Arc 8: Vincent Vollachia
Arc 8, Chapter 12 "Natsuki Subaru and Vincent Abellux"
The moment he shook out that fist was the moment he felt the most frustration about being small.
He was frustrated that, at this moment, a larger body would have been able to hit a little harder than a smaller body, rather than the scourge of the Gladiator Island, which we all, as one, were able to overcome, rather than "Sparka" to get Gustav on their side, rather than the moonlight question and answer with Cecilus.
"You......"
The emperor, his face stained with blood, looks at the young Subaru's fist on his left cheek.
His eyes were on his feet, on Subaru, who had failed to land and rolled on the floor. However, there was surprise but no anger on his face. It was more astonishment than humiliation.
The emperor held Subaru's fist, which caused more surprise than pain, and his hand on the cheek where it hit,
"Are you not willing to spare your life? If you raise your hand to me, the flame of the 'Yang Sword' will burn you......"
"Oh, it's not too shabby! I'm not afraid of being burned to death compared to seeing you off without beating the shit out of you right here and now!"
"Wha......"
The emperor glares at him, leaps up in front of him and dares him to do it.
Immediately, his tired body wobbled and his back hit the door, but just as well. Leaning his back against the door, Subaru stood with his arms outstretched to the emperor.
It is a lie that life is not spared.
But he doesn't want to sell words, and he doesn't want to show a single weak feeling here.
He felt like he had to hit back, either with words or with his fists, at this emperor who had said all he wanted to say.
"You guys are right. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know what standards I'm operating under myself."
"......Us guys, huh?"
The emperor frowned at Subaru, who bit his lip and glared at him.
The emperor lowered his hand to his cheek, his face smeared with the blood dripping from Subaru's hand, and wondered to whom else Subaru's multiple-targeted remarks were directed.
But no matter how much he thought about it, there was no way he could understand. The man in front of him was the emperor, and the other man was just a soldier without a position.
But the wounds they both inflicted on Subaru, the scars they pointed out, were the same thing.
"I want to protect the people I love and care about first. That's my honest feeling. But if someone I don't like or even someone I don't know is in danger right in front of me, I'll......"
Todd said that Subaru is choosing who to help based on subjective likes and dislikes.
Abel said that Subaru is choosing who to save, not even like it or not, but unapologetically.
It is wrong because both are right and both are right.
Because--,
"But... is that so bad......?"
"What?"
"Is that so bad? Can't I impulsively save the person in front of me without a lifetime of commitment and without any great significance?!"
The emperor's black eyes widen as Subaru stomps on the ground with a loud voice.
Subaru continues to show a series of out of character attitudes and facial expressions, but Subaru continues to fold up.
"You're right! I've been thinking about things as far as I can see them, reaching out as far as I can reach, and I've done it to this day. What's wrong with that!"
"You're back in the game?! What's wrong with you? It's clear! Why do you not look at the big picture, why do you act selfishly and emotionally? Why do you not use the power you have been given?"
"I'm using it all! I'm standing here, making the most of it! Don't get emotional! Don't be stupid! My emotions, how I use them, is my business!"
"Then at least follow your feelings! If you are going to decide who lives and who dies based on likes and dislikes, don't try to bend the way you do it. Your way of being is full of distortions."
"I'm all for living straight and coming to your conclusions, you've got a crooked gut!"
The emperor still choked Subaru's posture, and Subaru kicked him in return. He kicked the emperor again and again in the shins, letting his unbearable anger explode in full force.
The emperor's cheeks contorted at that kick with Subaru's tantrum,
"It's not worth it."
Yes, he tried to cut off the conversation unilaterally. Also unilaterally.
Then the emperor grabs Subaru's shoulder in an attempt to leave the value disconnect behind. The emperor tries to move him out of the way as it is, and the arm strength of an adult and a child cannot defy him.
So Subaru bit the hand as hard as he could.
"--tsk, you bitch!"
"Hahhehahoho, you're fine!"
He bit down on the emperor's right hand without any effort, carving teeth marks and scratches on it. The emperor's right hand was also bleeding from the knife wound.
Let no blood be spilled on the peak of the noble empire, and Subaru's execution will not be spared.
"That's if there is any country left, you idiot!"
"What the...... gah!"
At the moment he was swung away, Subaru grabbed the emperor from the front with his small body, pressed his head against his stomach, and mowed down both knees. It was a fight-killing technique that Weitz had taught him.
He also goes on to apply Weitz's teachings and mounts the strongest on the street rules.
He presses down on the chest of the emperor, who has fallen on his back, grabs his chest with both hands, and slams him to the floor. A few blows to the back of the head would instantly knock out any opponent.
However--,
"Don't get carried away!"
The first time, by surprise, the second time by confusion, he succeeded in dropping the back of his head, but the third time he was stopped by pure force, and then he was grabbed by the hair and forcibly pulled down over his body.
With a scream and a roll on the floor, the emperor stood up with his eyes on Subaru and turned to head for the door again.
"I won't let yoooou!"
He jumped backward onto the emperor's knees and tried to force his body toward the door to stop him. But the momentum was too much, and he ended up pushing the other person forward as it was.
The result--,
"Buh"
And then there was a dull thud, and the emperor plunged face-first into the door of the room.
"----"
Strongly, there is the sound of a hand poking at the door against which he has pressed his face, and the emperor, who has hit the door in front of him, raises himself up. The emperor then turned around and grabbed Subaru's chest with both of his hands and lifted him up.
Subaru let out an "Agh", his body flips over, his back slams into the door, and he is pressed against it.
Before his eyes, the emperor stared at Subaru from close up, his nose and forehead red and his feet floating.
"What do you want. What's the purpose. What do you hope!"
I want to hit you! Hitting you is the purpose! I hope to hit you!"
"You bitch......tsk"
"What... do you want. What's the purpose. WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR!"
"----"
The clutches, clawing at both of the emperor's hands, Subaru also spits and yells back at him.
He twisted his neck and opened his mouth to bite the emperor's hand again, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach it. At the very least, he drooled and spit into the emperor's hand.
And so, with his hands stained by Subaru's spit, the emperor stiffens his cheeks and mutters for reasons other than his humiliation.
"What do I want......?"
"Yes. You had something you wanted to do, without any grandiose agenda or anything like that. Otherwise, you wouldn't have bothered to come to me at such a busy time."
"----"
"You don't know yourself the best, do you? The one you put the most effort into, the one you put the most feeling into, is the most important one in the story you just told."
