Guwan, guwan.

From somewhere near yet far, a heavy, hollow sound reverberates lowly.

It feels as if I can sense the vibrations of the sound up close. The sound enters through my eardrum and shakes my skull, sending vibrations coursing through my limbs.

The flow of blood has slowed, replaced by an unpleasant sensation as if sludge is being poured into my veins.

My insides feel extremely weak, as if I’ve stuffed clay sculptures into my abdomen.

Oxygen doesn’t reach my brain, leaving my thoughts sparse and unreliable.

The heavy sound shows no signs of stopping, making it feel as if my eyeballs are rolling around inside my eyelids.

“———”

With an extremely sluggish sensation in my body and a fatigue that leaves me unable to move, Subaru slowly opened his eyes.

My vision, accustomed to the darkness behind my eyelids, struggles to accept the encroaching white light.

The blurred world swayed left and right, colors flickering within the white scenery, like a child spilling paint onto a blank canvas.

However, as the visible world gradually began to settle, that sense of wonder shifted to something distant.

After what felt like several seconds, as my pupils regained their usual state, what spread out before Subaru was a dim room with a dirty ceiling. Then, he sensed the presence of many people bustling around him, their bodies in motion.

“——Hey, the bro is waking up!”

Without the ringing in his ears subsiding, Subaru was suddenly assailed by a loud voice.

The unnecessary volume was powerful enough to freeze the movements of the previously busy people, and their gazes snapped in that direction.

“Hey, cat-eared girl, come over here! Everyone else can keep working! I was wrong, get back to work! Time’s a-wasting!”

“Geez, you’re so loud! I’ve told you many times already to tone it down. There are many people here trying to rest, so get back to your work already!”

A giant man clapped his hands, apologizing for attracting attention with his loud voice. The anthropomorphic beastman with a dog’s head walked over angrily to the cat-eared girl—a boy, actually.

Dressed in revealing women’s clothing, covered in blood in various places, Felix looked down at Subaru from a high position and let out a sigh of relief.

“Looks like you’re awake. Understand your situation… or can you talk?”

“…Ah. Felix?”

“Yep! It’s everyone’s favorite, Feli-chan! So, you’re Natsuki Subaru-kun. Right now, this place has turned into a makeshift field hospital, and you were carried in here after sustaining serious injuries. Got it?”

Felix tossed a bunch of information at Subaru while he responded in a raspy voice.

Struggling to move his sluggish head, he tried to digest each piece of information.

Turning his head, Subaru confirmed his surroundings. It finally dawned on him that he was lying on a simple bedding made up of clothes and fabric.

And indeed, as Felix had said, the area resembled a field hospital.

Around him were people lying on makeshift beds similar to his, groaning in pain as they received treatment.

The air was filled with the stench of blood, while weeping voices crisscrossed the grim scene. Magical healing alone couldn’t keep up, and Subaru caught sight of scenes where wounds were sewn together with needle and thread from the corner of his eye.

“What the… What on earth happened?”

“Seems like you’re still confused. Take your time and try to remember what happened before you passed out. Once you recall that, the answers will become clear.”

It wasn’t that Felix was dismissive.

His words weren’t kind, but it wasn’t due to his mood. It was simply that he didn’t have the luxury to spare. His rolled-up sleeves and the blood splatters on his white skin and cheeks told their own story.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how much was expected of Felix, a top-tier healer, in this chaotic situation. And the cause of this disaster was…

“Witch Cult…”

“Seriously, those guys are the worst. I knew it all along, but… I was just a bit too naive about it. I never imagined they’d go this far. I should have seen it coming.”

Biting his lip in frustration, Felix nodded at Subaru’s mutterings.

Subaru understood Felix’s feelings, filled with regret all too well. But right now, that was not what mattered. He had to confirm something important.

“W-What about Emilia!? What happened to Emilia? She isn’t here?!”

“……”

“T-The gluttonous bastard… the Archbishop of Sin took Emilia, and then I…”

His voice trembled, for he understood that his fears had come true.

The silence from Felix was all the answer Subaru needed.

At the very least, Emilia wasn’t here with him.

If the scene before he passed out was any indication, she had fallen into Regulus’s hands—

“What about Beatrice?!”

