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*** This is really, really not good. Feeling the hard texture of the ground against his face, he realized that he had fallen facedown on the ground. He couldn't move, even when he tried, and he already couldn't feel his fingers. What he did feel was a certain heat, and it overwhelmed his entire body. It's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot, it's hot. He coughed and vomited the blood he felt rising in his throat the source of his waning life. So much came out that it frothed at the edges of his mouth. With his hazy vision, he could see the ground in front of him stained red. You've...got to be kidding me... All of this is mine? Feeling as though all of the blood in his body had spilled out of him, he reached a shaking hand to try to find the source of the heat that was burning through his body. As his fingertips reached the large cut in his stomach, he understood. No wonder it felt so hot. His brain must have been mistaking pain for heat. The clean gash that ran through his torso was so deep it had almost sliced him in half. Only bits of skin were still holding him together. In other words, he had run right into a checkmate in the chess game of his life. As soon as he realized that, his consciousness immediately began to fall away from him. Before his eyes, he saw a black boot descend, making ripples in the red pool of his fresh blood. Someone was there, and that someone...was probably the one who killed him. But he didn't even think to look that person in the face. It didn't matter anymore. The one thing he did wish was that she, at least, would be safe. " baru?" He felt as if he heard a voice that rang like bells. That he heard that voice, that he could hear that voice, felt like salvation to him more than anything else, so *** With a short scream, someone else crumpled upon the carpet of blood. She landed right beside him. He lay there, weakly attempting to reach her. Her white hand fell, powerless. He lightly grasped it in his own bloodstained grip. He felt the fingers of her hand move slightly to accept his own. "Just you wait..." He seized his fading consciousness, pulling it desperately back to buy a bit more time. "I'm going to..." find a way to save you. In the next instant, he Subaru Natsuki lost his life. CHAPTER 1 *** This is really going to be a problem. With no money and no idea what to do, he repeated the thought over and over again in his mind. Well, it wasn't completely accurate to say he had no money. The wallet in his pocket was filled with all the cash he owned, enough to go on a little bit of a shopping spree if he had to under normal circumstances. But in this case, "no money" is really the only way to describe his situation. "Yeah, but the currency system here is completely different, isn't it..." The young man flicked his rare notched ten-yen coin in the air and breathed a deep sigh. He didn't really have any features about him that stood out. He had short black hair and was of average height, being neither short nor tall. He was a bit muscular, though, as if he had been working out, and the cheap gray tracksuit that he was wearing really suited him quite well. He had small irises, so the whites of his eyes stood out, but right now, the way his eyes were downcast, he didn't have a very aggressive or championing look to him. He looked average enough to be quickly lost in a crowd...but right now, most of those passing by looked at him out of the corners of their eyes as if they were looking at something strange they had never seen before. But that was to be expected. After all, among all those onlookers, not one of them had black hair, nor were any of them wearing tracksuits. They had blond hair, red hair, and brown hair...some even had blue or green hair, among others, and they were wearing armor, or black robes, or the kind of costume a dancer might wear...that sort of thing. As he stood before the waves of open stares, the young man crossed his arms and had no other option but to accept the truth. "This has got to be one of those..." he said, snapping his fingers and pointing out toward the crowd of onlookers. "One of those so-called 'I've been summoned to another world' deals, right?" he said as an oxcart-like vehicle pulled by a giant lizard-like thing crossed in front of him. Subaru Natsuki was an extremely ordinary boy, born on Earth, the third planet in the solar system, to a middle-class family in the nation of Japan. If you were to sum up his nearly seventeen years of life, the previous sentence would be enough to describe him, and if you felt the need to add anything else, the extra sentence, "He was a third-year public high school student with a tendency to not show up to class," would be sufficient. Placed at a fork in the road of life, such as "whether to pursue a college degree or jump straight into the workforce," people are generally forced to make a decision one way or the other. That sort of decision-making is something everyone has to deal with and part of what we call life, but in Subaru's case (you might call it his specialty) he was a bit better than your average Joe at running away from things he did not like. In avoiding such a decision, the number of his unexcused absences had piled up, and before he knew it he was a bona fide truant, the kind parents weep over. "And to top it all off, now I've been summoned to a whole different world. I guess that seals the deal. I'm a high school dropout now. But seriously, what the hell is going on?" He felt as if he was having a not-so-well-thought-out dream, but even after pinching his cheeks and smacking his head against a wall, he wouldn't wake up. Subaru sighed. He had drifted away from where he was, getting all sorts of curious looks, and was now sitting against a wall in an alley just off the main road. "Assuming I really have been summoned to a fantasy world...the state of civilization appears to be the usual, medieval-like setting. So far, I haven't seen anything mechanical, but the roads are pretty well paved...and of course I can't use any of my cash." As for whether he could communicate with the people here, and regarding the value of goods, those were things that Subaru checked immediately upon realizing he had been summoned to a different world. Fortunately, he had no problem communicating, and he was able to confirm that commerce was handled in a currency of gold, silver, and copper coins. His first contact, a merchant at a fruit stand, wasn't all that welcoming to him, though. As for why Subaru was so quick to accept and understand his current situation, the fact that he was a modern Japanese youth poisoned by anime and games had something to do with it, and for that he was very thankful. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that as an adolescent boy, this sort of otherworldly summoning was the kind of thing you'd dream would happen to you, but on that note... "Without a little bit more of a welfare safety-net thing going on, a laid-back guy like myself isn't going to be able to deal, you know?" Subaru complained. Given his current situation, and pitiful starting equipment, he couldn't help it. His belongings consisted of a cell phone (which looked like it would run out of batteries soon), a wallet (filled with membership cards from various video rental stores), a cup of instant ramen he'd bought from a convenience store (pork bone and soy sauce flavor), a bag of crispy snacks bought from the same store (corn soup flavor), his favorite gray tracksuit (unwashed), and well-worn sneakers (two years old). That was it. "I don't even get a single Excalibur? I'm done. What am I supposed to do in this getup?" Well, there's only so much you can hope for when you're summoned to a different world on your way back from the convenience store. It had happened in the blink of an eye. Subaru had already gotten hungry and eaten half of the one thing he had that might have been of any use his pack of crispy snacks before realizing that he had just gone through his only source of food. But worrying about it wasn't going to help him now. Even if he'd wanted to put his hopes on the possibility that this was being staged as part of an elaborate reality TV show, the large lizard carts and look of all the people passing by nipped that in the bud. "The fact that no one seems to be paying attention to them means that they're probably normal...both those giant lizards and the half-humans." Subaru grumbled and looked on as people with strange outfits and colorful hair passed by, but out of all of them, the ones who really drove home the fact that he had been summoned to another world were the half-humans. Without having to look too long Subaru could see people with dog ears and cat ears, and there were even some who looked like they were lizardmen. But of course there were also ordinary humans, the same as Subaru. "So this is a world with half-humans...and probably wars and adventures, too. As for whether there are any animals I'm used to around... I'm not too sure, but given that lizard cart thing...it looks like they use animals in the same way we do." After putting all of that together, Subaru let out a long breath, but not a sigh. If things unfolded the way he had fantasized about before about otherworldly summoning, he ought to be able to use his knowledge of modern civilization to hold sway over everyone else...but there were a lot of things that still didn't make any sense. "The truth is, I have no idea what to do next, and I still have no idea how or why I was summoned. I don't remember stepping into a mirror or falling in a pond, and if I'm to believe this is the otherworldly summoning format I'm used to, where is the beautiful girl who summoned me?" The lack of a main heroine in this otherworldly summoning setup was a big hole in the plot. If this were taking place in a 2D world, someone in the creative department was seriously slacking off. If Subaru was really summoned for no reason and then abandoned just like that, it put him on the same level as single-use disposable goods. Now that Subaru had finished establishing the state of his surroundings, he really couldn't think of anything better to do than return to his default state of escaping from reality. "I guess if I keep this up, it's no different from locking myself up in my room back home." The thought of his parents crossed his mind, but right now he wasn't in a position where he could just sit around feeling homesick. Thinking he had to do something about his current situation, he stood back up and turned back toward the main road, but... Just as Subaru was about to walk out onto the main road, he almost bumped into someone who moved out in front of him. "Oh. Sorry 'bout that." Subaru gave a short apology and tried to continue past, but... "Hold up!" ...he was grabbed firmly by the shoulder and

pulled back into the alley. Nearly falling over himself as he turned around, Subaru looked up to see that the person who had thrown him back was a man with a large build. Behind that man were two of his buddies, and the three men stood in such a way as to block Subaru from exiting the alley onto the main road. The way they moved, it didn't appear this was the first time these men had done this, and Subaru had a bad feeling about what was going to come next. "Umm... May I ask what you three fine fellows plan on doing with me?" "Oh, it looks like this one here's a smart one! Well, nothing to worry about. Just give us everything you've got on you, and there's no need for anyone to get hurt." "So that's the deal, huh? Yeah, I guess it would be. Ha-ha... This really sucks." The men's gazes were filled with scorn and ridicule. They looked like they were in their twenties, with the meanness of their personalities reflected in their faces and dirty appearances. They didn't look like they were half-humans, but they certainly weren't saints, either. You couldn't call it an unusual plot development. Encountering thugs was a way to show the dangers of everyday life. In other words... "Damn, I've triggered a compulsory event." As he looked at the men smirking, Subaru tried to hold the status quo with a fake smile and considered his options. He was in quite a pinch, but since the beginning of time, in stories where humans are summoned to other worlds, those humans tended to be able to wield some kind of superpower. If Subaru had been summoned to this world under the same conditions as the stories he was familiar with, it was very likely that he had been given some sort of power. With that thought, Subaru felt that his body was a little lighter than usual. "I'm starting to get the feeling that this world's gravity is, like, only a tenth of my world's. I can do this. I can do this! I'm going to mow you all down and make this the first chapter of my glorious future! You're only here so I can pull experience points off of you, you scum!" "What the hell is he going on about?" said one of the men. "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure he's making fun of us. Let's kill 'im," replied another. "Took the words right out of my mouth... You're going to regret this!" returned Subaru, before flying forward with a straight jab from his right hand, aiming for the big man in front. Subaru's fist collided with the man's nose, but he also cut his fist on one of the man's front teeth and started bleeding. I hit someone for the first time in my life! Wow! It hurts way more than I expected. Subaru was confident in his fighting form, but he had never been in a real fight before. The man who was punched fell to the ground. Without taking a moment to pause, Subaru leapt at another of the men, caught off guard, as his next target. With a clean arc he landed a kick on the side of the next man's head, slamming him into the wall of the alley. This was going even better than he'd expected, and he started to be sure of the notion that he was invincible in this new world. "I guess in this world my stats are pretty good! What a rush! Now to finish this!" Turning back around, Subaru bent forward to beat down the last man standing, when his eyes centered on what that man was holding in his hand: a glinting knife. Immediately Subaru dropped to his knees, bent over forward, and with a spectacular single motion prostrated himself, pressing his forehead against the ground. "I'm sorry, that was absolutely terrible of me, I ask that you forgive me and please find it in your generous hearts to spare my life!" Prostration it was the most exteme form of showing absolute submission to another and the lowest form of Japanese humility. Just where did all of that fired-up feeling go? Subaru felt as if he could hear the blood drain from his body. Desperately clinging to any hope of mercy, he tried to make himself seem small and continued to apologize. With a knife involved, fighting was out of the question. No matter how you might train yourself, if you were stabbed, it was all over. All things in life are transient. Before he knew it, the two that Subaru thought he had defeated were back on their feet. One was holding his bleeding nose and the other was shaking his head back and forth, but other than that both looked as though they were in surprisingly good condition. "What?! You mean to tell me that my one-hit knockout punch only did that much damage?! What about my superpowers?!" "I dunno what you're going on about, but shut your trap! You've really done it now!" It looked as though Subaru had been completely wrong about being summoned into another world coming with the promise of some kind of powers. He wasn't really any stronger than he had been before. One of the men stepped on the back of Subaru's head, scraping his forehead against the ground and causing him to bleed. Another then kicked him in the face, and Subaru curled into a ball as tightly as he could as he was subjected to further acts of violence. After all, the one who hit first was Subaru. The men didn't hold back at all. Crap, this really, really hurts. Like, I could die. No, seriously. Unlike in his own world, there was no guarantee that these thugs wouldn't take his life. At this rate, it would be better to try one last-ditch effort to retaliate before he was beaten to death... "Stop moving, you whelp!" "Ow! No, don't... Ow! Ow! Ow!!" The man with the knife stomped on Subaru's hand as he tried to get up, then readjusted his grip on the knife so that the tip was held back toward his arm, ready to strike. "After we make sure you can't move we're going to take everything you've got. That's what you get for acting tough, you punk..." "I-if you're looking for money or valuables, I'm sorry but you're out of luck. After all, I don't have a cent on me...!" "Then those strange-looking clothes and shoes'll do just fine. You can just stay down and be food for the alley rats!" Oh, so there are rats in this world, too, Subaru thought. I hope they aren't big, like monster rats or anything. Subaru looked at the knife about to come down as if it didn't concern him at all, distancing himself from reality as best he could. Subaru didn't see his life flash before his eyes, and he didn't feel like time was slowing down, either. The end would probably come like the cutting of a thread, he thought. But just then... "Hey! Out of the way! Out of the way! I'm talking to you! Move!" yelled someone in a flustered-sounding voice as they dashed into the alley. Like the men, who suddenly looked up, Subaru managed to glance up in the direction of the voice, though he couldn't move his body. What he saw was a small girl with longish blond hair dashing by. From her red eyes, you could sense a strong will, and her one canine tooth sticking out made her look like quite a prankster. She seemed more cheeky than anything else, but Subaru felt that if she smiled she would look pretty cute. As if it had been staged for a comeback, the fading light of hope Subaru had been holding lit anew. He was waiting for this kind of development. The girl, in her well-worn clothes and unclean appearance, had stumbled upon this attempted murder and robbery in the act! What would surely happen next, was that with an overflowing sense of justice this girl would save Subaru's life, right from the clutches of death... "Whoa! You look like you're in quite a pinch there, but sorry! I've got my hands full right now! Good luck! Live life to the fullest!" "Wait, what?! Are you serious?!" Unfortunately, that hope was shattered in an instant. The girl raised her hand in an apologetic sort of gesture and didn't slow down as she continued racing down the alley. She went right past the men and kept going toward what should have been a dead end, kicked off against a wooden plank set up against the end wall, grabbed the top of the wall, and lightly flung herself up onto the roof of one of the surrounding buildings, where she disappeared. After the girl was gone, a silence fell upon the alley. It was as if a hurricane had just passed. Both Subaru and the men were dumbstruck. However, this didn't mean that Subaru's situation had improved at all. "Doesn't what just happened make your anger just sort of melt away and make you want to change your minds about all of this?!" "More like it killed the mood and now I'm even angrier. Don't think you'll get to die a pleasant death!" The men kept their feet planted on Subaru so he couldn't move. As Subaru looked at the glint of the knife in the man's hand, the death that loomed before him seemed ever more real. No, I mean, you've got to be kidding. I can't die this easily, can I? A twitching smile formed on Subaru's face as he looked around desperately for someone to deny the death that was coming his way. However, no such convenient development came. The tip of the knife drew ever closer. A feeling of resignation came over Subaru and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. It wasn't fear that overwhelmed him; it was more the feeling of emptiness that this would all end without him accomplishing anything. In the midst of this overwhelming despair, feeling as if he had been abandoned by everyone and everything... "Hold it right there, you evildoers!" That voice overcame the noise of the crowd, the vulgar insults of the men, Subaru's own heavy breathing, as well as everything else, and shook the very foundations of the world. When people say, "Time stood still," they must surely be talking about times like this. There was a girl standing at the entrance to the alley. She was beautiful. She had long silver hair, with braids in it that reached down to her hips. She was looking straight at Subaru with violet eyes that shone with intelligence. In her soft features were both elements of youth but also mature beauty. There was also a noble air about her that gave her a dangerous and bewitching charm. The girl was about one head shorter than Subaru, which made her around five feet, three inches tall. The clothes she wore used white as a base color, and there was nothing terribly ornate about them, but on the other hand, the simplicity emphasized her presence. The one thing that stood out was the white cloak the girl was wearing. It was emblazoned with embroidery that depicted a bird of prey, adding to her impression of majesty. However, it wasn't the clothes she wore that made her shine so. "I will not stand by and watch any more of your wrongdoing. That is enough." Her voice, like silver bells, rang beautifully in Subaru's ears, and for a moment he forgot the situation he was in. He was completely undone by the silver-haired girl's presence. The other men seemed to be just as shaken up as Subaru was. "Wha... Who do you think you are...?" "If you stop right now, I'll let you go. In a way, this is my fault for

not being cautious. So do the right thing and give back what you stole." "Hey, what she's wearing looks expensive. You think she's nobility? Wait, huh...? What we stole?" "Please. It is very precious to me. I'd be willing to give it up if it were anything else, but I absolutely can't in this case. Please. I won't do anything to you, so please just give it back." The girl looked as if she was pleading with all her heart. However, there was an inexplicable feeling of pressure that rose within the group. Something was happening that was hard to explain. "W-wait a minute! We don't know what you're talking about!" "...What do you mean?" The men pointed to Subaru, still underfoot. "You didn't come here to rescue this guy...did you?" "...Those are some weird clothes that boy is wearing. Did you all have a fight among yourselves? I don't think three against one is really fair, but...if you're asking me if I know this person, I haven't ever seen him before in my life." Perhaps it was because she thought the men were trying to change the subject, but you could hear an amount of irritation in her voice. Because of that, each of the men rushed to explain themselves. "Wait a second! If you're not after this guy, then we're not involved! I bet it was that girl from before!" "You said you had something stolen from you, right?! That wall! You see that wall? She jumped off that wall and ran away on the rooftops!" "She's farther back! Back past that wall! At the rate she was going, she's probably another three streets down!" As the men continued to plead their innocence, the girl turned her eyes to Subaru, as if asking whether these men were telling the truth. Without thinking, Subaru nodded. "Hmm... It doesn't look like you're lying. So the one who stole from me is down farther ahead? I've got to hurry..." The girl turned away from Subaru and the men and toward the main road. The men clearly looked relieved. Subaru, faced with the reality of his abandonment, started to enter a state of shock, when... "Still, this situation is one I can't just ignore." As she turned back around the girl put her hand up, palm facing outward, and a series of shining lights began to dance in front of it. A dull thud rang out, like that of a hard object striking flesh, followed by the cries of the men as they were thrown backward. Then, there was a high-pitched sound as a fist-size clump of ice fell to the ground right beside Subaru. The clump of ice, which seemed to have formed heedless of both the season and the laws of physics, quickly evaporated as if it were being eaten by the surrounding air. "...Magic." The best word to describe what just happened immediately tumbled out of Subaru's mouth. There wasn't any incantation or anything, but that chunk of ice had definitely shot out of that girl's palm. Magic having seen it with his very own eyes for the first time, Subaru realized something. "It isn't quite as fantasy-like as I imagined... To be honest, this is kind of a letdown." Subaru had imagined there would be more light and energy being bounced around. In reality, all that happened was an unrefined-looking clump of ice suddenly materialized, was used as a blunt object for physical damage, and then suddenly disappeared. There was no feeling or anything put into it at all. "Now...you've done it." Subaru's feelings on magic aside, the other men, who had taken a real hit from those clumps of ice, got back to their feet. To be fair, it was only two of them who managed to get back up. The remaining man must have gotten hit in a bad spot, because he was still knocked out. But rather than this fact taking the fight out of them, it seemed to just make the other two men even angrier. Standing next to the man with the knife, the other drew out a blunt, club-like object, and both were ready to fight. "I don't care if you're a magic user or nobility or whatever! I've had enough. We're gonna kill you! Do you really think you can win a two-on-one fight?!" yelled the man with the knife, holding his face, blood still dripping from his nose. In response to his threats, the girl closed one of her eyes. "You're right, one against two sounds like it could be a little tough." "...In that case, would two on two be bit more fair?" As if it were finishing the girl's sentence, a new, higher-pitched, genderless voice entered the fray. Startled, Subaru looked around. The other men also followed suit, but there wasn't anyone inside or at the entrance to the alley who looked as though they were the owner of that voice. Then, as if to show both Subaru and the other men the answer to their question, the girl extended her left hand. Sitting on top of her palm and white fingers, there it was. "When you all stare at me like that, full of expectation, it's uh...kind of embarrassing." Using its paw to clean its face was a small, palm-size cat that stood upright on its two hind legs. It had gray hair and floppy ears. To the best of Subaru's knowledge it was nearest to an American shorthair. That is, if you ignored the fact that its nose was pink and it had a tail about the length of its body. Seeing the small, palm-size cat, the man with the knife seemed overcome with fear and yelled, "Y-you're a spirit mage?!" "That's right. If you want to leave right now, I won't chase after you, but make up your minds quick. I'm in a hurry." With that, the men rushed to pick up their fallen companion and leave the alley, but as they passed the girl on their way out, one of the men clicked his tongue and said, "I'm going to remember your face, you bitch. The next time we see you it won't go this well for you." "If you do anything to her I'll curse you and all of your offspring, you know? Though, in that case you won't be having any." For the thug, that must have been his best attempt at intimidation, but in contrast, the cat's response was light in tone but much more severe. The cat didn't seem to be completely serious, but the men paled more than they ever had before, and ran out into the main road without another word. Once the thugs were gone, Subaru was left alone in the alley with the girl and her cat. Thinking that he at least needed to say thanks, Subaru forgot his pain and started to get to his feet, but... "Don't move," said the girl in a cold emotionless voice. You could see in her eyes that she was being cautious. Even though she realized that Subaru was not with the other thugs, she wasn't about to let her guard down, that much was clear. It was actually Subaru's reaction that was more out of place. Even though the girl was looking at him like that, he was fixed on her beautiful and bewitching violet eyes. Not used to seeing such beauty, Subaru unthinkingly blushed and looked away. "See? I knew I was on to something. If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn't look away like that," said the girl. "I'm not so sure about that. That seems like a very natural reaction for a boy like him. I'm sensing zero evil intentions," responded the cat. "Be quiet, Puck. ...You know the girl who stole my badge, don't you?" Shushing her cat, the girl turned to Subaru. Her expression, full of confidence, was lovely. However... "I'm sorry to let you down like this, but I totally don't know her, like, completely not at all." "Wai What? Seriously!?" As her confidence was stripped from her face, Subaru was able to get a glimpse of how she naturally expressed herself, as opposed to her ongoing act. With that dignified air of hers out the window, the girl, flustered, turned quickly to the cat still resting on her palm. "Wh-wh-what are we going to do? Was this really all just a waste of my time...?" "A waste that's still in progress... I really think you should hurry. She was really fast when she ran away, so there's a good chance the culprit has some kind of strange protection on her side." "Ugh... How can you be so unconcerned about all of this, Puck?" "You're the one who told me not to get too involved, you know? Anyway, what are we going to do about him?" the cat said, as if just remembering about Subaru. As the topic of conversation centered back on him, Subaru put on a weak smile. "Oh," said the girl as she finally realized the cat was talking about Subaru. In response, Subaru put on an empty display of confidence and replied, "Don't worry about me. Thanks to your help, I'll be fine. You're in a hurry, right? You should go..." Subaru had hoped to finish this off with, If you'd like, I don't even mind helping you out. How about it, m'lady? while brushing his hair back and flashing a smile, but... "...Huh?" Suddenly dizzy, Subaru reached for the wall but missed, and fell face-first back onto the ground. "Wait. You shouldn't try to stand up just ye Well...okay," came the cat's warning, just a step too late. After falling with zero capacity to catch himself, Subaru felt a sharp pain as his consciousness went winging away. "...So, what should we do?" "He has...nothing to do with us. That's not enough to kill him. We're going to leave him." In the far reaches of his consciousness as it left him, Subaru could hear just a little of the pair's conversation. That's an otherworldly fantasy for you. Everyone has quite the severe view on the concept of empathy. Am I just going to be abandoned here in this alley? was the negative take. Well, I suppose I was going to die, and now I'm not, so I should be super grateful, was a more positive thought. With those two views in mind, Subaru's consciousness drifted further and further...further and further away... "Are you sure?" "I'm sure!" Right before the thread of Subaru's consciousness was cut for good, he was able to see that silver-haired girl, red in the face, turn around and shout. "There's no way! No way that I'm going to save him, okay?! Okay?!" Man, even when she's angry she's really cute. Go otherworldly fantasies. With that last thought, really this time, once and for all, Subaru's consciousness fell into darkness. It occurred to Subaru that the feeling of waking up was similar to having your face rise up from out of a body of water. When he opened his eyes, the sun's light was at an angle and shone into them, causing him to squint at the brightness and rub his eyes. He woke up in a rather pleasant way, and Subaru was the type of person to be fully awake once he opened his eyes. "Oh, you awake?" said a voice from right above Subaru's head, with him still lying down. As Subaru turned to look in the direction of the voice, he realized that he was still lying on the ground, but had his head on something soft that was being used as a pillow. "You shouldn't move. You hit your head, so I can't say whether it's safe to just yet." This concerned voice also sounded very kind, as Subaru remembered what happened just before he lost consciousness, he thought. Given the circumstances, he might just be in one of those blessed situations one hopes to be in as a boy. To have one's

head in a girl's lap... Responding to this divine revelation, Subaru pretended to turn to readjust so he could enjoy himself to the fullest. With a circular motion he rubbed his cheek against it and reached a feeling of absolute bliss, and far more than he expected he felt a fluffiness from the softness of the hair. "Wow... Beautiful girls are a lot hairier than I imagin Hey, wait a minute!" sputtered Subaru as he faced up, this time with his vision fully recovered, and took in what was happening. Right in front of Subaru, in his upside-down vision, was the face of a giant cat. "I thought that at least until you woke up, I'd make you feel comfortable. You can thank me later." "First of all, I'd like you to stop with that terrible falsetto voice. There's no way I'd mistake a cat for the heroine." Subaru had certainly never been in a situation before where he got to use a human-size cat's lap for a pillow and, well, it wasn't like you get to experience this every day, so he decided to make the best of it. "Wow, this is actually really comfortable. Like, this is amazing. Now I understand why people want to love their cats 'til they go bald." "Well, if you're going to be this happy about it, I guess it was really worth super-sizing... Don't you think so, too?" The cat scratched at his face as if it were embarrassed and winked as if seeking a confirmation. At the end of that glance was a silver-haired girl, standing at the entrance to the alley looking unfazed. It was the same girl from before, if Subaru was to believe his memories, eyes, and heart, which were all deeply branded by her image right before he lost consciousness. "Umm...I'm sorry about all of this. It looks like you ended up staying here with me until I woke up, and " "Don't get any ideas about this. The only reason I stayed is because I still have some questions to ask you. If it weren't for that, I would have left you behind. I mean it. So don't get any ideas." Pressing the point, the girl put strong emphasis on her words. This was a level of girl power that Subaru, who had no resistance against such beautiful girls, simply could not stand against. It was so strong that Subaru could do nothing but nod, ignoring the content of whatever she was saying. "The reason I healed your wounds, and the reason I had Puck serve as a pillow until you woke up all of that was for me. So I'm going to have you make it up to me, okay?" "I know you're trying to build this up and everything, but if you just have something to ask, go right ahead," said Subaru. It looked like she was one of those people who took the saying "helping others isn't just for their sake" to heart. The girl looked sternly at Subaru and shook her head. "I'm not asking, I'm commanding. You know something about my stolen badge, don't you?" asked the girl, dropping the tone of her voice. However, as this wasn't any different from what she had asked before, Subaru had to tilt his head in confusion. They had gone through this once already, right before Subaru had passed out. She keeps calling the thing a "badge," Subaru thought. So is it something like what police and detectives keep on themselves to prove what they are? I haven't seen anything like that. "You didn't hit your head real hard or anything while I was passed out, did you?" Subaru asked. "You were only out for about ten minutes, and no, nothing like that happened. Answer the question." "Well...if that's the case, I've got to say I really don't know. Ha-ha..." You can't do anything about what you don't know. Subaru's answer was no different from before. However, the girl didn't look particularly crestfallen, but instead nodded. "Well, if you don't know, you don't know. But, the fact that you know absolutely nothing itself is information you have provided to me, and enough for me to justify healing you," the girl replied, using twisted enough logic to baffle any swindler to describe her complete loss. As Subaru looked on, dumbfounded, the girl clapped her hands together as if to finish things. "Well, I'm in a hurry, so I'm going to get going now. Your wounds should all be healed, and I threatened those other guys so much I doubt they'll go near you again, but it's still dangerous to enter an alley like this all alone. Oh, and I'm not saying this because I'm worried about you; this is a warning: If I see you in a similar situation again, there won't be any merit to me saving you, so you can't expect me to do so again," said the girl with machine-gun rapidity. She took Subaru's silence as affirmation, nodded to herself, and turned around to leave. The girl's long silver hair swayed as she moved, and sparkled fantastically in the dim light of the alley. "I'm sorry about that. She's not really honest with herself. Don't think too strangely of her, okay?" said the cat with a laugh as, having returned to its original size, it jumped up onto the girl's shoulder. The girl patted its back as if to affirm its touch, and the cat disappeared, slipping behind the curtain of her hair. Without once looking back, the girl continued to walk on. As he watched her go, Subaru thought about what the cat had said, about her not being honest with herself, and her intentions. She had something stolen from her, and even though she was in a hurry to get it back, she saved Subaru. Then, after Subaru had passed out, she healed him, and when he woke up, she used terrible reasoning to try to show him that she wasn't worse off for doing so. "She's not really honest with herself" was not going far enough. Her efforts were coming up negative in everything, and it was hard to watch. The girl had every right to blame Subaru for getting in her way, but she hadn't complained even once, and she didn't even look for an apology. That's because to her, the only reason she saved Subaru was for her own ends. "If you live like that, you're just going to keep losing until there's nothing left," said Subaru as he got up, patted his dust-and dirt-covered tracksuit and started running. Sure, his beloved tracksuit was in pretty bad shape, but on the inside, almost all of his pain was gone. That's after being kicked and punched as much as he was. Again Subaru was reminded of the otherworldliness of magic, as well as the generosity of that girl who, despite going on and on about having Subaru pay her back, took nothing from him in return. "Hey, wait!" Subaru called out to the girl just as she had reached the entrance to the alley and was in front of the main road, looking unsure of where to go next. The girl touched her silver hair and looked a bit troubled as she turned around. "What is it? I'm going to tell you right now, I only have a bit more time to spend dealing with you." "So a little's fine, then?! Anyway, what you lost is really important, right? Let me help you look for it." The girl blinked a few times, surprised. "But you said you don't know anything..." "It's true that I don't know the name of the girl who stole that badge from you, or where she's from, but at least I know what she looks like! She's got blond hair, is sort of like a kitten, and has this canine tooth that sticks out that's hard to miss. She's shorter than you and her chest is pretty flat so she's maybe two or three years younger than you! How about that?!" When he got flustered, Subaru had a bad habit of speaking fast and not really even knowing what he was saying. Right now that bad habit was running at full blast, and even Subaru wanted to distance himself from his own words. The ensuing silence was painful. A cold sweat drenched Subaru's back, not to mention his hands and armpits, which was followed by heart palpitations, shortness of breath, as well as dizziness, and in addition to feeling faint, his nose stuffed up in an allergic reaction accompanied by a migraine, such that there were problems on every front. However... "...You're strange," the girl said with a hand up to her mouth, tilting her head to the side as if she were looking at some rare animal. With a finger still at her lips she stared at Subaru, sizing him up. "I should say up front that I can't offer you anything in return for your help. I might not look it, but I don't have a copper piece on me." "Don't worry, that makes two of us," replied Subaru. "Three of us, if you count me... Pretty terrible for us as a group," added a voice jokingly from the girl's silver hair, but Subaru ignored it and pounded his chest. "I don't need anything in thanks. I'm the one who should thank you. That's why I want to help." "I haven't done anything deserving of your thanks. I've already gotten something in return from healing you." She just won't give it up, will she? Subaru looked at the girl and her stubborn attitude with a weak smile. "If that's the case, then I'll help you for my own sake. The reason is...yeah, that's it. I'll use you for my 'one good deed a day' project!" said Subaru. "One good deed a day?" "That's right. Once a day you do one good thing. If you do that, after you die you've got a one-way ticket to heaven! If I can do it, then a wonderful life of just eating and sleeping is waiting for me so I hear! So that's why I'm going to help you for my own sake." Subaru felt like turning to himself and asking what the hell he was going on about, but at least he'd managed to make his point. The girl stood in thought, considering Subaru's words, when her cat poked at her cheek with its paws. "I don't sense any evil intentions from him, and I don't really think it's a bad idea, you know? With how large the capital is, it's way better than going on no clues at all." "But if I get him involved..." "You're cute when you're stubborn, but it's foolish to let your stubbornness get the best of you and make you lose sight of your goals. I'd really rather not think of my own master as a fool." The cat added its support in favor of Subaru, but the girl was still hesitant. In response, the cat dropped its expression and continued in a serious voice. "Plus, the sun is starting to set. If night falls, I won't be able to help you. I'm not worried about you handling a thug or two, but...it's better to be safe than sorry." "Well, it sounds like you're the one to call if there's danger! But, wait according to what you said, you can't come out at night? Is that one of the deals of your contract or something?" Subaru asked, taking a step closer. The cat flicked its whiskers with its front paw and said, "It's more like, I may look cute, but I'm a spirit, you know? I use a lot of mana just by materializing. When night falls, I return to the crystal that is my vessel and prepare for when the sun is out again. I suppose you could say it's the perfect nine-to-five job." "Nine to five? That sounds like a government job...

The conditions to hire a spirit sound more severe than I expected...!" Subaru was able to talk naturally about spirits, but that was only because of the analytical power he had as a modern otaku, poisoned by anime and games. Even traits looked down on by the public come in handy sometimes. While Subaru and the cat continued their conversation, the girl continued to anguish over her decision. However, that last point seemed to have tipped the scales, so after much moaning with a number of buts and stills and ifs she finally conceded. "I'm telling you, I really can't give you anything in return, okay?" After Subaru's first friendly interaction in this different world a pleasant, heartwarming episode one hour had passed. "What is the meaning of this?" Their investigation had stalled. As Subaru faced the girl's cold stare, he scratched at his face, trying to find a way out. "Even with all of my experience, I never thought that it would be this difficult..." "You seem to have a really high opinion of yourself, but I haven't seen anything from you to prove it. No matter how you slice it, things aren't going well!" "Nobody says, 'no matter how you slice it,' anymore..." Pointing that out only made things worse, and the girl's stare grew sharper, at which Subaru shrank away. Even though they had been searching for a little under an hour, for some reason, Subaru and the girl were back in an alley. Of course, there was a really good reason for this. There were several factors Subaru had discovered that made their search difficult. First, Subaru didn't know his way around town. Given that he had just been summoned from another world, it was hard to blame him for wanting a pass on this one. Additionally, it seemed that the girl was unfamiliar with the area as well, and at least ten minutes were wasted with both having full confidence that the other knew their way around. It was pretty funny, actually, or so Subaru thought. But the way the girl was staring at Subaru, she didn't seem to find it funny at all. Second, the characters and symbols written here and there...were completely illegible to Subaru. Given that Subaru didn't have any trouble communicating by speech, he hadn't thought all that much about it, but after a second look he saw that all around, here and there were handwritten symbols. Unless they were all some kind of "mystic charms to protect against evil magic" that tended to be popular, those symbols were probably letters for the common language. And because he couldn't understand them, he couldn't even read the road signs. In other words, while a miracle common in most otherworldly summoning works of fiction is "for some reason our words and writing are mutually understood!", in Subaru's case, only half of that came true. But given that if Subaru hadn't been able to communicate through words he would have been as good as dead, it was hard to call his situation unlucky. "Still, why do you have to raise the difficulty like that on me...? The world's not kind at all." Rather than exhausting all options, it was more of a case of finding a series of critical problems before you even get started. While despairing at making absolutely no progress over the past hour, Subaru noticed that his companion, that girl, was standing up by the wall of the alley with her eyes closed, paying absolutely no mind to him. Seeing her lips move as she muttered something a few times, he tilted his head in confusion. "Wonder what she's doing..." "Oh that? She's communicating with lesser spirits." Subaru raised his eyebrows in surprise as the girl's gray cat suddenly reappeared right in front of his eyes. "I thought that I hadn't seen you in a while, but you hadn't gone home or anything; you were here the whole time?" "There's still a bit of time left before I have to go. Unlike those minor spirits she's talking to, I take my job seriously." "Well that's quite honorable of you. ...But, what are these uh...lesser spirits again?" Going by the name, I suppose they're a rank down from regular spirits? Subaru thought. As if agreeing with Subaru's musing, the cat, floating in midair, waved its long tail back and forth. "Lesser spirits are beings that, in a state prior to becoming real spirits, start to develop some knowledge. If, over time, they gain power and self-awareness, they'll become spirits like me." As he nodded, listening to the cat's explanation, Subaru noticed that the area around the girl began to glow. The silver-haired girl was surrounded by faint lights that looked as though they were fireflies. It was the kind of scene that most people would subconsciously hesitate to interfere with. It was like holy ground, whereby the influence of the supernatural, only what was sanctified was allowed to be. In response to the scene, Subaru... "Wow! That's so cool! Are all of these glowing things spirits?" "Ah!" ...intruded on it without a second thought, breaking the fantasy of it all as he started talking to the girl. As the girl cried out in surprise, you could see droplets of tears that formed in reaction, sparkling in her eyes. Then the girl's flustered state spread to the lights around her and... "Oh, look at that. They're panicking." The many lights started to flee this way and that before finally scattering and disappearing into the air. "...Umm..." Both Subaru and the girl opened their mouths, dumbstruck, searching for where the lesser spirits had gone. Quickly the girl tried to continue what she had been doing, but it didn't appear the lesser spirits were heeding her call anymore. "Just look at what you did! They're gone! What are you going to do about this?!" "Ah... Um... I'm sorry! It was my first time seeing spirits like that and I got a little excited. I mean, it didn't look like they were dangerous or anything." "It was only safe because I had them under control. If you had done that to an inexperienced spirit mage, it would have been awful. In the worst case, the spirits could have gone berserk and...BAM." "'Bam?'" The girl was trying to admonish Subaru for not taking his actions seriously, but using the word "bam" wasn't exactly helpful. "Oh, come on. There's no way those little sparkly things could be dangerous. Do you really expect me to believe that?" "Well, to put it one way," Puck said, "I may look pretty cute...but it would only take two seconds for me to turn you into a pile of dust." "Damn, spirits are scary!" A shiver went down Subaru's spine in response to the cat's peaceful-sounding death threat, and he looked back at the girl. "I definitely hope you don't happen to be so upset you set that cat on me or anything..." "I would never use Puck for something like that. If I were going to be violent with you, I'd handle you myself... Ugh, it really looks like they aren't going to answer me anymore." Failing to establish a second contact with the lesser spirits, the girl, depressed, shook her head powerlessly. "I suppose it's not helpful to ask this after the spirits have already gone, but what is it exactly that you were trying to do?" "I was trying to see if I could get any information from them about what I'm looking for. They disappeared before I was able to ask, though." "What, really?!" Subaru was struck speechless by the gravity of his mistake. Seeing that, the girl jumped in. "Um, b-but... It did take some time and lesser spirits don't have the kind of clear awareness that regular spirits have, so I wasn't really expecting much, but... Okay, I'm sorry, that's a lie." The girl's hesitancy to lie was in conflict with her desire for a positive outlook, so while she tried, she was unable to soften the blow. In fact, her struggle with herself only highlighted to Subaru his own stupidity. At this rate, he wasn't going to be able to do anything but slow her down. This is bad, both considering the debt I owe and the fact that she's my one precious connection in this world... I'm gonna do my best to cling to this relationship and not let go...! "From the look on your face, it looks like you're up to no good, but...did you think of something? Um..." In front of Subaru, who had found a questionable new sense of determination, the girl hesitated. Subaru tilted his head and stared at her for a while as she furrowed her brow, but it was the cat that came to her rescue. "Ah, now that I think of it, we haven't told each other our names yet, have we? Should we introduce ourselves?" "Oh, you're right. Well then, I guess I'll go ahead and go first!" In an overly energetic fashion, in part to help cover up for his previous mistake, Subaru struck a pose and pointed to the heavens. "My name is Subaru Natsuki! The ignorant and unintelligent, forever and everlastingly penniless! Nice to meet you!" "Well, that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, does it? Anyway, I'm Puck. Nice to meet you, too." As Subaru put out his hand, Puck leapt into it with his whole body for a handshake. An onlooker would probably think Subaru was trying to squeeze the cat to death. The girl blinked in surprise at Subaru's bold interaction. "It's rare to see someone who's willing to approach a spirit so easily...and your name is just as unusual. With black hair and dark eyes like that just where did you come from?" "Ha, I was waiting for you to ask that question. Given this trope, I'll have to say I come from a small country to the east!" This is a pattern that has often come up in otherworldly fiction since times long past. A character will state that they come from a hidden country to the east, called something like "Zipang." There tends to not be that much interaction between countries, so if you say you've traveled to where you are from that country, it will make sense to most people. It's a magically convenient cliché. "If you look at a map of the continent, Lugunika is the country farthest to the east, so...there's no country to the east of here." "What, are you serious? We're at the ends of the east?! So...does this make this country my long-yearned-for Zipang?!" "So you don't know where you are, you don't have any money, you can't read, and you have no one you can count on. I'm starting to think you're worse off than I am..." While Subaru was shocked at this new development, the girl was also starting to look anxious. With every action she took you could see the element of her personality that made her want to help others. She probably couldn't help but be concerned about Subaru, who to her was looking more and more to be not only defenseless, but absolutely helpless. The girl looked at Subaru again carefully, from the top down. "Taking another look at you, you actually look like you're in pretty good shape. Um... Uh... Subaru." "Huh? Oh. Yep, Subaru. That's my name." Having his name called in such a hesitant way for some reason felt like a fresh new experience to Subaru, and he couldn't help but stumble in his response. After clearing his throat to hide the fact that he was shaken up, he showed his biceps. "I do strength training every day. Since I'm almost always cooped up in my room, I've got to do at least that much to stay in shape." "I don't really get what you mean by 'cooped up in your room,' but you're from a high-ranking family, aren't you? Weren't you taught some sort of martial

art?" "I'm actually from an extremely ordinary middle-class family, but...what makes you think I'm from a high-class family? Do I exude some refined air of nobility?" "Well, you do have a bit of a curious air to you, at least." Subaru jokingly raised his hands as if to acknowledge the flattery. But then the girl suddenly grabbed those hands, and Subaru, taken aback by the suddenness of her touch, had to hold back a squeak from rising out of his throat. "It's also these fingers of yours, but your skin and hair are part of it as well. These aren't the hands of a commoner, and your muscles don't look like the product of hard labor." Subaru blushed as the girl continued to poke at his hands, but understood. He was also impressed by her ability to see that he was not just simply a foreigner in a foreign land. As Subaru stood in wonderment, the girl continued. "Black hair and dark eyes. I hear that is a common trait of the refugees from the south, but the fact that you are here in Lugunika with those traits means that you are able to live a life of luxury. Also, the craftsmanship of these strange clothes of yours is magnificent... So, have I got it right?" As Subaru grew quiet, the girl put on a proud smile. Feeling admittedly drawn by the bewitching atmosphere she had made fitting of her beautiful smile, Subaru processed the contents of what she just said and made a reluctant face. "If you're asking me whether you're wrong or you are right...you're absolutely wrong, but is there any way I can say it so you won't get hurt?" "If I'm wrong, just tell me I'm wrong. If you don't, it's just going to be more embarrassing for me." The girl blushed as her earlier confidence transformed into embarrassment. As Subaru watched her go silent, he thought about how he was going to explain where he came from. He could just say, "I'm a loser who was summoned from another world!" but given the precedent set by fantasy fiction about other worlds, that would open the gates for him to be labeled as someone who was wrong in the head. Looking back on the results of what he had said so far, he felt there was a significant risk in telling the truth. "You don't have to think that hard about it, you know? If it's something you can't talk about, I won't question you any further." Seeing Subaru struggling with what to say, the girl came to her own conclusions and didn't press him. Given that she had come to his rescue yet again in a way, Subaru grimaced, feeling all the more useless. "But...really, this isn't looking very good," the girl muttered, in a now-weaker tone, a clouded expression on her face. "..." Seeing that the girl could no longer hide how hopeless she felt, Subaru felt a faint flame light up inside himself. "What am I, an idiot? Well, yeah, I am an idiot. Just what have I been doing all this time..." Right in front of Subaru stood the girl who saved his life. Hadn't he offered to help her out so that he could repay her? If that was the case, then how was he supposed to explain his total lack of support? "Subaru?" Seeing Subaru fall silent and looking troubled all of a sudden, the girl tilted her head and looked at him puzzled. Watching as with that motion her silver hair tumbled down off her shoulder, Subaru thought as hard as he could. Subaru tried to remember what had happened when the thief ran through that alley as those thugs were stomping on him. Focusing on that instant in time, he needed to find something, anything that he could use... "I have a few things that I want to check with you, is that okay?" "Um...okay, yeah. Go right ahead." "Thanks. I'm pretty sure I heard you mention it a few times, but this is the capital of whatever country we're in...right? So, basically it's the town that has the king's castle in it, and it's a really big place, is that correct?" Subaru asked, remembering bits of the conversation that he had had with the girl before. While Subaru realized that his question must have sounded strange, the girl didn't interrupt and simply nodded a yes. "So in this big city, there's a girl who appears to be making her living stealing things. By the look of her clothes, she definitely doesn't seem to be that well off... Now this may be obvious, but there's got to be a place where people like that live." *** "Is there a place where crime is rampant, or something like a slum in the area...? I'm sure it's hard to exchange stolen goods for money without some connections, so I think there's a good chance she would have to go back to a place like that." With the image of the thief burned in his memory, Subaru analyzed her from head to toe, and used all of the knowledge he had about fantasy settings to help form his hypothesis. "So, I think rather than searching around aimlessly, we have a better chance if we aim for that, but... What's wrong?" "I was just surprised. You really do have a good head on your shoulders." "Well, rather than a logical conclusion, it's more that it's a common theme in medieval fantasy, but...if this is all it takes for you to start thinking better of me I have a feeling that I've got a long way to go..." Despite Subaru's response, he seemed to be taking the girl's praise rather well. While Subaru scratched at the side of his head to try to keep from showing how embarrassed he was, the girl nodded several times. "We'll go with your plan. Let's go back out to the main road and ask some people if they know of a place that's like what you described." "We're already really behind as it is, after all. Let's hurry up and get going." After Subaru and the girl looked at each other and nodded, they headed out of the alley and toward the main road. However, right before they could start their search for a spot where a lot of people who they could question were passing by, Subaru remembered something. "I was just thinking... I know your cat's name now, but I don't think you ever told me your name, ha-ha." While Subaru thought that bringing this up now might have not been the best time, the girl's eyes widened a bit in surprise. She then closed them, and after a few seconds of silence, said... "...Satella." "Oh?" Subaru, who because of her silence had begun to think that he had made a mistake, was a bit late in reacting to her whispered reply. In response, the girl turned away from Subaru and continued. "I don't have a last name, so you can just call me Satella." Her voice had no emotion in it. Because of her attitude, it was as if, though she was giving her name, she was refusing to be called by it. Through her actions, this girl, who gave her name as "Satella," was putting a distance between herself and Subaru more than she had ever done before. Subaru, who already thought that he would feel more comfortable having a surname to call her by rather than having to use her personal name, felt that he really couldn't use that name at all. For the time being, looking for a way out, Subaru decided to avoid using her name entirely, and instead just use pronouns. As he observed Subaru and the girl's exchange from the sidelines, Puck had one thing to say before slipping back under the girl's silver hair. "...That's in really bad taste, you know," it muttered, though its voice did not even reach the girl's ears, let alone Subaru's. Using the sounds of the bustling crowd as a guide, Subaru and Satella walked back through the alley they were in and reached the main road about ten minutes later. Shifting his gaze this way and that, Subaru looked for who they should question first, when Satella, who stood beside him, pulled on his sleeve. "Hey, Subaru..." When Subaru looked back at Satella he saw that she had her gaze fixed on something on the other side of the street. Subaru looked in the same direction and realized what Satella was looking at. I have a bad feeling about this, he thought. Adding further weight to his fears, Satella continued, with a serious look on her face. "...Do you think that kid is lost?" Out of all the possible things that could go wrong with this plan, the final one had reared its head. "...Well, uh..." One of the several things that Subaru had discovered throughout the day was that the silver-haired girl standing next to him was an incorrigibly kind person. But, whether it was due to a curse or some other reason, she would not ever admit it herself. Subaru sighed a deep sigh. "Let's just calm down a minute." "What are we going to do if she gets up and goes somewhere while we're dillydallying?! We've got to go talk to her right away..." "You know, that kindness of yours is a great virtue, and given the fact that I myself was saved by that kindness I really don't want to say this, but do you have any idea what situation you're in right now?" Where Satella was looking, near the buildings across the street, there stood a young girl. She looked as though she was around ten years old, with shoulder-length brown hair that was very cute. If she smiled, the people around her probably would not be able to resist smiling back, but unfortunately, at the moment her eyes were filled with anxiety, and she looked moments away from tears. There was probably an 80 or 90 percent chance that Satella's observation was correct. Subaru was sure it was, but... "There's also that my screw-ups are partially at fault, but the thief who stole from you is just getting farther and farther away from us. If we waste any more time here, by the time we catch her, she might already have sold it and then we'll have no way to get it back." "You're probably right...but..." "Then..." Certainly it would feel bad to just leave the girl like that, but with all of the other people around, the chance that someone else would help her was high. On the other hand, Subaru and Satella were pressed for time, and needed to gather information to continue their search. No matter how he thought about it, their current plan should have priority over helping that little girl, but... "But don't you see, Subaru? Look at her, she's crying." *** "If you don't want to stick around with me, that's just fine. Thanks for everything you've done, Subaru. I'll figure this out on my own...after I help that little girl." While Subaru stood at a loss for words, Satella looked like she had already made her decision. The way she said it, it wasn't as though she was saying that Subaru just didn't understand and she was tired of him, but that she felt guilty for forcing Subaru to play along with her unreasonableness. Her silver hair dancing behind her, Satella trotted off across the street to where the little girl was standing. The girl, who had been looking down with her teary eyes, noticed that someone had suddenly come to her side. There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she looked up, probably because she thought the person she was looking for had found her. "I'm sorry I'm not the one you're looking for," said Satella as she knelt down to talk to the

