Their conversation spoke of the dejected Emilia's resolve, leaving Otto feeling relieved.
But-
"-To think Natsuki Subaru's companions would come all this way."
The voice swept through the hall from somewhere like a cold, dry wind.
Emilia raised her gaze toward the speaker-the man in the oni mask who had just been talking with Decker and Medium.
The black-haired man's gaze was piercing behind his oni mask, and Emilia narrowed her blue-violet eyes.
"Are you Subaru's friend too?"
"I have no friends. Nor does he consider me one. We merely joined forces on the road toward our goals."
"Then you're companions. I heard someone call you Abel just now. Are you the person Mr. Medium mentioned earlier?"
The man's answer was firm and forceful, but Emilia remained unperturbed and directed her question to Medium. He nodded.
"Yes. This is none other than our leader, His Highness Abel. From beginning to end, I merely took control of the city according to his instructions."
"For all that, the losses were considerable."
"...I am truly ashamed to face you."
Looking pained, Medium bowed deeply to the man—Abel—over the damage the city had suffered.
His troubled expression reflected not resentment at an unreasonable reprimand, but regret and self-reproach over his own inadequacy.
Having been there at the time, Otto believed that, under those circumstances, the city had escaped total destruction only because everyone, led by Medium, had fulfilled their duties-
"Abel, don't be so mean! Everyone worked really hard!"
"And yet, are you not angry that your brother was taken away?"
"He only got taken away after trying his hardest! Things would've been really bad if he hadn't been taken! That's my brother for you! He's cool even when he's taken away!"
Abel's remark was sarcastic, but Medium snapped back with gusto.
Judging by the course of their conversation, her brother must have been the male traveling merchant taken away alongside Rem.
According to Mizelda, he was a handsome man with a gentle disposition who put people at ease.
From what Kuna and Holly had said, that man and Rem being taken away had apparently been a key factor in the enemy Nine Divine Generals' decision to withdraw the flying dragons.
In other words, what Medium said in her brother's defense was not far off the mark. Of course, Abel, who had only just returned from the Demon City, would not know any of this-
"Medium, pay no heed to my earlier words. Your opponents were Madelyn Eschart and a flock of flying dragons, after all. Your actions deserve praise, given that you did not abandon the city."
"-! I am deeply honored."
Those smoothly delivered words were not the result of Medium's argument striking a chord.
Rather, he had already prepared them for Medium. He must never have intended to blame him for the damage to Guaral.
"...Abel, you're so nasty!"
"Boo!"
"Enough."
Standing proudly with his arms folded, Abel received scoldings from Medium and the little girl on either side.
Abel curtly rebuked the pair as they pestered him, tugging his sleeves and poking his sides. Their interaction seemed to offer a rough glimpse of their relationship-
"-Well? How long must we wait before this discussion moves forward?"
At that point, the woman who had been silently watching finally moved her lips.
She was a fox-eared beauty with an extraordinarily commanding presence, radiating an excessively dazzling splendor-like Emilia, whose beauty also transcended common sense in a certain way, and Abel with his strange oni mask, she demanded attention simply by being there.
It went without saying that this overwhelmingly striking figure was the very reason Abel and Medium had left the fortress city for the Demon City of Chaosflame.
"First-Class General Yorna Mishigure."
Someone murmured those words. Probably someone present had unconsciously spoken her name, but nobody corrected it, so it was plainly right.
-Yorna Mishigure, ruler of the Demon City of Chaosflame, one of the Nine Divine Generals, the Empire's strongest military officers, and one of the key figures whose involvement would determine victory or defeat in this upheaval.
Bringing her onto their side was an important condition for shaking the vast Empire. The journey that had left Subaru missing had originally been undertaken to recruit her.
"First-Class General Night Weeping, allow me to begin by thanking you for coming in person. I am Decker O'Connell, a second-class general of the Vollachian Empire."
"I heard your name on the way. Now that I have met you, you do have your merits, just as Medium said."
"Miss Medium said that?"
