10.2.3

"So that Puck guy really hasn't shown his face all this time?"

"…Yeah, that's right. I've called out to him over and over, and I can feel the link of the pact…but I'm reeeally worried. It's not often he doesn't show his face for a long time like this."

The interior of the dragon carriage racing toward the Sanctuary in good order echoed with Subaru and Emilia's conversation.

Thanks to the intervention of the wind repel blessing, neither loud sounds nor shaking were conveyed to the carriage interior. In that quiet atmosphere, they were not trading words about their enthusiasm at approaching the Sanctuary—rather, they were discussing an anomaly that had occurred during the last several days: Puck's absence.

In those several days, Subaru hadn't seen any sign of him, Emilia's contracted spirit and self-declared father figure. Beatrice's plan had been to conceal herself through the use of Passage; this was different.

"Come to mention it, I hadn't seen him before getting back to the mansion, either. Since we left Crusch's, maybe?"

"Mm…since we returned to the mansion, maybe. I really wanted to talk to him about the Sanctuary, but I don't feel like my voice is reaching him."

"Does Puck normally disappear from time to time?"

"Errr, it happened a lot before he and I formed our pact…but the frequency's reeeally gone down since then. Not meeting him for several days makes me a little concerned."

Subaru folded his arms as Emilia broached the subject of Puck prior to their pact.

It was obvious, but there had been a time before Emilia and Puck were linked. He'd always seen the two together, so imagining them acting separately really didn't seem right to Subaru, but—

"Do you know where Puck goes when he's not by your side?"

"I think he's probably doing something for the sake of world peace."

"Sounds like a little girl with fantasies about her dad's work, but if he ain't here, that's the least of our problems."

Setting Emilia's exaggerated expectations aside, she was the most precious thing to Puck in the entire world. The idea of him abandoning her to run off and do stuff somewhere sounded downright strange.

"Plus with Puck not here, I'm straight-up worried about our combat strength. Otto isn't exactly a master of the fighting arts, and my insides are all rattling around. Emilia-tan, it's tough for you without Puck here, right?"

"Subaru, it's reeeally hard to set aside hearing that your insides are rattling around, but…"

When Emilia gave him an exaggerated stare, Subaru gave a vague smile and waved her off with a hand.

"Goodness…! But relax. Even if Puck isn't with me, I have my contracts with the minor spirits. Those children can fight, too, so I'll protect you no matter what happens."

"Whoa, that's a real man's line…! Just wait, someday I'm gonna be able to say that with a straight face."

"I know. I'll wait, I'm reeeally looking forward to it."

She raised a finger, and faintly glowing minor spirits floated all around Emilia.

Subaru figured that, compared to Puck's, their power was like Earth compared to Heaven, but even so, they had fine combat strength on their own. All the same, it was pathetic to be relying on the only girl in the group, and the one he had his eye on, to do the fighting.

"As for 'no matter what happens'…Frederica warned us, didn't she?"

"About Garfiel, yes."

Emilia shared Subaru's concerns, lowering her voice as her lips spoke the name.

Garfiel was the name that they'd heard repeatedly from Frederica's lips over the last two days, the person they needed to be wary of. As a matter of fact, Subaru had heard the name itself several times before that.

"Bunch of times it came up that Roswaal was off to have a chat with the guy. On top of that, Ram spoke the name when the plan to evacuate to the Sanctuary came up, didn't she…?"

Ram had spoken the name as if he was someone she could trust. But the contradiction with Frederica's warnings made Subaru question his own judgment.

It wasn't simply a question of which one, Ram or Frederica, he wished to believe…

"I've been around Ram a lot longer, but her usual attitude makes me wanna shove that aside…!"

"I wish Frederica had told us about it in more detail, but…she said she was constrained by a vow not to speak about the Sanctuary, so it couldn't be helped."

"All the same, I sure have been hearing a lot about vows and stuff…"

Subaru leaned back in his seat as he made a sound of dissatisfaction in his throat.