girl, whose eyes opened wide in surprise. But in those eyes was not a feeling of relief, but a feeling of fear. You could tell, even from far away, that being spoken to by a stranger had caused her heart to shrink away, afraid. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but where are your father and mother? Aren't they with you?" It looked as though Satella had noticed the girl was afraid, and her voice was in a tone that was kinder than Subaru had ever heard it before. However, it wasn't enough to convey her concern to the girl, who had lost sight of her parents and was now shivering because she did not know what to do. "Umm... Uh... Please don't cry. I won't do anything to hurt you, okay?" Satella tried to keep open the girl's heart before it shut completely on her, but it didn't seem to work, and the little girl only shook her head back and forth. The tears that had welled up in her eyes looked as though they were about to overflow, when... "Now feast your eyes on this magnificent notched ten-yen coin!" "Huh?" said Satella, surprised by the sudden voice that had leapt in, and when she looked up, there was Subaru in his gray tracksuit. Subaru first smiled weakly at Satella's reaction, and then turned his smile from her to the little girl. The sudden intruder had also surprised her. Subaru then put out his right hand in front of her. "Now, can you see this coin here in my right hand? I bet you can! All right, now I'm going to squeeze it tight. Like this...squeeze squeeze squeeze..." "Wait, Subaru...what are you...?" "And would you look at that!" Ignoring Satella's interruption, Subaru took his fist where he had been holding the notched ten-yen coin and opened it wide for the two to see. When he did, the coin that should have been in his hand was gone. "Wow! The coin I was squeezing is gone! Now where could it have run off to...?" The little girl blinked a few times and then stared hard at Subaru's right hand, but whether she looked at the back of his hand or his palm, she couldn't find it. Subaru, emboldened by the girl's reaction, nodded, and then reached out with his left hand and gently brushed his fingers through her hair. "Would you look at that! So this is where the coin was hiding." When the little girl saw the coin resting between the fingers of Subaru's left hand, she was stunned. Satella, who couldn't figure out the trick, was just as confused. Subaru took a magnificent bow before the two and then dropped the notched ten-yen coin in the little girl's hand. "I'll let you keep it as a present. It's special, so take good care of it, okay?" Subaru looked on with a smile as the little girl held the coin close and nodded vigorously. As he was doing so, Satella poked him in the side. "Hey, Subaru..." "Don't look at me like that. I mean, I'll admit what I said before was a bit harsh but..." "How did you do that?" "Oh, you mean that? You're not questioning my motives, but how I did the trick?" Subaru promised to explain the trick later to Satella, who looked very interested, before turning back to the little girl, who was looking very curiously at the ten-yen coin. It seemed like Subaru's amazing magic had helped calm down her anxiety. When Subaru knelt down and asked her a few questions, she answered them quickly and clearly. "I see. So you got separated from your mother, huh. Don't worry, don't worry. Just leave it to your big brother and sister. We'll find her right away!" After giving the girl another pat on the head, Subaru held out his hand to her, and with a little hesitation, she grabbed it. Satella, who was watching, opened her eyes wide. "You really look like you're used to this... Subaru, is your profession taming children?" "When you take it out of context like that, that sounds really, really bad! And no. I'm unemployed." Technically, Subaru had the incredibly convenient status of being a student. However, given that he hadn't been going to school lately, and particularly now that he had been summoned to a different world, he didn't really feel that he was qualified to call himself that anymore. But, regardless... "So, big sister, how about you hold this lonely little girl's hand? She looks like she could use another friend," said Subaru with a wink. The little girl had reached her other hand, the one that was not holding on to Subaru's, out to Satella. Satella looked surprised for a moment and held her breath, but then let it out and took the little girl's hand in her own. "Right. Don't you worry. Just let your big sister handle this. We'll definitely find your mom, okay?" Satella said, smiling at the little girl as she nodded silently. Subaru and Satella led the girl along, with her between them, and the three continued down the main road through the waves of people together. "The way we are now, don't you think there are some people out there who look at us and think that we're a young couple with our child? How embarrassing!" "...Huh? Even with the benefit of the doubt I don't see how anyone would think that you and that girl are anything other than brother and sister..." "I can't tell if that's just a really dry joke, or that's really what you thought I meant!" As Satella and Subaru went on talking, the little girl between them let a small smile spread across her face. Fortunately, perhaps because they really stood out as a group, it didn't take long before they found the little girl's mother. In this case, it wasn't only Subaru who stood out, but also Satella, with her silver hair and extraordinary beauty. "Thank you so much!" Once the girl's mother was reunited with her child, she thanked Subaru and Satella several times, though they smiled and played it off as if it were nothing. As the little girl and her mother were leaving, the girl looked back and waved good-bye several times, and Subaru and Satella waved back. Subaru turned to look at Satella, as she stood beside him waving to the girl, and saw that she had a bright and cheerful expression on her face. "Now, I get the feeling that we've wasted a lot of time doing this, but what does our big sister have to say? I'm sure she'll find some kind of way to describe this as a means to an end!" Subaru said in an orchestrated manner, snapping his fingers and making fun of Satella's all-too-kind nature. Of course, he wasn't really criticizing her; it was more that he was just poking fun. After all, Satella had given such a roundabout excuse for why her encounter with Subaru was useful, so he was curious to hear what she would say. "...It's simple." In response to Subaru's teasing, Satella smiled. "Now we can be in a good mood as we continue to search." *** "Even if we got my badge back, I'm sure I would have regretted not helping that girl. Don't you think it is better to both help the girl and get my badge back?" It didn't look like Satella was just saying that to keep her own hopes up. She looked so refreshed she probably believed it. With that kind of response, Subaru really didn't know what to say. He would have to rethink his opinion of this girl. Not only was she the type of person who was so kind she always ended up losing everything, she also was the type of person who wanted to have it all. "I see. You're right. Thanks to your quick decision, we won't have to say, 'Sure, we abandoned that little anxious crying girl all lost and by herself, but we were able to get the badge back, safe and sound, hooray!'" "Well that's a really negative way to put it," said Satella, frowning, then glaring at him as though she seemed to have remembered something. "But besides that... Why did you help me? I thought you were against helping the girl, Subaru." "I just wanted to show off my ability to do magic tricks! ...Which is, of course, a lie. Didn't I say so before? I'm going to help you find your badge so I can do my good deed for the day and go to heaven." "But since you helped the girl, doesn't that count for your good deed for the day already?" "That's a very good argument! But I mean, it's not like I'm limited to one a day or anything. I can do more. So anyway, I'm going to do enough for tomorrow today! I'm actually planning to get this whole week out of the way!" Subaru had the feeling that he was getting away from the true meaning of this whole "do one good deed a day" concept, but he still tried to make an argument. Satella stood by, shocked. "Subaru...with a personality like that, you're going to end up losing everything one day." "You're the last person I want to hear that from!" Subaru shouted, flipping her words back toward her, but Satella just tilted her head in confusion. Apparently she really just didn't get it. "You really are a nice boy, aren't you?" "You know, it kind of bothers me that you're treating me like I'm younger than you. I know that a lot of people think East Asians are younger than they are, but we really can't be that different in age, can we?" Subaru thought that by a rough estimate Satella looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. Given that Subaru had a rather early birthday compared to others in his age group, he was seventeen and thought that it was possible she could even be younger than him. But in response, Satella narrowed her violet eyes slightly and said, "However old you think I am, I don't think that you're very close... After all, I'm a half-elf." *** Subaru was at a loss for words. Seeing his response, a number of complicated emotions flashed across Satella's eyes. Finally, the emotion that settled was an ineffable mixture of resignation and hopelessness. "I see. No wonder you're so cute. After all, it's like a given in fantasy worlds that elves are always beautiful." "...Huh?" Subaru finally nodded, having come to his own conclusions about Satella being a half-elf. Satella blinked her eyes several times. Her expectations had completely missed their mark. "Hmm? What's wrong?" "It's not that anything is wrong, it's just...I mean...I'm a half-elf, and..." "Yeah...I heard you the first time." Unsure of what Satella had a problem with, that's the only way Subaru could think to answer, but Satella's reaction was dramatic. "....ah." Satella made a strange sound in her throat, before suddenly turning away from Subaru, finding the nearest wall, kneeling beside it, and holding her silver-haired head in her hands. In the face of such an inexplicable reaction, Subaru just didn't know what to say. "Take that!" "Ow! What the hell was that for?!" The gray cat, which as always seemed to come and go as it pleased, had punched him in the face with its paw like it was reenacting a fancy fighting move. Puck purred, flicking at his whiskers with the same paw he had punched Subaru with. "I don't know, I just felt this overwhelming frustration and couldn't keep it bottled up inside of me." "If that's the only reason, it's going to be hard to get rid of the feeling that a great injustice has been done to me, but it was a soft and squishy punch, so I forgive you." "I mean, I'm not really mad

at you or anything. If I had to say one way or the other, I'd say it's the opposite." "The opposite?" said Subaru, confused. "Yes, the opposite," Puck said with a nod. But before Subaru could ask what Puck really meant by that, Satella had returned. Twisting the ends of her silver hair in her fingers, Satella glared at Subaru. "Subaru, you...nincompoop." "Nobody uses the word 'nincompoop' anymore, and what have I done to be insulted by you?" "Hmph. If you don't understand, that's not my problem. More importantly, we've got to continue our search." With the subject of Satella's unreasonableness cut off without another word, Subaru looked irritated, but that irritation evaporated as Satella began to act more friendly and familiar. Subaru still didn't know why she'd had such a sudden change in attitude, but there were more important things to think about. "Anyway, that episode with the little lost girl made it painfully clear isn't this town just too big to be searching around for something in?" "Well, it's the capital of Lugunika. It's the largest city in the nation. If I remember correctly, there are about...three hundred thousand people who live here, and a lot of others come and go." Satella answered Subaru's question in detail and with a hint of pride in her voice. "I see, I see. Three hundred thousand people, huh. That's quite a lot... Thanks for the regurgitated information." "Urr..." Satella muttered. It appeared Subaru's guess had been on the mark. Subaru tried to use that new information to picture Lugunika's capital city in his mind. If it had a population of 300,000 people, then for a city in a medieval fantasy setting, it was quite large. Of course, that number only reflected the people who lived in the city, so after adding in traveling merchants and adventurers, the number of people at any given time would probably be greater than that. As Subaru watched all of the people passing by from the side of the street, he was again astonished by the concentration of such variety in a group of people. There were half-humans, half-beasts, and regular humans all mixed together, and it really was like a melting pot of different races. The fact that they had gotten lost in the alleyways for almost an hour wasn't just something to laugh about, either. The area was so large and the roads so complicated that they really had gotten lost. "In other words, we don't have any more room for error. We have already given up a big advantage to the thief, and if we get stuck again it really will be too late. So let's choose our next move carefully." "What do you mean?" "If we run around without some sort of plan, we won't get any results. For instance, if we go back to the place where your badge was stolen, we might be able to get more information out of people. Was there anyone who saw what happened?" "Actually...I think there may have been." Satella put her hand to her mouth as if she had remembered something and then explained herself to Subaru. According to Satella, her badge had been stolen in broad daylight, right in the middle of a crowd of people. If so, the theft was a bold move, but looking at the commotion on the street in front of him, Subaru thought that it wasn't necessarily a bad decision on the part of the thief. The more people there are, the easier it is to get lost in the crowd. "Do you remember where it was stolen from you?" "Yes, I think...it was this way." Subaru followed Satella down the street. As they made their way through the confusion of the bustling crowd with its many different kinds of people, Subaru felt his sense of distance and direction taken from him just as quickly as when they had made their way through the maze of alleyways before. He felt as if he no longer had any idea of where he was walking. While the place they were in should have been one he had never seen before, Subaru felt a strange feeling that he had seen it before, and that feeling just wouldn't go away. "Wait. No, I have definitely seen this place before." Seeing the place that Satella had led him to, he scratched the side of his face and smiled a half smile. The place where Satella had had her badge stolen from her was the same street corner to which Subaru had been summoned. "This is where I was so confused I decided to go cool my head down in an empty alley, and then had my encounter with thugs A, B, and C..." Remembering what had happened about two hours earlier, Subaru now mused to himself that amazing coincidences like this really did happen sometimes. If so, he was in in luck. He had someone in mind that they could talk to. "So that's the situation. I told her, 'Leave it to me!' and came over here to see you, Mr. Fruit Salesman." Subaru spun around and pointed at the owner of a fruit shop on the side of the main road. The fruit that lined his shop was fresh, and just looking at it made his mouth water. "...What, it's you again? I was hoping for a customer, Mr. Broke," said the shop owner with a cold glare that didn't seem fitting for one who dealt with customers on a daily basis. The man wore a bandanna and was very muscular. He had a stern looking face and a deep, threatening voice. To top it all off, he also had a white scar that ran down the left side of his face, probably left by some kind of blade. No matter how you looked at it, there was no way he was a respectable, law-abiding citizen. That's why it was so surprising for him to be behind the counter of a fruit shop. "Oh, don't be so cold, Pops. You were acting pretty nice to me not all that long ago." "That's because I thought you were a customer. If I had known you had no money on you, I would have chased you out earlier, like I'm about to do now." Subaru was trying to act like they were best friends, but the shop owner was having none of it. He waved his hand as if he was shooing away a bug. "Oh, come on," Subaru sighed, relaxing his shoulders. "Are you sure you want to treat me like this? Haven't you noticed that I'm different from the last time I came here?" "What's that?" said the shop owner, unsure of how to react as Subaru made a triumphant expression, nostrils flaring. Subaru stepped aside and held both his hands out to show Satella standing behind him. "Look at that! I brought someone with me! You may have chased me off once you learned I was penniless, but what do you think, now that I've brought in someone who just very well may become a new frequent customer of yours?!" "Um, Subaru...? I hate to say this when you've got your hopes up, but I don't have any money on me." "Huh, what, really? You're telling me that we were walking around the capital without so much as a single coin between us?!" The shop owner gave a sigh as he looked at the two paupers in his shop. "So? What was it that you wanted to say, now that one beggar's become two?" "Well, actually, we're looking for something, and I wanted to ask if you could at least hear us out?" "That was just my way of saying I don't have the time to deal with you people! Take a hint!" the shop owner yelled. Subaru felt himself take some intense eardrum damage. "Th-this wasn't a good idea after all, was it?" said Satella, shrinking away as she tugged on Subaru's sleeve. It might be true that asking for help without buying anything was pretty selfish, but that didn't change the fact that they had no money to buy anything with. Just when Subaru was about to give up on trying to get any information out of the man, he heard a voice. "Hmm? Are you...the two from before?" Subaru and Satella turned around. Standing right in front of them was a woman with long brown hair. It was someone they had both seen before; after all, the woman was not alone. Holding her hand was a little girl who looked very happy to see them. "We are, but...why are you here in a place like this? The only other person here is this heartless, scary-faced man." "Ha-ha... This is my husband's shop, so I thought I'd stop by and say hello." "Your husband's shop?" Subaru and Satella looked at each other, and then turned back to look inside the shop, their gazes finally settling on the scar-faced man, who had folded his arms. "Pops...you didn't kill this woman's husband and take their shop, did you?" "What are you going on about? This is my shop, and that is my wife!" Subaru looked back in shock at the woman, who smiled, looking a bit unsure of how to react. She was a beautiful woman, with fine features and a gentle demeanor. This woman and that stern-faced man? There had to be some mistake. He couldn't possibly be threatening her, could he? Subaru thought with a worried look. But despite Subaru's rude conjecture, the little girl who was holding her mother's hand darted past Subaru to the shop owner, who hugged her and picked her up. "Oh, look at you! Aren't you all excited. Now tell me, do you know these two destitute beggars?" "Beggars? Dear, don't call them that!" After hearing her husband's sharp words, the girl's mother raised her eyebrows and began berating her husband. She then explained how she, her daughter, Subaru, and Satella had come to meet. After hearing what happened, the shop owner set his daughter down. "I'm sorry about that. That was not the way to talk to the people who saved my daughter. Please forgive me." "Oh, don't worry about it. I mean, it is true that we don't have any money on us, and..." "That's right, old man! I hope you think long and hard about your action...s... Um...your cute face looks pretty scary right now." A look from Satella shut Subaru up. Right after that, the little girl reached out her hand to Satella. In her hand was a small ornament in the shape of a red flower. Satella held her breath, and looked from the ornament to the little girl and back several times, with a slightly troubled expression. "Please, take it," said the mother, placing her hand on Satella's back, urging her on. "My daughter wants to thank you in her own way." Satella nodded slightly and then took the flower ornament from the little girl's hand, and pinned it on the left breast of her white cloak, before kneeling down so that the little girl could see it. "Thank you. I like it very much." As Subaru watched Satella's brilliant smile from the side, he found himself unable to look away. Seeing that smile, the little girl blushed and looked away, and the shop owner, watching all of this, cleared his throat. "You saved my daughter. I want to thank you. Ask me whatever you want." With a strong nod, the stern-faced shop owner put on his best smile. Satella was surprised, but then looked to Subaru and smiled, but it wasn't the same smile as before. This one was a triumphant one. "See, I told you. It really did come around and help us in the end!" she said, as if this odd twist of fate was entirely her own doing. Even though the street was just one off the main road, the atmosphere was full of gloom.

It was still and silent, and there was no sign of any kind of life, let alone traces of people around. The street Subaru and Satella were on wasn't far from the main road, but the hustle and bustle from before now seemed like a far-off dream. "We heard from that guy that if we were looking for stolen goods, they would be handled and sold in the slums, but..." whispered Subaru as he peered down the street that supposedly would lead them to the slums, "...the air down there and the mood, not to mention the general character of the people down there, are all probably going to be pretty terrible. Are you sure you really want to go?" "You're the one who suggested that my badge might be there in the first place, and the owner of that shop said it would probably be there, too..." "You shouldn't forget that right after he said that, he added that we should probably give up," said Subaru, reflecting back with a sour face on what was said at the fruit shop. Thirty minutes after unexpectedly reuniting with the little girl and her mother at the fruit shop, and using that coincidence to turn the situation around and gain some valuable information, Subaru and Satella were now at the entrance to the rumored slums, where most stolen goods were said to be brought. After realizing that Subaru and Satella had helped his daughter, the stern-faced shop owner had warmed up to them, and listened to their plight. Because of that, they were able to get information about the slums, but now they were hesitating. "I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but wouldn't it be better to ask for help? Like, if we asked the police, or...I guess they would be guards in this case...I'm sure if we asked those kind of people to help us search and they sent a team out to find it, this would get resolved a lot more quickly." "We can't." Satella immediately rejected Subaru's suggestion. In fact, she so flatly rejected it that it took Subaru by surprise. "I'm sorry, but...we can't. I also don't think we can get the guards to act over such a small theft, and...I have other reasons that I can't ask the guards for help," said Satella, pausing for a moment with her lips shut tightly, before looking at Subaru with a look of pleading in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't say why." Realizing that she quite clearly didn't want to be asked, Subaru raised his hands slightly, conceding. "So, what should we do, then? I suppose we can still employ team tactics with just the two of us," said Subaru in a light and joking tone, trying to keep the mood up. "Don't forget me!" replied Puck, who had reappeared on Satella's shoulder, looking at Subaru and Satella as it wiped its face with its paw. "But we don't really have the time to just sit around and talk anymore. Even if you want to try those team tactics with two humans and a cat, I've only got about an hour before it's time's-up for me." As Puck looked up at the sky, Subaru followed its gaze and saw that most of the sky that was peaking through the buildings on either side of the street had already shifted from blue to orange. The reason the slums seemed so dark and dreary wasn't only because of the damp and sour smell coming from it. It was getting closer and closer to sunset which of course meant that Puck would soon reach his limit. "So whether you decide to go or turn back, it's best to make that decision soon," finished Puck. "I don't know what you mean by 'team tactics,' but we've got to keep going. There's no way that we can let this chance go and risk having my badge be out of our reach forever," Satella said, answering Puck. She then turned to Subaru. "All right, so I've decided I'm going, but...the people who live here are probably used to getting into fights, so I want you to be careful, even more than before. If you're scared, you can just wait here for me to come back." "Wait here?! Just how much of a chicken do you think I am?! I'm going! I'm going to stick to you like I'm a spirit who's come back to haunt you!" "So in other words you don't want to be in front. That would really, really make it easier on me, though." Satella sighed yet again in the face of Subaru's energetic readiness to flee. Subaru thought about how, ever since he and Satella had met, he had only made her look troubled. The few times she did smile, the reason had nothing to do with Subaru. It was unfortunate. Given how cute she looked even when she was displaying negative emotions, Subaru thought it would be wonderful if she ever did smile at him. "All right! Let's do this! It's about time I do something to show you what I'm made of!" "What are you so excited about all of a sudden? I can see up your nostrils." "Well, that was a great way to ruin my display-of-determination scene! Thanks!" Even though he had his energy tripped up a notch from the start, Subaru hurried his pace so he wouldn't fall behind Satella, his arms flailing back and forth as he rushed to not be left behind by this girl who kept continuing on toward her goal. Now, Subaru and Satella entered the next stage on the way to completing their task the slums. And it looked like they were going to have a lot of trouble... That is, until it became clear that an unlikely character would prove themself very useful; very useful indeed. "Who, you ask? Me! Yes, me! For some unknown reason, the people here in the slums are really nice to me! Just what unknown variable is responsible for this?! Has my charm stat finally been adjusted?! I haven't felt so loved since I was in preschool!" Back in preschool, Subaru was quite the cute one. His hair was long and he was often mistaken for a girl. Given the change to his current state only took ten plus a few years. The passage of time really is cruel and unforgiving. "Has something about me changed from before? Do I, like, have something on my face?" "Well, you do have your evil-looking eyes, short ears, and flat nose on your face..." "I could have gone without the evil eyes and flat nose description!" retorted Subaru before hanging his head. Satella put her finger to her lips and thought. "Hmm... It probably has to do with the way you look and are dressed right now. You're covered in dust and dirt and there are even traces of blood. The people who live here also have it hard, so they must look at you in pity and can't help but be kind to you..." "Right now you're doing a good job of making me feel as bad as I look! But you're right! It makes perfect sense! Damn it all!" As they say, people with the same sickness pity each other. While it was great that Subaru seemed to be more likable in the slums in an unexpected way, Satella's likability was at an all-time low. The reason again probably had to do with the way that she was dressed. "The thugs from before made similar comments, but you really are dressed pretty well, aren't you?" "I guess I do stand out, don't I...?" replied Satella, looking at Subaru nervously, as she rolled down the sleeves of her white cloak. However, while she acknowledged the problem with her fine clothes, she seemed to be oblivious to the fact that it wasn't just the clothes, but the person wearing them as well. "Um, I have something I'd like to ask you, but " "What's that? This is no place for you and your fancy clothes to be walking around in, young lady, so go on now, get outta here!" Again, Satella was brusquely turned away as she tried to ask someone for help. Given that her low rate of success had to do with both her good looks and her fine clothes, rather than twice worse off, it was better to say she was "worse off squared." However, it wasn't as though Subaru could suggest that she get all dirty like he was. "At least you might be a little better off if you take off your cloak..." Subaru suggested. "...I know, but..." Satella gripped both shoulders of her cloak with her hands, but would not take it off. Subaru thought that her response was a little bit strange, but he didn't bring it up. As Satella looked down, she lightly brushed her hand against the red flower decoration pinned on her left breast. Subaru, seeing how Satella found comfort in that decoration, couldn't help but feel like smiling, and it made him want to try even harder for her sake. If Satella couldn't do this on her own, he was glad to make use of his dirty appearance to make progress. I guess this means that good things can come even from getting beat up by a bunch of thugs in an alley, Subaru thought. "Well, don't worry too much. You can leave this to me. Anyway, with the fruits of my labor, we'll soon have her cornered, so let's keep chasing after that criminal. So yeah, with the fruits of my labor, we'll soon have her cornered! So! Let's...keep...searching!" "I understand that you're happy to be useful for once, but it's really lame when you put so much emphasis on yourself like that." Subaru had struck a pose with every pause of his sentence, which he thought was cool, but when Satella put it like that, it just made Subaru seem like he was hopping up and down as if to say, Look what I can do! Satella stared at Subaru with a face that looked like she regretted raising her opinion of him earlier, and Subaru just responded with a weak smile. It had been little more than two hours since they had met, but with things like this, Subaru already felt as though he had known Satella for a long time. However, this little episode had a different ending than the last few. "I'm sorry, but I'm already at my limit," said Puck weakly as he leaned up against Satella's neck. His gray coat glowed with a weak light, and his figure blurred as if he were going to disappear at any moment. "The way you disappear kind of looks like you're dying." "I tried to stick around longer than usual because I wanted to protect my precious daughter from this evil-eyed guy hanging around her. But when I work myself to the bone, I end up fading away when it's time for me to disappear." "That's terrible! But leave it to me! I won't let any dangerous guys near her after you disappear!" "Wait, does that mean it's okay for me to wipe you off the face of the Earth before I disappear?" "No! Not okay!" shouted Subaru, stepping away and hugging himself. "I'm joking," said Puck with a small burst of laughter. After that, Puck looked to Satella, who took from her breast pocket a crystal that was glowing with a green light. "I'm sorry for pushing you so hard, Puck. I'll do my best from here on out, so you just get some rest." The green crystal continued to glow with a faint light in Satella's hand as she held it. It looked different from what you might call a jewel. So far as Subaru could tell, "crystal" was the word that fit best. Puck crawled down Satella's arm and approached the crystal, then reached out and hugged it to its small

body. Finally he turned back toward Satella. "I'm sure you know this already, but be careful, and don't push yourself too hard. If something happens don't hesitate to use your od to call me back out." "I know, I know. I'm not a child. I can take care of myself." "I wonder about that... My precious daughter here always makes me worry when it comes to things like this. I'm counting on you, Subaru." Puck looked at Satella with affection, the way a parent looks at their child. Satella blushed, but also looked annoyed. With the conversation thrown his way, Subaru beat on his chest. "All right! Just you leave it to me. You can trust my sixth sense. When it sounds the danger alarm, I'll get us out of there in no time!" "I really don't understand half of what you're saying, but all right. Now with that out of the way, good night. ...Be careful." With a last glance directed at Satella, Puck finally vanished. His small body became a small ball of light, which gradually melted away into the world around it as he disappeared. Other than the fact that it was a talking cat, this was the first time Subaru had seen Puck do anything spirit-like. Now, having seen this fantastical display, he felt mixed feelings of excitement and awe welling up inside him. As Subaru was getting excited all by himself, Satella ran her hands lightly over the crystal and put it carefully back in her breast pocket. From the conversations that they had before, Subaru thought that crystal must be holding Puck's core right now. "Now it'll be just the two of us...but don't get any ideas. I can still use magic, you know." Apparently Satella had taken Puck's last words seriously, and was on her guard. "Hey, the last time I was alone with a girl was in elementary school. I'm not really capable of doing anything. Haven't you been paying attention to my lack of human skills thus far?" "You're totally hopeless, but then again, I'm convinced. ...All right. Let's keep going. But remember, with Puck gone we need to be even more careful than before." Perhaps shocked by Subaru's proud proclamation of his cowardice, Satella couldn't seem to keep up her apprehensions of him, and so tied back up the front of her robe and went on ahead. "I'll be the vanguard, so you just keep your eyes on what's behind us. If anything happens, call me right away. You mustn't think that you can handle everything on your own. I don't want be mean...but you're really weak." "Well, when you put it that way, it's hard to get angry about it..." If Satella just wanted to push Subaru away, "You're really weak" would have been enough. Given that she couldn't hide what she truly felt, Satella was soft at the core...too soft, even. Subaru nudged Satella along, even though it looked like she wanted to say something, and the two continued their search. Despite all the talk, their search continued in the same way as before. Their methods were basic. Whenever they found someone, they would describe who they were looking for and asked if the person had any ideas about who it might be. Subaru, who was now doing all of the asking, had gotten better at it after having talked to so many different people. He was starting to hit his stride. "You know? It might be that Felt girl. She was blond and really fast, right?" A little under an hour after they had entered the slums and started asking around, they had finally run into some valuable information. The guy who gave the information was someone that Subaru had gone straight up to and said, "Hey, my brother, how's life?" like they were already friends. "If it's Felt you're looking for, whatever she stole is probably sitting in the loot cellar. She usually takes things there, gets them tagged, and then the old man who's the master there'll get them sold at a market somewhere else." "That sounds like a pretty strange system... Doesn't anyone worry about the master of the cellar taking off with all of the goods?" "The reason he's the master is because people trust him not to do that. But, well, even if you go up and tell him it's stolen, he'll probably just say 'So what?' right back at you, so you'd better be prepared to negotiate a price to buy it back. After all, it's the original owner's fault for being stupid and getting it stolen in the first place!" the man finished with a laugh. Subaru was able to get the guy to tell him the location of the loot cellar, so they would probably be able to find it soon, but there was a new problem. Subaru and Satella were both penniless. "That guy said we should buy it back, but without any leverage, I get the feeling this master guy would wipe the floor with us." "Why do I have to pay to get back something I already own...?" As the problem veered back toward their combined lack of funds, Satella looked worried. She had a point, of course, but it wasn't like they could expect the loot cellar's master to agree. In order to solve the matter peacefully, and with certainty, it would be best to follow that man's advice and try to negotiate. However... "It seems a little late to be asking this question, but that badge you say was stolen from you...does it happen to look expensive? Even if we walk in expecting to be overcharged, it would be impossible to negotiate without having any idea of what it's worth." "...It's small, but there is a jewel embedded in its center. I don't know how much money that someone might buy it for, but I am fairly certain it wouldn't be a small amount." "A jewel, huh... That seems like it's going to be a problem." Even for people unfamiliar with how much things are worth, a jewel is one of those convenient items that you can tell is expensive at a glance. Subaru doubted that there was the technology to produce imitations in this world, so most things that resembled jewels were probably jewels. In other words, they would all fetch a high price. While none of this new information sounded like good news, Subaru thought there was something strange about what Satella was saying. Even though the badge was supposedly hers, she said that she did not know its value. While it was possible it was something she might have received from someone else, it stuck in his mind. "Anyway, let's first just find this loot-cellar place. It is possible that we can negotiate a way to buy it back at a reasonable price..." In the worst-case scenario, Subaru had one way to secure funds, although he was reluctant to use it. And he didn't want to tell Satella until right before he had to. As they walked, Subaru and Satella spent the next ten minutes talking about various ways they might be able to take back her badge, but nothing seemed to come together. Now that they were in front of the place called the "loot cellar," Subaru and Satella looked at each other. "This place is a lot bigger than I imagined. Just how well can the market for theft be going these days?" Subaru said. "I understand them calling it a cellar rather than a shed...if this place is filled only with stolen goods... Either way I'm not sure the people here have any hope of salvation," added Satella. Of course, as the loot cellar existed as a place to hold items until they were sold, it was unlikely it would be filled to the brim. It wasn't a high-storied building, but it was wide enough to the point where it looked as though it could function as living quarters for a large number of people. The building was right up against a tall defensive wall, and was in the deepest part of the slums. "That tall wall behind the building...is that...?" "I think it's one of the walls of the city. Which means that we must have come all the way from the city's center to its edge," replied Satella. Subaru tried to imagine a map of the city in his mind, given what Satella had said. It was likely that the city was built as a square and had walls like this on all four sides. Additionally, either in the center or on the northernmost side there should be a castle, from which these slums would be positioned far away. Considering that it had been three to four hours since Subaru and Satella had begun their search, the scope of the city seemed to be a little larger than Subaru had originally imagined. "All right, according to what we've heard, there should be a master in charge of this cellar who handles all of the stolen goods, but...just how exactly do you want to approach this?" "We're going to be direct and honest. We'll just say, 'We've had something stolen from us, so if you can find it, please return it to us.'" Subaru tried to explain that that wasn't going to work, but Satella wouldn't listen to him. At her core, Satella was too direct and honest herself. If something was twisted or bent, she couldn't help but try to set it right. Of course, that was one of the reasons Satella saved Subaru in the first place. "All right, I got it. But leave this to me." Because of Satella's personality, Subaru was all too sure things would get complicated if she was the one doing the talking, so Subaru volunteered himself. His backup plan... Well, it was hard to call it a "backup plan" if he was already considering using it, but if things got complicated before he had the chance to put it into action, that would also be a problem. Subaru had made his decision; he wasn't one to hesitate at times like this. Satella looked surprised that Subaru wanted to do the talking, and while Subaru was musing on how cute her surprised expression was, he hurried to try to think of a comeback for whatever argument against it Satella would have, but... "All right. I'll leave it to you." "Look, I understand that it's hard for you to let me handle something this important, and I'm not stupid enough to think that I've gained your trust, but I've got a plan, so if you'd just trust me this once Wait. Huh?!" "W-why are you so surprised?" "Going by everything that's happened so far, you'd think that this would signal the start of an argument, right? I imagined you'd say something like, 'Do you really expect me to just let a good-for-nothing like you, whose only ability is to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide, handle something this important? Don't make me laugh! I'd expect a dog to do a better job than you!' Then I, while hurt, would use the opportunity to renew my determination!" "I would never say something that mean!" As Subaru exposed his exaggerated persecution complex, Satella didn't look all that happy. However, clearing her throat, she fixed her amethyst eyes on Subaru and said, "Of course I would be lying if I said I didn't think that you were holding me back in any way, and just when I think you're finally being serious, to my chagrin you say something completely stupid..." "'To my chagrin,' huh? I haven't heard that in a while," joked Subaru. He sighed and relaxed his shoulders, unable to argue back. "Still, even though you act like a jerk sometimes, it was because of you that we were able to keep that little girl from crying, and I don't think you're the kind of person to lie or do anything without thinking about it

first," said Satella, looking back over their much-sidetracked journey thus far. "So...I'll trust you. ...If this all works out I might even think that meeting you was all worth it." "You know, if instead of that last part you had just looked up at me and said, 'Please, do your best for my sake,' I would have been totally pumped up to do this, you know?" "I can't force myself to say something like that, but... Good luck." This was a girl who could not bring herself to lie for any reason. "...All right, I'll give it my best shot," said Subaru, breaking into a smile before heading toward the entrance of the cellar. The trump card Subaru had, which he wasn't able to tell Satella about, was the one thing out of what he had brought from the previous world that he could really consider worth anything. Because that thing probably didn't otherwise exist in this world, there was a possibility he could use it to barter. Subaru would have liked to avoid doing that, but at the same time he was fairly certain that in this world, Satella's badge couldn't possibly fetch a higher price than his cell phone, and he didn't think he would have another chance in this world to use his cell phone this way. "Um... Is anybody home? ...Er, wait...the door's open." A sour, spoiled sort of smell drifted out of the entrance to the loot cellar. Subaru went to knock on the door, but from a gap in it, he saw that it wasn't locked. As he peeked inside, he could only see that it was incredibly dark. "It's hard when there's not any kind of light... Well, considering the purpose of the place, I suppose it makes sense, and it even serves as a metaphor for the dark feeling of guilt in doing dirty business." Subaru stuck his head inside and tried to look around, but not even the light from the moon reached this place in the deepest part of the slums. He couldn't see an inch in front of his face. As Subaru prepared to go inside, he turned around to Satella. "I didn't hear anyone answer me, but I'm going to go ahead and go inside, so can you please keep watch?" "Are you sure? Wouldn't it be better for me to go instead...?" "If on the off chance someone ambushes us and you're the one taken out, then it's all over. If I'm the one attacked, you'll be able both to help me, and to strike back. This is the most reasonable way to do this, so please let's just go with my plan, okay?" Satella considered Subaru's plan. After a few moments of silence, she took out of her breast pocket a white crystal, which suddenly shone with a white light. "At least take a light. And call me in whether someone's there or not." "I know, I know. Puck told us to be careful, so I'll be careful. This is really useful, by the way." "You can find lagmite ore just about anywhere. You really are ignorant, aren't you, Subaru," said Satella, unable to contain her shock, as she handed Subaru the lagmite ore. The crystal gave off a faint warmth along with its light, which was about as much illumination as you could expect from a candle. "Okay, well then, I'll go take a look. I don't think I'll be gone too long, but you can go ahead and eat without me." "Oh, stop being so stupid. Be careful, okay?" "Gotcha. Also, Satella? Don't come in until I call for you got it?" The courage that Subaru had been building up to prepare himself to enter the cellar had pushed him just enough to say her name. Up until now, he had felt too embarrassed to say it, and had hesitated. After clenching his fist together, excited he was able to finally say it, he looked back at Satella. "...What's wrong?" Satella was looking at Subaru frozen, with her eyes open wide. This reaction was far different from any that Subaru expected, and so he tilted his head in confusion. "I'm sorry... It's nothing. Once we get my badge back, I'll apologize properly." "I don't know what you're planning on apologizing for, but I'd rather hear a 'thank you' instead. It would be even better if that thank-you came along with a smile." "You dummy." As those two words came out of her mouth, Satella made a little bit of a smile, which Subaru made sure to burn into his memory. Even with his stupid jokes, Subaru was at last able to make her smile. If all of this turned out well, he would like to see that smile again, in a brighter place. "All right. Will it be a snake or a demon that pops out this time? Given the fantasy setting, neither option is one I can just laugh off..." Subaru joked to himself, and with lagmite in hand, he carefully made his way into the cellar. In the dim light, Subaru could make out a counter in front of him, across from the entrance. The building must have originally been something like an inn. It looked as though they were using the first-floor bar area without any major changes. On top of as well as behind the counter which was probably serving as something like a reception desk Subaru could see a lot of different items cluttered close together. There were small boxes and pots, swords and cheap metallic objects, and many other varied items. It was clear that all of these were stolen items, based on the wooden tags that were attached to all of them. "The way the system works, if you rounded up all of these wooden tags and handed them to the guards, it looks like they could arrest everyone at once..." However, as was usual with this line of business, there were probably some connections between this place and the not-so-upstanding citizens who offered support. Subaru was suspicious of where most of these stolen items ended up. Subaru ventured farther into the cellar, looking for Satella's badge. But just then... "Hmm?" Subaru suddenly stopped, feeling something strange under the soles of his shoes. It didn't feel like he had stepped on something hard; it was actually the opposite. Like the ground he had stepped on was clinging to him; like there was something sticky on his shoes. He raised his foot, and touched the bottom of his sneakers. He felt some sort of fluid, something strangely sticky that clung to his fingers, stretching as he pulled them away. It was something that instinctually made him feel uneasy. "What is this...?" Subaru brought his fingers close to his nose and tried to smell it, but because of the stagnant air inside the building mixing with it, he couldn't quite pin it down. Unsurprisingly, he didn't have the courage to try tasting it. After wiping the rest of the substance on the nearest wall, Subaru, urged on by a feeling of unpleasant dread, put the lagmite out in front of him and started forward. Then, he found the source of the slime. "...Wha?" Subaru unconsciously let out a foolish sound as he looked on. In the small visible range of his light, what he first saw lying limp on the ground was an arm. Its hand's fingers were reaching out as if to grab something, but the other end of the arm, at the elbow, was missing the body it should have been connected to. Moving his light and following along the axis of the arm, Subaru saw a leg farther on ahead a leg attached to a body. With the exception of one arm, that body had all of its other parts, though the throat area was cut wide open. It was the corpse of a large old man. "Eek!" Subaru squealed pointlessly as he realized what he was looking at. At that moment, Subaru's mind had blanked out. His thought processes had completely left him, and his hands and feet had frozen in place. There was a pause, and then... "...Well, you found it. That's just too bad. Now I have no choice, yes, no choice at all." Subaru thought that it was the voice of a woman. The voice was low and cold, the voice of a woman who seemed somewhat to be having fun. "Gwah!" Subaru didn't have the opportunity to turn around. As soon as he turned to face the voice, his body was blown away by an incredible force. He hit his back against the wall, and on impact let go of his lagmite, and darkness closed in as it tumbled into the distance. But Subaru wasn't thinking about that. What now ruled over his consciousness was... "Gu...it's...h-hot." A heat assaulted Subaru Natsuki and completely overwhelmed him. This is really, really not good. Feeling the hard texture of the ground against his face, he realized that he had fallen facedown on the ground. He couldn't move, even when he tried, and he already couldn't feel his fingers. What he did feel was heat, and it overwhelmed his entire body. He coughed and vomited the blood he felt rising in his throat the source of his waning life. So much came out that it frothed at the edges of his mouth. With his hazy vision, he could see the ground in front of him stained red. You've...got to be kidding me... All of this is mine? Feeling as though all of the blood in his body had spilled out of him, he reached a shaking hand to try to find the source of the heat that was burning through his body. As his fingertips reached the large cut in his stomach, he understood. No wonder it felt so hot. His brain must have been mistaking pain for heat. The clean cut that ran through his torso was so deep it had almost cut him in half. Only bits of skin were still holding him together. In other words, he had run right into a checkmate in the chess game of his life. As soon as he realized that, his consciousness immediately began to fall away from him. Now, even the heat that had been ravaging him disappeared, and the unpleasant feeling of touching his own blood and organs vanished as his consciousness continued to fade. The only thing left behind was his body, which refused to follow his soul. Right before his eyes, he saw a black boot step down and make ripples in the red carpet of his fresh blood. Someone was there, and that someone...was probably the one who killed him. But he didn't even think to look that person in the face. It didn't matter anymore. The only thing he did wish for was that she, at least, she would be safe. " baru?" He felt as if he heard a voice that rang like bells. That he heard that voice, that he could hear that voice, felt like salvation to him more than anything else, so *** With a short scream, someone else fell upon the carpet of blood. She fell right beside him. There he was, weakly attempting to reach her. Her white hand fell, powerless. He lightly grasped it in his own bloodstained grip. He felt the fingers of her hand move slightly to grasp his own. "Just you wait..." He seized his fading consciousness, pulling it desperately back around to buy a bit more time. "I'm going to..." find a way to save you. In the next instant, he Subaru Natsuki lost his life. CHAPTER 2 *** "...What's wrong, my man? You're staring off into space." "...Huh?" When a man with a white scar across his stern face spoke to Subaru, that's all he could respond with. The man with the scar twisted his face. "Look, I'm asking you what you're going to do! Are you going to buy that abble or not?!" "...Huh?" "An

abble! You want to eat one, right? You started talking to me, and then you suddenly stopped and stared off into space! I almost freaked out! ...So, what'll it be?" The muscular, scar-faced man, put a round, cute-looking red fruit into the palm of Subaru's hand. Whatever it was, it looked almost exactly like an apple. After Subaru looked at the fruit and then back at the man's face, he said, "No I mean, didn't I tell you already? I'm forever and everlastingly broke." "You kidding me?! I've had enough of you wasting my time. Get outta here! I've got a job to do. I don't have time to deal with your nonsense." The man annoyedly pushed Subaru aside and went across to another part of the shop. Subaru continued to look around, puzzled. "Huh? What? What's going on?" He was so flustered, it was a miracle he was even able to get a sentence out as he tossed his questions around. The main road was full of people as always, and apart from the lizard carts that would pass by, the full width of the street was filled with pedestrians. It was still at a time when the day was bright. It wasn't as though it was really hot outside, but it would be enough to make you think that the wolflike half-humans walking around in their fur coats must be sweating. "But this is totally not the time to be reflecting on the state of the setting!" Subaru held his head in his hands and twisted about, and his strange poses of distress were enough to gather curious glances from all around. However, now, Subaru really didn't have the capacity to worry about that. "After all...it was just night a minute ago, wasn't it?" The sun was high in the sky. At the very least, according to what Subaru had sensed, it should already be night. The night flipped immediately from night to noon. The change was so sudden it reminded Subaru of when he was summoned to this world in the first place. However, that and this were under completely different conditions. "My stomach...isn't cut open, is it?" Subaru lifted up the top of his tracksuit and looked at his stomach. Earlier, it had been cut open with what must have been a large blade, and he had bled so much that he was sure he was going to die. However, not only was the wound not there, there were not even any traces of blood. Actually, Subaru's beloved tracksuit wasn't even dirty. The convenience store bag he held in his hand was also as full as it had ever been, and his cell phone and wallet were where they should be. In every sense of the phrase, he was back to square one. It was enough to make him feel like he was going crazy. Realizing there were gaps in his memory, Subaru tried to think of what happened right before he had lost consciousness. His stomach had been cut open and he was moments from being killed. He thought that he had heard a woman's voice. He had found a corpse in the loot cellar, and the person who probably had killed that man attacked Subaru. In that state of near death... "...That's right! Satella!" Satella, who must have been worried about Subaru and entered the building, had also been cut down by the same weapon that took him out. As soon as Subaru realized that, he felt his innards twisting in pain. The feeling of guilt was even stronger than the feeling of pain he had felt when he himself was attacked. "Wasn't I told to take care of Satella?!" Subaru thought back to Puck's words right before he disappeared. The promise Subaru made with that cat certainly wasn't a joke. Despite the fact that there were at least three times he should have turned back, he had missed every opportunity to do so. Satella had told him as well. If anything happened he was to call her. He didn't even do that. "Am I an idiot? Well, of course I am. I don't even have time to just hang my head depressed like this. I've got to go find Satella and Puck..." Both of them might be dead. When that thought crossed his mind, Subaru shook his head to brush it away. Subaru didn't have any positive qualities, and he couldn't make himself useful at all. He was something like a mob character, or at best the comic relief character, and yet he was still alive. If that were the case, there was no way that good-natured Satella, who could use magic and wasn't honest with herself but was true to her ideals, or that aloof weirdo spirit cat could be dead. At the very least, he didn't want them to be. "At any rate, I've got to go back to the loot cellar..." Since that was the last place he was in before his consciousness was cut off, there must be some kind of hint left there. As soon as he thought of that, Subaru moved to act. This was where his quick decision-making could shine. In the previous world, most of that was used in decisions like "I'm not going to school today," but right now it was important for him to act quickly and cut off all his doubts. However, as soon as Subaru had made his decision and was ready to go... "Hey, kiddo. How about let's have some fun." Subaru unfortunately had his path from the alley cut off by three men. When Subaru looked at who had talked to him, he couldn't help but gape. "Hey, what's with the stupid look on yer face?" "I bet he doesn't realize the mess he's gotten himself into. How 'bout we tell 'im?" said another man in the group mocking Subaru, as they smiled with sinister smiles. After staring at the men for a little longer, Subaru felt as though he was being forced to watch a farce. There were three men. Even if you were trying to be nice, you couldn't call them well put together. Their bad personalities and bad upbringings just seeped out of them. They were classic thugs. With all of this, Subaru was feeling an incredible sense of déjà vu. "Did all of you guys hit your heads on something while I wasn't looking?" These were the same guys who had served as the reason for Subaru and Satella's meeting just hours before. Sure, they were nothing more than mob characters, but it was hard to imagine that three other guys with the exact same faces were doing the exact same thing. "In other words, now that you've found me alone, you want to get revenge...is that it? I understand that you want to kick me when I'm down, but this is really not the time for me to be dealing with you. You guys..." "What the hell are you babbling about? Have you lost your mind or something?" Subaru had wanted to just talk his way out of this, peacefully, but given the way these guys were acting, even Subaru was starting to get ticked off. The only reason that he wanted to solve the issue peacefully in the first place was because he was in a hurry. Normally, Subaru had a pretty short fuse. "Now listen here, kiddo. If you just put down everything you've got and walk away, we'll let you go." "Ah, is that right? Everything I've got. Gotcha. I'm in a hurry, so that's fine with me, really." "But you've got to get down on all fours and act like a dog first! Say, 'Save me, save me, please!' too!" "All right, I've had it with you idiots!" They just had to push it too far, didn't they? Subaru had already lost it. The men weren't prepared for Subaru's sudden change of attitude, and were shaking. Of the three, as they stood dumbfounded, Subaru picked the skinniest of the group to hit first. It was the one who had the knife, the source of Subaru's defeat before. "You're first! Guys like you who don't know the preciousness of life can go to hell!" Subaru landed an uppercut on the man's jaw with all his strength, and then threw a punch into his open abdomen. The man slammed against the wall and was out like a light. Subaru immediately moved to trip the next man beside him. Unable to react, the kick landed and the man fell over. As soon as he was down, Subaru tackled the remaining man. His tackle aimed low, and with the force of it he was able to carry the man and slam him into the wall. After the man lost his breath from the impact of his back against the wall, Subaru landed another kick to finish him. Subaru then turned around to the man he had just tripped and motioned him with his hand. "Now it's one-on-one! Come at me with all you've got!" "Who're you to act all fair and square with that surprise attack?! You little punk!" The man ran at Subaru and grabbed his collar, trying to push him into the wall. "Not good enough!" Subaru yelled, and took hold of both of the man's wrists and pulled them away. Looking at the startled man's face, Subaru's expression twisted into a fiendish smile. "Don't underestimate the free time of a truant! I spent so much time swinging around a sword because I didn't have anything better to do that my grip strength is over seventy kilograms of force! I can bench eighty kilos, too!" The man cried out as Subaru crushed his wrists, and as soon as he had broken his stance, Subaru struck him with his elbow, and the thug cried out. As Subaru spun around behind him and put his arms around his waist he said, "If I accidentally kill you, don't hate me too much for this, but I've always wanted to try doing a suplex on someone without mats!" Subaru lifted the man up part of the way and then threw him backward. Unable to react, the thug's head collided with the wall behind them and he slumped to the ground, unmoving. After making sure the other two men were silent, Subaru walked over to the first man he hit, the one with the knife. Although the man had comparatively taken little damage, you could see that he was sweating. As Subaru came closer he tried to pull out his knife. But as he did, Subaru kicked him relentlessly in the face. He was out. "Hmph! Well that was easy! In this world, evil never triumphs!" said Subaru Natsuki as he struck a pose to celebrate his victory. After checking for sure that none of the men had actually died, Subaru immediately left the alley. "Even with this, it's not like the situation has gotten any better. I've got to hurry to the loot cellar." Subaru noticed as he was leaving that there were onlookers who were wowing and gasping in surprise that he had left the alley unscathed. If you realized I was back there, then you should have gone to the guards! Subaru thought as he held back the urge to lecture them. Right now he couldn't let any minute go to waste. After having enacted his revenge back in the alley, Subaru headed toward the deepest part of the slums, and when he arrived at the entrance to the loot cellar, the sun had already moved far across the sky. "F-finally...finally I've found it. ...It sure took me a long time, damn," said Subaru, wiping the sweat from his brow, and slumping down to rest. He had spent nearly two hours running around before he finally had reached his destination. "I was just here, so I thought I would be able to find it again without getting lost, but..." Probably the biggest problem was that

