Chapter 321. Anastasia's Slap
「"—Slap!"」
「A crisp sound echoed through the hall. Anastasia's palm struck Hikigaya Hachiman's cheek, her light-blue eyes burning with a rage she couldn't suppress.」
「"...I'm sorry."」
「Hikigaya Hachiman, having delivered the tragic news, lowered his eyelids. He stood firmly in place, not dodging the slap, nor showing any intent to defend himself. "It was my poor command that led to Julius's amnesia."」
「"Give me a proper excuse!" Anastasia glared at him intensely, reaching out to grab his collar, but since Hachiman's shirt had already been torn into bandages for Crusch, she could only strike her fist against his bare chest.」
「"Tell me the enemies were too strong, or that the sudden flood disrupted the battlefield, or that someone acted on their own... If you said that, I wouldn't be able to do anything to you. Give me an excuse, you bastard, idiot, dammit... dammit!"」
「Anastasia's eyelashes trembled slightly. Her throat went dry, and she let out a powerless sigh. "If Joshua finds out about this, what will happen to that boy?"」
「"I will be the one to inform Joshua."」
「"You really are—"」
「Looking at Hikigaya Hachiman as he proactively took on the responsibility, Anastasia bit her lower lip. "Is this how you snatched away the job of telling me, too? Who do you think you are? Interfering so much in the affairs of my camp... I don't need it!"」
「Ignoring her rejection, Hikigaya Hachiman said heavily: "I do indeed bear responsibility for Julius losing his memories."」
「Anastasia knew. Of course she knew... even though she hadn't gone to the City Hall to fight, she could see it in the depths of the current Hachiman's eyes: a profound conflict and shame.」
「It was evidence that Hikigaya Hachiman was holding something back. In this battle, he had something he hadn't used—something that could have saved Julius—but he had kept that unknown factor hidden.」
「That was why Anastasia had thrown that slap.」
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"This is really... mm-mm..."
At the Hoshin Company, Anastasia looked at her future self in a daze, eventually letting her head hang listlessly. "My idiot prime minister always likes to take everything onto himself like this. It's a bit too much."
This slap didn't just stun Anastasia; it also snapped Julius out of his dejection. Deeply moved, his spirit simultaneously revitalized.
"Hmph. A stinking vixen."
At her mansion, Priscilla haughtily snapped her fiery red fan shut, letting out a cold snort as she looked askance at the future Anastasia with disdain. Beating or bullying Hikigaya Hachiman... only she, Priscilla, had the right to do such things.
If it weren't for the three "Bastard Fakes"—Echidna, Capella, and Batenkaitos—being such eyesores that her Strong Luck was split three ways with no surplus, she truly would have wanted the current Anastasia to trip and fall right then and there.
"Our fool must belong to Us alone. Clowns who dare to lay a finger on him—whether it be the stinking vixen, the foolish half-devil, or the Oni girl who only knows how to sacrifice herself—none of them have the right to touch the fool that belongs solely to Us!"
However, even though Anastasia delivered this slap, in the hearts of the people across both worlds, Anastasia was still far superior to Priscilla; at most, she slipped back a tiny bit, leading to a long-awaited surge in support for Emilia.
The ever-arrogant Priscilla was well aware of this, but she didn't care. She didn't even care about the will of the "fool" she valued.
After all—
"What We want, becomes Ours!"
"Tch, if she's gonna hit someone, she should hit me! If a mistake was made, I'm the one who'll take the punishment. Hitting the General is too much... this nasty Big Sis Anna really is far inferior to Lady Emilia!"
In the Sanctuary, Garfiel muttered to himself. While feeling unbearable shame, a warm current spread through his limbs.
His General had shouldered the responsibility and the punishment for him. Recognizing this fact—understanding just how good his General was to him—made Garfiel feel an even deeper sense of disgrace for his own uselessness and for holding his General back.
This time, Granny Ryuzu did not poke him with her cane.
"This old man... sigh."
At the Karsten estate, looking at Lord Hachiman taking the heat for himself and Garfiel, Wilhelm closed his eyes, his emotions complex.
To divert the shame, Ferris immediately raised a hand, wagging tail and cat ears, and asked Crusch: "Even though Ferri-chan doesn't want Hachiman-kun to die one more time at all, now that Julius has lost his memories and hundreds are dead or injured, with Hachiman-kun's personality, he should be thinking about using 'Return by Death,' right?"
"Because this time, even with Return by Death, nothing can be changed."
Crusch shook her head and explained: "Even if he did it over, they would still have to attack the City Hall quickly to face three Sin Archbishops."
"Because the longer they wait, the higher the chance the impatient Archbishops will continue to slaughter a large number of citizens."
"If he didn't care about the lives of the people, Lord Hachiman would have plenty of ways to wait until the three Archbishops were separated to defeat them one by one. However, to save the entire Water Gate City and those still alive, his only path was to attack the City Hall immediately."
"And when facing three Sin Archbishops... someone is bound to have their memories and existence swallowed when facing Batenkaitos. The only difference is which of the ten people it would be."
"The reason Lord Hachiman doesn't use Return by Death is that he cannot bring himself to let someone else replace Lord Julius in having their memories swallowed."
Thus, no one could condemn Garfiel or Wilhelm; their failure only accounted for a small part of the responsibility, just as no one could condemn Kiritaka.
Kiritaka, who attacked the four floodgates, allowed the cultists to open them in the chaos, but that was an inevitable error.
No matter how fast Kiritaka attacked, there were so many cultists that the moment they saw the floodgates couldn't be held, they would inevitably open them as a final act of spite. They held the geographical advantage; they only had to reach out to open them, and no one could stop it.
Kiritaka could only finish the fight as quickly as possible and go to close the gates.
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At Advanced Nurturing High School, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka rubbed his chin and thought, placing himself in the situation. "Actually, there is a very simple way. Seize the four floodgates first,
wait to see which one the three Archbishops attack, then Return by Death and set a trap at that specific gate to wipe them all out at once."
If it were him, that's what he would do.
However, this method would require active suicide and several loops of Return by Death to gather enough intelligence. Hikigaya Hachiman surely thought of this plan, but given his personality, he would never adopt it.
This wasn't just because Hikigaya Hachiman respected the world and time, but because if he adopted this strategy, he would have to watch those hundreds of citizens die over and over again.
They wouldn't even get a clean death.
So, this "poisonous strategy" was something only someone like Ayanokouji Kiyotaka would use.
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