NOVEL NEXT Volume 4, 46 [Partners With Bad Affinity]
Volume 4, Chapter 46 [Partners With Bad Affinity]
[Subaru: If I have bad affinity with this, what kind of asshole would have good affinity with this!?]
In front of the girl in complete bondage, Subaru blurted this out in protest.
The Witch of Gluttony―― was what they called the person who appeared before him.
Settled inside the slightly tilted coffin was a girl about 150cm in height. Her shoulder-length grayish hair was woven into two pigtails. White and splendid, with small breasts―― in fact, she looked no more than 13 or 14 years old.
[Subaru: But all tied up in restraints, and eyes blindfolded…… it’s hard to believe she’s the age she looks like]
Girls her age should normally be fantasizing about having “Superpowers that normal people don’t have” or “Secret latent abilities that can pose a threat to other people” or stuff like that.
Thinking back on his middle-school days, Subaru was fantasizing about being a master of concealed weapons at the time and hid a bunch of sewing needles in his school uniform.
[Subaru: Well, I wound up falling over, got stabbed by needles everywhere and couldn’t stop crying…]
Reminiscing on his cringe-worthy history to no one in particular, Subaru couldn’t quite make up his mind on what to do with the Witch in front of him.
After all, every other Witch up to now had taken the initiative to one-sidedly made the FIRST ATTACK before Subaru could do anything.
[Subaru: ――――]
Directly facing him, the girl inside the coffin still lay silently without showing any reaction.
Since first impressions are crucial, the silence was beginning to weigh on Subaru, who was finding himself uncharacteristically indecisive about how to break the ice. He at least needed to know if his partner was friendly or not before he could decide whether to be all buddy-buddy or act like a sarcastic twit.
[Subaru: …………]
Both waiting for the other to move, silence continued to dominate the tea party atop the small hill.
While this situation persisted, the overwhelming pressure from the Witch in front of him gradually ate away at Subaru. Even with her body immobilized, and her eyes sealed behind blindfolds, the threat emanating from her tiny body was truly befitting of a Witch.
Echidona had so happily introduced him to the Witches of Pride, Wrath and Sloth, yet she hesitated when it came to this one.
Perhaps the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne, was just so decisively different from the others.
[Daphne: …………unn]
[Subaru: ――――!?]
Sweat gathered on Subaru’s forehead from the tension, and just as he was about to wipe it with the back of his hand to keep them from dripping into his eyes, a sudden movement from Daphne’s direction gave Subaru a start.
Inside the coffin, the girl wrapped in restraints slightly turned her head, while the sound of her respiration reached Subaru. In anticipation of what she might do, Subaru’s entire body assumed a state of caution.
And then,
[Daphne: ……zzuuu, mnya]
[Subaru: ――You were sleeping!!??]
[Daphne: ――FUNYA!?]
The moment he heard what sounded like snoring, Subaru jumped forward protesting.
A loud stomp went out over the grassy hill, and, startled by the sudden sound, the Witch inside the coffin jolted, squeaking.
Unable to see with her eyes blindfolded, she turned her head left and right,
[Daphne: Wha, what is it? Somewone was tryying to sleeep here……]
She drooled out that complaint with an exceptionally sloppy tone.
It was unclear whether she was talking like that because she was half asleep or if that was just the way she talked, but at least the overwhelming pressure from earlier had vanished.
“Was I just overthinking it…?” Subaru couldn’t hide this deflated sensation.
[Subaru: Uh, y-yeah, my bad. I got a little hot-headed there. Didn’t mean to yell like that]
[Daphne: Ehhh~? But getting startled by stuff like that, Daphne would feel troubled…]
[Subaru: Guh…… please forgive me. Cheer up, ok? Please don’t get mad]
[Daphne: But I wawsn’t getting mad? If I get mad, I’ll get all huungry. But anyway, who are you?]
Rejecting his apology, Daphne immediately went on at her own pace to ask her own question.
With just two or three sentences exchanged between them, the rhythm of the conversation had already been all messed up, and Subaru was starting to get an idea of what Echidona meant earlier.
――This Witch’s pace of conversation couldn’t match up with Subaru’s at all.
