Arc 8: Vincent Vollachia
Arc 8, Chapter 8 "Future Prospects"
--When the "Cloud Dragon" flew into the Imperial City, leaving Madelyn behind, Emilia lagged behind Cecilus, who followed him, and decided to hide herself in the city as well.
"Hey, there! Take this child and stand back! I've frozen his arms and legs so he won't get out of control, so carry him carefully!"
In doing so, she remembered to entrust Madelyn, who was frozen half white, to the rebels who were watching her.
The iced Madelyn didn't seem to wake up, and in case you're wondering, she froze her limbs hard, so there should be minimal worry about her getting roughed up in the main camp.
"......That's kind of reaaaally disgusting."
After depositing Madelyn, Emilia makes an ice staircase to climb over the city walls, and she has a bad feeling about the atmosphere prevailing in the Imperial City.
The air itself should not change between inside and outside the walls, but there is definitely a tingling sensation on the skin that tries to cower Emilia's heart.
But she couldn't let the tingling of her heart stop me from backing down.
"Mezoreia and Cecilus have gone to the castle."
"Emilia's battle with Mezoreia would have ended in a complete defeat if Cecilus had not stepped in between them. Thanks to Cecilus, Emilia has been left with a lot of energy, but she is still feeling remorseful about the fact that she was almost beaten."
"I had to beg everyone to let me come to Vollachia."
Of course, they were all worried about Subaru and Rem who were sent away. If they said something like that now, no one would say it was only Emilia's fault.
Still, Emilia had a responsibility as the most important person in the camp.
Emilia must be aware of the greatness of Roswaal, who is behind her, and of the different quality of greatness. The greatness of everyone working hard to make Emilia's wishes come true.
That's why--,
"I have to work harder at what I said I could do."
After climbing over the high, high walls and entering the city, the streets of the Imperial Capital finally come into view.
The atmosphere was quite different from that of the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Lugnica, but even so, Emilia's eyes could sense the orderly and beautiful array of buildings and the well-thought-out functional aspects of the city's development, as it is the capital of a large country.
She is sure that the emperor of the empire has envisioned a solid future plan and has worked very hard to improve this city and country.
"You try so hard, but you still end up like this......"
The impression one gets from the streets of the Imperial City, however, is so different from the actual situation.
Whatever the emperor's feelings about the running of the empire, the answer given by some of the imperial people is this rebellion, and Emilia is on the side of encouraging it.
Emilia did not give her consent without thinking, but rather, after listening and discussing the situation with her friends, she decided to go ahead with the project.
Of course, she thought it would be best if they could seize the emperor's life and negotiate with Abel, etc., instead of taking the emperor's life, as many of the rebels wanted.
However, Emilia's hopes and wishes were betrayed in a way she had never imagined. --By a change in the Imperial Capital.
"......What?"
In the distance, by the gleaming castle at the far end of the Imperial City--a building called the Crystal Palace, we see an incredibly large figure collide with a "Cloud Dragon" that has taken off from the battlefield.
The clash between the big ones and the big ones took the danger of the imperial siege up a notch or two, but it was something else that surprised me even more.
--At the foot of the Crystal Palace, where fierce battles are being fought, here and there in the streets of the Imperial City, pale-faced things are rushing out to attack people who are fleeing.
"Oh no......"
A chill ran up Emilia's spine the moment she saw its presence.
It was not brought about by a mere physiological aversion, but perhaps Emilia's nature as a spiritist emanated a rejection of them.
A spirit is a natural thing, an entity that arises because it is desired by the world.
In contrast, Emilia intuited that those things that caused the chills were unnatural and impure things that the world did not recognize as existing.
At the same time, the civil war in the empire, which had been a bitter and sad battle between people, was at that point transformed into a fierce struggle for survival between people and non-human things.
"----"
The moment she intuits this, the meaning of the battlefield changes in Emilia's mind.
To keep more alive, Emilia lifted her arms to do what was necessary and created ice stairs at random, within reach of the star-shaped walls surrounding the Imperial City.
Increase the number of escape routes by changing the situation from one in which access is only possible through castle gates to one in which access is possible through non-gateways.
"Everyone! Run to the wall! You don't have to go to the gate, you can still get out of there!"
Emilia descends from the city walls to the city center, calling out in a loud voice.
Immediately, a pale being appeared as if growing up from the ground and reached out to Emilia. Emilia mercilessly struck it down with a sword blow of ice.
"I'm sure you guys have your purposes too......"
Emilia cannot be persuaded to sit down for dialogue in a mature manner when she is seen attacking others without question.
The ones standing in their way are all dressed in the military gear of imperial soldiers, and when they are hit by Emilia's rushing attack, their bodies shatter and fall over as if they were pottery. However, their broken bodies immediately begin to stick together, and they return to their original state, unable to be fully defeated.
"Then I guess--"
Emilia was bold enough not to back down at this point, saying that the odds were against her.
Against an opponent who gets up even after being shattered, Emilia steered her sword blows in the direction of icing the opponent with sword blows, rather than smashing him with them.
"Tyah! Tah! Uryah uryah uryahh!"