Having solemnly opened the discussion, Medium blinked at Night Weeping's reply. Perhaps only Medium, dubbed a "womanizer" for his courteous treatment of women, would feel both embarrassed and pleased by that. He gave a light cough to compose himself.
"Ahem. Then, First-Class General Night Weeping, will you also be fighting alongside His Highness Abel?"
"You may think of it that way. I have my own intentions, and in that respect...Abel's interests align with mine."
"We have already reached an understanding. There are no issues with the agreement with Yorna Mishigure."
Dressed in a sumptuous kimono and holding a golden pipe, Night Weeping was a woman whose prior reputation gave considerable cause for unease, yet her manner was entirely composed.
Otto and the others had also heard that Chaosflame had suffered tremendous damage.
That was precisely why the carriages had formed such a long procession, and why Guaral had to take in so many displaced people at once.
And when the Demon City had suffered that immense damage-
"-Subaru got sent flying somewhere unknown."
Yes, it was Emilia's silvery voice that entered the conversation.
She approached the subject from another angle, and Abel looked at her through his oni mask. His gaze was plainly unwelcoming, but Emilia remained unperturbed.
She still held Beatrice in her arms, with Petra and Frederica quietly moving to her side, along with a stern-faced Garfiel.
Otto had contributed somewhat in that regard, too.
Certainly, Emilia's remarks might have been unwelcome noise to them. However, their own group had business of its own.
It would be troublesome if the others deliberately disregarded the group that had crossed the border to get here and proceeded with the discussion on their own.
"Let me start over again. -I'm Emilia, and you're Abel, right? Subaru's friend...no, his companion."
"-Correct."
"Subaru went with you to another city...the place where Miss Night Weeping here lived. Something major happened there, and you got separated from Subaru. Is everything right so far?"
"Entirely right. Though 'major' hardly suffices to describe what happened there."
Emilia knitted her delicate brows as she confirmed the situation, and Abel and Night Weeping nodded.
"I see."
Emilia readily accepted their reactions, especially Night Weeping's words. To those directly involved, superficial remarks from outsiders would only sour their mood.
Knowing her own words could fall into that category, Emilia chose them carefully.
"After you got separated, you didn't know where Subaru had been sent, and you couldn't find him, but lots of people had lost their homes too. So you all came back to this city in a big group to talk things over here...is that right?"
"Nothing needs correcting. That said, given the scale of such a tragedy, it is difficult to imagine that the missing man escaped unharmed-"
"-Subaru is all right. He's absolutely all right."
Emilia interrupted Abel, her voice quiet but utterly resolute.
It held an incomparable trust, making the black eyes behind the oni mask narrow.
Thought flickered through Abel's eyes, demanding grounds for Emilia's answer. Finally, after a brief pause, he questioned her.
"How can you be so certain? You do not know the details of what happened in the Demon City. He went missing at a scene where a single misstep could cost one's life. Why do you still dare claim he is alive? -What grounds do you have for believing he survived those circumstances?"
All Otto and the others had heard was that nearly half of Chaosflame had been destroyed, and that an immeasurable calamity had caused it.
The truth of Abel's words was unclear, and it was difficult to gauge how much he was embellishing the facts. Still, Otto could say with certainty that he did not seem to be engaging in meaningless bluster.
At the same time, something about his tone bothered Otto slightly. Abel spoke coldly, yet gave the impression that he was probing them.
-No, rather than probing them, he seemed to be trying to learn about Subaru through Otto and the others.
He seemed to think Subaru was hiding something.
If it concerned Subaru's position in the Kingdom, they certainly could not casually disclose that information to him.
"Emilia, we should..."
"My grounds are that I believe in Subaru. I believe he'll keep trying his hardest until we come to get him. No matter how terrible things were there."
Wary of the man's leading questions, Otto tried to stop the conversation, but Emilia answered first.
However, that was trust born of feeling, not something that could be called concrete grounds. It was neither what Otto feared nor what Abel sought.
Naturally, Abel lowered his gaze in disappointment.
"Unconvincing wishful thinking. To offer that as your basis is disappointing."
"Is it? I think believing in someone is a ve~ry wonderful and important thing. Being able to believe puts you at ease, and being trusted gives you strength. Isn't that true for you?"