Letting out a sigh at the unsettling road ahead of him, Subaru lightly shook his head to get rid of the off-put expression on his face, and, replacing it with an ultra friendly smile,
[Subaru: My name’s Natsuki Subaru. For some reason I got invited by Echidona to her Witch’s tea party…… uhh, well, basically a tea-drinking friend. Yeah, something like that]
[Daphne: Heeee~~? Dona-Dona has friends? Subaruun too, you should be more careful with your choice of friends, you know? If they hear you’re friends with a Witch… your real friends and family might.. hate.. you… youknow……?]
Hearing Subaru’s self introduction, Daphne threw in an extra piece of advice. The fact that the latter half of her sentence started trailing off was probably because she was falling back to sleep.
Seeing her blatant exhaustion, with her shoulders heaving up and down inside the coffin, with [Oy oy], Subaru tried to snap her out of it,
[Subaru: Why’re you so tired out? Does that coffin drain the lifeforce out of whoever’s inside or something?]
[Daphne: Nooo, it doesn’t? Daphne’s just, tired, that’s all, and my stomach’s empty and going all guu~guu~ and I have no energyy……is there, anything, to, eat…… haa, haa…]
[Subaru: Panting just from talking is like the epitome of childhood-sickly-constitution you know…… In terms of food, we only got some Dona-tea and some cookies on the table]
In fact, they were some cookie-ish mystery treats to go with the tea. But, knowing that the tea was Echidona’s bodily fluids, the cookies might very well be made of Echidona’s body cells or something.
Since he couldn’t gulp it all down at once like the tea, Subaru made a point of not touching it. But, hearing that there was food, the reaction [COOKIES!?] from Daphne was pretty clear,
[Daphne: Th, th, th, that would do. That would doo, Daphne, put it in Daphne’s mouth please. Hurry, aaeee, hurryy……]
[Subaru: If we take it out of context that request can be totally misunderstood so can you please be more careful with that!? But well… I guess I’m not enough of a sadist to keep someone who wants it so badly waiting]
Subaru picked up the plate of sweets and approached Daphne’s coffin, intending to place the cookies in her mouth. But, before he could do so,
[Daphne: Ah, but but, wait Subaruun, can you wait a momennt?]
[Subaru: Hn? What. Just so you know, we only got one flavor here. There’s no chocolate in there so it’s probably just plain flavored. If you tell me you don’t like it, I won’t force you to eat it all up and not leave anything behind or anything like that]
[Daphne: That’s not it…… it’s just, I don’t want Subaruun to come too close when you feed Daphne]
[Subaru: That’s a pretty difficult request when you’re asking me to feed you, isn’t it!?]
His approach having been rejected, Subaru stood there holding the plate of cookies, at a loss about what to do.
All the while, the girl in the coffin slightly pushed herself up,
[Daphne: Please don’t misunderstand though… it’s not because I hate you or feel biologically repulsed by you or just can’t stand you at all or anything like that you know…]
[Subaru: Those reassurances totally just made you sound less credible! Reason! Tell me a reason!]
[Daphne: Subaruun’s smell, if you get too close to Daphne, it’ll be like pooison]
[Subaru: My body odor’s like poison!?]
Hearing that even more hurtful comment, Subaru quickly raised up his arm to smell himself. But there was nothing particularly striking, although, humans are usually slow to notice their own odors.
Subaru looked himself up and down, but,
[Subaru: I smell? I really smell? I took a proper bath after coming to the Sanctuary though? I didn’t have soap like back at the Mansion, but considering I’ll be around Emilia, I did ensure the minimal level of personal hygiene…… No, I mean, this is the spirit world isn’t it? Would the harsh surface conditions really carry over in here?]
[Daphne: Noooo, it’s~not~like~thaat. Uuuum, shouldn’t, you understaand, Subaruun?]
[Subaru: Not at all! That just sounds like it’s all my fault here! How am I supposed to just understand? Tch!]
While Subaru was flailing his arms around shouting this, Daphne shook her head left and right, slightly rocking her coffin. With the sound of creaking wood, [How should I saay this…] she continued at her own unique tempo,
[Daphne: If I smell Subaruun’s smell, Daphne will want to eat Subaruun more than the cookie, and that’ll make Daphne feel all troubled you know…]
[Subaru: ……Eh? Sorry, I didn’t quite understand that]
[Daphne: Compared to vegetables, Daphne likes meat more, and hard meat is better than soft meat, that kind of thing, you know…]
Suddenly, Subaru felt a chill shooting up the back of his spine.
