[Emilia: Because we believe this, we give our word, and work hard to fulfill them. Because promises are kept to protect the trust between one another, right?]
[Subaru: About that… I am really sorry―― !]
In the interior of the carriage, without the slightest hint of turbulence, Subaru fell onto the floor and dropped his head straight in front of him.
Seeing him rubbing his forehead on the floor in a full DOGEZA*, for a moment, Emilia flapped her eyelids in astonishment, then a few seconds later, reflecting on what she just said combined with Subaru’s current movements, she seemed to understand.
(*Dogeza is falling prostrate and pressing one’s forehead and hands on the ground, for kneeling to one’s lord or when praying to a G.o.d. Tappei wrote DOGEZA in English in the j.a.panese text :3)
[Emilia: Oh, I wasn’t blaming you or anything. Well it is true that you didn’t keep your promise, and then didn’t even apologize, and instead turned on me, so it’s true that I had gone like “what’s this!”…]
[Subaru: Ow ow ow my ears hurt!]
[Emilia: But then, after thinking about it, I realized I was being unfair and was only seeing my side of things. I should have gone to reconcile with Subaru right after but I was so obstinate, that I didn’t, so it was also my fault. Really, sorry]
[Subaru: Ow ow ow my chest hurts!]
[Emilia: Agreements and things like that, maybe they are deeper and heavier for me… because I am a Spirit-Arts user, contracts are more vital to me than to normal people. Spirit-Arts users must honor our contracts with spirits above all else, and that’s why I’m over-sensitive when it comes to this…… Yeah, so promises are a reeeaally big deal for me. Now that I think about it, Subaru, reflect on what you did]
[Subaru: Ow ow ow my heart hurts!]
While she was blurting all this out, as if remembering everything Subaru put her through, Emilia started to pout. Sensing this, Subaru pressed his head down even harder.
It was clear now, why she was so infuriated with him in the Royal Palace.
It was not just anger due to a broken promise. For her, the promise in itself meant something far more, and far heavier. When Subaru had broken it so lightly, even a soft-hearted person such as herself could not stay calm.
Because, without realizing, Subaru had trampled on something very important in Emilia’s heart.
[Emilia: Did you, reflect on your actions now?]
[Subaru: I repent. Deeper than the oceans, higher than the mountains, wider than the skies, and more expansive than the cosmos.]
[Emilia: Alright, I forgive you]
Softly poking Subaru in the forehead as he looked up, Emilia then touched her finger to her lips, smiling lightly. Relieved that there was no hint of anger from her, and also because her next movement was so adorable, Subaru found himself unable to connect his words.
Not paying any mind to the way Subaru was moving his mouth like a breathing fish, Emilia turned to look to the road ahead, and,
[Emilia: The Sanctuary, and Garfiel. And Roswaal, and everyone from the village…… there are so many people to talk to, right now my heart is already pounding]
[Subaru: Don’t worry, I would never let Emilia-tan be put in any danger. Please trust your second s.h.i.+eld, myself]
[Emilia: You’re the second? Then, who’s the first?]
[Subaru: Right now, he’s driving the dragon carriage and flirting with my Patrasche]
Looking at Subaru, who had just named Otto as a meat s.h.i.+eld without his consent, this time, Emilia couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. Watching her breaking out in laughter, Subaru was content, and in his mind, he wondered how many obstacles will be waiting for them in their road ahead.
Ever since he came to this world, he had been presented with one problem after another without a moment’s rest.
Even along the road to the Sanctuary, worries and expectations of what lies in store in that unknown land were brewing within his heart. Anyhow, Frederica herself had instigated it, and Roswaal and the fact that the other villagers had not returned only added to his doubts, and there was Subaru’s own inability to get Puck to come out, and… what he left in the mansion… worried him to no end.
[Emilia: Were you, thinking about Rem-san?]
[Subaru: ……You can tell?]
Subaru had suddenly fell silent. Gazing at the side of his face, Emilia tilted her head.
