-I don't want to die.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha――"
Out of breath, his legs tangled in an unsightly mess, he spat out the grass and dirt that had gotten into his mouth when he'd fallen, and with drool and blood vomit dripping from the corners of his lips, he ran through the blinding darkness.
The light of the crystal lamps had vanished into the distance, and even the moonlight was blocked out as darkness fell over the highway.
The deafening silence reverberates in my skull, and I can't hear any sounds I can rely on, not even my own breathing or heartbeat. I'm left in a silent world where I can't hear anything.
--I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die.
Kicking the ground, I was surely moving forward in the darkness. And yet, the darkness just wouldn't clear and I couldn't even be sure of where I stood, nor did I know where my feet were heading.
I don't remember how many times I've already tripped and fallen, but if each time I've strayed from the original path, where am I heading now?
There must have been somewhere I had to go.
There must have been people I needed to meet.
There must have been people who worked towards that goal together.
And yet now, surrounded by endless darkness, I found myself completely alone.
"someone--!"
The darkness that covers everything and the silence that cuts off the world makes him cry out in fear.
His hoarse throat trembling with the taste of blood must have reached the far reaches of the night, but his screams were meted out in painful silence.
There's no one there. I'm left behind.
There is no sign of him coming back. Of course. Nobody wants to die.
Who could come back here, knowing that if they stayed here, if they returned here, if they were within the reach of this darkness, they would lose their life?
I can feel despair seeping into my heart. My chest grows cold, and my limbs begin to freeze, as if ice water was pouring over my body instead of the blood that flows through it.
He knew it was coming to an end and his body was refusing to resist.
However,
"No... I don't want to die..."
The mind, emotions, and soul reject the physical response to accept the end.
He shook his head, throwing a tantrum at the fate that was trying to force an end upon him, and dragged his limbs, which no longer conveyed any fighting spirit and felt heavy as if filled with lead, forward.
Moving forward -- no, fleeing. Keep running away. There is no purpose. Running aimlessly. Continue to be confused, no matter where you go.
--Far, far away, a sound comes from beyond the darkness.
Shaking the air and pushing aside the darkness, the end takes shape and approaches.
With a desperate look on his face, he tries to get away from the thing closing in on him from behind, running away as slowly as a turtle.
Exposing his ugly and pathetic disgrace, Subaru thought.
--How did it come to this?
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"All the merchants and dragon carriages here who are willing to sell their legs for money, let me buy them!"
The peddlers who had looked upon Subaru's "business negotiation" all seemed to think it was some kind of joke, and frowned in disgust.
However, as if embodying Subaru's will, Rem held up the bag containing the travel money, opened it and let the contents out so they could see, and the look on everyone's faces changed.
From there, a fierce battle for office began, with Otto at the forefront.
As a result, it was decided that ten of the fourteen peddlers at the relay point would accompany Subaru and his companions.
At first the discussion was difficult, but Otto's proposal brought it to a clean conclusion. The method, which would result in no loss for anyone, was――,
"We entrust the transportation of the cargo to four people who own large dragon carriages and vehicles. We will distribute the profits later via the union in the royal capital. In this case, we will adjust the fare and sales, you see."
Otto, who had skillfully reconciled the differing opinions, explained this with a beaming smile as he stood at the front of the ten people accompanying him. Though he was the youngest, he had instantly prepared a path to convince everyone, and the way he explained it to them in words showed his natural talent as a merchant.
Of course, from his perspective, this was probably just a result of him being desperate not to miss out on a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of inventory that could potentially affect his career as a merchant.
"I'm happy that you'd like to purchase my oil, but why else do you need a dragon carriage's legs?"
Otto asked Subaru, who was worried about the time of departure with his arms crossed, as he watched his fellow workers shifting their belongings.
Subaru responded by saying, "No," before saying,
"We are now returning to the Mathers territory. For the time being, we are set up as servants for Margrave Roswaal."
"I know him. Margrave Roswaal L. Mathers of the 'Demi-Humans' Club. I've heard that he is a rather unusual individual, even among the titled nobles of Lugnica."
