Chapter 168: Only Those Who Are the Same Can Feel It
Sometimes, people unconsciously change into someone even they themselves would find unrecognizable.
For Natsuki Subaru, if his past self were to look at the present him, he would absolutely deny that they were the same person.
And yet, the current Subaru felt that who he was now wasn't bad at all.
He felt that continuing this way was the right path. But… whether what he called "right" was truly correct—there was no guarantee of that at all.
Two completely different people, through the influence of various factors, come to know each other, to fight each other, and in the end, the influence that one leaves upon the other is immeasurably strong.
And so, he wanted to become someone like that other person. But… people can never truly become someone else.
No matter how much one imitates, no matter how much one chases after them, the distance between the two never shortens even the slightest.
Instead, one ends up straying from the goal they first set out toward, without even realizing it. Subaru had once failed when he tried to become someone else. And now, his target had shifted, and he was approaching someone different.
At first, it seemed he was "succeeding." But once a certain event happened, in order to chase after "success," Subaru would inevitably throw everything he had into it. And in the process of his struggle, his path would veer further and further away.
"…Truly easy to understand."
The pitch-black Witch lowered her teacup with a light laugh.
A Witch was, after all, a creature far beyond the realm of common sense.
And this one, in particular, was the embodiment of curiosity itself.
No one could ever know just how much knowledge she held within her mind.
Possessing vast knowledge, knowing how to use it, capable of deception, of concealment, of acting upon a stage—naturally, to prepare measures for the sake of her own ends was nothing strange at all.
Echidna loved the unknown. But even more, she loved the thrill that came when the unknown was unraveled.
And Subaru's ability was the perfect tool to let her confirm what form that "unknown" would take, depending on the choices made.
"Though rejection is also a kind of unknown, compared to the unknown of being rejected, it is the unknown of being accepted that is so much more desirable."
The Witch of Greed set her teacup down, rested her chin in her hands, and gazed intently at the chair across from her—already long since empty.
This world contained far too many unknowns. And from that brief exchange just now, the words Subaru had spoken had ignited in her an even greater thirst for knowledge.
What lay beyond the sky? What lay deep within the earth?
In that short conversation, the delight Subaru had given her far surpassed anything she had ever experienced before.
"If I just wait a little longer, he will surely come again. After all, he is a false man."
.
.
.
"Seriously, why am I the only one who has to suffer through this treatment?"
"Shut it! Didn't this great me already apologize to you, coachman? If you're a man, then act generously!"
"Ha?! You call that an apology? Saying, 'The great me punched the wrong guy, so don't mind it'—and you expect me to accept that?!"
Otto's furious complaints only earned him a threatening growl from Garfiel, who was lounging atop the carriage roof.
"Haah?"
At that sound, Otto shrank his neck and dared not continue. Instead, he quietly focused on steering the dragon carriage deeper and deeper into the forest.
"Oi, coachman!"
"I'm not a coachman! I have a name! Otto Suwen!"
"Sorry, but the great me has no interest in the names of the weak. And besides, for a coward like you, 'coachman' suits you best."
With those words, Garfiel leapt down from the roof and landed beside Otto. He threw an arm casually around Otto's shoulders, wearing a grin that was somewhere between a smile and a sneer.
"You're in cahoots with that guy, aren't you? Then tell me what kind of person he is."
Hearing that, Otto blinked in surprise. But inwardly, he chuckled a little. After all, compared to him, Subaru didn't even get a proper title—just "that guy."
Still, Otto quickly realized that was nothing to be glad about.
He didn't particularly want to talk about Subaru, but under the sheer pressure of Garfiel's overwhelming strength, Otto couldn't help but worry that if he refused, Garfiel might just crush his neck right then and there.
"Even if you ask me… I don't know that much. I haven't known him for very long."
"Doesn't matter what it is! Just spit out everything you do know!"
For the sake of his own life, Otto racked his brain and began recalling everything he knew about Subaru.
"Well… When I first met him, he was leading knights and mercenaries into battle against the Witch Cult. Everyone seemed to place a lot of trust in him.
The villagers too, they all relied on him. You could say he was a genuine leader. Only…"
"Only what?"
Otto ignored Garfiel's threatening tone for a moment and glanced toward the carriage behind them.
"…He seemed very lonely."
"Haah? Lonely? Didn't you just say he was a leader?"
"I can't say for certain. More than a leader, he's like… the core. All the actions revolve around his decisions.
I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I heard from the knights and mercenaries. When they defeated the White Whale, the reason they succeeded was entirely because of him.
They said he staked his very life to finally bring down that beast that had plagued them for so long…"
"Hold it right there! The more I listen, the more ridiculous this sounds! First it's the Witch Cult, then it's the White Whale!
Don't tell me that lazy bastard sleeping in the carriage actually led a group and killed one of the Three Great Mabeasts, and even fought the Witch Cult?!"
Feeling he was being played for a fool, Garfiel grabbed Otto by the collar.
"I saw the White Whale's corpse with my own eyes! And it was the people he brought with him who saved me from the Witch Cult's hands! I'm not joking!"
"Tch… Hmph. No way you'd dare lie to me. Still, you're definitely exaggerating. I've got a decent sense of that guy's strength. If he could defeat the White Whale, then the great me could definitely do the same."
Otto just gave a small smile and said nothing.
He didn't really understand why Garfiel felt the need to compare himself to Subaru. From the very start, when he began probing for information about Subaru, Otto had clearly seen it—
With each word Otto spoke, Garfiel's expression kept changing.
"Keep talking. I don't see him as someone lonely."
"Maybe it's because I was lonely once myself that I can sense it. Haha… of course, maybe it's just me overthinking things.
Well… If you look at him normally, Subaru doesn't seem lonely at all. But… I can feel it. Even when he's standing right there… it's like somehow, he isn't really there at all."
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
Not understanding what Otto meant, Garfiel lost interest in listening further.
Otto glanced at him—now sitting with his arms folded behind his head, leaning back in his seat—then sighed and fell silent as well. He stared at the road ahead, lost in thought.
No, Subaru didn't look lonely at all.
But Otto had seen it with his own eyes the day before they departed—Subaru, sitting silently in the garden, gazing up at the starry night sky, wordless and alone…
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