Subaru couldn't read any of the signs. Additionally, it wasn't as if he could mention the name "loot cellar" outside of the slums, so he had to rely completely on his memory. "Last time we came here I was talking with Satella, and my eyes were on her most of the time, so I guess it's no surprise I don't remember the way very well, damn it," said Subaru as he continued to drip with sweat. However, the greatest sin Subaru had to face was now right in front of him. While he was doing his best to ignore it by talking to himself, his heart wouldn't be fooled. It started to beat louder and louder as his pulse quickened, and Subaru felt his hands grow heavy. His mouth felt dry and his ears were ringing again and again inside his head as though someone was hitting him. The answers that Subaru sought were inside that loot cellar. For an instant, Subaru had a flashback as he closed his eyes: the old man's corpse, his own sliced-open abdomen, and the figure of Satella, whom he had dragged into all of this. "Don't be scared. Don't be scared. Don't be scared. Are you an idiot? ...Well, of course I am, but do you think I'm really going to come all this way and then go back empty-handed?" Of course, it wasn't as though Subaru had any place to return to. Right now, this was the only place that he could cling to. Finding his determination and facing forward, Subaru realized that his knees were shaking as he tried to walk. He slapped his legs to calm himself down and after a deep breath he finally moved forward. In the orange light of the early evening, the rough door to the loot cellar looked as though it was wordlessly rejecting him. "Is there anyone home?" After pushing away these negative feelings, Subaru knocked on the door and raised his voice. The dull sound rang out, but there was no answer. With uncomfortable silence as his only answer, Subaru became frightened by that very silence and knocked harder on the door. "Someone... I know there's someone in there! Come on, answer me! ...Please." Clinging to a fleeting sense of hope, hoping and praying that what was happening right before him was somehow a mistake, he beat harder. Unable to take the force of Subaru's sudden desperation, the door began to creak and its hinges started to bend, and then... "Cut it out already! What are you doing, trying to break the door down just because you don't know the password?!" The door was suddenly opened with a great force, and Subaru, who had been leaning up against it, was thrown back. Subaru was thrown about five meters from the entrance to the cellar, where he rolled a few times and then looked up, completely startled. At the end of Subaru's gaze was a giant, red-faced, bald old man. The man had ragged clothes that covered his muscular body, and the red light of the setting sun shone on his polished bald head. In other words, it was a giant, very energetic-looking old geezer. "Who are you, boy?! I've not seen you around here before! How did you know where to find this place? How did you get here? Who told you?!" With astonishing speed, the old man closed the distance between him and Subaru and lifted Subaru up by the collar. Feeling his feet leave the ground, Subaru very quickly learned his place. Subaru had thought that in most circumstances he could win in a fight, but these were not ordinary circumstances. As he was held up by this six-or seven-foot-tall old man, Subaru lost all desire to resist. "My name is Natsuki Subaru, the ever-busy and never-free wandering vagrant...... For now at least, would you be so kind as to put me down? Let's talk with both our feet on the ground," Subaru added, giving it his all just to squeeze out that indirect request. While his violent first encounter in the place had left a terrible first impression, in the end, Subaru was let in to the loot cellar. Subaru had described the man from whom he'd first gotten information about the loot cellar, and told the giant old man that he was the one who introduced him to the place. In front of the counter that was facing the front door, Subaru sat on a fixed chair meant for visitors and shifted uncomfortably. There were splinters sticking up out of the seat, and they kept poking him in the rear. If he'd had to go to the bathroom, those splinters could have been the trigger to make him pop. "Why do you keep moving about like that? Are you that concerned about where your balls are?" "Of course not. My boys are just fine. But, really? That's the first thing that comes out of your mouth in this situation?" "Giant" was the best way to describe the old man, since he wasn't just tall, and he looked cramped as he bent down behind the counter. When he came back up, he had a bottle of liquor in his hand, and after pouring himself a glass, brought it to his lips. "Well, you interrupted my drinking time. I hope you have a good reason for coming here. If not, that's just terrible." "The sun's just started to set and you're already drinking? You're going to die an early death if you keep that up." With that retort, Subaru, holding his chin up with his hand and elbow on the counter, took a quick look around the inside of the loot cellar. There was not a single trace of the tragedy that Subaru had witnessed the previous evening he had been here. As he looked at all of the various stolen items strewn about the room, he couldn't tell whether they were organized in some way or not. The old man noticed Subaru looking about, and narrowed his eyes in a knowing way. "So, kid, are you interested in some of these goods?" he said, striking right away at the heart of the matter. The giant old man, who had given his name as "Rom," smiled as he poured himself another shot of liquor into his dirty glass. "There are really only two reasons that people come to this place: they're either bringing something in they stole, or they have some business with the stolen items themselves." "...Well, one of those is one of the reasons I'm here." "One of the reasons...huh. So that means you've got some other business being here?" Rom raised one of his eyebrows as Subaru gave a conditional agreement. Subaru nodded, and then, reluctantly, knowing full well that he probably wasn't going to be taken seriously, said, "This may sound a bit odd, but... Old man, have you...uh, died recently?" Subaru decided not to add in the details about the decapitated arm or sliced throat. Old Man Rom opened his gray eyes wide for a few moments before; as if to signal time starting back up again, he broke into a laugh. "Ga-ha-ha-ha! I was wondering what you were going to say! Now I may be an old man with not much time left to live, but too bad, I haven't died yet! I suppose when you get to this age, I don't imagine it being that far off, though." Apparently, Rom took Subaru's question as some kind of edgy joke, and took out another glass for Subaru. "Want a drink?" Subaru refused the alcohol with a hand signal, followed up by a "Sorry, not right now." Subaru had managed to get his first question out, but the others inside him were multiplying. The corpse that Subaru had seen in the loot cellar...there was no question about it. It was definitely the corpse of the old man who was sitting in front of him right now. Sure, it was dark, and it was the first time Subaru had ever seen a corpse, so it wasn't as though he'd been in a perfect state of mind. However, this old man had so many characteristic features about him, Subaru couldn't imagine mistaking him for someone else. But Subaru could turn the question he just asked on himself. He, too, had been inflicted with mortal wounds as well. Subaru started to think that it had somehow been all a dream. He wasn't sure he could trust what was inside his own head. Was all of what happened here really a dream? If it was, then how much of it was a dream, and why am I here in the first place? The burning pain Subaru had felt, the warmth he felt from that girl's touch, the overwhelming pangs of guilt...if they were all just some leftover traces of a dream, then why was he here right now? It would make more sense to say that everything since he'd been summoned to this world in the first place was a dream. "Rom, have you seen a silver-haired girl around here lately?" "Silver hair...? No, I can't say I have. Silver hair's one of those things that stands out in a bad way, too, so even if my memory's starting to fail me, I don't think I would have forgotten if I saw someone like that," said Rom, following up with a laugh. But that didn't make Subaru feel any better. Rom must have noticed the seriousness in Subaru's expression, because he wiped his own smile away and said, "Drink," putting a glass in front of Subaru again. Rom tilted the glass and filled it up full with an amber-colored liquid. Seeing that Subaru did nothing but stare silently at the glass, once more he said, "Drink." "I'm sorry, but I don't feel up to it right now. Plus, I'm not so much a little kid that I want to drink to act like I'm cool." "What are you talking about? Drinking and acting up is exactly what kids like you are supposed to do! So go ahead and take a big gulp and burn up your insides. When you do that you'll be able to cough up a bunch of things you've got stuck inside because they won't be able to take the heat. So drink!" said Rom a third time, pushing the glass on Subaru. Overpowered by his attitude, Subaru took the glass in his hand and brought the amber liquid to his nose. A strong smell of alcohol struck the inside of his nose and Subaru's face twisted as he almost started coughing. However, despite all of Subaru's resistance, there was a part of him that wanted to do as Rom said. Subaru had thought that drowning one's troubles in alcohol was the mark of a lame adult, but... "All right...here goes!" Subaru tilted the glass and drank all of it in one gulp. Immediately his esophagus began to scream as it was burned. Subaru slammed his glass on the counter. "Argh! Gah! That's terrible! It's hot! It's so bad! Ugh! Disgusting!" "You don't have to say it that many times! Come on! You're going to lose out on half of the fun in life if you can't understand how good liquor tastes!" As Subaru spewed out comments along with the heat from the liquor, Rom yelled at him and drank again. This time he took the whole bottle up and gulped from it. After drinking about three times as much as Subaru just had, Rom gave a mighty burp and smiled. "But still, you should be proud of yourself! That was good form there! So how about it? Do you feel like letting any of that stuff inside you out now?" "...Yeah! Just a little! Old man, it's time for me to take care of that one other reason I'm here!" Turning the old man's smile back with a wicked smile of his own, Subaru wiped his mouth

with his sleeve and pointed into the back of the cellar, where it looked like most of the stolen articles of value were concentrated. Rom's face took on an air of seriousness, and Subaru told him directly. "I'm looking for a badge that's got a jewel embedded in it, and I want you to let me have it." This was Subaru's original goal. Other than confirming Satella's safety, it was the main reason he was here: to retrieve the thing so important to Satella that she would face danger just to get it back. Even while Subaru still felt insecure about the state of Satella's well-being, he thought that if he could at least get a handle on the state of the badge, he would have a clue toward finding her. After Subaru had stated his goal with all of his emotions thrown behind his words, Rom made a difficult expression on his face before replying. "A badge with a jewel... I'm sorry, but no one's brought in anything like that." "...Really? Think long and hard about it you sure you're not going senile yet?" "If I can't remember when I'm at my best with liquor running through me, then I really have to say I don't know. However..." Just as the last thread of Subaru's hope was about to be cut, Rom gave him a sly grin. "Someone's made plans with me to bring something in later today. I'm told it's something valuable, too, so it might just be the thing you're looking for." "Is the person bringing it in, by chance...a girl named Felt?" "That's exactly the case, but...what? You actually know the name of the thief who took it?" Subaru couldn't help but strike a victory pose. Just as he'd thought he had lost all of his leads, things had connected once again. Felt's name had just come up. Felt, the name of the girl who had supposedly taken Satella's badge. If that were the case, Felt's existence would prove Satella's existence. At the very least, Subaru would be able to be sure that Satella wasn't some figment of his imagination. "I was just about to think that my love of silver-haired heroines had made me delusional..." "I'm sorry to interrupt your strange sense of relief there, but you don't have any guarantee that you'll be able to buy back the item, even if she brings it here. If it's got a jewel embedded in it, it's going to fetch a high price." "Ha! You can look around at me all you want, but I'm sorry. I've got nothing! I am eternally and peerlessly penniless!" "Then you're out of luck!" Rom yelled back, taken by surprise. But just as he did that, Subaru lifted up a finger in front of his face and waved it back and forth. "Tsk-tsk-tsk. It's true, I may not have any money. However! In this world, you do not necessarily need money to obtain things. There's this wonderful system called 'barter' haven't you heard?" Rom didn't argue back, he just nodded in silence, egging Subaru on. Subaru dug around in his pants pocket, and in his hand when he took it out was... "...What's that? It's the first time I've ever seen anything like it." "This object that I now raise up is fantastic magical item that can be used to freeze any object in time! It is called a 'cell phone'!" It was a compact-size, white-colored, thin-model cell phone. As Rom looked on amazed at this mysterious item he had never seen before, Subaru quickly moved his fingers and a moment later a white light flashed in the darkness inside the building. As a loud shutter sound rang out along with the flash, Rom fell back behind the counter. It was such an exaggerated reaction that Subaru couldn't help but laugh, but Rom was obviously mad. "What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me?! Don't think you can fool me with your funny moves!" "Wait, wait, calm down. Take a deep breath, relax, and come over here and take a look." Rom was still red in the face, and it wasn't because he had been drinking, but nevertheless Subaru held out his cell phone in front of him. After a doubtful look at Subaru, his eyes opened wide as he looked at what was in front of him. "This is...this is my face. How did you do that?" "I told you, didn't I? This is a fantastic item that cuts out a piece of time and freezes it. Using this item, I cut out a bit of your time, just before now, and sealed it within this device." Then, Subaru changed the direction of the camera and pointed it at himself, and took another picture. When he showed the screen to Rom again, it showed Subaru making a peace sign. "It cuts out little pieces of time, just like that. So how about it? Pretty rare, huh?" "I can't get terribly excited about that lame pose of yours, but this really is...hmm..." After insulting Subaru's pose, Rom looked very intensely at the cell phone. Subaru made a fist and squeezed it, emboldened by the fact that Rom seemed more interested than he expected. "This is my first time seeing one of these, but...basically, this is a mitia, isn't it?" "A mitia?" Subaru was about to say, "It's just a flip phone," but caught himself. Rom nodded again. "It's what you call things you can use to do magic without opening up a gate, like magic users do. That said, they're mostly used as gifts rather than tools..." So magic items were called "mitia." Subaru nodded, thinking the word fit pretty well. Rom, who had continued to look closely at the cell phone, finally put it back on the counter. "I'm not sure I can put a definite price on this. I've worked here in the loot cellar for a very long time, but this is my first time handling any mitia. ...I can say, though, that it certainly would sell at a high price." It seemed that rare items commanded attention in any business, even for those working the black market. Rom's voice had quickened in excitement, and he rubbed the tip of his chin as he looked down at Subaru. "To be honest, even if it has a jewel embedded it in, exchanging something like this for a purely decorative item really puts you at a loss. You'd be better off trading it for something more expensive... Well, really, you can't compare it to any of this stolen junk I have here." For someone involved in illegal activities, it was strange for Rom to give him such a kind warning, and Subaru responded with a weak smile. To anyone else, what Subaru was trying to do must seem stupid. "No, it's all right. I'll exchange this mitia for the badge that Felt brings in." "Why would you go so far to do that? Is that badge really worth more than this mitia? Or are you saying that it's worth more than money can buy?" asked Rom, unable to come to terms with Subaru's decision. Honestly, if Subaru was in the same position as Rom, he thought he might have said the same thing. "Well... Actually, I haven't seen the badge myself yet, but I don't think that it could be worth more in money than this cell phone, and I'm sure I'm going to be taking a loss." "If you understand all of that, why do you want to go through with it?" "Isn't it obvious? I want to take a loss." Rom blinked a few times at Subaru, but at the same time Subaru felt a sense of exhilaration, because this...this was his answer. "I want to pay someone back. I'm someone who always feels like they have to return a favor. I'm one of those modern kids who can't handle the feeling of being indebted to someone. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. So, even if I have to take a big loss, I'm going to take back that badge." "Hmm... So, it sounds like this badge isn't actually yours... Is that right?" "It belongs to a beautiful silver-haired girl who saved my life. I don't understand why, but it's very precious to her." "But what about that person who saved you? Why isn't she here?" "I'm currently looking for her! Actually, right now I'm not even sure she's not a figment of my imagination that I created because I was feeling down!" Subaru gripped his fist and laughed off his previous anxiety by putting it into words. Subaru was going to get this badge back, and then once again meet that girl. He wanted to see her smile. "You're quite the idiot, aren't you?" laughed Rom as he looked on at Subaru and his determination. After having gotten through the first round of negotiations, Subaru spent the next while chatting with Old Man Rom. Given how interested Rom seemed to be in the mitia, Subaru mused to himself that gadgets were something men were fond of, no matter what world you were in. "Whether it be your clothes or this, you've really got a lot of strange stuff on you, don't you? I mean, these things here are delicious!" "I know, right? Hey, wait! I thought you said a bite! Those are my corn chips! That's the last food I had on me!" "Oh don't be so stingy. If you keep something as tasty as this all to yourself, you're gonna fall straight to hell, I tell ya." "Oh and you won't, for eating all them yourself?! Blaming others while you're doing the same yourself is a really bad habit of you baby boomers... I said, stop eating those!" Subaru thought he was just being kind by sharing some of his snacks, but after seeing them all get eaten like this, he sure did regret it. As he put his empty snack bags back in his convenience store bag, he was close to tears. By the time they both heard a knock on the door, it was already quite close to sunset. It was just as Subaru was starting to doze off, and when he looked up, he saw Rom move his giant body lightly toward the door. After quietly putting one ear against it, Rom whispered. "To the giant rats...?" "We give poison." "To the great white whale...?" "We lend a fishing hook." "To our most honorable great dragon...?" "We say, 'Burn in hell!'" To each of Rom's short questions came a curt answer. Along with the special knock, those had to be passwords. Satisfied with the answers, Rom unlocked the door. "Sorry I took so long, Old Man Rom. I had someone really persistent on my tail, and it took me a long time to lose 'em." With a friendly tone in her voice, a young girl slipped past Rom, bragging of her exploits. The girl's blond hair was semi-long, and her eyes were red like a rabbit's. From the side of her mouth peeked a mischievous canine tooth. The clothes she was wearing looked easy to move in, but they were in tatters. Subaru stood up without thinking, causing a clatter. The girl immediately looked his way and wiped the smile from her face. "Who's this? Hey, Rom. I told you I was going to bring something big, so I didn't want anyone to be here, didn't I?" "I understand how you feel, but that uh...kiddo there has some business with you, Felt, and it's not completely unrelated to that 'big thing' you said you were bringing in." Rom's answer only made Felt more suspicious. By the way she was unconsciously drawing her hand close to her chest, it appeared that that's where she was holding the badge. Felt continued to be on her guard as she looked at Subaru. "What's with that guy? You didn't sell me out, did you, Rom?"

"Just how long do you think we've been working together? I'd never do anything like that. The only reason he's here is because I think that he's got an offer for you that ain't too bad." Rom winked at Subaru, "Right?" While feeling disgusted at being winked at by an old man, Subaru cleared his throat to help dispel his nervousness and, ignoring Rom's continued gaze, turned to face Felt. "You don't have to be so nervous. Why don't you just sit down and have a glass of milk first?" "Stop it with that stupid face of yours. I can tell you don't know what you're doing... Look, I don't know what you're scheming, but I'm not interested in anything you have to say, unless I'm sure it means more money for me. So go ahead and get straight to the point." Felt's reaction was cold. Subaru's shoulders fell at how bad his first impression went by, but... "I begged this old man here to give me some time to talk to you, but...my business is actually with that jeweled badge you have hidden away in your pocket there." The girl raised her eyebrows along with the level of her caution. Subaru knew not only about her theft, but exactly what she stole. But Subaru raised both of his hands in front of her, trying to calm her down. "I'm not planning on doing anything. I've only come here to talk. That is, to negotiate." Subaru then, with his two hands still in the air, pointed down at a small table near the counter. "Let's aim for a result where both of us come out on top. In other words, a win-win situation." After a short pause, Felt nodded, and both sat down on either side of the small table. Rom then poured two glasses of milk and set both in front of them. "I'll give you the place and this milk, but you're on your own when it comes to negotiating." "Don't worry, I've come here prepared to have everything taken from me. Just watch me as I lose it all," said Subaru, punching his fist into his other hand as if he was bragging, about to enter a fight, though saying nothing to be proud of. Rom snorted, but Felt, who had already begun to drink her milk, twisted her face. "Hey, Rom. You haven't watered this milk down, have you? It tastes terrible!" "Why does everybody have to insult the drinks?! I'm showing you some kindness here...!" said Rom before taking his giant hand and rustling Felt's hair. Subaru thought it looked as though Rom was going to tear Felt's head off, but it was clear from Rom's face that he meant no harm and was just patting her head like any old man would his grandchild. Plus, Felt looked used to it. "You two look closer than I thought you would be. I'm getting lonely over here all by myself." "Don't say something wimpy like that when you've got a face that looks just as awful as this old man's." "I've had my face insulted before, but really? As bad as this guy?! Come on!" yelled Subaru, shocked as he looked back up at Rom's bald head and was stricken with horror. While Subaru didn't have the most handsome features and was often mistaken for some kind of thug, he didn't think they were so bad as to be compared with this six-foot-tall giant of an old man. "...You're right. Sorry about that, I went too far," replied Felt. "Here's where I'd want to say that, to make it up to me, I'd like you to call me 'big brother' in a cute voice for the rest of the discussion, but I'll go ahead and forgive you for now. You've got to be careful so you don't say anything too hurtful, or... Rom, what's wrong?" "I'm really beginning to think you two have teamed up together just to come in here and make me angry..." Rom was smiling, but a vein was popping out of his forehead. Subaru and Felt looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Rom let out a deep sigh. "Just when I thought Felt had made a new acquaintance around her age, you turn out to be just as twisted as the others." "...Rom, please. I know you think you're helping, but I'm going to ask you to stop saying such embarrassing things," said Felt. "Plus, 'around her age'...? Although I suppose from your perspective everyone else looks like they're in the same age group." Subaru took another look at Felt, but even taking into account the fact that she was probably thinner than she should have been, she looked about twelve or thirteen. If you wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and stretch your imagination, she might have been able to pass for fourteen years old. It was enough of an age difference for Subaru to feel embarrassed if Felt were referred to as his acquaintance or friend. But Subaru's analysis aside, Felt and Rom's argument continued on without him. "What do you think is going to happen to you if you keep up this 'lone wolf' attitude of yours? Sooner or later, I'm going to get too old to be able to take care of you anymore. Do you really think you can make it on your own?" "Just how many times have you told me this already? Isn't it a mark of senility to say the same thing over and over again? But other than that, it'll be a long time before you're too old for anything, and before that happens I'll..." "...You'll do what?" Subaru said, jumping in, as Felt's sentence trailed off. Felt suddenly looked up, irritated. Given that he seemed to have asked a question he shouldn't have and was in danger of wrecking the mood, Subaru cleared his throat. They had gotten very sidetracked, and it was time to return to the main point. "Anyway, let's go ahead and start our negotiations. So, uh...Felt. You've got that badge, right?" "...Yeah, I do." Subaru cut straight to the point, and in response, Felt answered honestly. Reaching into her breast pocket, Felt took out something and set it silently on the table. It was the badge that Subaru had been looking for. What first stood out to Subaru was a design on it that was in the shape of a dragon. The badge itself was about the size where it would fit easily in the palm of your hand. While Subaru couldn't exactly tell what material it was made out of, the design of the winged dragon was intricate, and in the dragon's open mouth was a red jewel that made it look very unique. Subconsciously, Subaru was drawn to the sparkle of the jewel in the badge's center. "So..." Felt's voice caught Subaru's attention and brought him back to where he was. She then slid the badge over to the edge of the table, as if to remind him that it still wasn't his yet. "Now it's your turn to show me what you've got. As you can see, this is no ordinary badge, and I went through a lot of trouble to get it. If you can show me something that will match both the badge and my efforts, we can both be happy, right?" "While I see you're trying to test me with that evil-looking smile of yours, I'm sorry. I've only got one card to play. After all, you would have to look far and wide to find one as destitute as me!" Subaru proudly threw out his chest, but Felt didn't look all that happy. The moment I say "poor," everyone makes that face at me, don't they? thought Subaru. But Subaru's feelings aside, he went ahead and played his only card. Subaru slapped his cell phone on the table, and just as he thought, Felt looked confused. However, that reaction was just the kind he was looking for. Subaru started up the cell phone's camera and... "Take this! Nine-frames-per-second continuous shooting!" "Wah! Wha ?! What are you ?! Hey, what's with that noise, and why is it so bright?!" A white light flashed and a mechanical-like shutter sound went off several times at a rapid pace. Felt seemed like she had something to say about Subaru's terrible breach of manners, but before she could open her mouth, Subaru held the cell phone's screen in front of her face. Upon seeing her own self on the screen, she opened her eyes wide and said, "That's..." "That's right! I made a copy of you! This mitia cuts out a slice of someone's time and stores it away! I want to trade you this mitia for that badge you've got." Having played his best card right away, Subaru was able to push the negotiations in his favor. It was an established negotiation tactic, and depending on the situation, could be used to force a conclusion to be made right away. Of course, this also meant telling the person you're negotiating with that you had no stronger cards to play, and Subaru had said that already in the first place, but it seemed to work. "I see. That's pretty amazing. Rom, how much do you think this mitia would go for?" Felt looked at the screen and nodded a few times, but Subaru thought that her reaction was incredibly indifferent. Her eyes didn't light up and she didn't even take the cell phone in her hands to look more closely. She wasn't interested in the cell phone's uses or its rarity, but only how much money she could turn it into. "So this fascination with high-tech stuff is only limited to men in this world, too?! Somehow that makes me feel really sad and lonely!" "Oh, shut up. What's there to make a big deal about? If this so-called mitia can sell for more than this badge, then I couldn't be happier. For that, I trust Rom to give me a proper appraisal." "Well, I can't say exactly how much I think it would go for. To be honest, I don't think the two objects can be compared. I think that badge could go for a lot of money...but not as much as this mitia. In other words, I think you have a lot to gain by making this trade, Felt. That's what I think." "I see, I see. If that's the case, then why not?" Felt seemed pleased when the trade got Rom's seal of approval. While Felt's reaction was a little bit different from what Subaru had expected, it appeared the trade was going to happen as planned, and Subaru couldn't be any happier about that. However, as soon as he reached across the table toward the badge, Felt interrupted him. "Wait. Our cards have been played, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to sweeten the deal." "...I'm not sure how I feel about you saying that so plain and clear, but no matter what you say or do, I don't have anything else. Like I said before, I am peerlessly and infinitely broke." "I'm not that cruel, and after all, Rom said so himself. Your mitia is worth more than this badge. However, I doubt that you don't have any more cards to play." Felt stood up and looked down at Subaru. Her red eyes were lit up, and he could see that she was sizing him up. A cold sweat ran down Subaru's back. Subaru had already played the strongest card he could in their negotiations so far. However, Subaru still had a few other things on him that he thought might be valuable in this world. At the very worst, he thought he might be able to play a few more cards, but... "I said not to worry, didn't I? I don't plan on trying to take any more from you. I'll be happy enough

if I know I can just turn this thing here into money." Felt lightly clapped her hands together and smiled, appearing pleased at the look of anxiety on Subaru's face. Subaru gulped upon seeing Felt's reaction and, taking a few deep breaths, looked away in hopes that he could hide just how shaken he felt. "So then, if that's the case, what do you mean when you say you still want to 'sweeten the deal'?" "Hmm? Oh, that? It's simple. It just means that you're not the only person I'm negotiating with." Subaru looked confused, but Felt stuck out her pointer finger and explained. "The reason I stole the badge in the first place is because someone asked me to...in exchange for ten blessed gold coins." "So you've already got a price settled with the person you stole it for?! Ten gold coins, huh... I don't really understand how much that is, but..." Subaru glanced at Rom, who took the hint and nodded back. "If it were me, I might be able to sell this badge for four, at best five gold coins. There's also the possibility that I would get talked down to three." "So that means that they're already paying twice its worth?" "Didn't you hear her? She said blessed gold coins. They're made of blessed gold, which is much rarer, so ten blessed gold coins is closer to twenty gold coins in worth." "So they're paying four times as much?!" "Why are you acting so surprised? With that mitia of yours, even in the worst case you could easily get twenty blessed gold coins. Besides, there are probably collectors out there who would pay even more. You can't even compare the two." Subaru really didn't understand the general cost of goods in this world, but he had thought that gold coins were the most valuable currency. The thought that his cell phone's worth was measured in a currency even greater than that, and not just one or two but twenty coins, was enough to take him by surprise. "If this mitia really does fetch a higher price, then I have no intention of honoring a prior agreement with someone else, and I don't have a problem telling them that." "Then why are you saying you'll 'sweeten the deal'?!" Felt's mischievous grin twisted into an even more villainous smile. "If I tell them you've made such a ridiculous counteroffer, if they still want the badge, don't you think they'll try to offer me something more?" "In other words... Is that what you're saying? If the other side turns around and offers more than twenty blessed golden coins...then if you don't show me all the rest of your cards, you won't have a chance." Felt's villainous smile had become so villainous it had reached a breaking point and become more like something refreshingly triumphant as she said those last words. On the other hand, with this ominous turn of events, Subaru's expression started to cloud over. "So when are you planning on meeting with this person who commissioned you to steal the badge? I assume you'll let me sit in on the negotiations, right?" "Of course, if I put you at too much of a disadvantage, I might end up losing some of the money there is to be made. But don't worry about the location, we're meeting here," Felt said, tapping the edge of the table with her finger, before leaning against the back of her chair and looking up at Rom. "As long as Old Man Rom's around, most people will forget about using violence as an option. Just the thought of having to fight this scary old man sends shivers down your spine, don't you think?" Felt looked to Subaru for agreement, and after one quick glance at Rom, Subaru nodded several times. On the other hand, Rom didn't seem too bothered about their having that kind of opinion of him. "You really can't do anything without me, can you, Felt? I worry about you. Would you like another glass of milk? I also have some other things that are a little sweeter." Rom had started to look like the grandfather who spoils his granddaughter like she was a cute kitten. Rom looked thrilled as he poured another glass of milk for Felt. Subaru looked at the two of them, and let out an exasperated sigh. "Really, if you had already called that person here in the first place, were you planning on trying to negotiate the price with them even if I didn't show up?" "Of course I was! Just how much do you think I had to go through to steal this thing? What if poor little me had to meet with them all on my own and got talked down on the reward? Wouldn't that be sad?" "'Poor little me,' huh..." Felt was small and thin and though from that outward appearance one might be tempted to describe her as such, given how strong and stubborn a personality she had Subaru had a problem thinking of her as helpless. Thinking back to when Felt had run away after having stolen the badge, she had left Subaru for dead as he was being assaulted by those thugs. Remembering that episode left Subaru a bit angry, so he couldn't help but bring it up. "Speaking of which, don't you remember me at all?" "Huh? Did we meet somewhere before? I mean, unless it was some really sort of shocking encounter, I don't think I'd remember you. I'm quite busy, and to be honest you look pretty plain. Only your hair and clothes stand out." Felt cackled. As far as he could tell from the way she said it, Subaru didn't think that Felt was lying. There was also the fact that he had just had the plainness of his overall appearance insulted, so it was enough to put him into a minor state of shock. It was starting to seem like there really was no such thing as common human decency in this world. Not if anyone could so easily forget passing by the scene of an attempted murder and robbery. But then again, there were people like Satella, who had saved Subaru even though there was nothing in it for her, and this old man who, despite being a bit of a villain, you just couldn't bring yourself to hate. Even in this different world it wasn't as though everyone was the same. It wouldn't be right just to judge everyone based on the actions of a few bad eggs. "Anyway, that's enough about your terrible memory, Felt. When is that other person supposed to be coming?" "I'm not sure I like your attitude... But I said I'd finish the job by sunset, so we agreed to meet here after sunset... Since the sun's already set they should be here any minute now I think?" That conversation might have triggered an event flag, because just then came a sharp knock on the door. All three people at the table looked at one another. "Did you tell 'em about the special knock?" "Ah... No, I didn't. It's probably for me, so I'll go check." Felt stuck her tongue out at Rom and she leapt from her chair and went over to the door. The way she acted, you'd think she owned the place. "You really okay with letting her get away with that?" Subaru said as he turned to Rom. "Well, it's not like I just met her. We've known each other for a long time... I suppose I can let her depend on me every now and then." Subaru thought Rom actually looked very happy to be depended on, as the old man went into the back of the cellar and returned with a large club. The club was about the length of a bamboo kendo sword, and it seemed to be made of wood. At the tip and sticking out in various places were sharp points, and it looked like a clean hit would easily leave a fatal wound. The closest thing to compare it to would be a bat with nails in it, but even in this world it looks like clubs are pretty standard equipment... Wielding a club like that seemed to suit the six-foot-tall, musclebound old man. Subaru thought that if his clothes were a bit more torn and he was wearing a loincloth it would be an even more perfect fit. "Upon seeing your uncivilized figure in all its glory, even I can't help myself but wince and smile at the same time." "You sure like to run your mouth, don't you? Just who do you think you have to thank for getting this far? Woe is me," Rom added, shaking his head. Subaru looked back at Rom for a few moments. "Well, to be honest, I've very thankful for your help. It's not like everything's over yet, but I'm almost there, and the only reason things have been going so well for me is because of your help, so...thanks." "...If you suddenly start being honest with me like that, I'm not going to know what to do," said Rom in response to Subaru's thanks, scratching at his bald head before letting out a deep sigh. "You have more to thank yourself for in finding this place and making use of what you had on ya. I haven't done anything deserving of your thanks." "You know that's not true. After all, Rom, you knew that Felt was planning on discussing the price of what she stole here with someone, right? Then, as soon as you heard what I had to say, you had all the reason to just throw me out." *** "You're the one who gave me a chance to even talk to Felt. Of course, it was my efforts my efforts! that took it from there!" It was important so Subaru had to say it twice. As Subaru proudly pointed his thumb at himself, Rom's expression grew complicated and he was silent. Thinking that Rom had finally grown tired of his antics, Subaru started to regret his eagerness to praise himself. "I wouldn't call the way I feel about it 'thanks,' but...if either of us is to thank the other, it should be me, rather than you," muttered Rom, softly, just as Subaru's feeling of regret was starting to show on his face. The old man's wrinkles deepened as he put on a smile. "There's the fact that you have a mitia and then there's your clothes and the look about you... You come from a pretty well-off family, don't you?" "Well, I wouldn't exactly say that..." "You don't have to hide it. I bet that you can't make public the fact that Felt stole that badge. If for nothing else, I'm very grateful of the fact that you're trying to settle this in a peaceful way." It seemed that Rom had formed his own conclusions about Subaru's mysterious background, and that inside his head, Subaru was something of a very thoughtful gentleman. "Felt and I...we've been together about as long as she can remember, since when she was a little girl," Rom said. "I remember you saying something like that a little while ago...Have you two been here that whole time?" Subaru nodded his head in the direction of the surrounding slum area. Rom nodded. "In a place like this, everyone's just struggling to survive. In that kind of environment, the young ones tend to gangs from others like them, but...Felt really isn't suited to that." "If the way she's been acting is the way she acts to everyone, I'm not that surprised." Felt's attitude so far seemed resolute and bold, but while that sounded good, there was no question that all of that resolution was geared toward her own ends. If you act like that, Subaru thought, anybody who wants a mutually beneficial relationship with you isn't going to be too thrilled. "But isn't there also a problem

in how she approaches you, Rom? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I think that part of the reason her selfishness has gotten so bad is because you're always there for her." "...I don't have anything I can say to that. After all, it's true that I tend to spoil her," Rom said softly as he ran his hand over his bald head. The way the old man looked when he said that made it clear to Subaru that Rom felt as though Felt was family to him. They probably weren't related by blood, but at least from Rom's side, there was a clear bond between them. "Well, I hope it's not a one-sided sort of thing," Subaru muttered, without being clear on who the subject was. But Rom must have heard, because he whispered, "I don't mind, even if that's the way it is. ...Actually, it'd be best if it were that way." But just then it looked as though their time was up. "What are you two doing, muttering to yourselves? It's creepy, so cut it out," said Felt, annoyed, as she returned. Behind Felt, who was doing a terrible job of putting on a fake smile, was one other person. "I was right, it was for me. We're over here, would you care to take a seat?" Felt motioned, pushing Subaru aside, and turned back to the person behind her while attempting to be courteous. When Subaru looked up, preparing himself to face the next person he was going to have to negotiate between, he was a little bit surprised. Felt had invited in an incredibly beautiful woman. She was very tall for a woman, about the same height as Subaru, and she looked as though she were in her early twenties. The beautiful woman had eyes that angled down toward their edges and she had a certain calmness about her. One thing that stood out about her in the darkness of the loot cellar was the almost sickly whiteness of her skin. She was wearing a black coat, but the front was open and you could see that her clothes underneath were also black and were tightly fit against her skin. While she was fairly thin, she definitely had curves where they should be, and a very nice body overall. Like Subaru, the woman also had black hair, which seemed to be very rare in this world. Her hair was tied in a braid that reached all the way to her hips, the tip of which she was twirling around in her fingers. In short, she was a bewitchingly beautiful older woman. For Subaru, who had no real experience being around women even in his own world, seeing a woman like this was so new to him that he could not help but feel extremely nervous. Having already lost his cool, Subaru followed Felt's directions and gave up his chair without any complaint. Felt took that seat, and Rom took the seat to the left of her. Subaru just stood to Felt's right, unable to hide his nervousness. With so many people awaiting her arrival, the woman didn't seem upset, but she did look puzzled. "I get the feeling that there are a lot of unrelated people here." "I can't just let myself be in a position to be talked down on price, you know? It's the wisdom of the weak. Anyway, Subaru, go fetch us some drinks." Felt motioned to Subaru with her hand, like she was ordering a servant around, but Subaru couldn't bring himself to talk back, and so went behind the counter and picked out some relatively clean glasses, filled them with milk, and came back to the table to set them down. The woman said, "Thank you," to Subaru before looking him up and down. "I understand that old man being here, but who is this?" The woman must have been able to tell by Subaru's demeanor that he was not very used to the place. Rather than being wary of him, she had posed a simple question. In response, Felt smiled her evil smile. "This guy here is your rival. He's come to negotiate as well," she declared, and her process of "sweetening the deal" began. "I see. I understand what's going on now," said the woman before taking a sip from her glass and licking off the milk left on her lips. The woman, who went by the name Elsa, gave off an air of eroticism in every move she made. While Felt was explaining the current situation to Elsa, she turned her glance several times toward Subaru, which made him so flustered he could hardly handle it. "That's the way it is, so now we'll start the bidding. I don't really care who walks away with this badge, so it'll go to the one who can offer me the best deal." "That's a nice attitude you have there. I can't say I dislike it. ...So, how much did that boy over there say he would pay for it?" Elsa originally said that she would pay ten blessed gold coins. If Subaru was going to compete with her offer, she must have thought that he had offered more money. Thinking that it would be better to not take a "wait and see" approach, he took out his cell phone for the third time and demonstrated its use. A flash lit up the inside of the cellar and Elsa's image was captured by the device. Elsa raised her eyebrows in response to Subaru's sudden actions, but Subaru immediately showed her the screen. "What I have to offer is this mitia. It's a rare item, and it's probably the only one in the entire world. According to this muscular man, it should sell for over twenty blessed gold coins." "A mitia..." Elsa said, staring at herself on the screen and slowly nodding. With this, Elsa should have realized that Subaru was looking to barter for the badge, not pay outright, and that his offer was not a bluff. Elsa took a small leather bag out of her pocket and placed it on the table. In the bag was probably the payment she had prepared for the badge Subaru could hear the sound of heavy metal objects clanging together as she set it down. Felt fixed on the bag with her eyes like a curious cat, as Rom wordlessly reprimanded her. Elsa placed her white fingers on top of the bag she had placed on the table. "The truth is, I was given a little extra by my employer, in case you happened to have second thoughts about the price, so I do have a little more to offer." "Your employer...? So you're just following someone's directions to pick up the badge?" asked Subaru. "That's correct. The one who wants the badge is not me, but my employer. ...Are you by chance involved in the same sort of work as I am?" "If that were the case, then that would mean you'd have to be unemployed!" "So, this unemployed kid over here is saying he'll pay a much higher price than you offered. Just how much is your master willing to pay?" asked Felt, challenging Elsa. Elsa silently opened the mouth of the bag, and turned it over. What came tumbling out were several shining blessed gold coins. Felt's eyes sparkled as she saw the coins layer on top of one another, and even Rom made a sound in his throat. Subaru was more concerned with the number than the coins themselves. If he counted correctly... "Twenty coins, exactly," said Elsa. "This is all that my employer has given to me. This is what they decided would be enough to pay for the badge, but...am I correct in thinking their estimates may have been a little off?" asked Elsa, directing her question at Rom, rather than Felt. After counting the coins, Rom gazed down at a nervous-looking Subaru, and then smiled. "There's no reason for you to act like such a baby. You should be embarrassed. Aren't you a man? ...It's true that twenty blessed gold coins is an outrageous amount. However, I remember saying that in the worst case, your mitia should sell for twenty gold coins. In other words, it's worth more than that." Rom took his giant callused hand and roughly patted Subaru on the head. "The way I see it, the negotiations lean in favor of the kid. No offense to your employer, but it looks like you're going to have to bring them their money back," Rom said, shoving the coins back toward Elsa. Subaru let out a cry of excitement. Felt threw her hands up in the air to signal that she didn't have a problem with the decision, and Elsa shrugged but did not look all that displeased herself. Subaru followed up with a triumphant pose, but that exaggerated action just made him stand out from the crowd. "W-what? I'm happy, all right? Let me be! This is the first time I've actually accomplished something here! What's wrong with a little celebration?!" said Subaru, embarrassed. "I didn't say anything. If you want to celebrate, then celebrate. As long as I get my money, I'm happy," said Felt. "My employer doesn't actually need that badge, so I don't have any reason to beg you to reconsider," added Elsa. Both Felt and Elsa seemed uninterested in Subaru's antics. However, while Subaru wasn't so mean-spirited that he was hoping for Elsa to beg and plead, he found it strange how disinterested she seemed, despite the negotiations not going her way. "Well, I'm sorry, Elsa. I imagine your employer's going to be angry at you." "There's no helping it. It would be different if I failed because I was the one who made a mistake, but in this case, it's my employer's fault for thinking that they would be able to get away with paying so little for the badge." "But when you plan for as much as twenty blessed gold coins and that turns out to be not enough, that's got to be tough," remarked Rom. "Well, I guess it just means that my luck is in full swing! Does this mean that my era of greatness has finally come?" Felt laughed, oblivious to the mood, in contrast to the two males who were showing sympathy for Elsa. Either way, Subaru had managed to complete one of the goals he had in coming here. Without having to fall back on a plan B, it looked as though there was a glimmer of hope that he would be able to pay Satella back. Normally, it would be best to report to Satella that Felt and Elsa were the ones responsible for the theft, but Subaru didn't have it in him to do anything that might result in either of them getting locked up. It had been simple opportunism. "Well, as the negotiations did not go in my favor, I think I'll take my leave now." Elsa stood up and gulped down the last of her milk. Again, she used her tongue in an erotic way to lick up the last few drops of milk, before looking at Subaru. As she stared at him, it felt as though her eyes were binding him in place. "By the way, what is it that you were planning on doing with that badge?" Elsa asked in a somewhat deep, frozen sort of voice. The sweet ring of her voice threatened Subaru's eardrums and made him feel, by some delusion, as though he couldn't lie. "...Oh, I was planning on returning it to its owner." As soon as he said it he knew he had made a terrible mistake. He had just declared, in front of both the girl who had stolen it and the woman who had ordered the theft, that he was going to return the stolen item to its owner. "I see. So you're with them." Subaru's words were

enough to set Elsa's cold murderous intent into motion. "Wha ?!" Subaru felt a sudden impact from his side. The impact was enough to force him to the side, and unable to catch himself, he tumbled to the ground. From Subaru's perspective there was first pain and shock, his vision spinning as he hit the ground. When he looked up he saw that Felt was clinging to his side. "What do you " "Are you an idiot? Pay attention and get out of the way! You want to die?!" Felt yelled. " think you are doing?!" The last part of Subaru's shout was drowned out by Felt's. Subaru was in shock. From his low vantage point he saw Elsa facing toward him. "Oh, it looks like you managed to dodge that one," she said, her head tilted in surprise. Elsa held in her hand a weapon that glimmered with a dull light. The weapon was, according to Subaru's knowledge, a kukri blade, and it clashed with the rest of Elsa's image. It was easily a foot long, with the body of the blade bent inward as it extended from the handle. Due to the weight of the tip it was a weapon that was often used similarly to an ax to decapitate enemies or prey, and just by looking at it, it was not hard to imagine the weapon's vicious brutality. Despite wielding the blade, Elsa's serene smile was unchanged. From her stance, it was clear that she had already swung the weapon once. Which meant the only reason Subaru was safe was that Felt had leapt up and tackled him out of the path of the weapon. Fear, late in coming, made Subaru's hands and feet shake, and he felt nauseated. However, the situation wasn't going to stop just for him. "Rrrragh!" Old Man Rom let out a roar as he rushed toward Elsa, swinging the club that had never left his grasp since the negotiations had begun. The spiked part of the club came barreling down toward her head. Despite the club weighing at least twenty pounds, Rom swung it as if he were swinging a twig, and it cut through the air before slamming against the floor of the cellar. As the club sprang off the floor it felt as though the entire building had shook. Several stolen articles flew from the shock of the impacts, which continued as Rom and Elsa traded blows in front of Subaru. "This is my first time in mortal combat with a giant," said Elsa. "Go ahead and keep talking, little girl. I'll turn you into mincemeat and feed you to the giant rats!" As Rom threw his insults he swung his club even faster. Before the power of that swing, any untrained attempt to block would be no more effective than a sheet of paper. Inside the cellar, there was very little room to move around, and allowing the swings of that club to corner you could easily be a fatal mistake. However, Elsa's skill was of such a high level it could only be called freakish. While still wielding her kukri, dangling from one hand, Elsa, herself like a black shadow, was able to slip around each of Rom's surely fatal swings. Her movements were precarious, walking a thin line, just barely away from life-threatening danger, and still it was she who was in control of the fight, not Rom. This can't be good, thought Subaru instinctively. Something in his head was setting off an alarm. "This is bad..." muttered Subaru, his lips shaking. "Don't worry. There's no way Old Man Rom can lose! Ever since I can remember, I've never seen Rom lose a fight!" Felt yelled back, putting her trust for Rom in words as if to dispel her own doubts. In Felt's words were experiences built up over long years; experiences that formed her unshakable trust. But even without Felt telling Subaru outright, he could see their trust in how close they were when they interacted with each other. Despite Felt's confidence, Subaru was preparing for the worst. But he couldn't figure out why. "Take that!" Before Subaru could pin down his anxiety, there was a change in the flow of the fight. Rom yelled and kicked over the table, the same small wooden table they had been negotiating around. The table split and splintered from the force of the kick, and for an instant Elsa, who was up against a wall, was hidden behind its fragments, her line of sight cut off. Rom swung his club down with all his might. If the hit landed, it was sure to be an instant kill. However... "Rom!" Felt's distraught scream shook the air inside the loot cellar. Subaru then saw the result that scream had sought to prevent. Something was flying, spinning in the air. It was Rom's right arm, still tightly gripping his club. The arm, which had been severed at the shoulder, flew through the air, spraying blood everywhere before it landed against the wall. The whole room had been showered with blood. Subaru and Felt were no exception. Felt screamed again. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!" Having lost his right arm, Rom was spraying blood out of his shoulder like a hose. Without even trying to stop the flow of blood, Rom leapt forward toward Elsa, to attack her with his one remaining arm. As the splintered wooden table fell to the ground, Elsa stood behind it, still holding the position of the follow-through of her swing. Before Elsa could flip the kukri back around, Rom's giant body would crush her. But in that fleeting moment of Rom's last stand... "I forgot to tell you before, but thank you for the milk." ...he was cut short. With her other hand Elsa struck with a broken shard from the very glass she had been drinking from. On the sharp tip of the shard were droplets of blood blood that had come from Rom's slit throat. His arm severed and his throat cut, blood frothed from the old man's mouth, and as the light from his eyes vanished, he collapsed on the ground. Though his body convulsed there was no strength left in it, as Rom's life was dragged away even as it clung to his body. Elsa bowed once gracefully toward the body, as if paying her respects. While Rom's body continued to twitch, Elsa gently placed the remains of the glass down by his feet. "I'll give this back. I don't need it anymore," she said coldly, before twirling her kukri around in her hand and pointing its red-stained tip toward Subaru and Felt. However, Subaru, still collapsed the floor, was unable to say anything. All of Subaru's thought processes had been arrested by the slaughter that had taken place before his eyes. Someone that he had been talking to just a few minutes ago was now dead. Dead not by sickness or an accent, but killed by the actions of another, plain and simple. "Ah, I see that you're the one with the courage," Elsa said, impressed, and Subaru, still unable to move, looked up. While Subaru was still in a state of shock, Felt had stood up and was slapping her legs to keep her knees from shaking. She then pushed back her blood-soaked hair. "How... How dare you..." Subaru was behind Felt, so he could not see her expression. However, it was clear from her voice that she was not choking back tears. "If you put up too much of a struggle, you will only end up hurting more," said Elsa. "I bet you'd still plan on killing us even if we didn't fight back, you psycho...!" "If you move too much I won't be able to make a clean cut. ...I'm not all that skilled with a blade." As Elsa said this, she twirled the kukri around and pretended as if she were practicing the proper cuts to butcher Felt. But Felt was empty-handed. There was no way that she could win. In his mind, Subaru had reached the conclusion that he should cry out. He needed to distract Elsa, even if only a little bit, to allow time for Felt to escape. If he could just give her time to call for help, or even just escape on her own... But even though Subaru had made his decision, he couldn't stop his body from shaking. "...I'm sorry for getting you wrapped up in all of this," Felt said to Subaru in an apology little above a whisper. "I-I..." In response, Subaru's face jolted up toward Felt, and forgetting the words he should have said to her, he could only manage a choked mutter as though pleading for her forgiveness. But Felt left Subaru's sentiments forever behind her as she dashed forward. There was a loud sound as she kicked off from the ground, and it was as though a gale had suddenly blown through the cellar. Just when Subaru thought that Felt had vanished from his sight, he saw Elsa's body twist. A high-pitched sound rang out, and Felt clicked her tongue from Elsa's side. In Felt's hand was a small knife, and with Elsa's overwhelmingly fast reaction she was able to dodge Felt's attack. Felt leapt back, riding the gust of air she made as she flew. With Felt's irregular movements, even the walls of the cellar became like ground to her. Even Elsa seemed to be surprised by Felt's acrobatic feats. "So you have the protection of the wind. Oh, how wonderful. The world must adore you...I envy that." Elsa's ecstatic smile suddenly turned, and her eyes were filled with hatred as her arm bent back. "Wha " Felt was cut down in midair by a slice that extended across from her shoulder, and unable to catch herself, she hit the ground and entered a roll. The opening of the wound cut across her chest, from the left shoulder to her right underarm, and it was so deep it cut through bone and into her organs. Ending her roll faceup, with every beat of her heart Felt spewed blood like a fountain, and it was clear that she had already lost consciousness from the pain and shock of the cut. She didn't move an inch. In just a few seconds the flow of her blood lost its pressure, silently signaling the end of her life. Subaru could not move. He wanted to go to Felt's side and try to stop the bleeding. If it was too late for that, then he at least wanted to close her eyelids. But Subaru's arms and legs rejected his plea, and he could do nothing but shiver, shamelessly. "The old man and the girl are both down, but you won't move. Have you already given up?" Elsa said in a tone as though she pitied him, with eyes that looked bored. All she had to do was walk a little closer and strike a single time with her knife. That much was obvious to her, hence her bored look. In Elsa's movements was not even the slightest hint of hesitation. It even seemed as though she was trying to hold back a yawn. In response to Elsa's attitude, Subaru felt an uncontrollable anger welling up inside him. The two people fallen in front of him were people he had met just under an hour ago. But they had not only talked, they had bared emotions to one another. To take those two people and kill them, and feel no guilt whatsoever, was to Subaru absolutely unforgivable. Furthermore, he could not forgive himself. He had just watched as both of them were slaughtered by this vile woman. "So you've finally gotten to your feet. It certainly took you a while. I doubt you'll entertain me much, but it could be worse." The anger welling up inside Subaru, though far too late, finally gave him the power to move his arms and legs. His