In fact, Frederica hadn't really said much about the Sanctuary. What she'd conveyed to Subaru and the others had been limited to the special characteristics and dangers of the place, where it was located, and the name of a particularly dangerous individual. She'd helped them pass through the barrier, but her cooperation had ended at that.

"Compared to that, she sure said to watch out for Garfiel a lot, including right before we left… Do people at the mansion have some sort of quota for cryptic statements?"

"I don't think there's any such thing, but that was Frederica doing all she could. We should be grateful she warned us as much as she did without breaking her vow."

"I'd be even more grateful if she wasn't bound by that vow, though…"

"Don't sulk. A vow is a holy, inviolate pledge, not something one should breach for any reason. Vows, pacts, and covenants may bear different weight, but they should all be treated with equal respect."

Emilia wagged a finger left and right as she spoke those words, seemingly for Subaru's benefit.

It went without saying that Emilia was obstinate when it came to oaths of any kind. To Subaru, vows, pacts, and covenants were simple wordplay; the two appreciated their importance in very divergent ways.

"I'm not saying you should break pledges every which way, but…there's a time and a place for everything, right?"

"Absolutely not. Oaths…promises are very important. Properly speaking, there's nothing forcing you to uphold a promise, but people uphold their promises anyway. They work hard to uphold them, don't they? Even if no one's watching, even if no one notices, they do it, because the other party believes they will do so."

Emilia touched her chest, staring at Subaru in dismay at his words. Her tone of voice was gentle, with no hint whatsoever of reproach. The words hurt all the more for it.

"It's because people believe in you that you strive to uphold the promises you've made. A promise is like a ritual tying two people together through mutual trust, isn't it?"

Subaru crept onto the carriage's seemingly rock-steady floor and bowed his head straight down. When he apologetically touched his forehead to the floor, Emilia went "Ah," touching a hand to her own lips. "Um, I'm not trying to criticize you, Subaru. Certainly, you didn't uphold your promise with me, and if you do it again I'll be rather annoyed, but…"

"The pain, the pain, my ears hurt!!"

"Also, I've reflected on being too emotional about it. I needed to make up with you right away, Subaru, but I was being stubborn. Sorry."

"The pain, the pain, my chest hurts!!"

"Hey, um, I am a spirit mage, so oaths hit reeeally close to home with me. To a spirit mage, pacts with spirits are extremely important, so…yes, promises are really important. Subaru, you should reflect on that more, after all."

"The pain, the pain, my heart hurts!!"

As Emilia began to sulk, perhaps from the deep melancholy of the time coming back, Subaru lay prostrate before her.

At that moment, he could truly appreciate why Emilia had flown into such a rage in the waiting room at the royal palace: unaware of just how insensitive he was being, Subaru had been trampling on the most important parts of Emilia's psyche.

"You've reflected on the error of your ways?"

"I've reflected. Deeper than the sea, taller than the mountains, wider than the sky, vaster than outer space."

"Then it is fine. I forgive you… I'm not sure what you mean by outer space, though."

As Subaru wore a pathetic look on his face, Emilia nodded toward him and smiled pleasantly as she touched a finger to her own lips. The charming smile bore no hint of anger; the adorable gesture made the look on Subaru's face crumble.

He was deeply grateful to Emilia for smiling and forgiving him for the way they'd parted ways in the capital. At the same time, he thought anew that she was not the only one he needed to apologize to for his behavior that day.

"It seems that we've entered the forest."

As Subaru immersed himself in thought, Emilia's voice suddenly pulled him back. Her eyes were turned toward the window; the change in the landscape had apparently told her they were nearing their destination.

The Sanctuary was said to be protected by a special barrier well within the deep-green forest.

There, in that place, were Rem and Roswaal, two other parties to whom Subaru needed to apologize.

"Well, setting Ram aside, I might have a duty to apologize, but I think I have just as much of a right to smack Roswaal in the side of the face."

"…Yeah, I suppose so."