"Feelings are ultimately just feelings. They cannot be a decisive factor."
Abel shook his head and answered with one eye closed. His words made uncertainty flicker in Emilia's eyes.
Though he had missed his chance to interject, that alone told Otto these two were like oil and water, incapable of mixing.
Put plainly, their difference lay in one believing in the value of the human heart, and the other not believing in it.
That gulf most likely stemmed from their differing views of life and could hardly be bridged easily. Thus-
"-No one can claim to have solid proof of whether Natsuki Subaru lives or dies. Even if he has frequently remained a hair's breadth from death, that does not mean this time is the same."
Those words seemed to be Abel's conclusion to the discussion. Hearing them, Emilia pressed her lips tightly together.
"Could it be that you, toward Subaru-"
She stared hard at Abel and was about to say something.
But before she could continue, a little girl moved first. It was the girl who had been sleeping in Emilia's arms.
"...If you want solid proof that Subaru is alive, Betty has it, I suppose."
"Beatrice!"
"Lady!"
The little girl in her arms opened her eyes, revealing their distinctive patterns.
Emilia called out in surprise, and Frederica hurriedly added an honorific.
Whether or not they had fully maintained their roles aside, Beatrice's words did have a certain effect in drawing the attention of Abel and the others who knew nothing.
"You claim to have solid proof confirming whether Natsuki Subaru lives or dies. Why?"
"It is simple. Because Betty and Subaru are connected by our souls."
"-Oh, so that is how it is. If this little one and that little one are connected on a deeper level, then I can understand the reasoning."
"Yes, they have a contractual relationship. So..."
"This girl appears extremely weak. That explains it."
Despite receiving no clear explanation, Abel and Night Weeping still grasped the situation.
Admitting that Beatrice was a spirit would be bad for the group, who had entered the Empire under false identities, but at least these two seemed to have noticed.
In any case, Abel and his followers, whose aim was to rebel against the emperor in the imperial capital, were unlikely to take action against them for violating imperial regulations.
"If you accept that, then you understand, yes? Setting aside Mr. Natsuki's safety and whereabouts, we have a way to determine whether he is alive. If Lady Beatrice says so, then Mr. Natsuki is still alive somewhere...he certainly survived wherever he was sent."
"-I see. Then perhaps Tanza will be a little happier, too."
After Otto finished his explanation, Night Weeping lowered her brows slightly and bowed her head. The word she murmured was probably someone's name.
-It seemed to have something to do with the Demon City's destruction. Digging deeper would require being prepared to step into Night Weeping's heart.
"Um, could we return to the subject?"
"Petra."
"Lady!"
Not letting that moment of silence slip by, Petra raised her hand and asked to speak.
Emilia had inadvertently addressed her directly again, so Frederica immediately covered for her once more. Giving them a sidelong glance, Petra spoke fearlessly under the unfamiliar adults' gazes.
"Medium here said earlier that she'd gotten smaller. Is that true?"
"Oh, yes, it is! I used to be really tall! About as tall as that blond boy over there...no, that woman!"
"Why'd ya have to leave me out?"
"You know why. That said, I am not particularly happy to have my height brought up, either."
As Medium pointed to each in turn, Garfiel and Frederica reacted differently.
However, Medium's words were not a lie. Since nobody disputed them, they were probably true. Unbelievable as it was, the inexplicable phenomenon of a human body shrinking seemed to have occurred. And that phenomenon-
"You said Subaru got smaller too?"
Petra asked earnestly, her voice a little stiff. This was a major problem their group could not afford to overlook. Reuniting with Subaru after he had been sent to the Empire was already exceedingly difficult, and his body shrinking was entirely beyond their expectations.
Please, let him have misheard. Otto prayed for that, yet was certain his prayers had never been fully answered, nor would they be in the future. Unaware of his feelings, Medium nodded lightly.
"Yep! Little Subaru was just like me! Maybe even smaller? Anyway, he got shrunk! But I heard he punished that dangerous old man who was with Night Weeping. Little Subaru's amazing!"
"Yes, Subaru is amazing!"