limbs still shaking, Subaru slowly pushed against the ground and was somehow able to stand up, though his movements were almost animalistic. Was his shaking due to fear, or anger? Or was it both? Subaru didn't care. Facing Elsa and her kukri blade held at the ready, Subaru charged forward with all his strength and spirit, teeth bared. He would fly at her and beat her down, pushing his own strength past its limits. But that mad rush of Subaru's was... "Pathetic." ...brought to a swift end as Elsa elbowed him directly in the face. As she spun around, using the least amount of movement necessary, she had stuck Subaru with her elbow, and as he was reeling, Elsa, still in her spin, traced an arc with one of her long legs and landed a kick. Subaru was thrown back into a shelf filled with porcelain and came crashing to the ground. In one single round of attack, Subaru had both his nose and front teeth broken. His side, which took the brunt of Elsa's kick, was in terrible pain, and he could feel that a number of his ribs had broken. But still, Subaru shoved his fist against the ground and immediately stood back up. Subaru's brain had already started excreting endorphins and was rejecting the pain, which was greater than any Subaru had felt before. In this aroused state, his breathing abnormal, Subaru launched another mindless attack...but he was again struck back. Subaru's flailing arms could not reach Elsa, and with her flowing limbs she struck Subaru with the blunt side of her blade, breaking his left shoulder. Then, as if she was annoyed by having to listen to his screams of pain, she threw in a kick straight up into his jaw, which immediately shut him up. It also succeeded in knocking out the rest of Subaru's broken front teeth. Elsa looked down at Subaru as he tumbled to the ground. "You're no good at all. You're just as inexperienced as you look, and your movements are all over the place. You don't have any divine protection, or any special skills. I thought you might use your head and have some trick up your sleeve, but I see you have nothing. Just how did you ever think you could stand a chance against me?" "Shuddup... It's called being stubborn... You dink I'll just dake dis lying down?" Subaru's nose was broken, so he couldn't even make a proper comeback. Thanks to the last counterattack, Subaru couldn't use his arm anymore. Everything from his left shoulder down was dangling limply. He couldn't feel any pain, but the ringing in his ears was getting unbearable. He was intensely nauseated, and it felt as though his anger was seeping away out of his mouth. Subaru was beaten. He could never win. His chances of even landing a hit were minuscule. "Well, I'll admit that you've got at least an unusually high amount of determination. If you had gotten yourself up a little earlier, there might have been a different outcome for these two." With the tip of her knife, Elsa pointed to the two bodies lying abandoned on the floor. As Subaru followed Elsa's motion and looked at the corpses he suddenly felt a strange feeling come over him. Why? Why did he feel that he had seen this all before? The loot cellar, with its floor a sea of blood... The giant corpse with its missing arm... The dull glint of a reddish blade... In the back of his mind, a thought shot through him like lightning. "Let's put an end to all of this. I'll send you off to go meet the angels." Elsa licked her red lips, and with a sensual smile vanished into the darkness. Whether or not it was by some trick, to Subaru it looked as though Elsa had sunk down into the shadows of the cellar. Subaru looked left and right, unable to find Elsa. "Wh-where are you?!" Subaru began to panic, looking this way and that, listening as hard as he could for any sound. He looked like the prey of a ferocious predator just waiting to be devoured. From Elsa's perspective, nothing could make her less excited, but that just made her want to get it over with even more quickly, so in a brilliantly direct slice... "Wha ?!" As soon as Subaru realized that the attack was coming for his abdomen, he managed to get clear, with not a hairbreadth to spare. Subaru jumped back, pulling his stomach in, so that the horizontal slash only just grazed him. The skin of his abdomen was sliced open, but Subaru gritted his teeth and bore the sharp pain. "Ughraaah!!" Then with all of his might, Subaru was able to strike Elsa's upper body from the side with a spinning kick. As Subaru twisted himself and landed his critical hit, he was able to confirm that he had been able to retaliate at least once. However... "Ah... That one was very satisfying," Elsa said as, with a second kukri she had drawn from her waist, she sliced about 70 percent of the way through Subaru's abdomen with her other hand, spilling out his blood and guts. "Huh...?" Subaru took one step, two steps back, and as his shoulder brushed up against the wall, he slid down against it and fell to the floor. As Subaru looked down he could see the blood flowing out of his abdomen and staining the floor bright red. With a shaking arm he tried uselessly to return the blood, but the bloody clumps of tissue spilling out of his stomach pushed his hand away. "Are you surprised? I opened up your stomach as you rushed me. It's my speciality, really," Elsa said with a smile, walking splish-splash across the sea of blood. Elsa approached Subaru, who was unable to say anything but gurgle out cries of pain, and stared at his bloody, blackish innards with a look of ecstasy on her face. "Ah...just as I hoped. Your intestines have such a beautiful color to them." This woman was out of her mind. At the pain that even his endorphins could not negate, Subaru's consciousness started to fade. He realized that he seemed to have fallen on his side. With shaking fingertips, he weakly touched Elsa's foot. "Uu...ugh..." "Are you in pain? Does it hurt? Are you sad? Do you want to die?" With his hand still grabbing at her ankle, Elsa knelt down beside Subaru and looked him in the eyes. Elsa's eyes were filled with ecstasy. She had absolutely no qualms about taking another human life. Instead...she seemed to be incredibly happy, filled with bliss. "Slowly, slowly, slowly, ever so slowly your body will lose its heat and you will go cold." Subaru could feel Elsa's voice vibrating his eardrums, torturing him, savoring him, pitying him, affectionate for him, loving him. Before he knew it, Subaru couldn't see anymore. His loss of blood was too great, and bit by bit he was dying. Now, he couldn't hear anything. He couldn't smell anything. He couldn't see anything. He could only feel his body growing colder, his body dying, and the fear that came with it. In this space, not knowing exactly when the light of his life would be extinguished, Subaru could not separate himself from the fear of death. When will I die? When will I die? Am I still alive? Am I not already dead? How do you define life? Can you even say that I'm alive in this state, lesser than any insect? What is life? What is death? Why is dying so frightening? Is it really necessary to live? No? I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. As an absolute and unconditional death grew ever closer, Subaru's mind instinctively rejected it. At the end, that rejection filled everything that Subaru was, and as his vision whited out, he thought... Ah...I'm dead. And with that very last thought, Subaru Natsuki's life flickered out. CHAPTER 3 *** "Hey, man, don't just stare off into space like that. You want an abble?" As soon as Subaru's consciousness had returned to him, there was a ripe red fruit in front of his face. It looked just like an apple, and as he stared at it, the phrase "fruit of knowledge" crossed the back of his mind. It was that forbidden fruit that, when eaten, resulted in expulsion from paradise. If Subaru ate that fruit now, would it save him from the inexplicable situation he found himself in? "Hey, kiddo," said a middle-aged man as he furrowed his brow and called out to Subaru, who was being completely unresponsive. Subaru slowly drifted from the vague edge of his consciousness back toward reality, and when he was back, he suddenly raised his head. He looked this way and that, his heart beating ferociously and his breathing ragged. He was in front of the fruit store on the main street, just past noon. There were various colorful vegetables and fruits laid out, and the person standing in front of those goods was a stern-looking man, the shop owner with the white scar across his face. This was the crowded street that Subaru had already seen several times before. He scratched his head. "I just don't get it..." he muttered, and then overcome with dizziness and nausea, he collapsed on the spot. As he felt a cold rush of water on his face, Subaru was somehow able to bring his muddied consciousness back to reality. *** Subaru looked at the empty water jug the fruit shop owner had brought Subaru. After Subaru had collapsed in front of his shop, the owner had helped him get himself together. Subaru was glad that the owner had the heart to worry about him, but the fact that he was so kind as not to ask where Satella had gone struck a deep wound in his heart. As Subaru sat on the earthen floor, he wiped away the water from his bangs and clenched his teeth. The glint of that blade still haunted the back of his mind, along with that terrible smile as it danced through the stench of blood. "Hhgh..." The back of Subaru's throat twitched and as he sat hugging his knees, he couldn't keep his entire body from shaking. He'd lived a completely normal life up until this point. He had never experienced so much fear, so much despair. He didn't want to think anymore. He didn't want to remember anymore. He wanted to draw back inside his shell and forget everything. The glimmer of the blade, the arm flying off, the scream, sinking in a sea of blood, that silver hair... *** The less Subaru wanted to think about it, the more clearly his memories came back to him. Overcome by anguish, Subaru raised his face up to scream, but just as he was about to let everything out... "Huh...?" The voice that had risen up inside Subaru dribbled out full of doubt, and he just stared, dumbfounded. In Subaru's range of vision, with his eyes open wide, he could see a tall figure with skin like a reptile...a beast-like humanoid that was only as tall as his waist...a young dancer with pink hair...a swordsman with six swords at his waist... ...and a young girl in a white robe with silver hair that swayed as she walked. Those violet eyes of hers took one glance at Subaru as she walked by, but she looked away as though uninterested and walked on. Those amethyst eyes, full of determination, just looked straight forward as she stared down the road. In that gallant stance, that delicate beauty, in that girl that Subaru had been searching for, there was no change. Unable to call out immediately, with

rasping breath Subaru struggled to his feet and chased after her. "Wai ! W-wait! Wait up! Please, wait..." For an instant, the girl reacted to his voice and looked back at Subaru with a cold gaze, as if she was looking at a stranger. Subaru felt his heart gouged by the chill in her sharp gaze. He had not done what she had asked of him. He had hurt her. He hadn't apologized yet. There was no way that he could be forgiven, but even so Subaru chased after her. He didn't know how she felt. At the very least he had to know what she was thinking. If he was going to let what he imagined her to be thinking hurt him, he would rather be hurt by the real her, here in this reality where he could feel pain. "Wait, please! Satella!" He wasn't sure of what he wanted to say to her if he could catch her, but when the answer to that question became clear in his mind, Subaru called out Satella's name as if he had just remembered it. Finally it seemed as if his voice had reached her, because just as she was starting to get away from him the girl stopped immediately in her tracks. Subaru weaved through the crowd to catch up to her, and put his hand on her thin shoulder. "Don't...ignore me. It's my fault that I went away and it's my fault for not listening to you, but I've been desperate. After what happened I went to the loot cellar, but I wasn't able to meet you there and..." As Subaru grabbed her shoulder, Satella looked at him in surprise. As she turned around and Subaru opened his mouth, what came out was a sort of self-defense that sounded full of excuses. What made him realize that was Satella's clear eyes. Her stare was emotionless, and as Subaru faced it, he still felt a sense of ease. As far as he could tell, Satella didn't appear to be wounded. Subaru experienced this as salvation. "I'm sorry for going on about myself... I'm so glad to see you're okay." The fact that they were able to meet again made Subaru feel simple happiness. There were so many things they had to talk about, but before all of that Subaru felt as if nothing he had done was in vain. He was finally and profoundly relieved... "...What do you think you're doing?" But as Subaru found this sense of ease, Satella was incredibly angry. Her white cheeks had reddened, as she twisted her body to get Subaru's hand off her shoulder. After taking a step back and putting some space between her and Subaru, Satella's eyes were filled with hostility. After this unexpectedly stern reaction, Subaru unconsciously gulped. Still, this reaction made sense. From Satella's perspective, she should be shocked that Subaru would even show his face in front of her. There was no insult too great for her to lob at Subaru and "I don't know who you are, but what the hell are you thinking, calling someone the same name as that Witch of Jealousy?!" After hearing that reaction, which was beyond anything that he could have imagined, everything that Subaru had built up to brace himself was smashed to pieces. Faced with those unexpected words, Subaru felt as if time had stopped. The sound of the crowd disappeared. All that Subaru could hear was the violent beating of his heart, and the rough breathing of the silver-haired girl in front of him, tense and defensive. He felt as if all of the other sounds had disappeared...but that was no illusion. "...What?" As Subaru looked around he realized that everyone, everyone all around this crowded shopping district, all the pedestrians on the road were staring at them. Everyone looked shaken, and no one would move a single muscle, stock-still and quiet. It was as if the conversation between Satella and Subaru had taken control of the entire area. With her severe stare, Satella was waiting for Subaru's answer. However, unsure of what he was guilty of, Subaru couldn't think of how to answer. The reason why Subaru thought Satella would be upset and the real reason she was upset were different. "I'll ask you one more time. Why are you calling me by the Witch of Jealousy's name?" "What do you mean? That's what I was told to call you..." "...I don't know who told you that, but whoever it was, that's in incredibly poor taste. Even if you're not the one who thought of it, it's bad enough that you agreed. This is the Witch of Jealousy we're talking about, the embodiment of all things taboo. Most people would hesitate to even utter such a name, and you're using it to name me?" With her anger displayed for all to see, Satella...the silver-haired girl threw Subaru into a storm of confusion. Everyone else around seemed to be nodding, agreeing with her, and that, more than anything else, proved that she was right. Subaru had absolutely no idea what was going on. He couldn't understand what she was saying. Subaru had only just called her by her name. But Satella had rebuked him, and everyone around agreed that she was in the right. "If that's all you wanted to say, then I'll be on my way. I don't have time to deal with you." The girl looked on as Subaru simply stood where he was, hanging his head. She then turned and walked off, with her hair dancing behind her, having nothing more to do with him. Subaru thought to call after her, and started to shout her name, but it got caught in his throat as if it had frozen shut. If Subaru called her name again, he would simply be making the same mistake twice. But then, what should he call her? He hesitated, unable to decide what to do. *** Subaru gasped. On the canvas top of a cart on the side of the street, from a position just a head taller than Subaru, something leaped. A small body was pulled by gravity toward the ground, and as soon as it landed it took off on the wind. That little gust of wind, with dirty clothes and blond hair trailing behind it, wove through the crowd with a godlike dexterity, and from it an outstretched arm slipped into a certain girl's hawk-embroidered white robe. The two only touched for an instant, but to that little gust of wind, that moment was enough. As the wind made the robe fly up and the girl with the robe twisted around, the wind took off flying again. "It can't be!" The silver-haired girl raised her voice in shock and stuck her hand into her robe. She couldn't find what she was looking for, and with eyes opened wide, she looked in the direction of the quickly fleeing wind. Seeing the dragon-adorned badge in that wind's hand as it passed quickly by, Subaru yelled, "Felt?!" With Subaru's call, the wind waved for a moment in hesitation, but without slowing down it quickly flew down a narrow alley. Everything happened so incredibly fast that Subaru could only see for an instant what happened, but that had to be "I've been had! Is that why you stopped me? Are you two working together?!" moaned the girl as she looked at Subaru standing still. The girl quickly turned her palm toward Subaru, but apparently changing her mind, she ran off in the direction the wind had gone down the alley. "Hey, wait! This is a misunderstanding! I..." Subaru took off after them down the alley, hoping to sort things out. As he ran, his mind was filled with questions and doubts. There was too much information to process, and his panicked mind couldn't deal with it. Even without that, he had just gone through death twice, and everything in his mind was muddled. "There's got to be someone out there who'll be nice to me! Why the hell was I even summoned here?!" Subaru yelled, having had enough with nothing making sense, as he kept running with unsure footing down the dark alley. Subaru wasn't sure of his stamina, but at a short distance, he didn't think he would lose to those two girls. However... "Damn! A wall?!" Subaru spat. Right in front of him was a dead end. Neither of the two girls was there. Felt probably could easily climb over a wall like that, and he thought that Satella would have been able to do something about it with her magic. I could try to climb over to the other side, but I don't think I'd be able to catch up to them. Subaru couldn't afford to waste time here. He had no idea how to get around the capital, so if he lost them here, it would be impossible for him to catch up to them. "Then should I head to the loot cellar? If Satella and Felt are alive, then Rom must be..." Even as Subaru said this, he felt that several things were wrong and contradicting themselves. Felt had been cut down. Rom's neck was slit. Satella fell in a pool of blood. Subaru had his abdomen cut open twice. How was it that everyone was alive...? "No. Now's not the time. I can't waste time thinking. Right now I've got to..." Subaru would go on ahead and quickly meet up with Rom. That was what Subaru had to do. He could think later. The best thing for him to do right now was to leave this alley and head to the slums. Subaru turned around. "...You've got to be kidding me!" Right in front of him, blocking the entrance to the alley, were three shadows, three people, with dirty clothes and a rough and barbaric appearance. Three thugs who used these alleys as their hunting grounds. It was Subaru's third time encountering them that day. "Give it a rest already! Just what is it going to take for you punks to learn?!" Tired of seeing those three thugs again, Subaru furiously stomped on the ground. This was the third time they had met. Every time was in a back alley, three against one. Given how their first and second efforts were fruitless, Subaru was stunned that they were so determined to catch him that they'd try a third time. "I don't have the time or the patience to deal with you fools. Out of my way, now!" The current situation had really put Subaru out of sorts, but there was also the fact that, given what happened last time, he thought he should be able to scare them if he shouted. At least that's what he thought. "'Get out of my way,' he says. Ha! I don't like your attitude. You don't get it, do you? You're not in a position to be ordering us around." "It was three-on-one last time and you guys still lost like you were nothing! You think you can talk big like that? Even sore losers would show more shame when they wail!" However, the thugs didn't seem to fear Subaru at all, and kept up their taunting. Subaru bit his lip at their unexpected reactions. Even small-time villains like this had a sense of pride, he thought. He wanted to avoid wasting any more time and risk losing Felt and Satella. Also, given the risk that a fight would entail, Subaru decided that he should deal with this peacefully. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll give you everything I've got. That's what you want from me, right?" Subaru held back his irritation and raised both of his hands in the air, showing that he was giving up. The thugs all looked at one another after Subaru changed his attitude, and then all burst into laughter. "What's that?! If you were that scared, you should have just said so!" "Ha! Look at this guy!

Don't talk all big if you're just gonna bend over!" "Whatever. If he's going to do as we say, that just makes it easier on us, right? But what a coward, huh?" Subaru was irritated, but he just laughed it off. He decided to name the group of thugs "dumb, dumber, and dumbest" to make himself feel better, and muttered under his breath, so they wouldn't hear. "Once I meet back up with Satella, I'm going to borrow Puck and make them...pay?" Just as Subaru was about to lay out all that he owned in front of him, he froze. "Huh...?" Out of everything that had happened since Subaru had arrived in this new world, this was the most unsettling. "Why...?" At Subaru's fingertips, inside his plastic convenience store bag, was a bag of crispy snacks. Corn-soup flavored, they were one of his favorites, and he had grabbed them on a whim at the store to eat in place of his dinner. When Subaru was with Rom at the loot cellar, he had shown them off to him as a great late-night snack, an act that he had later regretted. However, that bag was still there, as full and sealed as when he had bought it at the store. "I shouldn't have these anymore... Rom ate them all, and I complained and...there weren't any left. I'm sure of it." Why were the snacks back in the bag? There was no trace that it had been opened. It wasn't possible. Subaru felt his thoughts blocked on all sides. However, in that locked state, Subaru still came to a conclusion about what was happening. Even though he had come to a conclusion, it wasn't doing him any good. As soon as it occurred to him, he rejected it as impossible. His sense of reason denied the possibility. "Hey, what are you doing?!" "...What?" Subaru suddenly heard a voice right next to him. Cut from his train of thought, that was the only way he could react. It was one of the thugs. The smallest one. The one Subaru had just named "Dumbest." While Subaru was lost in thought, Dumbest had walked over and put his hand on Subaru's shoulder. Subaru twisted and pushed his hand away. "Out of my way..." "What'd you say?!" "In every sense of the word, I've run out of time to deal with you guys. I've got to...check something." "Are you kidding me?" As Subaru pushed Dumbest aside and moved to exit the alley, the other two stood angrily in his way. "Get out of my way! I've got somewhere to be!" He had to rule out this unbelievably stupid, unthinkable theory... Faced with Subaru's yell, the men hesitated a bit. If he could break through and get out onto the main street, he would probably be out of harm's way. After deciding that, Subaru stepped down to kick firmly off the ground. However... "...Wha?" Just as Subaru put his foot down it twisted. The strength drained from his legs, and he fell to his knees. He put out his hands to catch his fall, and cursed his idiocy for stumbling at such a critical moment. "Huh... That's strange..." Just as Subaru tried to push against the ground so he could stand back up again, his arms started shaking. He didn't think he could stand back up again. He didn't think he could even lift his body. "Well, I've done it now, haven't I...?" Subaru looked back as he heard that voice tinged with anxiety, and then he realized what had happened. A knife was sticking out of his back. "Gah... Ah..." As soon as Subaru was conscious of it, an unbearable pain swept through him. He choked. It was a natural reaction to the searing agony. ...I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed! Dumber, the one with the knife, had struck first. Subaru didn't notice as he drew his weapon, and just as Subaru was trying to push past him, he was stabbed in the back. This pain was the same kind of torture that he had experienced in the past few hours, but no matter how many times he experienced it, he didn't think it was possible to ever get used to it. "What? You really stabbed him?!" "I didn't have no choice! What do you think would have happened if he had escaped out into the street? Just think of what we'd have to deal with if he did." "Wait! Don't do that, you idiot! ....Ugh. Yeah, this is bad. His guts are damaged. He's gonna die." The giant, Dumb, turned Subaru's body over, and as he did, the knife was pushed deeper into his back. "Ughh...." Still greater suffering was piled on top of Subaru's existing pain and even Subaru's death throes were kept from leaving his throat. Subaru couldn't call for help or scream out in anger. There was nothing left for him to do. He just repeated his irregular breaths, feeling as though he was going to drown in his own blood as it filled his throat. The feeling in Subaru's hands and feet started to leave him, and his consciousness was flickering weakly like a light about to go out. Again, his vision went dark. This was the end, just like last time. What do you mean, "last time"...? Subaru thought to himself. The fact that he was now clinging to an idea that he had disregarded as stupid before just made him feel even more pitiful. But if he was going to cling to it, he might as well go all the way. Turn your thoughts away from dying. Before you die, figure out what's happening around you. Your eyes are dead. Your arms and legs are gone, too. What you have left is your nose and your ears. Then you'd better use them both to death. It doesn't matter what lingering scent I smell. It doesn't matter if all I hear are insults. I smell the mud of the road. I smell the iron-like smell from the blood pouring from me. Now my nose is dead. It's dead. I doubt my ears will last much longer, either. "...at...take the...valuables..." "...ere! The guards! They..." "...un! No! If we...caught, I'll..." All I was able to pick up were those bits of conversation. That's great and all, but the part of my brain I need to figure out what that means is already dead. I'm dying so I just listened. I don't know if I'll remember. ...What does it mean to remember? Why do I want to remember? What does it mean to want? Why...what? As Subaru's brain died, his other functions followed soon after. At the very end, with a faint sound of something being pulled from him, something scraping...Subaru lost his life a third time. When Subaru's consciousness awakened, he was in darkness. But realizing that it was a darkness of his own creation, he opened his closed eyelids. The bright sunlight burned his eyes. Subaru groaned a bit and put his hand over his eyes. "So, kiddo. How's about that abble?" It was a question that Subaru had grown used to hearing, in a voice he had grown familiar with, that was lobbed at him. His ears were in perfect working order. The hustle and bustle of the main street was loud, and completely different from the silence that was around him just before the end. That was the way things were, despite the fact that, distance-wise, the silence was in an alley just one turn off the main street. Pretty pathetic that I couldn't even get more than one street away. The shop owner frowned at not getting an answer to his question. As Subaru saw the white scar being stretched across his face, he thought it made him look even more villainous. But Subaru knew that he was actually a really kind and thoughtful person who was obsessed with his kid. Of course, he probably didn't remember what Subaru did. Thinking of that, he turned once more to the scarred shop owner. "How many times have you seen my face so far?" "What do you mean, 'how many times'? I haven't seen you before in my life. The way you stand out, I don't think I'd forget you and that awful expression you've got if I'd seen you before." "I didn't need to hear that last part about my expression, you know? Anyway, what's the date today?" "It's Tammuz the 14th. At this point, according to the calendar it's halfway through the year." "Huh. I see. Tammuz, huh." Subaru had no idea what that date was supposed to mean. To begin with, he had no idea how they fixed the calendar in this world. It was probably too much to expect that they went by a solar calendar, but he couldn't be sure. "So anyway, kiddo. How's about that abble?" The shop owner was patient as Subaru went silent, but for him to have to deal with someone this long to just buy a single apple... He seemed to be reaching his limit. His face was starting to twitch. Now this was a guy who didn't look all that great wearing a smile in the first place. When he was trying his best to smile, it probably had more of an effect of scaring customers away, and Subaru felt that whatever god put this man in this occupation was a cruel god indeed. As for Subaru's answer to the shop owner's question, he put his hand on his hip and proudly put out his chest. "I'm sorry, but I'm as broke as the sky is blue!" "Then get the hell out of here!" The shop owner's yell was enough to throw Subaru back, and he scrambled out of there in a hurry. I really can't go back to that shop for a while, Subaru thought, with both meanings in mind. CHAPTER 4 *** "Wallet...check. Cell phone...check. My corn soup chips and cup ramen are also here. My tracksuit and sneakers are at zero damage, and of course..." Subaru lifted up the hem of his tracksuit top and twisted around this way and that to look at his back. There were no scars or any other traces of a wound on his back, around by his hips, or around the front of his abdomen. There wasn't a knife sticking out of him, or anything else unusual. "Phew. Good. There's no greater embarrassment for a swordsman than getting stabbed in the back. As someone who did kendo in middle school, even if I take a wrong turn off the road when it comes to life, I can't let myself lose the way of the swordsman." The sun was high in the sky and a gentle breeze brushed up against Subaru's skin. People bustled about, back and forth on the main street, and yet again that same lizard cart passed by. "Well, with this much circumstantial evidence, I've got no choice but to accept this, do I? It's a little bit hard to believe, but..." All of the wounds on Subaru's body had disappeared; the rips and bloodstains on his tracksuit were gone as well. In Subaru's hands, inside that plastic convenience store back were his unopened chips, waiting for Subaru to eat them. "So, it's one of those things, huh..." He put his hand that had been up against his jaw out in front of him, and then snapped his fingers so that everyone on the street could see him. "Whenever I die, I start back at square one in my initial state. At least, that's the way it seems." Subaru had thought that his theory was stupid before, but he finally decided to accept it. "I guess I'll call it 'Return by Death'... The fact that it's a power that assumes you're going to lose really makes it fitting for me, doesn't it?" It

was a power that activated once the user had lost their life. If the heroic thing was to come back from the brink of death and win the day, then getting a chance to do things over after you've lost felt more like something a cheat would do. "More seriously, though...would you call this sort of thing time travel?" A loop phenomenon that only activated under certain conditions. If you were to think of it as a game, you could say it was like Subaru was being brought back to an auto-save point, one he had no control over, whenever he died. "So a loop or a time slip, huh... I mean, I'm used to this sort of thing happening in manga, but I saw somewhere that realistically it was really hard to explain time travel to the past...like, that it would be easier to remake the world from scratch rather than slip back in time." With what Subaru knew from the Internet, where knowledge was vast but shallow, going back in time was about as unrealistic as you could get. However, given that he had already been summoned to another world, he wasn't really in a position to be debating degrees of unrealism. "But if you consider that this Return by Death thing is really happening, then everything so far starts to make sense." Looking back, Subaru had already died three times in this world. The first time was when he and Satella had visited the loot cellar together. The second time was when he, Rom, and Felt had all been cut down by Elsa's blade. Then the third time, which to Subaru just felt like it happened a few minutes ago, he'd died a dog's death. Unlike the first and second times, the third death was the worst, and he couldn't make any excuses about it. He didn't think that he could mess up so badly as to be killed by weak mob characters while he was still in the prologue. "Still, dying three times in only half a day is just way too high of a rate." Given that normally people only had one life to live, dying three times in half a day was just absurd. Sure, Subaru had lived the previous seventeen years of his life peacefully, but depending on how you looked at it, if you multiplied 17 years by 365 days, and three resets, Subaru had lived through quite a few days on which he could have died. "Or...if you looked at it another way, I just suck at living." The difference between the difficulties of staying alive in his previous world and this one was far too great. There were tons of places here that threatened Subaru's life. There were dangerous places wherever he turned. "Given the similarities between the first and second time...Elsa was probably the culprit the first time as well." The first time, the one who was hiding in the shadows of the loot cellar was probably Elsa. The giant corpse was Rom, and he and Satella had arrived after Felt and Elsa had had their negotiations. "I can't be sure, but Felt probably asked for too much, and after negotiations broke down...that's what happened." After Elsa had finished making sure no one was left alive to tell what happened, Subaru and Satella had been unlucky enough to walk right in. "The second time is simple. I was already with Rom and Felt when negotiations broke down... To be killed twice by the same person... Is Elsa the kind of character that when you run into them it means certain death?" Subaru tried to pass the idea off as a joke so that he could lie to himself about how scared he was of her. It was obviously foolish to even think of any options he might have if he ran into her. The only place where Subaru had a chance of encountering Elsa was the loot cellar, and the only reason that Subaru needed to go to the loot cellar was to take back Satella's stolen badge, and the reason he wanted to take back Satella's stolen badge was because he wanted to return the favor to Satella for saving him. However, because Return by Death had sent him back in time, his duty to return the favor to Satella was left behind in the world of his first run-through. When Subaru met Satella on his third run-through, her cold reaction to him was proof of that. Satella didn't know Subaru anymore. The favor that he was supposed to return got lost along the way as he was reset. If so, it would be best for Subaru to forget about Satella and focus on avoiding the threat of Elsa. Subaru didn't know why had been thrown into this Return by Death scenario, but because of it, he was fortunate enough to know the future. He knew what mines to avoid. Avoiding them was the right thing to do. "Well, it's about time I got moving. Fortunately, I know that I can turn my cell phone into cash, so I'll just amass some funds, and live a good life using my modern knowledge. It'll be full of dreams! Don't you think, old man?" "Just when I thought you were muttering some nonsense to yourself, you're asking my opinion? I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't care." As Subaru looked back to the man in the shop from before, seeking affirmation, the man gave his retort with an annoyed look on his face. With that cold response of his Subaru felt a little hurt inside. No matter what world you're in, the way people interact with strangers isn't all that different. "But you see, there are some people out there who, even if it puts them in a tight spot, can't help but help other people out." Even after something precious had been stolen from her, and even as she was in the middle of chasing after the person who'd stolen it, Satella had helped a completely and utterly useless stranger, took the time to heal his wounds, and tried to walk off without accepting any thanks. She accepted that useless person's selfishness and for her trouble met a horrible end. "When you do the same thing three times, there are a couple of things that you begin to understand. Well, more like after three times you'd have to be incredibly stupid not to understand those things. I may be a little stupid, but not that stupid." "Just what nonsense are you talking about?" "There's probably a pattern here. Some kind of inevitability. No matter how many times you do something over, at least a few things will never change. Or at least there's some sort of strong force that tries to keep things that way. For example..." All three times, Satella had her badge stolen by Felt. The first and second times, Elsa caused a bloodbath. Even the third time around, it had probably happened as well, unrelated to Subaru's death. "I don't know if I can win against Elsa. I still don't know. But there is one thing I do know." If on the fourth time around Subaru didn't do something, Felt and Rom would be killed by Elsa. It was also unavoidable for Elsa and Satella to fight as well. So what if those two died? Subaru thought. One's a bit of a villain who deals in stolen goods, and the other one is a bold girl who tries to overcharge for those stolen goods without any sense of shame or regret. Both of them were criminals, so wouldn't it be better off if they were gone? But still... "Well...I guess I really am a product of the modern age. Even though I always used to make fun of people like this when I sat in front of a computer screen..." Subaru used to act as if he thought pity and compassion were stupid. It wasn't that he thought of it as an act, however. He just thought of himself as someone who didn't really care all that much. That way, no matter what situation he found himself in, he was able to keep himself from getting too emotional about it. It didn't matter to him if a few people he knew died. At least, that's how he used to think. "But you know, I hate it. It feels terrible. I know those two are far from being saints, but knowing that someone you know is going to be killed...that's just impossible to ignore." In the past, when he acted uncaring, it really must have been nothing more than an act. It was the product of his interactions happening in a virtual world. Now that he had to deal with these heavy issues in real life, there was a whole different level of weight to them. But at the same time, Subaru thought he was shallow for changing one of his core beliefs about life, just as soon as things got hard. "And of course there's also Satella I mean, that girl. I just can't just abandon her like that." After calling her by that name and seeing her reaction, Subaru realized that "Satella" was a fake name. When he thought back to the first time around, she didn't seem to be too fond of being called by that name. Then with the third time, it was painfully clear. In other words, that meant that she didn't trust him enough when she'd told him that name. Subaru hadn't built up enough relationship points with her, so at one of the scenario forks he failed the test for getting her real name. "In that case, I guess I'll just have to work hard enough for her to actually give me her real name this time." Subaru stretched and twisted his body around, popping several joints as he got himself pumped up. The storeowner looked on at Subaru's strange actions with a surprised look on his face. Subaru, in response, suddenly lifted up his hand and said, "There's just some times where a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do! Right, old man?" "Yeah, yeah. That's exactly the way it is. Totally agree. So go on and get outta here." Subaru thought that he had struck a good pose and said that line pretty well, but given the storeowner's terribly monotonic reaction, he could feel his face starting to twitch. Once the annoyed storeowner finally pushed him out of the store, he hurried along. After running about two hundred meters down the crowded street, he stopped and stood for a moment. "Now, then..." Subaru lifted up his short bangs with his hand and then in exaggerated motions looked this way and that. Then he put his hand out to a nearby wall and leaned against it. "Where do I need to go if I want to meet Not-Satella...?" he said. It wasn't a phrase that inspired confidence about his actions, but he wasn't going to just sit around and wait. Now that Subaru thought of it, most of the circumstances surrounding his and Satella's meeting were coincidence. Both the first time and the third time Subaru had run into Satella in a place not far from this main street, but that was about the only thing in common. At the very least, it would help if Subaru knew when the theft would be taking place... "Just how long was I sitting glumly there in front of that fruit shop?" Subaru felt like it could have been a few minutes, but at the same time it could easily have been almost an hour. "Should I just wander about and leave everything to chance? Hope that the red string of fate between me and her will bring us together?" Subaru had lifted both of his pinkie fingers in front of his face, twisting them around as if they were dowsing rods while spectators watched on with curious glances.

As Subaru continued searching he realized that he was in a place that he remembered seeing before. "I guess my ties to fate are working pretty well after all!" Subaru said, full of himself, before realizing just where he was. Before he knew it, he had wandered into an alley. "Isn't this the place where I first met Satella...?" He felt that it was similar, but he couldn't be sure. Even if this was the exactly same alley as before, there was no guarantee that she would come running down it. "After all, the dead end I was at when I was killed the third time was in a completely different place..." Even if it was certain that Not-Satella would get her badge stolen by Felt every time, the route that they took after that would differ depending on the circumstances. It was possible that the first and second times the route they took was the same, but the third time, because of Subaru's interference, fate must have shifted slightly. After thinking that far, Subaru realized just how shallow his thinking was. If he entered this familiar alley, it was possible he would run into Felt and Not-Satella. However, that also meant meeting another set of people as well. In other words... "I really am tired of looking at your faces, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest," said Subaru wearily as he turned around, and saw the same three thugs blocking his path out of the alley. Their looks, their clothes, their faces everything was the same. Both their goals and their equipment must be the same as well. Subaru was making absolutely no progress at all. Subaru supposed that made sense, though; after all, he was just walking around the same places as before. "Why these guys when I have so much trouble finding Not-Satella and Puck..." The reason Subaru was having trouble meeting up with Satella was that her actions were probably affected by several other random factors besides Subaru. However, the reason that Subaru kept encountering Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest was probably because they had picked him out for a target early on. That's why, even if he picked a different alley, he would always run into these guys. Their event was unavoidable. "Even if I've come up with a splendid theory as to why all of this is happening, it doesn't make me any happier. So what do you want with me, guys?" "Just what is this fool mumbling about?" "He's probably just too clueless to understand what's going on. How about we show him." Dumb and Dumber's conversation was the same as ever, and that made Subaru feel even lousier about the whole thing. However, this didn't mean that he could let his guard down. The bar set for the conditions necessary to clear the Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest event wasn't very high, but there wasn't a 100 percent chance that Subaru would be able to make it out of this alley. After all, they were the ones who had caused his death the third time around. As he was thinking about that, Subaru's thoughts drifted to what happened the last time, just as he was dying. As he lay dying, he was able to pick up some of the sounds of what was happening. Subaru tried to remember the final conversation that Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest were having. What were they afraid of? There was a word that they said. Subaru thought he should be able to remember it...and it was... "Guards!!" Hearing Subaru's sudden and unexpected SOS, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest jumped. The silence of the alley was broken and the volume of Subaru's yell was sure to have reached the main street. With all of Subaru's training in kendo, his sense of shame about suddenly yelling out was long gone. Additionally, Subaru, who realized at this point in his life what a loser he was, wasn't one to let his pride be hurt by suddenly calling for help. "Someone! Someone please call some men over here!" "Wha... What, are you kidding me?! You're really going to start calling for help?! Who does that?!" "In this sort of situation you're supposed to listen to us if you want to avoid getting hurt! You're just going to ignore us and call for help?! That's not normal!" "What?! Don't give me 'That's not normal'! In what world is this not normal?! Oh! It can't be! You're not saying that you're trying to do something where it'd be trouble if I called out, are you? Oh my God!" "Shut up! You know what we mean!" "I'm not listening! I can't hear you through that thick wall of insincerity! Police!!" Subaru continued to yell and keep the thugs on their toes, but on the inside he was breaking out into a cold sweat. As Subaru had been breathing his last during his third time around, just as his consciousness was leaving him, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest had said the words "guards" and "run." In other words, in this world, there was an organization that functioned like a police force. That information led Subaru to the new option, "Call for Help." Even he thought it was a pretty lame tactic. But unfortunately, Subaru didn't seem to get a very encouraging reaction from the crowd out on the main street. "Well, looks like that didn't work..." "Threatening us like that...I almost got a little bit scared there, man." "Just a little bit!" "Not even a little bit! Only a tiny bit!" In unison, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest proceeded to deny how pathetic they were, in about the most pathetic way possible. As the men tried to regain control of the situation, after looking at each other and nodding, each of them took out their weapons. One took out a knife, one took out a rusty hand ax, and finally the last one... "Why are you the only one without a weapon? What? Didn't you have the money to buy something?" Subaru taunted. "Shut up! I'm stronger without a weapon! I'll beat you to death, you little punk!" "Man, I would have loved to show you all what happened to you guys the second time around." Remembering how he had landed that perfect suplex, Subaru wanted to give himself another pat on the back, but at the same time, he realized that he was in a pretty bad spot right now. It was looking more and more like Subaru wasn't going to make it out of this. "Can't you guys let me off easy? ...I'm not a big fan of pain." After going through the experience three times already, Subaru knew that he was never going to get used to dying. To top it all off, the cause of death in all three instances was because of wounds inflicted by a blade. The sharp pain that went along with those wounds always felt fresh and was always a shock, as if his nerves were being whittled away. Subaru didn't want to experience that kind of death again, and that was not all. "Just because I've been Returned by Death a few times already, there's no guarantee that it will happen this time as well..." Subaru had no reason to think his Return by Death had a limitless number of uses. Subaru didn't notice a number on his body or anything, but as the saying goes, Buddha only has the patience to save you three times. If what was happening to Subaru was a gift of the Buddha's good graces, Subaru had already used up all of his continues. "If I die here, my life in this new world may really come to an end. ...I guess my best bet is to try to run away, even if I get injured in the process." The weapon that looked the most able to inflict a mortal wound was, of course, the tried and true knife. The hand ax really did have a lot of rust, so if Subaru blocked himself with his convenience store bag, he'd get away with a blunt hit rather than being cut. Of course, the weaponless guy was a safe bet. So Subaru focused all of his attention on Dumber, the one with the knife, and played through his escape in his head. Three... Two... "That's enough." That voice suddenly and clearly cut right through the dry tension of the alley. In the voice's gallant tone there was no sense of hesitation, and no ounce of mercy. Just listening to the voice was enough to be overpowered by its existence, and it was a perfect match for carrying the voice's owner's intentions. Subaru lifted up his head, and Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest turned around. In front of them was a young man. What stood out about his appearance, more than anything else, was his flaming red hair. Underneath it were sparkling blue eyes that could only be described as "daring." His extraordinary good looks helped magnify his sense of gallantry, and with one glance you could tell that this young man was a cut above the rest. He was slender and tall and wore well-made black clothes, and while it did not have elaborate decor, around his waist he also wore a knight's sword, which endued him with an inordinately intimidating air. "No matter what the circumstances are, I will not allow you to perpetrate any more violence against that young man. That is enough." As the young man said this, he walked straight past Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest, and got between them and Subaru. Subaru was at a loss for words at the young man's bold attitude, but Dumb's, Dumber's, and Dumbest's reactions were different. All of the thugs' faces went pale, and with quivering lips they pointed at the young man. "That burning red hair and sky-blue eyes...plus that knight's sword sheath engraved with the image of dragon's claws... It can't be..." The thugs stared on in disbelief. "Reinhard... Are you the Master Swordsman Reinhard?!" "Well, I suppose I don't have to waste time introducing myself. ...Although I am not fond of that title everyone gives me. It's still too heavy for me," the man called Reinhard muttered with a tinge of self-deprecation in his voice. But the light in his eyes was unwavering. The thugs, overpowered by the young man's stare, took one step back. They looked at each other as if trying to determine the best time to escape. "If you're planning on running away, I'll let you off this time. Just head back out toward the main street. However, if you plan on being stubborn, you will have to deal with me." Reinhard put his hand on the hilt of his sword and motioned to Subaru behind him with his chin. "We're down three against two. They have the advantage on us in numbers. I'm not sure if the little help I can give will be enough to make a difference, but I will do the best I can, on my honor as a knight." "Wha-what?! Are you kidding me? This isn't even a contest!" After hearing what Reinhard had said, Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest were completely out of sorts. They scattered like baby spiders, forgetting to even hide their weapons as they ran out onto the main street. Unlike the first time around, none of them threw any insults as they ran. That was a testament to the difference in scale between them and this young man. As soon as the thugs left the alley, the heightened tension that had permeated it immediately faded away. Realizing that this was something the young man did purposefully, Subaru was again at a loss for words. More than anything else... "For you to do all of that and still keep so cool...it's like you and I aren't of the same species." The level of human purity in his face, his voice, his stance and actions, were all way too high. If his personality and upbringing were also the

same way, if he wasn't doing something corrupt on the side, there was no way it all could balance out. Putting his jealousy aside, Subaru let out a flat-sounding laugh, and then prostrated himself on the ground. "You have saved my life, and I, Subaru Natsuki, am forever grateful. I must say that I am impressed with both your honorable intentions and bravery..." "You're giving me too much credit. It was because their advantage of three against one fell to three against two that they became unsure of themselves. It would have been different if it was only me against them." "No... Given how scared they were of you, even if it were ten against one...or even a hundred against one, I still think they would have run away. But what's with your gallantry stats?! You're like a saint both in body and mind. You're so brilliant I think I'm going to go blind!" To be honest, there was such a difference in their looks, Subaru really didn't want to be standing next to him. Subaru examined Reinhard again, but the more he looked at him the more he thought that this beautiful young man had to have been chosen by God. However, he did not look like he was a guard. "Umm...I can just call you by your name, Mister, uh...Reinhard...right?" "I don't need the 'Mister.' You don't have to be so formal, Subaru." "Well, we're pretty close all of sudden, huh? Anyway, thanks again, Reinhard. You're the only one who came running when I called. I have to say, it makes me feel a bit lonely that no one else seemed to care." Given how many people were out walking on the main street, it wasn't possible that Reinhard was the only person who heard Subaru call out. But as Subaru complained, Reinhard lowered his eyes slightly. "I don't really want to say this, but I think I can understand them. For the majority of people, the risk of interfering when thugs like those are involved is too great. You were right to call for guards." "The way you're saying that...are you a guard, Reinhard? You don't look like one at all." "I get that a lot. I am off duty today so I'm not wearing my uniform, and even I know that the way I look, I'm lacking the sternness of an authority figure," Reinhard said, spreading both his arms, but Subaru thought differently. The biggest reason that Reinhard didn't look like a guard was that he appeared to be far from the lowly, rough sort of idea Subaru had of what a guard should look like. "Now that I think of it, didn't they call you something like 'master swordsman'...?" "My family's position is rather special, you see. So I've got a lot of heavy expectations placed on me. Every day's a battle." Reinhard smiled, shrugging his shoulders. Apparently Reinhard had a sense of humor as well. Subaru was now completely sure that this guy was the perfect human being. Forget about lamenting to God about the unfairness of it all, at this point, Subaru was just impressed. "By the way, I thought that your hair and clothes, and also your name are pretty unusual, but... Where are you from? Why did you come to the capital of Lugunika?" Reinhard asked, looking down at Subaru and his appearance. Given that Subaru's background was unclear, it seemed to be a pretty natural response for someone who was a guard. "It's a little hard to answer that first question. Last time when I said, 'a small country to the east,' it didn't work, so let me rephrase that. I've come from a place even farther east than here, a place no one has ever seen before from the ends of the Earth," finished Subaru with a glint in his smile. Subaru thought that it was a pretty safe answer, but Reinhard looked surprised. "Farther east than Lugunika...? You can't mean beyond the Grand Cascade. Is that supposed to be a joke?" "Grand Cascade?" Subaru tilted his head with the unfamiliar term. Cascade...like, a waterfall? Subaru, who wasn't familiar with the geography of the surrounding area, had no idea what Reinhard was talking about. The only places Subaru really knew in this world were the main street, alleys, the slums, and the loot cellar. "It doesn't seem like you're trying to fool me or anything, but... Well, that's fine. Anyway, it looks certain that you're not from the capital, but you have a reason for being here, right? Right now, Lugunika is not as peaceful as it usually is. It's falling into a state of unrest. Whatever you're here for, I'd be glad to help." "Come on, it's your day off, right? There's no need for you to waste a day off just to help me out, you've really done more than enough already. ...But, I would like to ask you a question, if I could." Subaru shook his head in response to Reinhard's offer, but then he raised up a finger as if he suddenly remembered something. "I'm all ears. I'm not a very informed individual, so I'm not sure I can help all that much, though." "Well, it's less of a question and more me asking about a person, so no worries. So anyway, have you seen a silver-haired girl with a white robe walking around in this area?" Not-Satella's appearance was one that stood out. Of all of the things about her, the color of her hair and that hawk-embroidered white robe in particular stood out the most. If someone like that was walking around in the capital, there was a good chance that Reinhard, a guard, had noticed. "A white robe and silver hair..." "If I were to add anything, she's extremely beautiful. Also, there's this cat... Well, it's not like she's carrying it around in front of her, but she has one, if that's helpful." If there was someone who was wearing a white robe, had silver hair, and had that cat spirit, then it had to be her. However, the cat was usually hidden away inside her hair, so expecting a sighting that included the cat was hoping for a little too much. "...What do you plan on doing when you find her?" "Something she lost...er...I guess something she's looking for? Anyway, I want to give what she's looking for back to her." Of course, Subaru didn't have it on him right now, and it was even possible that she hadn't had it stolen from her yet, but there was no need to complicate things. Reinhard narrowed his eyes at Subaru's response, and then silently thought for a few moments before answering. "Unfortunately, I can't say I've seen anyone like that. If you'd like, though, I don't mind helping you find her." "I can't ask that much of you. It's all right, I'll figure things out on my own." Subaru lifted up his hand to refuse Reinhard's request, and then turned to exit the alley and walk along the main street. It was possible that he would run into Not-Satella again, like he did the third time around. If possible, it might be better to catch Felt and keep her from stealing the badge in the first place. Considering what would happen otherwise, Subaru thought that might be the best approach to take. "The problem is, considering how fast Felt is, whether I could really catch her or not. In the worst case, I could get some guards to come to the loot cellar, but..." "Loot cellar?" "Oh, don't worry about that. Forget I said anything. It's just the name of a place an old man I know likes to hang out." As Reinhard reacted to his statement Subaru tried to divert his attention and at the same time rejected the idea of getting guards involved. Even if Subaru brought guards with him, with Elsa as an opponent there was a good chance that it would only result in more casualties. That's just how superhuman that assassin's skills were. "Well, if all of the guards here were superhuman as well, it might be a different story... Anyway, I guess I should head back to the main street." "Are you going?" "Yeah, I am. Thanks again, Reinhard. I'll have to return the favor one day. ...Can I meet you again if I go to a guard station or something?" "I think so. If you just give my name, they'll know where to find me. I'd love to see you again, so stop by for any reason at all." "Have I really done anything, or said anything to raise our relationship score that much? ...Anyway, if I ever get stuck or lost again I'll be sure to stop by," said Subaru jokingly, waving his hand good-bye. "Be careful," said Reinhard, as cool and gallant as ever. Pushed on by those words, Subaru was able to exit the alley with absolutely zero damage, all the while not noticing just how much the young man with the blue eyes was sizing him up as he watched him leave. Now that Subaru had made it safely back to the main street, he did his best to look for Not-Satella. However, all that he could really do was open his eyes wide and stare at the passing crowd. Using his memories from the third time around, Subaru positioned himself near the fruit store he had become familiar with. The face of the scarred store owner that Subaru could see out of the corner of his eye was very stern. "This time our meeting wasn't exactly the best, was it... But, I know that you really are a kindhearted guy!" Subaru said, giving the villainous-looking shop owner a thumbs-up, to which the shop owner turned his face away from, annoyed. Subaru drew his thumbs back feeling unloved, and then returned his gaze to the street. As always there were tons of people passing by, of all shapes, sizes, and kinds. It had been over ten minutes since Subaru had started his lookout, and it had already been nearly an hour since he had started his fourth run. "I'm not sure I can trust my sense of time, but it would be strange if the theft hasn't happened yet..." said Subaru to himself, when an anxious thought crossed his mind. "Hey, old man." "What is it, Mr. Penniless?" When the shop owner came out in front of his store and looked at Subaru, he had already given up trying to hide how annoyed he was. "Well, it's true that I am penniless, so I won't deny that, but... Old man, I've got something I'd like to ask you. Have you seen any sort of commotion happen around here lately?" "You've got guts asking me a question without buying anything." "Well I know that, but last time... Wait..." As Subaru was talking he realized why the shop owner was in such a bad mood. The first time around, when Subaru and Not-Satella had visited the fruit shop together they had met again with...the shop owner's daughter. She hadn't been saved yet this time around. "How could I have forgotten about that?! Don't tell me that I have to go find her first?" "What are you talking about? Oh, fine. Whatever. Look, kiddo. Those sort of 'commotions' you're talking about aren't exactly unusual around here." "I'm glad you answered my question, but are you serious?!" Now that Subaru thought about it, the loot cellar was filled with things stolen from all over the capital. If there were that many thefts occurring, it spoke volumes about the level of security in the capital. "Does this mean I've completely run out of options...?" "However, the most recent commotion wasn't the usual fare. Someone was using magic and shot off two or three blasts of it. Just look." The shop owner leaned forward and pointed to a stall about four spaces to the left. When Subaru followed