The story of the evacuation situation from the Imperial City and the story of how Subaru suspected that he was the "stargazer". The story of the treatment of Emilia and the others from the kingdom and the disconnect of not understanding Subaru's way of being.
Come to think of it, there wasn't even a word of sympathy for Subaru after he was revived from unconsciousness, and to begin with, not a word about their reunion since the Demon City, this son of a bitch.
But if you take those various things out of the equation, the story that had the most heat is obvious.
"--Chisha."
"......Why, Natsuki Subaru?"
The heat that had been built up by the shoving and grappling just before is lost, but the question, lit with cold heat, is asked again.
If those with violence were red flames, the question was a blue flame.
The emperor asks while burning Subaru right in front of him with his blue flame-infused eyes.
"It was I who made it. If it was that one, it would be able to do the same job as me without any deviation. It could be said that he was superior in terms of military prowess."
"----"
"There was no difference in ability between Chisha and I. Whichever one of us remained, he took over the fight against the 'Great Calamity' and did his best. --Why?"
The emperor's--no, Abel's black eyes shook as he looked into Subaru's black eyes.
The emperor's mask, which he had put on, perhaps with a determination not to take it off again, was removed soon after his decision, and Abel's face could be seen.
And Abel could not help but ask Subaru, not as the emperor of this country, but as a person who had lost someone important.
"Why did you let me, whom you loathed, live and let Chisha die, Natsuki Subaru?"
Realizing for himself what he wanted to ask Subaru, Abel asked Subaru the same question he had asked him before they began their wrestle.
The sadness and delicacy in his voice is incomparable to that of his immediate predecessor.
Vincent Vollachia, the emperor, used everything he had for the good of the empire.
Vincent Vollachia has reigned as the emperor of the four great nations of the world, the most extensive of them all, and as an omnipresent and all-seeing being.
The fact that Vincent Vollachia, the emperor, asks questions not on behalf of the empire, but as a human being, is proof that one of his questions has a weight comparable to that of the empire.
Subaru's heart trembles as he feels it in his skin, blood, brain, and soul.
At the same time, in contrast to Abel, whose emotions were bloated, Subaru's emotions were quiet.
"----"
Why did the person Chisha have to die?
Unbeknownst to Subaru, Abel and Chisha were placed on their respective plates in the balance, and only one of them could be saved.
And Abel was the one who was going to share his fate with the decaying balance.
It was painted over. --Probably by the dead Chisha himself.
--How long had Abel been prepared for his own death?
As long as you are born, your life will surely end one day. What a different situation from such a fact that everyone knows and everyone unconsciously ignores.
Preparing for the foretold death is no different than facing the cause of Subaru's 'Return by Death'.
Abel has always been confronted with his own death, which will eventually come.
Abel has continued to fight with the same determination as Subaru, believing that the death that is coming is something that can and must be changed.
If Subaru does not die, Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice will die.
Otto and the others, Tanza and the others, everyone in Shudrak, Flop and his others, many people would die. What if he could keep them all alive in exchange for his life?
If Abel had spent all of his resolve to do so.
"I'm all set for it to be over. And yet--"
Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice were kept alive in Subaru's place.
Otto and his friends, Tanza and his friends, everyone in Shudrak, Flop and his friends, someone from the multitude of people sacrificed and survived in order to keep Subaru alive.
Only Natsuki Subaru must think of that despair, even if no one else can.
Only Subaru, who has overturned the possibility of such a situation and rewritten reality with his authority, should not dismiss out of hand the despair that Abel is experiencing.
He has to understand it, swallow it down, and then say it.
"--I'm not a 'stargazer', Abel."
"----"
The words he delivered must have seemed like a betrayal to Abel at this point in his life.
At this point in time, Subaru kept it a secret, not giving him the answer he wanted. But no matter how Abel doubted Subaru, he could not move the facts.
Or perhaps Subaru can do the same thing with "stargazers".
Or perhaps Subaru has more techniques to intervene in his destiny than "stargazers".
Still, it cannot be all-powerful. It cannot possibly be all-powerful.
It would be nice if it were all-powerful, but it cannot be all-powerful enough.
"So that's why I can't help this Chisha guy you're talking about. I don't even know how to help him. But I can tell you one thing."
"......What is it?"
"......If I really had the power that you say I do, I would still choose to help you, whom I hate, rather than help a stranger. Not because I'm forward thinking or anything like that, but I would. I would."
Really, he thinks to himself, it's a helpless nature.
But that is the result, the result of Natsuki Subaru, the result of no lie, the result of consulting with the abilities he can have in a vessel he understands himself.
"----"
Slowly, the strength is released from Abel's hand that gripped his chest, and Subaru's body is freed.
Subaru's body slid down on the spot, rubbing the door with his back. Abel's hands were still on Subaru's chest, but the strength that had been put into them had been removed to the point that his fingers were white.
Subaru did not untie his hand, even though he could have easily done so if he wanted to.
Without it untied, he just called him "Abel"--.
"If you say you're not a 'stargazer'......"
Weakly, Abel's lips make that sound.
However, Abel himself was not satisfied with the sound he made, and he did not continue. Abel's black eyes begin to wander, searching for the words he really wants.
Put your feelings into words.
Perhaps the emperor of the empire who has never done what even a toddler can do.
"You're going to save me no matter what......"
"----"
"In a situation where the very existence of an empire is at stake, you can't just sit back and......"
"----"
"I have been...... with you! Since the first time I saw you the way you are......"
"----"
All of them are stuck in the middle of the word.
None of the words or feelings were sufficient to express Abel's true feelings. Subaru does not rush Abel, who repeatedly stumbles, corrects himself, and tries to restate.
"You hate me, and see me... as the enemy......"
Abel, with his brilliant self, realizes that his faltering words do not have the answer he seeks, and he does them over and over again.
He was called the wisest emperor since the beginning of the Vollachia Empire, and was respected by all for his wisdom.
And then repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and finally, he gets there.
"I've......"
"----"
"I've prepared myself to die. ......I am not prepared to mourn."
He trained himself to be prepared to be the one left behind and did not hone their preparedness to be the one left behind.
Perhaps he was even thinking about his last words. There was even a possibility that his will could be found here and there if one looked for it.
It was all intended to be entrusted to those who would come after him, and he was prepared to be on the side of those who would be entrusted with the work.
"Why?"
