Chapter 15: Brother, I'm counting on you to stop me when the time comes (Patreon)

Deep in the night, a spacious, luxurious dragon carriage rolled along the flat road leading to the Astrea family's main house.

Inside the cabin, an exhausted Felt and Old Man Rom had fallen into a deep sleep. Outside, Natsuki Subaru hadn't taken the comfortable seat within — instead he'd chosen to sit up front, beside Reinhard, who held the reins of the ground dragon.

The night wind carried a faint chill. Overhead stretched the brilliant night sky of this other world — every star in it a stranger's face.

Reinhard kept a steady hold on the ground dragon's reins as he asked quietly, "Lord Subaru, you chose to sit out here on purpose — was there something you wanted to say to me?"

"There is."

Natsuki Subaru nodded.

"But before I say it, let me check something first."

"Go ahead."

"This ground dragon of yours isn't going to suddenly whip around and bite someone, is it?"

Reinhard blinked, caught off guard.

"Rest assured... it won't. They're a very gentle species."

"Good to hear," Natsuki Subaru said, letting out a breath. "Much easier to get along with than that sword at your waist."

Reinhard glanced instinctively at Reid, the Dragon Sword, hanging unusually quiet at his hip.

Ever since getting "taught a lesson" earlier that day, Reid really had gone almost suspiciously well-behaved whenever Subaru came near.

"Though it can be a bit arrogant about choosing its opponents, Reid is a reliable weapon most of the time."

"Sure, I believe you."

Natsuki Subaru nodded, dead serious.

"Just a little shy around strangers, is all."

Reinhard fell silent.

He suddenly didn't feel much like discussing the Dragon Sword any further.

Natsuki Subaru fell quiet too, for a moment.

"Reinhard." He spoke slowly. "Earlier today, you felt it, didn't you? That thing inside me."

Reinhard's grip on the reins tightened abruptly, but he didn't try to hide it. He nodded honestly.

"Yes."

"That was... an extremely dangerous power."

He didn't dodge the question.

"I can't say what its true nature is, but if it ever slips fully out of control, it could bring disaster to the kingdom beyond imagining."

"Disaster, huh."

Natsuki Subaru gave a wry smile.

"That's a pretty gentle way of putting it."

He lowered his head, his voice settling into calm.

"Today I nearly killed a man. That thug wasn't exactly a good person, sure, but he didn't deserve to die."

"I knew that perfectly well — and yet in that moment, snapping his neck felt like the most natural thing in the world."

Reinhard said nothing.

He knew exactly what that meant.

Power itself isn't frightening. But a man who's fundamentally good, and strong, and always aware that his strength could end up hurting someone — that kind of man often suffers more than anyone.

He'd learned that lesson himself, painfully, as a child.

"I don't know what that thing really is, or when it'll flare up again."

Natsuki Subaru looked at Reinhard.

"But I do know one thing — in this world, right now, you're probably the only one capable of stopping me."

Reinhard's expression turned grave.

Natsuki Subaru suddenly raised a hand and clapped it hard on his shoulder.

"So, Reinhard van Astrea."

"If the day ever comes when I lose control completely — if I truly become that monster who destroys everything—"

Natsuki Subaru paused for a moment, his eyes utterly serious, without a trace of joking.

"I'm begging you — you have to stop me."

"If there's truly no other way, draw your sword and kill me."

The night wind blew past. The ground dragon's footsteps on the stone-paved road sounded unusually clear.

Reinhard was quiet for a long moment before he slowly let go of the reins with one hand and pressed his palm to his chest, over his heart.

"I understand."

"I swear it, in the name of Reinhard van Astrea."

"If that day truly comes, whatever the cost, I will stop you."

"Not as the Sword Saint. Not merely as a knight."

"But as your friend."

Natsuki Subaru blinked, caught off guard.

Then, slowly, he smiled.

"Friend, huh."

"Funny how that word carries so much weight, coming from you."

Reinhard smiled gently in return.

"Because I mean it."

"Then let me say something serious to you too."

Natsuki Subaru's expression suddenly turned solemn.

Reinhard straightened slightly in his seat.

"Please, go ahead."

"If I really do lose control, don't you dare stand there yelling 'Lord Subaru, please come to your senses!' while you can't bring yourself to strike," Natsuki Subaru said, shooting him a look. "That'll just be a huge headache, you know?"