Against the one, two, three, four rising "enemies", Emilia attacks by kicking walls, kicking the ground, flying around scaffolding the streets of the Imperial Capital.
An "enemy" that is attacked by Emilia and has its crushed parts iced over will, as expected, not be able to repair its wounds to their original state. However, some "enemies" will destroy the iced parts themselves and overwrite them with regeneration.
"Then I'll have them retract that approach!"
If the opponent responds, Emilia further exceeds their response.
If freezing a part of the body doesn't work, then attack the "enemy" by freezing the whole body. Of course, the power used against one "enemy" will be greater, but that is not an option.
The missing effort is filled with energy and motivation, and Emilia attacks the streets of the area.
"Go, quick! Now you won't get in my way, so run away, run away!"
The streets that she had conquered were plainly iced over, and Emilia led the way for the people of the Imperial City who were slow to flee. Meanwhile, Emilia ran in the opposite direction of those running toward the city walls and hitched a ride deeper into the city.
"Someone is doing evil like this......!"
The "enemies" that appear one after another are caused in a way that defies natural phenomena.
In other words, like magic or witchcraft, someone's will is involved in what is happening. If there is a surgeon there, he or she must be stopped to achieve a fundamental solution.
There is a limit to the extent to which Emilia can freeze.
Fortunately, Emilia, who has an inordinately large store of mana, was still able to move, but she was indeed beginning to feel fatigue as she fought against Madelyn, Mezoreia, and the stairway to the inside and outside of the city walls that had just been built, as well as the "enemies" that kept appearing.
"I'm a little more energetic than most people......"
Emilia runs up and down the streets of the Imperial City, feeling pitiful at her own lack of strength.
If she aims straight for the Crystal Palace, she can move faster, but she has to protect people who are being attacked by "enemies" along the way. While helping them, this is the limit of her speed.
While she was thinking about this, she saw another group of people struggling to avoid detection by the "enemies" on the street--,
"Make way now!"
Four "enemies" who might be in the way of the group going out into the street, leapt from the roof of the building the moment it turned away, and before they could turn around to notice Emilia, who had landed, an ice-blade flash--.
"----"
The pale, glistening ice sword cleaves the atmosphere, turning the four "enemies" who are hit by the slash into ice statues.
The "enemies" freeze with a look of surprise on their faces, and after seeing that it was frozen solid, Emilia returns the ice sword in her hand to the mana and turns around to the shadows of the street.
"I'm fine now! Just keep the ice as a landmark for me down the road and I'll be out there!"
"T-thank you. You saved me."
Emilia called out to him, and he responded from beyond the shadows.
Emilia raises her hand in thanks and thinks about resuming the central going again once the people who are getting out of there can cross the street without difficulty.
That's what she thought--,
"Woah, that's a lot of kids......"
Rolling her eyes, Emilia's vision, a group of nearly twenty people slipped out of the shadows of the street. Moreover, most of them were children, only about ten years old, all with dark hair.
Emilia blinks her eyes at this very unusual group, as black hair itself is rare.
She was led to believe that this was not the case, as many of the children did not all have similar facial features for their families.
Then one of the few adults in the group waved to Emilia,
"Hey, hey, you've really saved us! We had our hands full running and hiding. I was trying to decide if I should take the bait somehow or other."
"Is that so? Then I'm glad you didn't. You all should be fine from here on out, so don't be in a hurry and pull together."
"I understand. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, sweetheart! Well, ma'am! Miss Katya!"
"D-don't call me loud...... you don't want those guys coming back......"
A blonde-haired young man laughed cheerfully, and it was the woman at the end of the line who answered his call. Emilia was slightly surprised to see the wheelchair she was riding in, her eyes low to the ground.
"I've never seen anything like it, except Subaru made it."
Wheelchairs are useful for transporting a person with a limp, but tools like that are not often seen. Emilia knows about them because she saw the actual ones that Subaru took the trouble to design and assemble for the girl who keeps sleeping.
That wheelchair, too, is now being placed at the Roswaal mansion, now that Subaru and Rem have been sent away--,
"Miss Katya, please don't be so angry. ......I understand your anxiety about being separated from your fiancée."
"I-I won't say anything extra! You've always been concerned about those little guys, too...... Don't just tell me that."
"I didn't mean it that way."
Said Emilia, whose eyes were so focused on the woman in the wheelchair, was too late to catch sight of her opponent, who was standing behind the woman and pushing the wheelchair.
Holding the rear handle of the wheelchair and pushing the chair is a girl with blue hair--,
"--Rem?"
"----"
Unexpectedly, Emilia's lips spun the sound, and her eyes met the girl who looked up with a huff.
Emilia looked closely at the girl's face as she rolled her eyes and looked back at her. The girl, whom she saw for the first time with her eyelids open, looked exactly like the girl Emilia knew well.
That's also true, because she'd heard that she and the girl are twins. --From none other than Emilia's trusty knight.
"You know me?"
Frowning, the girl--Rem looks at Emilia quizzically.
Emilia gasped at the question of the girl with one hand on her chest. Sandwiched between the two exchanges, the woman in the wheelchair takes turns looking at Emilia and Rem, their faces.
