Arc 5, Chapter 45 – “An Inescapable Curse”

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Translated by:

•  Fr81
• Phantaminum

Proofread by:

• SSCaide

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ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO TAPPEI NAGATSUKI, THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR OF RE:ZERO STARTING A LIFE IN A DIFFERENT WORLD FROM ZERO, THIS IS A TRANSLATION OF THE FREE JAPANESE WEB NOVEL INTO ENGLISH

JAPANESE WEB NOVEL SOURCE

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As Wilhelm spoke the name of a Witch he had never heard of before, Subaru shuddered.

Aside from Satella, the only Witches Subaru knew of were the six Witches of Sin he had met in Echidna’s tomb. The fact that Witches other than those somehow existed was devastating news.

Subaru: [Then, Wilhelm-san, if that Witch, Sphinx, is involved in this raid by the Witch Cult… Are you saying there’s a Witch too, in addition to the Sin Archbishops?]

The main enemies numbered four Archbishops and two warriors. If that was the case, adding a Witch to their forces made the disparity in strength become a desperate matter.

However, Wilhelm raised a hand at Subaru’s concerns.

Wilhelm: [Pardon me, my wording was unclear. The existence known as the Witch Sphinx perished in the Demi-Human War. There is no possibility that it might be participating in this assault.]

Subaru: [The Witch is dead? There’s no mistake? The impression I have of Witches is that they tend to fake being dead, and have lots of freedom even after really dying.]

Satella, too, was like that, as whenever Subaru violated the taboo, it would draw her out. And in the Citadel of Dreams, enjoying her afterlife, Echidna was the same.

Even hearing a Witch was dead was no guarantee at all.

Wilhelm: [What impression Subaru-dono has of Witches I am unaware. But Sphinx is only named a Witch, merely an existence given that title for convenience. The fact is that the Kingdom’s military referred to it as such, but the concerned party never called itself the same.]

Subaru: [Calling them a concerned party… Did Wilhelm-san ever meet them directly?]

Wilhelm: [Several times, during the civil war. The event that may have triggered the end of the Demi-Human War may even have been the beheading of Sphinx. Roswaal, Bordeaux, and my wife were all leading figures of that time.]

Subaru: [Roswaal!?]

An unexpected name popping up caused Subaru to open his eyes wide.

At that reaction from Subaru, Wilhelm slightly lowered his head for a moment and became immersed in thought.

Wilhelm: [I knew the Roswaal-dono of two generations ago. Although back then I was not very friendly… she took care of me.]

Subaru: [Two generations ago… Ah, that’s right. The name Roswaal is inherited from generation to generation.]

Wilhelm: [Unfortunately, that predecessor passed away soon after. I grew distant from them following that, and the current Margrave Mathers is only a passing acquaintance… But this is all superfluous talk.]

He was now lending an ear to tales of surprising relationships, but the original topic was definitely not about that. Subaru nodded his head, and then Wilhelm continued his tale with an “And so,”

Wilhelm: [Not Sphinx, but some being using a spell that acts similarly, is my thought. The method of controlling the dead was at the time called cases of Corpse Soldiers.]

Subaru: [Corpse Soldiers… That… Does it have any weaknesses?]

Wilhelm: [From what I know, the Corpse Soldier is limited to a technique for moving the body. It does not seem to be able to bring back the abilities possessed in life. It merely shames the dead while keeping the appearance. A reflection of the user’s nature.]

Subaru: [But, the Eight Arms, and… that.]

He was at a loss for words.

The one turned into a Corpse Soldier, whose very death was being profaned, was Wilhelm’s wife. Even if Wilhelm had already accepted it, Subaru was speaking of it with hesitation.

Wilhelm made a bitter face at Subaru’s reluctance, loosening his lips.

Wilhelm: [I am grateful for your concern. But, it is necessary―― Yes, the skills of both my wife and Kurgan are close to their abilities in life. It exceeds the power a mere Corpse Soldier can pull out.]

Subaru: [Then, isn’t it possible that this is something different than a Corpse Soldier? If so, then your wife might not even have died…]

Wilhelm: [My wife is dead. Because my strength was lacking.]

The side hanging onto a fragile hope here was Subaru. Wilhelm’s clear voice cut down Subaru’s feeling with a single stroke.

And there were no words Subaru could say to that elder swordsman’s profile.

Wilhelm: [Even at the time, that which could not simply be judged as merely a Corpse Soldier did very rarely exist. Whether it was due to aptitude in the procedure, or another factor I am unaware of… We should perhaps believe that it may be the strength of those two.]

