Chapter 131: Come Back Alive
"Then I look forward to your great victory, and when the time comes, we will welcome you with the highest honors, Natsuki Subaru."
"Highest honors? Forget it, just hearing that makes me uncomfortable. If possible, let's keep things as usual."
Natsuki Subaru waved his hand to decline what Crusch had proposed. After all, he had already been living in Crusch's mansion for a while and had grown accustomed to the usual hospitality.
If things were to suddenly change now, it would feel strange.
After rejecting Crusch's proposal, Subaru shifted his gaze from Crusch to the massive head of the white whale behind her.
"Looking at it now, it still feels unreal. I just took a nap and when I woke up, the white whale was dead."
"Don't be so modest. The result is entirely thanks to your efforts. If it weren't for you, the outcome definitely wouldn't have been like this."
Crusch smiled as she looked at Subaru and those standing behind him.
"Then we'll head back to the royal capital first. But I'll be waiting there for your return, and when you do, we'll hold a grand celebration. After all, if the greatest contributor to the defeat of the white whale—you—isn't there, I imagine a lot of people wouldn't be happy about it."
"You're exaggerating, but... I'll look forward to it."
"I promise you won't be disappointed."
"Even if we just sit around a campfire drinking together, I won't be disappointed. Well then, this is where we say goodbye."
Hearing that, Crusch nodded and extended her hand. Seeing this, Subaru smiled and reached out his hand in return.
After Subaru and his group saw Crusch and her party off, Subaru turned to face those who had joined him to fight against the Witch Cult.
"Alright, let's begin our strategy meeting."
.
.
.
"I'll repeat once more. We don't know the exact number of Witch Cult members, but they're planning to act around noon today. Most of them aren't that strong, but they seem to have no fear of death.
That's something everyone needs to be cautious of—there's a chance they'll resort to suicidal tactics. Other than that, what we do know is that among those who attacked the village and the mansion is one who calls himself the Sin Archbishop of Sloth—Petelgeuse. His abilities are strange.
If you see him just standing there doing nothing, don't let your guard down. He may already be attacking, even if we can't see it.
That's all the information I have on the Witch Cult.
As for the plan—it's to evacuate all the villagers and mansion staff before the Witch Cult attacks. Then we slip away. That's the whole plan. Anyone have anything to add?"
After Subaru finished speaking, he looked around. The others seemed deep in thought. But one person—or rather, a child—smiled innocently and said:
"Big brother, shouldn't we just kill all the Witch Cult members?"
Subaru looked a little exasperated at the child who had spoken.
"Honestly, I'd love to wipe them all out too. But that would definitely lead to sacrifices. Everyone just managed to defeat the white whale, and we haven't even had time to celebrate—dying now while fighting the Witch Cult would be a waste, right?"
"Boring."
"Hey!"
Just as Subaru was about to scold Mimi for thinking things no child should, he noticed a knight sitting across from him raise his hand.
The knight wasn't a stranger—it was Julius, whom Subaru had once dueled.
As for why he was here, it was because he was Anastasia's knight and part of the reinforcements she had arranged.
Not long after Crusch left, Julius arrived with a group of people, including Mimi's younger brother Tivey.
Though Subaru and Julius had once fought, neither of them brought it up.
"Julius, go ahead."
"First, let me clarify. I'm not Knight Julius. The man sitting here is just a mercenary named Yuri."
Hearing that, Subaru sighed helplessly.
"Don't bother with that kind of setup. Everyone here is one of us. If you cared that much about your reputation, you shouldn't have come in the first place."
"That won't do. After all, it was an order from my master. Besides... I was originally planning to participate in the white whale subjugation. If not for waiting on my master's command, I wouldn't have arrived so late.
Still, I must express my gratitude to you."
"Gratitude?"
"Yes. One of the three great mabeasts—the white whale—should've been handled by the knights. But for various reasons, we couldn't act. You defeated it in our place. For that, I offer my thanks on behalf of the knights."
Subaru looked at Julius's serious expression and waved his hand.
"I didn't defeat the white whale. The ones who did were those who fought and died, and those who survived the battle. I only did what I could."
Subaru's face turned serious as he continued.
"If you want to express thanks, don't say it to me—say it to those still alive and those who died. More importantly, I didn't defeat the white whale for you knights.
And it wasn't your knight order's responsibility to defeat the white whale either. Don't get that confused."
Julius furrowed his brow.
He wanted to argue but couldn't find the words—because what Subaru said was entirely true. As Subaru pointed out, defeating the white whale wasn't something the knight order was obligated to do.
"Let me clarify. As members of the knight order, our duty is to protect the people. Therefore, it is our responsibility to eliminate any of the three great mabeasts that threaten them. It's not optional—it's our duty."
"I can agree with that much. But if that's what you really believe, then don't say it was for the knight order—thank us for doing it for the people of this world."
"...That was my mistake. I apologize to everyone for my words. I'm sorry."
"Alright, alright, no need for you two to be at each other's throats. So, Julius—what were you going to say?"
"It's Yuri... never mind. What I wanted to say is that our original agreement was that after defeating the white whale, we would gain the honor of fighting the Witch Cult. That was part of the deal. Though even without it, I still would've helped.
But from my master's point of view, that's not beneficial."
"Yeah, that's a problem. But I can't risk everyone's lives going head-to-head with the Witch Cult. No one's life is expendable. So avoiding combat and unnecessary casualties is a must. But there's one thing we all need to understand:
No matter what we think or do, what matters is how those madmen from the Witch Cult think and act. We can't guarantee they won't discover our actions. So everyone should be prepared for a fight.
If nothing happens, that's the best outcome. But if it does... then all of you must survive. We still haven't had our celebration yet. And—you still haven't earned the glory you deserve."
After Subaru spoke these heartfelt words, he didn't expect that the soldiers around him would start smiling.
"It's alright, Lord Subaru. Thank you for thinking about us so much. But we're here because we want to fight alongside you."
"That's right. After defeating the white whale, I'm willing to stake this old life of mine."
"Young man, for us mercenaries, battle is an everyday thing. Our lives aren't that fragile."
Hearing everyone's words, Subaru was silent for a moment, then stood up under their gazes.
"Thank you, everyone. But please don't treat your lives so lightly. That's why—please, absolutely survive. Only by living can you experience more wonderful things.
Now, let's go! Let's all come back alive—together!"