Chapter 30 30: “Ram, Takes the Stage”

"Subaru, I need you to make me a promise — that you will never join the Witch Cult, and that you will never destroy the Royal Capital or destabilize the Kingdom of Lugnica!"

"Obviously!"

At those words, Natsuki Subaru finally couldn't hold back. He stepped forward, struck his chest with his fist, and declared:

"I have a blood feud with the Witch Cult!"

"I — Natsuki Subaru — hereby swear that I will never join the Witch Cult, destroy the Royal Capital, or destabilize this kingdom!"

Subaru was still a little fuzzy on exactly what was going on, but from what Reinhard had said, he could feel it.

Things were moving in a good direction.

In that case, he absolutely could not let this chance slip away.

"Then the pact is made!"

Reinhard gave Subaru a scrupulously proper bow, then turned to face where Emilia was standing.

"Lady Emilia, this matter is settled. I will now take Lady Felt and make our departure."

"That suits me just fine."

Emilia nodded, understanding. The mysterious space just now had already revealed that Felt, too, possessed the qualifications for the royal selection — so there was nothing left to be surprised about.

Reinhard moved to Felt's side — she was still unconscious — and lifted her with one arm, then picked up Old Rom with the other hand.

"If circumstances allowed, I would truly love to welcome you into my household as a guest."

"Perhaps… no, I am certain. We will become the kind of friends who can speak of anything, Natsuki Subaru."

Reinhard touched the tip of his foot to the floor, cast one nearly imperceptible glance back at Subaru, and then walked straight out without looking back.

"So then — Bowel Hunter. Or perhaps I should call you Miss Elsa?"

"Might I ask what exactly you're still doing here?"

After seeing Reinhard off, Emilia slowly turned her head and fixed Elsa with a calm, steady gaze — delivering her eviction notice without a hint of mercy.

"I'll be taking Subaru back to Count Mathers' domain. He'll be well looked after there as my guest."

"Hmm~ As a parting gift, what should I call you — Lady Emilia?"

"But, well — that's exactly what I can't stand about you. That self-righteous attitude of yours."

Elsa gave a low laugh. Her hands moved with practiced elegance, spinning the curved blade once around before she sheathed it.

"But, fine. Let's leave it at that."

"I still have to go find my little sister Meili, so I'll be taking my leave!"

Elsa turned her back on Emilia, then glanced over her shoulder like a wolf — one last look at Emilia — before letting her gaze sweep lingeringly, and with unmistakable affection, over Natsuki Subaru at her side.

She murmured, barely loud enough for her own ears.

"Hmm~ It won't make any difference in the end anyway. Subaru… I'll let you be looked after for a few days."

"Emilia, what on earth just happened?"

Natsuki Subaru scratched his head in bewilderment.

The three people who had been at each other's throats just moments ago had suddenly buried the hatchet — it gave him a profoundly surreal feeling, like the whole thing couldn't possibly be real.

"Don't worry, Subaru. It's all over now. Reinhard misunderstood you."

"How about we head back to Count Mathers' domain together? The two of us?"

Looking into Emilia's soft, imploring violet eyes, Subaru agreed without overthinking it.

"Of course!"

And yet —

At that moment, Subaru felt a faint, nagging sense of disbelief.

Had he just… cleared it on the first try?

Wait, what had he actually done?

It didn't feel like he'd done anything at all.

Out of nowhere, the Bowel Hunter had left.

Reinhard had taken Felt away.

And he himself was about to follow Emilia to Roswaal's domain.

Every single development matched the outcome he remembered from after rescuing Emilia in that fourth loop.

But was the process — was any of this — actually serious?

If so, what did that make all those grueling memories of his — dying four times over four loops just to save Emilia?

"Forget it… Ugh. Anyway, the result is good. I'll figure out the rest of my questions as I go."

Subaru shook his head and swept the stray thoughts out of his mind.

He lifted his gaze to Emilia, who was walking ahead of him in high spirits, chattering away and tugging at him nonstop, and felt the tension drain from his eyes at last.

"Anyway — as long as you're safe, Emilia-tan."

"Huh? Where did that come from all of a sudden?"

Emilia instinctively replied with a puzzled tilt of her head.

But then, as if she'd suddenly realized something, she let out a soft laugh and broke into a sweet smile.

"Mm, it's all thanks to you, Subaru!"

Subaru found that a little odd. Thanks to… him?

He was just about to ask Emilia what had prompted the sudden reconciliation, when he heard footsteps approaching from behind — unhurried, even-paced.

Light steps. It sounded like a small-framed woman was walking in their direction.

"That would be Emilia… 'tan,' is it."

The girl who approached let out a soft, cryptic little laugh, her voice turning crisp and pointed as she emphasized the word "tan."

"It seems this black-haired, dead-eyed young man is quite uncultured — he can't even pronounce a person's name correctly. How utterly rude to Lady Emilia."

A cool, clear voice reached him. Subaru turned, following the sound.

He found a pink-haired girl in a maid's uniform standing there, arms folded across her chest, head tilted ever so slightly to one side, her gaze carrying a faint but unmistakable trace of disdain as it landed on him.

"Tch. I almost forgot — you must be from the Slums, weren't you, mister."

"Indeed, for someone of the lower classes, simply being able to speak the human tongue at all is already more than worthy of commendation."

Ram clicked her tongue, turning a look of undisguised contempt and scorn on Natsuki Subaru.

"Hey! Ra— wait, no — you said 'must be,' didn't you? 'Must be!'"

"That means even you know I might not be from the Slums — and you still said it anyway!"

Subaru's face twitched. He'd instinctively started calling out her name to fire back, but managed to catch himself just in time.

And the moment that syllable "Ra—" had left his lips, Ram gave an almost imperceptible full-body shiver — as if being called by name had triggered some kind of involuntary reflex.

"Oh my, I simply cannot pretend I didn't hear that just now. You did say 'Ra—', didn't you?"

It seemed she had caught on. Ram bit down, visibly holding something back, and fixed Subaru with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"You were trying to say Ram's name just now, weren't you?"

"Now, it's perfectly natural for people to be captivated by how adorable Ram is, but —"

Ram's pink irises locked onto Subaru's, and she asked, enunciating each word with deliberate care:

"Just how do you know Ram's name? And what is your intention in getting close to Lady Emilia?"

"That's bad… damn it, of all people, of course it had to be the sharpest one. And I made such a rookie mistake on pure reflex."

Subaru grimaced inwardly. There was no time for regret — his mind was already spinning at full speed, trying to work out how to handle this.

Just then, Emilia — who had been standing quietly to the side — spoke up, inadvertently bailing Subaru out entirely.

"Oh, right — Subaru, let me introduce you. This is Ram!"

"I got separated from Ram earlier, which is why Felt was able to steal my insignia… though looking back on it now, maybe it wasn't entirely a bad thing."

"And Ram — this is Natsuki Subaru, who is about to become a guest at our manor. Please get along with him."

Emilia looked at the two of them — who seemed to be bickering — with a wistful gaze, and for a fleeting moment she felt transported back to the days at the manor.

She hadn't actually caught a word of what the two of them had been saying. She'd been off in her own thoughts just a moment ago.

The instant Ram appeared and started talking to Subaru, Emilia's mind had drifted back to before her rebirth.

Ram and Subaru had, with great difficulty, built up something resembling a friendship between them.

And then — because of Rem's death, because of Ram's misunderstanding — all that had been left between them was hatred.

But… it's alright. Don't worry, Ram, Subaru.

This time, I will never let the tragedies of the past repeat themselves.

Emilia fixed both Subaru and Ram with a gaze full of unwavering, resolute determination.

____

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