with his gaze, he saw that right beside that stall was an alleyway, and there were a few holes gouged out of the wall leading into it. "Oh, wow." "There were some icicle-shaped things that were used like arrows, and one of them stuck inside that wall. It disappeared immediately afterward, though." Each of the four holes was a little bigger than a quarter. Since they were able to make a hole like that in a stone wall, Subaru shivered to think what would happen if they hit a person. "This magic looks like it's on a different scale from the first time I saw it... I wonder if Not-Satella's a little more upset than usual this time..." If Subaru approached her without thinking, he might be the one on the receiving end of that magic. Subaru felt a cold sweat form on his brow. "But if that's the case then I was too late this time as well." If the theft had already taken place, it was going to be difficult for Subaru to meet up with Not-Satella on his own. In other words, what he should shoot for now was... "I need to try to meet up with Felt. If possible, I need to try to catch her before she enters the loot cellar, and then exchange my cell phone for the badge, but..." Given that was a place at which he had already been killed twice, Subaru wanted to avoid the loot cellar as much as he could. "If I go too late, then it'll be what happened the first time all over again. However, if I go and meet up with Rom and wait for Felt, then I'll end up repeating what happened the second time around..." What was most important was Felt's location. Right now, Felt was probably being chased around the capital by Not-Satella. If he could, Subaru wanted to meet up with her before she arrived at the loot cellar. "Maybe I could just rely on my Return by Death and use this time just to gather information...?" While that seemed like a viable option, Subaru shook his head and quickly rejected that plan. This was something he realized after experiencing death three times, but every time it was incredibly painful. He didn't want to experience something like that ever again. Subaru was anxious about relying on his Return by Death power when he didn't know how or why it worked. Say Subaru decided to throw away this fourth time around by watching things unfold with the intention of dying afterward so he could reset everything. What if when he did that, his Return by Death didn't activate because he had run out of the number of times he could use it? No one would be laughing at that end. "In the end, I've really got to cling to life as long as I can. Well, I suppose that goes without saying, though." After making his decision, Subaru twisted around to stretch his body. The shop owner didn't seem too pleased as Subaru did his radio exercises in front of his store, but as Subaru finished and was jogging in place he waved back at him. "I don't know why you suddenly decided to help me, but thanks, old man." "It's no big deal. Just a little while ago, another penniless person like yourself helped my little girl out, you see." As he listened to the shop owner's reply, Subaru first was surprised and then burst out laughing. Oh, the power of fate. No matter how troubled this shop owner's little girl was, someone was going to save her. Just knowing that made Subaru feel that it was worth coming here. "All right! I'm really going to get going now. Next time I'll buy one of your abbles for sure!" "Well, if you do you'll be a customer, and I'll welcome ya. Work hard, Mr. Penniless," the shop owner said in a monotone. "Gotcha. I really am praying that the next time I come back here will be with money in my hands, I tell you," said Subaru as he left running. Subaru's destination was the slums, but this time, in a different direction from the loot cellar. If he headed toward the loot cellar, he was sure to raise a couple of bad flags, so this time he was going to try a different route. "You're looking for where Felt lives? If you just take that road over there until it turns into another street, you should be able to find it." "Thanks, you really helped me out, brother." "No problem, brother. You uh...live strong and take care of yourself out there, okay?" The middle-aged man Subaru was talking to smiled at him weakly as he disappeared behind a creaking door. Throughout their entire conversation, the look of pity on the man's face never once disappeared from his awkward smile. Subaru tightened his fist, happy that his plan was working. "It was a strategy I formed after my experiences from the first and second times in the slums, but...I never imagined it would work this well," Subaru said, shaking the sleeve of his tracksuit, which was caked in dried mud. In order to help him track down Felt, the brilliant plan he'd thought of after arriving at the slums was to make himself look as down and out and destitute as possible. The first time around, when Subaru visited the slums with Not-Satella, Subaru had not long before been beaten up by Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest. Because of that, most of the slum's inhabitants had pitied him and been fairly cooperative. The second time, however, when Subaru hadn't taken much damage, the people gave him a comparatively cold reception. The difference was like night and day. So remembering that, Subaru made himself look so bad he had risked overdoing it. "Well, I did step in the poop of who knows what kind of animal, after all. Anyway, I think I've pinned down where Felt sleeps, but...the problem is whether she'll come back here or not before she goes to the loot cellar." Fortunately, of the four people he was able to get information from, all of their answers about the location of Felt's living place matched up. However, Subaru thought the chances of her coming back to it were about fifty-fifty. There was also the possibility that she did not want to risk having her place found out by returning there while she was being chased. "Well, sitting around and worrying about it won't help me at all, so let's stop worrying. Okay!" No sense in worrying about things that can't be helped. This is where Subaru's decisiveness shone. As he continued to scrape off more caked mud from his clothes, Subaru dashed off deeper into the slums. It was dark as ever and there were puddles of who knows what here and there that Subaru had to jump over to avoid. But just as he was doing so, he almost ran right into someone who suddenly appeared. Subaru was able to turn just in time and hit his back against the wall of the alley, giving off a grunt as he lost his breath. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. Are you all right?" "Don't worry. Don't worry. I'm actually a pretty sturdy fell...ow...?!" As he was trying to play himself off as tough, Subaru looked up and when he realized who he was looking at his sentence trailed off and ended in a high-pitched squeal. After hearing Subaru's voice like that, the black-haired woman laughed softly. "What a funny guy. Are you sure you're all right?" she said, lifting her hair back behind her ear. Even that simple motion was somehow sexy, and Subaru reaffirmed the belief inside himself that every move this woman made was extremely erotic. She was definitely someone Subaru did not want to meet again. It was the woman who had cut open his abdomen and spilled his guts twice. It was Elsa. "You don't have to act so scared. I won't do anything to you." "I-I'm not sc-scared, okay? W-why would you think that....?" "You smell..." replied Elsa, seeing past Subaru's empty attempts to seem tough as she slowly narrowed her eyes as part of a beautiful smile. "Smell?" thought Subaru, confused. But Elsa just breathed in through her beautifully formed nose. "When people are afraid, they smell afraid. Right now you are afraid...and also angry, it seems...at me." Elsa seemed to be having fun revealing what Subaru was thinking, as she looked up at him. Subaru answered with silence and a false smile, taking deep breaths and doing his best to control the quickening pace of his heart. As Subaru went silent, Elsa narrowed her eyes like a snake. While Subaru felt pinned down by her stare, at the very least he would not be so weak as to look away. Elsa licked her lips in response to Subaru's empty display of strength. "...I can't say I'm not curious, but fine. I can't risk causing a fuss right now." "Th-that doesn't sound very nice. If you scare people too much your beauty's going to be put to waste, you know?" "Well, don't you have a way with words. ...If you could better hide the animosity you have for me, I might have been impressed." Elsa took her finger and gently pushed on his forehead, and Subaru's frozen body loosened up. As Subaru gasped and heaved, trying to get his breath back, Elsa put her finger to her lips. "Well then, I'll be going now. I have a feeling we'll meet again." "If the next time we meet is in a bright place with lots of people around I'll be able to relax, too," said Subaru cynically, but it was all he could do just to get that out. Elsa gave a longing smile as if she didn't want to leave Subaru just yet, but turned back around, with her black robe fluttering as she melted back into the darkness. After Subaru watched Elsa literally vanish from sight, he leaned up against the wall, feeling like he had run a mile. "I...I definitely didn't expect to run into her again just yet. I guess she was just wandering around the area before she went to the loot cellar...?" At the unexpected encounter with the final boss, Subaru felt as though his spirit was about to break. In terms of how mentally prepared he was to deal with either, meeting Elsa had much more of an impact on him than meeting Not-Satella. Subaru prayed that this was the last time he was going to have to see Elsa. "I think that Felt's place is just farther down ahead, but...Elsa couldn't have found Felt and already wreaked havoc, could she...?" She was a deranged psycho who derived pleasure from cutting open people's stomachs. It was not unthinkable that she would have slaughtered two or three people just to kill time. Plus, with this being the deepest part of the slums, Subaru had a bad feeling about what he might find. "I-it's probably all right. I didn't see or smell any blood. ...I think." Given the stench of rotten garbage that filled the alley it would be impossible to discern the smell of blood, and it was so dark that Subaru wasn't sure he'd be able to see traces of blood if they were there. But it was probably okay. Surely it was. So Subaru hoped at least. About five minutes after his encounter with Elsa, Subaru reached a dilapidated shack. "With the information I was given, I think this is it, but...does this really count as a living space?" said Subaru, confused as he stood in front of the wooden plank that was serving as a door to the shack. The inside of the shack was about the size of two portable toilets, the kind used at construction sites. It was as though someone took the phrase, "You only

need half a tatami mat for standing, and a full one for sleeping," to heart. "Well, I suppose if it's just a place to sleep, then it fits the description..." However, the thought that such a small girl was living in a place like this made Subaru feel pity for her. He supposed he could forgive her for being so obsessed with money. "So she's living out her life here, huddling her already small body into an even smaller space. I guess it's no surprise she'd turn out as twisted as she is. Ah... How pitiable, how pitiable is she." "Oh come on! It's not that bad. Just who do you think you are, kid, belittling my place?" Just as Subaru was entering his pitying mode, he heard a voice behind him and turned around. There in front of him, glaring at him, was the little blond figure of...Felt. The way she looked was not particularly different from the other times they had met. If anything, she looked a little dirtier than before, but that seemed like the result of her getaway being a quite a bit more rough on her than last time. "What's with you, looking at me like that with those pitying eyes?! You underestimating me just because I'm a girl and just a little bit filthy?" "I think you're reading the wrong emotion there, but...I'm just glad I've found you." While Felt didn't even try to hide how irritated she was, Subaru subconsciously relaxed his shoulders in a sense of relief. Subaru was genuinely happy to meet up with her again. He was worried about what might have happened after his near-miss incident with Elsa, but in the end, things seemed to be looking for the better, rather than the worse. In response to what Subaru said, Felt replied, "Oh, so you're a customer." She breathed out her nose, pleased with herself. "The fact that you came here means you've got business with me, right? From the way you look, it's clear that you're not from around here." "Oh. You're quick to see that I'm not really one of you. You've got good eyes there." "The people around here would at least take a little bit more care about the way they look. You're trying way too hard. Plus, the way you're trying to fool us with that dirty trick of yours, you look like you're even worse a person than I am." As always, this girl really knows how to be insulting, doesn't she? Subaru thought, quickly wanting to take back everything he'd said about pitying her. "So, what do you want? If you want something stolen, I'll need the money first. Depending on who the target is I may ask for more later, though." "'If I want something stolen,' huh... This is quite a business you're running here. Are you really that proud of your thievery?" "It's called making a living. If I don't do this, I'd have to sell my body. Anyway, so what's it going to be? Or do you have some other business for me? Depending on your answer..." said Felt, quickly moving her fingers as if showing off her dexterity. In her hand was a small knife that appeared as suddenly as if it had been summoned by magic. It was clear that she meant to show that she could defend herself. If Subaru had to fight Felt, given both her dexterity and the fact that she had a knife, he had no chance of winning. But Subaru had no intention of fighting. He lifted up his pointer finger and shook it left and right while clicking his tongue, as Felt continued to be on guard. "I only have one item of business to discuss with you. I would like to buy from you that badge you stole." Having come this far, Subaru thought that being indirect or trying to dodge the topic would just worsen Felt's impression of him. There was also the fact that Elsa was still wandering around the area, so Subaru wanted to dive right into negotiations. However, Felt put her hand over her chest where it was likely she was holding the badge. "How do you know that I stole a badge? The only person who should know that is the one who hired me, and I only stole it just a little while ago. This is way too quick a response for you to have just heard about it on the street." "When you put it that way... Yeah? That's a good point. That was too careless, even for me, right?" "...You really need to do a better job of hiding your intent, kid. A little taunt like that and you're already spilling the beans?" As Subaru held his head in his hands at his mistake, Felt looked as though she had lost the heart to keep up her hostility. Felt dropped to her knees so that she was eye level with Subaru. "So you want to buy this badge off me, huh? What are you trying to do? You can't be on the same side as that woman, right? Is she your rival or something?" "More like my archenemy, maybe? Like how you'd feel if she killed your parents. Or rather, if she killed you." "What are you talking about? Well, whatever, I don't really care about that." As Subaru was trying to figure out how he was going to talk his way out of this one, Felt just laughed. She then took the dragon-adorned badge out from her breast pocket and waved it in front of Subaru. "I'll sell this to whoever can offer me a higher price. Even if there's a chance that woman'll be angry if I break off our deal." "Yeah, there's definitely a possibility she'll just snap, but... Anyway, I'm just talking to myself, you can ignore me." Subaru cleared his throat, and put on a serious face. "So does this mean you'll hear me out?" "Only if it looks like there's money in it for me. That's obvious, right?" "Sounds good to me. ...I've prepared an item that is worth more than twenty blessed gold coins, and I would like to buy your badge with it." Felt's ears perked up, and her red eyes narrowed like a cat's. It looked as though she was trying not to appear shaken, but if she had a tail it would be twitching back and forth, so Subaru could not help but smile. "Huh, I see. That's quite a price. It looks like my hard work's finally gonna pay off. ...But unfortunately for you, your rival has already offered me the same amount, you know?" "Cut the crap! The deal was for ten blessed gold coins, right? You get too greedy and you'll die! No, like, seriously." In actuality, it was pretty clear that that was why she died the first time. Cause of death: greed. With Subaru having gotten the price right, Felt must have thought that she couldn't play it off anymore. After staring wide-eyed at him for a few moments, Felt lightly scratched the side of her head. "What, you know that much, too? ...Yeah, okay? The deal was for ten blessed gold coins. But you know, if I tell the person who hired me that another offer was made, she might counteroffer with more, you know?" "That one's not a lie, you know?" Felt, the thirteen-or fourteen-year-old, added, curling the edges of her mouth. "You really are sly, aren't you? I'd like to say just give it up and take the deal, but I don't suppose you'd listen to me, huh?" "Of course not! Plus, I'm not sure I can trust you. My ears didn't miss a word you said. You didn't say you brought twenty blessed gold coins, but only something worth that much. Isn't this a little unfair, with me knowing nothing about what you've got up your sleeves, but you knowing all about me?" "I think it's more of a matter of how much you can prepare that really matters in negotiations...but it is true that without showing you this first, we're not going to get anywhere." Subaru wanted to avoid having Felt sulk too much and wasting time, so he took his key item for the negotiations, his cell phone, out of his breast pocket. Upon seeing the small device, Felt raised her eyebrows a little bit, but that was it. As always, she didn't respond to anything unless it was clear that it would lead her to money. "Twenty blessed gold coins for this thing? It only looks like a hand mirror to me..." "This is one of those immensely popular mitia. It can take a slice of time and freeze it, saving it away." Subaru turned on the continuous shooting mode. A light and mechanical sound went off several times. The bright light flashed through the alley and showered Felt with light. "Whoah!" she said, in a rare show of girliness as she reacted. Felt looked as though she was about to complain, but Subaru quickly showed her the cell phone's screen. "This is the power of this mitia. Using it you can leave behind a clear image. Another thing to add is that this is a very rare item. This is the only one like it in the entire world. How about that?" Subaru had gotten used to explaining the cell phone's function at this point, and when he finished, Felt went, "Hmm..." and looked carefully at the cell phone in Subaru's hands, before nodding in agreement. "...It doesn't seem like you're lying. But this is me? You said a clear image, but I think I'm quite a bit better looking than this." "If you weren't in such a terrible environment and eating better, and while it may contribute to what you might think of as shrewd business sense if you could rid yourself of that sly, dirty personality of yours, I'd say there's hope for you! It's really just a matter of how you're dressed up." "If we're talking about choosing the right words to say, you have no talent when it comes to holding a conversation, do you? Geez." While Subaru might have scored himself a bit of irritation from that last statement, things were going well overall. However, one of the strong points of the people who lived in the slums was that they never easily agreed to anything. "I'll accept that this thing you have is rare, but I'm still not sure I believe you when you say it's worth twenty blessed gold coins. I'm not such an airhead that I'll just take you at your word." "Well...that's to be expected. I don't mind personally that you've got a spongy brain, but you're right. We need a third party's opinion." It would have been great if Subaru could have pushed the negotiations through then and there, but he expected that that wasn't going to work. The problem was who to use as a third party... "Deep in the slums, there's this place called the loot cellar. It's just as the name suggests, but I think that the quickest way will be to ask the weird old man that's there. He's fair when it comes to appraisals. He's very experienced, so I think he won't have a problem, even with this mitia." "I thought this would happen..." Subaru had expected Felt to suggest Rom. It was also her meet-up point with Elsa, as well as a place where she'd have a bodyguard if things went south. Given that an appraising eye was necessary for Subaru's mitia card, there really was no other choice. However, Subaru really wanted to have everything settled before they ended up at the loot cellar. "I have no problem with having the old man look at it, but..." "Are you really going to call him 'old man' without even having met him yet? You may regret it, you know? He's pretty rough with people who

don't know how to show respect." "Despite that, he seems to be quite doting on a certain foul-mouthed young girl, always giving her milk and all..." Subaru thought about the bald old man who always looked at Felt with calm eyes. From Rom's perspective, it must be like taking care of a granddaughter. But Subaru had no problem with him; it was the place that was the issue. "I don't know what you seem to have a problem with, but if you're in such a hurry, we should go ahead and get going to the loot cellar. To be honest, there was something else that I was planning on doing, but..." "Planning on doing?" "Well you see, the person I stole this badge from is a lot more persistent than I thought, so I thought I'd try to sabotage her a bit. After all, you give the guys hanging around a little money and they'll do anything for you." "All right, let's get going, immediately. Right now. Let's go go go!" Subaru pushed on Felt's back as she started walking and hurried her along toward the loot cellar. "What's with you?" complained Felt, puffing up her cheeks, but Subaru was proud of himself for being able to avoid as many casualties as he could. A little cash was way too low a price to offer for anyone to stand in Not-Satella's way when she was in a hurry. If the alternative was getting hit with a block of ice and squirming on the ground, Subara was sure they'd rather clutch their hungry stomachs instead. "My only condition is that we have the old man take a look, settle the deal quickly, and then get straight out of there." "Why are you in such a hurry, kid? You're all sweaty, you know. Live strong and take care of yourself." "Everyone seems to say that, but is that like the slogan of the slums?!" Subaru had the feeling they should change it from "live strong" to "live rough." As Subaru put that thought behind him, he made his way with Felt to the loot cellar for the third time in total this fourth time around. He would leave immediately. He would dash right out of there, even if he had to leave everyone else behind. Having made his decision, Subaru pushed harder on the back of Felt in front of him. "That hurts!" "Ow!!" said Subaru as he was kicked. After meeting up with Felt at her shack, Subaru and Felt made their way through the slums toward the loot cellar. The space between buildings was very narrow, and it was difficult for sunlight to make it through into the winding alleys. This additional darkness from the shade of the buildings only made the slums seem even drearier. *** Subaru could feel a dampness underfoot. There were broken bottles of alcoholic drinks and scraps of paper all over the place, and every now and then there was a strong unpleasant stench that struck the inside of his nose. Whether it was with Felt or Not-Satella, this was not the kind of place to be walking alone together with a young girl. "Now this would just be so much better if we were holding hands and in a more beautiful and colorful place." "Cut it out with that disgusting talk. Don't tell me that you're into little girls." "I'm more into older women. You don't have to be so cautious, come on over here." Perhaps because Felt had sensed danger from what Subaru had said, she started to pull away, but Subaru called her back. Reluctantly, Felt edged closer. "No funny business, okay? You're the one who's going to be more in trouble if this deal goes south. We clear?" "Why can't you just see that I'm doing my best to get this wary little kitten I'm dealing with here to relax so we can be friends? If you're so against me being friendly, why don't you stop messing around and actually take me to the loot cellar?" "...How did you...?" "How did I figure it out? Oh, come on, I'm not that stupid. I mean, I'm not incredibly familiar with this area, but I'm confident in my sense of direction. The way we've been zig-zagging around like this, even I'm going to start to get suspicious," said Subaru, looking down at Felt, who went silent, and shrugging. With Subaru being right on the mark, Felt couldn't help but look away, but Subaru himself was extremely nervous, his heart racing. After all, everything Subaru had just said was mostly a bluff. Subaru had been bothered by the fact that Felt's route didn't quite match up with the way he thought was the right way to get to the loot cellar, but what really caused him to question Felt was the fact that he had seen the same graffiti that was written on the wall twice, though at a distance, in a short period of time. However, at this point, his bluff was all he had to rely on. "I know it's asking too much for you not to doubt me, and from your perspective, what I have to offer probably sounds too good to be true, so I can't blame you for wanting extra time to look me over." "You've figured all that out, and you're not angry?" "Well I understand that it makes sense for you to doubt me, and I am being unreasonable. However, I will not compromise on time. Please, take me straight to the loot cellar. I'm begging you, please," said Subaru, raising his hands, pleading. Felt was startled, her eyes opened wide as she hesitated for a moment, not sure how to react, but she then took her hand and roughed up her blond hair. "Well damn, I just don't get you. I don't get you but...I feel like I've got to pay you back for not getting angry at me just now. Fine, I'll take you straight there. I'll just leave the rest of my doubts in Rom's hands." "I don't dislike that attitude of feeling totally free to rely on others, but...well...I, uh...nevermind." Just as Subaru was about to lecture Felt, he realized what he was about to say and muddied his words. What did Felt really mean when she said she'd leave everything to Rom? Rom treated Felt like she was a cute granddaughter of his, and he felt so strongly about her that he was ready to lay down his life for her. But how did Felt feel about Rom? Subaru didn't want to think that that bald old man, whom he couldn't bring himself to hate, was just being used by her. Felt narrowed her eyes as Subaru suddenly trailed off, but she didn't pry. Instead, having changed her attitude toward Subaru, she led Subaru straight to the loot cellar, without taking any detours this time. As Subaru kept after Felt as she trotted on ahead, he thought again about the course of events that would happen once they got to their destination. It was already Subaru's fourth time doing this. He wanted to go the best route he possibly could. As Subaru continued to walk, lost in thought, he saw that Felt had stopped, and was glaring at him. "Stop looking down as you walk! You'll get infected by the gloominess around here, you know?" "Well, I'd love to keep my head up, but it's not exactly clean and organized down around my feet, so it's dangerous if I don't pay attention. ...What do you mean 'infected by the gloominess'?" "You know exactly what I mean. I'm talking about the attitude of all the losers who live here." Felt nodded her head to show she was talking about the surrounding area, the slums. The way she spit out her words showed clear animosity and hatred for the place, and Subaru opened his eyes wide. "Losers...? Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" "How's it harsh? I'm talking about people who languish in this alleyway life and lose the will to even try to get out of here or better themselves someway. I hate losers like that." Subaru had spent a good amount of time talking with the people who lived here in the slums. It wasn't as though they had fallen so far that words wouldn't reach them, but like Felt said, he couldn't deny that they seemed to be content with life here, or rather, they seemed to have given up on getting anywhere else. It would be easy to say that that kind of attitude couldn't be helped, but Felt wouldn't accept that answer. In the dim light of the alley, the light from Felt's crimson eyes would not fade one bit. "I have no intention of living out my whole life here in these slums. If a chance comes my way I'll cling to it and make it mine. The same goes for this deal now." "So that's why, huh..." The second time around, Felt had done everything she could to find weaknesses in and get more out of Elsa and Subaru. It was easy to explain those actions simply by saying she was greedy, but knowing what he did now, Subaru thought he could understand why Felt was so persistent. Felt wanted to leave the slums, to break out of the circumstances of her orphaned childhood. At the root of all her actions was a desire for something more. "So, with twenty blessed gold coins, will that dream of yours come true?" "...It'll definitely be closer to coming true, and if I were going alone it might just be enough, but I don't know," Felt muttered. "If you were going alone?" Subaru's sharp ears wouldn't let that one slip, and he raised his eyebrows in response. Felt realized her mistake, clicked her tongue, and looked away. "It's nothing. We're not so friendly that I'm going to talk about... Why am I being so talkative today in the first place?" said Felt, clearly regretting the slip of her tongue. "Maybe you're loosening up a little because your goal's in sight?" replied Subaru, as he felt himself grinning. Felt said if she were "going alone," she might be able to make it. This meant that she had someone else in the slums she couldn't leave behind. For Felt, who held such a feeling of animosity toward the people of the slums, there could only be one person she could feel that way about. Thinking about who that was, Subaru couldn't help but grin. "What's your problem? That smirk of yours is starting to tick me off." "It's no big deal. I just realized that I was worrying too much about something I didn't need to be worrying about. Of course that's how it is. Of course. I don't know why I was worrying so much," said Subaru, showing his teeth as he smiled. Everything suddenly made sense to him. The second time around, Felt and Rom seemed to treat each other like family. Both were killed by Elsa, but even as they were dying they must have been thinking of each other. Plus, Felt had saved Subaru's life in the nick of time once before as well. If Subaru felt indebted to Not-Satella, then he should feel indebted to Felt as well. "Let's hurry up. We've already lost too much time." "I still don't understand why you're Hey, wait. I said stop that!" As Subaru started off and walked past Felt, he put his hand on her head and roughed up her blond hair. Her hair with its thin strands, which had probably never been combed, didn't feel bad flowing through Subaru's fingers. After Felt left the slums one day, and was dressed up a bit, Subaru thought she would probably shine bright. So, in order to also put Felt on a path to reach her dreams... "I've really got to make this work, don't I? ...I'm the only one who

can do this!" "Stop saying all these weird things and getting obsessed with yourself! I'm gonna bite you!" With Subaru's hand still on Felt's head despite her protests, he silently solidified his determination. He would change the fates of not just Not-Satella, but Felt and Rom as well...all of the people who had moved his heart. That must be why Subaru kept repeating this day over and over again. "I said, cut it out!!" Felt said, before biting Subaru. "To the giant rats...?" "Where might I find me some boric acid–laced dango? Now that's some poison." "To the great white whale...?" "You know, the first guy who comes to mind when I think of the word 'captain' is that good ol' Captain Ahab. Bet he has some fishing hooks." "...To our most honorable great dragon...?" "Since this is a fantasy world, I bet they really exist, but man, if I ran into one of those I can guarantee you I wouldn't be able to do anything. But you know, they are really cool, so I do kind of want to see one, but what a contradiction, huh? Those mixed-up feelings of mine can burn in hell!" "Can't you just say the passwords without having to throw in all that nonsense?! Can you be more irritating?!" The door to the cellar slammed opened so hard it looked as though it was going to come off its hinges, but Subaru, who expected this, had stepped back and was dealt no damage. Growling in frustration, too tall for the entrance, was the bald giant Rom, whom Subaru had grown used to seeing at this point. His face was red, his blood pressure probably high. "If you get all angry like that, you'll pop a blood vessel. Even if we had modern medicine, I'd say your situation looks pretty bad." "If you think it's so bad for me, then don't make me angry! Just who are you anyway?! I'm not supposed to let anyone in today, so scram!" "Uh... Sorry about that. This guy is actually my customer, so could you please let him in?" said Felt, who had been hiding behind Subaru's back and just peeked out from behind him. Rom slowly relaxed his shoulders. As Felt looked between a disappointed Rom and a whistling Subaru, she let out a sigh. "You really have a terrible personality, kid. Without being too mean, it's simply the worst. Anyway, we're coming in, Rom." As Felt slipped past Rom, still looking down, she entered the loot cellar as if it were her own place. Rom first looked at Felt for further explanation but was ignored, so he turned his annoyed face toward Subaru. "She really marches to the beat of her own drummer, huh? Us normal guys just get left behind, am I right?" said Subaru. "I'd like to start back at square one, where I was first teaching her what different words meant... Anyway, get inside," replied Rom, with the tone of a man who had given up and washed his hands of everything, before shrinking his giant body back away into the cellar. Subaru followed after Rom into the dusty air of the loot cellar. He tossed a few cautious glances this way and that, but fortunately there was no sign that Elsa or Not-Satella were hiding somewhere inside. Felt was casually sitting at the bar counter, drinking a glass of milk as if it were her own. "What? This is the only cold one left. I'm not letting you have it," she said. "I can't believe you're not the least bit bothered by how shameless you're acting... Hey, old man, I'll just have some alcohol, whatever you've got. Thanks," said Subaru. "You're one to talk! I'm not sharing with you! You're not getting any, you hear?!" shouted Rom as he ran across the room and rushed behind the counter, creaking the floorboards as he went, trying to hide what looked like his stash. Rom's overreaction was enough to inspire pity, and Subaru just said, "I'm joking," with a chuckle. "Well then, old man. We've already wasted a lot of time, so before we get sidetracked, I'd like to get straight to the point." "I get the feeling we've already gone way off track, but...what's up?" "Basically, I want you to appraise something. I would like you to put a price on this mitia I have here, and guarantee its worth to Felt." When Rom realized that the conversation was turning to business, his gray eyes turned serious. Old Man Rom looked at Felt, who nodded in confirmation, before turning to look back at Subaru. Realizing that Rom was wordlessly asking to see the item, Subaru took his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to Rom. It seemed that the metallic look of the phone was what first caught Rom's eye, and while he ran his fingers over it it looked like a tiny toy in his oversized hands. "So this is a mitia. Even for someone like me, this is my first time seeing one of these..." "I'm pretty sure this is the only one of its kind in the whole world. Also, it's rather delicate so please be careful with it. If you break it I really have to kill myself, and I'm not joking about that...of course, meaning so I can start over." Rom spent a while carefully looking over its outward appearance, but then slowly opened the folding phone. Rom had his first surprise as the phone started up and let out a sound, and he got his second surprise when he saw the phone's wallpaper. "This picture..." "I thought that this would be a good time to use that one. In order to show you the device's abilities, I put a scene from Felt's day as the wallpaper." The wallpaper was one of the pictures that Subaru had taken of Felt when he met her in the alley. He picked the one he thought looked the cutest, and given the image quality he thought it was quite nice overall. Rom looked from the image over at Felt, who was sipping her milk, and said, "Well, you've certainly surprised me. I don't think there's anything else out there that could draw such a perfect picture." "This is a mitia that takes out a slice of time and stores it away. It doesn't even compare with a picture someone has drawn, does it? If you'd like I can take one of you as well." "I'm interested, but it seems kind of dangerous. It doesn't take any of your life away, does it?" "No matter what age and no matter what world, it looks like that superstition about photographs persists, huh...?" Subaru gave a weak smile in return to Rom's reaction, something that seemed like it should be out of the Taisho period, or before, and replied, "Even if I take your picture, you'll easily live until you're eighty or so." Felt's reaction as she was listening to the conversation was also cute, and so after getting his permission, Subaru took a picture of Rom and showed it to him. "Hmm..." Rom nodded. "This is certainly something. If I were to take care of it, in terms of blessed gold coins maybe fifteen...no, I could absolutely get more than twenty for this. I believe it's worth that much." Rom's business sense sparked; his eyes were shining as he made his appraisal. While Subaru thought he was unsure how proud he could be to get the seal of approval from someone in the business of selling stolen goods, it certainly did put him at ease. His nostrils flaring with confidence, Subaru turned to Felt. "Well, there you have it. This is the card I have to play. Like I said, it's worth more than twenty blessed gold coins. So now, I'd like to trade you this for that badge you've got." "I see you seem to make that face a lot, but it really is annoying." Apparently unimpressed that everything looked as though it was going according to Subaru's plan, Felt made a face. However, that didn't change the fact that this new information made the deal sound even better to her. "Well, to be honest, I'm happy that I've got a guarantee that I can turn this mitia into cash. It looks like I don't have to doubt you anymore about it being worth twenty blessed gold coins, either. I accept the card you have to play." "Right?! So anyway, it looks like our negotiations have gone well. It'll be your job to sell it, but I wish you the best of luck! Now that's wrapped up, how about we go off somewhere and have a drink to celebrate our success?" Subaru quickly walked over to Felt and put out his hand to take the badge, but Felt slowly pushed it back. "Wait a minute. Why are you in such of a hurry?" "Life has its limits. You've got to treat every second of it as precious, and it's a shame to waste any " "Right, right, enough of that," Felt said, narrowing her red eyes, and with a calm attitude stuck at the heart of her doubts. "Why do you want this badge in the first place?" Subaru paused, holding his breath, and as both Rom and Felt saw that, Subaru realized he had made a mistake. What he should have done was say a bunch of nonsense, just like he had before. However, nothing would come out. As Subaru kept his silence Felt's mouth loosened up into a smile. "The older lady who asked me to steal it in the first place didn't want to talk about it either, and it looks like you're the same?" "...Well, stealing is pretty bad itself, so with theft involved, I'm sure everyone has some ulterior motives they wouldn't like to talk about..." "But in your case, you stand out more than one usually would. If I slow down and think about it, you're trying to steal this away from whoever wanted me to steal it in the first place." Felt's attitude was like one of a cat torturing its prey. "Just what is this badge anyway? It's worth more than it looks, isn't it? That's why everyone wants it. In other words, it's worth more than even this mitia." "Wait, Felt. That line of thought is really dangerous. I pretty much already know what you're planning on saying right now, even if I'm just drawing on my experience from playing games, but...really, you need to stop." As Subaru watched Felt's miserly gauge rise, he broke out in a sweat as he tried to stop her. If negotiations dragged on any longer than this, the bad end that was just waiting for them was going to be a reality. "This deal is for more than twenty blessed gold coins! Just take it! Don't be any greedier than that! El The one who commissioned you can only pay twenty blessed gold coins herself. She won't pay any more than that." "How do you know that?" "Well..." "The more you talk the more you're giving away. You're in league with her, aren't you?" Subaru wished he could just tell her that he knew because of his Return by Death ability, but of course he couldn't. Even if he did explain it that way, there was no guarantee she would believe it. As Felt's eyes filled with even more doubt, Subaru knew that whatever he said, she wouldn't believe him anymore. At this point, he might have to wrestle the badge away from her. But if I did that I'd have to deal with this muscular geezer... "Well, she's got you dancing in the palm of her hand, doesn't she, kiddo? Must be embarrassing given that she's younger than you." "It's all your fault for giving her free rein. She's so tough I feel like I'm about to cry." If Subaru tried to be violent, all

that would happen would be his getting beat to the ground by Rom. Even if he was able to grab it away from Felt, he didn't think he could outrun her. Subaru had seen how she could run like the wind. There was no way he could escape. "Felt, please..." "Don't think begging is going to get you anywhere. Look, I accept your deal as an option, but it's not fair to make a deal without hearing what my original client has to say about it all. If you would tell me how much this badge is really worth and are able to prepare what it's really worth in payment, then I may reconsider, though." In Felt's eyes was not even the slightest amount of compassion or mercy. Her two eyes were desperately trying to draw out the truth from Subaru's attitude. However, Subaru's reasons for wanting the badge were not the same as Elsa's. He only wanted to return it to its owner. But while Felt didn't know Subaru's intentions, he knew hers. Subaru knew why Felt was so desperate to negotiate the best deal possible. He knew who she was trying so desperately for. So after a pause, he told the truth. "All I want is to return that badge to its rightful owner." "...What?" Telling the truth was the most sincere thing he thought he could do. So while Felt's eyes opened wide, Subaru just repeated what he said before. "I want to return that badge to its rightful owner. That's why I want it. That's all." Felt's red eyes glinted full of animosity, but Subaru stayed silent. He didn't have it in him to joke around at this point, so he just bowed his head. "...Felt, I don't think he's lying," said Rom. "Don't you be tricked by him! This has got to be a joke! Return it to its rightful owner? By paying all of this money to buy it back from the person who stole it? How stupid can you get? If that's what he wanted to do, he should have brought a guard with him to round us up!" Of course Subaru couldn't do that. Not-Satella didn't want to get the guards involved. That's why Subaru had refused Reinhard's offer. Subaru couldn't go against Not-Satella's wishes. It was the least that Subaru could do, and it was his answer to the one who had saved his life. "If you're going to lie, do a better job of it! Even if you act like you're serious, I won't be tricked! If I don't... That's right. I won't be tricked..." Felt said, as if shaking some thoughts from her head, ending in a feeble-sounding voice. "Felt..." said Rom in a caring tone with a painful expression, probably knowing what was going on inside Felt. Either way, it didn't look as though Felt was going to change her mind. In other words, negotiations had failed. "...Who is it?" Suddenly, Rom's expression changed and he looked toward the entrance. Subaru, still in a state of shock from the negotiations breaking down, was too late to react to Rom's voice. "It could be my client. It does seem a little early, though." Felt went over to the door, with her angry expression still on her face, and reached to open it. Subaru suddenly identified the impatient feelings welling up inside him. The loot cellar, a knock at the door, Felt's client all of those signals could only lead to one thing. "Don't open the door! We'll all be killed!!" It was earlier than Subaru had expected. From the windows he could see the sun still high in the sky. It was too bright to be past sunset. The first and second times around, despair had come knocking after sunset. Subaru hadn't let his guard down about their limited time, but still, this was way too early. Subaru still hadn't accomplished anything he needed to do to change this world. Subaru didn't make it in time. Her hand was already on the door, and it was pushed open from the outside, and the reddish light of early sunset swept the dimness of the cellar away. And then... "What do you mean, 'be killed'? I'd never do anything that violent without warning!" said a silver-haired girl with a sour look on her face as she stepped into the cellar. CHAPTER 5 *** "I'm so glad you're here... I won't let you get away this time." Upon seeing the girl, Not-Satella, walk in through the door, Felt wordlessly stepped back. Felt looked mortified and her mouth twisted in frustration. "You really are a persistent woman, aren't you... Why couldn't you just give up already?" said Felt, sounding as though she was on the verge of grinding her teeth together. "Unfortunately, this is not something I can give up on. ...If you'll be a good girl and hand it over I won't hurt you," replied Not-Satella, the tone of her voice incredibly cold. As Subaru felt the tension of the atmosphere in the cellar rise, he couldn't help but shiver. Why was Not-Satella here? The sun had only just begun to set. The first time around he and Not-Satella hadn't even reached the entrance to the slums yet. By the time they had reached the loot cellar, the sun was completely down. "...Which must mean that without me, she would have found this place a lot faster..." Even if Not-Satella hadn't run into Subaru in the alley and healed him, she would have found this place all on her own. Subaru couldn't describe how he felt, with the uselessness of his actions across both space and time so thoroughly proven. But even as he drowned in his empty feelings, the situation advanced without him. As Felt continued to step back, she had already crossed from the center of the room to the back, and Not-Satella, while continuing to block the exit, changed her stance and pointed her palm forward. With the faint sound of shattering air, Satella activated her magic. It seemed that her specialty really was ice magic, and as icicles formed in the air in front of the palm of her hand, the temperature of the room dropped. "I only have one demand of you: Return my badge. It is very precious to me." There were six icicles floating in the air. The tips were rounded, so that their power seemed more in their weight rather than their sharpness. However, it was clear that if one hit, it would do far more damage than if a stone were thrown. Of course, Subaru himself was counted among the possible targets, and so he tried his best not to incite Not-Satella, just wordlessly looking on. "...Rom," called Felt, a little over a whisper. "I can't make a move. It's your fault for bringing in such a troublesome thing along with such a troublesome opponent, Felt," replied Rom, his giant body tensed as he shook his head. Rom had at some point grabbed his club and still held it in his hand, but his arm was slack and he didn't look ready to swing it. He seemed to be gripping and releasing it as though he was still hesitating. "You're going to give up before the fight's even started?" said Felt, challenging Rom. "If this were an ordinary magic user I wouldn't be complaining, but...this one's a problem," replied Rom, with a hint of admonishment in his voice, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Not-Satella. In Rom's stare as he looked down at her was both an extreme sense of caution and an element of awe. "You're an elf...aren't you, miss?" said Rom, his lips shaking. Subaru looked up reflexively. Rom guessed that she was an elf, but that would make him only half right. Subaru knew from what Not-Satella had told him about herself the first time around. Upon hearing Rom's question, Not-Satella closed her eyes for a few moments, and then after a small sigh, she responded. "Technically, you're mistaken. Only half of what I am is an elf," she said in a tone as if she was making a painful confession, and Subaru furrowed his brow. However, the other two had a much more exaggerated reaction, especially Felt, and with a shudder she continued to step back and said, "A half-elf...and with silver hair?! You...you can't be..." "I'm not her! We only look the same! It's... It's a problem for me, too." Subaru didn't know what was going on, but he could tell that this was a conversation that Not-Satella didn't want to be having. However, Not-Satella's denial didn't seem to calm Felt down; rather, it put her even more on edge, and she turned her red eyes full of animosity toward Subaru, who was still standing silently on the sidelines. "You... You set me up, didn't you?" "What?" "I thought it was fishy when you said you wanted to return this thing to its owner. The fact that you kept me from hiring people to block her way was also part of the plan, wasn't it? You two are in this together, aren't you?!" As Felt said those words, gushing full of hatred, Subaru realized a few things. One, that Felt was having another misunderstanding, but secondly, why Not-Satella was able to find this place in such a short time. Normally, it really would be impossible for her to reach the loot cellar in this short amount of time. Normally, Felt would have hired people from the slums to get in Not-Satella's way, delaying her arrival. Because Subaru had rushed Felt and stopped her from doing that, Not-Satella had been able to come straight here. While Felt's doubts were untrue, they weren't very far off. It was true that the current situation was moving in Subaru's favor. Subaru did want to get the badge and return it to Not-Satella himself so he could receive her praise, but as long as she got it back, he wouldn't complain. If things kept going at this rate, it would work as a nice backup plan. However... "Huh...? What do you mean? You two aren't together?" Not-Satella seemed puzzled as to why Felt was turning on Subaru, but Felt just laughed. "Ha! Cut the act! I'm the one who's backed in a corner here. So go ahead and take this badge from me and laugh at my stupidity, why don't you?" "Oh, come on. Just because you're at a slight disadvantage doesn't mean you have to cave so easily," replied Subaru. "That's all you have to say after bringing this girl here? Damn it, I've been had!" said Felt, roughly scratching at her blond hair and clicking her tongue. Satella seemed to frown at Felt's far-from-ladylike attitude, and Subaru gulped at the dangerous state of circumstances and misunderstandings, not knowing where to fix his gaze. As Subaru looked around he realized that there was a red flower decoration pinned to the left breast of Not-Satella's cloak. "Haa..." Subaru sighed, and then smiled. All of his hesitation up to this point just seemed so stupid now. Seeing Not-Satella's stern expression and attitude had reminded Subaru of the way she had rejected him in his last loop, and had caused him to be unable to do anything. However, he knew that no matter how many times he looped back, Not-Satella, at her core, wouldn't change. The fact that she had saved that little lost girl this time as well was proof of that. "The more we all talk about this, the more confusing it's going to get, so, Felt, why don't you just go ahead and give that badge back. Now, Ste I mean, you should take it and get out of here, so you don't get it stolen from you again." "Why are you acting like you know me all of a sudden? I really don't get what's going on here..." said Not-Satella. "I don't get what's going on either. Just who do you think

you are?" asked Felt, looking at Subaru. Subaru had tried to get things moving again and change the mood, but Subaru only got turned on by both girls, and failed to get anywhere. Subaru looked to Rom for help, but... "It's a magic user we're dealing with. I can't really make any moves. Don't be so hasty," replied Rom, misunderstanding what Subaru was trying to say. Ugh, this old man's useless, thought Subaru, just barely holding himself back from clicking his tongue in irritation, then trying to figure out how he was going to respond to both girls' stares. But just then...a black shadow silently seemed to slide in and creep up behind the girl with the silver hair. "Puck! Block!!" A sensual smile melted into the shadows and raced forward, and a silver glint seemed to squirm as it lunged toward Not-Satella's white neck. In that instant with Subaru's eyes opened wide, the girl's head went flying at least it would have. There was a loud clash, not the sound of steel cutting through bone but of steel shattering glass. As Not-Satella was thrown slightly forward there was a bluish white magic circle activated behind her head. The light of the magic circle took the tip of the blade and had just barely kept the silver-haired girl alive. Not-Satella then leapt forward and turned around, her silver hair waving, and behind that curtain of hair Subaru could see a gray-colored furry animal standing. Puck lifted up its nose, proud of its save before looking toward Subaru. "That was just in the nick of time there. You saved us." "Nice going there, Puck. Really, I'm the one who's saved. Thanks," said Subaru, giving the cat a thumbs-up, even as he was still shaken. It was still before the sun had set in other words, Not-Satella's very reliable backup partner was still on its working hours. Subaru's quick response was important, but it was due to Puck's amazing performance that Not-Satella was still safe. As for the aggressor, her surprise attack blocked... "A spirit, a spirit, huh? Ah...ha-ha... That's wonderful. I haven't ever opened the stomach of a spirit before." Lifting her dangerous weapon in front of her face, the woman's expression was one of ecstasy. It was the murderer Subaru had seen so many times before: Elsa. Both Subaru and Not-Satella were immediately on guard in response to the sudden new arrival, but the first one to react was neither of them. "Hey! What's the meaning of this?!" Felt yelled, stepping forward with her voice raised in anger. Felt pointed a finger at Elsa and then took the badge out of her pocket with her other hand. "All you're supposed to do is buy this badge from me. Turning this place into a bloodbath was not part of our agreement!" "Buying the stolen badge from you is certainly what I came here to do, but it's hard to hold any negotiations if its owner had already come and taken it away. So, I decided on a change of plans." Felt's face was red with anger, but upon seeing Elsa's eyes fixed on her, wet with murderous intent, she gulped. Elsa looked on, with an almost loving gaze, at Felt's fear. "I'll just kill everyone here, and then I'll pick that badge up from the sea of blood afterward," said Elsa, all while holding the expression of an affectionate mother on her face. She then tilted her head and continued on cruelly, "You weren't able to do your job. Do you really expect me not to throw away something that's useless to me?" *** Felt's face twisted as if in pain, but the emotion behind it was not of fear, but something else. Elsa's words must have touched upon something sensitive, deep inside her. Subaru didn't know what that was, but... "Don't give me that, you bitch!!" ...it was enough for Subaru to shout out in anger at Elsa, and forget about how weak he was compared to her. Elsa turned and looked at Subaru, surprised, and she wasn't the only one. Felt and Rom turned to Subaru and even Not-Satella was no exception. However, the one most surprised was none of them, it was Subaru. He couldn't understand himself, just why he was so angry. In part because he could not understand it as this emotion rose up inside him, he spit all of it out. "Is it really that fun for you to pick on such a little kid, you intestine-obsessed sadist?! Just because things aren't going exactly the way you planned, you're going to wreck everything and throw a tantrum?! What are you, five?! How about you treasure life for once?! Do you know how much it hurts to have your stomach ripped open?! I know!!" "...What are you trying to say?" "I'm just taking this moment to let the unforeseen sense of justice inside me rant about the injustice of this damn world, and right now, to me, the injustice of this world is you, and this situation, so right now I'm channeling all of my anger about everything on to you!" As Subaru's shouting continued to make no sense to her, Elsa let out a rare exasperated sigh. But while Subaru was kind of hurt by her nonserious reaction, with spit flying, he shouted one more time. "All right! That's enough buying for time. Get her, Puck!!" "That was such an amazingly lame tirade there, I want to write it down and leave it for future generations. ...Guess I'll have to respond to your expectations, huh?" Compared with Subaru's shouting and stomping, Puck's voice was aloof and detached. Elsa immediately looked up, but all around her, from all sides, were sharpened icicles, more than twenty in all. "It seems I haven't introduced myself, little lady. My name is Puck. I'd like it if you at least remembered my name, as you say farewell to this world." Immediately afterward, the icicles flew at Elsa. *** The crisscrossing icicles whipped up a white mist and Elsa's black coat was lost in the low-temperature storm. The speed of the icicles was far greater than what Subaru had seen in the alley, and he could just barely follow them with his eyes. Subaru thought the sharp-tipped icicles would easily cut through Elsa's body, the tips of the clear bullets stained red with blood. There were twenty of them. If any of them hit their mark it should be a lethal. However... "Did we get her?!" said Rom. "Now why did you have go and to say that?!" Subaru yelled back. Even though Rom had been quiet all this time, he had said the worst possible thing at the worst possible moment. "It pays to be prepared... I don't like wearing it because it is heavy, but it looks like I was right to wear it this time." Cutting through the white smoke, Elsa leapt out, with her black hair dancing behind her. She had her kukri held high in her hand, and in her light steps it appeared she had no injuries. Other than the fact that she had thrown off her black coat and was now only wearing her black skintight outfit, she looked no different from before. "You're not going to tell me that because that coat is so heavy that just by shedding it you're suddenly a lot faster, are you?!" "That would be interesting, but the truth is simple. That coat has a formula woven into it that can ward off magic a single time. It looks like it saved my life." Elsa politely answered Subaru's question before kneeling down and striking upward with the tip of her knife. The target was Not-Satella, and the strike was aimed to drive the knife into her chest. Subaru instinctively started to cry out, but... "I'd like it if you didn't underestimate spirit mages. We're pretty frightening if you make enemies of us." Not-Satella clapped her hands together in front of her chest, forming a multilayered ice shield that was easily pierced by Elsa's blade, but it took the knife and stopped her attack. Elsa immediately leapt back to retreat as a few smaller icicles were hurtled her way. The counterattack was due to Puck, who was standing on Not-Satella's shoulder by her silver hair, sweeping his arms this way and that like a battle commander. "One manages defense and the other attack... In reality, it's two against one," said Subaru, impressed. "That's the tricky thing about spirit mages. One'll attack, and the other defends. Depending on the situation, one might use simple magic, buying for time, as the other prepares a special attack... That's why we on the battlefield say, 'When you meet a spirit mage, lay down your weapons and wallet and run,'" muttered Rom, still gripping his club. Subaru nodded. It didn't look as though the pairing between a spirit mage and their spirit could be easily beat. "By the way, old man, what is it you're planning on doing?" "I'm looking for an opening so I can help out that elf girl. Of the two, she seems the one more willing to listen to us." "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! No! You'll only get in their way! If you go out there the only thing that's going to happen is you're going to lose your right arm and have your throat slit. Stay right where you are!" "Don't say that! The way you put it makes it sound like I've already been cut down!" As Subaru had seen Rom get cut down twice already, his words had a sense of truth in their tone. As if Rom was feeling what had happened to him in those different dimensions, he put his hands on his arm and neck. While Subaru was able to talk Rom out of it, the truth was that the fight between Elsa and Not-Satella was so intense, it didn't look like there was anywhere anyone could cut in. Countless ice shards had been created and were flying all over the room. However, in the midst of all of that, the way Elsa was handling it could only be described as superhuman. She would spin around, duck down so low it looked as though she were crawling on the ground, and at times she would step on the walls to evade attacks as though she were completely ignoring gravity. If even with all of that she didn't seem able to dodge an attack, she would use her blade to cut through the ice crystals and shatter them. She had paired with what her opponent could do in number with an overwhelming degree of skill. "She really looks used to fighting, despite her being a woman," muttered Puck, impressed with Elsa's godlike skills and fighting sense. "Well, it's been a very long time since someone called me a girl." "From my perspective, most people I deal with are like babies to me. But even so, you're so strong I almost feel like I should pity you." "To be complimented by a spirit such as yourself, I must say I'm honored." As Elsa gladly took Puck's praise, she fended off another shard of ice with her knife. Almost a hundred pieces of ice must have been thrown at her, but other than that very first attack, it didn't seem as though a single one of them had made their mark. "I think if they keep this up, Elsa will tire out before they do...but I'm still anxious," said Subaru. "That woman in black's movements really are incredible, but I don't think they can lose if they continue to hold the advantage in numbers...but it's not like that spirit will be able to keep itself here forever. As soon as that spirit's out, the balance of power will shift," replied Rom. "Damn, you're right. How soon is it to five o'clock?!" The first time around, Puck went to sleep just a little after sunset. It wasn't