And,
"D-do I know you again? How many times have they been looking for you...... wah!"
"Rem!"
Emilia jumped over the head of the woman, who was mumbling something with a reluctant look on her face, and closed the distance with a big step, then took Rem's hand as it was.
Emilia's move made Rem roll her eyes, but there was no time to take her surprise into consideration, and Emilia kept her hand in his grasp, her eyes moistening at the sight of Rem right in front of her.
"She's awake...... Rem is awake! That's great! Oh my God! Quick, we have to let Ram and Subaru know!"
"W-wait a minute, who the hell are you......"
"Uh, Ram called and said she'd meet us outside, I think? Come on! Subaru is lost at a time like this, so...... uh, uh......"
"Listen to me!"
Emilia's head was spinning with surprise, but it was Rem who interrupted her.
She stared at Emilia angrily, still holding Emilia's hand,
"Are you one of those people who knew me before...... when I was Rem?"
"Oh, no, that's a little difficult. I don't remember when you were awake either. So this is weird, but it's kind of nice to meet you."
"I-I don't understand......"
"Um, I'm not sure if I can speak properly because I'm not very good at explaining things......"
Emilia feels sorry and thinks about what to say to Rem, who looks puzzled.
It is a great pleasure to be able to talk with Rem awake like this, but to Emilia, she is Ram's sister, the child who had been asleep for more than a year. Moreover, she was a child who had been deprived of her "memories" of her waking days by the power of the Sin Archbishop of "Gluttony".
Emilia herself does not really feel that her "memories" with Rem has been taken away, other than believing that it must be true, because of Subaru's story and her resemblance to Ram.
However, there are things we know from Rem's story and Emilia's own.
It is--,
"Could Rem possibly not remember what happened before she woke up?"
"......Well, I'm not really feeling the expression "before and after" it happened, but yes."
"......I see. I knew it."
There was a hope that perhaps the awakened Rem would have proper "memories" of the time spent with Emilia and the others, and that her mouth might reveal their previous relationship.
Unfortunately, that expectation was deemed unfulfilled, though,
"But you don't have to worry about anything. You may be worried because you don't know everything, but I will help you, and Ram and Subaru will be there for you!"
"--. What are you to me?"
"I think if I were to say just our relationship, I would say that we are customer and maid. But I don't think that's the only relationship I have with Ram, so you want to have more than that with Rem as well."
"----"
"We lend each other our strength when we are in trouble, we think together when we are troubled, and we bump into each other next to each other when things are difficult...... Is that a poor description of the kind of relationship we have?"
When asked who she is to Rem, Emilia is not sure.
Because the relationship with her is broken down to zero and has to be reassembled from there. So, she just tells her how she wants to reassemble it.
"I want to be friends with Rem. And I want to us to work hard together."
That was Emilia's untrue idea, her vision of the future.
"----"
Hearing Emilia's answer, Rem opens and closes her lips several times while rolling her eyes.
But her thoughts didn't easily become words, and her lips kept opening and closing. As it was, a frustrating time was about to pass, but--,
"Ma'am, I don't think she's on your side."
"Flop......"
"I've met many people as a merchant, but there is no one I can say things to as straight forwardly as this. I am sure you can trust her."
It was a blonde-haired young man called Flop who said this to Rem, who clammed up.
At his bright and cheerful affirmation, Rem raised her eyebrows and then looked at Emilia again. Emilia takes her gaze in stride.
Emilia's attitude made Rem let out a small sigh,
"......I'm sure I know that you are someone who knows me, and that you have no ill will."
Emilia felt choked up when she hesitantly said so. Emilia's eyes widened, and Rem's pale blue eyes narrowed slightly,
"Um, you mentioned the name Subaru earlier......"
"Huh? Yes, I did. Subaru is a child who is very worried about you, and he will always take good care of you......"
"--. If that's true."
Emilia's eyes downcast at her answer, Rem's gaze glanced toward the end of the alley--the direction from which Rem and her group had just emerged. It was not strictly a glance into the alley, but more like a glance back along the path they had just taken.
Emilia thought about what it might mean, and then she was forward with a "maybe",
"You were with Subaru? Is Subaru okay? Are you sure he's not doing anything reckless?"
"I see that's your perception, too. That he is often reckless."
"Hmm, yes. He's a troubled kid...... Oh! Speaking of which..."
"What is it?"
"My name is Emilia, just Emilia. If you've forgotten, you should start by introducing yourself."
Emilia may remember Rem's name, but Rem doesn't know Emilia, and if she doesn't tell him that, she won't be able to call her by name for any length of time.
After hearing Emilia's name, Rem looked at her lightly,
"Emilia......"
"Yeah, that's right. So, Rem, about Subaru, is he over there?"
"I'm pretty sure he's over there......."
Then, seeing Rem's words slur her words and her expression slightly clouded, Emilia raised her eyebrows in disgust.
Looking at the state of this Imperial City and the fact that the children are traveling alone with Rem, Flop, and the girl in the wheelchair, Subaru is not very Subaru-like in moving separately from here.