Holding his breath as he stared at Daphne, there had been no change in her appearance since the beginning. Still bound inside her coffin, her bondage prevented any movement from her body, and her eyes, still sealed behind her blindfolds, never once looked upon Subaru.
If those restraints were not for fashion, then what were they for――
[Daphne: From what I can smell, Subaruun’s meat is so muscled and sinewy, and the bones are thick too, must be reaally…… just what Daphne likes. So, if you get too close, you’ll smell so nice that I’ll want to eat you]
[Subaru: E-eat me…… in the sexy sense?]
[Daphne: In the eating-raw sense……]
Hearing the slightly different interpretation, Subaru gulped down a breath.
Then, quickly putting some distance between himself and the girl, Subaru grabbed a cookie from the plate once he made sure that he was at a safe enough distance.
[Subaru: I-I’ll try to throw it to you from here, but sorry if I miss your mouth, ok?]
[Daphne: That’s okay, Subaruun. Just try to toss it so it hits the coffin. Then I can pick it up myself]
[Subaru: That sounds incredibly disconcerting, but uh….. alright, here goes!]
With a small swing of his arm, Subaru lightly tossed the cookie toward Daphne’s mouth.
The cookie that was the size of a 500-Yen coin traced out a surprisingly perfect trajectory, and flew neatly into Daphne’s mouth. This unprecedented degree of control was just the result of Subaru’s extreme concentration.
With the precision of threading a needle, he had managed to shoot it right into Daphne’s mouth. Catching it on her tongue, Daphne ate it up in an instant,
[Daphne: Omnyuomnyu….. nnnn~, soooo tasty~. Dona-Dona’s flavor…]
[Subaru: I don’t know if that means she made it herself or if she used dark magic to infuse some of her own body parts into the cookies…… I’m throwing the next one!]
[Daphne: Oooo, I can’t waait. Ooommn…… hey, gimme more……]
[Subaru: That’s gonna throw off my aim can you please keep quiet!?]
Trying to shut down Daphne’s erotically provocative encouragements, Subaru continued throwing cookie after cookie. It was an almost infuriating scene of two people playing with food, but then, seeing the serious look on Subaru’s face, one might feel discouraged from reproaching him.
Although Daphne had to occasionally move her head, the cookies landed in her mouth in the end. And, just as Subaru was starting to feel relieved that they could clear all the cookies on the plate this way,
[Subaru: ――ah]
A strong wind swept across the small hill, blowing the nimbly tossed out cookie off-course. Flying far out of the way of its target, it headed over the table and for the side of the hill. Falling like this, it might as well be food for the ants―― or so Subaru thought, when,
[Daphne: NoooOooo…… such a waaaste]
With her extraordinary sense of smell, Daphne realized that the cookie was flying away. She followed the cookie’s demise with her sightless vision, and, in the next moment, Subaru saw it.
[Subaru: ――――!?]
A violent sound rang out, as a sharp claw gouged destruction into the earth.
Rolling up a cloud of soil and dust, the assault of the unceasing sound expanded as it reached the falling cookie,
[Daphne: Aa, mwu]
Daphne stuck out her neck, caught the cookie between her red lips and happily slipped it into her mouth. After chewing with an almost indiscernible noise, she licked her lips and let out a sensual [Hohh],
Having witnessed the whole thing, Subaru fell speechless.
Noticing Subaru’s silence, Daphne gave a little sniff,
[Daphne: Subaruun…… isn’t there, still two left? Don’t be mean……]
The girl with flushed cheeks and quivering lips, like a baby bird waiting to be fed, was definitely adorable.
If one could overlook the blindfolded eyes and the full body restraints binding her inside the black coffin――
[Subaru: ……No, there’s definitely no way to be unfazed by this]
And the crab-like legs that emerged from the sides of the coffin, carrying its host in this bizarrely unconventional sight.
[Subaru: So uh…… mind if I ask what that is?]
