Chapter 38: First Come, First Served, But I, Emilia, Am the First (Patreon)

"Good!"

Subaru Natsuki's gaze sharpened.

A person ought to hold their head high while they live. Even if the one you're backing is someone everyone else looks down on, once you've decided to back them, you don't care about other people's stares. That's what makes you a real man.

"E... my lady, how would you like to do the face reading?"

Ram sighed. A face reading meant revealing your face, and no matter how grandly the shop owner talked, it was hard to say whether his expression wouldn't change on the spot once he learned that the person in front of him was the rumored half-elf.

Ram didn't regard Emilia as her master, of course. Calling her "my lady" was nothing but a hollow courtesy. In all the heavens and earth, she obeyed only one person's orders, Lord Roswaal L. Mathers. But that didn't mean she harbored any ill will toward Emilia.

She knew perfectly well that, appearances aside, Emilia herself was a purely sweet, naive airhead. In every respect she fell far short of Ram, and even more so of Rem, Ram's world's-best little sister. Still, a girl this innocent and guileless at heart really shouldn't be looked down on and bullied again and again.

Without expectations, there's no disappointment and no despair. It was a pity. Ram had wanted to protect Emilia, but the girl was simply too naive. Fine, then. Let her go and experience the pain for herself. Ram was done caring.

"That pink-haired maid has a point. Will you give me a drawing, or a photograph? Ah, this world probably doesn't have photographs, so a drawing it is. I've got paper and a brush right here, so please help yourself."

Subaru nodded cheerfully. He had no idea about all of Ram's concerns and thoughts, so he could only go by what he himself had in mind.

Ram wore a flat, deadpan face. "Ram is Ram," she said coldly.

She much preferred being called by her real name to being called "pink-haired maid." Her name was nothing special in itself, but Rem, the world's best little sister, was extraordinary, so Ram, as Rem's older sister, was extraordinary too. She was someone whose name deserved to be proclaimed far and wide.

"So classy, so cocky!"

Subaru sucked in a sharp breath on the spot. "With an attitude like that, anyone who didn't know better would think you're the Royal Selection candidate, or the legendary Sword Saint..."

"Hmph. Those are nothing special. Ram wouldn't trade her place as an older sister for either of them. As for the Sword Saint or whoever, they can obediently serve as stepping stones beneath Rem!"

Ram smiled, proud and disdainful, a cold, aloof smile with a flavor all its own. It was obvious she truly, deeply adored her little sister.

But could you please stop using the Royal Selection candidates and the Sword Saint as stepping stones? I'm begging you, I'll do anything!

Subaru was on the verge of tears. A moment ago he'd been out of his mind, daring to trash-talk and slaughter everything and everyone in his head. He'd thought he was being flashy and arrogant, and that surely he was the only person in the whole world who played that game.

He never expected that the moment he turned around, he'd run into someone like Ram, spouting even wilder talk. Didn't that make him look pathetic?

No... please, don't go on, really. The Sword Saint, the Royal Selection candidates, they have to keep their standing and their swagger. Just be stepping stones for me alone, that's all I ask! Waaah!

"Mr. Shop Owner, I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything at the start."

While Subaru was sobbing inwardly and trying to out-swagger Ram, Emilia, who had been agonizing for a long time, finally clenched her small fists, steeled herself, and pulled at her cat-ear cloak.

Ram had asked a fair question. If she didn't show her true face or her true self, how could she have her face read?

But Emilia's answer was simple. She smiled as if she'd let go of some pressure and fear, and turned to Subaru and spoke.

Once she had spoken, she finally stopped hiding her presence and let it show.

Witch-like features!

In an instant, the whole scene went silent. The passersby and the other stall owners nearby, who had been glancing over now and then at this strange face-reading stall, all turned to look.

Emilia stood there in her cat-ear cloak, her long hair snow-white, her skin so tender it looked like it would burst with water if pinched. Her beauty swept the whole scene, outshining the entire capital. She stood openly and proudly with her face uncovered, and declared:

"I am Emilia. Emilia, a Royal Selection candidate!"

Some people froze. Some rubbed their eyes. Some dug at their ears in disbelief, wondering if they'd seen or heard wrong. And those who weren't quite so dazed had, from the very first second, snatched up their stalls and scrambled away, stumbling and rolling.

Everyone backed off together, retreating a good ten meters.

Subaru was filled with solemn respect. Just her name alone could frighten off armies of thousands. Emilia truly was a powerhouse of venerable rank.

Of course, that was all a joke. The fear and prejudice in the eyes of those who'd fled couldn't be faked. Still, fear made up ten percent at most. The other ninety percent was stereotype and bias.

She had made the decision boldly, but the others' reactions still hurt Emilia's heart. She looked at Subaru with worry and asked in a small, careful voice, "Mr. Shop Owner, aren't you afraid of me? Don't you hate me?"

"What is there to be afraid of or hate?"

Subaru snorted softly and waved his hand, as if no more needed to be said. "If we're talking fear, even if the Witch of Envy stood in front of me, I could finish her off in one hit with my abilities, right in the face. If we're talking hate, why would I hate you? If anything, I feel kind of close to you."

The first time he'd heard Emilia's name, he'd already felt that he naturally loved it.

Now, looking carefully at Emilia's face, Subaru felt that this girl's looks were faintly, almost illusorily familiar. But whether or not it was an illusion, he liked them very much.

He didn't know why. He just liked them.

A natural, overwhelming goodwill.

It struck him as odd, too. As for whether she was good-looking, of course she was exceptionally so. But compared with Anna and Cru-Cru, Emilia wasn't so beautiful that she left the two of them in the dust. At most she was slightly ahead. So why did she inspire such a naturally high level of goodwill in him?

And surely he wasn't the kind of scumbag who only cared about faces, right? Damn it!

"Mr. Shop Owner!"

Tall, kind, righteous, mighty, a pillar of support, free of prejudice, someone who treated her normally.

In Emilia's pupils, the shop owner's figure grew taller and taller, and in just a few seconds he was as high as the clouds in the sky. Her eyes sparkled, and their affection rushed toward each other from both sides at once.

Just then.

"—That's enough!"

The mysterious That's-Enough Cat made a grand entrance!

Puck burst onto the scene and planted himself between the two of them, blocking Subaru's view of Emilia and Emilia's view of Subaru.

The snow-white cat hissed fiercely, punching and kicking at the empty air. "If you're going to have your face read, just have your face read! Girls and boys can't stare at each other. The eyes are the windows to the soul. Lia, if you look into a boy's eyes for too long, you'll get pregnant, meow! Remember that well!"