Otto glanced up at her, anxious to see her reaction, and gave her a wry smile. If it had been Ram who had heard that, she would have been furious, but
"Well, I won't deny it. It's true that he is a bit of a pervert."
"I would tell my employer. No, I brought up the subject precisely because I was expecting that kind of answer. But even so, Natsuki-san doesn't look like a servant of a nobleman."
"I'm still an apprentice. The only things I've passed are sewing and bedmaking."
Anyway,
"I believe that you are an emissary of the Margrave, but why do you need a dragon carriage? After all, as a Margrave, you must have your own dragon carriage, right?"
"As I said, we need a lot of them. There's a lot of stuff to carry, so it's best to have the carriages empty if possible… In Otto's case, we have to buy the oil as well, so it can't be helped, though."
"I'm grateful. And, the goods I'm carrying are..."
She was smiling and rubbing her hands together as if to gauge my mood, but behind her narrowed, relaxed eyelids, her eyes were staring at me with frozen emotion.
It seemed that he didn't completely believe Subaru's description of him as an emissary of the Margrave. Regardless of the authenticity of his status, he seemed concerned about the danger to those he was sending.
That, too, is a natural concern.
If his status as a servant of the Margrave was true, he would be forced to carry things that would otherwise require the hiring of an outsider.
On the other hand, if the identity he gave was false, he would end up being an accomplice to the actions of those who were pretending to be related to the Margrave. It was only natural that he would be as careful as possible.
And it would be terrible to be turned down because of such doubts.
Therefore, Subaru decided to honestly tell them the reasons why he had hired them.
"The goods we transport are people."
"Human?"
"Yes. In other words, they are humans. There is a village close to the Margrave's mansion. It is a small village, with less than a hundred people in all. I would like to take those people with me and move around."
That was the reason why Subaru had had the idea to hire Otto and the others.
The dragon carriage Subaru and Rem were riding in was quite large, and as it was designed to transport heavy loads, the carriage pulled by the dragon was also quite large. According to the shop staff, the carriage could easily pull even a dozen humans inside.
"A human? Surely you're not asking me to carry a corpse? If so, I'm afraid I must decline."
"...I want to take you guys with me so that doesn't happen."
If that's the case, then if there are multiple dragon carriages, it should be possible to get all the villagers to evacuate.
Initially, before encountering Otto and the others, Subaru was in such a hurry to meet up with Emilia that he completely forgot about the villagers fleeing.
If they had been late in realizing this, at worst, they might have been forced to load only the people of the mansion, including Emilia, and the village children onto the dragon carriage and transport them to a safe area, making multiple trips there and back, risking their lives.
In that sense, meeting Otto and the others here was a twist of fate, a rare coincidence that worked in Subaru's favor.
Otto frowned in confusion, unable to deny the distrust he felt in Subaru's words. Subaru uncrossed his arms and prefaced his statement with, "Actually,"
"We are planning to hold a large-scale mountain hunt in the area surrounding the Margrave's mansion soon."
"Mountain hunting, is that it?"
Otto leaned forward at the unexpected words, and Subaru relented, tucking his chin in affirmation, and making a serious expression,
"That area has been inhabited by magical beasts, Juggernauts, for a long time. Up until now, they've managed to separate humans and magical beasts by creating a barrier... but just the other day, a Juggernaut crossed the barrier and caused some damage. It's caused quite a commotion."
"So, you're talking about a mountain hunt? However..."
Otto seemed to have found something that stuck in his mind and tried to press on, but Subaru silently rolled up the sleeve of his right arm. Seeing this, Otto choked on a "Uhh" and choked back his surprise.
His trembling eyes caught sight of Subaru's upper arms, where traces of lacerations caused by fangs and claws were still visible. In addition, there were many other indelible scars etched beneath his clothing.
"Thanks to the kindness of the Margrave, I was able to receive treatment in the royal capital after nearly dying. And now that my treatment has come to an end, I'm on my way back."
"I, I see… so that's it. But, if that's the case, why didn't the Margrave himself handle it, and instead Natsuki-san arranged for a dragon carriage on the way?"
"The Margrave plans to get the residents out of the way quickly, but as you can see from my body, there's a chance that a magical beast could cause an accident. That's why I want to take out some insurance. It's not that I don't trust my master, though."
