Lean on Me to Your Heart's Content, Emilia
"Garf..."
Frederica murmured softly. Seeing her brother twist off Elsa's head, she could already imagine how smug he must be feeling right now.
However, her brother had been repressed for so many years; now that he was finally liberated, it wasn't a bad thing for him to be proud for once.
"This is all thanks to Lord Hachiman," Frederica mused, her heart filled with sincere respect for this "World's Number One Knight" who had led her brother out of the Sanctuary.
Just as she thought, back in the Sanctuary at this very moment, Garfiel was standing with hands on hips, grinning excitedly. "A mere Bowel Hunter or whatever, daring to provoke the General and the General's Princess... Hmph! With this Great One here, the General has nothing to fear—it's like a fish in water!"
The first battle for the "Shield of the Sanctuary" was a resounding, literal victory. Having lived up to the expectations and trust placed in him, Garfiel felt vindicated.
"I wonder if Ram seeing this Great One's heroic posture will change her feelings toward me even a little. Anyway, even if I don't measure up to the General, I'm at least better than that Roswaal guy, right?"
"Killed her! Dead again! Mimi wants, Mimi wants!"
In the Hoshin Trading Company, Mimi was bouncing up and down, tugging at Anastasia's hem and pointing at the blood-splattered Garfiel who was grinning after killing Elsa. "Mimi wants! I've taken a fancy to him! Mimi is totally smitten with him now!"
Even if he was a bit dense for imprisoning the Prime Minister, and even if he was messy and covered in blood, and even if he already had a crush on Ram...
"Mimi is head over heels for Garf!"
Anastasia nodded immediately, pinky-swearing with her and saying seriously: "Alrighty, I'll support you. I'll chase the Prime Minister, and Mimi can chase Garf—one big, one small, just right. Good luck, Mimi!"
"Oh! Young Lady is the best! Big Sister Anna is the best! Mimi is gonna chase Garf!"
Mimi raised both hands, cheering with joy.
"You succeeded, Mr. Hachiman," Otto let out a long sigh of relief among the merchants, a smile spreading across his face.
At the Karsten estate, Crusch whispered, "With a Great Spirit like Beatrice and Garfiel as allies, in the days to come, Sir Hachiman finally won't be 'without soldiers to command.' He can finally live a bit more easily, right?"
At the same time, in stark contrast to the joy elsewhere.
In the lonely Pleiades Watchtower, Shaula gazed up blankly. She watched Beatrice being persuaded, watched Beatrice step out of her four-hundred-year shackles, and watched Beatrice head toward happiness.
One drop, then another, then another—tears filled with envy, loneliness, and anticipation arrived as expected.
Master was wrong.
In this world, he isn't the only person who can understand Beatrice's four hundred years of loneliness.
Shaula choked back a silent sob. "She is, she is, she is... they all are... So, I am too... right? You'll definitely come find me, definitely come save me, definitely let Shaula see you again, right... Master..."
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「Parallel to the events at the manor, in the Sanctuary, an Emilia who now had someone to lean on faced her past, blessed the present, and reaped the future. By the time she ignored Echidna's interference and completed the three trials, the Sanctuary was already a world of ice and snow.」
「The weather magic set up by a calculating Roswaal had already activated, and even the combined efforts of Puck and Ram couldn't stop it. But in this battle, Ram achieved her other goal: she successfully seized Roswaal's Gospel and threw it into the raging flames.」
「Following this, Puck exhausted his mana and fell into a deep sleep.」
「Ram, who had already confessed her feelings, did not sit idly by and accept Lord Roswaal's wrath after burning the Gospel. Though she would have been willing to, the thought of Hikigaya Hachiman's threat forced her to do her absolute best to dodge the attacks containing Lord Roswaal's fury.」
「Despite this, her strength failed her heart; she was severely injured and pushed to her absolute limit.」
「Grief, sorrow, bewilderment... Looking around, the Roswaal who had lost his Gospel suddenly became helpless. Having lost his creed of four hundred years, he no longer knew how to live.」
「That confusion became even more intense upon seeing the dying Ram. He held her, constantly channeling mana into her. Only then did he realize that he was definitely not a
heartless person, not someone who could discard everything except his Teacher—and that it wasn't only his Teacher who loved him.
Regarding this, the Roswaal on the roof of the manor had only two words: "Heh heh."
"Waking up so late... you've already committed a grave error."
He looked at the bewildered and pathetic future version of himself, shaking his head without emotion.
"The premise of Ram loving me was also Rem being attacked by Gluttony... The one who truly attained enlightenment is me, the 'future fool'—not Ram, but Hikigaya Hachiman. Only he is the true sun!"
Ram likely wished him dead right now, even if this future scene was touching.
"Hmph..."
On the main road, Ram held Rem tightly and snorted coldly.
She truly did not like Roswaal right now, and she definitely never would.
Roswaal should be grateful; at least he understood repentance and change. By comparison, that nauseating source of all evil, Echidna, drew far more hatred than him.
With Echidna as a point of comparison, all other bastards seemed less loathsome.
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「The Great Rabbit. A sea of Great Rabbits.」
「Possessing enough combat power to change the terrain, the strongest magic user in Lugunica, Roswaal, could have wiped out all the Great Rabbits in one go if he were at his peak. But now, his remaining mana was low as he maintained Ram's treatment; moreover, his heart was like dead ashes, his face numb, thinking it might be better to just die and end it all. 」
「That numbness was shouted away by the arriving Emilia. All the Great Rabbits were drawn to her, while the Ryuzu clones took the opportunity to grab Roswaal and Ram, ensuring their safety.」
「"Mother... Geuse... Archi... Puck... and then—"」
「"My knight, the one I lean on, my Hachiman."」
」
「"I must lean on him, so I must stay alive; I must lean on him, so I must keep smiling; I must lean on him, so I must become strong; I must lean on him, so I must protect everyone; I must lean on him, so I must give it my absolute all."」
「"As long as I don't give up, as long as I am still me, as long as I make the greatest effort."」
「"At the very, very end, he will definitely appear..."」
「"Right... my hero!"」
「Faint whispers drifted in the wind. Gasping as she created a massive amount of ice spears to block the Great Rabbits, Emilia looked up at the sky and caught a glimpse of that flickering purple light.」
「"Your trust puts a lot of pressure on me, Emilia... But, you're right. Your hero will come to save you at a time like this."」
「Holding Beatrice's small hand, stepping forward to shield Emilia behind him, a confident Hikigaya Hachiman stood tall and proud.」
「"Lean on me to your heart's content! Lean on Hikigaya Hachiman, Emilia!"」
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