SWDnovel #392 - Small and cute
#392 - Small and cute
This tragedy could only end this way.
The former Sword Saint, turned into a corpse soldier and manipulated, wasn't wrong; Wilhelm, wanting to save his wife but unable to act, wasn't wrong; Reinhardt, subjugating the enemy and protecting the safety of Pristella, wasn't wrong either.
The only one at fault was the villain who manipulated the former Sword Saint, Wilhelm's wife, and Reinhardt's grandmother.
—Although that's what he said, Zun Zun wasn't Wilhelm.
Just as Wilhelm had asked him, what would he do in his place, and Zun Zun had answered. But he wasn't Wilhelm, and whatever the other party thought was their own judgment.
No one could dissuade him in this regard.
"—Reinhardt, do you regret…killing your grandmother…Theresia?"
"…No.—What I did was the right thing, and I have no regrets about it."
Thinking back.
Wilhelm wasn't angry at Reinhardt's actions, but rather unable to let go of the fact that he had no regrets even at the end.
Before long, Emilia and Kirika also came over.
This person, who could already be considered the person in charge of Pristella, the manager of the Muse Company, expressed deep gratitude to Zun Zun for subjugating the Archbishop of Lust and the Archbishop of Greed, and also said that he would send Zun Zun a reward that would satisfy him as much as possible in due course.
Zun Zun didn't care about any rewards, and he wasn't willing to take care of these things, so he sent him to find his knight and Minister of Internal Affairs.
"…Mr. Otto, it really is hard work."
"After all, he is very capable."
He felt a little sorry for Otto, who was still lying in bed.
Mimi and Garfiel also ran over in a crazy manner at this time. The two thanked Zun Zun for saving them, as well as protecting Natsuki Subaru and rescuing Emilia, and then ran away noisily.
"—Zun Zun, you're here. I was just looking for you…Ah, Emilia-tan is here too?"
"Subaru?"
"You're back, how was it…no need to think, I know something big happened."
The two looked at Natsuki Subaru, who was panting and had a strange expression on his face. Even if this guy had grown up, he still couldn't hide his expression well, it was too obvious.
"There's something I want to say."
Natsuki Subaru's expression was serious.
Whenever he had such an expression, something big always happened, so the three of them, plus the Great Spirit Beatrice, came to the stairwell of the conference building.
"Then, what happened?"
"I remember you went to see the Archbishop of Wrath, Subaru, right? Did something happen to her?"
Emilia didn't follow.
Because she had to settle the many wives of the Archbishop of Greed, and also had to negotiate with Kirika about the magic crystals, only Natsuki Subaru and Beatrice went.
"…Well, I guess so."
Natsuki Subaru scratched his head, not knowing how to explain.
"Beatrice will explain," Beatrice said proactively when she saw him in trouble, "That Archbishop of Wrath called Subaru 'darling' as soon as she saw him."
"…Eh?"
"Wait a minute, Beatrice! This explanation is too general! And Emilia, don't misunderstand, I have nothing to do with that guy, really!"
Seeing Emilia let out a soft exclamation, Natsuki Subaru hurriedly explained, as if he were a husband misunderstood by his wife.
"Subaru, why are you so nervous?"
"S-So, so…eh, speaking of which, Emilia, aren't you jealous? Don't you have any thoughts of being jealous?"
"No."
"Then you just now…"
"Just surprised."
Then Natsuki Subaru covered his face, sighed to the sky, and looked like he had no will to live.
"Should I say Emilia trusts me too much, or should I say Emilia doesn't understand?"
"It's definitely the latter."
"Don't say that, I'll be sad, please!"
Beatrice's poisonous tongue hurt him a little.
"So?" Emilia ignored the two's antics and asked, "The Archbishop of Wrath…Sirius, why did she call Subaru 'darling'?"
"Well…"
"That guy, he mistook Subaru for Petelgeuse."
Beatrice said what Natsuki Subaru was stammering about.
Thinking back.
The two had met once before on the Clock Tower in the square, but at that time, Natsuki Subaru didn't use the Invisible Providence, and the Archbishop of Wrath was also being chased by Zun Zun.
But if he were to interrogate…no, seek information, something must have happened that exposed Natsuki Subaru's possession of the Sloth Archbishop's factors, thus being mistaken.
"Then did you ask for any useful information?"
"No. Whether it's the controller of the Witch Cult, the purpose of the gathering, the reason for coming to Pristella, or even why they are acting, nothing at all. Completely useless information."
Natsuki Subaru rubbed his eyebrows painfully.
The Archbishops are basically…no, all of them are guys with problems in their heads, and it's completely impossible to communicate with them properly.
Communicating with these people is a huge test for both body and mind.
"However, I still got one useful piece of information." Natsuki Subaru raised his head and said slowly, "There are three Gluttonies—Gourmet, Devourer, and Glutton."
"…Isn't that useless information?"
"Please don't say that."
But in fact, it really is useless information, after all, the Gluttony Archbishops who came to steal the home base moved out together as a trio.