When I looked down and said apologetically, Otto groaned softly, "Hmm," and then there was a moment of silence.
"I understand. I'm sorry for asking you things you didn't want to know. I'll explain it to everyone without touching on the matter of the wound."
Looking at Subaru with concern, Otto's kind-looking face was tinged with sorrow, and he must have felt guilty for unintentionally inflicting pain on Subaru.
As a merchant, I feel he is being a little too lenient in that regard.
"There's no need to worry about it. You can just tell everyone else. It's much better than having them suspect you of something strange."
Otto, who seems to be a good person at heart, nodded and said, "Yes."
Watching this, I felt myself clenching my fists and thinking that I was the much worse person.
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It was about an hour after the negotiations ended that we left the camp where the peddlers had gathered.
With their cargo transferred to the four dragon carriages, the lighter carriages and nine merchants were left. With Otto still loaded with oil, ten people were accompanying them. Including the carriages that Subaru and Rem were riding in, there were eleven carriages in total - it would be quite cramped, but it should be possible to fit all the villagers on board.
Parting ways with the remaining group who would remain at the camp and head to the royal capital in the morning, Subaru and the eleven dragon carriages set off along the highway in the middle of the night.
Among those who stayed behind was the scrawny merchant who had introduced Otto to Subaru - Ketty, who was waving goodbye to him and he felt that he had no real connection with him.
"We'll keep running through the middle of the night, and won't enter Mathers territory until just after morning."
Otto, who was riding alongside us in the dragon carriage, called out to us, glancing at us from the side.
Even though he didn't seem to be raising his voice that much, his voice still reached me, which must have been the effect of the Earth Dragon's divine wind protection. Being unaffected by wind and swaying must interfere with things like this too.
Subaru was having difficulty breathing with the sandproof cloth wrapped around his mouth, so not having to raise his voice was a relief. He nodded and replied, "Sorry for the lack of a break," and,
"Oh no! I have no complaints. If I can sell my stock and get a discount on my shipping fees, I'm invincible. I've even run for three days and three nights!"
"He looks like he'll collapse and go to bed right after the negotiations are over."
"What?! Did you read my mind or something?!"
Subaru gave a wry smile at the flustered Otto, who'd been told the punchline of his tried-and-true joke first, then turned his gaze towards Rem, who was holding the reins.
Subaru had wrapped the sand-proofing cloth around the lower half of Rem's face, and as she gazed straight ahead, her expression was even less clear than usual. For Subaru, who had prided himself on being able to understand her emotional movements to a certain extent, despite her expressionless face, this was a rather unpleasant situation.
Especially now, when I can't help but wonder what she's thinking.
and,
"--Subaru-kun."
"...! Ah, uh, what's the matter, Rem? Did something happen?"
As he was staring at her profile, she called out to him, and Subaru bit back the surprise in his throat before speaking in an almost artificially calm voice.
Hearing this, Rem shook her head and said, "No,"
"It's gotten quiet, so I thought you might be tired. The rocking and sand are a bit harsh, but if you're sleepy, it's okay. Rem is watching over you."
"I'd like to say I'll take you up on your offer, but I'm wide awake. Besides, it's not cool to make Rem do all the work."
"But Subaru-kun has just recovered from an illness."
Subaru was left speechless by Rem's considerate attitude as she stood up.
Although she spoke softly, her will was firm and stubborn. At the very least, there was no way that Rem would assign a role on this dragon carriage that would place a burden on Subaru.
Each time she treated him kindly like that, a thorn pierced Subaru's heart and would not go away.
He doesn't understand what Rem's true intentions are, considering she's been serving him so wholeheartedly, and his conflicted mind becomes twisted as he wants to know but doesn't want to know.
"Rem, huh..."
"yes"
Suddenly, that anxiety found its way out of his mouth and he called her name.
It seemed that she had clearly understood, as she responded immediately and waited for Subaru to say next.
The source of anxiety that he had unintentionally stepped into. If it was now, he could turn back with the words "It's nothing," and Rem probably wouldn't pursue the matter. But he could see that he would end up being tormented, not knowing what Rem was thinking when she wouldn't pursue the matter.
