Chapter 65.1
Forcibly dragged all the way to the Tomb, he was dumped in front of the entrance .
Be it snow or frost, Subaru spat out the sherbet-like substance that had gathered in his mouth . With his exposed, insensate skin caught between pain and numbness, he turned back his head,
[Subaru: That’s some…… pretty rough treatment]
[Garfiel: My head ain’t smart enough to be so considerate . Be glad I’m just bein’ rough with ya . ‘Less y’want me t’be rough with yer girl too?]
Puffing white breaths and looking down at Subaru on the ground, Garfiel gestured to Rem, who was still in his arms .
A hostage . Subaru wasn’t sure if that was what Garfiel intended, but it was certainly the perfect threat to coerce Subaru with .
[Subaru: Don’t you…… do anything weird to Rem]
[Garfiel: Long as ya do what I asked, I won’t]
Subaru uttered quietly as he pushed himself off the thinly snow-veiled ground . Standing at his side was the Lewes replicant who helped carry him here, staring blankly at him .
As usual, she was in her shabby robe, which seemed to be far too scant for the cold .
[Subaru: Can’t we give the girls some more clothes? … . . She looks so cold, I can’t bear looking at her]
[Garfiel: Y’realize what they are, right? They can’t feel th’cold in th’first place . If yer tryin’ to buy time, I ain’t got no reason t’play along]
[Subaru: Aw don’t keep pointing it out . Even I know buying time won’t improve the situation in any way]
His vision blinded by the snowstorm, Subaru followed Garfiel’s advice and turned towards the Tomb .
Amidst the world of white, he could faintly make out the ruin of stone . Even in this raging phenomenon of nature, Echidona’s tomb stood calmly, eerily waiting for its next challenger .
And Emilia would be inside .
[Subaru: How long has Emilia been in there?]
[Garfiel: She went in th’night before last, it’s been two days now . Honestly, I couldn’t care less as long as she ain’t dead]
[Subaru: From your position, I can see how that’s the case…… So you didn’t try to go in and bring her out yourself?]
[Garfiel: I can’t go in th’Tomb . It’s part of the contract]
That intriguing reply pretty much summed up the whole of Garfiel’s position .
Subaru wasn’t sure just to what extent the Sanctuary’s residents knew about this, but Garfiel had definitely been inside the Tomb . He met Echidona, and was granted the powers of an Apostle of Greed, as well as the qualification to hold command authority over the Lewes clones .
But why he would keep it a secret and postpone the liberation of the Sanctuary was beyond Subaru .
[Subaru: Once I go inside and ask Echidona herself…… guess I’ll find out]
[Garfiel: Quit mumblin’ . I told ya to get in there . Drag that Half-Witch out and get her to stop makin’ all this snow . Otherwise I’ll be forced to do somethin’ I don’t wanna do]
Garfiel slightly lifted Rem in his arms and let out a menacing smile . That smile didn’t suit him at all, but Subaru knew Garfiel as a person who carries out his threats . Regardless of what his true intentions were, as long as it serves to protect the Sanctuary, he would easily turn his claws on a girl with the same face as the one he loved .
[Subaru: Don’t do anything to Rem . ――That’s my condition]
[Garfiel: ……Just go]
Blown by the frigid wind, Subaru left these words with the coldest voice he could muster, and began walking towards the Tomb . Behind him, Garfiel watched him as he went .
His true motives were still unknown, but Subaru remembered that there was something he had forgotten to tell him .
He had forgotten to tell Garfiel about his sister Frederica’s death .
The only explanation he could think of was that the cold and rage had gotten to his head .
Right now, was he still sane? If he was sane, then how?
He let Petra die, he doubted Frederica’s innocence, and he returned to the Sanctuary to find this . His relationship with Garfiel was at its worst, and he had no idea whether the others in the Sanctuary were safe .
Continuing on in these atrocious circumstances, how could he be sane?
He mustn’t stop thinking . He mustn’t give in . He must look forward, look upward, grasp for a future worth grasping, and take on every burden he must bear .
[Subaru: ――――]
The claps of his faltering steps struck upon the Tomb’s dry floor .
Unlike the outside, in here, he could barely feel the reach of the raging cold . It was as though the cold had been barred from entering this place, but that would only be an illusion, and the reality was that it was merely diminished .
As Subaru stepped into the Tomb, the mechanism for welcoming those who were qualified activated, and the dim lamps of the dark corridor caught alight .
The murky lights lining the walls invited Subaru into the depths, and, with the sensation of all the blood in his body freezing, Subaru drove his limbs to venture inside .
And, at the end of what felt like a long, long passage, he arrived at a room .
The room where the first Trial took place, where they faced their past .
Arriving here at last,
[Emilia: ――Subaru?]
Like the ring of a silver chime, Subaru was welcomed by that tender, long-awaited voice .