Still not recovered from the initial shock, Subaru threw the two remaining cookies to Daphne as requested. Both of which also missed due to his trembling fingertips, but, with the deft footwork of her coffin, Daphne easily caught them in her mouth.
Looking like she was enjoying their sweetness to her heart’s content, Daphne let out a [Uuunn~] as Subaru somehow squeezed out his question.
[Daphne: What that is… even if you ask Daphne, Daphne couldn’t see so Daphne wouldn’t know…]
[Subaru: I mean the uh…… super shiny awesome-looking mobile coffin you got there. In my narrow, shallow knowledge, coffins usually don’t come with legs and don’t make high-speed insect-like movements like that]
Making GICHI-GICHI noises, the coffin slowly clambered back to its original position with Daphne in tow. The base of the coffin plunked onto the grass with a thud, and the crab-like legs withdrew into the sides once more. The movement was not unlike a turtle pulling its legs into its shell.
As if picking up Subaru’s sentiment, Daphne laughed [Aahaa],
[Daphne: You mean Centipede Coffinn? It’s because Daphne can’t move freelyy, so I made this child to make up for it… He’s usually a good, quiet child you know?]
[Subaru: Made it….. it’s a, living creature……?]
Even though it was making organic movements with organic-looking organs, Subaru wasn’t so sure if he could group that thing with living organisms. Though of course, it was definitely not mechanical.
[Daphne: It doesn’t need to eat… or drink… but Centipede Coffin stays alive by absorbing Mana, you know? So it won’t feel hungry… which makes me kinda jealous]
[Subaru: It eats Mana…… nevermind, we can leave that for another time. More importantly, you said you made it? You can, make living things?]
[Daphne: Instead of living things…… it’s more like Mabeasts… Daphne takes some intentions and feelings and stuff and whooshwhoosh it around, and a creature comes out]
Daphne squirmed around a bit inside the coffin. None of the words that came out of her mouth gave any concrete idea of what that actually entailed, but, even from that vague explanation, Subaru got the sense that she was capable of something outrageous.
――To create living things, is surely the work of Gods.
While, in his original world, there was genetic engineering and forbidden sciences like cloning, to create new life out of nothing was certainly something only Gods could accomplish.
But, whether that should be considered blasphemy against life or attainment of inconceivable powers would depend on who you ask.
[Subaru: Unless…… “Daphne’s inauspicious legacy”…… and creating the Mabeasts, meant exactly what it sounded like?]
[Daphne: Eun~ eun~?]
[Subaru: White Whale, Black Serpent, Great Rabbit…… are all of them like that crab coffin of yours? Just things you created……?]
[Daphne: Mnn~mhuu~……. Uuunn, such nostalgic names… Yeah. The Whaale, Snaake, Raabbit, they’re all children Daphne made]
[Subaru: Why!!?]
Baring his teeth as he heard her words of affirmation, Subaru closed the distance between them, shouting, sending spit flying.
His face red with anger, he thrusted his finger towards Daphne,
[Subaru: Why the hell would you create monsters like that? Do you realize, for the 400 years after you died, what kind of havoc they’ve been wreaking in the world outside!? How many tens of hundreds of people at a time fell victim to their……!]
The fierce battle on Lifaus Highway resurfaced in his mind.
Wilhelm’s obsession and screams for the memories of his murdered wife, and the cries of rage from the lines of knights―― were all for the tragedies brought about by the White Whale and by the Witch who birthed him.
As for the Great Rabbit that attacked the Sanctuary, if Subaru’s subsequent efforts fail to bear fruit, then Emilia, alongside everyone else in the Sanctuary, would be devoured.
If this cycle of natural disasters that is the Great Rabbit was also a consequence of the Witch before his eyes, then,
[Subaru: Why did you do it!? Tell me! Why did you create monsters that are the cause of so many people’s suffering!!?]
[Daphne: ……? But, bigger animals means more food to eat, riight?]
[Subaru: ――a, uh, huh?]
Daphne replied to Subaru’s impassioned words, looking confused.
Thrown into an unexpected train of thought by her answer, Subaru groaned stupidly before his tongue could catch up.