“…Beatrice…”

“Yes! What happened to Beatrice, the girl who was with me? The one with the ringlets and a cute but cheeky face… B-Beatrice?!”

It was highly likely that Emilia had indeed been taken by Regulus.

Given Regulus’s demeanor, the possibility that he would harm Emilia was—though not solid—low enough to be acceptable. As unforgivable as it was, for now.

But what would become of Beatrice? In that situation, there was not just Regulus but also Sirius. Moreover, Sirius held deep animosity towards Beatrice.

Since Subaru was safely brought into the field hospital, he had escaped from Sirius.

Who was it that protected Subaru?

“Hey, please tell me. What about Beatrice…”

“———”

The lack of an answer heightened Subaru’s anxiety, prompting him to plead desperately with Felix. Felix closed his eyes for a moment, and then glanced at the huge beastman standing nearby—Ricardo, the leader of the “Iron Fangs.” After exchanging glances, they both focused on one side.

Following their gaze, Subaru’s eyes widened in shock.

“Beatrice…!”

Alone and away from those receiving treatment, there lay the dress-clad girl.

Laying on the makeshift bed that had been hastily set up for her, Beatrice didn’t move a muscle, so silent that Subaru could barely hear her breathing.

As a spirit, Beatrice sleeps like a human not only to conserve unnecessary mana during her activities but also to minimize the burden since, unlike Pack, she cannot disappear into a vessel.

That’s why it wasn’t rare for Subaru to see Beatrice sleeping.

However, this was the first time he had ever witnessed her sleeping so silently, almost lifelessly.

“Is this… just sleep? This is beyond just worrying me.”

“It might be misleading to say she’s just sleeping. Right now, she’s completely shut off her functions as a spirit and is in a dormant state… um, you could say it’s a state close to suspended animation.”

“Suspended animation? Why…?!”

Touching Beatrice’s forehead, Subaru was shocked by the coldness radiating from it. Not a single charming reaction came from tracing her eyelashes or touching her cheek. Given Felix’s previous report, it was evident that Beatrice was seriously unwell. It was Ricardo, squatting down, who answered the pale-faced Subaru.

“The cat-eared girl says it’s a result of using up all her mana. Honestly, that’s to be expected. When I stumbled upon you guys in the square, many others had the same injuries as you. All of them were held back by this girl, keeping them from dying.”

“———”

At Ricardo’s sighing words, Subaru felt breathless.

The injured who shared the same wounds as Subaru pointed to the growing calamity caused by Regulus’s attack. It was undoubtedly a result of Sirius’s harassment. It seems the monster retreated from there, but Beatrice’s struggle began from that point onward.

Subaru, having suffered the same injuries as those other people, received equal treatment.

Naturally. Subaru was a greedy man, always seeking more. This girl, who was forced to share the same space with him, could not abandon anyone.

That’s why Beatrice strained every bit of her mana to save lives before collapsing.

“Is Beatrice going to be okay…? Even if I think resting will help…”

“…Honestly, not really. I mean, bluntly speaking, it’s bad. Even though Feli-chan is a top-tier healer, she’s a novice when it comes to spirits. Moreover, this girl isn’t an ordinary spirit, right? There’s hardly anything we can do.”

“W-What should we do?! Beatrice needs to be saved… I—”

It’s been just a year.

Just one year since he said he would take her out and make her happy. Beatrice’s life cannot end here.

She must be happy, happy, happy—happier than anyone else.

“It’s the mana shortage that’s the problem, right? Shouldn’t we bring some from elsewhere? If you’re saying you’re her contractor, then why not from you?”

“…You idiot Subaru-kun. Because the gate is down, we can’t send mana from elsewhere. The quickest way to send mana is through you.”

“That’s right, that’s it! If we have Bocco’s fruit… then I can boost what’s inside me and squeeze out the mana to give to Beatrice…!”

“You fool!”

Subaru looked up with a glimmer of hope as Felix glared at him with an angry expression.

Surprised by the unexpected intensity of the gaze, Felix quickly felt ashamed of his anger and fumbled with his bangs.

“Don’t make me say it over and over again. That thing… is extremely dangerous. For Subaru-kun’s body, it’s nothing but poison now. Trying to do that would only increase the number of dead… don’t do it!”

“…………”

Felix’s harsh words carried an imploring tone.

In that sincere intent, Subaru shut his mouth and withdrew his hasty conclusion.

