortunately, he was on Subaru’s side. In so doing, the easy way became easier, and Subaru hated himself for running from it.
When Subaru’s self-hatred mixed with the self-hatred of others, things only got worse and worse. But even Subaru knew that. He’d learned it long before.
“I’m…in the wrong… Crap, sorry. Aw, damn it, that’s not even what I wanna say. Even back then, I knew I was…”
Putting a hand to his forehead, Subaru finally voiced the logical answer he’d agonized over. However, even though he understood in his head, it was hard to find the words for it.
This was where he ought to be thanking Julius for bringing reinforcements and committing to the fight. Now that he could look back at it calmly, he could understand just who had been in the wrong, and that the previous antagonism between them was the result of Subaru’s quick temper.
Or perhaps even the reason Julius had done what he did at
the time was—
“”
Julius simply waited, saying nothing to Subaru’s difficult words.
He surely understood what Subaru wanted to say. If Subaru couldn’t say it, and he wanted to get out in front and voice a reply, surely he could.
But he did not, and Subaru could not help hating him for not doing so. It would have been so much better if he could simply keep hating the man through and through.
“I…was wrong. Sorry. I apolo…gize.”
To Subaru, they were abominable memories to think back upon, but he’d have had to face them sooner or later, and that was the place, in front of the man he’d have to settle things with someday.
Julius closed his eyes at Subaru’s apology, slowly drawing in his chin.
“Allow me to apologize for my own rudeness. I do not take back everything I said and did in that place, but even so, I take back my belittling of you, from the bottom of my heart.”
Those were the words with which Julius answered Subaru’s apology.
Sincerity flowed from Julius’s words, and Subaru knew that the resentful, hateful feelings inside of him had melted away with exceptional ease.
Understanding this, he dismounted, standing on the same ground as the knight before him, squarely facing him on a level playing field.
He was reflected in the other’s yellow eyes, and Subaru’s own black eyes reflected in the knight’s as Subaru admitted, “I was wrong. But…”
“Mm.”
“I really hate you—I think badly of you, and right now I’m thankful you came, but I really hate you. I truly, from the bottom of my heart, hate…your…guts!”
The last sentence of his rude declaration was broken up, with shakes of his head to the left and right for extra emphasis. And slammed in the face by all that hostility, Julius looked taken aback.
Then, his expression abruptly collapsed.
“That is well. After all, I am not very minded to become your friend, either.”
With that, Julius snobbishly stroked his hair upward and laughed.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 7 Page 21