If that's the case, then we should just make it clear.
"Rem, do you have any questions about what I'm doing? I haven't explained anything to you. About the Witch Cult, or why I hired this merchant."
Gritting my teeth, I stifled a whine, suppressed the anxiety in my voice, and asked the question I had wanted to ask for so long, but was terrified to do so.
Hearing this, Rem closed her eyes once,
"Lord Roswaal has instructed me to respect Subaru's wishes in all actions within the royal capital."
he replied, his expression frozen and showing that of a servant.
Hearing that answer, Subaru's face stiffened.
Roswaal commanded so, so he followed Subaru's orders.
So it's like,
"A message... from Roswaal...?"
"Yes. I wasn't ordered to do anything specific, though. Whatever I do in the royal capital, I'm to follow Subaru's directions. Rem intended to do that as much as possible."
For some reason, Rem's words, trying to supplement my explanation, didn't quite sink in.
The only thing that continued to echo in Subaru's head was,
"Roswaal's orders..."
The reason she doesn't object to Subaru's actions and follows them is because she believes in his orders as her master.
Which means, her deference to Subaru up until now may not have been her true intention.
No, on the contrary, even the fact that Rem was beside Subaru like this.
"Subaru-kun?"
Perhaps finding Subaru's silence suspicious, Rem tilted her head towards him, frowning slightly. Right now, Subaru was no longer able to accept even the worried look she gave him.
Her concerned looks, her gentle support when Subaru is about to collapse, her constant presence at Subaru's side when he is lonely and going mad, her affirmatively following along as he does what he believes to be right - all of this is because she has Roswaal's orders in mind.
To put it more bluntly, perhaps Rem doesn't really approve of Subaru's actions.
"----!"
Nausea welled up within him, and Subaru instinctively swallowed the sour taste rising up in his stomach. The nausea that had been blocked up within his body had nowhere to go, and it turned into a bomb that spread fear throughout his entire body, raging wildly.
My hands and feet were numb, my vision was flickering, and my brain was itching unbearably. The urge to immediately smash my skull open, stick my fingers inside and scratch it out made my breath quicken.
But the fingers digging into my scalp never penetrated my skull. All I could do was grind my teeth at the unceasing itch and endure the pressure that gripped my stomach.
I don't want to think about anything. I don't want to think about anything.
The more you think about it, the more you reminisce, the more you seek, the more what you desire becomes distant, your ideals turn into dreams, and your hopes are replaced by despair and disappointment.
"Subaru-kun?"
I didn't like it. I was fed up with it.
I don't want to think. I don't want to doubt. I don't want to believe. I don't want to be betrayed.
He clutches his head and shuts himself in, blocking out all reactions from the outside world.
Rem called Subaru's name several times, but perhaps thinking that Subaru was trying to fall asleep given his position, she stopped calling out to him and looked ahead again.
At this moment, Subaru had finally, truly been alone.
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"--Lu-kun. I'm sorry, please wake up, Subaru-kun."
Hearing the call, I felt my consciousness being shaken awake.
I felt someone touch my shoulder. I raised my face and rubbed my blurry eyelids to get my vision clear, and then the familiar face of a girl appeared in my field of vision.
"Rem, huh? What's wrong?"
As my consciousness emerged from my unconsciousness, I felt a dull pain in the depths of my chest as I recognized her. However, it wasn't unbearable.
Struggling not to show it on his face, Subaru waited for Rem's reply, her hand reaching out towards him. After apologizing apologetically for waking him up, she said,
"We should soon reach a fork in the road. If it was bright there's no way we could have gotten lost, but right now we're only relying on the light of the crystal lamp."
As she spoke, she pointed at the earth dragon that was still kicking the ground with all its might――at the light of the crystal lamp that was emitting light from around its thick neck.
In this world where there are no lighting devices such as outdoor lamps, the only way to ensure visibility at night is by the glow of ragmite ore, the light of primitive flames such as torches, or even more natural light such as moonlight.
For a land dragon with good night vision, the ragmite ore would be enough for it to run without getting lost, but
"Unfortunately, I can barely see it. There is a small one on the driver's seat, but I can only see what's in front of me."
