Chapter 45: Marinated by Pandora (Patreon)

Just as Subaru Natsuki was racking his brains, Emilia beside him had already gone pale with alarm.

"Huh? Huh?! But doesn't that mean Lady Priscilla's already been chosen? What do we do, Puck? If I can't become king, what happens to everyone in the forest, and to all the people who get discriminated against?"

So pathetic, so naive. Nobody even had to pry. She'd blown her own cover and laid out every reason she wanted to join the Royal Selection. Anyone could use that against her and turn it into a stumbling block.

Subaru sucked air through his teeth, unable to watch. He felt Emilia was about on par with how he'd been before he crossed over: equally green, equally easy to read.

But even so, he wanted to say, sincerely, that Emilia's love wasn't wrong. It was for others, for "everyone in the forest" she cared about, and for a country where no one was discriminated against. It was so beautiful, such a wonderful wish, and it moved him deeply.

"It's fine, Lia. This little girl is a frog at the bottom of a well. She doesn't know anything, she's just spouting nonsense. Even if someone in this world really were predestined, I can say for certain it would never be her. So don't worry, Lia. With me around, you'll be just fine. Hmph, hyah!"

Puck's reassurance started out quite serious, but halfway through he was punching and kicking the air again. He'd gone completely nuts.

A straight-up comedian. A useless kitty.

Still, Puck's words made Subaru's eyes light up. Inspiration struck, and he quickly grasped the key.

He seized the idea, clapped his hands, and let out a chuckle. "Nice, well said, Puck! We should viciously expose some self-important, smug, arrogant person!"

"—My, my. My magnanimous tolerance has been mistaken by you mortals for weakness to be bullied. You dare provoke me again and again, and even fabricate such insinuations?"

Priscilla, who had meant to chase down Puck, had her attention pulled away. Compared to a mere useless kitty, Subaru naturally interested her far more. She fanned herself, her vivid scarlet skirt swaying, her gaze sharp.

"I've found the weak point in your logic, Priscilla."

Subaru wasn't the least bit afraid. He planted his hands on his hips, brimming with confidence, and the aura he gave off was unmistakable!

"Oh?"

Priscilla snapped her fan shut. She was no longer so languid, and she smiled sharply. "Though it will be the folly of a mere mortal, offer it up. I am curious what ignorant, fabricated flaw you mortals can perceive in one as flawless as I."

Naturally, whether or not Subaru's argument held water, he had dared to belittle her, Priscilla, to her face, and in front of everyone. He even meant to point out some so-called flaw, one that of course did not exist. That alone was already a path to his own death.

The only tolerance she granted this mortal was to let him speak his laughable, unknown words. It did not include letting him walk away unscathed once he'd finished.

"Really, Shopkeeper? Does Lady Priscilla have a weakness?" Emilia asked excitedly, convinced that the Shopkeeper was right after all.

"Absolutely. Come on, Emilia, let's listen together. Then you'll see that Priscilla isn't scary at all. In fact, you could say she's weak, extremely weak!"

Subaru raised one finger. "Given: even though Priscilla can't beat the Sword Saint, she can make her logic airtight by pointing out that she isn't hostile to him, and call that proof she ranks above the Sword Saint."

"So even if I stress again right here that I, the face-reading master, will never acknowledge Priscilla, that her face puts her beneath ten thousand people and gives her not the slightest chance of ever becoming king, I can already predict exactly how she'll twist black into white."

"Priscilla will say the outcome was settled long ago, that all heroes and champions are destined to be mere footnotes on her climb to the top. With the outcome fixed, naysayers like me only add to her amusement, and to the thrill of slapping me down."

"Of course, that line is completely unreasonable. But even so, if I want to slap her face for real, I'd have to wait until the Royal Selection has fully ended, and that's not happening in under a year or two at least. Which means that for at least two years, she can lean on this absurd self-made logic to feel superior and win every argument in her own head."

His long preamble gradually chilled Priscilla's face, which had been wearing the look of someone enjoying a good show.

If Subaru used those words against her, she would indeed say exactly that.

Her personality was such that anyone could guess how she'd respond, and she had no intention of hiding it. Even so, being rehearsed in front of everyone like this by Subaru was truly displeasing.

After all, saying such a thing was one matter. But the part about "self-made logic to feel superior and win in her own head" made it sound as if she were the one in the wrong.

It left her with the sour feeling of having been sullied by a clown.

If she weren't so curious what trump card Subaru, who had seen through this part of her personality in so short a time, would use against her, she would have cut off this mortal and clown already.

"In other words, all this shows that unless something is happening right now, something Priscilla is powerless against, something aimed at her that puts her at a disadvantage, then no matter how unfavorable to her anything may be, she can always reach the ending of winning in her own mind."

"And as luck would have it, I happen to know two things."

Subaru had everyone present hanging on his every word. Now he held up two fingers. "First, Priscilla hates being insulted. The moment someone does it, some kind of overpowering luck of hers kicks in. Insult her on the spot and the revenge lands on the spot, with no delay at all, so nobody dares, or is able, to insult her again."

"So once someone insults Priscilla, that person must be punished. If they escape retribution, Priscilla's logic can no longer close the loop. That's the one thing she can't explain away and can't twist from black into white."

"Second, I just happen to be unaffected by the luck she carries, and I just happen to find you annoying, Priscilla. I don't insult people lightly, but insulting you right now doesn't weigh on me at all. Hey, isn't it funny how perfectly it all lines up, Priscilla?"

The one who could break the logical loop of your mental victories is none other than Subaru, standing right here in front of you, able to curse you to your face, in front of everyone, and untouched by your punishment!