[ "Ah… ugh… this is… anyway, I have to get out first, then meet up with Emilia and the others." Subaru pressed his hands against the ground, pushing himself up, and walked toward the entrance of the ruins.
Then, a gruff voice echoed in the scene.
"Yo… walking out of there so boldly, you've got some nerve, outsider."
That voice was undoubtedly… ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Ohhh! Garf's appearing! Garf's appearing!"
Mimi looked very excited.
"Honestly, I was scared out of my wits back then. Garfiel wouldn't listen to our explanations and was ready to throw hands immediately."
Otto complained.
"Ahaha, sorry about that, Brother Otto. At the time, my head was full of nothing but protecting the Sanctuary. But, you could see my manliness, right!"
Garfiel scratched his head awkwardly and apologized.
"What manliness? All anyone could see was the image of a reckless brute, right?"
Ram couldn't help but mock him.
"I thought it was strange before, but so it turns out Subaru's qualification for the Trials was given by Echidna."
Emilia said.
—
[ "Huh?" Subaru walked out of the ruins. The first things to catch his eye were Patrasche and the ground dragon carriage parked in front, along with a miserable-looking Otto.
And inside the carriage, the unconscious Emilia must still be there.
"N-Natsuki-san…"
"Otto? What are you doing here… wait, more importantly, where's Emilia?"
"Instead of that annoying little bro, you should be looking over here first. That's how it's settled! It's what they call 'ganglion cyst before thinking'."
With spiked-up short blond hair, a prominent scar on his forehead, a fierce expression, and tattered clothes, Garfiel made his debut.
"Don't go getting cold feet now, hey! Your timing is truly crap, since you not only entered a place you shouldn't have, but got caught red-handed by yours truly! You can resent your bad luck all you want! Turn into 'Bazomazo flowing right and left'!"
"Wait! Listen to us…"
"'Spinning around, it's the old hag's blue skin'… and you still won't listen!"
Next, Garfiel bared his signature sharp, jagged teeth and took a step forward…
"Ah… ah!"
The next second, Subaru was thrown through the air by Garfiel. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"See, isn't he just a brute? What 'manliness', stupid Garf."
Ram wasn't present at the time, but she knew Garfiel's personality all too well, so she wasn't at all surprised by his actions.
"Garfiel, it's very wrong to recklessly attack others without listening to their explanation. Sigh, I can't believe such a thing happened while I was unconscious."
Emilia lectured Garfiel with a serious face.
"Garf, I didn't think someone without a sister's discipline would be so reckless. Did you apologize properly to Subaru-sama?"
Frederica was also full of gravity.
"Seriously, Big Bro isn't a bad guy. Why did you have to slam Big Bro!"
Mimi said.
"Even if it is Garfiel, he would lay hands on Subaru-kun."
Rem was incredibly serious.
"Ah, I get it, I get it, yours truly was wrong. Look, yours truly isn't like that anymore. I was pretty excited just now, thinking I was about to appear. Now that I recall that series of actions, it's kind of embarrassing. As for the apology, yours truly did apologize later!"
Garfiel scratched his head wildly.
"Oh? That's an excellent ground dragon."
Anastasia said.
—
[ In the scene, Patrasche skillfully pulled the carriage, letting Subaru crash into the passenger door. He smashed through the door and stopped right on the seat.
Then, Patrasche roared, baring her teeth, and lunged at Garfiel's neck.
"Ha, intoxicating judgment. You're quite the ground dragon… no, quite the fine woman." Garfiel extended his left hand, deflecting the biting target so that she only caught his left hand. "I won't make you suffer, just sleep for a bit."
Then, Garfiel placed his hand on Patrasche's neck and threw her down.
With just that one throw, Patrasche was knocked unconscious. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"The young man truly has Herculean strength."
Al said.
"That hit was no joke. I was completely intimidated at the time."
Otto said.
"Sorry about that, Third Sister-in-law!"
Garfiel apologized.
—
[ Subaru and Otto were left dumbfounded by Garfiel's move.
"He… threw Patrasche down?"
"H-how is such a feat possible… what?"
Next, Otto noticed Garfiel walking toward him step by step. He hurriedly got into a stance and said:
"Don't… don't look down on me! I'm still a traveling merchant! I've prepared countermeasures for when I'm attacked by thugs during my travels! Taste the power of the Suwen Family Style Thug-Repelling Technique… Ugh!"
"Shut up, you total amateur. For the ground dragon's sake, I'll just beat you half to death. Just stay down." Garfiel flicked his finger against Otto's forehead, flicking him into unconsciousness. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Was he… scared unconscious?"
Anastasia said.
"Ahaha…"
Otto laughed awkwardly, but Garfiel said:
"Don't look down on him. Brother Otto was playing the pig to eat the tiger, faking it. Actually, he just didn't want to reveal his strength, right, Brother Otto?"
"Uh… say whatever you want."
Garfiel, on the other hand, was very confident in Otto's strength.
"What, you don't believe it? There'll be scenes later that'll convince you."
Garfiel said finally.
—
[ "You should be grateful for the ground dragon's hard work. Yours truly will beat you half to death and then dump you outside the forest. You have to swear first that you won't tell anyone about what's here!" Garfiel turned his target toward Subaru.
Subaru swallowed hard, spread his arms to try to protect Emilia, and then shouted: "Wait! You know Frederica… you know Roswaal and the others, right?"
"Ah? Why would those people's names come out of your mouth?"
"What do you think? Think about it carefully."
"I thought about it, but I don't get it. I'll think about it after I finish beating you."
"Don't be so reckless! It's because we know Roswaal, too!"
"Ah? Don't tell me, the woman lying inside is the rumored Emilia-sama?" ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"So the hostility has finally been put aside for now?"
Felt said.
"Yeah, exactly."
Garfiel responded.
"But, what do you mean by 'I thought about it, but I don't get it. I'll think about it after I finish beating you'? Garf really is empty-headed."
"Have some mercy, Ram!"
Garfiel could only respond that way.
—
[ "Don't worry, yours truly won't lay hands on you anymore. I don't want to be yelled at by Ram. By the way, yours truly is Garfiel. You should have at least heard of me, right?" Garfiel dropped his hostility.
"So you're Garfiel…"
"Since that's the case, yours truly also wants to ask one thing. How did you know yours truly knows Frederica?"
"Are you serious? Just looking at your mouth, isn't it obvious?"
In any case, Subaru's group finally encountered Garfiel.
Their relationship with Garfiel also eased from hostile to neutral. ]
.....