“Barusu.”
“…”
“Barusu!”
“Hey!
I’m here!”
Subaru, who had been completely spacing out, was slapped hard on the back by Ram.
“Ram took the effort to earnestly explain the layout of the mansion to Barusu, and as a result, Barusu was just earnestly spacing out?
You truly are useless.”
Stopping at the connection between the main mansion and the east wing, Ram furrowed her brow tightly, highly dissatisfied with Subaru’s performance.
“I wasn’t spacing out, I was listening the whole time, alright?” Subaru rattled off the mansion’s layout fluently.
“The west wing houses the servant quarters, the supply storage, and the normal library that isn’t the Forbidden Library.
The east wing has the guest reception rooms and the guest room I’m staying in… Right?!”
Subaru snapped his fingers, looking at Ram with a confident smile.
“And that library I opened earlier is Beatrice’s territory.
She uses magic to connect the door of the library to any random door in the mansion.
Once she hides her presence, you have to open every single door in the mansion to find her… Hey!
Am I right or what?”
“Incredible.
Barusu actually remembered.
It seems Barusu isn’t quite as useless as Ram imagined.” Ram seemed to be praising him, though Subaru couldn’t quite tell the difference between her praise and her insults.
“It is one hour into the Day of Darkness.
It is almost time for your appointment with Rem.” Ram pulled a crystal emitting a faint blue glow from her pocket.
“Proceed to the front courtyard, Barusu.”
“Day of Darkness?
What’s that?”
Ram stared at Subaru with a look of sheer disbelief.
It was a look that reminded Subaru of Robinson Crusoe meeting Friday.
“Zero to six hours of the Day of Light is the Mark of Wind.
The following six hours are the Mark of Fire.
Zero hours of the Day of Darkness begins the Mark of Water and the Mark of Earth—you don’t even know this?
What kind of savage are you, Barusu?”
“I’m not a savage!
I already told you I come from a very, very far away place.” Subaru absolutely refused to be treated like a savage and argued back vigorously.
“I get it now.
Day of Light and Day of Darkness are just what you call daytime and nighttime, right?
I didn’t know because my hometown doesn’t use this kind of calendar system.”
“By the way, Ram,” Subaru followed behind Ram, looking at her small back.
“Aren’t you worried about Rem’s fight with me later?
I defeated the Bowel Hunter, you know.
Rem is just as petite as you are.
What if…”
“Eh?”
“Rem will win.” Ram looked back over her shoulder, flashing Subaru a smile of unprecedented confidence.
“Given how useless Subaru is, you had better make sure Rem doesn’t hurt you.”
Was she actually showing concern for him, or was she just purely trash-talking?
Subaru couldn’t figure it out.
The two walked slowly to the front courtyard, where everyone was already waiting on the sidelines.
Roswaal, Emilia, and even that drill-haired loli from the Forbidden Library, holding Puck, stood at the edge of the field.
Rem stood in the center of an open clearing, watching Subaru and Ram approach.
“Thank you for your hard work, dear sister.” Rem bowed to Ram first, and then pulled out a—morning star?!
No, wait, where was she even keeping that?
Where did she just pull it out from?
“Natsuki-kun—the man who defeated the Bowel Hunter~” Roswaal spoke with his trademark bizarre cadence.
“Howeve~r, we must still test you to see exactly how much strength you possess, and to what extent you can assist Lady Emilia~!”
“D-do your best!” Emilia cheered, pumping her fists.
Since she was on good terms with both Subaru and Rem, she didn’t know who to cheer for, so she compromised by just shouting encouragement without attaching any names.
Beatrice, on the other hand, looked entirely disinterested, listlessly playing with Puck in her arms.
“O~ho~?
It is quite rare to see Beatrice here.
After so~ long, I can finally see you outside the Forbidden Library again~.”
“Where Betty chooses to be has nothing to do with you.
I merely wanted to come out and keep Bubby company in the sun.”
Beatrice coldly shut down the conversation with Roswaal, turning her gaze toward the two squaring off in the center of the clearing.
Roswaal followed Beatrice’s gaze.
“Um… Rem…” Subaru was a little unsure of Rem’s strength.
The Kingdom’s strongest mage had sent her to give him a combat test, so she had to be pretty strong, right?
However, Subaru hadn’t sensed the same kind of overwhelming pressure from her that he had felt from Reinhard.
Whatever.
At the very least, Rem is probably the strongest in the maid industry.
Which means this is—The Strongest Maid VS The Strongest Shut-In!
“There is no need to worry about hurting me.
Please come at me with everything you have, Subaru.” Rem grasped the handle of her morning star with her left hand and tightened her grip on the iron chain with her right.
The spiked iron ball, as large as Rem’s head, dragged against the ground, leaving faint cracks in the earth.
“No, Rem, you misunderstand,” Subaru shook his head, pointing a finger at Rem.
“What I mean is—you’re the challenger!
You attack first, Rem.
I want to test my defensive capabilities.
After all, an enforcer’s main job is to protect their liege.”
“Then, excuse me, Subaru.”
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The morning star was swung with immense force.
The wind from the iron ball tore up the turf, and the sharp clanking of the chain surrounded Rem.
“Who’d have thought Rem had so much physical strength.”
Subaru couldn’t help but comment.
But…
It’s too slow.
Subaru’s eyes clearly tracked the trajectory of the morning star, easily capturing every single detail as the iron ball rose and fell.
Her speed was maybe half of Elsa’s?
Or perhaps even slower.
And her “immense physical strength” was only immense relative to her petite frame.
Saying it was strong was just being polite.
In reality, the force behind it wasn’t much at all.
“Subaru, please be careful!”
The morning star flew forward, aimed directly at Subaru’s chest!
This was a solid iron ball capable of cracking the ground beneath its weight!
If a mass like that came flying with such accuracy, it wouldn’t be surprising if a human body taking a direct hit was completely blown apart.
How would Subaru react?
Having survived three battles, what strategy would Subaru use to handle the incoming attack?
Accompanied by the sound of tearing air, the iron ball flew straight at Subaru.
Closer, closer, closer!
What was Subaru doing?
He wasn’t doing anything!
He just stood perfectly still, maintaining his relaxed, completely defenseless posture.
Did he space out?!
If he spaced out during a fight… it was over!
“Subaru!
Dodge!”
Emilia’s blue-purple eyes were filled with panic.
She hastily raised her hand, ice crystals rapidly forming—
Beatrice pressed her lips tightly together and turned her head away, unconsciously tightening her grip on Puck, who let out a muffled wheeze.
Roswaal’s expression was strange—he looked tense, yet somehow perfectly relaxed.
Ram gripped the wand tied to the hem of her black-and-white maid skirt—
“I can’t pull it back in time…”
Rem hadn’t expected Subaru to just stand there like a statue and do absolutely nothing.
But by the time she realized it, it was too late to stop her attack.
On the battlefield at this very moment, there was no one left who could stop the iron ball from making contact with Subaru’s body.
BOOM!!!
Dust and dirt flew into the air as the iron ball slammed into Subaru’s body.
There was no cushioning, no blocking.
The ice crystals flew past, and the wind blades dissipated; the rescue attempts for Subaru had arrived too late and served no purpose.
A spiked iron ball attached to a chain was a lethal, concussive weapon more than capable of turning any opponent it struck into a pile of minced meat.
If a normal human took a direct hit from that iron ball under these circumstances… they would absolutely die.
The record for the strongest was etched into the Roswaal mansion—which is to say, that’s right, Rem had won!