Still, the fact that Subaru is going to separate from Rem and the others is--,
"Well, he's being reckless again...... I've got to get to him!"
"The fact that he's immediately pinging me means he's that kind of person after all......"
"Really? Subaru has a tendency to act cool, so I was always worried."
"I knew he was that kind of person......"
Emilia's critique of Subaru, every single time, Rem nodded in an agreeable manner.
Emilia is happy to exchange words with Rem like this, but the urgency of the situation does not allow for lengthy chats.
What makes this feeling even more urgent is--,
"--huh? W-what?! What happened?!"
Suddenly, a rather loud explosion echoes in the distance, and the woman in the wheelchair, her shoulders bouncing at the sound, looks around with a wry smile.
It was difficult to see from her angle, but from Emilia's position, she could see a red pillar of fire rising in the far side of the Imperial City, and a belated trail of black smoke.
It's a very big explosion.
The atmosphere is not noisy, so she feels that it was not an explosion caused by magic. It may have been ignited by a fire magic stone or something similar.
"Over there......"
"Perhaps, where Subaru is?"
"--. Yes."
Looking in the direction of the explosion, the choked-up Rem nodded to Emilia's words.
Emilia immediately felt that the explosion had something to do with Subaru. She wants to rush over there right now and join Subaru.
But it was also very difficult to leave Rem here alone, considering the feelings of Ram and Subaru, and Emilia was almost in a state of flux, wanting to do this and that.
"...... Oh, you're... going to that explosion? If so, then take her with you. She'll be useful."
"Huh?"
Miss Katya?"
Emilia's confusion was brought to an end by a woman in a wheelchair-- Katya, who was extremely startled by the sound of the explosion.
She was frightened, repeatedly making eye contact with Emilia and looking away,
"See, you can use magic to heal wounds. If you have it, you should be okay even if they are a little reckless. Besides...... you've been glancing at me the whole time."
"......I think it's Miss Katya who's concerned about this."
"It's okay on my part! T-Todd, you see, that guy is a living dirtbag. He's bound to come back with an unruffled look on his face anyway, no matter what. But then again, not every kid you know is as tough as Todd."
"But......"
Katya's faltering speech, while brusque, was thoughtful of Rem's feelings. This is probably because that thoughtfulness is conveyed properly.
Rem was unable to nod her head at Katya's words, but in response to Rem's simmering state of uncertainty, Katya raised her voice and yelled, "Just do it!"
"From here on out, he's already...... seen to it that you've done something about it. This...... what, you, with your silver hair and long ears, is bad luck."
"Oh, don't look at me now because I might embarrass you if I talk about it."
If they find out that Emilia is a half-elf, she might scare them away, even in the empire, so she covers both ears with her hands so that they can forget about it.
While wondering about Emilia's reaction, Katya looked at Rem again,
"If it's me, you worry too much. I'll have the nice, raggedy guy over there take you. You do what you want to do, and do it right......"
"----"
"I-I'll tell you what, just see if Todd's guy screwed up. That's all I'm going to say! Come on, don't be shy......"
As she says this, Katya turns the wheel of the wheelchair by herself and moves away from Rem. At Katya's decision to leave her own hand, Rem let out a small "ah" and lowered her eyes.
But once she closes her eyes tightly,
"Flop, may I leave Miss Katya in your capable hands?"
"Ah, she's in good hands now! Let's get over this last hurdle with the fake crown prince who has been working so hard with us."
"Yes. --Miss Katya, thank you very much."
Rem bowed deeply to Flop who tapped his chest and undertook the project. Then, after one last thank-you, Katya turned away with a "hmph" as her cheeks reddened.
Emilia also lowers the corners of her eyes at this smiling exchange between Rem and Katya.
"I'd like to know what you've been up to today. I, Ram, Subaru, and everyone wants to hear it reaaaally badly."
"I don't even think it's going to be an interesting story, but...... okay."
Emilia holds out her hand, and Rem hesitates slightly before grasping it back.
Emilia smiles at the touch and then gently pulls her hand from his grasp. Unexpectedly, Rem, rolling her eyes, pinched her and jumped into Emilia's chest.
As it was, Emilia picked up Rem's body and said, "Alright",
"I'm sorry. I can't slow down, let me carry you a little faster!"
"Y-you're powerful."
"Yeah, I know. --Take care, everyone! See you later!"
With Rem in her arms, Emilia called out to Katya and Flop and the others around her, and then she leapt to the roof of the building, saying "Yah!"
"Ma'am! Miss Emilia! You take care of yourself!"
"C-come back properly......"
With that cheer, Emilia looks down at Rem in her arms,
"Hold on tight. I'm running a little fast!"
"--. What kind of relationship did you and I have before?"
Rem mumbled as if squeezing out while clinging tightly to her. Emilia did not have a clear answer to reply to those words, though,
"That's what I'm trying to find out about you!"
She said so strongly, and with Rem in her arms, she started running again toward the back of the Imperial City.
As it was, Emilia kept running, running, and running, with the feeling of Rem's arms clinging to her, scratching her tightly, and then--.
"--That's enough."
--The reunion was fulfilled when they arrived at that moment.