Subaru: [Is there a way to take them down?]

Wilhelm: [Thoroughly destroying the body, or cutting away the curse mark somewhere on the body. Then the Corpse Soldier will return to a simple corpse. It must be done this way.]

Wilhelm’s considerate voice could not easily be heard.

He was conscious of his calm, trying his best to focus on what he felt he had to do―― His trembling voice, his clenched fist, his scrunched eyes, in that moment he was unable to hide anything.

Wilhelm: [I apologize for holding you this long. Crusch-sama cannot be made to wait any longer. Now, this way.]

Wilhelm bent his back and indicated the door of the division they had reached. On the innermost part of the fourth floor, was a room with a crumbled plate labeling it as a lounge.

Inside, Crusch, who had called Subaru, was waiting.

Passing Wilhelm’s side, Subaru headed for the door, the sound of footsteps echoing.

Definitely, the distance to the door felt awfully long. There was even the impression that the soles of his shoes stuck to the floor and interfered with Subaru’s progress.

The fact that this reluctance was his own weakness, Subaru was clearly aware of that.

Subaru: [――It’s me. Natsuki Subaru. Is… Crusch-san?]

He knocked, and called out with a voice so quiet he wondered if it reached the other side of the door. Like that, after a brief silence, taking no more than a moment, the other side slowly opened the door.

The face that appeared was Ferris’s. But his appearance had changed entirely.

Ferris: [Subaru-kyun…]

Red eyes puffed up from crying and disheveled brown hair. Covering his entire body in black stains was, not his, but someone else’s blood, his white skin splattered. He must not have had time to clean it. His cheek and neck were also smeared with fresh, sticky blood.

Witnessing such a miserable appearance, his breath inadvertently caught in his throat.

Subaru: [Crusch-san called me, I heard. So…]

Ferris: [Yeah. Inside, she’s on the bed… Definitely don’t do anything unnecessary, please.]

A firm voice, with some hatred intermingled near the end. However, that hate was not directed at Subaru. It could be said to be directed at everything. Hating everyone in the world, Ferris was now controlled by rage with nowhere to go.

Taking a deep breath, Subaru followed Ferris inside.

It was not a very spacious room for a lounge. Long tables and chairs were arranged in two rows, and further back, the small room was divided by a threshold. The bed was past it.

And on that shabby bed she was laid.

???: [Na… tsuki-sama?]

Crusch, fully conscious, recognized Subaru had entered and called him by name.

Reacting to her voice, Subaru’s throat felt like it had constricted. Readying himself, feigning calm, calling out assuring words―― He was unable to even do something so simple…

Crusch: [My appearance is not presentable… My apologies…]

Subaru: […No, that’s not, like that… Haaa. It’s not like that.]

Seeing Subaru’s tense atmosphere, Crusch apologized in a lethargic voice. Subaru, feeling flustered by her sorrowful attitude, raised his voice to mend his vague words from earlier.

――Having been drenched in Capella’s blood and clothed in its curse, Crusch was in a wretched state.

Her neck, the back of her hands and feet—— over all exposed skin, dark-blackened veins were visible. It was not difficult to imagine that under the towels and blankets and clothes, the skin there would be afflicted with the same. These black blood vessels, which pulsed instead of circulating blood like regular blood vessels, gave off the appearance of a writhing serpent strangling Crusch’s thin body.

That formerly white, unblemished skin of hers was now being violated horribly.

Of course, the damage was not limited to areas below the neck.

Crusch’s dignified visage, reminiscent of a slender sword’s beauty―― its left half had received disfiguring stains. Compared to that, the right side of her face retained her beauty. That rather emphasized the contrast between the two sides, and made the unfairness of a noble person being defiled more apparent.

A patch had been placed to cover the left eye, the sight underneath difficult to imagine.

Subaru: [This is… The same curse left on me, the dragon’s blood?]

If it was indeed the same, then nothing could be crueler.

Because he knew Crusch Karsten, there was no limit to Subaru’s heartache.

He looked down at his own right leg. Like Crusch’s skin, it also was mottled and wrapped with blackened veins. However, Subaru’s leg, terrible sight notwithstanding, was otherwise unaffected. Neither pain nor feelings of pain were felt by him at all.

But Crusch was definitely different. Her breathing was labored, and whenever the dark veins pulsated, she sighed as if withstanding pain.