"Mhm, just like Medium said."
"Of course. He is Betty's partner, after all."
Though the details were hard to accept, Medium's unhesitating praise was immensely pleasant to hear.
Indeed, hearing Subaru praised delighted Emilia, Petra, and Beatrice. Garfiel, Frederica, and Otto did not feel bad about it either.
They did not feel bad, but the praise came with unwelcome information, and that concerned Otto more.
"Mr. Natsuki shrank too...so he looks like a child now? Cross-dressing wasn't enough, and now he's a child...infantilization? He really is someone who never settles down..."
"Since an opponent did it to him, blaming Lord Subaru would be rather unfair...but it is worrying. We absolutely must not let him meet Clind."
"That is out of the question too, but I think there are more things we should worry about..."
The sheer unreality of the phenomenon alone raised concerns about whether he could return to normal, or whether there would be lingering effects afterward.
The worst-case scenario was that Subaru would remain in a child's body and return in triumph to the Kingdom of Lugunica as Emilia's knight.
"Well, it wouldn't make much difference to his strength."
Subaru would surely be angry if he heard that, but as long as his life was not in danger, it could still be considered an acceptable extent of harm.
If he grew up properly from now on, his relationship with Emilia, a half-elf, probably would not face much of a problem either.
Because she would be willing to wait until Subaru grew up.
"...No. Perhaps I am not quite calm enough either."
He felt he had muddled the priorities of what he should worry about. First, failing to reunite with Subaru was painful, but thanks to Beatrice, they had confirmed he was alive.
Next, in order to search for him, they would have to decide whether to continue coordinating with Medium and the others-no, with Abel, if he was their representative.
"-Lady Beatrice? Ya look spaced out. What's wrong?"
"-?"
As he rested a hand on his chin and considered his options, Otto happened to hear what Garfiel said.
Garfiel was looking at Beatrice in Emilia's arms.
Though she had woken up, she remained in Emilia's arms to avoid expending energy. But the cheerful mood she had been in just moments ago when Subaru was praised had suddenly vanished, and now she was staring wide-eyed at something.
Her eyes filled with shock, she was looking at Medium, the person in question-no. At the other little girl beside Medium, pressed close to her, the two as affectionate as sisters.
Beatrice simply kept her eyes fixed on that little girl whose name they did not even know.
"...Why are you here?"
"Uh?"
"Answer me! No, don't do anything unnecessary!"
Beatrice shouted, her face changing dramatically as she trembled through her questions. Her voice was so loud that the little girl, who had tilted her head, jumped in fright. Naturally, Otto and the others were startled by Beatrice's reaction too.
"L-Lady... Beatrice, what's wrong? Shouting at that child out of nowhere..."
"Of course I'd shout at her! Otto! Haven't you noticed!?"
"Me? What... ah."
As the rebuke turned toward him and he wondered what was going on, something asserted its presence in Otto's mind.
It was the nagging feeling that had been bothering him ever since he first saw the little girl. That feeling, which had failed to take concrete shape, gradually became clearer in response to Beatrice's behavior.
Yes, Otto recognized this little girl. Moreover, this was a sense of déjà vu he should not have experienced here in the Empire, where he was practically a newcomer-
"It can't be."
As a shocking possibility surfaced in his mind, Otto, too, could not help staring at the little girl.
This possibility was like something left tucked away in a corner of his hazy memories. Back then, Otto's leg had been gouged open, and pain and blood loss had left his consciousness clouded.
That was why he had not gotten a clear look at the person who had done it, but-
"Beatrice, Otto, what's wrong? Why are you both looking at that child...?"
Puzzled by their reactions, Emilia carelessly called Beatrice by name, but no one spoke up for her.
Nor did they need to. There was no need to let this confusion continue any longer.
"-It's Gluttony."
"Huh..."
Beatrice's voice was stiff but calm. Emilia gaped at her words. But Emilia was not the only one stunned. Beatrice's voice reached everyone, and in that instant, it drew the eyes of everyone present.
And so, everyone heard the little girl's identity.
"That girl is the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony... she calls herself Louis Arneb."