There is a special light source inside the dragon carriage, but it is not strong enough to shine all the way to the driver's seat.
"So, you're saying you lost your way?"
"No. I want to check the map before I get lost. There is a map in the luggage at your feet, Subaru-kun, so I would like you to take it out."
"This is under your feet."
I fumble around in the darkness with my toes, and when something comes up against my foot, I grab it.
I picked up the heavy thing on my lap and put my hands inside to look around, but...
"Uh... I can't really tell which one is the map. Even if we found the map, I don't think we'd be able to see it in this darkness."
"Please don't underestimate the demon's night eyes... That's what I want to say, but I'm not that confident when it comes to night eyes..."
Rem's expression clouded over as she wondered what to do. Then, suddenly, in the darkness, something flashed across Subaru's mind.
"Wait a minute."
Calling out to Rem, Subaru takes out the small pouch containing his personal belongings. Inside are the towels that Rem had given him and the pouch containing his pocket money. He rummages through it, searching for the texture he is looking for.
"i got you"
When Subaru pulled it out, what he felt in his hand was cold and hard.
Rem tilted her head, unable to see it in the dark even after taking it out, but Subaru picked it up for the first time in a while, opened it in his hands, and pressed the power button.
"It's been a while since I last turned it on, but it's off. ... Oh."
After a moment of silence, the "Start-up" effect appeared on the screen, and then exactly one second later, Subaru's hands were suddenly illuminated by a blinding light.
Rem raised her eyebrows in surprise at the suddenly brightening scene.
"Subaru-kun, what is that?"
"It's a lost technology, no, a future technology: a mobile phone. It's still alive and well, even if only just barely. That's the best thing."
The phone was shining brightly even though it was running out of battery, as it was the first time it had been turned on since the first day of being summoned to another world.
When Subaru fell into this world, this was one of the items he was able to bring with him from his original world. Although he brought a few other personal items with him, this cell phone was probably by far the most useful. Of course, that was only possible as long as the battery lasted.
"I turned it off because I didn't know when I'd need to use it, but I never thought the day would come when it would be useful as a light."
Grateful for civilization in a way that was different from how it was meant to be used, Subaru shines the light inside his bag. Within the light, he quickly finds a rolled up map and takes it out, then holds it out to Rem on her lap.
"I'll light it for you, so take a look at the map."
"Yes, thank you."
As he shone a light on Rem's field of vision, who had dropped her gaze, Subaru let out a small sigh so she wouldn't see.
Apparently, he was managing to get by without revealing his inner trembling.
"Natsuki-san, what is that? I've never seen anything like it before."
Otto was the one with the highest voice, curious about the phone Subaru was holding. Otto was on the left side of the carriage and leaned forward to peer at it.
"I've never seen a crystal lamp like this before... No, it doesn't seem like a crystal. Or rather, I've never seen the material in the first place."
At the urging of Otto, who was excitedly inspecting the carriage, another dragon carriage, which had been lagging behind, followed suit on the right. Similarly, craning his neck to peer out, was an older man with a bandana wrapped around his head. However, he too had a childlike spark in his eyes that was out of keeping with his age, and he was glued to the cell phone in Subaru's hand.
Normally, he would have been pleased with their reaction and would have cracked a joke or two, but unfortunately, Subaru didn't have the time or energy to do so right now.
The two shook their heads, wanting an explanation, but Subaru prefaced his answer with, "Sorry, but..."
"It's a secret tool given to the Margrave. If the details of it are revealed, it may go missing. It's best to forget you've ever seen it."
"Wow, what's with that behind the scenes story that just smells of money?"
Subaru gritted his teeth inwardly at the fact that this had only piqued Otto's interest. However, their conversation was interrupted by Rem, who said, "I understand."
She looked up from the map and pointed ahead,
"If we drive a little further, we'll come to the Great Flugel Tree. If we follow the road heading northeast from there, we should be able to enter the Mathers territory."
"The Great Flugel Tree?"
Subaru tilted his head at the unfamiliar word, and Otto, still breathing heavily, raised his finger and said, "You see,"
"The Great Flugel Tree is the name of a large tree that stands in the middle of the Leafaus Highway, towering into the clouds. Piercing the clouds is an exaggeration, but it is indeed quite large. Legend has it that it was planted by a wise man named Flugel several hundred years ago."