as though much time had passed since the start of the battle, but with this much magic use, wouldn't he be using up all of his stored mana or whatever? "Just when things were starting to get fun... It pains me to see that something else is distracting you from paying attention to me," muttered Elsa as she twisted her body to dodge an icicle attack, confirming Subaru's fears. "As a popular male, it really is tough on me. I can never put the girls to sleep. However, you know if you stay up too late it's bad for your skin," replied Puck in a light tone, but he didn't deny what she was saying. Just as Subaru was beginning to worry that Puck had reached his limit, Elsa's movements suddenly stopped. In response, Puck winked his black eyes at her. "Don't you think it's about time we draw the curtain on this performance? When we keep repeating the same act it begins to get boring." "My foot..." As soon as Elsa tried to take a step, she fell forward, catching herself with her hands on the ground. Elsa's right foot had been frozen to the floor. The fragments of the ice shards Elsa had broken had piled up on the ground, and some had served as a way to bind Elsa's feet. "You didn't really think I was scattering all of these things around for no reason, did you?" "...I guess this means you've got me." "Just blame it on the gap in our ages. You have plenty of reason to congratulate yourself for getting this far. Now, good night." Throwing its chest out, Puck's body, still standing on Not-Satella's shoulder, started to oscillate at a high frequency. Puck was posed as if he was about to release his ultimate move, with both paws out in front, focusing more magic than ever before, and Subaru watched as that magic was shot off like an arrow. The magic did not take the shape of ice, but was simply a load of destructive energy. Along the path of the bluish white light everything froze, and in one fell swoop the loot cellar was filled with white. The energy passed through Elsa and broke into the door that formed the entrance to the cellar, blowing it off its hinges, and residual freezing energy from the attack even reached outside. As the brilliant light from the attack passed, everything was frozen, from the counter to the stolen items, to even the ground they lay on. Of course, if directly hit, even a human being would quickly turn into an ice statue, but... "It can't be..." said Puck. "Of course it can. Ah, that was wonderful. I really thought I was going to die there." ...this was all assuming the attack would hit. "...With you being a girl, I can't say I approve." While Puck's attack was dodged, Puck didn't seem any angrier than what his words conveyed. He simply wasn't happy with what Elsa had done. Subaru saw blood dripping, and a bit of steam was rising from the frozen ground. The blood was coming from Elsa's right foot. She was standing barefoot just out of the line of fire from Puck's attack, and bleeding profusely from her right foot, and it wasn't hard to see why. After all, she had sliced off the sole of her foot. "I was afraid I might lop the whole foot off, seeing as how I hurried. That was a close one." "Even if you only cut that much, it must hurt a lot," said Puck. "Well yes, you're right. But it's wonderful. It makes me feel alive, and in addition to that..." In response to Puck's worried sounding words, Elsa nodded with a look of ecstasy in her eyes, and without hesitation pushed her bleeding foot against a piece of ice. A sound that sounded like air shattering came erotically from Elsa's throat, and then immediately afterward she took her knife to the ice around her foot. With that, she had managed to stop the bleeding with the ice. "It's a little hard to move, but this should be enough," said Elsa with a laugh, clicking her ice shoe against the ground, looking as though she was having fun. Subaru had no words to say in response to how Elsa's addiction to fighting left her without any hesitation when it came to maiming herself, but right now it was her opponent, Not-Satella, who was in trouble. "Puck, do you think you can keep going?" whispered Not-Satella. "I'm sorry, but I'm really tired. I think I really underestimated her. At this rate I'm going to disappear from having run out of mana," Puck replied, for the first time without the confidence that had filled his voice before. As the cat stood on Not-Satella's shoulder, its figure began to shine, and looked as though it would fade at any moment. They were out of time. "I'll find a way to handle the rest on my own, so go ahead and rest. Thank you." "If something happens, I'll obey my contract. If need be, call me out, even if you have to use your od," said Puck with a warning, as his body disappeared in a wisp of mist. Subaru bit his lip, but he wasn't the one most disappointed by Puck's departure. "Aw... You're going away? That's terribly unfortunate," said Elsa, the one who had been fighting with Puck with her life on the line. She sounded truly disappointed. She readied her kukri again and with the high-pitched click of her icy shoe, began to head toward Satella. A number of icicles materialized around Not-Satella in response, but there were far fewer than when Puck was with her. Even though Elsa had her movement limited now, the match appeared even. "It looks like we can't just sit around and watch this anymore, can we?" said Rom, gripping his club and getting ready to move. "I don't know who's going to win this anymore, so if we just wait around we're going to miss our chance. You understand, right, Felt?" continued Rom. "I know, I know. Whether we help or run, we're going to have to make a move soon," said Felt, talking for the first time since Elsa threatened her. Felt moved beside Rom and then turned to Subaru. "About what you said before... Thanks. It made me feel better." "Huh?" "Only a little bit! Plus, don't call me a little kid. I'm fifteen years old. You're not much older than me, right?" "...Actually, I'll be eighteen this year. I'll be able to get a license to drive a car, and I can get married, too." "You can't be that old! Your face looks younger than mine! Age a little, why don't you? At least on your face!" Well, Subaru had lived his years lazily in the peaceful country of Japan, aiming to live every day as ordinarily as possible, so it couldn't be helped. Subaru felt as though his lack of determination was being mocked, and so he looked down at the ground, feeling useless. The weakest one here was Subaru, and it was enough that he was completely lacking in the ability to fight, but also... "My legs just can't stop shaking... I guess this is what happens when you lack resolve." Forget about being qualified to fight, Subaru was physically unable to. Rom had strength in his arms and Felt strength in her legs and Not-Satella had strength in her magic, and so all of them could manage to fight. However, Elsa's abnormality trumped all of those abilities. "It looks like she's starting to get pushed back," said Rom, and that was enough to completely describe what was happening. Not-Satella hadn't stopped shooting projectiles at Elsa, but Elsa just slapped them away with her blade, rendering them useless. In response to Elsa's dance of slicing attacks, Not-Satella would block the attacks with her ice shield, and freeze the ground in front of her feet to slide away, barely dodging Elsa's continuing attacks. After Not-Satella gained some distance, she would continue her barrage, but you could not deny that her position was inferior to Elsa's. To change the current situation, some kind of support was absolutely necessary. "All right, I'm going!" Apparently Rom had thought the same as Subaru, and after letting out a yell, Rom joined the fight. As Rom swung his club, it brought a gust of air along with it, and as Elsa ducked her hair was caught up a little in the blast. "Oh, how rude of you to interrupt our dance," said Elsa. "If you want to dance that much then I'll make you dance a fine dance, so give it your best shot!" As Rom swung his thorny pointed club at Elsa, he changed his line of attack. He thrust the club toward Elsa's throat, but Rom froze at the result. "What the hell is this?!" "I'm only able to do this because you're so strong," said Elsa from above as she stood on the tip of Rom's club. That kind of technique could only be accomplished with a godlike sense of balance. Before that balance could be broken, Elsa swung her blade horizontally at Rom. The strike was level with Rom's forehead. If it landed, the top of his head would be sent flying. "You think I'd let you?!" Shing! went the sound of Elsa's sword as it collided with a knife thrown by Felt. The collision had altered the path of Elsa's sword, but the side of it still collided full force into the side of Rom's head. A dull sound rang out as Rom toppled over to the side. "What a naughty little girl," said Elsa as she landed lightly back on the ground and turned just her eyes toward Felt. *** Felt's small knife had saved Rom's life. She probably had aimed for Elsa's arm, but in the rush of the moment her aim was a little off. However, without that slight miss, Rom might not have been saved. "You don't have the determination or power to fight. You should have just cowered in the corner like a good little girl." The high-pitched click of Elsa's step rang out as she instantly closed the distance between herself and Felt. Rom was unconscious, and Not-Satella, who had been trying to keep her distance, was now too far away. Felt herself had frozen like a frog being stared down by a snake, and... "Aaaaahhhh!!!" ...so the only one who was able to tackle her to safety was the coward who had been shivering beside her moments before. Subaru dove into Felt at about hip level, and while hugging her light body tumbled across the ground. Just before he hit the ground, he felt something metal scrape across the back of his head, which made all his hair stand on end. But, feeling the weight of the person in his arms, he did his absolute best to ignore it and kept rolling to put as much distance as possible from where they were before. When at last Subaru looked back, standing on his knees, Elsa was staring back at him in surprise. Feeling as though he had pulled one over on Elsa, Subaru couldn't help but smile back, awkwardly but proudly. "Are you all right?!" he said to Felt. "I was desperate there, so if I accidentally touched somewhere I shouldn't have, please forgive me, okay?!" "If you hadn't said that I would have thanked you like normal! ...But why?" "I don't know! My body moved on its own. If I had to give a reason...well, you don't know about this, but with this now we're totally even, okay? Remember that! We're even now!" said Subaru, clenching his fist after he let Felt go. The second time around, Felt had saved Subaru from Elsa's blade. That memory didn't mean anything in the world this time around, but with this

he was able to repay his debt. Subaru thought that even so, his debts should be returned, so nothing about what he needed to do before had changed. "Listen here, Felt. Right now I'm going to do the same sort of thing as Rom did before he was knocked out to help stall for time. When that happens I'll be sure to open up a window for you, so I want you to use that opportunity to run out of here as fast as you can. You got it?" "What?! No! Are you telling me to just turn tail and flee?!" said Felt, glaring up at Subaru with her red eyes. But Subaru just got closer and stared right back at her. As he did so, he was sure not to miss the moment when Felt looked as though she was scared at what Subaru was trying to say. "Yes. That's what I'm telling you to do. Turn tail and flee. To be honest, that's exactly what I want to do right now. I don't want to stay another second in this violent space," Subaru said, patting Felt roughly on her head. As Felt started to say, "But..." Subaru interrupted her and continued. "You're fifteen and I'm seventeen. Out of all of us, you're probably the youngest one here. So it's the right thing to do to give you the highest possibility of getting out of here alive. It's what's only natural." "D-don't give me that... You were just shaking yourself a minute ago!" "That was then, this is now! I'm not shaking now, so it's okay! Really, before I remember and start shaking I've got to do this now. Okay? So get ready to run!" Subaru put his hand on Felt's forehead as she looked as though she was going to object again, and then pulled himself to his feet. Not far away on the ground was Rom's club. It looked really heavy, but Subaru thought he would still be able to swing it. As Not-Satella continued to shoot barrages of ice at Elsa, there was not a sign of dullness in her movements as she danced to avoid the shots. In the first place, Subaru wasn't really sure if he, faced with a superhuman like Elsa with absolutely no real fighting experience himself, could open up a window for Felt to run. All that he could do was wordlessly spring a surprise attack on her when she wasn't paying attention to him. So right after Elsa had swung her knife and shattered a large icicle, and Subaru was completely in one of her blind spots, Subaru sprang forward at her, forgetting even to breathe, and swung the club down on her. Perhaps Subaru's adrenaline had finally kicked in, because the speed of his swing was far faster than he had imagined it would be. It sliced through the air toward the back of her head, and... "You picked the right moment and angle to target me, but unfortunately I could have sensed your intent to kill a mile away." "Intent to kill?! I have no idea how I'm supposed to hide that!" In order to block the swing that came directly behind her, Elsa struck the club with the blunt edge of her blade, changing the course of the swing enough for it to miss its mark. However, at that very instant Subaru opened his mouth wide, with his teeth bared, and yelled. "Now, Felt! Run!!" *** Like a spring Felt launched her small body onto the wind and raced forward. She was going so fast that Subaru couldn't keep track of her with his eyes, and the girl, now turned to wind, rushed to the exit. "Do you really think I'd let you go?" To stop Felt, Elsa took another knife out of her breast pocket and threw it toward Felt. As if it were a symbol of payback from what Felt did before, the simple undecorated knife flew straight at her back. However... "Too bad, but I wanna let her go!" Subaru kicked the round table that was beside him upward, which collided with the knife and sent it off course. "Man, I'm awesome! That was awesome! Wow, my toe hurts more than I thought it was going to! ...Uwah?!" Maybe it was Subaru's adrenaline again, or some power that had awakened in him that failed to activate the last three times, but as Elsa's long leg came up and kicked him in the side of the head and sent him flying, his self-congratulations were cut short. He was hit so hard the world seemed to spin around, and together with the onset of pain and taste of blood in his mouth, Subaru threw up. "That's the first time in a long time someone's made me actually a little bit angry." "Well, that's something I'm happy to hear! Ha-ha! Serves you right! I let one of us get away!!" Subaru stood back up and pretended to be in better shape than he was, doing his best to continue drawing Elsa's attention. As if Elsa had read Subaru's mind, she smiled at him, and forgot about Felt for the time being. "Fine, if that's what you want, I'll pay attention to you. Your dancing had better not bore me." "I'm going to go ahead and warn you, but if you're going to dance with me, you'd better be careful. I haven't learned a thing about dancing so I'll be sure to step all over your feet," said Subaru, spitting out the blood that had risen in his mouth. He readjusted his grip on the club that was still in his hands. It wasn't as though Subaru was going to have very many chances to land a hit, so he used everything he had to focus on striking Elsa as she rushed toward him. "You'd better not forget about me!" said Not-Satella, along with a chunk of ice lobbed from behind. But without even looking back, Elsa swung her blade and broke the ice to pieces. With Elsa's superhuman senses on full display, even Subaru wasn't able to keep taunting her. "I've started to get tired of this little game... Are you sure you'll be able to keep me entertained?" asked Elsa in a low voice, with her smile the color of blood. As Subaru gazed at her smile, he felt a shiver run down his spine, and looked over at Not-Satella to make eye contact. "If you've got some kind of hidden true power available, I think that now would be a great time to use it." "...I do have another trick up my sleeve, but if I use it, I'll be the only one left alive." "I would like it if you held back on that, then. No self-destructs, please. ...Okay fine, I get it. Damn. Use it if you have to, but don't be too hasty, all right?" Subaru intended that to be a joke, in order to help shake off some of his cowardice, but Not-Satella took Subaru's statement seriously. After seeing him take a deep breath and solidify his determination, Not-Satella's lips relaxed into an almost smile. "I won't use it. I can't while you're still trying your best. You can do this, so keep on struggling. Relying on the power of one's parents is my absolute final option," replied Not-Satella. As she said that she really did look as though she was running out of options, and that lit a fire inside Subaru. In one way, Not-Satella looked as though she was just about ready to give up; at the same time she looked ready to accept the fact that Subaru was weak and wouldn't help much. To Subaru, Not-Satella was someone who, no matter how tough things got, would never look down and give up. Because that was the way she was, Subaru had worked so hard to see her smile. Subaru had died several times and come this far in order to save her. He hadn't come this far just to see her give up. "I didn't see anything right now." "...What?" "This conversation we just had, it didn't happen! I just remembered the reason I'm here. Just leave it to me, damn it! I'm going to make sure you never have to use that final option of yours!!" Subaru pointed at Not-Satella and then at Elsa, and made his declaration. He spit as he did, stomped on the ground, and let all of his emotions howl out from his soul. "I'm going to blow you away and we're going to have ourselves a happy ending. You don't belong here, so scram!" "...Well, don't you look overexcited," replied Elsa. "I'm just ready to give it my all. This time's gonna be the climax. I've got a lot more energy than before!" As Elsa leaned forward, Subaru swung the club as if he was declaring he was going to hit a home run. Elsa's lips then curled into a smile and she melted away into the darkness. From such a low height that it looked as though she was crawling on the ground, Elsa slid toward Subaru. As he kept his eyes on the dull glint of her blade, Subaru swung the club with all his might. Subaru's swing held nothing back; he was prepared to beat Elsa to death. But Elsa just ducked even farther, like it was nothing, and was so low it looked as though she was licking the ground. "You spider-woman!!" "Well, I suppose it's correct to say that you're tangled in my web." As Subaru saw Elsa's sword rising upward, Subaru quickly threw his body back. However, he still couldn't pull out of the striking range of her sword. Fear raced up Subaru's spine, and without thinking he kicked up his knee. Even though he hadn't meant to aim his knee anywhere, as Elsa was right in front of him, it landed straight in her stomach. The path of the blade shifted a little, and then right in that path came a bluish white light, followed by a high-pitched sound. "An ice shield! Nice cover!" "I'm not good at making those at a distance. I could have accidentally frozen someone!" "Her, right?! You mean her, right?!" replied Subaru, with a mix of jest in his thanks. Not-Satella continued to draw Elsa back with her barrage of ice. "I've started to grow tired of you little buzzing insect. ...I think it's about time I wrap this up." "Hey, don't underestimate bugs, okay? It's not my fault if you get stung and break out in hives!" "Well, don't you sound all high and mighty when you're out of my striking range?" replied Elsa as she focused on dodging Not-Satella's attacks, while Subaru continued to try to draw her attention away. While Subaru would have loved to try to aim for Elsa's back as she continued to dodge, he didn't want to run the risk of becoming victim to friendly fire, so he really couldn't move. That was probably the reason that Not-Satella's attacks were muted when Subaru made his move before. It was the kind of problem you have to face when working on an improvised team. Subaru continued to watch as Elsa deflected Not-Satella's attacks, every now and then diving in with an attack of his own, before retreating again, but he could sense the situation getting worse. If Elsa really wanted to, it was clear that she could quickly take care of Subaru, like she did Rom. The only reason it appeared that they were on equal footing was because Elsa would not divert her full attention to him. Elsa's caution was instead directed to the possibility that the spirit Puck would appear again. That was enough to keep the current situation holding. Another reason that Elsa didn't act was because Subaru's cowardice was holding him a step back. He was taking care not to put himself in range of lethal danger. If Subaru had been

a brave idiot, she would have cut him down and the balance would have shifted. However, it didn't look as though Subaru's cowardice would serve him much longer. As Elsa's counterattacks grew more severe, Subaru's retreats weren't making it in time, and he was getting slight cuts all over himself. Subaru had cuts on his upper arms, on his calves, his underarms, and even a few slight cuts to his neck, and as those injuries increased, Subaru's gray tracksuit began to be stained with blood. "Damn, it hurts! Argh!! How about this?!" Even though the pain was enough to bring him to tears, Subaru swung a kick, trying to do something new to catch Elsa off guard. However... "I'll just take that," said Elsa. "...Damn." Elsa had easily avoided Subaru's kick and to top it all off, she had easily grabbed his leg. Elsa raised her kukri, aiming to lop off the whole leg. With the strength of Elsa's swing, its speed, and the sharpness of the blade, Subaru knew what would happen next. His leg would be cut off at the thigh and he would die from shock as the loss of blood and pain overwhelmed him. Subaru could just see the words BAD END 4 rising up in front of his eyes. I shouldn't have done that! Subaru's thoughts screamed. He tried to raise the club to block, but with the handicap he was facing, with one leg held in the air, he wouldn't make it in time. Not-Satella screamed. The cut would mercilessly reach his leg in moments. As Subaru thought of the pain and spilling of blood it would bring a scream rose in his throat, the blood he would vomit when... "That's enough." A flame appeared, burning through the roof from the center of the loot cellar. The flame was filled with a ghastly malice that swept through the room, and stopped even Elsa in her tracks. Subaru's leg released, he hopped back before falling down. Right before his eyes, in the middle of a rising pillar of smoke, he saw a red, burning, shining figure. "That was close. I'm glad I made it in time. Now..." "Y-you're..." The flame wavered and stepped forward. Its very existence was enough to make Subaru, Not-Satella, and Elsa all freeze. Taking in the gazes from everyone present, without being shaken one bit, stood an absolute sense of will. With sky-blue eyes shining with a pure sense of justice, the young man smiled faintly. "I think it's time to draw the curtain on this performance!" the hero declared, brushing back his red hair. As Felt sped like the wind through the entryway to the loot cellar, she felt as though she had been released from despair. Behind her, Felt could hear the freezing of the air, and the sound of metal clanging on ice. She also heard the sound of a blunt object swinging through the air, along with "Hii!" and "Wahhh!" and other stupid-sounding utterances from someone dodging attacks. The battle still raged on behind her. As Felt's legs started to shake as she ran, she shook her head to try to deny the mess of thoughts running through it. It was clear that if she had stayed behind, she would have been killed. Against an opponent who could knock Rom out with a single blow, Felt didn't have a chance. The same went for that silver-haired half-elf. Without support from her spirit, there was no way that she could win against that woman, either. Subaru was even worse off. It was clear that he had little experience fighting, and didn't seem used to it at all. His clean hands and fingers were proof that he had never even tried to hold a weapon before, and his clean hair and skin was proof that he had never been wounded before. In other words, Subaru had lived a sheltered life, one in which it was not necessary to consider fighting. Given that he had such an expensive mitia on him, it all made sense. Felt should just accept that it served him right. Despite not knowing anything about the world, Subaru had let a notion of chivalry get the best of him and try something far beyond his means. Felt should simply laugh at his idiocy. Subaru went and tried to act cool and let her get away, so he would probably be happy to see her keep running. But...still... "Someone! Anyone!" Though Felt knew in her mind that she should be winding down alleys, she had run straight toward the main street. Out of breath and with an expression of panic on her face, Felt looked this way and that. This was strange. Felt reached up and frantically rubbed her teary eyes. Even if she had reason to be sad about Rom, Subaru was someone that she'd just met. Why should she care if he died? But Subaru had gotten mad at Elsa for Felt's sake, and he had just about thrown his life away so she could get away alive. Felt didn't understand what she was feeling, but because those feelings were there in her heart, she kept running about. She had felt something in response to Subaru's actions. Because of those feelings, her feverishness did not subside, and while she felt like she wanted to scream, Felt kept running. Then, finally after running down a few streets... "Please...help me." "Understood. I'll help you." ...she found a young man like red fire, and changed the fate of the world. "...Reinhard?" "That is correct, Subaru. I suppose it hasn't been too long since we've last met. I'm sorry I'm late." The red-haired young man Reinhard turned to face Subaru, who was still toppled over on the ground, with a slight apologetic smile. Even as Reinhard wiped the dust from his sleeve, every motion seemed trained and deliberate. The way Reinhard carried himself was different from when Subaru first encountered him in the alley with Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest, and as Subaru watched him, he thought he was now seeing a glimpse of Reinhard's true self. Without letting his guard down for a moment, Reinhard looked ahead, and turned his eyes toward the black-clothed beauty who was now focusing her animosity toward him. Reinhard's blue eyes narrowed, as if he were remembering something. "Black hair and black clothes, and your weapon is the bent blade particular to the northern countries. With all of those characteristics aligned, there's no mistaking it. You are the 'Bowel Hunter,' aren't you?" "What's with that super-violent-sounding alias...?" muttered Subaru. "It's an alias given to her based on the way she kills. She's well-known in the capital to be a dangerous individual. However, from what I hear she appears to be more of a mercenary," replied Reinhard faithfully in response to Subaru's rhetorical question as he trained his clear eyes on Elsa. "Reinhard. Ah, yes. The knight among knights...and of the 'Master Swordsman' lineage. Well, that's amazing. I never thought I'd meet such an enjoyable opponent. I'll have to thank my employer now for giving this job, now won't I?" "There are many things I would like to ask you. I recommend you surrender, however..." "Would you say to a starving predator as it stands before its wounded prey, a perfect specimen and already dripping blood, to bear its hunger and move on?" Elsa licked her thin red lips erotically with a look of ecstasy in her case as she stared at Reinhard. "I see." Reinhard responded, scratching at the side of his cheek as though he wished there was another way. "Subaru, I'm going to have to ask you to get farther away, and please take that elderly man with you out of harm's way. After that, if you could stay beside that other person there, it would help me a lot." "Understood. ...That woman's quite the monster, so don't let your guard down, all right?" "Fortunately, you could say that fighting monsters is my specialty," said Reinhard confidently, and walked forward without any sign that he was preparing himself for battle. Reinhard did not even reach for the sword at his waist, but continued on empty-handed. After a sharp intake of breath, the kukri in Elsa's hand flew forward, in a flash, toward Reinhard's neck. Unlike when Subaru was her opponent, there was no sign that Elsa was holding back as she made her silver strike, and it seemed to kill the very air as it raced toward Reinhard's slender neck. Yet Reinhard was completely defenseless. Not only did he not make any move to defend himself, he didn't even make a move to dodge the attack. Subaru could already picture Reinhard's head flying off his body. However... "I don't really want to be violent against a woman, but..." said Reinhard, starting off in a gentlemanly way, but Subaru thought that the tone of his voice had dropped. "...you'll have to excuse me." Reinhard planted one foot down, the pressure behind it fracturing the ground beneath him, and with the other leg launched a kick so strong it created a shock wave as it collided with Elsa and sent her body flying. The back blast was strong enough for Subaru to feel it where he stood. He was speechless. All it was, was an ordinary forward kick, but the air pressure it caused was enough to create a wind that shook the entire building. Elsa, who took the hit head-on, was blown away like a leaf. However, she was able to reduce the damage taken by springing off the walls to kill the force of impact with her legs. Still, when she looked up, you could see the look of shock on her face. "No, no, no, no, no. There's no way. You're kidding me, right? ....Just what the hell was that?" Subaru had described certain things as being "on a totally different scale" several times before in his life, and it was at this very moment that he realized he had been mistaken. That phrase, "on a totally different scale," existed solely for the purpose to describe this hero who stood in front of him. Before Reinhard's existence, all of the extraordinary phenomena of this new world dulled in comparison. "It's just as they say...or rather, you're more than what everyone says you are," said Elsa. "Well, I can only hope I'll live up to your expectations." "Will you not use that sword of yours? I would like to have a taste of its legendary sharpness." Elsa pointed at Reinhard's sword. She wanted to face Reinhard at full force, without him holding back. However, Reinhard shook his head. "This sword is made so that it can only be drawn when it should be drawn. The fact that the blade has not removed itself from its sheath means that now is not the proper time." "I suppose I've been underestimated." "Personally, I would have preferred to take you up on your offer. So..." Reinhard suddenly turned his eyes away from Elsa, and looked about the inside of the loot cellar. Eyes eventually settled on an old-looking two-handed sword propped up against the wall. Reinhard used his foot to kick up on the hilt, sending the unsheathed sword spinning through the air. He easily grabbed it in his hand, and swung it once lightly as if testing it out. "...I'll use this one to face you. Any complaints?" "No... This is wonderful, wonderful! You had better show me a good time!" As Reinhard gripped his blade, Elsa made the first move, darting to the side. As she made her slicing attack she leapt to increase its speed. In response, Reinhard readied a stance to swing his sword from below, straight upward. In that moment of attack and defense, Subaru was able to get a clear view of what was happening. Reinhard's strike was sublime, it was magical, it was perfectly trained. In his hands, even a throwaway sword at its end of life, sleeping

away in a cellar, shone like some treasured sword passed on by legend across generations. Reinhard's sword technique captured every ounce of performance that could be extracted by the sword and he used it at will. Reinhard's blade hit its mark, just where the blade of Elsa's kukri met its handle. Despite the fact that it was two pieces of steel striking together, Reinhard's sword showed an unbelievable amount of cutting power and sliced the blade of Elsa's blade right off its base. Elsa had no words for the fate of the kukri she held in her hand. The blade had become just a handle, and as for the remainder... "Now that you have lost your weapon, I recommend you surrender." ...as Reinhard turned around, he held the blade of Elsa's kukri in his free hand. With a flick of his wrist he threw it, and with a sharp sound it stuck, lodged in the wall. Even Subaru could hear Elsa gasp. "He really is not normal. I can't even find the energy to joke about it." Subaru just barely squeezed out what he thought, and hurried to put distance between himself and the battle taking place. Along the way, Subaru went over to Rom, and somehow was able to drag his giant body to a spot along the wall. "Rom. Old Man Rom. Hey. Baldy. You alive?" "Who...you...callin' baldy..." "Who else? My only goals in life are to never go bald or get fat. You are, like, the best example for me of who I don't want to end up like." Even though Rom's response was weak, after giving him a few more slaps on the cheek, Subaru let out a sigh of relief. Other than the fact that Rom had hit his head pretty hard, everything else looked all right. There was a chance that Rom's memory might take a hit, but considering he was alive, it didn't seem like much of a problem. "Does it look like that person's going to be all right?" asked Not-Satella as she came running up beside Subaru, her long silver hair trailing behind her. Checking the state of Rom's injuries, she muttered, "He needs treatment," and her hands began to glow with a faint blue light. "Hey now, I'm just saying, but this old man's in league with the one who stole your badge. You know that?" "That's precisely why I'm doing it. Once I heal him I can use his gratitude to get information out of him. People don't tend to lie to people who've saved their life. I'm only doing this for my own sake." It was like she could not justify any of her actions unless she made a case for them being for her own sake. Subaru gave the ever-roundabout Not-Satella a weak smile, and looked back toward the battlefield. Elsa was on her knees but Subaru couldn't see her face. All Subaru could think was that Reinhard had taken away her will to fight. With his old sword down by his side, Reinhard approached Elsa with his defenses down. Surely Reinhard had confidence in the difference in ability between himself and Elsa, but pride always leads to the worst possible outcome. An alarm rang inside Subaru's head. "Reinhard! She's got another blade!" As Elsa's second kukri was drawn from her waist, it took a bit of Reinhard's bangs as he leaned back. With her surprise attack evaded, she turned her eyes toward Subaru. "I'm surprised you knew." "Well, I've already experienced it once before!" said Subaru, giving her the middle finger in a bragging tone although it really couldn't be called bragging. Elsa apparently decided that what Subaru was saying was nonsense and ignored him. "However, you'd be wrong to think I have only two of these fangs. ...Shall we start over?" she said to Reinhard. "Will you be satisfied if I destroy all of your weapons?" "If I lose my fangs, I'll fight with my nails. If I lose my nails, I'll fight with my bones. If I lose my bones, I'll fight with my life. That is how I, the Bowel Hunter, do things." "In that case, I'll just have to have you forsake your ideals." Elsa drew a third knife from her waist and held both at the ready. Worthy of the "spider-woman" insult that Subaru had lobbed at her before, Elsa seemed to fly about the room as though she were ignoring gravity, using all space on the ground and in the air available to her. As blade met blade and steel met steel, each violent collision sent sparks flying. Kicking off from the walls and from the ceiling, Elsa continued her fighting style of attack and retreat. Reinhard met her attacks as they came. As the battle seemed to go back and forth, Subaru gulped as he watched on. "It can't be possible that even Reinhard lacks the ability to settle this, can it...?" Elsa's abilities had stepped out of the realm of human possibility and it was hard for Subaru to even track her movements. However, Reinhard's ability was, at its very core, legendary. Their battle was like two gods colliding with each other in the heavens, but Subaru could see that, in terms of pure ability, Reinhard was far ahead of Elsa. But then why was the battle still raging? "...We're holding him back," muttered Not-Satella in response to Subaru's doubts as she continued to heal Rom. "Huh?" replied Subaru, and Not-Satella bit her lip, frustrated. "Because I'm using spirit magic, he can't fight full force. At least not until I finish my healing." "I have no idea what you're trying to say." "If Reinhard decides to fight full force, all of the mana in the atmosphere around us will turn away from me. ...I'm almost done. When I give the signal, call out to him." "O-okay." Subaru still didn't understand her explanation, but while still a little unsure, he agreed. The blue light continued to heal the bump protruding from Rom's head, and another wound that had been bleeding a little. Subaru looked on amazed as the traces of blood and the opening of the wound gradually disappeared, when Not-Satella took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm done." "Leave it to me. Hey, Reinhard! I don't really understand, but get her!!!" Subaru delivered the message to Reinhard, who had continually been on the defensive, that Rom's treatment was complete. Reinhard glanced back. When his and Subaru's eyes met, he gave a slight nod. "...What is it you're going to show me?" "The House of Astrea's sword," Reinhard replied in short and with dignity as Elsa leaped at him. Immediately afterward, Subaru felt all of the space in the cellar warp. "What?" Subaru saw the air in his line of sight twist, and he couldn't be sure, but he thought that the room had lost some of its light. Apart from that, the room's temperature, which had already been falling because of all of the ice magic, dropped even further. Subaru found himself shivering and hugging his shoulders. "Wait? Huh? Why are you..." "I'm sorry, it's just... Could you lend me your shoulder?" As Not-Satella started to lean on him, Subaru, while flustering about, rushed to support her. Her slender body was incredibly hot and Subaru could feel his heart racing from a completely different reason from before. But one look at Not-Satella's face and any ideas Subaru may have gotten were blown away. Not-Satella was short of breath and looked as though she were in pain. It was as though she was running a high fever. "What happened? Did you suddenly start to feel...?" asked Subaru. "No, it's the mana... You know, right?" replied Not-Satella. Subaru didn't have a clue. He would have liked to fold his arms and declare so, in his usual humorous way, but now didn't seem to be the time for that. It was not the weight on Subaru's shoulders that made him decide to stay silent; it was how the entire room had changed its atmosphere, and what was happening at the source of that change. In the center of the room, Reinhard held his sword ready with both hands in a low stance. But that wasn't it. That stance itself had been something that Reinhard had been holding since the battle had begun. However, as Subaru looked on, it felt to him that only now, for the very first time, Reinhard was holding his sword at the ready. "Elsa 'The Bowel Hunter' Gramhilde," said Elsa, licking her lips. "Reinhard van Astrea from the line of master swordsmen," Reinhard replied majestically with a nod. The presence of Reinhard's sword overwhelmed the room, and the animosity between Reinhard and Elsa shook the air. In this place, turned mostly to ruins, a black-clothed murderer and a lightly armored hero faced each other, and what would clash would be the blood-soaked blade of a knife against a rusted old two-handed sword. But despite the faults of one side's weapon, Subaru held his breath. After declaring their names, both were going to try to end the battle at once. Subaru felt that he was witness to a verse from an epic tale of heroism. Someone screamed out. Subaru couldn't tell if it was Elsa, or Reinhard, or even himself, but a brilliant light blew off the roof of the loot cellar and ripped right through it, cutting the entire space into two halves. Subaru couldn't help but feel that the entire world had shifted as an immense light filled the room and whited everything out in an instant. As the light cleared, the world was subjected to another sudden shift, as the displaced space tried to return to where it had been before. Air was distorted as residual waves from the attack swept over the room and caused strong gusts to rush, spiraling back into the center of the room. Along with those gusts, stolen items, furniture, and even materials from the building's structure itself were pulled in. Subaru desperately tried to protect both Not-Satella and Rom from this storm of collateral damage. "Just what is... H-hey! Hey!!" Subaru couldn't really explain how all of this was happening, but he knew who caused it. The "Master Swordsman" had, at full power, swung his sword. Once. Only once, and this was the result. Subaru kept yelling, trying to get through the pain and the wind, as finally, the storm lost its strength and the various items tumbling to the ground signaled its end, along with the chorus of dull creaking sounds from the building. Subaru tossed away the remains of a scroll-like object that had landed on his head and checked that both Rom and Not-Satella were still okay. It looked as though Subaru's cover wasn't completely enough, as Rom looked as though he was covered in milk and other things, but Subaru thought he deserved to be cut a little slack. "What do you mean, 'Fighting monsters is my specialty'? You're enough of a monster yourself!" shouted Subaru. "Even I get hurt when you say things like that, Subaru," replied Reinhard, the root cause of all of this destruction, with a weak smile as the gusts of wind blew his fiery red hair. After all of this, even Reinhard had beads of sweat formed on his cool-looking face, and in his hands... "I'm sorry for pushing you so hard. Rest well." ...his two-handed sword disintegrated. Something of such a poor making could not last even one of Reinhard's true swings. The strike was enough to make the steel of the sword's blade rot away, so as for Elsa... "Forget a corpse, I don't even see any trace of her left... This is all just from one swing of your sword?" In the path of Reinhard's attack, which had seemed to rip through the very fabric of the world, there was absolutely nothing left. In the destruction, the counter next to the cellar's entrance was blown completely

away with all of its chairs, and the residual waves of damage extended even into the open space in front of the building. The resulting gusts of wind had wrecked the supports of the building, and it seemed ready to collapse at any moment. The space where Elsa had been standing was of course within range of Reinhard's attack, and her tall, black-clothed figure was nowhere to be seen. "But then, that means..." Subaru said, stretching his stiff body and breathing a big sigh of relief. Still unable to quite believe had happened, Subaru turned to look at the silver-haired girl still leaning against him. Not-Satella's breathing was still shallow, but when she saw Subaru looking at her she turned her violet eyes toward him. "Is it over...?" she asked weakly. "Yeah... In the true sense of the word, it looks like it is," Subaru said, helping her stand. Not-Satella ran her fingers through her own hair, and with still uncertain steps, let go of Subaru, while Subaru stared. "Why are you staring at me like that? That's very rude of you," she said. "Your limbs and head are all still attached to your body, right?" "...Why wouldn't they be? Could you please not say something so ominous?" replied Not-Satella, not understanding what Subaru was trying to say. As Not-Satella stared back at Subaru with an annoyed look in her eyes, Subaru gave her a thumbs-up and smiled. "That's right. I mean, that makes perfect sense. I, myself, have all my limbs; I don't have a knife stuck in my back or a huge hole in my stomach!" "The way you say that, it sounds like you had experienced all of that at one time." Well...he had. Because of Subaru's uselessness, Not-Satella had had her life taken, Rom lost his arm and his head, and Felt was cut down, too. "Now that I think of it, Reinhard, I haven't thanked you yet. You really saved us there. There's also what happened in the alley... Did you hear the screams of my heart or something, my friend?" "Well, I certainly would be proud of myself if I could do that, friend," replied Reinhard, relaxing his shoulders, looking sorry. With his chin, he motioned toward the entrance of the loot cellar. As Subaru followed with his eyes... "Oh hey," said Subaru as he saw the person there, feeling his mouth form an unexpected smile. At the entrance to the loot cellar, which had been at this point pretty much destroyed, was a small blond-haired girl with a canine tooth poking out from her mouth, hiding in the shadow of one of the few pillars left standing. "That girl over there was running frantically down the street, where she asked me for help. The only reason I was able to come here is because of her. After that, I was just doing my job as a knight." "Is flattening old buildings part of your job description?" "Don't you think that's a bit harsh, Subaru?" said Reinhard, wincing and putting his hand over his chest. Despite having dealt this much destruction, the fact that he was acting just as friendly with Subaru as he had before was frightening in and of itself. "That's..." Not-Satella, still trying to regain her footing, had noticed Felt. Subaru stepped between them, running to Felt's defense. "Wait a minute. If she hadn't called Reinhard for help, we both probably wouldn't be here right now. So for my sake, overlook her crimes and please don't turn her into an ice statue." "I wasn't going to do that! And what do you mean, 'for your sake'?" Not-Satella rubbed her fingers up against her brow, looking tired. Even in that action of hers, Subaru was able to feel happiness in some way. Since everyone was alive, they could all be joking around. "I guess now it's all up to my negotiation skills...which are something I'd never want to put my trust in!" "What is with you, all of a sudden? The way you're flailing about like that is really lame." In response to Not-Satella's words, Subaru put his hand on his chest and reenacted Reinhard's previous reaction. Of course, it didn't look remotely as cool and dignified as when he did it. As Reinhard watched Subaru's antics, he smiled. He raised a hand toward Felt, who was looking in on everyone, and started walking toward her. Subaru watched from behind at Reinhard's gallant figure as he walked over to Felt, and he couldn't even feel envious of him. Subaru could only shrug his shoulders and think that this was the difference between someone who had it and someone who didn't. Even while Felt was cautious of him, perhaps because she was feeling gratitude that he had come to save everyone, Felt didn't try to run away as Reinhard approached. Watching the two, Subaru felt like smiling, when... "Subaru!!" ...Reinhard suddenly turned toward him and yelled, and Subaru realized that they hadn't escaped danger yet. Scraps of the building had been thrown up, and underneath them was a black shadow. The black shadow, with black hair trailing behind it and blood dripping from it, kicked firmly off against the ground and accelerated. Holding a blade that was bent out of shape, a bloody Elsa wordlessly raced toward Subaru. "Enough already...!" After having somehow survived Reinhard's incredible strike, Elsa's murderous eyes were filled with a pitch blackness. The murderous intent that she released was greater than any she had before, and it sent chills racing down Subaru's back. It would only be a few seconds before she was close enough to strike, and in that short amount of time, Subaru sent his thoughts racing. One instant and it would all be over. Elsa was counting everything on this one strike. Reinhard wouldn't make it in time. If Subaru could stop Elsa this one time, Reinhard could handle the rest. Not-Satella didn't even have time to turn around. Where was the target this time? Subaru had experienced this twice before: two deaths, the fear and the pain. He would protect her the third time. Protect the girl!! "She's aiming for your stomach!!" Subaru pushed Not-Satella out of the way, and using the club from before still in his hands, he guarded his own stomach as Elsa's strike collided with him. The horizontal slice felt less like a cut and more like being struck by a heavy blunt object. The force of the collision swept Subaru off his feet and he felt the world spin 180 degrees as he vomited blood. It wasn't just his vision but his entire body that was spinning. Unsure of how far he had been thrown, Subaru struck the wall, unable to catch himself. "There you go, getting in my way aga " spat Elsa, clicking her tongue as she watched Subaru fly. "That's enough, Elsa!" As Reinhard came running up, Elsa understood that there was no longer any meaning in continuing the fight. She threw at Reinhard her knife, which had been completely bent in that last attack that Subaru took. Her aim was off, but the throw succeeded in drawing Reinhard's attention away from her, and that was enough. "One day, I will open the stomachs of everyone here, so take care of your bowels for me until then!" she cried, using a part of the collapsing building as a foothold to leap up onto the roof. It didn't look possible to chase her down as she leapt lightly from roof to roof as she made her getaway. Reinhard, who was not interested in pursuing this fight any further, didn't run after her. After Reinhard watched Elsa go, he ran over to the silver-haired girl. "Are you all right?" "I'm perfectly fine! Can't you see?! Rather than me, you should be worried about..." shouted Not-Satella, before racing over to the wall with her unsteady feet where Subaru was collapsed upside down. "Are you all right?! What were you thinking?!" "Ugghh... Oh... It's no big deal... If there was ever a time to act before thinking that was it, don't you think? I'm the only one who could move, and I was able to quickly guess where she was going to attack," said Subaru, raising one hand to Not-Satella as she walked over to him and using the other to carefully touch his tender stomach. He was immensely bruised, and everything under his clothes as he lifted them up was purple. "Ugh..." said Subaru, disgusted by the way it looked, before turning over and getting back on his feet. "She's completely gone now, right?" "I'm sorry, Subaru. This is all my fault for letting my guard down. If you weren't there we would have been in trouble. If that person there had gotten wounded, then..." "Stop stop stop stop! Don't say it! Don't say it! I forbid you to speak any more than that! You're going to steal my thunder," said Subaru to Reinhard as he tried to apologize, and smiled at him as he went quiet. After that, Subaru slowly turned around to face the silver-haired girl looking up at him. She fidgeted and then stood up beside him. They were about two steps away from each other. If Subaru reached out with his hand, he could touch her. It had been a long time coming, and Subaru paused to think about everything that had happened for him to get here. As Subaru closed his eyes in silence, the girl looked as though she wanted to say something, but before she could open her mouth, Subaru pointed a finger up to the heavens. With his left hand on his hip and his right hand pointed in the air, Subaru disregarded the surprised stares coming from all around him, and declared in a loud voice, "My name is Subaru Natsuki! I know there's a ton of things you want to say and a ton of things you want to ask, but before all of that let me confirm just one thing!" "W-what...?" "I totally just saved your life right now from that terrible weapon, didn't I? We okay so far?" "O...kay?" "It means everything's fine. So, are we okay?!" Subaru used his upper body to form an O and a K, and while the silver-haired girl in front of him seemed to twitch a little, she replied. "O-okay..." "I'm the person who saved your life! Your rescuer! Now you are the heroine I rescued. Don't you think that I should get some kind of reward? Don't you think so?!" "...I understand. Only if it's something I'm able to do, though." "As long as you understand! Now I only have one, just one request of you!" Subaru put his finger out in front of him to emphasize this point. While the girl looked a bit worried in response, she seemed to find her determination and nodded firmly. "So my wish is..." "Go on." Subaru smiled, showing his teeth, then snapped his fingers and then gave a thumbs-up, striking a pose. "...I want you to tell me your name." The girl's eyes opened wide in shock, and a moment of silence fell upon the two. Subaru's gaze would not waver, and he looked the silver-haired girl in front of him straight in the eye. The girl then put her hand to her mouth and started to giggle, her white cheeks blushing, and her silver hair swaying behind her as she smiled. That smile of hers was not one of resignation, or a faint fleeting smile. It was not a tragic smile, either. She was simply smiling because she was happy. That was all there was to it. "...Emilia," she said, laughing. *** Hearing that single response Subaru took in a short breath, and then breathed out. In response the girl straightened herself, put a finger to her lips, and smiled in a teasing sort of way. "My name is Emilia. Just Emilia. Thank you, Subaru. Thank you for saving me," Emilia said, holding