"So when the moment comes, don't go soft on me — hit me like you mean to kill me!"

Hearing that, Reinhard felt a sudden surge of respect for this strange man who never seemed to stop talking nonsense, and nodded solemnly.

"I won't hesitate."

"Excellent!"

Natsuki Subaru nodded, satisfied.

"Oh, and one more thing — when you do strike, be careful. That thing's a fire-breathing dragon through and through. If it singes your hair off, that pretty face of yours loses at least half its charm."

Reinhard: "......"

"Lord Subaru."

"Hm?"

"That moving, ready-to-die atmosphere from a moment ago has completely evaporated," Reinhard said, unable to help himself.

"Sorry, personal habit."

Natsuki Subaru spread his hands.

"I like to babble nonsense when I'm nervous."

Reinhard laughed, helpless.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"But I'd also like you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Until that day truly comes, please don't give up on yourself so easily."

Natsuki Subaru was quiet for a moment. Then he raised a hand and pulled the brim of his hat down slightly.

"All right."

"I promise."

...............................................

Night lay like water, still moonlight spilling through the tall floor-to-ceiling windows into the spacious, opulent study of Roswaal L Mathers.

Knock, knock, knock.

A slow, steady knock sounded at the door.

"Come in~" Roswaal drawled in his peculiar cadence, sitting behind his broad desk with his hands folded beneath his chin.

The pink-haired maid Ram pushed the door open, lifted her skirt, and dropped into a curtsy. Her tone was utterly flat as she reported, "Lord Roswaal, Lady Emilia has returned safely to the mansion, and the stolen insignia has been recovered without incident."

"Oh my, oh my~ How wonderful," Roswaal said, his eyes narrowing into something halfway between a smile and not. "And what of that black-haired boy — Natsuki Subaru, was it? — the one who lent Lady Emilia his help in the back alley. Didn't he come back with her?"

Ram answered honestly, "No. According to Lady Emilia's account, that lord declined the invitation to travel together. At the ruins in the slums, he chose instead to accompany the present-day Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea, apparently going along as a witness for one of the royal candidates, to the Astrea family's main house."

At the word "Sword Saint," Roswaal's fingers, folded before the bridge of his nose, paused for an imperceptible half second.

"So he went to the Astrea house... What an unexpected turn of events~" A meaningful curve tugged at the corner of Roswaal's mouth. He waved a hand. "I see. Lady Emilia must be tired as well — go and attend to her rest. No need to disturb me again tonight."

"As you wish, Lord Roswaal." Ram curtsied once more and slipped silently out of the room, drawing the heavy oak door shut behind her.

The moment he was alone, the easy, clownish smile vanished from Roswaal's face without a trace.

He yanked open a drawer and, with an almost reverent motion, lifted out a Gospel — its cover black as pitch, radiating an ancient pulse of magic.

It was the greatest treasure his teacher, the Witch of Greed, Echidna, had ever bestowed on him — a degraded copy of the original Book of Wisdom, yes, but Roswaal believed that precious little in this world could escape its prophecies.

"Natsuki Subaru... a boy who was supposed, by fate, to meet Emilia. Where exactly did things go wrong?" Roswaal murmured to himself, flipping open the black pages he already knew by heart. The moment his eyes landed on the passage recording the latest developments of "A Day in the Royal Capital," his heterochromatic eyes contracted to pinpricks.

"Wh— what is this?!"

Roswaal's breath caught in his throat.

There on the parchment, where the fixed future had once been written out in perfect clarity, nothing remained but blank space — and even the past had gone the same way.

Starting from the line "A person sent to this world by a Witch, one who bears the power to correct the world, meets Emilia," the text began to twist and blur uncannily, the letters burning away visibly, as if they had fallen into molten lava.

"No past... no future... how is this possible?!"

But his shock was quickly replaced by a conclusion that felt far more natural.

Of course — that's it!

That would explain everything. Why else would they say this boy carried the power to change the world? Of course he could throw predetermined fate into utter chaos — that's exactly what it meant to be someone truly capable of changing the world!

After that brief moment of shock, an uncontainable elation surfaced in Roswaal's eyes. He knew — the one he'd been waiting for had finally come.

"So then — just how many surprises are you going to bring me, I wonder... boy from another world."