He said in a trembling voice.
Saying in a trembling voice, Abel removed his hand from Subaru's chest. He took his own blood-stained hand to his own face and covered his face with it.
The emperor, who never even closes his eyes in public, covered his face with both hands.
"Why did you leave me to die, Chisha......ngh"
With his hands covering his face, his voice trembling, and perhaps even tears in his dark eyes, Vincent Vollachia fell to his knees.
A man who would have had no time to even mourn the loss of an important, very important human being, kneeling before a rude and disrespectful hater who didn't have to wear the mask of an emperor.
As he watched, Subaru also exhaled long, long, deep, deep breaths--,
"--I'm sorry."
Yes, as a comrade who continues to fight against an unreasonable fate, he conveyed words that will never be comforting to a comrade who has fought hard and been wounded.
△▼△▼△▼△
As he punched Abel, who was about to leave, Subaru's mind was filled with memories of Otto, who had once punched him in the same way.
"You're amazing. I can't do it as smartly as you. ......I'm never going to tell him that."
He definitely doesn't want to tell him in person because of the annoyance and embarrassment.
Someday, when Otto dies in his lifetime, he would even consider telling him at his bedside, "I actually thought you were awesome." If he really does it, even if it's at the end of his life, he has faith that he'll say, "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
In any case--,
"----"
Sitting on the ground with his back against the wall of the room, Abel is hugging one knee and gazing into the dimly lit room.
Subaru, too, was sitting huddled next to him, chewing the silence in a daze.
At the beginning, Subaru's gratitude and toying with Otto are unmistakably his true feelings.
Whenever, when Subaru was about to be crushed by everything on his own, Otto would punch him in the side and give him the words he needed.
He told him that he wasn't dressed up like a bore against a friend. --That experience gave Subaru the courage to bounce the bedsprings.
It's more likely--,
"You and I are not friends, but..."
"--. Of course. Don't talk horribly. I don't need to be friends with you...... well, I don't need friends. I don't want any."
"You mean the argument that it's not that you can't make friends, it's just that you don't make any? I used to do that when I was pretending to be a loner, but it's obvious to everyone around me."
"Your disrespect knows no bounds."
Sitting next to each other, without turning toward each other, Subaru and Abel exchange words.
There is no longer any heat of a struggle or a scuffle, but neither is there any good manners to break off the conversation mid-sentence and walk away.
Subaru's face, clothes, hands, and everywhere else are covered in blood.
Of course, Abel was also covered in blood all over his face, hair, and clothes.
Inside the room, the sheets were stained with blood and knives were lying on the floor. Spattered blood made smudges here and there, and there were signs of vandalism and bloodstains in various places.
Not enough blood to be called a murder scene, but good enough looking for a crime scene.
"But you can't break a single room in a riot. That's the limit of you and me as individuals."
Even if Subaru and Abel went on a rampage without restraint, they would break equipment at best.
If the really bad guys in this world went on a rampage, this room would be destroyed without a trace in the blink of an eye. He wonders how long it would take Emilia to smash this room to bits with her pretty face and pretty hands.
"Me and you going at it isn't going to be pretty or anything."
"......What the hell is your problem?"
"I'll tell you what, you're the one who's got a problem. I'm telling you, you're so scatterbrained that I can't sense what you want to talk about."
"----"
Abel shuts down and thinks silently.
The reason he kept his mouth shut was probably because he was aware of how scattered the topics were. He closed his ears to his true feelings and chose only the topics that were comfortable and easy to listen to, and as a result, he was distracted and nothing of substance was discussed.
That was the essence of what Abel had just said, and it was his own fault, of which he was aware.
From there, Subaru waits to see how he will recover--,
"Natsuki Subaru, is it true that you are not a 'stargazer'?"
"......It's true. I'm not a 'stargazer'. That's more like witchcraft than me. They and I don't get along."
"I have heard that two Archbishops were dropped in Lugnica."
"This is private, but there's three of them. 'Gluttony' and...... No, it's hard to say if I've beaten 'Gluttony' or not, so forget it. And Louis is also...... ah!"
"What?"
"You didn't do anything to Louis, did you? I never forgave you for what you did when you said you were going to kill her."
It was Abel's firm attitude toward Louis that prompted Subaru to separate from Abel and his group in the magical city of Chaos Flame.
When he revealed the fact that she was a Sin Archbishop, Abel said he would not forgive her.
For this reason, Subaru was separated from Abel and the others, and he and Louis went to Yorna's castle in a solitary state--,
"After all this time, I still haven't forgiven her."
"Nonsense. You're the one who hates her."
"Before was before, now is now. In the first place, if you keep dragging out my first impression of you, I'm going to question your sanity when I find out about the members I'm getting along with, pal."
"I doubted your sanity in the village of Shudrak. --There is no need to be concerned."
"Yeah?"
"I did not harm the girl. I did not mean to say, even there, that we should immediately execute the person we thought was the Sin Archbishop."
"Wha......"
"You are making a hasty decision. Try to save yourself."
Subaru is exclaiming when he is told that it was an unnecessary precaution. But even if this were true, the reason why Subaru was so quick to judge is because of the blandness and ruthlessness of Abel's attitude.
The accumulation of Abel's attitude up to that point led to the mistrust of that place.
"That was a problem with your attitude......"
"I needed it. I needed to make sure you wouldn't think I wanted to live."
"----"
"It's all based on the assumption that you are a 'stargazer'. You continue to achieve unprecedented results in the kingdom, and you are able to do what no one else can do."
"That's......"
"I didn't have to go out of my way to impress you. Even without acting, you are the kind of person I hate the most. Disgust and contempt flowed from my heart."
"You - son - of - a - bitch......!"
Subaru's forehead is covered with a blue streak at Abel's words, whether they are false or true, good or evil.
However, just as Subaru was walking on thin ice while exploring his relationship with Abel, Abel was walking a tightrope with Subaru in his mind.
With Subaru on the ice and Abel walking on a tightrope, such a relationship does not work.
They are both only looking at their own feet and not at the other's face.
"......I don't know who this Chisha guy is. He kicked you off the throne and pretended to be you and pretended to be the emperor. He just came across you in the Chaos Flame as the emperor."
"----"
"I don't know what he was thinking or what he was up to when he kicked you out of the castle. But I do know that you felt such regret that that man died, and that he died in your place when he really should have died. So......"
Subaru falters and says what he thinks as he thinks it.