Arc 8, Chapter 8 "Future Prospects"
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--When the "Cloud Dragon" flew into the Imperial City, leaving Madelyn behind, Emilia lagged behind Cecilus, who followed him, and decided to hide herself in the city as well.
"Hey, there! Take this child and stand back! I've frozen his arms and legs so he won't get out of control, so carry him carefully!"
In doing so, she remembered to entrust Madelyn, who was frozen half white, to the rebels who were watching her.
The iced Madelyn didn't seem to wake up, and in case you're wondering, she froze her limbs hard, so there should be minimal worry about her getting roughed up in the main camp.
"......That's kind of reaaaally disgusting."
After depositing Madelyn, Emilia makes an ice staircase to climb over the city walls, and she has a bad feeling about the atmosphere prevailing in the Imperial City.
The air itself should not change between inside and outside the walls, but there is definitely a tingling sensation on the skin that tries to cower Emilia's heart.
But she couldn't let the tingling of her heart stop me from backing down.
"Mezoreia and Cecilus have gone to the castle."
"Emilia's battle with Mezoreia would have ended in a complete defeat if Cecilus had not stepped in between them. Thanks to Cecilus, Emilia has been left with a lot of energy, but she is still feeling remorseful about the fact that she was almost beaten."
"I had to beg everyone to let me come to Vollachia."
Of course, they were all worried about Subaru and Rem who were sent away. If they said something like that now, no one would say it was only Emilia's fault.
Still, Emilia had a responsibility as the most important person in the camp.
Emilia must be aware of the greatness of Roswaal, who is behind her, and of the different quality of greatness. The greatness of everyone working hard to make Emilia's wishes come true.
That's why--,
"I have to work harder at what I said I could do."
After climbing over the high, high walls and entering the city, the streets of the Imperial Capital finally come into view.
The atmosphere was quite different from that of the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Lugnica, but even so, Emilia's eyes could sense the orderly and beautiful array of buildings and the well-thought-out functional aspects of the city's development, as it is the capital of a large country.
She is sure that the emperor of the empire has envisioned a solid future plan and has worked very hard to improve this city and country.
"You try so hard, but you still end up like this......"
The impression one gets from the streets of the Imperial City, however, is so different from the actual situation.
Whatever the emperor's feelings about the running of the empire, the answer given by some of the imperial people is this rebellion, and Emilia is on the side of encouraging it.
Emilia did not give her consent without thinking, but rather, after listening and discussing the situation with her friends, she decided to go ahead with the project.
Of course, she thought it would be best if they could seize the emperor's life and negotiate with Abel, etc., instead of taking the emperor's life, as many of the rebels wanted.
However, Emilia's hopes and wishes were betrayed in a way she had never imagined. --By a change in the Imperial Capital.
"......What?"
In the distance, by the gleaming castle at the far end of the Imperial City--a building called the Crystal Palace, we see an incredibly large figure collide with a "Cloud Dragon" that has taken off from the battlefield.
The clash between the big ones and the big ones took the danger of the imperial siege up a notch or two, but it was something else that surprised me even more.
--At the foot of the Crystal Palace, where fierce battles are being fought, here and there in the streets of the Imperial City, pale-faced things are rushing out to attack people who are fleeing.
"Oh no......"
A chill ran up Emilia's spine the moment she saw its presence.
It was not brought about by a mere physiological aversion, but perhaps Emilia's nature as a spiritist emanated a rejection of them.
A spirit is a natural thing, an entity that arises because it is desired by the world.
In contrast, Emilia intuited that those things that caused the chills were unnatural and impure things that the world did not recognize as existing.
At the same time, the civil war in the empire, which had been a bitter and sad battle between people, was at that point transformed into a fierce struggle for survival between people and non-human things.
"----"
The moment she intuits this, the meaning of the battlefield changes in Emilia's mind.
To keep more alive, Emilia lifted her arms to do what was necessary and created ice stairs at random, within reach of the star-shaped walls surrounding the Imperial City.
Increase the number of escape routes by changing the situation from one in which access is only possible through castle gates to one in which access is possible through non-gateways.
"Everyone! Run to the wall! You don't have to go to the gate, you can still get out of there!"
Emilia descends from the city walls to the city center, calling out in a loud voice.
Immediately, a pale being appeared as if growing up from the ground and reached out to Emilia. Emilia mercilessly struck it down with a sword blow of ice.
"I'm sure you guys have your purposes too......"
Emilia cannot be persuaded to sit down for dialogue in a mature manner when she is seen attacking others without question.
The ones standing in their way are all dressed in the military gear of imperial soldiers, and when they are hit by Emilia's rushing attack, their bodies shatter and fall over as if they were pottery. However, their broken bodies immediately begin to stick together, and they return to their original state, unable to be fully defeated.
"Then I guess--"
Emilia was bold enough not to back down at this point, saying that the odds were against her.
Against an opponent who gets up even after being shattered, Emilia steered her sword blows in the direction of icing the opponent with sword blows, rather than smashing him with them.
"Tyah! Tah! Uryah uryah uryahh!"