Seeing him like this, a mystified expression came onto Daphne’s face,
[Daphne: The White Whale, it’s huuge, right? If we eat that child, don’t you think lots and lots of people’s stomachs would be filled?]
[Subaru: What..’re you……]
[Daphne: Great Rabbit too, it’ll keep on multiplying all the time. Soo, as long as we have that child, we can just leave it to become more and more and no one will never have to worry about food, right?]
[Subaru: Multi……ply?]
Though he was hearing Daphne’s words, his mind couldn’t understand them at all.
If those shocking words really meant exactly what they sounded like, then Subaru would have absolutely no idea what this Witch in front of him was talking about.
Honestly, from the bottom of his heart, he had no idea what she meant――
[Subaru: Wh..a……what? You created the Mabeasts… to solve the food problems? The White Whale and the Great Rabbit were supposed to feed people stricken by hunger? Even though, thanks to your thoughtfulness, all those people were eaten instead!?]
[Daphne: ……? But, if you want to eat the other without considering the possibility of being eaten yourself, don’t you think that’d be super selfiish?]
[Subaru: …………]
[Daphne: Besiides, don’t you think there are already too many Humans and Demihumans for this world? If those children can lower the number a bit and put things right again, Daphne thinks that’d be pretty good tooo]
[Subaru: Th-then why does the White Whale spit fog that erases people’s existences, and the Great Rabbit eat up whole villages to its heart’s content……?]
[Daphne: I don’t know much about how they hunt… how they grew up, how much they eat, where they eat…… even if I knew, it still wouldn’t fill Daphne’s hungry belly…]
Seeing Daphne’s smile as she said this, Subaru finally understood.
The meaning of Echidona’s words, he finally understood it.
She had warned him that his affinity with Daphne was the worst it could get.
At first, Subaru thought it was referring to her off-beat tempo that clashed his impatience, and had so optimistically thought that it was merely a mismatch of personality.
――But the mismatch between Subaru and Daphne was in their very systems of values.
Rather, it was not only with Subaru. Her value system probably wouldn’t align with any human being at all.
Her perspective was of a completely different dimension than that of Humans and Demihumans. And it was not just because she was biased towards the Mabeasts she herself had created.
The strong makes food of the weak――this was the only principle within her considerations. To acknowledge the existence of food, to increase its volume, and to consume it. All else was trivial.
He had nothing to say to that. The very structure of their minds were fundamentally different.
Of all the Witches Subaru encountered up to now, in spite of their quirks and misunderstandings, he felt that he was nonetheless able to hold conversations with them.
But, in the end, all these girls were Witches. They were Witches. The only seven in this world, Witches in the truest sense of the word.
[Daphne: Subaruun too…… everyone thinks way too little of Gluttony, don’t they?]
[Subaru: …………]
[Daphne: In the first place, as long as you’re alive, isn’t the desire to eat the most important desire there is? After all, if you don’t satisfy it, you can’t go on living…]
[Subaru: …………]
[Daphne: Even if you have no peace, no one to love you, no one you could tell your feelings to, no way to maintain your sense of self, or obtain the things you wanted, or even if you have nothing at all to aspire to… none of these would kill you, would they? But……]
[Subaru: …………]
[Daphne: If you don’t eat, you’ll die, you know?]
Of the Seven Deadly Sins, only Gluttony is directly related to life and death.
In the proper sense, Gluttony should be the desire to eat beyond what is necessary. But what Daphne was referring to was desiring to eat in order to survive.
In that regard, Subaru couldn’t deny it. What she said was true, one of the truths of life itself. But it would be a mistake to disregard all else in favor of that alone.
[Subaru: Part of what you said is right…… but that kind of thinking……]
[Daphne: Then why don’t Subaruun try it… what it feels like to be starved to your limits? Once you do…… I’m sure you’ll understand what Daphne’s saying]
That was just something a Witch would suggest.
Slowly, Daphne raised her body inside the coffin. With the sound of ripping paper, Daphne easily released the intersecting chains. Pushing aside the loose white bondage with her arm, Daphne hopped out of the coffin and landed barefoot onto the grass.
The tiny figure gave her arms and legs a shake, checking over her stiffened body,
[Daphne: I hate being on my own feet… belly feels so empty when I do…really does…you know……]
Doing this little warm up, Daphne was already out of breath.