Subaru: [Ferris…]

How was it not cured, he wondered as he turned to gaze at the greatest healer in the Kingdom. However, Subaru’s brief thought only served to hurt Ferris, who further grit his teeth in helplessness. He bit down on his lips, stabbing his own arms with his nails while bowing his head. Ferris understood his lack of power and regretted it more than anyone else in the room.

Knowing the relationship between the two, Subaru had no reason to doubt all possible methods beyond his imagination had been exhausted already.

Subaru: [Crusch-san… What do you need of me?]

Why, in such a painful situation, had she called out for him?

He did not think that there was something he could do. Maybe there was something she wished to say. To ask for revenge on Lust, who had done this to her. Perhaps even some resentful words would be directed towards Subaru.

Even if fed insults, even if curses were poured on, he would accept it all.

At Subaru’s question, Crusch opened her mouth, enduring the pain. Leaning in close to her lips, he paid his utmost careful attention, to make sure her faint breaths would not go unnoticed. And――

Crusch: […Un-unharmed… I am relieved.]

Subaru: [――――]

Crusch: [I heard… that like me… you were cursed…]

Subaru felt a burden lift from her in the softness of her relieved sigh. At the same time, he understood the true feelings in her heart, and grew so angry at his own stupidity he wanted to die.

He had been thinking it would be easier to be criticized.

So he had doubted Crusch’s integrity, and had underestimated her noble heart. She had truly just been worried that Subaru had been afflicted with the same pain as herself.

Subaru: [Sor… I’m sorry… Crusch-san…]

Having suspected her feelings because it had resulted in her suffering, and being unable to suffer on her behalf, he squeezed out those mixed emotions in his voice.

Without realizing what he was doing, he stretched out his hand and grasped the hands Crusch had weakly laid over her stomach. The black blood vessels had no special texture even if touched. That the feel of skin with this ruined of an appearance did not change was even more pitiful. But,

Crusch: [Fuu…?]

Subaru: [Ugh!?]

The sudden sound of Crusch’s sigh, and the simultaneous pained noise from Subaru’s throat overlapped.

Agony as if he had grasped a hot iron stabbed into his whole body starting from his palm. In an instant, Subaru released Crusch’s hand and stared at the palm the sensation had come from.

That blackened erosion was spreading over it.

Subaru: [What the…!?]

Ferris: [Show me, Subaru-kyun!]

Grasping the groaning and hurt Subaru’s hand, Ferris inspected the erosion. The light of healing blanketed the spot, but there was no sign of either the pain or the affliction fading away. Instead――

Subaru: [Ferris… Crusch-san’s hand!]

Ferris: [Eh…?]

Subaru’s gaze was directed at Crusch in astonishment, and beckoned Ferris to direct his own the same direction. And those yellow eyes widened as well, witnessing the same occurrence as Subaru.

Subaru had grasped Crusch’s left hand―― on that hand, though slightly, the blackened erosion had thinned. Looking down at his right hand, noticing that shift, a certain idea passed through Subaru’s mind

Subaru: [No way, it moved from Crusch’s body to mine… Is that it?]

He could only think that. The change on the hand he had touched and the change on his own were positive and negative, respectively. There was no doubt that the curse had traveled from Crusch’s body to Subaru’s.

Ferris: [Bu-but I haven’t changed at all? I examined Crusch-sama’s body, I touched her many many times since… Me, for me…]

At Subaru’s hypothesis, Ferris shook his head.

That was not joy at a possibility for healing being found, but rather an appearance of suspecting that the hypothesis was false. No, his own feelings were definitely different.

Ferris: [I can’t make Crusch-sama feel better…]

Subaru: [Then, let’s try it one more time.]

Pushing aside Ferris, left in dismay, Subaru once again stood before Crusch. Crusch, her face showing she was unaware of what had occurred, directed her glistening eyes at Subaru. To not show a tense face to that eyepatch-wearing, single-eyed gaze, Subaru took a deep breath.

To check it again, this time, he lightly brushed Crusch’s cheek.

Subaru: [――Guh, ugh!]

Immediately after, Subaru’s brain was stabbed with pain as if magma had been poured into his veins. Through the tips of his fingers, the curse that was violating Crusch’s body flowed in, and seared his senses.

Subaru: [Gaaaaah!]

Feeling unbearable, severe pain, Subaru screamed loudly and yanked his body away. Like that, falling back with the momentum, the hand which had been touching Crusch lost contact with her body.

Subaru: [Ah, haaa, haaaaaa…]

His lungs shivered, and his eyeballs cramped.