Against the one, two, three, four rising "enemies", Emilia attacks by kicking walls, kicking the ground, flying around scaffolding the streets of the Imperial Capital.
An "enemy" that is attacked by Emilia and has its crushed parts iced over will, as expected, not be able to repair its wounds to their original state. However, some "enemies" will destroy the iced parts themselves and overwrite them with regeneration.
"Then I'll have them retract that approach!"
If the opponent responds, Emilia further exceeds their response.
If freezing a part of the body doesn't work, then attack the "enemy" by freezing the whole body. Of course, the power used against one "enemy" will be greater, but that is not an option.
The missing effort is filled with energy and motivation, and Emilia attacks the streets of the area.
"Go, quick! Now you won't get in my way, so run away, run away!"
The streets that she had conquered were plainly iced over, and Emilia led the way for the people of the Imperial City who were slow to flee. Meanwhile, Emilia ran in the opposite direction of those running toward the city walls and hitched a ride deeper into the city.
"Someone is doing evil like this......!"
The "enemies" that appear one after another are caused in a way that defies natural phenomena.
In other words, like magic or witchcraft, someone's will is involved in what is happening. If there is a surgeon there, he or she must be stopped to achieve a fundamental solution.
There is a limit to the extent to which Emilia can freeze.
Fortunately, Emilia, who has an inordinately large store of mana, was still able to move, but she was indeed beginning to feel fatigue as she fought against Madelyn, Mezoreia, and the stairway to the inside and outside of the city walls that had just been built, as well as the "enemies" that kept appearing.
"I'm a little more energetic than most people......"
Emilia runs up and down the streets of the Imperial City, feeling pitiful at her own lack of strength.
If she aims straight for the Crystal Palace, she can move faster, but she has to protect people who are being attacked by "enemies" along the way. While helping them, this is the limit of her speed.
While she was thinking about this, she saw another group of people struggling to avoid detection by the "enemies" on the street--,
"Make way now!"
Four "enemies" who might be in the way of the group going out into the street, leapt from the roof of the building the moment it turned away, and before they could turn around to notice Emilia, who had landed, an ice-blade flash--.
"----"
The pale, glistening ice sword cleaves the atmosphere, turning the four "enemies" who are hit by the slash into ice statues.
The "enemies" freeze with a look of surprise on their faces, and after seeing that it was frozen solid, Emilia returns the ice sword in her hand to the mana and turns around to the shadows of the street.
"I'm fine now! Just keep the ice as a landmark for me down the road and I'll be out there!"
"T-thank you. You saved me."
Emilia called out to him, and he responded from beyond the shadows.
Emilia raises her hand in thanks and thinks about resuming the central going again once the people who are getting out of there can cross the street without difficulty.
That's what she thought--,
"Woah, that's a lot of kids......"
Rolling her eyes, Emilia's vision, a group of nearly twenty people slipped out of the shadows of the street. Moreover, most of them were children, only about ten years old, all with dark hair.
Emilia blinks her eyes at this very unusual group, as black hair itself is rare.
She was led to believe that this was not the case, as many of the children did not all have similar facial features for their families.
Then one of the few adults in the group waved to Emilia,
"Hey, hey, you've really saved us! We had our hands full running and hiding. I was trying to decide if I should take the bait somehow or other."
"Is that so? Then I'm glad you didn't. You all should be fine from here on out, so don't be in a hurry and pull together."
"I understand. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, sweetheart! Well, ma'am! Miss Katya!"
"D-don't call me loud...... you don't want those guys coming back......"
A blonde-haired young man laughed cheerfully, and it was the woman at the end of the line who answered his call. Emilia was slightly surprised to see the wheelchair she was riding in, her eyes low to the ground.
"I've never seen anything like it, except Subaru made it."
Wheelchairs are useful for transporting a person with a limp, but tools like that are not often seen. Emilia knows about them because she saw the actual ones that Subaru took the trouble to design and assemble for the girl who keeps sleeping.
That wheelchair, too, is now being placed at the Roswaal mansion, now that Subaru and Rem have been sent away--,
"Miss Katya, please don't be so angry. ......I understand your anxiety about being separated from your fiancée."
"I-I won't say anything extra! You've always been concerned about those little guys, too...... Don't just tell me that."
"I didn't mean it that way."
Said Emilia, whose eyes were so focused on the woman in the wheelchair, was too late to catch sight of her opponent, who was standing behind the woman and pushing the wheelchair.
Holding the rear handle of the wheelchair and pushing the chair is a girl with blue hair--,
"--Rem?"
"----"
Unexpectedly, Emilia's lips spun the sound, and her eyes met the girl who looked up with a huff.
Emilia looked closely at the girl's face as she rolled her eyes and looked back at her. The girl, whom she saw for the first time with her eyelids open, looked exactly like the girl Emilia knew well.
That's also true, because she'd heard that she and the girl are twins. --From none other than Emilia's trusty knight.
"You know me?"
Frowning, the girl--Rem looks at Emilia quizzically.
Emilia gasped at the question of the girl with one hand on her chest. Sandwiched between the two exchanges, the woman in the wheelchair takes turns looking at Emilia and Rem, their faces.