"So, the Great Flugel Tree. I don't think anyone has heard of the circumstances surrounding why it was planted."
"Well, that was several hundred years ago. And besides planting the tree, I don't really know much about Flugel-san."
Subaru wondered how wise that was, but didn't say it out loud.
And so, as they drove straight for a while, Subaru gradually began to clearly see a large tree towering over the night.
"I see... this is amazing."
If we were to compare it to something in the original world, would it be comparable to the giant trees that are "thousand years old" that we have seen on TV specials?
If Otto's story was correct, then this tree was several hundred years old, but perhaps due to differences in the rate at which plants grow, this large tree had already achieved a manly presence comparable to that of the old tree in such a short period of time.
The trunk is so tall that you can't see the top even if you look up. The number of branches that reach up into the sky is enormous, and the lush leaves are just as numerous. Supporting the thick, sturdy trunk are numerous roots that crawl along the ground like a giant writhing snake and sink into the earth.
It is not located in a vast forest, but rather a large tree standing alone in the middle of a plain, so there is surely nothing more eye-catching as a landmark.
While Subaru was stunned by its size, Rem coolly took the reins and slightly changed the carriage's course. This would mean that, as per the map, they would head northeast and enter the Mathers territory. Subaru, watching the large tree approach and then recede into the distance,
"If I had still had the battery and was in the mood, I would have taken a photo."
Peering at the screen that showed only one battery remaining, he muttered to himself, trying to suppress his frustration. Hearing Subaru's muttering, Otto asked back, "Huh? What is it?", to which Subaru replied in a sulky mood, "Nothing!", and lowered his floating hips onto the driver's seat.
And then, withdrawing his consciousness from the tree, Subaru suddenly realized something.
"Hey, where's the guy with the bandana who was running on the right side earlier?"
I looked around but the person who should have been there was nowhere to be found.
Subaru wondered if they'd suddenly been delayed, and glanced behind him, only to see the dragon carriage that had been running behind the bandana-wearing figure, with a gaping hole in the ground.
"You didn't get separated from us because you were looking up at the tree, did you?"
"What's the matter, Natsuki-san? Are you looking for something?"
"There's no need to look for anyone here; I'm just one of your friends. Where did that cool guy in the bandana who was running this way a while ago go? Has he gone back to his childhood and gone tree climbing or something?"
Subaru was annoyed at the carefree Otto and made sarcastic remarks, blaming him for his oversight.
However, Otto looked puzzled after hearing Subaru's irritation and tilted his head as if he didn't understand what he was saying.
"What are you talking about, Natsuki-san? There was no one running on the other side of me."
--teeth?
Subaru was stunned and unable to speak, not understanding the meaning of the words that were spoken to him.
Otto stared at Subaru as he paused, not giving any sign of joking. He seemed genuinely puzzled as he took in what Subaru had said and replied.
But that was something Subaru didn't understand.
"What are you talking about? A moment ago, you were looking at the phone with great interest, together with me. You were staring at it with a drooling look on your face."
"Oh, you mean a cell phone? And by the way, can you guarantee my safety since I've heard it?"
"Don't make fun of me!"
Subaru scolds Otto, who continues to brush off Subaru's words, and looks to his right, where there is still a vast void, and the person who should have been there is nowhere to be found.
But there was no way he wasn't there. Subaru remembered his face and voice.
"--?"
And as I was staring blankly into the empty space, my vision began to blur.
Subaru blinked several times, feeling as if a haze was hanging over his eyes, but the strange feeling was still not able to be wiped away.
The vague darkness continued to run alongside Subaru as usual, and he couldn't help but find it extremely eerie and unsettling.
So Subaru reopened his folded cell phone and illuminated the space to his right.
I wanted to find traces of the person who should have been there, and to understand the true nature of the mysterious feeling that I could not erase.
And then, in the illuminated lightーー,
"----a?"
Subaru's eyes met with an enormous one, floating in the darkness.
A roar echoes through the air, and mist covers the Leafous Plains.
--Mist covers the Leafaus Plains.