Opening and closing his mouth repeatedly like a fish on land, Subaru desperately sought oxygen.

Ferris: [Su-Subaru-kyun… Are you okay?]

Seeing his breathing start to calm, Ferris spoke to Subaru. Barely able to spare enough feeling to notice the hard floor he had landed on, he raised his body with difficulty. And gazing up at the face of Crusch, as she laid in bed,

Subaru: [How is it, Ferris? Was it effective, even just a little?]

Ferris: [Ah…]

With a plop, Ferris sat back down again to confirm Crusch’s condition.

He too would have seen it with his own eyes. The cheek which was being eroded by the curse had been relieved, just a little bit. If such treatment was possible, then saving Crusch was also――

Crusch: [You cannot, Natsuki-sama…]

Subaru rose to try once more. However, it was none other than Crusch herself that stopped him.

Not understanding the meaning of her words, Subaru asked.

Subaru: [Did you not… notice? Your hand is…]

Crusch: [――Hand?]

Hearing this, she looked down at her right hand. And it was then that she finally realized the change that had occurred.

Similar to his right leg, blackened blood vessels covered the skin. That much was fine. With that alone, his resolve to take on Crusch’s curse would not be shaken.

However, there was definitely something strange.

Compared to the spots which had been taken from Crusch, the extent of the erosion was much greater. The corrosion on her body, the darkened parts of her left hand and cheek, those dark blood vessels had all grown a shade lighter due to Subaru’s touch.

However, Subaru’s right arm, having absorbed that dark erosion, had its skin completely covered in black, all the way up to his elbow. The concentration was clearly different. The ratio the curse was transferred at was not one-to-one. It was more on the level of ten-to-one, perhaps not even that.

Subaru: [No, even then…]

Whether that was cause to hesitate was another matter.

There was pain in the moment of transfer. But, once it had been accepted onto his body, there was no sign that the curse would actually hurt Subaru, so far.

Compared to Crusch’s constant hellish suffering, the pain Subaru felt lasted for only a moment. Besides, there was not even any need to consider which side should bear the burden of its torture, the man or the woman.

Whether it was his right leg or right hand turning black, if it was for the sake of saving Crusch, it mattered not.

Crusch: [Natsuki-sama, that cannot be… I am unable to accept those feelings.]

Subaru: [Don’t be silly. It only stings a little, so it’s fine. Compared to getting a tattoo while showing off and regretting it later, let’s think of it like dirtying a body that was already dirty in the first place. I can take away the pain too. It’s strange, but I don’t feel any pain, so…]

Crusch: [Can you guarantee that will be true in the future…? It could be that both Natsuki-sama and I will become unable to fight. In the current situation, that would be a fatal blow…]

Worrying more for the city and the people than her own body, that was Crusch’s judgement. It was logically sound, but not everything should be considered with logic alone.

Crusch: [Ferris, please stop Natsuki-sama…]

Ferris: [I… I am…]

Crusch: [Please. Because Natsuki-sama is now needed by people other than me…]

Ferris: [If Subaru-kyun resolved to help… C-Crusch-sama’s suffering…]

Ferris’s hesitation in making a decision was because he kept Crusch at the top of his priorities. That, nobody could blame him for. Of those present, no one was in the wrong, after all.

The notion that “whatever is not wrong is right” was mistaken.

Crusch: [You must not be overwhelmed by the emotions of a single moment. Natsuki-sama, I ask of you…]

Subaru: [Crusch-san, even then, I…]

Crusch: [Did you not say so before? ――”What is left, leave it all to me.”]

Subaru: [――Kh!]

Crusch’s pleading eyes took hold of Subaru and would not let go.

Had those reliable words come from his mouth? Was Crusch telling Subaru to fulfill the words she had heard?

Crusch: [Please say that to… me as well…]

Subaru: [――――]

Crusch: [“All that’s left, to leave it all to me.”]

A pained smile was awaiting Subaru’s words.

Swallowing his breath and shifting his tongue in his dry mouth, Subaru quietly closed his eyes.

Without thinking of the future, only immersed in what was in front of him, he was making her say things that did not need to be said, so at least――

Subaru: [Crusch-san, calmly rest here, please.]

Crusch: […Natsuki… sama.]

Subaru: [Because everything that’s left, you can leave it all to me.]

Crusch: [――Yes.]

If it was just filling the needed role and saying the desired words, then it just had to be done.

Hearing Subaru’s reply, Crusch took a deep breath and seemed to relax.