Her silver hair slid off of her shoulder as she did so, and lifting the tip her braid with her fingers and swinging it side to side, she said, [I can], and,
[Emilia: Just like the way you always look at me, I’d think about Subaru the same way, too]
[Subaru: So that means, Emilia-tan, you are thinking about me all the time?]
[Emilia: Oh, actually take it as half of half of half of that]
[Subaru: That means 3 hours…..!]
[Emilia: Half of half of half of……]
[Subaru: I’ll get hurt if I hear the exact number, so no more!]
Calling out to stop Emilia, who had been trying to calculate the exact realistic number, Subaru dropped a small sigh and scratched his cheek, and,
[Subaru: I’ve entrusted her to Frederica and Petra, so there is no need to worry. There shouldn’t be…… but still, this anxiety that shouldn’t be welling up in me, I can’t explain it in words]
[Emilia: You worry because you are worried, it can’t be helped. It just means that’s how important she is to you. To be thought about like that, I’m actually a little bit jealous]
[Subaru: Let me say this right now, I feel just as strongly about Emilia-tan…… wait, you just tricked me into saying that, right?]
[Emilia: Yes, I was being mean. Sorry]
Sticking out her tongue, through that one act she forgave it all.
In front of Subaru, who couldn’t help but make gargle sounds with his throat, Emilia said [But…] looking up at him,
[Emilia: The one you’re even more worried about is Beatrice, right?]
[Subaru:……Unless, Emilia-tan, are our hearts connected to each other? The “GOOD END” is already in sight!]
[Emilia: Usually you would go “There’s no way I’m worried” even though you are, but today, you didn’t even say that. It must mean you are really worried]
Being hit right on the mark, Subaru almost let out a “Guu”, and bit his lips with a vexed expression on his face.
But he quickly snapped out of it, and
[Subaru: Worried? I’m not worried or anything. It’s just, breaking off with a fight like that, I couldn’t meet with her again afterwards. So leaving the Mansion without seeing her again left me with a bit of a bad feeling, that’s all. Yeah, just a little bit. Just that tiny bit, just the tip]
[Emilia: That sounded a bit dirty to me, maybe I’m thinking too much into it…]
[Subaru: You’re not imagining it, that was just me]
Hiding his happiness at getting the reaction he was aiming for, Subaru looked at Emilia, who tilted her head, still smiling slightly as if not understanding a thing, and
[Subaru: If Beako’s hikikomori problem gets worse, being originally a hikikomori myself, I’d feel some kind of responsibility…]
[Emilia: Hikikomori…… Subaru, you know a lot about that right? Beatrice, is she coming out?]
[Subaru: It’d be really hard, actually. Without finding a good opportunity, just pulling her out forcefully isn’t good, but then taking too much time would be indulging her too much. Those hikikomori are such a pain in the a.s.s to…… Wait! I was one myself!]
After that stupid ending, he tried to correct the direction of the conversation again.
After all, since they were heading to the Sanctuary right now, it wouldn’t be something they’ll deal with until their return.
[Subaru: After I get back, I’ll have to talk over a lot of things with Beako. Last time, I couldn’t get her to tell me any of the things I wanted to know]
[Emilia: Beatrice and Puck, it feels like they know all sorts of things, and are hiding them from us]
[Subaru: I get the same feeling. Even with Frederica, but then, everyone a.s.sociated with that Mansion has a habit of saying something suggestive and then leaving the answers out for later. It’s like a disease already. Not the good kind of disease, either. And that Beako, returning the Gospel like that, saying things that I still can’t get out of my mind…]
The Gospel, which Beatrice had thrown back at him along with her mystifying words, is currently safely in Subaru’s keeping. If it was just going to be a nuisance, he could have left it behind, but in the worst case, he could interrogate Roswaal about it, so he brought it along with him.
But because it was so creepy, he kept it at the very bottom of his bag, as if quietly hiding it from sight.