And,
"D-do I know you again? How many times have they been looking for you...... wah!"
"Rem!"
Emilia jumped over the head of the woman, who was mumbling something with a reluctant look on her face, and closed the distance with a big step, then took Rem's hand as it was.
Emilia's move made Rem roll her eyes, but there was no time to take her surprise into consideration, and Emilia kept her hand in his grasp, her eyes moistening at the sight of Rem right in front of her.
"She's awake...... Rem is awake! That's great! Oh my God! Quick, we have to let Ram and Subaru know!"
"W-wait a minute, who the hell are you......"
"Uh, Ram called and said she'd meet us outside, I think? Come on! Subaru is lost at a time like this, so...... uh, uh......"
"Listen to me!"
Emilia's head was spinning with surprise, but it was Rem who interrupted her.
She stared at Emilia angrily, still holding Emilia's hand,
"Are you one of those people who knew me before...... when I was Rem?"
"Oh, no, that's a little difficult. I don't remember when you were awake either. So this is weird, but it's kind of nice to meet you."
"I-I don't understand......"
"Um, I'm not sure if I can speak properly because I'm not very good at explaining things......"
Emilia feels sorry and thinks about what to say to Rem, who looks puzzled.
It is a great pleasure to be able to talk with Rem awake like this, but to Emilia, she is Ram's sister, the child who had been asleep for more than a year. Moreover, she was a child who had been deprived of her "memories" of her waking days by the power of the Sin Archbishop of "Gluttony".
Emilia herself does not really feel that her "memories" with Rem has been taken away, other than believing that it must be true, because of Subaru's story and her resemblance to Ram.
However, there are things we know from Rem's story and Emilia's own.
It is--,
"Could Rem possibly not remember what happened before she woke up?"
"......Well, I'm not really feeling the expression "before and after" it happened, but yes."
"......I see. I knew it."
There was a hope that perhaps the awakened Rem would have proper "memories" of the time spent with Emilia and the others, and that her mouth might reveal their previous relationship.
Unfortunately, that expectation was deemed unfulfilled, though,
"But you don't have to worry about anything. You may be worried because you don't know everything, but I will help you, and Ram and Subaru will be there for you!"
"--. What are you to me?"
"I think if I were to say just our relationship, I would say that we are customer and maid. But I don't think that's the only relationship I have with Ram, so you want to have more than that with Rem as well."
"----"
"We lend each other our strength when we are in trouble, we think together when we are troubled, and we bump into each other next to each other when things are difficult...... Is that a poor description of the kind of relationship we have?"
When asked who she is to Rem, Emilia is not sure.
Because the relationship with her is broken down to zero and has to be reassembled from there. So, she just tells her how she wants to reassemble it.
"I want to be friends with Rem. And I want to us to work hard together."
That was Emilia's untrue idea, her vision of the future.
"----"
Hearing Emilia's answer, Rem opens and closes her lips several times while rolling her eyes.
But her thoughts didn't easily become words, and her lips kept opening and closing. As it was, a frustrating time was about to pass, but--,
"Ma'am, I don't think she's on your side."
"Flop......"
"I've met many people as a merchant, but there is no one I can say things to as straight forwardly as this. I am sure you can trust her."
It was a blonde-haired young man called Flop who said this to Rem, who clammed up.
At his bright and cheerful affirmation, Rem raised her eyebrows and then looked at Emilia again. Emilia takes her gaze in stride.
Emilia's attitude made Rem let out a small sigh,
"......I'm sure I know that you are someone who knows me, and that you have no ill will."
Emilia felt choked up when she hesitantly said so. Emilia's eyes widened, and Rem's pale blue eyes narrowed slightly,
"Um, you mentioned the name Subaru earlier......"
"Huh? Yes, I did. Subaru is a child who is very worried about you, and he will always take good care of you......"
"--. If that's true."
Emilia's eyes downcast at her answer, Rem's gaze glanced toward the end of the alley--the direction from which Rem and her group had just emerged. It was not strictly a glance into the alley, but more like a glance back along the path they had just taken.
Emilia thought about what it might mean, and then she was forward with a "maybe",
"You were with Subaru? Is Subaru okay? Are you sure he's not doing anything reckless?"
"I see that's your perception, too. That he is often reckless."
"Hmm, yes. He's a troubled kid...... Oh! Speaking of which..."
"What is it?"
"My name is Emilia, just Emilia. If you've forgotten, you should start by introducing yourself."
Emilia may remember Rem's name, but Rem doesn't know Emilia, and if she doesn't tell him that, she won't be able to call her by name for any length of time.
After hearing Emilia's name, Rem looked at her lightly,
"Emilia......"
"Yeah, that's right. So, Rem, about Subaru, is he over there?"
"I'm pretty sure he's over there......."
Then, seeing Rem's words slur her words and her expression slightly clouded, Emilia raised her eyebrows in disgust.
Looking at the state of this Imperial City and the fact that the children are traveling alone with Rem, Flop, and the girl in the wheelchair, Subaru is not very Subaru-like in moving separately from here.
