12.5.7

Shallowly, sharply, the blade that brought his life to an end was so elegant it was enchanting.

The minimal bleeding was proof of the precise skill with which the single fatal blow was landed. But specks of that minute blood spatter remained on his white mantle, which looked akin to proof of the knight's crime.

As Subaru's remains lay faceup, a purple-haired knight looked down upon them. To his side, Ferris had sunken down to the ground on his backside, and it was clear at a glance he was in an exceedingly haggard state.

"_______"

As Subaru gazed down upon that scene—what lay beyond Hell—he felt his consciousness fraying.

With nothing but his consciousness, Subaru had no means to stop the scene or even avert his eyes. The crime he had committed remained undiminished, and the resentments of the world he had left behind served as a rasp that filed down his very soul.

And this scene, too, kicked Subaru when he was— No, the blow that came was even greater than what had preceded it.

"…Su…baru?"

With a sound of footsteps on grass, someone was approaching the encirclement formed by the knights. With wobbly steps, this individual walked closer to the boy lying fallen at its center.

In a daze, Emilia stood beside the deceased Subaru. Beside her stood a knight—Julius.

"Lady Emilia, please wipe his…Subaru's face."

"_______"

"I believe he would have desired that it be you rather than I who does it. At the least, it should be by your hand."

Offering a white handkerchief, Julius spoke to Emilia, who was lost in a daze.

However, Emilia did not give any reply. She simply stood there, her round eyes bewildered, filled with emotion.

Sluggishly, Emilia touched Subaru's face with her trembling fingers. Heedless of her hand being sullied, Emilia wiped the dried sweat and a slight amount of blood that had come from his mouth with her very own palm.

And when by doing so, she was tidying up Subaru's dead face bit by bit, Emilia haltingly murmured, "Why…? Why did Subaru come back, only to end up like this…?"

As if there had to be some mistake, Emilia murmured the question—asking someone eternally unable to answer.

A dead body had no ears with which to hear it or a mouth with which to reply.

And Subaru's consciousness, being chastised for his crime, had no way of interfering with their world.

"_______"

He understood just which death was being reenacted in this new world beyond Hell.

This was the scene of the death brought about by the battle with Petelgeuse.

After defeating the White Whale, in the first battle in which he and the expeditionary force had challenged Petelgeuse—Subaru, having failed to see through his Possession ability, had his body stolen by the madman. And to defeat the worst-case scenario, where he would not even be permitted to Return by Death, Subaru had borrowed the strength of Julius and Ferris, opting for his own death.

Ferris's magic had greatly disrupted the circulation inside his body, and Subaru's demise had left a terrible expression on his face. It was thanks to Julius's intervention that Subaru had averted a horrific appearance in death.

But if the question was whether this was any comfort to those left behind, that was a different story.

"Sir Subaru… I am so very sorry…!"

Wilhelm, his entire body covered with wounds, fell to his knees and lowered his head in shame.

Pushing his wounded body, Wilhelm wept grandly over Subaru's death. As he lowered his face with an expression of regret, aged knights stood around him, wearing similar faces of silent pain.

Each was one of the comrades in battle with whom Subaru had challenged the White Whale. Having struck down the Witch Cult, they had promised each other a triumphant return to the royal capital, and the hearts of all were pained to be unable to fulfill that promise; some among them were driven to tears.

Subaru gaped at to just what extent they were afflicted by his death.

Or perhaps those tears struck Subaru so hard because he was seeing them from the world after death.

"Why did Subaru come to help me, only to end up like this…? Why did this happen?"

With Subaru saying nothing in return, Emilia kept a hand pressed to his cheek, continuing to call out to him in a voice that could not reach.

From that sad and painful sight, Subaru knew very well what was within her chest. In that world, Subaru had not given an answer to Emilia's question. In death, it had been postponed for all eternity.

—Accordingly, going forward, Emilia would never know the reason for Subaru's devotion.

"The Witch Cult has long brought suffering to this world. Its vanguard, the Archbishop of the Deadly Sins of Sloth, has been slain. To the world, this is an exceptional victory. —But."

Speaking to Subaru's remains, Julius used his fingers to rap the scabbard of the knight's sword on his hip. He repeated the gesture over and over, the intervals between them gradually shortening.

"That does not mean all the sacrifices for its sake are pardonable. —I had hoped to exchange more words with you, Subaru Natsuki."

With that painful murmur, Julius averted his face from Subaru's dead visage.

Lifting his face toward the sky dyed by the setting sun, gloom rested in the knight's eyes as he said, "—I wanted to call you friend."

Julius's whisper in a powerless voice trickled into the forest in vain.