Felix is an expert in healing magic. Of course, he’d have countless thoughts on how to treat someone who has collapsed.

Any shallow idea Subaru could think of had already been long assessed.

“I can understand how worried Subaru-kun is about Beatrice. I get it, but it’s not a matter we can address right away with Beatrice. Right now, we must consider many other pressing matters…”

“Other than Beatrice… right! Emilia! And…”

Returning to the situation by Felix’s words, Subaru looked around him.

This space has turned into a field hospital, and countless figures still lay scattered about—yet that’s strange. Among them, it was clear that the injured were not just those with wounds similar to Subaru’s right foot. There were many others brought in for various reasons.

“Where even is this, and what’s going on… No, what the hell happened to make so many injured people here?!”

“You said it yourself, the Archbishop of Sin and the Witch Cult, didn’t you?”

“But that’s not all, is it? No, the only Sin Archbishops I saw were two. But the extent of this damage clearly isn’t just down to those two actions. To think the archbishops arrived in the city without Witch Cultists is a ridiculous assumption.”

The two overwhelming figures that stood out as threats first clearly came to Subaru’s mind.

Because of that, he simply focused on the two high-risk existences that were the Archbishops of Sin—however, just like Petelgeuse, it was more natural for them to arrive in the city accompanied by their Witch Cultists.

If that’s the case, it would explain the magnitude of the damage.

“The two Archbishops of Sin and the Witch Cultists that serve them—this is the threat that currently looms over the city, isn’t it?”

“Regarding that, we need to talk about some details…”

As Felix prepared to respond to Subaru’s conclusion with a bitter expression, his words were abruptly cut off. Something unexpected interrupted him from an entirely unforeseen direction.

It was,

“Yahho! Yahho! Yahhoho!”

A sharp, discordant voice rang out across the space.

The carefree cadence of that voice stood in stark contrast to the somber atmosphere. In the midst of a serious discussion, it was as if one had accidentally tuned in to a variety show—close to the absurdity of that irreverent distraction.

“What…?”

Raising his head at the heard voice, Subaru quickly scanned his surroundings. But he could not find the source of the voice. Almost immediately, Subaru realized the reason.

The way the voice was heard was closer to that of loudspeakers or amplifiers— that impression was one he had only just felt earlier that morning.

“A broadcast magic tool for allowing voices to reach the city…?”

“Hey, you guys! Are you doing well, you piles of worthless flesh? Are you being lured into a frenzy by my splendid voice, which you hear several times a day? Kyahaha!”

The broadcast through the magic tool continued, confirming Subaru’s thoughts.

Suddenly, the harsh, childishly cruel voice of a woman echoed, filled with a condescending tone that spat upon decorum.

Her loud laughter pressed painfully against his eardrum, evoking a sense of physiological revulsion.

“What the hell is with that ridiculous voice? Hey, this…”

“Shh! Subaru-kun, be quiet!”

Felix pressed his finger to his lips, sharpening his ears to silence Subaru.

There was a serious expression on Felix’s face. Upon looking, he saw Ricardo wearing a similarly vigilant expression, and the injured people lying nearby were covering their ears, tearfully sobbing.

Apparently, this was not the first time they had heard this voice.

“And now, for those worthless piles of flesh whose hearts are still throbbing due to my beautiful voice, I have an important announcement! We’ve gotten bored and thought perhaps we’d just head back—just kidding! Not a chance! The day is still young, and the night is yet to come! Kyahaha!”

The chilling sound creaked and grated.

Full of malicious delight as if enjoying scraping a mirror into someone else’s ear with sharp claws.

What is this? Who the hell is this woman?

Cold sweat beads formed on Subaru’s forehead as he was cognizant of a change in his body.

Long before Subaru’s mind could catch up with the understanding, his body sensed something amiss.

“For my definitely hilarious jokes aside, let me continue with the announcement. Like I mentioned earlier, this city has been taken over by us. All of you are birds in a cage… No, you’re more like bugs in a bug cage!”

“——!?”

“Bugs should exist to amuse their cage owner, and your lives should be at the mercy of that owner. Flapping your wings and losing your legs or neck—it’s all fun and games for the likes of us! Kyahaha! What pitiful wretches you are. You’d do well to be grateful for the mercy we extend by thinning out the herd. Kyahahaha!”