Still, the fact that Subaru is going to separate from Rem and the others is--,
"Well, he's being reckless again...... I've got to get to him!"
"The fact that he's immediately pinging me means he's that kind of person after all......"
"Really? Subaru has a tendency to act cool, so I was always worried."
"I knew he was that kind of person......"
Emilia's critique of Subaru, every single time, Rem nodded in an agreeable manner.
Emilia is happy to exchange words with Rem like this, but the urgency of the situation does not allow for lengthy chats.
What makes this feeling even more urgent is--,
"--huh? W-what?! What happened?!"
Suddenly, a rather loud explosion echoes in the distance, and the woman in the wheelchair, her shoulders bouncing at the sound, looks around with a wry smile.
It was difficult to see from her angle, but from Emilia's position, she could see a red pillar of fire rising in the far side of the Imperial City, and a belated trail of black smoke.
It's a very big explosion.
The atmosphere is not noisy, so she feels that it was not an explosion caused by magic. It may have been ignited by a fire magic stone or something similar.
"Over there......"
"Perhaps, where Subaru is?"
"--. Yes."
Looking in the direction of the explosion, the choked-up Rem nodded to Emilia's words.
Emilia immediately felt that the explosion had something to do with Subaru. She wants to rush over there right now and join Subaru.
But it was also very difficult to leave Rem here alone, considering the feelings of Ram and Subaru, and Emilia was almost in a state of flux, wanting to do this and that.
"...... Oh, you're... going to that explosion? If so, then take her with you. She'll be useful."
"Huh?"
Miss Katya?"
Emilia's confusion was brought to an end by a woman in a wheelchair-- Katya, who was extremely startled by the sound of the explosion.
She was frightened, repeatedly making eye contact with Emilia and looking away,
"See, you can use magic to heal wounds. If you have it, you should be okay even if they are a little reckless. Besides...... you've been glancing at me the whole time."
"......I think it's Miss Katya who's concerned about this."
"It's okay on my part! T-Todd, you see, that guy is a living dirtbag. He's bound to come back with an unruffled look on his face anyway, no matter what. But then again, not every kid you know is as tough as Todd."
"But......"
Katya's faltering speech, while brusque, was thoughtful of Rem's feelings. This is probably because that thoughtfulness is conveyed properly.
Rem was unable to nod her head at Katya's words, but in response to Rem's simmering state of uncertainty, Katya raised her voice and yelled, "Just do it!"
"From here on out, he's already...... seen to it that you've done something about it. This...... what, you, with your silver hair and long ears, is bad luck."
"Oh, don't look at me now because I might embarrass you if I talk about it."
If they find out that Emilia is a half-elf, she might scare them away, even in the empire, so she covers both ears with her hands so that they can forget about it.
While wondering about Emilia's reaction, Katya looked at Rem again,
"If it's me, you worry too much. I'll have the nice, raggedy guy over there take you. You do what you want to do, and do it right......"
"----"
"I-I'll tell you what, just see if Todd's guy screwed up. That's all I'm going to say! Come on, don't be shy......"
As she says this, Katya turns the wheel of the wheelchair by herself and moves away from Rem. At Katya's decision to leave her own hand, Rem let out a small "ah" and lowered her eyes.
But once she closes her eyes tightly,
"Flop, may I leave Miss Katya in your capable hands?"
"Ah, she's in good hands now! Let's get over this last hurdle with the fake crown prince who has been working so hard with us."
"Yes. --Miss Katya, thank you very much."
Rem bowed deeply to Flop who tapped his chest and undertook the project. Then, after one last thank-you, Katya turned away with a "hmph" as her cheeks reddened.
Emilia also lowers the corners of her eyes at this smiling exchange between Rem and Katya.
"I'd like to know what you've been up to today. I, Ram, Subaru, and everyone wants to hear it reaaaally badly."
"I don't even think it's going to be an interesting story, but...... okay."
Emilia holds out her hand, and Rem hesitates slightly before grasping it back.
Emilia smiles at the touch and then gently pulls her hand from his grasp. Unexpectedly, Rem, rolling her eyes, pinched her and jumped into Emilia's chest.
As it was, Emilia picked up Rem's body and said, "Alright",
"I'm sorry. I can't slow down, let me carry you a little faster!"
"Y-you're powerful."
"Yeah, I know. --Take care, everyone! See you later!"
With Rem in her arms, Emilia called out to Katya and Flop and the others around her, and then she leapt to the roof of the building, saying "Yah!"
"Ma'am! Miss Emilia! You take care of yourself!"
"C-come back properly......"
With that cheer, Emilia looks down at Rem in her arms,
"Hold on tight. I'm running a little fast!"
"--. What kind of relationship did you and I have before?"
Rem mumbled as if squeezing out while clinging tightly to her. Emilia did not have a clear answer to reply to those words, though,
"That's what I'm trying to find out about you!"
She said so strongly, and with Rem in her arms, she started running again toward the back of the Imperial City.
As it was, Emilia kept running, running, and running, with the feeling of Rem's arms clinging to her, scratching her tightly, and then--.
"--That's enough."
--The reunion was fulfilled when they arrived at that moment.