It was an unspoken agreement that they would not face each other, so Subaru could not see Abel's expression while talking about it. That was what scared him.
He is the one whom that Abel regrets losing so much that he can't maintain equilibrium in his mind.
He also thinks that this may be too much of a statement to be made by Subaru, who knows nothing about the man, and who is too far into his heart to speak about him.
But he thinks.
Even though it may not be a very long time, Subaru, who has been pushed around a lot by this man who calls himself Abel, and has even been involved in a situation where the very existence of a country is at stake, thinks.
"This Chisha guy is awesome."
He looked up and saw a bright voice, maybe out of place, but bright.
It was not a forced attempt to lighten the mood, but rather a sincere admiration that overflowed from Subaru.
How many, in fact? How many people, in fact, are there who can successfully accomplish what they set out to do, defying the wishes of the man who has been called the wisest emperor since the beginning of the Vollachia Empire, a man who shapes everything in his own mind and makes it happen the way he wants it to happen?
He would think that is more than enough praise.
On top of that, even what's left of Abel is depressed, though he's not sure if that's what he had in mind.
"You said it wouldn't have made much difference who was left, you or that person. If that's true, then that person had one reason for creating this situation."
"......You bitch."
Subaru speaks as he thinks, and Abel, without looking at him, makes a low voice.
The tone of his voice, which was neither angry nor not angry, was not a denunciation of Subaru, who spoke knowingly,
"Are you saying you know about this? Do you know why Chisha conspired against me?"
Yes, it was meant to prompt Subaru to speak the conclusion he came up with.
"----"
Abel wants answers.
An answer that even Abel's clever mind cannot play out. He expects it even if he doesn't expect it, such as coming from the mouth of Subaru, who doesn't know who Chisha is.
He can't help but think of that expectation as pressure,
"I don't care what you think of me, it's too late now."
Once he reopened himself to that, there was no reason to hesitate to speak as he wished here.
Subaru's thoughts on why Chisha left Abel instead of himself.
It is--,
"I was pissed off at fate trying to kill you and you giving up on fate."
"--Huh"
"There is a pattern of this 'I wanted you to live even if I died'. But I don't think so. Because you don't live your life in a way that people would think that much of you."
Even if he dies, he can understand why he would want that person to live.
However, in order to have such feelings, one must have a reason to care about the other person and be made to feel that way.
It is hard to believe that Abel, who was prepared for his own death, which would eventually come, and struggled to hold his ground for what would follow, would be thought of in such a way.
So Subaru's answer is yes.
"Chisha was pissed off at you. So I proved it."
"Proof? What do you...... think I'm stupid for thinking you can conspire against me?"
"You're a smart ass, Mr. Flop and Miss Mizelda probably realize that. It's the length of your hand that's the...... difference between destiny and fate."
"Destiny......"
For the first time, as if he were saying the word, Abel muttered it in the style of rolling something unfamiliar on his tongue.
In fact, for Abel, who has faced all things head-on and continued to resist with his own agendas, all obstacles are verbalizable, and he may not have been aware that he was dealing with something as formless and tremendous as "fate".
But undeniably, the enemy that Abel had unknowingly conceded defeat to is fate.
At the same time, Chisha used his own life to prove it by keeping Abel alive.
"You can fight your destiny. --There is no reason to give up."
"----"
Gasping slightly, Abel was silent, as if struck to the gut by the words he had been told.
If he didn't think his enemy was 'destiny', he would never have thought he could fight it or resist it. He would never have considered it.
But what if he knew exactly who the 'enemy' is?
What will the wise emperor since the beginning of the Vollachia Empire do when he finds out the identity of his 'enemy'?
"--Abel, I'm not a 'stargazer.'
"----"
"But--"
Next to the silent Abel, Subaru tells him while placing his hand on his crossed knees.
Asked, denied, and asked again. Deny, be asked, and deny again.
Even though he could neither explain nor prove his authority of "return by death", Subaru had also made up his mind in this question and answer.
It was also an answer to Todd Fang, the man from whom he had been separated, who had been beaten down but had never been able to mount a clear counterattack.
"I'll try to save as many as I can, as long as I can reach them. But really, if there are lives that I still can't scoop up, that's......"
"......Isn't that a defeat to fate?"
"--. I can't win it all. Because I'm not the only one fighting fate."
He has not been able to save everything.
And he cannot be assured that Subaru will continue to save everything.
While boasting that fate is good, and vowing to continue fighting fate, Natsuki Subaru still regrets and grieves for the lives that will be lost, and continues to say, "Fate is good."
And so to reduce the opportunities for frustration and tears--.
"Give me your power, Abel, and I'll give you mine. Then I'll lend you my power, too."
"----"
"I'm going to cooperate fully from here on out! ......is what I can't say without consulting Emilia and the others, but I'm enthusiastic about it. So."
As he said this, Subaru slapped his knee hard and stood up on the spot.
Then, without looking at Abel's face, he slowly made his way through the room to the side of the bunk. With his bloodied and disheveled sheets by his side, Subaru reached for the fruit basket.
There was an Appa that Abel had broken in two and left there. The white cross section was turning brown from exposure to the air, but he picked it up regardless.
And then--,
"I'll help you eat up that Appa you broke in two."
He tosses one of the broken Appas to Abel and bites into the remaining one.
With a pleasant sound and the slowly spreading sweet juice in his mouth, Subaru looked at Abel's face, who was sitting on the floor.
Abel received the thrown Appa, looked down at it, and after a slight hesitation, bit into it.
The same pleasant sound and sweet and sour taste would have spread to his mouth.
Like it or dislike it, hate it or love it, it has nothing to do with its taste.
There was no difference in the taste of the Appa they shared with other living things.
"Natsuki Subaru."
"What?"
"I don't like you."
"Ngah"
"--But I need your help."
After telling him this, Abel slowly stood up in his place. Holding the gnawed, uneaten Appa in his hand, Abel looked at Subaru with his dark eyes.
All of the out-of-character emotional color he showed in this room was once again hidden behind his self-consciousness as emperor, but with just a hint of it in his eyes and voice,
"I apologize for my many insults. Knight of the Kingdom."
Yes, Subaru laughed as he saw the emperor of the Holy Vollachia Empire bow his head.
Laughing and taking a bite of the rest of the Appa,
"I do not apologize for my many disrespects, Emperor of the Empire."
It was then that they took a step toward correcting some of the misunderstandings in a relationship that had been wrong from the beginning.