Her eyelids weakly blinking shut not a moment after proved that, up until now, by any means possible she had been holding onto her consciousness. At that moment breathing a quiet sigh, Crusch once more began her time of battling the effects of the curse’s erosion.

Subaru: [Sorry, Ferris. But I have to go now.]

Ferris: [I’m… What should I… Is it alright?]

Draping a towel like a blanket over Crusch and standing up, Subaru heard a small voice as he was leaving. It was the first time Subaru had seen Ferris showing weakness.

In his innermost thoughts, what he wished now was to remain at Crusch’s side. But in the current situation, Ferris’s ability would not allow for such a thing.

Subaru: [I need your strength. I’m not saying to leave City Hall. But I’ll tell them to evacuate the wounded here, if something happens. So, I’ll leave that to you.]

Ferris: […The one I wanted to help most, and I can’t help them.]

Subaru: [Ferris…]

Ferris: [Sorry. I said something stupid… Just give us a moment, please.]

While looking away, Ferris sat down on a chair next to the bed. Subaru lightly patted his shoulder and, finally, he stepped out of the lounge.

Unchanged from when he had entered, Wilhelm stood upright, waiting in the hallway.

Wilhelm: [Thank you very much for considering Crusch-sama’s feelings.]

Calling out to Subaru upon his return, Wilhelm spoke. Did the events that transpired within the room leak outside, or perhaps Subaru’s expression was just easy to read?

Subaru: [It isn’t some noble tale like I considered her feelings. Since it’s more a story of how I was encouraged… My body, what’s up with it anyway?]

Taking on Crusch’s curse, and its effect being weakened against him in the first place. Going back even further, everything about the Witch Factor and Return by Death was, in truth, ambiguous.

One day, would he get to see the reason and reach the conclusion for such things?

Subaru: [We will leave Crusch-san to Ferris. Once everything is settled, I’m thinking of trying what I did once more.]

Wilhelm: [Is that right arm fine?]

Subaru: [At first glance, it’s a bit iffy. If I wear long sleeves and gloves it might look alright… For the sake of rescuing a pretty girl, a scar that doesn’t fade away isn’t any trouble at all.]

Even though he had some aversion to it, those were Subaru’s true feelings.

If there was no other solution, then he would absorb Crusch’s curse in full, even if his body became pitch-black because of it. Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice, he would have to beg forgiveness from all of them.

Subaru: [But, that’s all something for after we overcome this turbulence. Wilhelm-san, let’s head down. The others may be discussing the plan to retake the control towers right now.]

Probably, all the top-class powers that this side could muster would already be gathered there.

What followed after would depend on their compatibility with the abilities of each Sin Archbishop, as well as the timing and execution of the capture plan. Only six hours remained until the deadline imposed by the Witch Cult.

Wilhelm: [Subaru-dono, regarding that matter, I have a request.]

Subaru: [A request?]

Wilhelm’s words stopped Subaru as he headed for the stairs―― The elder swordsman nodded his head towards the door behind him, showing concern in his eyes for his master within.

Wilhelm: [If possible, please recommend for me the task of subjugating Lust. Since I am aware of its powers of mutation and super-regeneration, I will request this of you.]

Subaru: [Revenge for Crusch-san, is that it?]

Wilhelm: [That as well. But beyond that, it is essential to capture Lust alive and have it explain what was done to Crusch. For that, I will even become a demon. Before cutting off its head, I will definitely question her about it.]

The killing intent given off by the Sword Demon felt like a wave of heat to Subaru. Furiously, darkly, having been unable to do anything, Wilhelm’s ardor to avenge his master now rose up like flames.

Subaru: [That spirit is fine… But are the Corpse Soldiers alright?]

Wilhelm: [――――]

Subaru: [Your wife, would you not know her best? Whatever else we do, it’s Wilhelm-san who needs to settle that score.]

Wilhelm: [Subaru-dono, has Reinhard arrived below?]

Wilhelm suddenly interrupted Subaru, while he spoke of his concerns.

Awkwardly, Subaru nodded. Reinhard’s strength was indispensable for the attack. However, it was possible that the previous generation Sword Saint could obstruct him.

Wilhelm: [The true nature of the Corpse Soldiers, could you avoid speaking of it to Reinhard?]

Subaru: […Eh?]

Subaru was perplexed, unable to grasp the reason for the abrupt request.

Subaru: [That’s… Don’t tell that guy about Wilhelm-san’s wife, is that what you mean?]