"I'll start with 'Do you have any idea what I had to go through because you weren't around?!' And then, I'll make him spill his guts about everything! I have a right to that much, don't I?"

"…Yeah, I suppose so."

"—? Emilia-tan, the side of your face is cute when you're thinking. Can I give you a hug?"

"…Yeah, I suppose so."

Subaru didn't have the courage to go "I'll help myself, then," at her cut-and-pasted reply. The stiffness of Emilia's cheeks and the stress in her eyes drew his attention.

"Emilia-tan, are you nervous by any chance?"

"—! That's amazing, how could you tell?"

"I'd love to say I can tell everything about you, but I think anyone could in this case."

Emilia's look of surprise brought a strained smile out of Subaru as he prodded his own cheek with a finger. Emilia followed suit by touching her own cheek, whereupon she realized just how tense her own expression was.

"Sorry to worry you. I was thinking, we'll be in the Sanctuary soon…a village only for demi-humans."

"…Ahh, that so? I'm sorry, too. I hadn't thought about that."

When Emilia divulged the reason for her nervousness, Subaru felt pathetic for not realizing it himself.

According to Frederica's explanation, the Sanctuary was not merely a settlement for demi-human races. It was a settlement where "demi-humans in particular circumstances" came to settle. So it was possible that—

There might be half-elves who went through the same stuff Emilia did…

"…I've…never met any half-elves besides myself. I hadn't really…thought about it very much. But in the Sanctuary, it might be possible…"

Emilia's voice trembled with nervousness. But he couldn't tell if that nervousness was from worry or hope. Emilia probably couldn't tell, either.

The only way to get a solid answer was to go to the Sanctuary and see. But—

"—! Emilia?!"

"Eh, ah… What's this…?!"

The next moment, Subaru and Emilia simultaneously raised their voices at the strange occurrence inside the carriage.

The source of the occurrence was none other than Emilia, herself quite nervous. A blue radiance was welling up from inside her chest, instantly tinting the interior of the dragon carriage with a bluish glow.

Startled by the light, Emilia thrust a hand into her pocket—and pulled out the shining blue crystal emitting that light.

"The crystal's shining… Subaru!"

"The hell… I have a really bad feelin' about this! Emilia, I'm borrowing that!"

Thinking that the ferociously shining blue crystal looked much like a magic crystal on the verge of exploding, Subaru instantly snatched the crystal away from Emilia. Then he rushed to the dragon carriage's window—

"If it's nothing we'll pick it up later! For now, I'll toss it outs—wait, wha—?!"

"—aa…"

Just as he was about to throw the dangerous object away, the faint moan made Subaru look back, aghast.

"Emilia?!"

When he looked back, his gaze was met by the sight of Emilia listlessly collapsed onto the dragon carriage's floor. Emilia was prone, limbs spread out and unconscious. It had happened suddenly without any forewarning—

"No, the forewarning was this?! Shit, Emilia, are you all ri—?!"

For an instant, Subaru hesitated in deciding whether to prioritize Emilia or the crystal. Prioritizing Emilia's safety, he was attempting to rush to her side when—

"—Ah? Hey?!"

The instant he stepped forward, the blue, shining crystal emitted an even stronger light that enveloped Subaru's entire body.

He had no time to regret his choice of priorities. The next instant, the world vanished.

"Emilia—!"

He stretched out a hand and shouted.

However, neither his voice nor his arm reached the fallen girl before the air connecting him to her was severed.

"━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━"

It was over in an instant. Feeling the shine of the light, Subaru swiveled his head, but he couldn't see a thing.

The world had been erased—no, rather, it had been temporarily blotted out by being bathed in a light too strong for his sense of sight. Blinking repeatedly, he finally realized that contours were gradually forming within his indistinct vision.

But regaining his sense of vision did not put his confusion to rest.

After all…

"…Where is this?"

He was not in the dragon carriage's interior, where he should have been. Rather, Subaru was standing in an unfamiliar forest, alone.