Arc 8, Chapter 12 "Natsuki Subaru and Vincent Abellux"
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The moment he shook out that fist was the moment he felt the most frustration about being small.
He was frustrated that, at this moment, a larger body would have been able to hit a little harder than a smaller body, rather than the scourge of the Gladiator Island, which we all, as one, were able to overcome, rather than "Sparka" to get Gustav on their side, rather than the moonlight question and answer with Cecilus.
"You......"
The emperor, his face stained with blood, looks at the young Subaru's fist on his left cheek.
His eyes were on his feet, on Subaru, who had failed to land and rolled on the floor. However, there was surprise but no anger on his face. It was more astonishment than humiliation.
The emperor held Subaru's fist, which caused more surprise than pain, and his hand on the cheek where it hit,
"Are you not willing to spare your life? If you raise your hand to me, the flame of the 'Yang Sword' will burn you......"
"Oh, it's not too shabby! I'm not afraid of being burned to death compared to seeing you off without beating the shit out of you right here and now!"
"Wha......"
The emperor glares at him, leaps up in front of him and dares him to do it.
Immediately, his tired body wobbled and his back hit the door, but just as well. Leaning his back against the door, Subaru stood with his arms outstretched to the emperor.
It is a lie that life is not spared.
But he doesn't want to sell words, and he doesn't want to show a single weak feeling here.
He felt like he had to hit back, either with words or with his fists, at this emperor who had said all he wanted to say.
"You guys are right. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even know what standards I'm operating under myself."
"......Us guys, huh?"
The emperor frowned at Subaru, who bit his lip and glared at him.
The emperor lowered his hand to his cheek, his face smeared with the blood dripping from Subaru's hand, and wondered to whom else Subaru's multiple-targeted remarks were directed.
But no matter how much he thought about it, there was no way he could understand. The man in front of him was the emperor, and the other man was just a soldier without a position.
But the wounds they both inflicted on Subaru, the scars they pointed out, were the same thing.
"I want to protect the people I love and care about first. That's my honest feeling. But if someone I don't like or even someone I don't know is in danger right in front of me, I'll......"
Todd said that Subaru is choosing who to help based on subjective likes and dislikes.
Abel said that Subaru is choosing who to save, not even like it or not, but unapologetically.
It is wrong because both are right and both are right.
Because--,
"But... is that so bad......?"
"What?"
"Is that so bad? Can't I impulsively save the person in front of me without a lifetime of commitment and without any great significance?!"
The emperor's black eyes widen as Subaru stomps on the ground with a loud voice.
Subaru continues to show a series of out of character attitudes and facial expressions, but Subaru continues to fold up.
"You're right! I've been thinking about things as far as I can see them, reaching out as far as I can reach, and I've done it to this day. What's wrong with that!"
"You're back in the game?! What's wrong with you? It's clear! Why do you not look at the big picture, why do you act selfishly and emotionally? Why do you not use the power you have been given?"
"I'm using it all! I'm standing here, making the most of it! Don't get emotional! Don't be stupid! My emotions, how I use them, is my business!"
"Then at least follow your feelings! If you are going to decide who lives and who dies based on likes and dislikes, don't try to bend the way you do it. Your way of being is full of distortions."
"I'm all for living straight and coming to your conclusions, you've got a crooked gut!"
The emperor still choked Subaru's posture, and Subaru kicked him in return. He kicked the emperor again and again in the shins, letting his unbearable anger explode in full force.
The emperor's cheeks contorted at that kick with Subaru's tantrum,
"It's not worth it."
Yes, he tried to cut off the conversation unilaterally. Also unilaterally.
Then the emperor grabs Subaru's shoulder in an attempt to leave the value disconnect behind. The emperor tries to move him out of the way as it is, and the arm strength of an adult and a child cannot defy him.
So Subaru bit the hand as hard as he could.
"--tsk, you bitch!"
"Hahhehahoho, you're fine!"
He bit down on the emperor's right hand without any effort, carving teeth marks and scratches on it. The emperor's right hand was also bleeding from the knife wound.
Let no blood be spilled on the peak of the noble empire, and Subaru's execution will not be spared.
"That's if there is any country left, you idiot!"
"What the...... gah!"
At the moment he was swung away, Subaru grabbed the emperor from the front with his small body, pressed his head against his stomach, and mowed down both knees. It was a fight-killing technique that Weitz had taught him.
He also goes on to apply Weitz's teachings and mounts the strongest on the street rules.
He presses down on the chest of the emperor, who has fallen on his back, grabs his chest with both hands, and slams him to the floor. A few blows to the back of the head would instantly knock out any opponent.
However--,
"Don't get carried away!"
The first time, by surprise, the second time by confusion, he succeeded in dropping the back of his head, but the third time he was stopped by pure force, and then he was grabbed by the hair and forcibly pulled down over his body.
With a scream and a roll on the floor, the emperor stood up with his eyes on Subaru and turned to head for the door again.
"I won't let yoooou!"
He jumped backward onto the emperor's knees and tried to force his body toward the door to stop him. But the momentum was too much, and he ended up pushing the other person forward as it was.
The result--,
"Buh"
And then there was a dull thud, and the emperor plunged face-first into the door of the room.
"----"
Strongly, there is the sound of a hand poking at the door against which he has pressed his face, and the emperor, who has hit the door in front of him, raises himself up. The emperor then turned around and grabbed Subaru's chest with both of his hands and lifted him up.
Subaru let out an "Agh", his body flips over, his back slams into the door, and he is pressed against it.
Before his eyes, the emperor stared at Subaru from close up, his nose and forehead red and his feet floating.
"What do you want. What's the purpose. What do you hope!"
I want to hit you! Hitting you is the purpose! I hope to hit you!"
"You bitch......tsk"
"What... do you want. What's the purpose. WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR!"
"----"
The clutches, clawing at both of the emperor's hands, Subaru also spits and yells back at him.
He twisted his neck and opened his mouth to bite the emperor's hand again, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach it. At the very least, he drooled and spit into the emperor's hand.
And so, with his hands stained by Subaru's spit, the emperor stiffens his cheeks and mutters for reasons other than his humiliation.
"What do I want......?"
"Yes. You had something you wanted to do, without any grandiose agenda or anything like that. Otherwise, you wouldn't have bothered to come to me at such a busy time."
"----"
"You don't know yourself the best, do you? The one you put the most effort into, the one you put the most feeling into, is the most important one in the story you just told."