But, facing her, Subaru couldn’t move an inch. Even his breathing was sealed.
The immense pressure emanating from this little Witch’s body held Subaru firmly within its grasp. It was as if his whole body was being gripped by a gigantic palm.
[Daphne: It would be nice if I could just eat Subaruun like this, but Dona-Dona and Met-Met would get angry…… Uuuunn~, just the left eye should be alright]
Saying this, Daphne placed a hand on the blindfolds over her eyes.
“Don’t release her bondage, don’t touch her body, and don’t make eye contact”―― all of these, Echidona had warned him of before she summoned Daphne.
But Daphne herself had unfastened her restraints, and though he hadn’t touched her, his body was immobilized by her pressure. And, as for the last warning,
[Subaru: ――――]
Her left eye was golden.
Nothing out of the ordinary, only the round pupil of a little girl.
Lifting the blindfold over her left eye, Daphne stared at Subaru.
As if being penetrated by her golden pupil, Subaru remained frozen still. And then, she blinked a few times,
[Daphne: That.. should be enough…]
Saying this, with the same beleaguered movements, she made her way back to her coffin. And, just as she looked like she was about to collapse, the mobile coffin gently caught her inside.
Stirring her body around, Daphne found the most comfortable position. All the while, immobilized on the spot, Subaru quietly chewed something in his mouth as he watched her,
Daphne yawned and placed the blindfold back over her eyes. The fabric in the interior of the coffin slowly peeled open and wrapped her tiny body snugly inside, binding her in its grasp.
Like it wasn’t even there, her bondage operated entirely on her will.
[Subaru: What just happened…… also, why… do you……]
[Daphne: You still haven’t noticed it yet…?]
Just as Subaru was about to ask her why she would restrain herself, Daphne interrupted his question, while giving her body a wriggle inside the coffin as if to make sure the restraints were properly fastened.
The moment her words entered his ears, Subaru furrowed his brows as though he noticed something.
[Subaru: Ah, ugh……?]
Pain. It was Pain.
Rising in Subaru’s waist was a pain that gave the illusion that a hole had been opened there, forcing his body to bend.
His guts wrenched as sensations of thirst and hunger protested with overwhelming starvation. Groaning, writhing in the unbearable pain, Subaru’s knees collapsed onto the grass.
Saliva drooled from the edge of his lips as he desperately tried to endure the pain. Hunger, hunger, hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger.
[Subaru: Aa, aaa, AAAaaahh…… hur..ts……]
The intense hunger sent his consciousness scattering and his thoughts into disarray as he lost all sense of reality.
Panting, writhing, he rolled back and forth on the ground. His movements only exacerbating the hunger, Subaru wriggled, convulsing like a caterpillar on the bed of grass.
Starvation, maddening starvation. Famishing. Life-threatening. A gaping hole, there’s a gaping hole in his stomach. Dying, he’s going to die, he’s going to die if he doesn’t eat. He’s going to die. He’s going to die.
[Daphne: You still haven’t noticed it yet…?]
Looking down on the writhing, suffocating Subaru―― although her eyes did not actually see him, Daphne kept a grasp of Subaru’s condition through sound and smell.
He couldn’t understand the meaning of her words. Notice what, notice what when the hunger was driving him insane? Although he understood that she was behind this, there was no room for resentment in the face of this hunger. He wouldn’t be able to bear it if he didn’t fill this hunger. Right now, the only cog holding together his sanity was the thing he had been chewing on since――
[Subaru: ――――]
What, was Subaru, eating, right now?
[Daphne: You noticed iit? That’s Gluttony, you know]
Hearing Daphne’s words, Subaru noticed it―― the pinky and ring fingers on his right hand were missing.
Where did the missing fingers go? There was no need to look. He was chewing on the fragments of his pinky finger right this moment.
Profuse blood seeped from the torn-off stumps, dyeing the green grassfields red.
Watching the droplets fall, Subaru’s mind went blank.
With the passing of the seconds, something slowly came to fill that blankness. An emotion, of,
――Ahh, spilling blood is such a waste.
Simply a desire to quench his thirsting throat, and the disappointment of his unsated hunger.
-=Chapter 47 End=-