Chapter 141: It's Not Over Yet
As the last Witch Cultist fell, Julius couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Looking around, there were no longer any cultists still standing.
Originally, the battle wouldn't have ended so quickly, but the sudden appearance of a certain young lady and a cat had brought victory ahead of schedule.
However, Julius still needed to find Natsuki Subaru, so he couldn't go over and greet Emilia and her contracted spirit just yet.
As he lifted his foot to run toward the forest, he saw Subaru—limping and covered in blood—slowly walking in his direction.
The sword in Subaru's hand had become a cane to support his steps. Just from the chipped, bloodstained blade, one could tell what kind of battle he had just endured.
"Subaru! Are you alright?!"
Julius hurried over to Subaru's side and frowned, preparing to take him to Felix for treatment, but then heard Subaru's weak voice:
"Is it over?"
"Yeah, it's our victory. Don't push yourself anymore. I'll take you to Felix to get treated."
Subaru glanced at Emilia, who stood not far away, gazing at an ice sculpture. It looked like she was crying.
"Then I'll trouble you... but don't let Emilia see me like this."
"Now's really not the time to be saying that!"
"I just don't want to be lectured, okay? You have no idea—when she's mad, she can go on for hours. I'm begging you, I'm really exhausted. Don't make me even more tired..."
Julius paused, then smiled helplessly and shook his head.
With Julius leading, the two of them quietly made their way to the area where the wounded had been gathered.
When Felix saw Subaru's condition, his face immediately twisted in anger, and he was about to yell—
—but Julius raised a hand to stop him from speaking.
After giving a meaningful glance toward where Emilia stood not far away, Felix, though clearly furious, held back his outburst.
Subaru, sitting on the ground with his back against a tree, couldn't bring himself to meet Felix's gaze.
But the heavy silence hanging in the air made everything feel even more oppressive.
"Is it really over?"
"Yes. Thanks to Lady Emilia. Her arrival tipped the battle entirely in our favor.
Not long after you left, the Archbishop of Sloth showed up in the village again—but he was taken down by Lady Emilia."
Hearing Julius's report, Subaru finally let out a breath of relief.
"Thanks... What about Ricardo?"
"He's cleaning up the battlefield."
"How many people died?"
"...Twenty-three."
Subaru froze at those words. His breathing grew erratic. Silence spread among the three of them.
Twenty-three people had died. It wasn't a huge number—but for the three here, any number of deaths was painful.
After a long pause, Subaru finally exhaled and, with a face full of exhaustion, asked:
"By the way... when Emilia killed the Sloth guy—did anything strange happen?"
"Something strange?" Julius thought for a moment before answering.
"No... not really. Just that... he was smiling as he died."
"What did you say?"
"I said he was smiling when he died. Is that strange? A lunatic like him wouldn't be afraid of death. Smiling as he died isn't that odd."
But upon hearing that, Subaru suddenly sat bolt upright, startling Felix, who shouted:
"Subaru! I'm still treating you! Don't make things worse—your wound just opened again!"
But Subaru's face was filled with grim determination, clearly thinking about something serious. His expression made both Julius and Felix realize—something had changed.
Before they could even ask, Subaru shouted:
"Patrasche!!"
Subaru stood up. Seeing Patrasche charging toward them from the distance, he ignored his pain and ran toward her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Emilia and Puck had seen him too.
But he had no time to greet them now.
When Patrasche reached him, Subaru immediately mounted her, and they dashed off toward the main road leading out of the village.
"Subaru?!"
Emilia, who had just arrived, watched in confusion as Subaru disappeared into the distance. She turned to ask Julius and Felix what was going on, only to see Julius summoning his own earth dragon and riding after Subaru.
"Lady Emilia, perfect timing. I remember you know healing magic, right? I'll leave things here to you."
"Eh?"
Emilia stood there in shock, full of confusion as the two disappeared. She had wanted to go with them. Even though they were some distance away, she had clearly seen Subaru's wounds.
But the many wounded lying all around her meant she couldn't just leave.
"Puck."
"Yeah, I know. You stay here, Lia. I'll bring Subaru back."
"Subaru! What's going on?!"
Julius finally caught up to Subaru and looked at him with concern.
He could see the wounds on Subaru's body reopening from the jostling of the earth dragon's high-speed ride.
Blood was flowing again, and Subaru's face was growing paler.
"We were wrong! The battle isn't over. What's over is just the fighting in the village. That guy—if he really was about to die—there's no way he'd be smiling! A lunatic like him, who treats the Witch's trials as the most sacred thing—"
"—if he died without completing the trial, there's no way he'd be smiling! So that means—the villagers are under attack!"
As he finished, Subaru covered his mouth and coughed violently. Without even looking at the blood in his palm, he clenched his fist and wiped it on his pants.
"Anyway, we have to hurry and go support them!"
"But you don't have to push yourself like this! You need treatment!"
Hearing that, Subaru turned and glared angrily at Julius.
"How could I not push myself?! Twenty-three people already died just in the village!
And most of our main forces were here—how many more do you think will die over there?! I told them—we'd all come back together.
If I know someone over there might die, how the hell can I just sit here and get treated?!"
Julius said nothing in response. He could feel that Subaru's anger wasn't aimed at him—but at himself.
Still, Julius couldn't recall Subaru ever saying those words before.
But this wasn't the time to ask.
So in silence, Julius followed Subaru as they rushed to catch up with the caravan that had departed earlier.