The story of the evacuation situation from the Imperial City and the story of how Subaru suspected that he was the "stargazer". The story of the treatment of Emilia and the others from the kingdom and the disconnect of not understanding Subaru's way of being.
Come to think of it, there wasn't even a word of sympathy for Subaru after he was revived from unconsciousness, and to begin with, not a word about their reunion since the Demon City, this son of a bitch.
But if you take those various things out of the equation, the story that had the most heat is obvious.
"--Chisha."
"......Why, Natsuki Subaru?"
The heat that had been built up by the shoving and grappling just before is lost, but the question, lit with cold heat, is asked again.
If those with violence were red flames, the question was a blue flame.
The emperor asks while burning Subaru right in front of him with his blue flame-infused eyes.
"It was I who made it. If it was that one, it would be able to do the same job as me without any deviation. It could be said that he was superior in terms of military prowess."
"----"
"There was no difference in ability between Chisha and I. Whichever one of us remained, he took over the fight against the 'Great Calamity' and did his best. --Why?"
The emperor's--no, Abel's black eyes shook as he looked into Subaru's black eyes.
The emperor's mask, which he had put on, perhaps with a determination not to take it off again, was removed soon after his decision, and Abel's face could be seen.
And Abel could not help but ask Subaru, not as the emperor of this country, but as a person who had lost someone important.
"Why did you let me, whom you loathed, live and let Chisha die, Natsuki Subaru?"
Realizing for himself what he wanted to ask Subaru, Abel asked Subaru the same question he had asked him before they began their wrestle.
The sadness and delicacy in his voice is incomparable to that of his immediate predecessor.
Vincent Vollachia, the emperor, used everything he had for the good of the empire.
Vincent Vollachia has reigned as the emperor of the four great nations of the world, the most extensive of them all, and as an omnipresent and all-seeing being.
The fact that Vincent Vollachia, the emperor, asks questions not on behalf of the empire, but as a human being, is proof that one of his questions has a weight comparable to that of the empire.
Subaru's heart trembles as he feels it in his skin, blood, brain, and soul.
At the same time, in contrast to Abel, whose emotions were bloated, Subaru's emotions were quiet.
"----"
Why did the person Chisha have to die?
Unbeknownst to Subaru, Abel and Chisha were placed on their respective plates in the balance, and only one of them could be saved.
And Abel was the one who was going to share his fate with the decaying balance.
It was painted over. --Probably by the dead Chisha himself.
--How long had Abel been prepared for his own death?
As long as you are born, your life will surely end one day. What a different situation from such a fact that everyone knows and everyone unconsciously ignores.
Preparing for the foretold death is no different than facing the cause of Subaru's 'Return by Death'.
Abel has always been confronted with his own death, which will eventually come.
Abel has continued to fight with the same determination as Subaru, believing that the death that is coming is something that can and must be changed.
If Subaru does not die, Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice will die.
Otto and the others, Tanza and the others, everyone in Shudrak, Flop and his others, many people would die. What if he could keep them all alive in exchange for his life?
If Abel had spent all of his resolve to do so.
"I'm all set for it to be over. And yet--"
Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice were kept alive in Subaru's place.
Otto and his friends, Tanza and his friends, everyone in Shudrak, Flop and his friends, someone from the multitude of people sacrificed and survived in order to keep Subaru alive.
Only Natsuki Subaru must think of that despair, even if no one else can.
Only Subaru, who has overturned the possibility of such a situation and rewritten reality with his authority, should not dismiss out of hand the despair that Abel is experiencing.
He has to understand it, swallow it down, and then say it.
"--I'm not a 'stargazer', Abel."
"----"
The words he delivered must have seemed like a betrayal to Abel at this point in his life.
At this point in time, Subaru kept it a secret, not giving him the answer he wanted. But no matter how Abel doubted Subaru, he could not move the facts.
Or perhaps Subaru can do the same thing with "stargazers".
Or perhaps Subaru has more techniques to intervene in his destiny than "stargazers".
Still, it cannot be all-powerful. It cannot possibly be all-powerful.
It would be nice if it were all-powerful, but it cannot be all-powerful enough.
"So that's why I can't help this Chisha guy you're talking about. I don't even know how to help him. But I can tell you one thing."
"......What is it?"
"......If I really had the power that you say I do, I would still choose to help you, whom I hate, rather than help a stranger. Not because I'm forward thinking or anything like that, but I would. I would."
Really, he thinks to himself, it's a helpless nature.
But that is the result, the result of Natsuki Subaru, the result of no lie, the result of consulting with the abilities he can have in a vessel he understands himself.
"----"
Slowly, the strength is released from Abel's hand that gripped his chest, and Subaru's body is freed.
Subaru's body slid down on the spot, rubbing the door with his back. Abel's hands were still on Subaru's chest, but the strength that had been put into them had been removed to the point that his fingers were white.
Subaru did not untie his hand, even though he could have easily done so if he wanted to.
Without it untied, he just called him "Abel"--.
"If you say you're not a 'stargazer'......"
Weakly, Abel's lips make that sound.
However, Abel himself was not satisfied with the sound he made, and he did not continue. Abel's black eyes begin to wander, searching for the words he really wants.
Put your feelings into words.
Perhaps the emperor of the empire who has never done what even a toddler can do.
"You're going to save me no matter what......"
"----"
"In a situation where the very existence of an empire is at stake, you can't just sit back and......"
"----"
"I have been...... with you! Since the first time I saw you the way you are......"
"----"
All of them are stuck in the middle of the word.
None of the words or feelings were sufficient to express Abel's true feelings. Subaru does not rush Abel, who repeatedly stumbles, corrects himself, and tries to restate.
"You hate me, and see me... as the enemy......"
Abel, with his brilliant self, realizes that his faltering words do not have the answer he seeks, and he does them over and over again.
He was called the wisest emperor since the beginning of the Vollachia Empire, and was respected by all for his wisdom.
And then repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and finally, he gets there.
"I've......"
"----"
"I've prepared myself to die. ......I am not prepared to mourn."
He trained himself to be prepared to be the one left behind and did not hone their preparedness to be the one left behind.
Perhaps he was even thinking about his last words. There was even a possibility that his will could be found here and there if one looked for it.
It was all intended to be entrusted to those who would come after him, and he was prepared to be on the side of those who would be entrusted with the work.
"Why?"
He said in a trembling voice.
