Chapter 41: The Master Never Backs Down, Feudal Superstition Defeats Physics! (Patreon)

Priscilla Barielle?

Now that he had her name, things got easier.

Subaru Natsuki's mind stirred as he studied the portrait Al had sketched with deep, searching eyes. It was abstract and crude, but one thing in it was full of life: Priscilla Barielle's air.

Arrogant, haughty, lofty, condescending. Nearly every word of that kind could be found in this portrait. Add what Anna and the others had said about Priscilla Barielle earlier, and she was without question the polar opposite of Emilia: bursting with extreme confidence, with no need for his approval at all.

But that wasn't good. If her ego swelled too much, she might not even bother to read the situation, or bother allying with Emilia.

Should he knock her down a peg and see?

Besides, the most Priscilla Barielle could hope for was third place. That was a fact, and he loved telling the plain truth.

"Let me take a look… Tsk tsk, tsk tsk tsk tsk. This face reading isn't good. I'd say she has no chance."

After a moment of careful study, Subaru Natsuki clicked his tongue in wonder and delivered his critique in public. Puck and Ram both froze in shock.

They had assumed that this con-artist shopkeeper, this master swindler, even if he served one of the candidates, would never dare openly form ties with the others. They never expected the exact opposite: he had just casually judged Priscilla Barielle, notoriously proud and quite possibly petty, in front of everyone.

Was this guy sick of living?

Al, for his part, went rigid all over. As if suddenly terrified, he tensed his body and stared at Subaru Natsuki through his helmet as though looking at a dead man, a corpse.

Through gritted teeth, full of hints and the kindness of trying to save a life, he pushed the abstract drawing back across the stall.

"Hiss… Please, take another careful look."

"There's no need. Go home!"

Subaru Natsuki waved a big hand, firm and final.

"Since you called me brother, this brother will point you to a bright path: have Priscilla Barielle go find a faction and ally with it. That way she'll have a bit of a chance."

"You mean if she doesn't ally, she's certain to lose?"

Al's voice was low and strained, as if he were struggling to hold something back. He gave one last chance.

"Hey, Master, brother, are you sure you didn't misread it? Are you sure you won't swallow your comment about the Princess? You really can't change your answer, can't take another good look?"

"Even if I died, got buried in the ground, and had the coffin nailed shut, I'd still shout in a hoarse, wretched voice: there's no need!"

Subaru Natsuki, man of iron backbone!

His tone was grand. Love the trade you're in, and keep the spine that trade demands. He was about to wave a big hand again when Al, who had clearly been holding back for a long time, finally exploded. His power was fully charged. He lunged forward and grabbed Subaru Natsuki's collar with one hand.

"Son. Of. A. Bitch. Refuse a toast and you'll get the penalty, huh? Asking for a beating? You dare say this lady's face reading is bad?!"

"Hey, read faces all you like, but don't hit people!"

Al wore a helmet, but his aura was murderous. Anyone could tell his eyes were wide with rage under it, and a scene of Al beating up Subaru Natsuki was about to play out.

Behind the helmet, he mourned in silence. There's no other way, brother. You still haven't been dragged under by a flood of misfortune, which means the Princess's luck is saving up something huge. If I don't beat you up and take some of it off you, you'll really be in trouble.

Nobody knew what Al was thinking. Emilia could only see that the talks had broken down. Her lovely brows knit together, and she was about to step forward.

"You can't do this! This is something only bad people do!"

"What? Don't tell me this is that kind of development. A fight?"

Subaru Natsuki's eyes lit up at once, shining. Brother, when you call me brother, you really mean it!

His hands had been itching ever since sword practice, with nowhere to show off. Getting stronger without showing off was more frustrating than never getting stronger at all. And then you show up. You want to use force, huh?

That's wonderful. Subarashii! Good brother Al, I love you to death, nya!

"—Did I give you permission to act on your own? To flare up like a filthy boar rooting stupidly for scraps beside a latrine? To displease me, to make me frown, to dim my radiance, Al? You may be a jester, but if you become too much of a clown, I shall be disappointed."

Swish!

Just as the three parties were on the verge of clashing, a contemptuous laugh drifted down from high in the clouds. It carried judgment, punishment, and elegance, as if it came from heaven itself, with the natural superiority a human feels toward an ant.

As voices went, hers wasn't as cute as Anna's, as dashing as Cru-Cru's, or as pure as Emilia's, but it had a quality that belonged to her alone.

She wasn't anyone's second. She was unlike anyone else. Merely hearing that voice was enough to make one picture a sun hanging high above.

Everyone turned toward the sound, and it proved that the one who spoke was not unworthy of her voice.

The hem of her dress swayed like fresh red blood. A beauty in graceful motion, with pale pink skin and orange hair, adorned with many splendid noble ornaments, yet her natural loveliness made those jewels ashamed of themselves.

Her outfit was bold. Her heels rang out sharply against the ground with each step.

And above her fiery red dress, her long orange hair, her noble gems, her beautiful face, her bold attire, above all of it, above all things, was her air and presence.

Dazzling radiance, boundless brilliance. Wherever she walked, the place seemed to dim as if a sun had drawn near. Only she was permitted to shine and give off heat, only she was permitted to draw every eye, only she was permitted to be the eternal center.

That was the Sun Princess. That was Priscilla Barielle.

Almost everyone was captivated for a moment.

That even included Emilia, the pure half-elf. Though she was a woman herself and understood nothing of romance, she blinked and sincerely thought that Priscilla Barielle was beautiful.

"Gaze your fill, then be ashamed of yourselves. Worship me sincerely, then dance for me, you ignorant mortals. But those who dare to soil my delight with disrespectful, filthy eyes shall be punished. If your eyes are not used to worship and admire me, the only sun in the world, then naturally they no longer have any reason or need to exist."

Like the finest dancer, every movement held the most graceful rhythm. Self-centered Priscilla Barielle merely fluttered the fan she carried to cover part of her face, and already she radiated the peerless charm of a mature woman.

She was so beautiful that everyone ought to have been drooling over her.

But one person wasn't.

The one Priscilla Barielle was pointing at, the one she was rebuking.

It was none other than Subaru Natsuki!