[Emilia: ――I think we’ve entered the forest]
Emilia, suddenly lifting her face, and brus.h.i.+ng away the hair from her forehead, said this as she looked all around. Following her, Subaru also raised his head, but from inside the carriage he could not see it right away. Stepping toward the window and peeking out, it’s true that the colors outside had become deepened with green.
[Subaru: You didn’t even look outside but you could tell, huh]
[Emilia: Even though it’s mixed, it’s because I have Elf’s blood in me. They say that Elves are the race of the Forests, and so the Elves and the Forests have an inseparable bond――]
Then, just as Emilia said this with a fleeting smile,
A sudden, subtle sensation shocked Subaru’s skin, and he looked around to see what it was. But of course, the impact that surged through the surroundings, was not something his eyes could see.
Inside the carriage, the Divine Protection of “Wind Evasion” still separated out the rest of the world.
But,
[Subaru: –––!? Hey, hey!]
[––––––]
Emilia’s slender body was swaying powerlessly, and just like that, began to fall, and Subaru, sliding in, managed to catch her just in time.
Her momentum stopped by his embrace, lying feebly in his arms, Emilia’s eyes were closed, on her face was a pained expression as she lay faintly panting.
[Subaru: Wait, Emilia-tan!? What happened, Emilia!?]
Emilia couldn’t seem to reply. She looked as if she was in pain, but other than her shallow, accelerated breathing and her excruciating expression, there was no sign of fever or even sweating.
Lifting her up lightly in his arms, Subaru immediately realized he could not deal with this by himself. So, rus.h.i.+ng to the front, he stuck his head through the small window connecting to the driver’s platform, and
[Subaru: Otto! Something’s wrong, Emilia suddenly collapsed! Do you have any medicine or……]
[Otto: Oh– Natsuki-san, sorry]
Subaru’s impatient words trailed off. Otto, at whom he had thrown these words, had sweat forming on his forehead. Turning to Subaru, he replied with a voice that seemed to have lost all strength.
Subaru noticed two things–– The first, was that the carriage had stopped. Patrasche and Furufu had halted their steps, and were standing still between the trees. So overwhelming was his emotion in the previous moments that had not even realized that the carriage had stopped, but now, there was another, even more serious problem.
That was the second thing he noticed,
[???: Just waltz’n in straight from th’front, y’got some nerve, stranger]
As if spitting out the words, unlike the literal content of what he was saying, there was not the slightest hint of friendliness in the way he said it.
With only this one sentence, one could almost grasp the character of the person who spoke those words.
True to that impression, the man flaunting himself in front of the dragon carriage looked exactly what he sounded like.
With spiky short blonde hair, a white scar prominent on his forehead, the sharp leer of his eyes did not lose to Subaru’s in their viciousness, and like that of a feline beast, the canine-teeth in his jaws peered out, exceedingly white. His curling, slouching back made him seem rather short for a man, but the darkly ferocious aura emanating from his entire body removed any inclination to underestimate him for his small stature.
[???: D’know where th’h.e.l.l y’came from, but y’look like’a “stake goes through with’a brittle point” kind o’guy]
[Subaru: Huh, wha?]
Hearing a strange idiom he had never heard before, Subaru only let out a confused moan, but his opponent, listening, must have taken it for fear, and with a dismissing laugh [Hah],
[???: Oh? Y’scared eh. But’s true y’struck some bad luck. After all, th’place y’tried t’sneak into was’a place, an’what’s more, y’ran right into ME]
The man laughed viciously, clacking his fangs as he laughed, and, putting his fists together, he lowered his stance, ready for battle. And in that posture, he looked up with a glare at his silent adversary,
[Garfiel: Meet’n up with GARFIEL was th’end of y’luck. Now GET WRECKED like’a “PAZO-MAZO RIGHT AN’LEFT”!]
The punk who named himself, cussing incomprehensibly, thumped his foot into the ground.
And the moment after, the overwhelming impact, as if reversing the world, struck Subaru.
-=Chapter 6 End=-