Saying in a trembling voice, Abel removed his hand from Subaru's chest. He took his own blood-stained hand to his own face and covered his face with it.
The emperor, who never even closes his eyes in public, covered his face with both hands.
"Why did you leave me to die, Chisha......ngh"
With his hands covering his face, his voice trembling, and perhaps even tears in his dark eyes, Vincent Vollachia fell to his knees.
A man who would have had no time to even mourn the loss of an important, very important human being, kneeling before a rude and disrespectful hater who didn't have to wear the mask of an emperor.
As he watched, Subaru also exhaled long, long, deep, deep breaths--,
"--I'm sorry."
Yes, as a comrade who continues to fight against an unreasonable fate, he conveyed words that will never be comforting to a comrade who has fought hard and been wounded.
△▼△▼△▼△
As he punched Abel, who was about to leave, Subaru's mind was filled with memories of Otto, who had once punched him in the same way.
"You're amazing. I can't do it as smartly as you. ......I'm never going to tell him that."
He definitely doesn't want to tell him in person because of the annoyance and embarrassment.
Someday, when Otto dies in his lifetime, he would even consider telling him at his bedside, "I actually thought you were awesome." If he really does it, even if it's at the end of his life, he has faith that he'll say, "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
In any case--,
"----"
Sitting on the ground with his back against the wall of the room, Abel is hugging one knee and gazing into the dimly lit room.
Subaru, too, was sitting huddled next to him, chewing the silence in a daze.
At the beginning, Subaru's gratitude and toying with Otto are unmistakably his true feelings.
Whenever, when Subaru was about to be crushed by everything on his own, Otto would punch him in the side and give him the words he needed.
He told him that he wasn't dressed up like a bore against a friend. --That experience gave Subaru the courage to bounce the bedsprings.
It's more likely--,
"You and I are not friends, but..."
"--. Of course. Don't talk horribly. I don't need to be friends with you...... well, I don't need friends. I don't want any."
"You mean the argument that it's not that you can't make friends, it's just that you don't make any? I used to do that when I was pretending to be a loner, but it's obvious to everyone around me."
"Your disrespect knows no bounds."
Sitting next to each other, without turning toward each other, Subaru and Abel exchange words.
There is no longer any heat of a struggle or a scuffle, but neither is there any good manners to break off the conversation mid-sentence and walk away.
Subaru's face, clothes, hands, and everywhere else are covered in blood.
Of course, Abel was also covered in blood all over his face, hair, and clothes.
Inside the room, the sheets were stained with blood and knives were lying on the floor. Spattered blood made smudges here and there, and there were signs of vandalism and bloodstains in various places.
Not enough blood to be called a murder scene, but good enough looking for a crime scene.
"But you can't break a single room in a riot. That's the limit of you and me as individuals."
Even if Subaru and Abel went on a rampage without restraint, they would break equipment at best.
If the really bad guys in this world went on a rampage, this room would be destroyed without a trace in the blink of an eye. He wonders how long it would take Emilia to smash this room to bits with her pretty face and pretty hands.
"Me and you going at it isn't going to be pretty or anything."
"......What the hell is your problem?"
"I'll tell you what, you're the one who's got a problem. I'm telling you, you're so scatterbrained that I can't sense what you want to talk about."
"----"
Abel shuts down and thinks silently.
The reason he kept his mouth shut was probably because he was aware of how scattered the topics were. He closed his ears to his true feelings and chose only the topics that were comfortable and easy to listen to, and as a result, he was distracted and nothing of substance was discussed.
That was the essence of what Abel had just said, and it was his own fault, of which he was aware.
From there, Subaru waits to see how he will recover--,
"Natsuki Subaru, is it true that you are not a 'stargazer'?"
"......It's true. I'm not a 'stargazer'. That's more like witchcraft than me. They and I don't get along."
"I have heard that two Archbishops were dropped in Lugnica."
"This is private, but there's three of them. 'Gluttony' and...... No, it's hard to say if I've beaten 'Gluttony' or not, so forget it. And Louis is also...... ah!"
"What?"
"You didn't do anything to Louis, did you? I never forgave you for what you did when you said you were going to kill her."
It was Abel's firm attitude toward Louis that prompted Subaru to separate from Abel and his group in the magical city of Chaos Flame.
When he revealed the fact that she was a Sin Archbishop, Abel said he would not forgive her.
For this reason, Subaru was separated from Abel and the others, and he and Louis went to Yorna's castle in a solitary state--,
"After all this time, I still haven't forgiven her."
"Nonsense. You're the one who hates her."
"Before was before, now is now. In the first place, if you keep dragging out my first impression of you, I'm going to question your sanity when I find out about the members I'm getting along with, pal."
"I doubted your sanity in the village of Shudrak. --There is no need to be concerned."
"Yeah?"
"I did not harm the girl. I did not mean to say, even there, that we should immediately execute the person we thought was the Sin Archbishop."
"Wha......"
"You are making a hasty decision. Try to save yourself."
Subaru is exclaiming when he is told that it was an unnecessary precaution. But even if this were true, the reason why Subaru was so quick to judge is because of the blandness and ruthlessness of Abel's attitude.
The accumulation of Abel's attitude up to that point led to the mistrust of that place.
"That was a problem with your attitude......"
"I needed it. I needed to make sure you wouldn't think I wanted to live."
"----"
"It's all based on the assumption that you are a 'stargazer'. You continue to achieve unprecedented results in the kingdom, and you are able to do what no one else can do."
"That's......"
"I didn't have to go out of my way to impress you. Even without acting, you are the kind of person I hate the most. Disgust and contempt flowed from my heart."
"You - son - of - a - bitch......!"
Subaru's forehead is covered with a blue streak at Abel's words, whether they are false or true, good or evil.
However, just as Subaru was walking on thin ice while exploring his relationship with Abel, Abel was walking a tightrope with Subaru in his mind.
With Subaru on the ice and Abel walking on a tightrope, such a relationship does not work.
They are both only looking at their own feet and not at the other's face.
"......I don't know who this Chisha guy is. He kicked you off the throne and pretended to be you and pretended to be the emperor. He just came across you in the Chaos Flame as the emperor."
"----"
"I don't know what he was thinking or what he was up to when he kicked you out of the castle. But I do know that you felt such regret that that man died, and that he died in your place when he really should have died. So......"
Subaru falters and says what he thinks as he thinks it.