out her hand. Looking down at that hand, Subaru hesitantly took it in his. Her fingers and wrist were slender and her palm was small, and her hand was very warm. It was a living hand, with blood running through it. Thank you for saving me. Subaru wanted to say the same to her. She was the one who had saved him first. With this, he had finally repaid her, after dying three times from blade wounds to get here. After all of that pain and suffering, after all that fighting with everything he had, his reward was her name and a smile. Ahh... "Man, that wasn't worth it at all," said Subaru, smiling as he gripped Emilia's hand. That would have been a good place to end the story. However... "Though really, I have to say I'm surprised to see you're all right," said Reinhard, as though he had been waiting for the right moment to jump in after Subaru and Emilia had finished, breaking the silence he had been forced into before. Even from the perspective of a man with Reinhard's skill, Elsa's final attack must have seemed overwhelming. Subaru gently put pressure on his hurt abdomen and pointed to the club lying on the ground. The spiked club was thick and sturdy and had worked well as a shield, even though that was not its true purpose. "I quickly guarded myself with that thing. If it weren't for that, right now I'd be cut in two," said Subaru. "You're right. If it weren't for this " Reinhard started to say, reaching for the fallen club to pick it up. " I wouldn't have been able to avoid 'BAD END 4,'" Subaru laughed, finishing his sentence. "Huh?" As Reinhard picked up the club, part of it slid across a smooth cut going through it, and fell to the ground with a thud. Cut completely in two, its service was done. Reinhard slowly looked up at Subaru with an uncomfortable look on his face. Subaru followed Reinhard's gaze nervously and pulled up his tracksuit. Just as before, everything was purple and bruised, but there was a slight change. A red line suddenly ran straight across his abdomen. "This doesn't look good. Even I can see what's coming next." Just as Subaru finished his statement a searing pain shot through him, and then his stomach opened along the cut, spilling bright red blood everywhere. "S-Subaru?!" Right beside him, Subaru could hear Emilia's panicked voice. Subaru had finally been able to hear her name and now it looked as though this was going to be the end, again. But even if that was the case, Subaru was sure he would return to this place again. Subaru's vision shifted sideways, and he thought that he must have fallen over. He could see that Reinhard was panicked as well, and as Emilia looked straight at him, close to his face, he could see that she was very distressed. She looks cute even when she's panicking... What a place this fantasy world is, Subaru thought, feeling he had thought something similar before, before the pain and shock swept his consciousness away like a storm at sea. *** Reinhard looked on from a distance at the faint blue light, its wavelengths those of water, the element of healing, and let out a soft sigh that no one around him could hear. Signs of grief showed on his handsome profile as well as traces of tension left over from the battle. If you were to take the image of his figure as he stood in front of the ruins behind him, it would surely be a masterpiece of art. Such was the way he stood. However, Reinhard had a deep sense of regret in him, the weight of which could not be lessened by words. "...All right. That should do it," came a voice like silver bells to Reinhard's ears, as he had continued to blame himself, his eyes closed. Emilia brushed her hand across Subaru's forehead, as if wiping it, and brushed away his hair as he lay propped up against the wall. She made sure that there was still a look of redness, of life in his face. Emilia then stood up and nodded. "I'm done treating him. He's probably made it past the worst of it." "That's good to hear. Now that that's taken care of, Lady Emilia..." Reinhard said as he walked swiftly over to Emilia, knelt down on one knee, and bowed his head. Reinhard's every motion was executed without any fault, and perfectly adhered to proper etiquette. "Due to my shortcomings, I have caused you a great deal of stress. I am prepared to take whatever punishment you deem necessary in response to my failure." Reinhard placed his sword in front of him as he knelt and apologized for his failings. As a knight, this was the most sincere way he could apologize. No matter what might befall him, Reinhard was prepared to take any punishment without complaint. Emilia, however, stuck out her finger and waved it back and forth, looking annoyed. "I never understand why you all are like that." "Meaning...?" "You saved us all from grave danger, and everyone made it out alive. Yet here you are, trying to take responsibility for our pain and all of the trouble we went through." Emilia pointed her finger toward Subaru, who was now sleeping soundly. "That one over there is a lot more honest. He saved me and then demanded a reward, even if he didn't really ask for much." Reinhard saw Subaru strike his pose and ask for Emilia's name. As Emilia smiled, remembering that moment, Reinhard couldn't help but smile as well. "So, thank you for saving us. That is all I have to say to you. I don't see any fault of yours to punish you for. If that's not enough for you, then work harder next time you save someone." "Understood. Thank you for your kind words," said Reinhard, bowing further to show his respect before standing up again. When the two stood facing together, it was clear that Reinhard was much taller than Emilia, and so when he looked at her, he had to look down at her. Where was that grandness that he sensed from her just moments before? It must be a difference in the capacity of our characters, mused Reinhard, taking heed of his own narrow-mindedness. Surely Emilia was simply one of those "chosen ones," he reaffirmed within himself. "I just remembered, talking about how you saved us, but...how and why did you come here?" Emilia asked suddenly. "Today is my day off, and I was wandering aimlessly about the capital. If I had been patrolling off duty, my squadron leader would have gotten upset at me, so I really was just walking around, but then...I met him," said Reinhard, pointing to Subaru as he answered her question. It all began after Reinhard had met Subaru in that alley. As they talked Subaru had given a description that matched Emilia's and had mentioned some place called the "loot cellar." With the mixture of this prior and newfound knowledge, Reinhard had also made his way to the slums to investigate. As he was looking around... "Then I ran into that girl over there, and the rest you know." "Yes, that girl..." Now that Felt had come up in conversation once more, Emilia turned her eyes to a corner of the open area in front of the loot cellar, where Felt was taking care of Rom, who had yet to wake up. The blond-haired girl turned around as she felt Emilia's stare and looked down awkwardly. "Lady Emilia, who is that girl...?" "Reinhard, I appreciate all of your help, and thank you for saving us. However, please...I must ask you to refrain from interfering from here on out," said Emilia in a strong tone, and that was enough to keep Reinhard from pressing any further. Emilia closed her eyes, trying to figure out how she would approach Felt. As Reinhard looked at Emilia's beautiful face, he sighed. "I won't ask what's going on, but your safety is very important. I would ask that you take care of yourself. I will send knights to take you home, so please go along with them." "Normally I would have to refuse, but after all of this I suppose there's no helping it. All right, I'll take you up on your offer," Emilia replied. "Understood," replied Reinhard. Emilia giggled and when he followed her stare, it landed on Subaru's peacefully resting face. "What relation do you have to him...to Subaru?" "I just met him," Emilia replied immediately, and Reinhard paused, giving her a doubtful and confused look. Perhaps because she found Reinhard's reaction amusing, Emilia smiled. "It's the truth! There's no other way to put it. I don't have any memory of meeting Subaru before. The first time I had ever seen him was when I walked into this place not long ago..." "But earlier, he said that he was looking for you. He said he had something he wanted to give you. Then there is the fact that he was present here for all of this, and..." ...the fact that he put his life on the line to protect you, Reinhard was about to say, but stopped. He thought that if he said it, he would be belittling the brave act that Subaru had performed. "That's why it's so strange," said Emilia. "I'm beginning to think that weirdo is somehow involved in all of this." "Please refrain from speaking that way about Provincial Lord Roswaal. He is a very upstanding citizen. I will admit that he does have some peculiarities, but..." "The fact that you linked the word 'weirdo' to him makes it clear what you really think." "...My apologies. Please keep this a secret from Lord Roswaal," said Reinhard with a wink. "Of course, of course," Emilia replied. Reinhard then turned the subject back toward Subaru. "What shall we do with him? If you would like, I could have someone from my family take him in as a guest..." "...No, I'll take him with me. I'll be able to find out more about him that way, and even if he isn't connected to that weirdo, it does not change the fact that he saved my life," said Emilia. "But thank you for offering," she added, to which Reinhard replied with a slight nod. With that, Reinhard and Emilia had just about finished all they had to talk about. Afterward, Reinhard would go and send a few knights to escort Emilia back to her residence, and then he would have to start working on cleaning up the aftermath of the battle. As Reinhard looked at the loot cellar that he had destroyed, he closed his eyes before the extent of the damage. As always, he was frustrated that he could not properly control himself. All of this damage was the result of a slight miscalculation of power on his part. If he had been even more careless he could have leveled an entire block. He needed to be more careful. "What is it that you plan on doing next to deal with the area?" asked Emilia. "We'll have to declare the area off limits for a while, and pass out wanted posters for the Bowel Hunter. She is already a person who has a lot of rumors floating around about her, so I'm not sure it will help, but..." "What about the girl, and the old man?" "...It's hard for me to grasp all that has happened, but given my occupation, I do not think that what they were doing is something that I can just ignore. However..." Reinhard paused, and then shrugged his shoulders. "...today happens to be my day off. If I might add another thing: If there's no victim filing a complaint, then the lack of evidence makes it hard to convict. But above all else,

it's really hard for me to grasp what happened." "Ha-ha-ha... You really are a terrible knight." "Well, that is the truth, despite everyone calling me the knight among knights," said Reinhard jokingly, and Emilia put her hand to her mouth and giggled. Finally, after all the laughing had subsided, Emilia's thoughts were in order. She walked toward the blond-haired girl who was still hugging the old man beside her. When she noticed Emilia coming, she looked up, prepared to face her. "Is this old man your family?" asked Emilia, squatting down so that she was on the same level as Felt. Felt looked shocked. Of all the things she had expected to hear, that was not one of them. Even Reinhard, who didn't know what had happened between the two, could tell that they were not on particularly good terms. Felt scratched her cheek and tried to regain her composure, and then, as if trying to hide her embarrassment, she slapped Rom a few times. "I-it's kinda like that. To me, Old Man Rom is like my only...uh...grandfather figure sort of thing." "I see. I only have one family member as well. He's always sleeping when it counts, and when he's awake I don't think I could ever say that to him." "Well...I can't say these sort of things when Rom's awake, either." Reinhard couldn't be sure, but it looked as though the intensity of Felt's slaps was increasing. She probably wasn't paying attention. The frequency was also increasing, and the old man's white bald head was turning red. Felt then looked up at Emilia, with a weak light in her red eyes. "I was sure you were going to be angry at me." "Well, that might have happened if things were as they were before, but I don't feel like I have it in me anymore. So while only a little bit, I'll forgive you for his sake," said Emilia with a weak smile and a shrug, before pointing back over to Subaru, who was still sleeping. Felt looked at Emilia, then at Subaru, and then looked down before quietly saying, "I'm sorry. He saved my life, too. I can't be so ungrateful as to ignore that. I'll return what I stole." "Good. That makes things easier on me. I really, really would feel bad if I had to sic this guy over here on you," said Emilia with a wink, pointing back at Reinhard. After hearing those words and looking at that young man with the red hair and blue eyes, Felt grimaced. "The knight among knights... I would have to be crazy to try to run away with someone like that on my tail. It's the first time I've ever seen anyone faster than me. It really surprised me." Upon hearing those words, Reinhard just smiled back at Felt, wordlessly. With a slight click of her tongue, Felt stood up and walked over to Emilia, who stood up as well. "All right, I'll give it back," said Felt, digging around in her breast pocket. "If it's that important to you, make sure you hide it better so it doesn't get stolen again." "That warning feels a little strange coming from you. ...If possible I would like it if you stopped your thievery altogether." "That's something I cannot do," said Felt in a flat refusal. "Just so you know, I'm only returning this to you this time because I owe my life to you all. I don't think I did anything wrong, and I have no plans to stop." Felt put on a strong-willed smile. Considering Felt's age, it was almost painful to watch. As Felt declared her intentions, Reinhard looked on in silence. Given his occupation, Reinhard knew that this was not something he should overlook, but what other way of life did she have? What right did he have to talk of justice without offering her any alternatives? Reinhard had seen enough of the capital to not be so naive as to ignore that fact. Emilia seemed to realize this as well, and after lowering her eyes for a few moments, she stuck out her hand without another word. "Understood. ...I was asking for too much." "If I was able to eat without having to work for it, I might quit, but that's not happening. Anyway, here you go." Felt reached out to put the thing she had taken out of her pocket into Emilia's hand, to give back what she had stolen. For an instant, Reinhard saw a flash of red cross in front of his eyes. That bright light was something he had seen before, and as he narrowed his eyes Reinhard searched through the sea of his memories for it. Then after he had found what he was looking for... "Huh?" "Reinhard...?" ...he reached out and grabbed Felt's hand, still holding on to the badge. Both girls looked up in surprise at Reinhard, but when they saw his serious expression, both fumbled for words. "Th-that hurts... Let go..." said Felt, shaking her head and trying to resist. However, Reinhard did not loosen his grip. The strength in his hand was such that, if he wanted to, he could bend steel. Even if he wasn't using his full strength, it was not something that a slender girl like Felt could shake away from. "I don't believe it..." muttered Reinhard, his voice shaking. Upon hearing those words, Emilia responded, her eyes trembling. "Wait, Reinhard. I understand that it is hard to let her off without a word, but she didn't realize how much this badge is worth. Plus, I do not find fault with her. It was my fault that I let it get stolen in the first place." "You're mistaken, Lady Emilia. That's not what I have a problem with," said Reinhard in a forceful tone. Confused, Emilia went silent. Reinhard stared intently at Felt, so much that he had already forgotten how rude he just was to Emilia. As Felt looked back at the young man with hair as red as her eyes, those red eyes of hers wavered with anxiety. "...What is your name?" "It's F-Felt..." "What is your surname? How old are you?" "I-I'm an orphan, all right? I don't have a surname and I...I think I'm about fifteen years old. I don't know my own birthday. But enough about that. Let me go!" As Felt spoke, she seemed to regain a bit of her composure and tried to wrestle herself away from him. Reinhard kept his firm hold on Felt and then turned to look at Emilia. "Lady Emilia, I am no longer able to fulfill your request. I'm taking this girl with me." "...May I ask why? If the reason has anything to do with this badge..." "That is certainly not a crime I would like to ignore, but considering the far greater crime it would be to watch this moment before me unfold without any action, it is a trivial matter." Emilia furrowed her brow, in both hesitation and confusion. But Reinhard accepted Emilia's confusion. He felt that there was no helping it. After all, this was something she was used to. It would be cruel to tell her to realize what was happening. "You're coming with me. I'm sorry, but I can't let you refuse." "What are you, crazy?! Just because you saved me doesn't mean you can just... Huh?" Just as Felt was about to continue yelling at Reinhard, her body went limp. As the power drained from her body Felt glared at Reinhard, until the very end, finally saying, "Burn in hell... Damn it..." before her head drooped and she fell unconscious. "That's again not a very knightly thing for you to do... If you do it that roughly, it's going to leave lasting effects on the gate." "Fortunately, this is something I've had to live with all my life, so I understand how to keep everything in moderation. ...Lady Emilia, I believe you'll hear again from me soon. Please understand." Reinhard gently took Emilia's badge out of Felt's limp hand and gave it to her. The dragon on the badge was, in fact, the state symbol of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunika. In Reinhard's hand the red jewel shone with a dull light, but when it was returned to Emilia's hands it shone bright, as if delighted to be back in the hands of its owner. "I ask that you take good care of Subaru," said Reinhard with a bow, after Emilia silently took her badge from Reinhard and continued to look at him. Feeling Felt's light weight in his arms, Reinhard brushed her blond hair away from her forehead. When she was unconscious like this and didn't have to be so on guard, her white face looked both innocent and charming. If she were given a change of clothes and a bath, surely she would shine. A strong wind blew and Reinhard's bangs danced in front of his face. Through those bangs Reinhard looked up at the sky and saw floating in the twilight above the capital, the moon. It was a full moon that shone with a bluish white light, and its beauty was both alluring and bewitching. "This may be the last time I can look up at the moon and feel at ease..." muttered Reinhard, his words only reaching the moon that looked down upon them. *** Even now, she deeply recalled the feelings she had at the time. Familiar sights had flames all around them; people she knew had turned into silent corpses. A world coming to an end. A closed world. A thankless world. A world that was harsh, senseless, and brought nothing but pain. Even so, she reached out with her hand, moved her fingers, quivered her lips, and pleaded. After all, while it was a world beyond saving, it was still the only one she had. It was a world that always had its back turned to her, locked away before her eyes, a world she could gaze into only from afar. She wanted to abruptly tear down that wall; squint at the broad, dazzling world before her; and carve into her unopened eyes the color of sunbaked skin, the color and smell of burned meat, the color of the beautiful "horns" that danced in the sky Here was the world about to end, and what was she thinking about? For even then, she could still remember the feelings she had at the time Thereafter, she devoted each and every day to expunging her guilt over those feelings above all else. CHAPTER 1 *** The first thing that flew into his eyes as they blinked open was an artificial sense of dazzling white. Beyond the light, a broad ceiling spread before him, with crystals attached to it providing flickering light that illuminated the room's interior. Confirming in his head that he was waking up, Subaru's mind immediately grasped how good his wake-up felt. "...The pillow feels different, huh. Smells better, too... Definitely higher class than usual." Subaru savored the feel of the blanket and the other fine scents as he sat up in bed. At a glance, he knew it was a room for the upper class. Subaru had slept in a king-size bed that could fit five people to spare; the room was about ninety square feet, oddly spacious with only a bed in it. "The quality of the painting on the wall is so high it makes the room feel lonelier, huh. A guest room, then?" Subaru, now completely awake, gently swung his legs over the side of the bed and checked his physical condition. He made sure he could rotate his legs and shoulders, finally pulling up his clothes and gingerly touching his belly. "Abdominal wound...totally gone. No bruises, of course no scar, either... This world's medical tech is pretty awesome to not leave sewing marks. Assuming my big scene wasn't all just in my imagination, anyway." He recalled the string of events

leading up to his abdomen being deeply slashed. Subaru, a completely ordinary Japanese schoolboy, was abruptly summoned to another world in a painfully cliché manner, coming face-to-face with death, literally, on multiple occasions. That he was still alive was thanks to a string of coincidences that one could only call miraculous. "But how much time's passed since then... No way to tell the time, huh?" He glanced all around the room, unable to find any sign of calendars, clocks, or anything similar. The gold-glowing crystal above the door stood out; the darkness outside the window told him it was night, which was news to him. Subaru slumped his shoulders and took a deep breath. Then, he voiced the inescapable conclusion on his lips and finally resigned himself to face reality. "Any way you slice it...this time I managed to avoid Return by Death, huh?" "First time, it was a pathetic death; second time, it was a bold death; third time, I died like a dog; fourth time, I got involved in mortal combat and died from a stray blow is what I would be saying if I hadn't overcome that development. Man, if I died then, I'd be on a one-way ticket to mob-ville." Flopping back into the bed, Subaru counted the causes of his deaths on his fingers. Looking back on it, armed robbery included, he'd been slashed to death every time. He didn't want to see a blade again anytime soon. At any rate, he'd somehow managed to avoid Return by Death and had finally been able to move time forward. The fact that he was all right after sustaining a plainly lethal wound meant... "Considering the situation, it was that girl's...Emilia's healing magic, huh?" An image arose in the back of his mind of a beautiful lilac-eyed girl with silver hair Emilia. He thought it was safe to assume she'd healed his abdominal wound. Having had a wound healed by Emilia once before, it was a natural assumption for Subaru to make. Subaru reasoned that, as a result, the guest room he was resting in was part of a mansion owned by Emilia. Then again... "It's entirely possible this mansion's connected to Reinhard's family... But, well." Glancing toward the door, Subaru let out a dissatisfied sigh at the lack of information on his current situation. "Normally, there'd be a pretty girl at your bedside when you open your eyes, saying, 'Are you awake?' And there weren't any pretty girls when I was summoned, either. For a summons, this one sure has some glaring inadequacies..." This summons was definitely third-rate. He couldn't slice through armies, and he'd barely had any meaningful encounters. "Besides, nothing's happening so far... So it's up to me to do recon and make myself comfortable." Subaru practically leapt to his feet and put his hand on the door. The refreshingly cool air blew in through the open doorway and the floor transferred the cold directly to his bare feet. When he left the room, the walls and floor of a corridor, all in warm colors, unfolded before him. The passageway continued on and on to both the left and right. Frighteningly, he couldn't see either end of the corridor. "It's so much like a palace that all I can say is whoa. It's insanely huge... Can't even tell if anyone's here." Delicately walking down the corridor on bare feet, Subaru scowled at the silence. It was as if he couldn't hear any signs of life that should normally be there. "It's too quiet, even for the night... Makes me not wanna raise my voice..." Personality-wise, Subaru was geared toward asking, Is anybody here?! in a loud voice, but the present circumstances made that too dangerous. After all, Subaru had not yet determined whether this was a safe place for him or not. Subaru had accepted as a matter of course that the host was friendly, but in the worst case, it was possible the assassin with a love of slitting bellies might have returned and abducted him. All the same, he wouldn't be able to lift a finger if he assumed everything was doomed. "Kenichi once said, life must be lived. That's what I think, too." Incidentally, Kenichi was Subaru's father. It was very fitting that a person like him was his father. Subaru's steps forward did not falter. But after walking awhile, Subaru twisted his neck a bit. "I've walked this much, but I haven't hit a bend. Is that even possible?" Unsurprisingly, he could not contain his misgivings. Subaru turned around, thinking about going back the other way. Then he raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Huh...? That painting... I think it was right in front of me when I came out of the room..." Subaru crossed his arms as he stood in front of the oil painting decorating the corridor. The painting was of a forest scene at night. He felt like it was the same as the one he'd seen when he stepped out of the room. Unless Subaru had moved at the literal pace of a snail, he jumped at the only possibility he could think of. "Maybe the floor has some trick that makes it move around on its own or...could it be that the corridor loops around...?" He'd probably turned in the opposite map direction after going a certain way. It was a field trap like you'd see in an RPG. "If the corridor's looping, maybe it's got something to do with Return by Death." Subaru, hoping someone out there agreed with him, grasped the doorknob of the closest room and opened it. When he did, a no-frills room that had nothing within greeted him. Of course, no one was in it, either. "A looping corridor with any number of rooms... So if I don't find the right one, I can't get out?" Though he hadn't yet truly accepted he'd been summoned to another world, here he was facing a new fantasy element right after waking. "So if this goes according to cliché, it could take me hours to find the right one. I'll go hungry; my mind'll give out, then my body will, too. If that's the case..." The situation made Subaru want to hold his head. Taking a deep breath, Subaru wiped the sweat off his brow and took the first decisive step forward. He twisted the doorknob of the door facing the oil painting in other words, the door that looked like the one Subaru had exited. "I'll sleep in my room till someone comes. Maybe that first room was the goal anyway." Speaking his characteristically flippant thoughts, Subaru entered the room "...How do you look like such a deeply irritating person, I wonder?" Within the book-filled archive that Subaru had no recollection of seeing earlier, a girl with curly hair glared right at him. It was a room that truly screamed book archive at you. The breadth of the room was about twice that of the first one, chock-full of bookshelves that rose to the ceiling. Each shelf was lined with books; it hurt to even try to guesstimate. "Man, here in a place full of books and I can't read a single one... What a bummer." His breath caught when he looked all around the bookshelves, unable to find a single one with the title on its spine in Japanese. It wasn't some sort of alphabet, either; rather, these were characters like those he saw in the royal capital the characters in common use in that world. Subaru let out a sigh as he looked over the characters he couldn't read no matter how hard he tried. "Looking all over someone else's bookshelves, and sighing on top of that... Are you trying to offend, I wonder? Perhaps I should respond in kind?" "Your pretty face'll go all to waste if you're that prickly. C'mon, smile, smile!" "I am simply pretty by nature. I suppose my contemptuous sneer should be enough for the likes of you." Putting the tips of her fingers to her cheeks, the girl formed a cruel smile. Betty was a sweet, lovely girl a sight he'd seen several times in this world already. She looked younger than Felt in the slums, no more than eleven or twelve years old. Her frilly hairstyle matched her ornate dress, both framing her lovely face. Her pale, cream-colored hair was worn long, distinctive for its swirling rolls. If she'd only smile properly, there was no one's heart she'd fail to melt. She held a large book in her hands as she sat on a wooden footstool, from which she looked up at Subaru. "You know big words like contemptuous sneer, huh...and you're in a bad mood because I got it right in one go? My bad! I've been doing stuff like this since way back." Subaru Natsuki had a knack for picking the right answer to difficult questions with many options, without hints, on the first try. In the past, Subaru had unwittingly ruined many a scheme like that. The corridor from before made one more on the list. "All my hard work constructing the domain, all for naught, just like that... It is quite horrid." "I suppose GMs would want me to trigger all their events instead of skipping to the end, so I get it. My bad, my bad." Subaru made a light wave of his hand in apology while the girl glared at him with half-lidded eyes. Apparently, it was this girl's scheme that Subaru's thoughtless act had foiled. "Well, let's make that water under the bridge. Could you tell me where this is?" "Hmph. It is my archive, my sleeping quarters...my private chambers, perhaps?" "Shouldn't that make me feel kind of sad for you? I mean, you don't have your own bedroom to sleep in? That's horrible. Or about you using a library as your private chambers...maybe I should just laugh?" "Are those remarks intended with a touch of teasing, I wonder?!" The annoyed girl replying with blunt sarcasm, who called herself Betty, puffed out her cheeks and advanced upon Subaru. "I am finally reaching the limit of my patience. You should be put in your place a little, I suppose." "Hey, whatever you're planning, let's not? I'm just an ordinary guy, no combat ability at all here?" His eyes became smaller and damper as his body made tiny quivers in a showy pose. But the speed of the girl's soft footsteps increased. " Stay right there." Suddenly, Subaru was assailed by a feeling like a chill up his spine. The girl, already before his eyes, stretched out her hand all the way to Subaru. Subaru froze as the girl, her height not reaching near his upper chest, stared at him with pale blue eyes. His skin broke out in goose bumps as a quiet, high-pitched ringing echoed inside his skull. "Is there something you wish to say...?" As the girl posed her question, he unfroze for a moment. Subaru searched for the best thing to say during the instant he had been permitted. Subaru's gaze wandered as his lips quivered. "I-it's not gonna hurt, is it?" "Should I applaud your devotion to your flippant tongue, I wonder?" Speaking with a tone of genuine admiration, the girl reached her hand to Subaru's chest. Her palm pushed against his breast, her fingertips pressing softly against the surface. It felt ticklish. And "Bwah...!" the next moment, Subaru felt like his entire body was on fire. Something was running wild inside him, making him feel like he was on fire from the tips of his fingers to the very ends of his hair. The eerie pain was as if a finger of flame were tracing his internal organs. His vision darkened. When Subaru came to, he had fallen onto his knees, a large amount of tears flowing from him. "It seems you did not faint. Perhaps you are as sturdy as I heard?" "Wh-what did you do, drill loli..." "I simply interfered with the mana inside your body. Does

the circulation feel slightly off, I wonder?" The girl calmly murmured as she knelt down and jabbed a finger into Subaru's body. "Well, it would be good to confirm whether you had hostile intent or not. And, for your rudeness toward my hard work, your mana should be confiscated before letting you go, I suppose." Subaru, having reached his limit, was unable to remain upright from the jab, his head falling to the floor. Despite this, he was able to slowly use his neck, looking up as the girl glared down at him with a sadistic smile. "You're not...human, are you? And I don't mean your personality...." "You are quite slow to grasp that for someone who has met Puckie already." The girl looked down with amusement as Subaru crawled. She looked younger than her choice of words hinted at, feeling like the sort of little girl who'd rip the wings off an insect in a cruel game. "Correction... Your personality's...inhuman, too..." "Surely a sublime being far beyond your ability to measure, human." It was an overly glacial statement coming from the lips of a little girl. Subaru felt the inside of his chest smolder. But he had no strength left to describe the heat with words. Subaru's consciousness sank into darkness against his will. Geez, I just woke up and I'm getting knocked out again?! "If you died here, your husk would be troublesome to remove. I shall speak to the others." Don't say husk, it makes me sound like an insect, you little brat Subaru returned to sleep once more, unable to move even his frivolous tongue. "My, it seems he has awakened, Sister." "Yes, Rem. He is awake." When he next awoke, two girls spoke, their voices sharing the same timbre. He was in the same soft, comfortable bed as before. The slight opening of the curtains let in the dazzling rays of the sun, burning sleepy Subaru's eyelids. He instinctively assumed it was morning. "Ugh, I'm not so much nocturnal as I am a denizen of the night. Waking up in the morning makes my chest burn..." Wide awake, Subaru sat up as he remembered that his day and night cycles were inverted while school was out. He looked around, rotated his shoulders, and shifted his hips toward the window as he looked in that direction. "Dear Guest, it is now Seven Solartime." "Dear Guest, it is about Seven Solartime." Their friendly voices conveyed the time of day. Seven Solartime he didn't know what that meant, but he guessed it meant something similar to seven AM. "That being the case, if you don't count the wake-up earlier, I've slept for about a whole day, huh? Well, my record is two and a half days, so this is no big deal, really." "Sister, did you hear? Quite a lazy thing to say." "Yes, Rem, I heard. Quite a good-for-nothing thing to say." "So who're these ladies who've been chewing me out in stereo here?!" Subaru sat up quickly, taken by surprise at the girls, sandwiching the bed from both sides. The girls rushed a short distance to a corner of the room, joining hands and drawing their faces close as they looked at him. Standing side by side, their faces were two peas in a pod; the girls were obviously twins. Both stood about a hundred and fifty centimeters tall. Their big eyes, pink lips, and the soft, youthful loveliness of their faces made them outright adorable. Both wore their hair in short bobs, with their hair parted to fall across one eye the right eye on one and the left eye on the other. The way their hair was parted and the fact that one had pink hair and the other blue were the only visual clues to tell them apart. The twins watched Subaru carefully. His mind quivered, as though it were all scratched up, as he suddenly realized. "No way... There are maid outfits in this world, too?!" They wore black apron dresses with white accents and white lace headpieces on their heads. These outfits were specially modified to expose their narrow shoulders, which, combined with the short skirts, flaunted their body lines in scandalous ways. Subaru didn't know a whole lot about maid outfits, but he was certain the level of skin exposure represented the designer's personal taste...though the twins who wore them were beautiful regardless. "I thought maids were supposed to dress modestly...but I think I'm a fan!" "This is terrible, Sister. Right now, in Dear Guest's head, you are the subject of obscene, degrading thoughts." "This is dreadful, Rem. Right now, Dear Guest's head has become filled with completely disgusting thoughts about you." "Don't take my mental capacity for granted, ladies. You're both going to star in my fantasies!" Subaru crossed his forearms and made suggestive motions with his fingers. The gesture made the two maids' faces tremble; the girls wrapped around each other, releasing their hands and pointing at each other. "Please forgive me, Dear Guest. Let me go and defile Sister instead." "Please stop this, Dear Guest. Let me go and humiliate Rem instead." "Where's the sisterly love here?! I mean, selling each other out and making me some archvillain?!" The two maids pushed the role of scapegoat onto the other, looking at Subaru as if wondering which one he'd sink his evil fangs into first. That was when he suddenly noticed... Knock, knock. The girl stood inside the open door, tapping it softly while looking at the three of them. "...Couldn't you wake up with less drama?" Today, she was letting her long silver hair hang naturally all the way to her hips. Her outfit was not the robe he'd seen at the capital but rather, an outfit that accentuated her light skin and slender physique with its design. The skirt was unexpectedly short; Subaru, marveling at how it showed off her long legs, pumped a fist. "I get it! Whoever chose this, I get what they were thinking!" The silver-haired girl Emilia gawked at Subaru's praise. "...I'm not quite sure what you're referring to, but I'm veeery disappointed that I know it's something meaningless." In one move, Emilia's sudden visit had greatly improved Subaru's mental state. In a place full of unknowns his incident with the first little girl he had met was especially poignant seeing Emilia, a friendly face he'd known since just after his summoning to another world, made it all the more special in his mind. "To think I was worried a bit when I heard Beatrice was rough on you when you were low on blood... I really shouldn't have bothered." "I'm in a super good mood from waking up to your face, though. And I'm a little afraid to ask this, but..." With Emilia giving him a suspicious look, Subaru put both his hands together and timidly looked at her with upturned eyes. "You, ah...remember all about me, right?" "That gesture, for some reason I don't like it. Also, that's an odd question. I don't think I'd forget someone who stands out as much as you do, Subaru." With Emilia smiling charmingly at him and calling his name, Subaru slumped his shoulders in relief. Then, realizing that for once a girl was calling him by name, he was rather flushed. "Please listen, Lady Emilia. This person was terribly humiliating. For Sister, that is." "Hear this, Lady Emilia. This man has trapped and violated girls. Rem, that is." The twins left Subaru behind, who was now red to the tips of his ears, as they rushed to Emilia's side to make their baseless charges. Emilia made a strained smile at their slander and glanced sideways at Subaru. "I...don't know Subaru enough to say I know he wouldn't do that, but I trust that he probably did not. Don't tease him too much, okay?" "Yes, Lady Emilia. Ram shall reflect on this." "Yes, Lady Emilia. Rem will reflect on this." Despite their statements, the twins didn't appear to mean it even a tiny bit. Emilia showed no signs of objecting to their attitude; perhaps she was simply used to it. "Anyway, Subaru, are you doing all right? Nothing feels wrong anywhere?" "Mm, oh, yeah, before I slept I felt like my whole body was on fire and I was going to die, but I don't feel one bit of that now. I actually feel like I slept a bit too much." "If you're no worse than that, good. Can you handle a little stroll?" "Stroll?" Emilia was making a small smile as Subaru tilted his head. "Yes, a stroll. I try to go into the garden once a day, and this seems like a good time for it, no?" "Once a day...doing what? Watering the flower bed?" "Not exactly. One of the conditions of my pact with the various spirits is that I make contact and speak with them every morning." When Emilia said spirit, Subaru thought back to the cat spirit he'd seen with Emilia. A stroll and a chat with the spirits. It was a nice idea that provided fodder for his curiosity and his ulterior motives. "Sounds like great rehab to me, Emilia-tan. How about I stroll around the garden and exercise while you're talking to the spirits?" "Well, if you don't talk loudly or make a big fuss, sure... Eh? What did you say just now?" "Okay, it's a deal. Let's go to the garden!" "Hey, what did you say? What is tan? Where'd that come from?" The pet name seemed to throw off Emilia. Subaru was hiding his blush at having her call his name so openly when he turned toward the faces of the two maids standing side by side. "Hey, maid sisters. Where are my old clothes? Feels like I got in a hospital gown while I was out. I figure the mansion here lent this to me, but..." "Do you understand, Sister? Perhaps he means that drab gray rag?" "I understand, Rem. He means that bloodstained mouse-colored piece of filth." "Some guts there, calling it filthy and looking like a dirty rat. If it's in one piece, could you hand it over?" Faced with Subaru's request, the twins turned to Emilia. Their looks said they wanted permission. When Emilia responded with a nod, the twins politely bowed and left the room. "You don't need to hear this from me, but you mustn't strain yourself. You were terribly injured." "You closed the wound perfectly, though. Oh yeah..." As if remembering something, Subaru straightened his posture and slowly bowed his head to Emilia. "Thank you for healing my wounds, Emilia-tan. You saved me. I really am scared of dying. I'd like to do it only once." "Normally once is all you get...? But, mm-hm, never mind that..." After the spontaneous verbal jab, Emilia's purple eyes wavered as she looked at Subaru. "I should be the one thanking you. You risked your life for mine when you barely knew me. Healing your wounds was the least I could do." Subaru's breath caught at her sincerely apologetic look. He hated himself for being unable to give her the reply he wanted to. Emilia had said never mind that at her saving him. Yet it had been Emilia who'd saved him first. But the only record of that was inside Subaru's memories. Subaru smiled, holding in the gratitude he could never properly convey. " Well, since we saved each other, I think we're all square here." "Square...?" "It means that neither of us owes the other a thing, so let's get along, brotha!" If he were talking to a resident of the Poor District, this would be the time for him to kindly clap them on the shoulder. But at that moment, it was all Subaru could do to cover up his embarrassment and blushing face as best he could. Emilia made a small smile at Subaru. "Do I really need a younger brother this weird?" "That's a pretty harsh comment?!" He slumped his shoulders at the casual put-down.

Both laughed at the exchange as the door opened and the twin maids returned. Subaru straightened as he saw them carrying the top and bottom of his tracksuit, one part each. "Guess it's time to restart the day." His first day since surpassing Return by Death was truly beginning. Subaru shook his head when the maids offered to dress him, changing clothes by his own power before heading to the manor's garden with Emilia. Subaru let out a sigh of admiration as he looked over the broad garden. "This is really big, too. The mansion's huge, but this is more a grassland than a garden." He'd seen gardens of the manors of the well-off in manga and anime from time to time. They were the sorts of places where you held dinner parties. There, in the middle of the huge garden, Subaru began stretching exercises to begin his rehabilitation posthaste. Emilia looked on curiously as she watched Subaru's movements. "Those are odd moves. What are you doing?" "Oh, don't you do warm-ups here? You do them before starting strenuous exercise." "Hmm, I haven't really seen much of that. But I do understand it's dangerous to make sudden, hard movements." "So people don't do stretching in this world? Oh well, it can't be helped how about I teach you? Genuine warm-up exercises from my homeland, passed down through the generations!" Emilia seemed to yield in the face of Subaru's confident proclamation. "R-right. Just a bit, then," she said, copying Subaru. Subaru stood beside Emilia and gave out instructions. "Morning Warm-Up Part Twooo! Reach high with your hands and stretch that back~~!" "Eh, what, no way?!" "Just do what I do. I'll pound the essence of radio calisthenics into you yet!" With Emilia lost, Subaru scolded her and followed the beat of a routine famous around the nation. Emilia was still bewildered at first but proved a quick study. When both finished making their final deep breaths, Subaru spread both hands into the sky. "And last, raise your hands. Victory!" "V-victory!" "Okay, there you go, Emilia-tan, you are now a Radio Calisthenics Novice!" Having finished doing calisthenics with all her might, Emilia's face showed the new title had made a deep impression. But she made a face like she'd just remembered her original purpose. "Right. Things really got off the beaten path, but if I forget this, they'll be upset." Emilia, making a thin, pleasant smile as she spoke, brought out a green crystal from her pocket and showed it to Subaru. "Ah, that's..." "A crystal for spirits to inhabit. You know, like Puck." "The kitty cat that slept through all the big stuff? Bet he doesn't know about my heroic scene, then?" The crystal glowed as if to rebuke Subaru's taking him lightly. The indifferent voice came from the crystal at first. "Oh, not at all, Subaru, Lia told me all about it after things got wrapped up." Finally, light poured out of the crystal and condensed into an outline forming atop Emilia's palm. "Heya. Morning, Subaru. Nice weather." "It's been an up-and-down night and morning for me, though. First the looping corridor, then that menacing little girl. Now I'm past that and working up a sweat with Emilia-tan..." Emilia's lips tapered into a pout. "People will get the wrong impression if you say that." Emilia then looked at Puck, sitting atop her palm. "Good morning, Puck. Sorry for pushing you so hard yesterday." "Good morning, Lia. I'm the one sorry for yesterday, though. I almost lost you. I can't thank Subaru enough, really." Puck looked up at Subaru with his round black eyes as he stroked his pink nose with his paw. "Well, I owe you something. I wonder if there's anything you want? Something I can do, I mean." Subaru's reply to Puck's grandiose statement was immediate. "All right, let me touch that fur of yours to my heart's content." Puck's and Emilia's eyes went wide. Apparently, the speed of the reply had surprised them as much as the content. "Sh-shouldn't you take a little longer to decide? Puck might look small and unreliable, but his power level really is quite something." "Hey, to me, being able to feel fur like from the finest fabrics is a really huge thing. I wouldn't take any amount of money over it. No, seriously." As Subaru spoke, he indulged his right and stuck his finger toward Puck: first belly, then chin, and the ears to finish him off. "Oh, these ears are addictive! I'm totally into your fluffiness here!" "I know from reading the surface of your thoughts, but to hear you actually say it, wow." Subaru liberally toyed around as Puck made pleasant noises from his throat. Emilia let out a sigh of resignation as she watched Subaru and Puck play. "Well, I'm going to talk to the lesser spirits, then... It's fine if you two play, but don't interfere, okay?" "So, she dumped us." "Yep, she dumped us." As both slumped their shoulders, Emilia made a point of ignoring them as she softly went to a corner of the garden. She gave the ground a light brush before sitting down. Emilia closed her eyes as pale lights began to surround her. He'd seen that sight before. "Lesser spirits, huh?" "That's right. Most are classified as lesser or greater spirits...though a lot are outside of those categories." "Not that it doesn't help...but I don't know how to classify them." Subaru knew that the lights frolicking around Emilia were lesser spirits because Emilia had said as much during the loop in the royal capital. As Emilia sat, she spoke softly to the minor spirits, smiling from time to time; the minor spirits seemed to brighten or fade accordingly. "You said 'a pact with minor spirits,' but, like, what is that?" "A ceremonial pact with a spirit forging a covenant." Subaru frowned at the term he hadn't heard before. "Err, you see, a Spirit Master can't use spirit spells unless she makes a pact with spirits first. The details of the pacts differ according to the spirits. Still with me?" "So it's not like interest and collateral for a bank loan, then. Gotcha." "My name's not Gotcha, but let's move on. So individual spirits want different things...but minor spirits like that just want pacts with simple conditions like contact with the caster." "So it's like easy stuff for beginners. I take it that doesn't work for other spirits?" "It helps that you're quick on the uptake. This won't get far if you keep going off on tangents, though?" Oops, said Subaru with a blushy smile. For his part, Puck gave him a warm look as he toyed with his own whiskers. "Right, it's a bit harder to satisfy a spirit with a mind of his own, like me. I'd like to give to the pact maker as good as I take...but my conditions with Lia are pretty strict." "It's been on my mind since earlier, but Lia, that's a cute nickname." "Your Emilia-tan's even cuter, though. I should call her that, too." " Don't. Seriously. I'm begging you." With puffed-up cheeks, Emilia cut into their silly games. As Emilia returned, the spirits around her winked out; apparently Spirit Talk Time had come to an end. Subaru stood up and brushed the grass off his rear. "Quality time over? That felt easier than I expected." "I was mindful of you two, so I asked them to keep it short. We have things we need to discuss today." As Emilia spoke, she offered up her palm; Puck leapt from Subaru, landing upon it. Puck's round eyes turned toward Emilia with what seemed like a small, satisfied smile. "It's all right. I got a good feel for him, and I can't find one shred of malice, hostility, or intent to do harm. Subaru's a good boy, though his personality is a bit weird." "Now wait a..." Aghast at Puck appraising him to Emilia on various levels, Subaru could only gape. "Why did you... Even if it's true, isn't saying it in front of him hurtful?" "Oh, ah, that's fine! I'm a complete stranger to you, so of course you'd check me out. You're right to doubt. But that part at the end really hurt, Emilia-tan!" Emilia quickly covered her mouth with a hand and made a pained smile at Subaru. Subaru hadn't touched Puck all over without a reason. He'd expected this to come up. Emilia and the others weren't so careless as to accept Subaru without knowing a single firm thing about him. No doubt that partially explained Ram's and Rem's demeanor. "That said, I don't have any good way to explain." There was obviously no preexisting record of Subaru in this world. Explaining that he'd been summoned was a tough sell, with good odds he'd be treated as a lunatic. That being the case, letting Puck get a good read on him was the best option. Words from Puck, trusted by Emilia and able to read conscious thoughts, were a lot more convincing than anything Subaru could come up with. "It's all right, Lia. Oh, and I know what you were up to, Subaru. Naughty boy, using my mind reading like that." "I'm honored. Let's get along famously, my friend!" How Subaru addressed them put a look of shock on Puck's face; he then broke into a wide smile. "It's been a while since I got this kind of treatment. I like it." "I'd rather hear those words from Emilia-tan. Oh well, as they say, to take down a general, first take down his horse... Well, you're kind of a cat so does that still make sense? ...I wonder?" A surprised look came over Emilia as she watched Subaru put a finger to his chin and sink into serious thought. When Subaru curiously raised his eyebrows, Emilia inhaled a bit. " Really, Subaru, you are so strange." "Huh?" "Giving leading looks to a...half-elf like me who speaks to spirits like it's a normal thing...it surprised me, even as a joke." In his heart, Subaru countered, Would you be as surprised if you knew it wasn't a joke? But he forgot all about that as he fell for Emilia's charming smile. This smile was on par with the one she'd given him when they'd exchanged names at the royal capital. It seemed fleeting and fickle, which only made his heart flutter all the more. Her beautiful, flowing silver hair was as surreal as dew in the moonlight; her skin was as pale as the first snow. Her violet eyes seemed to hold Subaru's mind firmly in their spell and wouldn't let go. He knew she was sublime, beautiful, with a heart of gold wrapped around an unshakable core. Subaru wanted nothing more than to put his hands on his cheeks and give thanks to Mother Nature, but he abstained. "Huh, wonder what's with those two?" And, as Emilia mentioned something she'd noticed, Subaru looked toward the manor. The twin maids were walking down from the mansion. Both gave formal bows before Subaru and Emilia, speaking in perfect stereo, not off by the slightest bit. " Master Roswaal, lord of the manor, has returned. Please come this way." Their perfect combo surprised Subaru, but the maids' change of demeanor surprised him more. Their earlier frivolousness was nowhere to be found, replaced by a sense of dignity befitting servants of the upper crust. "I see. Roswaal... We'd best go see him, then." "Yes, and he said to bring our Dear Guest as well, should he be awake." Puck wriggled into Emilia's silver hair. Emilia's face stiffened a bit as she patted down her hair. Watching her from the side, Subaru cracked his neck slightly at being addressed. "So, who is this Roswaal guy, anyway?" "Lord of this manor... Ah, that's right, I didn't explain." Emilia put her palm to her mouth as she realized her own slip. "Err, right. Roswaal is... You'll understand when you meet him." "You gave up on that

explanation too fast! What, he's too plain to describe?!" Emilia, Puck, Ram, and Rem all replied in unison... " No, the opposite." Subaru's jaw dropped open in a face of surprise multiplied by four. The blue-haired girl gently closed his mouth from below with her hand before giving a solemn bow. The pink-haired maid standing beside her motioned to the mansion. "One cannot describe the likes of Master Roswaal with words alone. You shall understand when you meet him, Dear Guest. It is all right; he is a kind lord." The twins met each other's gazes and nodded, with the repeated affirmation serving only to deepen his doubts. With Subaru bewildered, Emilia looked like she grudgingly agreed with the twins as she gently reached out to him. Giving Subaru's shoulder a couple of pats, Emilia murmured in a grave voice. " You'll probably get along just fine, Subaru. He'll wear you out, though." CHAPTER 2 *** In the dining hall the twins led them to, where breakfast was to be held, the girl with curly hair said in place of a greeting, "Watching from above, I felt...dismay at seeing your considerably disappointing head, I wonder?" Emilia had split off midway to return to her room to change clothes, so at that moment, only Subaru and the curly-haired girl were in the dining hall. Subaru made a sour face at her sarcasm. "What's with talking like that on a fine morning like this, loli?" "What is that term, I wonder? I have never heard it, yet it feels distinctly...unpleasant." "It means you're not on my list. I never go for girls younger than me." "...Perhaps I should pity you for having insulted me so?" Deliberately ignoring the sarcastic girl's words, Subaru looked over the dining hall. A table covered in a white cloth was at the center; the plates had already been set. If one was set for Subaru, it was surely the lowest seat at the table. "I don't know anything about table manners. How about I let you give me pointers?" "Is that arrogance, I wonder? If you do not understand, simply say so and lower your head." "If I could do that much, I might as well just sit in the big chair and really irritate you." The girl shook with anger, her face going red as Subaru waved with a palm and sat in the big chair. It'd probably be Emilia or the lord of the manor who'd sit there, with fifty-fifty odds for each. Seeing Subaru genuinely unable to get comfortable in the chair, the curly-haired girl shook her exasperated face. "Well, fine. More importantly, have you no words with which to thank me?" "Thanks? I asked for help just now and you brushed me off, didn't you? And what kind of person asks to be thanked? I'd wanna see the look on your dad's face for that one!" "What are you angry for, I wonder?! I should be the angry one! After all I did...!" They kept egging each other on. The girl, her voice flustered at Subaru's reply, never quite finished her sentence. Mindful of the unnatural pause, Subaru prompted her to continue, but... The door to the dining hall opened and the twin maids came in pushing a cart. "Pardon us, Dear Guest. I shall set the meal." "Pardon us, Dear Guest. I shall set the tableware and the tea." The blue-haired girl laid out an orthodox breakfast menu consisting of salad, bread, and the like, while the pink-haired girl briskly poured and placed cups of tea. The warm scents made Subaru's stomach grumble out of nowhere. "Whoa, not bad at all. Now this is a breakfast fit for nobility... I was worried it was going to be some weird out-of-this-world thing." Subaru, worried that any strange thing could potentially be served here, was considerably relieved. When he looked all around, he couldn't place anything in particular that seemed to pose physical or mental danger. His enthusiasm rising, Subaru leaned back against the chair, making it creak. The sound echoed throughout the dining room, bringing a hint of annoyance to the girl's soothing face. For some reason, Subaru couldn't resist needling the curly-haired girl. Wanting to see her soothing face break down further, Subaru, full of mischief, decided to move his butt all around the chair. However, before he could do so, a new individual entered the dining hall, his happy-sounding voice interrupting everything else. "Ohhh my. You certainly seem raaather spry. That is good, veeery good." He was a tall man, at least half a head above Subaru's height, wearing his dark blue hair long to nearly cover his entire back. But his body seemed not so much slender as delicate, with his skin color ghastly pale. Combined with the look of his face, he somehow seemed like some sort of pretty boy. The effect was further accentuated by his left and right eyes being different colors, the first yellow, the other blue. Well, it might have if he wasn't decked out in that weird outfit and makeup that made him look like a clown. "...Man, you hired a jester to entertain us before breakfast? I'll never get how rich folks think." Beatrice watched and commented. "I have some idea what you must be thinking, but I shall not get in the way." "Don't be that way, Betty. We're friends, right? Let's do some more small talk." "What kind of relationship do you and I have, I wonder? Also, do not speak my name so casually." The girl snubbed him with a shrug and withdrew from the conversation. Subaru scowled at her behavior as the clown walking into the dining hall opened his eyes wide, looking at both her and Subaru. "Oh my, it is raaare to see Beatrice here. Is it not fortuitous thaaat you decided to share a meal with me after so looong?" "If that man over there is the only optimist, wouldn't that already be too many, I wonder? I wait for Puckie and Puckie alone." Brushing off his chummy statement, the girl Beatrice shifted to behind the clown. The silver-haired girl, having finished changing her attire, entered the dining hall a bit after the clown. "Puckie!" Practically leaping from her seat, Beatrice ran over, her long skirt swaying. Seeing a smile like a flower in bloom come over her was so adorable that it made him forget how he'd pegged the girl as "cheeky." Her gaze was trained on Emilia, but it was not Emilia who replied. "Heya, Betty. It's been four days. Have you been happy and ladylike?" Beatrice nodded at the words of the buoyant little gray kitty popping out of Emilia's hair. "I have been eagerly awaiting your return, Puckie. You would enjoy spending the day together, I wonder?" "Yeah, that'd be great! Both of us can take it easy for one day." "That is wonderful!" Puck leapt off Emilia's shoulder to land upon Beatrice's outstretched palms. As she caught Puck, Beatrice lovingly embraced him and ran around in circles then and there. Subaru was struck senseless by the happy, carefree scene as Emilia walked over with a teasing smile. "Tee-hee, aren't they merry? Puck and Beatrice are very close, you see." "Nobody uses merry anymore..." When Subaru gave Emilia his stock reply for when she used outdated words, Emilia went, "Mm?" and pointed Subaru's way. "Er, Subaru, that chair..." "Oh, right! Uh, it's not what you think. I mean, a cold chair really throws you off, so I figured I'd warm it up a little. It wasn't that I just wanted to sit where you usually sit, like an indirect sit-down, really." "Sorry, I'm not really sure what you mean, but that's Roswaal's seat." With Subaru's big scheme foiled, he slid off the chair in front of the wide-eyed Emilia. "Oh, there's no need for concern. I see, your warmth may not reach Lady Emilia, but I shall treasure it greatly." The clown reached out and patted Subaru's shoulder, smiling at him in consolation. The touch to his shoulder and the gently smiling, made-up face drew a sour frown from Subaru. "This clown's acting real chummy. It's not polite to touch the dancing girls, you know?" "Since when did you become a da... Er, no, Subaru, this man is..." "My, my, myyy, I do nooot mind, Lady Emilia. Considering how he went from being at death's door to being in such high spirits, shooould we not be quiiite grateful?" The clown's tone of voice excelled at getting on one's nerves, yet his statement was extremely sensible. The others continued to watch the clown as he slowly sat down in the chair the very chair at the head of the table that Subaru had been seated in just before. "Hey, now. Not that I should say this, but sitting in someone else's chair is gonna tick people off." Emilia made an exasperated face at Subaru's statement as she murmured, "No need to worry about th... You, ah, really should introduce yourself to Subaru." It seemed Emilia's exasperation was also directed toward the clown. "What do you mean?" "In ooother words, she meeeans...this." The clown seated in the chair replied to Subaru's query as he spread his arms out wide. "'Tiiis I, lord of this manor, Roswaal L. Mathers. It is goooood that you feel so safe and comfortable under my roof, Subaru Natsuki." And so, the deviant noble dressed as a clown introduced himself in a lively manner thoroughly devoid of shame. Beginning with Roswaal in the seat of honor, they sat in prearranged seats and began breakfast. "Mm...this is better than usual..." Subaru was admiring the food before his eyes reminiscent of salad and soup. Roswaal nodded back, seeming to take personal pride in Subaru's appraisal of the cooking as he looked at Rem. "Mm-hmm, iiindeed, indeed. She may not look it, but Rem's cooking is quite something." When Subaru looked at Rem, too, she made a fox sign with a hand. Subaru didn't know what it meant, but it might've been this world's version of making a V with your fingers. Subaru made a frog with both hands in reply. "So the blue-ha... Is calling you Rem fine? So you cooked this?" "Yes, Dear Guest. Rem handles the meals in this household. Sister is not especially good at it." "Oh-ho, so it's like, you twins have different specialties. So, your sister's really good at cleaning?" "Yes, Sister specializes in cleaning inside and doing the laundry." "So since you're good at all the cooking, you're not so good at cleaning and laundry, Remrin?" "No, I excel at all domestic chores, including cleaning and laundry, more than Sister." "What's she here for, then?!" An older twin sister worse at everything under the sun than her little sister? This was a new one. The older sister seemed to pay no heed to Rem's statement. Subaru couldn't prove it, but he guessed the words were true. So why wasn't Ram bothered by it at all...? "So maybe it's different fields, huh? Ramchi does combat stuff and the other does more domestic stuff?" "Not a baaad guess. Though Ram and Rem make a poor first impression because of their idiosyncrasies, yes?" "Hard for that to stand out now when their master's so unique, Rozchi." By Rozchi, Subaru was addressing the man in charge by a pet name, but Roswaal let the statement pass with practiced ease. Subaru had an ingrained tendency to get a rise out of people, but not so here. That said, the items on the menu vanished from the plates one after another before they knew it. "It'd be something of a dilemma if the food wasn't good, but it's delicious, so no prob. Right, Emilia-tan?" Emilia wiped her lips with a napkin, grimacing at Subaru's carefree words. Subaru tilted his head, wondering what was up, as Emilia exhaled slightly. "You know, Subaru, you shouldn't speak at the dinner table. It's rude to Ram and Rem, who prepared this