The repeating malicious high-pitched laughter was filled with only contempt.

It’s a creature that takes pleasure in looking down on others, trampling them, enjoying every moment of degradation.

Subaru knew all too well what kind of existence that was.

“So, your dull minds probably couldn’t grasp the real meaning behind my gracious words, could you? You’re all just a bunch of useless sacks of flesh who can only think about mating whenever they have a moment to spare, and I, the kind and gentle one, will break down my words for you so that you, the masochistic perverts, can understand!”

“———”

“As bugs in a bug cage, you’re mercilessly toyed with by your owner. You should tremble at the thought of losing your wings, legs, or neck, while knowing your lives are at the mercy of your owner. Meanwhile, while you bring me honey, I’ll show you the kindness of a mother, sparing your heads from being plucked. So, kyahaha!”

With the repeated malice, Subaru followed Felix’s example and silently listened.

With each breath, with every single word layered upon the last, he felt something filthy pooling in his chest, but Subaru clamped down on it with iron will.

And then, he realized something.

What is this?

“We will demand something from you worthless flesh bags later. You’ll be desperately screaming with ugly faces that you don’t want to die, yet you’ll have to do your utmost to deliver what we want. If you do, the kind-hearted one who’s the talk of the continent might consider letting go of the cage. Kyahaha, how straightforward!”

The sound of someone getting giddy announcing those words, and whether she was sitting in a chair or tapping her feet could be heard in the background.

The very content, idiotic manner of speech, and that grating voice riled Subaru’s nerves—yet that was not the only issue.

A sound had been heard since earlier.

Presumably, the cause of the noise was in the same room as the broadcasting magic tool. It had slipped through alongside the woman’s voice, faintly reaching Subaru.

But he could not grasp the nature of that sound.

There seemed to be a response just a step away from discovery, yet it never came to fruition.

It wasn’t that understanding was out of reach, but rather that his instincts rejected comprehension.

Don’t realize it. Don’t realize it. You don’t need to know.

With a pounding heart, so concentrated that he could hear the echo of his blood flowing—rejection, understanding, rejection, understanding.

—That faint sound reached Subaru’s ears, resembling the buzzing of countless insects.

Near. So close to the correct conclusion. Almost there, but can it really be?

The sound of small wings fluttering couldn’t mingle with the broadcast equipment like this. Subaru was unaware of the capabilities of the magical tools in this world, so he could only speculate. The dissonance clung to his common sense, creating discomfort.

That dissonance and the buzzing clung stubbornly to Subaru’s eardrums.

“Well then, that’s all for my wonderful story. You pathetic flesh bags have my condolences. All you bugs can just do your best. I mentioned earlier… the four control towers manipulating the waterworks of this city are each occupied by us. You’d do well not to entertain any strange ideas; the sight of drowning humans is quite the ugly spectacle! Kyahahaha—”

The high-pitched laughter that threatened and faded naturally, cut off the sound.

The buzzing that had been plaguing Subaru’s anxiety vanished, naturally filling him with a sense of lethargy. After a moment, Subaru looked up at Felix and Ricardo.

“How are we supposed to interpret that broadcast?”

“How to interpret it? Just take it as it is… It’s a pathetic story, but right now, Feli-chan and the others are completely on the back foot, having been outmaneuvered at every turn.”

With a grim look, Felix bit his nails as he answered, causing Subaru to furrow his brows.

There were many details from the broadcast that concerned him, but the purpose and affiliation were clear.

“So that means, the Witch Cult’s…”

“The first broadcast happened while you were sleeping, and this is the second. In the first broadcast, they introduced themselves: the Archbishops of Sin of the Witch Cult, responsible for ‘Lust.’ But…”

Felix halted, contemplating whether to continue.

Subaru cocked his head, confused as to why Felix hesitated.

The Witch Cult’s members were frustratingly predictable in their introductions.

Following their pattern, what, if anything, came next?

Archbishop of Sin of Lust—could it really be that there was a third Archbishop of Sin?

And that name is—

“Falsely rumored, but according to Felix, they indeed claimed to bear that name.”

Felix prefaced his statement by saying that he doubted it before delivering the name.

“Capella Emerada Lugnica. —It shouldn’t exist, yet it bears the name of royalty.”

 

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