In other words, Natsuki Subaru only obtained the codenames of the Gluttony trio this time when questioning for information—not even names.
Natsuki Subaru took a deep breath and said to the elven beauty who was deep in thought, "Emilia, could I trouble you to pass this matter on to Anastasia and Mr. Crusch? They might know something about it."
"… … Yes, I understand."
Emilia nodded and turned to leave.
Even if they didn't know anything, it would still serve as an early warning, so it was at least a slightly useful piece of information.
"And then?"
Zunzun looked at Natsuki Subaru and asked, "You specifically sent Emilia away, so there's something you want to talk to me about, right?"
"… … As expected, Zunzun understands me best."
"Don't speak in such an intimate tone, it's a little unsettling."
"But it's the truth, isn't it."
Natsuki Subaru shamelessly tried to get closer.
"Beatrice, I… …"
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"I won't leave, Subaru."
Beatrice seemed to see through Natsuki Subaru's intention to send her away and interrupted him preemptively, "I am Subaru's great spirit, so I won't leave."
"… … I understand."
Natsuki Subaru stroked her head, then his expression became serious, "There's something I want to say. Anyway, take a look at this first."
After speaking, a black hand appeared from his abdomen.
"This is… …"
"As expected, you can see it, Zunzun."
"Mmm."
Clearly, this was the Unseen Providence, an invisible arm that could not be directly observed by others—although, both Natsuki Subaru and Julius, who was connected to Natsuki Subaru's nerves, had seen this arm.
"—Unseen Providence, I'll call it that for now."
Natsuki Subaru manipulated this invisible arm, picking up a large floor tile from nearby, and then putting it back down.
"You probably don't know this, but it's actually a power of the Sloth Archbishop—Petelgeuse."
Back when Zunzun was fighting the Sloth Archbishop, Natsuki Subaru desperately tried to stop him, saying things that sounded like fear-mongering.
"Even now, I'm still grateful, because you and that guy have such good compatibility. I'm fine, but whether it's Old Man Wilhelm, Ferris, Julius, Ricardo, or even Beatrice, Emilia… … In short, none of them are a match for you, and they were all cruelly killed."
"That's quite surprising."
"I know, right? That's what they call a three-fold power boost after going dark… … And then, the main topic."
Natsuki Subaru retracted the arm, panting slightly.
"At that time, you could also use such arms, no, those countless arms might have numbered in the thousands… … Afterwards, when I defeated the Sloth Archbishop, I could also use it, but there was only one."
"Mm-hmm, I understand the difference, so?"
"The reason I can use this is actually because of something residing within my body, called a Witch Factor."
This was what the Witch of Greed, Echidna, had told Natsuki Subaru, along with some other trivial matters.
"What you're trying to say, Subaru, is that after you defeated the Sloth Archbishop, his Witch Factor entered your body, which is why the Wrath Archbishop mistook you for someone else?"
"That's probably it."
Natsuki Subaru nodded.
He said that the Wrath Archbishop wanted to attack him, but he subconsciously resisted and used the invisible arm, and the subsequent events happened naturally, even leading to him being told information about the Gluttony Archbishop.
"The problem isn't there."
This thing—the Witch Factor—entered his body after defeating the Sloth Archbishop, and of course, it would also appear when defeating the Greed Archbishop.
"Subaru, you… …"
"Ah, they appeared, and there are two of them."
A flash of inspiration, and he suddenly understood.
"It's probably the Lust Archbishop."
Natsuki Subaru scratched his head roughly, complaining, "I clearly didn't even fight the Lust Archbishop, I completely don't understand why that guy's Witch Factor would appear in my body, don't you think it's strange?"
"Strange… … is it?"
In Zunzun's opinion, it wasn't strange at all.
He already possessed Return by Death and was loved by the Witch of Envy, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was the Sin Archbishop of Envy. Plus, there was also the suspicion of being a Sage… …
"By the way, Subaru, can you use these two extra Witch Factors?"
"I can't use the Greed one yet, but I can barely use the Lust one… … Okay, I'll show you."
After speaking, Natsuki Subaru stretched out his hand.
It was the hand stained with the blood-cursed.
"Oh oh oh… … Oh oh oh oh————"
Whether it was because he wasn't proficient yet, it was clear that he was trying very hard, his face flushed and veins bulging, but in Zunzun's eyes, he looked just like someone constipated and unable to poop.
"—It's here! How is it, are you surprised?"
"Should I say I'm surprised, or should I say it's hilarious… … Subaru, are you really not doing this on purpose?"
"Of course not!"
Natsuki Subaru vehemently denied it.
But it wasn't coming from his mouth, but from the super-miniature Natsuki Subaru transformed from the thumb of that hand.
If it weren't for the gradual transformation in front of Zunzun, one would have thought it was a mold made somewhere, and then they were speaking with ventriloquism.
"… … It's okay, Subaru, even small, it's still very cute."
"Don't you dare say it's cute!"