Wilhelm: [Yes, that is correct. For Reinhard… for my grandson, I want to avoid him meeting my dead wife. He will surely blame me. Because the fault is none other than my own.]

Subaru: [That sorta thing, that it’s Wilhelm-san’s fault, that…]

“Is not true”, he wanted to say, but Subaru could not carelessly remark so.

Because the image of Heinkel’s appearance ruining the mood earlier in the morning had appeared in his mind.

There was no credibility. However, it could not be denied. Wilhelm had once accused Reinhard of being the cause of his wife’s death. And he had not rejected such a difficult and unbelievable past.

Wilhelm: [Does Subaru-dono know that the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint is special?]

Subaru: […Honestly speaking, I’d say I know little about it. Maybe the people called Sword Saint all had the Divine Protection and having it means you become incredibly strong. I only have that impression of the Divine Protection…]

Wilhelm: [That understanding is rough around the edges, but it is correct. But if there is a difference between the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint and other Divine Protections… it is the fact that it can be inherited.]

Subaru: [An inherited… Divine Protection…]

At Subaru’s sigh, Wilhelm nodded. The elder swordsman closed his eyes as if recalling a sorrowful past.

Wilhelm: [That Divine Protection has been passed down for generations since the time of its founder, Reid Astrea. The Divine Protection lives on in the bloodline of the Astrea family, and selects one person in the family as the next Sword Saint. My wife’s Divine Protection definitely passed down to Reinhard.]

Subaru: [A Divine Protection that is inherited down the family… Is that so? And when your wife passed away, the Divine Protection transferred to Reinhard.]

Something caught in Subaru’s head as he tried to understand and make sense of it.

After the preceding Sword Saint had been defeated and slain by the White Whale, Reinhard had inherited the Divine Protection. It was a painful past, but one that could also be described a proper passing on.

That flow did not fit at all with what had been said in the argument between the members of the Astrea family this morning.

Wilhelm’s mourning, Heinkel’s mockery, Reinhard’s silence, those were all interfering with the idea of a legitimate succession. And the answer was――

Wilhelm: [It was… at the time of the battle against White Whale.]

Subaru: [Wilhelm-san…]

Wilhelm: [Reinhard received the Divine Protection during the Great Subjugation, which my wife had joined. During that battle, my wife was abandoned by the sword, and could only participate as an ordinary woman.]

――That was the truth of the Astrea family division.

Amidst the great expedition that had been sent out to subjugate the White Whale, the Divine Protection was suddenly passed down to the next generation. And, during the skirmish, the former Sword Saint lost her Divine Protection, having been left behind in that battlefield.

The previous generation, having now become an ordinary person, had still fought against the Witchbeast to protect the many other soldiers that had accompanied her―― And then disappeared.

Wilhelm: [The one that took away the sword from my wife was none other than me. Overruling my wife, who was loved by the sword, forcing her to cast it aside, and turning her into an ordinary woman, I was the one who did it. That… was what called forth the death of my wife.]

Subaru: [――――]

Wilhelm: [The Sword God did not forgive my wife’s betrayal, and so her Divine Protection was taken away while on the battlefield. She could rely only on a single blade. I think of how she must have felt then… It was true that I could not accept it, and defamed Reinhard, whom the Divine Protection had chosen. Driven by impulse, I could not forgive my grandson, even as he wept over the death of his grandmother, bearing a burden too heavy for his shoulders… I regret that now.]

The regret that Wilhelm had revealed to Subaru on the previous night―― He was referring to that mistake.

Even knowing that Reinhard had not done anything wrong, Wilhelm was unable to accept that fact as he mourned his wife’s death. As a result, the Astrea family had split apart.

Wilhelm: [I do not want to repeat it again. Reinhard has no responsibility in my wife’s death. I have no reason to blame my grandson at all.]

And so, he was saying he would bring this to a close himself, instead of revealing it to Reinhard.

That feeling he now understood painfully well from this talk. Even Subaru would wish the same to happen if possible. But the burden Wilhelm carried was too high.

Subaru: [About Crusch-san and your wife… They will be taken care of, Wilhelm-san. And even if I don’t talk about the Corpse Soldiers, you never know where they’ll show up…]

Wilhelm: [That is definitely a needless worry, Subaru-dono.]

Subaru: [Eh…?]

Wilhelm shook his head at Subaru, as the latter was about to point out that it was not certain. And the Sword Demon spoke as his expression twisted into a fearsome grimace.

Wilhelm: [――Because, there is no chance of my wife not coming to meet me.]