Working with Roswaal

The scene within the light screen changed again.

The Kingdom of Lugunica was now in an uproar.

Throughout the capital's streets and alleys, the same news could be heard everywhere.

The silver-haired half-elf royal selection candidate, Emilia, had defeated a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, which had long plunged the Kingdom of Lugunica into misery.

The one representing [Sloth], Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti.

That name had once been synonymous with terror.

The Witch Cult.

A Sin Archbishop.

Sloth.

The mere mention of those words was enough to make ordinary people pale.

But now, that madman was dead.

He had died at the hands of the Emilia Camp.

Once the news spread, the girl whom countless people had shunned, feared, and loathed for being a silver-haired half-elf heard entirely different voices in the kingdom for the first time.

Some still doubted her, and some still feared her.

But some began to waver.

If she truly was a symbol of calamity, how could she have defeated a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult?

If she truly would bring misfortune to the kingdom, how could she have killed Sloth, who had terrified countless people?

Sometimes, an achievement itself carried more weight than any explanation.

Word of this achievement even reached other countries.

Yet behind all this uproar, the person who had truly accomplished everything did not step before the crowd.

Natsuki Subaru.

The dark hero who kept giving for that girl's path through the royal selection.

He had not allowed his name to be linked to the achievement of defeating Sloth.

He had merely stood where no light reached and, with his own hands, pushed the victory that should have belonged to him before Emilia.

Because glory had never been what he needed.

He needed Emilia to advance, to climb to the very top, step by step.

Within the light screen, candles burned quietly in a reception room on the outskirts of the capital.

Roswaal L. Mathers sat on the other side of a long table, wearing that inscrutable smile.

Natsuki Subaru sat opposite him.

Records concerning the defeat of Sloth lay on the table.

The Witch Cult's bases.

The Sin Archbishop's Authority.

The distribution of the Fingers.

Petelgeuse's final death.

Once handed over to the capital, these materials would be enough to earn any camp tremendous prestige.

Roswaal lowered his eyes to the records, drawing out his words.

"So, in other wooords-you want to give all the credit to Lady Emilia?"

Natsuki Subaru did not hesitate.

"That's right."

"Your name doesn't need to appear in any of it?"

"No."

"Even though this would be enough to make you a hero of the kingdom?"

Natsuki Subaru chuckled.

There was little longing for the title of hero in that smile.

"Being a hero isn't much use to me."

Roswaal watched him, the smile on his face gradually deepening.

It was not mere appreciation.

It was more as though he had finally confirmed something.

The boy before him truly possessed what he craved.

The power to correct the world.

There was no doubt that Natsuki Subaru possessed the ability to steer fate in the direction he desired.

His feelings for Emilia did not seem like loyalty.

Nor were they devotion in the ordinary sense.

Natsuki Subaru seemed more like some kind of monster that kept reshaping outcomes to achieve his goal.

For Emilia, he could do anything.

He could kill.

He could maneuver against the Witch Cult.

He could also give away the credit that should have belonged to him without hesitation.

In Roswaal's eyes, someone like this was extremely dangerous.

And extremely suitable.

His long-cherished wish to resurrect someone required precisely this kind of obsession with reaching a result, no matter the cost.

If the path went wrong.

If the outcome strayed.

If this world before him could not reach the answer he desired.

Then perhaps Natsuki Subaru was the one who could rewrite those mistakes.

Roswaal slowly began to smile.

"What a truly interesting proposal."

Natsuki Subaru did not press Roswaal on why he would accept.

Because he, too, had seen it.

This border earl did not merely want the Emilia Camp to gain credit.

In Natsuki Subaru's eyes, Roswaal might have nominated Emilia to seek some benefit from her, or to satisfy his own ambitions for fame and achievement, or perhaps for some other purpose.

But that did not matter.

At least, not now.

As long as Roswaal was willing to stand with Emilia on the surface.

As long as he was willing to handle the public relations, nobles, transfer of credit, and royal selection procedures that Natsuki Subaru could not conveniently deal with in person.

Then he was useful.

As for the future.

If one day, Roswaal harbored impure intentions toward Emilia.

If one day, he became an obstacle on Emilia's path through the royal selection.

Then that would merely mean-

One more gravestone erected for Emilia's sake.