“Yes, Master!”
The familiar scene appeared before Subaru once again.
The girl who had just died was now full of energy, saluting Subaru with a serious tone as she promised that she would find the thing he had lost.
The thing that did not exist at all.
“Huh?
Master, your face suddenly looks really awful.
Did Reid shove you into a toilet while I wasn’t around?!”
Shaula noticed that Subaru’s expression was wrong and immediately asked.
Of course, Shaula also noticed the unbearably thick Witch’s Scent wrapped around Subaru.
“Like I said, there isn’t even a toilet on the second floor… You idiot.”
Hearing that familiar voice, Subaru barely managed to squeeze out a smile.
“Oh my, Master, that was humor!
Humor!”
Seeing Subaru’s expression improve a little, Shaula giggled.
“Right, Master lost something downstairs, didn’t you?
Master must look like this because that thing is really important, right?
Don’t worry, leave it to me.
I’ll go right now— Mm?”
Shaula rolled up her sleeves and gave him a thumbs-up.
The words “unconfident” almost never appeared in her eyes.
It was as if she had endless energy.
But before she could finish speaking, Subaru pulled her into his arms first.
Like a child who was terrified of losing something.
“Master?”
Shaula was startled by the sudden action.
It was not really her fault for reacting so strongly.
After spending a month together, this was the one and only time.
The only time Master had taken the initiative to hug her.
Subaru said nothing.
He only pressed his lips tightly together and used his trembling body to feel the life of the girl before him.
“Oh my~ Did your brain get hurt?
Master, if you do this, Shaula won’t be able to properly carry out your order…”
“Throw away everything your Master said!”
Subaru shouted with all his strength.
“The one talking to you right now is me.
It’s Natsuki Subaru!”
“Mm… But you can’t just casually break a promise, especially when it was made by someone important.
Didn’t Master say before?
‘If you lie, you’ll have to swallow a thousand needles’!”
“If that’s the punishment… I can accept it completely!
So… So please don’t leave me.
Please don’t die.
Please stay with me… okay, Shaula?”
The girl felt the boy’s fear.
She did not know why he was so afraid, but she did not ask.
She knew there was only one thing she should do now.
Shaula gently patted Subaru’s back and hugged him in return.
“I won’t leave you~ Because I……have always loved Master.”
Subaru did not think he had the right to naturally accept those feelings.
Clearly…
Clearly, he had thought that the master who abandoned this girl was the worst kind of bastard.
But if he accepted this girl’s feelings like this, after trampling on her heart again and again, then how was he any different from that bastard?
“Shaula…”
“I’m listening, Master.”
“I lied to you… I’m sorry.”
“Ah, is that so?
It’s fine.
Shaula is pretty dumb, so if I get tricked by my bad brained Master, I can only blame myself.”
Hearing that answer, Subaru clenched his teeth tightly.
Being pushed away, being attacked, or at least being scolded harshly.
He deserved all of that.
But none of it came.
All the girl did was pour out her love.
“I’m just as much of a bastard as that master of yours… Even like this, you’ll forgive me?”
“Do you remember, Master?
You told me that you would definitely come back, told me to wait for you, and then disappeared.”
Shaula did not answer Subaru’s question.
Instead, she suddenly asked him that.
“I don’t remember.
I told you, I don’t know.”
“Oh my, there’s no helping that.
My forgetfulness must have come from you, Master!
Who told me to be so similar to Master?”
“We’re not… not that similar.
I’ll admit our way of talking is close… but I could never be as strong as you.”
How could Subaru not understand just how difficult Shaula’s perseverance truly was?
Four hundred years.
That was four hundred sets of three hundred and sixty five days.
Four hundred turns of the starry sky.
And all of it was only for a spoken promise made by one person?
To keep a promise like that and endure four hundred years of loneliness?
Subaru could not do it.
He would be driven insane.
Subaru was not as lovable as her, nor as adorable.
And he was certainly not as strong.
“I have no patience.
I get anxious.
I want to see results right away.
I can’t do it…”
“That’s why I love Master.
Because if you love someone, you have to love all of them, right?
Master’s weakness, Master’s strength, Master’s bad side, Master’s handsome side, all of Master.
I love all of it.”
If you loved someone, you had to love all of them.
Subaru was speechless.
He did not know how to reply.
He could not open his mouth.
He could not answer this confession.
Shaula smiled gently.
She held Subaru’s face and looked into his eyes.
Her face was so close that her breath brushed against Subaru’s skin.
It forced Subaru to look at her again.
Large almond shaped eyes.
A sharp gaze.
A tall, straight nose.
Long eyelashes.
And skin so delicate it was hard to imagine she had lived in the desert for so long.
Because her expression changed so often, it was easy to overlook, but rather than being simply cute and pitiful, her entire appearance leaned more toward beauty.
Given the name of the Scorpion, her eyes at this moment shone like stars.
“So, Master, don’t cry.
If you keep crying in front of a girl all the time, even I’ll have a hard time dealing with it.”
“Pfft… Are you an idiot?”
Subaru laughed.
This was definitely not a smile he forced out to match the girl’s words.
So this world was not made only of malice.
At least…
There was still someone who loved him, someone willing to accept his weakness and ugliness.
“Hehe.
Master can laugh and call me a stupid woman, a pitiful woman.
That’s fine.
Because—”
“Shaula loves Master’s smile too!”
Subaru decided to confess that he had deceived her.
He had not lost anything in the underground palace at all.
After learning that, Shaula did not blame Subaru.
However, she was very curious about why Subaru had lied to her.
“Uh… I said it earlier, didn’t I?
I have no patience.
I’m the kind of guy who likes taking shortcuts… Reid is just too hard to deal with, so I wanted to sneak out of here without telling you.”
After Subaru finished speaking, Shaula got angry.
This was the first time Subaru had ever seen her angry.
“Master must understand how serious this is!
If you leave, then I can only deal with Master myself!”
“Y-Yes… I know…”
“Shaula… Shaula doesn’t want to kill Master… If Master really wants to leave that badly… you can order Shaula.”
“Order you?”
“If it’s Master’s order, I will definitely obey.
For example… ordering me to kill myself.”
“That’s way too extreme!!!!”
“That’s what I’m saying!
I love you.
It’s normal not to want to personally kill the person you love, right?
Master, you have to wake up.
You absolutely can’t do something like this behind Shaula’s back again!”
Shaula would occasionally say, “I love you”, because her heart was filled with love.
It was a serious, painfully sincere love, a feeling that had settled over four hundred years.
After seeing Shaula’s eyes just now, Subaru had to admit that these were not careless words spoken casually.
“You know, I won’t say ‘I love you’ to you…”
“I know.
If Master can’t say it, then I’ll say it for Master.
I’ll say it a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times.
Who told Master to be such a bad brained person?
But I love that bad side too, ehehe~”
“I believe that one day, Master will definitely say it.”
“One day… You really are patient.
Are you planning to wait another four hundred years?”
Subaru teased her.
“Only four hundred years is enough?!”
Shaula asked in surprise.
“You…”
“It’s fine.
Four hundred years… It’s like tomorrow’s tomorrow.
It’ll pass in no time.”
Shaula answered with a smile.
“You’re lying.
The loneliness in your eyes isn’t fake.”
The girl chuckled.
Her eyes narrowed, and the corners of her mouth lifted as if she were wrapped in happiness.
“Because—”
“I love the time I spend waiting too.”
(TL:damn….what a great chapter)
(TL:also I’ve translated up to the part where Subaru take on Volcanica’s trial, super peak session,we will get to it in 1 or 2 day)