It was an unspoken agreement that they would not face each other, so Subaru could not see Abel's expression while talking about it. That was what scared him.
He is the one whom that Abel regrets losing so much that he can't maintain equilibrium in his mind.
He also thinks that this may be too much of a statement to be made by Subaru, who knows nothing about the man, and who is too far into his heart to speak about him.
But he thinks.
Even though it may not be a very long time, Subaru, who has been pushed around a lot by this man who calls himself Abel, and has even been involved in a situation where the very existence of a country is at stake, thinks.
"This Chisha guy is awesome."
He looked up and saw a bright voice, maybe out of place, but bright.
It was not a forced attempt to lighten the mood, but rather a sincere admiration that overflowed from Subaru.
How many, in fact? How many people, in fact, are there who can successfully accomplish what they set out to do, defying the wishes of the man who has been called the wisest emperor since the beginning of the Vollachia Empire, a man who shapes everything in his own mind and makes it happen the way he wants it to happen?
He would think that is more than enough praise.
On top of that, even what's left of Abel is depressed, though he's not sure if that's what he had in mind.
"You said it wouldn't have made much difference who was left, you or that person. If that's true, then that person had one reason for creating this situation."
"......You bitch."
Subaru speaks as he thinks, and Abel, without looking at him, makes a low voice.
The tone of his voice, which was neither angry nor not angry, was not a denunciation of Subaru, who spoke knowingly,
"Are you saying you know about this? Do you know why Chisha conspired against me?"
Yes, it was meant to prompt Subaru to speak the conclusion he came up with.
"----"
Abel wants answers.
An answer that even Abel's clever mind cannot play out. He expects it even if he doesn't expect it, such as coming from the mouth of Subaru, who doesn't know who Chisha is.
He can't help but think of that expectation as pressure,
"I don't care what you think of me, it's too late now."
Once he reopened himself to that, there was no reason to hesitate to speak as he wished here.
Subaru's thoughts on why Chisha left Abel instead of himself.
It is--,
"I was pissed off at fate trying to kill you and you giving up on fate."
"--Huh"
"There is a pattern of this 'I wanted you to live even if I died'. But I don't think so. Because you don't live your life in a way that people would think that much of you."
Even if he dies, he can understand why he would want that person to live.
However, in order to have such feelings, one must have a reason to care about the other person and be made to feel that way.
It is hard to believe that Abel, who was prepared for his own death, which would eventually come, and struggled to hold his ground for what would follow, would be thought of in such a way.
So Subaru's answer is yes.
"Chisha was pissed off at you. So I proved it."
"Proof? What do you...... think I'm stupid for thinking you can conspire against me?"
"You're a smart ass, Mr. Flop and Miss Mizelda probably realize that. It's the length of your hand that's the...... difference between destiny and fate."
"Destiny......"
For the first time, as if he were saying the word, Abel muttered it in the style of rolling something unfamiliar on his tongue.
In fact, for Abel, who has faced all things head-on and continued to resist with his own agendas, all obstacles are verbalizable, and he may not have been aware that he was dealing with something as formless and tremendous as "fate".
But undeniably, the enemy that Abel had unknowingly conceded defeat to is fate.
At the same time, Chisha used his own life to prove it by keeping Abel alive.
"You can fight your destiny. --There is no reason to give up."
"----"
Gasping slightly, Abel was silent, as if struck to the gut by the words he had been told.
If he didn't think his enemy was 'destiny', he would never have thought he could fight it or resist it. He would never have considered it.
But what if he knew exactly who the 'enemy' is?
What will the wise emperor since the beginning of the Vollachia Empire do when he finds out the identity of his 'enemy'?
"--Abel, I'm not a 'stargazer.'
"----"
"But--"
Next to the silent Abel, Subaru tells him while placing his hand on his crossed knees.
Asked, denied, and asked again. Deny, be asked, and deny again.
Even though he could neither explain nor prove his authority of "return by death", Subaru had also made up his mind in this question and answer.
It was also an answer to Todd Fang, the man from whom he had been separated, who had been beaten down but had never been able to mount a clear counterattack.
"I'll try to save as many as I can, as long as I can reach them. But really, if there are lives that I still can't scoop up, that's......"
"......Isn't that a defeat to fate?"
"--. I can't win it all. Because I'm not the only one fighting fate."
He has not been able to save everything.
And he cannot be assured that Subaru will continue to save everything.
While boasting that fate is good, and vowing to continue fighting fate, Natsuki Subaru still regrets and grieves for the lives that will be lost, and continues to say, "Fate is good."
And so to reduce the opportunities for frustration and tears--.
"Give me your power, Abel, and I'll give you mine. Then I'll lend you my power, too."
"----"
"I'm going to cooperate fully from here on out! ......is what I can't say without consulting Emilia and the others, but I'm enthusiastic about it. So."
As he said this, Subaru slapped his knee hard and stood up on the spot.
Then, without looking at Abel's face, he slowly made his way through the room to the side of the bunk. With his bloodied and disheveled sheets by his side, Subaru reached for the fruit basket.
There was an Appa that Abel had broken in two and left there. The white cross section was turning brown from exposure to the air, but he picked it up regardless.
And then--,
"I'll help you eat up that Appa you broke in two."
He tosses one of the broken Appas to Abel and bites into the remaining one.
With a pleasant sound and the slowly spreading sweet juice in his mouth, Subaru looked at Abel's face, who was sitting on the floor.
Abel received the thrown Appa, looked down at it, and after a slight hesitation, bit into it.
The same pleasant sound and sweet and sour taste would have spread to his mouth.
Like it or dislike it, hate it or love it, it has nothing to do with its taste.
There was no difference in the taste of the Appa they shared with other living things.
"Natsuki Subaru."
"What?"
"I don't like you."
"Ngah"
"--But I need your help."
After telling him this, Abel slowly stood up in his place. Holding the gnawed, uneaten Appa in his hand, Abel looked at Subaru with his dark eyes.
All of the out-of-character emotional color he showed in this room was once again hidden behind his self-consciousness as emperor, but with just a hint of it in his eyes and voice,
"I apologize for my many insults. Knight of the Kingdom."
Yes, Subaru laughed as he saw the emperor of the Holy Vollachia Empire bow his head.
Laughing and taking a bite of the rest of the Appa,
"I do not apologize for my many disrespects, Emperor of the Empire."
It was then that they took a step toward correcting some of the misunderstandings in a relationship that had been wrong from the beginning.
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