all by themselves. Without proper manners, you'll make blunders during important occasions, so..." "No one uses blunder anymore... Table manners, huh. Kind of late to learn them now, though, right?" Subaru delivered his cliché while motioning toward the dining hall with his hand. In spite of the spacious hall, Subaru was sitting right beside Emilia. By rights, the two would be seated quite far apart to make full use of the dining table. "But I moved closer because I wanted to eat with Emilia-tan. Roswaal didn't say he minded, so what's the big deal? I mean, you can give me any veggies you don't like." "All right, you can have my green bepper Wait, that's not the point. I'm being an idiot." Subaru laughed, finding it cute how Emilia tapered her lips in a pout at being outdone in their verbal jousting. After that, Subaru belatedly brought up an issue Emilia's words had raised. "Incidentally, Rozchi, I thought I heard Emilia-tan say this household has only two maids working here?" "Ahh, yeees, such is currently the caaase. Ram and Rem are the only ones left." "Two people handling a place this huge? You'd think people would die from overwork no matter how good they are. That said...it doesn't feel like you're going to be hiring any new maids here?" Roswaal was silent to Subaru's question, crossing his arms at the table. Roswaal's face displayed a smile, but the eyes with which he regarded Subaru had subtly changed. "You truly are a mystery, having come to the house of Mathers at the far reaches of the Kingdom of Lugunica, yet you do not know the circumstances? Amazing that you made it past royal customs." "Well, I am kind of an undocumented immigrant in a sense..." Subaru's casual reply startled Emilia; she gave him a glare like she was scolding a young child. "I can't believe it. If you say things like that so easily, bad people will make mincemeat out of you." "Nobody uses mincemeat anymore." "Don't joke about this. Hey, Subaru, is that really true? Is everyone where you come from like this, or is it really just you who doesn't know?" Subaru, feeling bad at how Emilia was genuinely worried, reflected upon his own behavior. "Err, more like my education's especially lacking. So if it's no bother, I really would be grateful if you filled me in." "You seem an educated enough child to me from the big words you're using, but..." "I mean, this here's my debut with high society. I mean, there're things you don't know either, Emilia-tan? Honorifics like that and extra-polite words seem to throw you off?" "Err...you do have a point." Emilia seemed to shrink at Subaru's observation. Seeing Emilia like that surprised him, but it was not the wilting Emilia who followed up but Roswaal, previously silent in the seat of honor. "I do understand what you are saying, but Lady Emilia is cuuurrently studying such things, you seeee." "Studying, huh. Wait, you mean we lost her when we were talking earlier?" "You truly do have an active mind. It is because you think so much that you can make such thoughtless-sounding statements." Subaru slouched from Roswaal's apparent praise before giving his own chest a thump. "Thinking while you live is just common sense. It's the duty of every man to think on his feet for when the chips are down. That or your guts get spilled all over the floor." "I feel like your guts kind of did spill on the... Ahem. Back to the other subject... Subaru, do you know this country's...the Kingdom of Lugunica's situation at the moment?" "Not the smallest, tiniest bit." "Hearing you say it like that, I'm shocked you've lived this long." That doesn't sound like praise to me, Subaru thought while looking fondly at Emilia. He wasn't trying to arouse her protective instincts, but she was certainly giving him that mother-hen feeling. "By 'situation'...you mean the country's in a bad spot?" Roswaal carefully chose his words. "A fairly difficult situation, yes, for Lugunica currently lacks a king." Subaru's breath caught as it sank in. He gave the man in performer makeup a guarded look as he sat straighter in his chair. "There is no need for suuuch concern. The gravity of the situation is alreeeady well known to the public, you see." "Well, that's good. I was thinking I'd learned a dangerous secret and would never get out alive." "It's sad you're hearing it first from us... Anyway, the nation's highly unstable right now," Emilia said. I see, thought Subaru as that sank in. A kingdom without a king was in a very precarious situation. The sudden death of a king, from natural causes or otherwise, could shake a country to its core. "But isn't that usually dealt with by having a child of the king inherit and take over?" "Usually, that iiis the case. Howeeever, that went awry due to an incident half a year ago when a great plague struck inside the palace walls." As Roswaal told it, they announced that the epidemic only affected those of a particular bloodline. And so, the king and his descendants dwelling in the castle perished. "Can't blame them for getting sick and dying. But what's gonna happen to this country, then? If there's no royal bloodline, what, start a democracy and elect a prime minister?" "I do not cooomprehend the latter part of your statement, but presently, a Council of Elders manages the affairs of the country, formed from great families decorating the kingdom's history. The country will continue to operate. However..." After pausing a moment, Roswaal grew tenser. "...a kingdom must have a king." "I suppose so." Even if just for show, you couldn't have an organization without someone at its head, let alone a kingdom. "I see," reflected Subaru. "I've got the gist of it. In other words, the country has no king and is in a jumble while it's trying to pick a new one. Your relations with foreign countries are deteriorating and you're in international isolation. So a mysterious foreigner like me appearing is...super suspicious?!" "Fuuurthermore, by making contact with Lady Emilia, you have become associated with the House of Mathers, you see... Though the evidence is circumstantial, that is all some would need to..." Roswaal lowered his eyes and traced a line across his throat with his thumb. Though Roswaal looked like he was joking, Subaru suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He had a bad feeling about something. He'd picked up on it earlier, but it loomed larger and larger with each passing moment. "Why is...the lord of the manor calling Emilia-tan lady?" The golden rule of any household was that everyone paid respect to the person of the highest rank. When Roswaal laughed, Subaru felt like the bud of anxiety in his chest had begun to bloom. "Is it not naaatural to address someone of higher rank than I with proper reeespect?" Subaru froze with his mouth open. He looked at Emilia so robotically that you could hear the gears turn in his neck. The girl, a grimace on her face, sighed with resignation. "I don't want you to think I was pulling the wool over your eyes, all right?" " Err, in other words, Emilia-tan, you're...?" Subaru stubbornly stuck to the nickname as she seemed to drive in the final nail. "Currently, my title is royal candidate, one of those seeking to become the forty-second ruler of the Kingdom of Lugunica...with the backing of Roswaal's House, that is." Her words made Subaru feel like he'd insulted Heaven itself. So the pretty girl he'd stumbled upon in the other world was a queen. That word alone firmly established that this was a true-blue fantasy world. Technically, she was a candidate to be queen. When he remembered his time in contact with her now... "Man, three lives aren't enough to pay for this, are they...?" "Sorry to surprise you this much. I really hadn't meant to keep quiet about it, but, well..." "Hey, I'm not upset. You truly are as kind as an angel, Emilia-tan." "Eh?!" Subaru's overly direct words made Emilia's face look shocked, then scarlet. "Well, you know, you're the reason everything's happened since I've been here, Emilia. You're seriously E M T (Emilia-tan's a Major Treasure), that's my honest opinion!" "...Sigh. Now I think I understand how I got involved with you. You'll brush off anything from anyone. Let's just get to the point, shall we?" Traces of redness still on her face, Emilia clapped her hands to reset the scene. Though still seated, the earlier sense of distance seemed to return; Subaru was forced to go along. "I feel like I am interruuupting, but regardless, let us indeed get to the poooint, shall we? Is that fiiine with you, Subaru?" "Based on my head not flying off my shoulders, I'm guessing it's nothing all that bad." Roswaal whistled at Subaru's words. Emilia looked equally taken off guard, for both surely saw Subaru's words and actions as a sign that he had a firm understanding of their intentions. Of course, both were reading far too much into it, but that flew way over Subaru's head. "Well, that's what I guessed about the 'point' based on your telling me Emilia-tan's a royal candidate and why that's important, right?" Emilia made a belated remark. "...Subaru, are you actually smart, or are you simply wrong in the head?" "Those are two extreme choices, you know?!" Subaru agonized as Emilia stuck out her tongue at him a little. She was cute, so all was forgiven. Notwithstanding Subaru's internal simplicity, Roswaal followed up after Emilia's "apology." "Your guess is quite on target. This matter is deeply related to what shall become of you. Lady Emilia?" "Mm, I understand." Emilia, nodding when called, pulled out something and set it on the table. Her white fingertips pushed it forward. Subaru raised his brows when he saw it. " That's that badge from...?" Glittering atop a white cloth, it was a badge with a dragon motif, a jewel embedded in the center of its maw. It was also the key item stolen by the light-fingered Felt, which Subaru had returned to Emilia, its proper owner, coming back from three deaths to do it. The deep, serene twinkle of the jewel struck Subaru's eyes, filling him with newfound awe. "The dragon is the symbol of Lugunica, you see, enough that it is known by the rather graaand name, the Dragonfriend Kingdom of Lugunica. Castle walls and weapons are often adorned with this symbol, but this badge is particularly important." When Roswaal took a pregnant pause, Subaru looked at him to urge him to continue. Roswaal shifted his gaze to Emilia to suggest she proceed. Emilia closed her eyes as her lips trembled. "It is one's qualification as a royal candidate a test to determine if the person is worthy of sitting on the throne of the Kingdom of Lugunica." Her statement, said in a strained voice, made Subaru's eyes go wide. The badge sitting on the table, a dragon with wings outstretched on the glittering jewel, supported the proof of her claim. "H-hold on here... You lost the badge that proves you're a royal candidate?!" "That's putting it rather crudely. A light-fingered girl stole it!" "Same difference !!" With that great shout, Subaru smacked his palms against the dining table as he rose to his feet. The impact threatened to make utensils fall to the floor, but Rem's quick follow-up prevented that. Subaru paid that no heed as he spoke. "Wait, seriously, what'd happen if you didn't have it?! That's, like, the type of item that's really, really bad to throw away, right?! They can't issue another one?!" "Weeell, if a candidate loses it, it won't end with just talk and excuses, yeees?" With Subaru all flustered, Roswaal adjusted the lapel of his unnecessarily large outfit as he spoke. "A king carries the kingdom on his shoulders. It is thought

that a person who cannot protect a single small badge cannot be entrusted with a responsibility as grave as an entire land." "Well, that figures. If anyone knew, it'd be a huge scandal... Which means?!" The strife in the royal capital over the stolen badge and the warm reception now it could mean only one thing. Subaru continued, "It's really bad if the public finds out you lost the badge. That's why Emilia-tan was looking for it all by herself." Emilia replied, "...Yes, that's right." "Felt was the one who stole it, but Elsa was the client, and she said someone else put her up to it...meaning someone's trying to stop Emilia-tan from becoming queen?" "That wooould appear to be the case. There is no simpler way to disqualify someone than to steal the baaadge." Inside Subaru, everything that had taken place the day before started to come together. How Emilia stubbornly refused his help; Felt and her client, Elsa; Subaru being murdered three times over all of it was rooted in the value of the badge. So, too, was why Subaru was there at the manor. "Man, looking back on it, I did a super good job! Man, I need a bigger reward, huh!" Subaru was full of himself now that he suddenly knew the importance of his own actions. He looked down at Emilia haughtily, wagging his finger teasingly. He was waiting for the punch line. But. "Yeah, you're right. You've been a huge help to me, Subaru. So much that merely saving your life isn't enough. That's how much this means to me." The way she lifted her hand to her breast, giving Subaru a serious look, put him at a loss for words. The stiffness of his cheeks didn't match the tense, serious aura all around him. Oh man, I seriously suck at reading the mood. Subaru's inability to read the tension in the air clashed with the serious look on Emilia's face. Finally, amid his great embarrassment... *** "...What are you doing?" "Er, my hand just kind of reached out." With Emilia staring at him, Subaru had gently brushed his fingertips into her hair, not so much stroking her head as simply passing his fingers through the hair and enjoying the feeling. "I'm an easygoing guy. I was thinking this would be reward enough for me." "...You stroked Puck's fur, too. Subaru, do you have some kind of hair fetish?" Subaru let out a yell at the harsh assessment. "Hey, wait, fur and hair aren't the same thing at all! Your silver hair's really pretty!" Emilia's silver hair truly felt smooth as silk; its soft charm bewitched Subaru in an entirely different way from Puck's fur. But for some reason, Subaru's words made Emilia lower her eyes with a pained look. Subaru tilted his head, not knowing the reason for Emilia's action. His head was still like that when he felt a gaze from behind. "Ah, perrrhaps we are in the way? We could leave you two to yourselves?" "Your concern's the dictionary definition of none of your business. And it's still my turn to ask questions." Subaru continued enjoying the feel of Emilia's hair as he used his free hand to point at Roswaal. "I understand Emilia-tan being a candidate for becoming queen, but what about this business of you backing her?" "You really aaare rather observant. You've picked up the preeevious matters quite well, though this is aaall second nature to any human born and raised in the city." "I'm honored to have your praise, Count. Though simple anime and romance novels kind of prepared my mind for this fantasy stuff." Like any reader, he'd been thrust into original scenarios with confusing, hard-to-remember world-building. Stuffing this level of background info into his head was no big accomplishment. "Well, it is not something I was trying to conceal. My title is the Kingdom of Lugunica's...I suppose technically I am lord of the outer regions, but my role sounds better expressed as...court magician, perhaps?" "Court magician...? So you handle magic use at the castle?" Emilia picked up where Subaru's words left off. "Yes. That's the magician of the highest rank... He's the foremost magic user in the entire kingdom." She looked a little dissatisfied nonetheless. Roswaal seemed nothing but pleased with Emilia's reply, smiling as he brought some tea to his lips. "So continuing the earlier topic, I stand in support of Lady Emilia's royal candidacy. I am the shield behind her, her patron, sooo to speak." "Patron, huh." A representative for those backing her. So that was the position of the man before his eyes. Subaru looked anew at the tall man in clown makeup before gently trading a glance with Emilia. "I don't mean to put this the wrong way but...Emilia-tan, you sure about this guy?" "It can't be helped. He's the only one in the kingdom I can ask for support. In the first place, only a meddlesome eccentric like Roswaal would help someone like me, so..." "Ah, I see. Process of elimination." "Quiiite a conversation you two are having right in front of your patron, if I maaay say so..." Perhaps feeling somewhat slandered, Roswaal gave off an adult chuckle rather than anger. Maybe he had really thick skin that or he simply took pleasure in ignoring people. "So, back to the point, Rozchi. I get that you're Emilia-tan's sponsor. It's cute how she goes from one extreme to another to hide how she's a bit of an airhead, but acting on her own like she did yesterday in the capital, that's kinda rare, huh?" "I wooould call it unprecedented. Thooough Ram should have been with her..." Roswaal made a strained smile as he shifted the topic to Ram. When Subaru looked at her, he saw she had the same hairstyle and face as Rem, standing beside her. At least you could nicely tell them apart by their hair color. "Man, that totally smug 'I got away with it, just as I hoped' look gets on my nerves." Whether she intended to reflect on her error or not, he had her over a barrel. However, Emilia raised a hand in her defense with an awkward look on her face. "Um, it's not Ram's fault. Yesterday I split up from Ram because I...lost out to my curiosity and wandered all around." "What's that doe-eyed little-girl excuse?! Emilia-tan being a big airhead doesn't change the fact that she didn't fulfill her lord's commands. Is that all right...?" With Emilia trying to cover for Ram, Subaru pointed a finger from each hand at her before he shifted them over to Roswaal. "You dooo have a point, thoooough I share responsibility for Ram's lack of discretion. But what are you trying to say, I wooonder?" "Simple. You're the ones who dropped the ball by taking your eyes off someone important like Emilia-tan. That's where I came into the picture. I'm saying, if you had it all covered to begin with, none of this would've happened." Subaru's little speech changed the looks on everyone's faces. Emilia raised her eyebrows, one of the twins looked apologetic while the other glared with hostility, Beatrice still had her heated gaze trained on Puck while Puck was precariously stuck headfirst into the egg yolk on the dish before her...and Roswaal made a pleasant smile, nodding as if he agreed. "I seeee. Certainly Lady Emilia's worth exceeds my considerable personal fortune. It is appropriate that you should seek a reward only from me, as her sponsor, iiis it nooot?" "Yep. And you're not gonna say no, are you, Rozchi? I mean, I saved Emilia-tan's life and stopped her from dropping out of the royal selection. I'm totally her savior!" Subaru rose from his seat and posed with a finger pointed up to the sky. "I muuust admit that it is the truth. Now, then, would you care to elaborate?" Roswaal, too, rose from his seat, looking down at Subaru from his superior height. Emilia looked worried as she watched Subaru and Roswaal stare each other down. "Whaaat is it that you seek from me? I cannot refuse your request, if only to prevent this matter from becoming public knowledge. Nooow then, what is your desire?" "Heh-heh-heh, that's a noble for you; you really get it. Whatever reward I want! And you can't say no, Rozchi! A man doesn't take back his word!" "That is quiiite a saying! I see, a man should make no excuses. No reneging on his word." Subaru's petty villain behavior made him hear his popularity meter drop in his mind, but the entire effort was devoted to dragging that one statement out of him. Roswaal's consent made Subaru's inner self smile. "I want one thing and one thing only. I want you to hire me." Compared to the extended foreplay, Subaru's declaration was plain and simple. The girls behind Subaru were in shock at his statement. The looks on the twins' faces became mildly conflicted, whereas Beatrice looked seriously perturbed. As for Emilia... "I-it's not for me to say, but that's kind of..." Her eyes were so wide that even the sublime beauty she was born with lost half its power. "You're cute when you're surprised, but are you that against the idea?" "It's not that; you want so little!" It was like Emilia was angry for him as she slapped the table and closed the distance with Subaru. "It's not just the thing with Puck, okay? It's...like when you asked me my name back in the royal capital." Emilia listed the rewards Subaru had claimed to the best of her knowledge. Emilia knew what he'd done to get those rewards; she shook her head like she really didn't understand. "You don't...understand how grateful I feel. I can't...repay you at all for saving my life and more, if you ask for so little!" Emilia's inflection tapered off as she pressed a palm to Subaru's chest and lowered her head. Hearing Emilia's lament, Subaru painfully understood his own thoughtlessness. Emilia had always felt indebted to him. She wanted to pay him back in some suitable way. But the same went for Subaru. Subaru had always been indebted to Emilia. And twice he had become indebted to her in a way he could never repay. He could not repay kindness that had "never happened." Before him, Emilia raised up her wavering violet eyes. Seeing the serious look with her plea, Subaru abandoned all thought of kidding around or papering it over. Subaru decided to convey to Emilia how he really felt with all the seriousness he could muster. "You don't understand, Emilia-tan. At the time, that was what I truly wanted from the bottom of my heart, you see?" " Huh?" "At the time, I wanted to know your name. I think being in a new, uncertain land with no idea what would come the next day, if I'd stopped to think about it, there were lots of things I could've considered But I'm a man who can't lie to himself." It was a reward for which he'd died three times. For nothing more than to see the smiling face of the silver-haired girl before his eyes and to learn her name. At that moment, there was no greater reward he could wish for. "My request to Rozchi's like that, too. Right now, I'm completely, totally broke. Sure, I could ask for a pile of gold, but why not set myself up so I can make a living long-term?" "...If you wanted that, you could ask to just live here for free, not as a manservant, you know?" "Oh, I could've done that?! Hey, Mr. Roswaal, could you let me live as a fr " Looking at Roswaal as Subaru tried to amend his wish, the man crossed his hands above his head in an X mark. "I shall honor the first request. A man does not take back his word, dooooes he?" "Whoa! You're right! A man doesn't do that, huh?!" Subaru tearfully

found his request denied because someone had to open his big mouth earlier. "And I thought for a moment there you seemed actually serious... I must have just imagined it." "And then Emilia-tan lowers my rating! That's kicking me while I'm down!" Subaru realized he'd passed up the chance to establish the perfect easy life in a fantasy-world environment. He didn't need to lower the beautiful girl's opinion of him on top of that. "Anyway...that's how it is, so...I mean, Ramchi and Remrin must be straining to take care of this place all by themselves, so please let me work under them." "It iiis true that is an actual concern... Though I beeelieve it is as Lady Emilia said, it is indeeeed asking rather little?" With Roswaal showing a strained smile for once, Subaru put up his left and right index fingers and wiggled them. "I'm a super greedy guy, actually. I mean, living under the same roof as a super cute, beautiful girl who's totally my type, what guy wouldn't want that? Close in body is close to the heart, and opportunities abound!" "...I seeee, certainly it is as you say. It is rare one gets to work by the side of girls one is interested in, iiis it not? Quiiite pleasant for you." "Well, besides." Subaru stopped wiggling his fingers and used them to scratch his unkempt hair. "Besides, you're not gonna let a guy you know nothing about like me just pack up and leave. And to me, the pros and cons say I should stay with Emilia-tan." Subaru knew a few too many inconvenient things. He was declaring his belief that nothing good would happen to him if he left the manor without any means of protecting himself. If Roswaal had never considered any such thing, no doubt he would have taken extreme offense. But in contrast to Subaru's awkward feelings about it, "Then it shall be as you ask I hope we geeet along very nicely." Roswaal's instant reply came with one eye closed, looking at Subaru with his yellow eye alone. Subaru couldn't read what he was thinking behind that suspicious twinkle. Incidentally, Subaru was very embarrassed inside from having made such a strong public confession. But when Subaru timidly looked at Emilia's expression... "Goodness, you really are a hopeless child... Did something happen?" Her perfectly calm reply left Subaru at a loss for words. Maybe he was overthinking it? This was just the result of his lack of experience with being around a beautiful girl. "Man, dealing with a girl I like this much is gettin' me all worked up..." Emilia, watching Subaru get fired up on a tangent instead of dealing with more pressing matters, murmured in a little voice, "Which one's more your type, I wonder...Ram or Rem?" Emilia put a finger to her lips in a huff, taking what he'd said earlier completely the wrong way. With the long breakfast taken care of, the matter of what to do with Subaru was largely settled. Seeing this, the first to stand was the girl with curly hair Beatrice. "I see the discussion is settled, so may I take my leave with Puckie, I wonder?" Beatrice was quick to finish her own meal so that she could leave as soon as possible. Grimacing even then, she seemed about to leave without bothering to put her plates in order when Subaru wagged a finger at her. "Wait, there's no need to be in that much of a hu Hey, at least introduce yourself. I don't know what your place is here at all. You Rozchi's little sister?" "Treating me as that thing's relative? You are quite accomplished at angering me." Beatrice let out a sigh full of disgust as Roswaal, thoroughly bad-mouthed, smiled in amusement. Subaru slumped his shoulders as Beatrice shot him a nasty glare when Puck spoke up. "Betty's the librarian of the archive of forbidden books here in Roswaal's manor!" "Puckie?!" Just when it seemed like an argument was about to break out, the gray cat's statement tore it to shreds. Puck was busy nibbling on the heel of a loaf of bread glazed with sugar for a luxurious dessert. "Sweet, tasty, meow..." "Hate to bug you when you're on a sugar high, but could you tell me more?" With Puck lost in a sweet daze, Subaru touched Puck's heavily sprinkled ear, urging him on. Subaru was toying with it quite a bit when Puck raised his face from the plate. "It's because Roswaal's a pretty accomplished magician, plus he comes from a pretty old family. There're lots of books here that aren't for other people to see. So, he made a pact with Betty for her to protect them." "Yes, that's true. How is Puckie always so right, I wonder?" Beatrice seemed to agree without thinking, speaking as her hand sprang out to Puck's other ear. A lovely look came over her as her fingers felt the fur of his ears. It was the first time Subaru had seen Beatrice with an expression that suited her loveliness. Subaru's breath caught. The odd girl out, Emilia tilted her head a bit as she watched. "You two look like you're really getting along nicely while playing with the cute kitty there." "Getting along nicely with this person is a little...!" "How could I ever get along with this person, I wonder?!" Subaru and Beatrice both shot down Emilia's idea. For his part, Subaru was hiding a blush; for her part, Beatrice looked quite serious. "Hee-hee. I'm so scary, making two people at odds with each other into my slaves... Meow meow meow!" Puck was busy being the literal center of attention when Emilia's outstretched fingers grasped him. Puck was in Emilia's fingers, unable to move, as she sighed. "All that said, being the guardian of an archive of forbidden books... The sound of it really tickles a guy's mind." Beatrice was giving Subaru a sullen look as he tickled Puck, but Subaru's suggestion softened her expression. She toyed with her own long rolls as she gave what was, for Beatrice, a frank reply. "Perhaps you did not hear Puckie's explanation? It is the room you entered earlier." "Oh, the one with all the books!" Remembering the great volume of books chewing up all the floor space, Subaru could accept it being that kind of archive. On the other hand, the idea that all those volumes were somehow forbidden made him feel like it was a crime on a completely different scale. "Don't tell me this loli's your unwitting partner in crime...?!" "That word annoys me every time I hear it. And to answer your question, the very thought that I am an innocent victim annoys me enough, couldn't I just die, I wonder?" "Don't be so prickly, shrimp. It takes calcium and a calm heart to get taller. If you were about as tall as Emilia-tan and me, we'd have quite a little love comedy going on here..." He left Beatrice to stew indignantly at his comment as he gave Emilia an amorous glance. But Emilia let that comment slide and pressed a different issue with Beatrice. "Wait a minute. Beatrice...don't tell me you let him into the archive?" "...I shouldn't have to tell you. Why would I ever need to let in a stranger such as him on purpose, I wonder? No, he solved the riddle of the Passage all on his very own." A vein bulged on Beatrice's forehead as she roughly stood up and pushed open the dining hall door. Subaru, faced with the incomprehensible scene before him, asked like a complete idiot, "Ah? The hallway just...?" Before his eyes, the open door that should have led to the manor's hall beyond had opened to a huge room lined with bookshelves. He almost swooned when he remembered that he'd seen it once before. "This is the Passage. You are trembling as its sublime beauty burns itself into your eyes, perhaps? Come on, Puckie." Beatrice stepped into the archive of forbidden books, looking triumphantly at Subaru as she stretched out her hand. Puck leapt from Emilia to land upon her outstretched palm. Upon this, Beatrice closed the door behind both her and the cat. Ram didn't say a word as she opened the shut door. Subaru's eyes widened in total surprise. "Whoa, that's incredible." Beyond the door, closed so roughly a moment before, Subaru walked with his own feet into the hallway beyond. The scene before him a moment before was like a mirage. "I see. In other words, magic makes it so any door here can connect to any room. Pretty neat for recluses who need to find the john in a pinch." Emilia seemed a bit thrown off. "You actually look less surprised than I expected. What's a recluse?" "A guardian who sacrifices himself holding down the fort at home, waiting for weary family members to return." "Er...that sounds noble. Are you a recluse, Subaru?" Emilia was full of concern when a puff of smoke interrupted her and Subaru, tickling his nose. "Achoo!" "Yes, yes, shall we continue the introductions? Ram, Rem." "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Rem, employed as chief maid by this household." "Nice to meet you. I am Ram, working as an ordinary maid in Master Roswaal's mansion." Subaru crossed his arms. "Wow, you sisters suddenly got nice and formal. Well, not that I'm one to talk, but..." The twins joined hands and looked at Subaru. "But Dear Guest...or rather, Subaru, you are our coworker now?" "But Dear Guest...or rather, Barusu, you work under us here now?" "Hey, Big Sis. You're throwing my name back in my face here." That was the one thing you absolutely did not do at your first formal introduction. Of course, there was no way for Ram or Rem to know of that rule of Japanese society. Subaru endured the mockery as he turned toward Roswaal. "So that's my standing, huh? Not so much a butler as an apprentice maid?" "In this situation, your doing odd jobs at their discretion seeems best. Dissatisfied...?" "If I was gonna be dissatisfied I'd have only myself to blame. Well, had to be done, so no regrets. Take good care of me, my seniors. I'm gonna work super hard and break a leg!" "Break a leg." "So it would seem." The three seemed to instantly agree on the never-before-raised term. With a yeah! Subaru raised his hands and they high-fived each other. They were already getting along. "Harmonious relations are a beautiful thing. As your employer, I think it iiis just fine, so long as there are nooo ill feelings, yeees?" "For some reason, we kinda get along. A lot better than that loli! Way better than with her!" "You really don't want to be seen as Beatrice's friend, do you..." Emilia's pitying murmur signaled the end of the gathering. "Well then, shall we be off, Barusu?" So spoke Ram, commanded by Roswaal to be Subaru's personal tutor. Her little sister, Rem, was off to the side meticulously cleaning up the dining hall; Ram made no effort to help as she reached for the dining hall door. "So you intend to call me that full-time, huh?" "Yes, I do, Barusu. Master Roswaal commands it, so I shall show you around the mansion. Can you at least make sure not to wander off?" "I'm not Emilia-tan, so I won't let curiosity get the best of me." Emilia's cheeks puffed up at being teased about getting lost in the capital. "Su-ba-ru!" Emilia was about to split off to continue studying various ceremonial roles, mandatory for a royal candidate. Subaru was making a point of burning Emilia's beauty into his eyes before she left. "Well, with minor regrets, let's be off. Lead the way." "Yes, let us, Barusu. Until later, Lady Emilia." Ram held the hem of her skirt, bowing courteously as she left. Subaru started to follow behind her. "Subaru. I will, too, but...try hard, okay?"

"Wow, I'm super happy to hear that. I'm really pumped for this!" Mimicking Ram, Subaru held the collar of his track jacket as he bowed. Emilia shot him a strange look as he did so before leaving the room. Ram had a grimace on her face, waiting as he walked into the hallway. "That's quite a sour face, Big Sis. I was just playing around a little. I'm not so ignorant of maid culture to the point that I think a maid is the same as a manservant. Oh yeah, what about clothes?" He didn't think it was very likely he'd be starting life as a servant in his tracksuit. Prompted by Subaru, Ram put a hand to her mouth and nodded. "Certainly, clothing is very important. Let's see, clothing in your size... Yes, we should have some." "Awesome. Okay, let's get me changed, then. I think formal actually suits me pretty well. Let's make me a refined, high-quality man!" Subaru smiled with a thumbs-up and a twinkle of his eyes when Ram led him upstairs to take his measurements. "The servant quarters are on the second floor, so you'll change there. Your clothing size should be similar to Frederica's, who quit several months ago." "Huh, interesting timing to quit. This Frederica...is a woman?" "Her dimensions should be right about the same as yours." "But she's not the same gender, right?" Ram stopped walking and gave Subaru a cold look. She looked tired as she put her hand to her forehead. "Clothing that is formal, refined, and high quality...which of these do you have a problem with?" "How about all the above?! Emilia-tan looked like she was gonna pay me and everything, so why do I have to borrow a maid outfit?! What if people think I'm some kind of weirdo?! I don't want that!" A trip to a fantasy world without any special talents, save cross-dressing. Subaru would almost have rather died. But, since Subaru had a frightening ability, death was no consolation. Guided by Ram, he continued to the west side of the manor. Roswaal Manor had a main wing in the center, with a corridor connecting it to the east and west wings. The dining hall and Roswaal's private study were in the main wing, whereas the empty servants' quarters were on the western side. "An empty room on the second... Yes, any room that has no plate above it is fine. Pick whichever you wish for your private quarters and I shall drop off your change of clothes there." "Okay, roger that. Hmm, which one..." Having been granted private quarters in the mansion, Subaru surveyed the candidates from the end of the corridor onward. Having said that, surely only the locations differed; the contents would remain the same. Being near the stairs was convenient, so... "All righty, I'll pick this room over h " He opened the door with no special consideration. At that moment, he spied what looked like a loli playing with a kitty cat in a library. "Fuwaah, you're so wonderful, Puckie. Your fur is the best fur ever..." The girl with the long curls noticed Subaru and slowly shifted her gaze toward him. Subaru looked back at Ram, standing in the corridor, as she shook her head. Subaru gave her a big thumbs-up. "Don't worry, I won't say a thing. That feeling turns all of us into blithering idiots..." "Could you cut short the magnificently stupid statement and close the door already, I wonder?!" "Gyaha!" Some invisible power, likely something magical, threw Subaru back, and he flew hard into the corridor wall. The impact to the back of his head made Subaru's eyes spin as he saw out of the corner of his eye the door slam shut with a ferocious sound. Shaking his head, Subaru retraced his steps to complain about the violence of a moment before. But when he opened the door, an empty room within greeted him. The Passage had done its magic. "Once Lady Beatrice conceals her aura, one cannot know which door it is. She will not emerge unless you go opening every door in the entire mansion." Ram spoke like he should bluntly accept defeat. From behind, she patted his shoulder. That feeling made Subaru admit he had lost this "Oh man, she annoys me. She acted like I did something wrong there!" Or not. Brushing off Ram's hand, Subaru turned and sprinted down the corridor full force. In front of wide-eyed Ram, he ran straight to the door at the other edge of the hallway. "Here!!" " Hyah?!" The girl yelped as the gray cat made a sound of admiration. "Impressive, Subaru." This time, seeing Beatrice's face rocked at his having broken the Passage a second time, he instantly made a roll into the archives so that she couldn't blow him out again. Beatrice's eyebrows rose with anger at something one simply did not do in any library, never mind these archives. "You are kicking up dust!" "Well, you should've dusted it better, then!! And you don't bring cats into the library anyway! You get claw marks all over the covers!" "It's fine, Lia trims my claws really short!" The odd man out, Puck's casual murmur failed to reach Subaru and Beatrice as they argued. They looked ready to shout loud enough that the echoes would carry through the entire mansion. Ram, belatedly entering through the door leading to the archive of forbidden books, looked at the arguing parties and said in a small voice, "If not friends, you certainly are birds of a feather." Roswaal Manor seemed to shake from their combined shouts. " Absolutely not!!" And so, Subaru's life as a servant started with a bang. With the conclusion of the unexpected session with Beatrice, Subaru used a dressing room to put on the servant's attire that Ram had given him. It was a white shirt with a black jacket and matching pants, doing no violence to Subaru's preconceived image of a butler. The problem lay elsewhere. "Hey, Ramchi, I put on the outfit, but..." Ram, waiting outside the dressing room until he'd finished, entered when called. "Though I'd like to say something about how I've been addressed, is there something wrong with...?" Ram, complaining as she made her way in, stopped mid-sentence as she got a good look at Subaru, putting her hand to her forehead. "Indeed there is. Your shoulders, and also, your legs are too short." "You mean my height?! The shirt's fine, but the jacket's real tight on the shoulders. I'm decently athletic, not that it gets me anywhere, but this super tight top makes me look like a macho man here." Just as Ram had indicated, the shoulders were stiff because the sleeves were a poor fit. In particular, the armpits were far too tight for his shoulders to move. Subaru wondered if this was a natural problem when dealing with hand-me-down servant uniforms. "I can roll up the sleeves, but the top's no good like this. I suppose I can handle shortening sleeves on my own, but..." "So you have unexpected talent, Barusu... We cannot have you working in such a sorry outfit. It will bring the manor's, and Master Roswaal's, standards into question." "He dresses like that and he worries about standards?" Though Ram had a neutral expression, the tilt of her head made plain her displeasure, so he shut up. Subaru's "zipping" his lips with his finger brought a sigh out of Ram. "We can do nothing for what is inside, but we can at least make you look presentable. At any rate, let's leave the shortening of the legs for later and just fix the top." "Easier said than done, though? I don't have any experience with that, either." Maybe I could manage anyway, voiced Subaru as he assessed the limits of his sewing skills, but Ram countered, "No need for concern. Rem, come over here." "Come over here...? She's not gonna pop right in just 'cause you..." "You called, Sister?" "Waaaaah!" As soon as she was casually called, Rem appeared right beside them, giving Subaru quite a fright. It was as if they were playing a joke. The twins tilted their heads in unison as they watched Subaru's shocked, frozen reaction. "What are you so surprised for?" "What are you so scared for?" "I'm not s-scared! Just a little surprised! That Twin Power thing's really something!" Maybe it was some kind of twin "sympathy" they talked about on those supernatural investigation shows; that thing where they could read the other even when apart. Seeing Subaru so shaken, Ram made a hmph sound. "Of course it is no such thing. I spotted her happening to walk by and called out to her. Perfect timing." "That last part sounds like it's rubbing it in somehow?" Ram cut in. "So what is it you need? I do not have much time to waste on Subaru." "That uncaring attitude really hurts, geez! I'm the new guy! Be gentle!" But the truth was that Rem was indispensable for maintaining the manor. Delaying her for any real length of time was surely a bad thing, yet Ram looked at Rem, pointing to Subaru as she stated, "Rem, surely you have noted Barusu's pathetic appearance?" "His shoulders rotate oddly and his legs are too short. Also, his face is terrifying. And?" "You just had to poke at two things I can't do anything about!! It's not like clothes; you can't change how your face looks no matter how hard you try!" The sisters ignored Subaru's complaints as they continued to converse. Subaru, the odd man out despite being the subject, was left with nothing better to do than to roll up his sleeves. "Barusu, hand Rem your jacket. You will have to do without it until tomorrow morning." "That's a big help, but...sure about this? You've got a mountain of work, right?" "Of course I am quite busy. However, handing it over saves time and trouble later." "Ahh, right. Please and thank you." Swayed by the sound argument, Subaru stripped off his jacket and handed it to Rem. Upon taking the jacket, Rem pointed to the dressing room and motioned with her chin for him to get in. "I need to take your measurements. You can't take them yourself, can you?" "...I feel sorry for making you go through all this trouble." "I do not mind. Someday, you shall repay me for this. With interest." "That doesn't sound quite right, but you seem dead serious. So scary!" Subaru and Rem left the haughtier-than-thou Ram in the corridor and went into the dressing room. The dressing room held not only servant uniforms but various changes of clothes for Roswaal as well. Everything felt like it came straight from a circus dressing room. When his gaze left the area with lord's attire of rather poor taste, several more flowery outfits drew him in. One of them was an outfit he'd seen at the royal capital, so these were no doubt outfits for Emilia. "I'd love to have her model all of those, twirling around and showing them off..." "What are you mumbling about? Get over here, please." Summoned by the especially sharp voice, Subaru obeyed without further kidding around. The middle of the dressing room had no booth for trying on clothes, but it did have a divider for that purpose, and there awaited Rem with a slender measuring tape. The elaborate imprint on the tape marked it as a high-quality item. "Stand straight over there. Stretch out your arms so I can measure your arms and shoulder height." "Okay, roger that. Thanks." Turning away from Rem, Subaru reached out both arms as she had instructed. Subaru stretched his short frame as much as he could while Rem wrapped the tape around his arms and back. Subaru's shoulders quivered with a sensitive sound when he suddenly became aware of her soft touch and breathing. "Please do not make strange noises, Subaru. It is unpleasant." "I

couldn't help that! This is tough on a guy on more than one level!" Faced with Rem's cold, heartless words, Subaru searched his mind for any change of subject. "By the way, there's Rozchi's and Emilia-tan's clothes in here, but I don't see any dresses for you, Ram, or the loli. They in another room?" "Lady Beatrice changes her clothes in her private quarters. Sister and I do not wear clothes other than these, so we do not require different outfits. We change in our own quarters." Subaru raised his eyebrows at Rem's matter-of-fact reply. Then Rem, having just finished measuring him, wrote something on a nearby memo. Subaru crossed his arms and looked at her. "You don't have any other kinds of outfits, so what, it's all maid outfits? What about when you go out and days off?" "It is no hindrance to our work here at the manor or when accompanying Master Roswaal in public. I think it is a quite logical way to present our status without need of an explanation." "Logical ain't the point here... I think a beautiful girl has a duty to wear pretty clothes and bring joy to others." "Sister may be another matter, but no one would be pleased were I to dress up." "Maybe I would?" "Would pleasing you do me any good, Subaru?" "Maybe it'll make me work harder at the servant's life. That's logical, isn't it?" Rem had the slightest look of surprise at Subaru's comeback. Subaru, pleased at cracking her neutral expression, twisted the corners of his lips into a grin. "I do not know why you would go so far as to say that, Subaru." "Even your hairstyles and outfits are the same! Your personalities are different so at least pick different clothes! ...Or something like that. I mean, the maid outfits look good on you, and it does kinda work for twins like you girls." In her current outfit, she was cute with room to spare, but their attire was identical down to the haircut. Precisely because they were twins, he wanted to see some individuality, the essence of human emotion. That was how Subaru felt, but... " ness." "Eh?" "None of your business. What is wrong with my being the same as Sister?" It was hard to believe, but Rem's expression was more glacial toward the wide-eyed Subaru than before. Subaru unintentionally hemmed and hawed, the exchange of small talk until just earlier seemingly long forgotten. "...Let us go back and not speak silly things. I cannot leave Sister waiting any further, and there is a great deal you must learn, after all." Her demeanor permitting no dissent, Rem turned her back on Subaru and headed to the room's entrance. Subaru, more confused than before, walked behind her as he murmured. "That's being a little too into your big sister..." He sighed, concerned about where his relations with the seemingly unflappable girl would go. With the measurements done, they linked back up with Ram in the dressing room, and Rem went her separate way. In spite of being pressed by work, Rem said, "I will re-stitch your jacket overnight and deliver it before morning once it is done." She shot Ram a look rich in meaning as she left. Their eye-to-eye message system made Subaru give Ram's shoulder a soft poke. "Hey, what did Rem say with that eye-contact thing just now?" "She said, 'Subaru gave me perverted glances when we were alone'...You beast." "So you got that much from just th Hey, don't back away, that hurt my feelings!" Though Ram's retreat from Subaru, clutching her own shoulder, pained his heart, his time as a servant at the manor finally began in earnest. The west wing contained the servants' quarters, spare furniture, and normal books not meant for the archive. In contrast, the east wing had suites for welcoming visiting nobles, with rooms for entertaining guests and other facilities, with few functional differences from the main wing. "You have now toured nearly all the manor. All that remains are the gardens outside the buildings and the front yard between the manor and the gate. You can see those later. Any questions so far?" "Shouldn't the tour have been something Emilia-tan would've done?" "Not at all, since we will be getting to work immediately." During the guided tour, Ram's personal disposition and Subaru's penchant for stopping and going off on tangents made her easily fend off Subaru's latest line. Subaru wasn't sure if that meant the last several hours had brought them closer or he'd simply dug himself into a deeper hole, but... "My chores for today are maintaining the garden and front yard and checking the surroundings. I will be assisting in preparing lunch, and at Eight Solartime, I must wash the silverware... You shall assist me, Barusu." "Sure thing, but what's that Solartime you mentioned?" It was a term he'd heard when he'd awoken that morning. He'd guessed that Solartime referred to time during the day, but... "So Eight Solartime indicates the time... Do you have a clock or something?" "Clock...? If you mean a magic time crystal, they are all over the mansion, including right over there." Subaru looked where Ram pointed and saw a crystal emitting a dim light. The crystal hung from the upper part of the mansion's wall pretty much right where a big clock might be back in his world. Subaru squinted as he stared at the flickering green light emitted by the crystal. "It's a little weird, but I guess it's just another clock. How do I read it?" "Solartime is Wind Time from zero to six, then Fire Time for the next six. Lunartime goes from Water Time to Earth Time To not know this, are you some kind of barbarian, Barusu?" "An actual barbarian wouldn't answer yes to that, you know?" He hated hearing it, but Subaru's lack of common knowledge made that appraisal hard to shake. Thinking back, there was a magic time crystal in the room Subaru awoke in, too. Subaru felt that the crystal had been a lot greener then. "So, what, the color gets brighter as time passes?" "...Wind Time is green, Fire is red, Water is blue, Earth is yellow. Anything else you want explained?" "I'm okay with the time stuff now. Solartime and Lunartime are kind of like AM and PM from the sound of it." No doubt he'd have to endure many other clashes with what passed for common sense in a fantasy world. Subaru crossed his arms and nodded. Ram seemed tired as she put a hand to her forehead. "It's hard enough to train you for the job from scratch, but having so little common sense... When did I go from domestic help to an animal trainer?" "It's scary just to hear words like animal trainer, so maybe you could pick different ones, boss?" Ram's eyebrows twitched at being called boss. Feeling that she either didn't care or wasn't too bothered, Subaru switched gears a bit. "By the way, there were only you two taking care of the place earlier, but it wasn't gonna be like that forever, right? I mean, you had that maid who quit before?" "...Master Roswaal has relatives living at various lesser manors, so most of our coworkers have come from there until now. Rem and I work here at the main residence so that we may attend to Master Roswaal personally." "Main residence and lesser manors... So, um, this is the main residence?" "Master Roswaal is head of the Mathers family, so of course he lives at the main residence. And I say relatives, but his relations with the other branches of the Mathers family are not particularly deep." Perhaps Subaru should have expected that a nobleman like Roswaal would have a complex relationship with his family. Now that Subaru was working for the man, he couldn't consider himself a bystander in that; besides, he was closely related to Emilia, a royal candidate. "Even if you're just looking after Rozchi, this mansion's too huge for two people to handle, right? Can't you hire more people?" " Circumstances make that impossible at the moment. Also, the time for idle talk is over." Ram clapped, signaling the end of that line of discussion as she calmly walked forward. Subaru wanted to ask her more about stuff, but he could do that and pick up more common knowledge as he worked. He needed to put his back into the work first, to keep her happy if nothing else. "Haven't worked like this before, but I feel really positive for some reason. I guess it's the beautiful-girl thing?" "Flattery will get you nothing. No kindness, no mercy." "You should learn a little modesty from your little sister, geez!" Subaru threw that out, still chewing over the conversation with Rem back in the dressing room. "Oww !" Subaru was half in tears as he yelped at the fresh wound, wet with red blood. Ram, engaged in the same work right beside Subaru, narrowed her eyes as she watched him wave around his bleeding left hand. "That is what thoughtlessness gets you. Basuru, do you know the meaning of improvement?" "But this is the first time I've dealt with any tableware that's not chopsticks!" Subaru stuck his cut finger into his mouth as he complained, his cheeks puffing as the metallic taste filled his mouth. They were in the kitchen, shortly before noon. After wrapping up in the garden with Ram, the two returned to the dining hall to help Rem prepare. That being said... "I understand me, but making your big sister peel stuff, too? I mean, where's the dignity?" Ram was quick with a counter. "We have worked and lived together a long time, so we divide work by our specialties. This is not my place to shine." "I thought I heard earlier that she's better than you in every area, though?!" He'd heard earlier how Ram came in behind Rem at cooking, cleaning, washing, sewing, and pretty much every other chore. Ram did seem pretty experienced at peeling veggies, though. "Are both of you going to be done soon?" Rem spoke, seemingly wide-eyed at the two she'd entrusted the peeling to as she put them to shame with her ferocious meal preparation. Rem's practiced hand was far beyond the norm, making her cooking feel like a type of highly polished performance. ...Completely unlike the other two, doing menial work off in a corner. Rem looked back as she poured ingredients into a huge frying pan and mixed them. Silently looking over her big sister peeling and Subaru bleeding, Rem nodded like nothing had happened. "As usual, Sister, the sight of you peeling vegetables is worthy of a painting." "Your favoritism is so obvious, it's refreshing! I'd love a comment for the work I'm doing, too!" "I feel sorry for the farmer who grew those vegetables." "Stop, you're wounding me!" Rem was looking at the atrocious wreckage of the vegetables Subaru had peeled. The potato-like vegetables had been cut down roughly halfway, yet, skin remained on them. Furthermore, fairly deep cuts to his hand had left the table wet with blood. Ram, peeling her potatoes very prettily, glanced at the still-bleeding Subaru and offered advice. "You handle a knife poorly, Barusu. You're cutting yourself because you're moving the knife, not the vegetable. When peeling, keep the knife steady and rotate the vegetable around." Her form was excellent; her peelings had no interruptions from head to tip. She continued, "I will have you know, my specialty is steamed potatoes." "You actually looked proud when you said that! Damn it, just watch. My beloved blade Shooting Star will put you in your place!" Frustrated, he picked up the knife and tightly grasped the wooden handle. It was a completely ordinary knife for peeling, but from that day onward, it would be Subaru's precious Shooting Star. "Uoaaah !" Raising his voice, he hunched over and held the knife steady, rotating the vegetable just

as Ram had advised. The first cut was still rather deep, but he was surprised inside at how smoothly the rest went. When he glanced over, he saw Ram looking proud of Subaru doing as she had instructed. Genuinely grateful, Subaru concentrated on peeling without a word, when suddenly "...What? If you stare at me like that I'm gonna start blushing." Subaru looked up when he realized it was Rem who was staring at him. Rem looked slightly taken aback as she tried to counter. But whatever she was trying to say, Ram's words interrupted. " She is staring at how pathetic you look, Barusu. In particular, your head is quite lacking." Her words made Subaru tilt his head. "I thought this haircut was a lot better than it used to be, though..." "At the very least, it deserves a failing grade, given that you are a servant... Right, Rem?" "...Ah, yes. I suppose so. It does seem just a tiny bit lacking." "Looks like it really bothers you! Geez, sorry!" Their plainspoken low assessment of the work he'd taken some pride in put Subaru down a bit. As Ram watched Subaru, she made a hmph noise through her nose. "Incidentally, Rem handles people's hair here at the manor. She dresses me and does my hair every morning, you see?" "Yeah, that's how you twins are the spitting image of... Wait, that sounds wrong?" The way she said it just then made it sound like Ram did all the work by herself. But faced with Subaru's retort, Ram folded her arms and boldly replied. "It is exactly as you think, Barusu." "Help out your little sister a bit, geez!" Ram's boldly declaring herself to be the good-for-nothing older sister made Subaru shout with a look of feigned shock. Then, Ram stroked the pink hair that Rem had combed, looking at her younger sister. "Rem, would you mind giving Barusu's hair a little cut?" "Now hold on, having a girl playing with my hair is really gonna throw me off here!" "Sister...?" Ram's sudden suggestion threw off both Subaru and Rem. Ram trained her red eyes on her sister's questioning look, slightly lowering the tone of her voice. "...You were looking at Barusu because of his hair, yes?" "...Yes, that is correct. A little combing and styling would make it look much better." "You should let her do as she says, then. Rem's hands are heavenly, I assure you." "That makes it sound like a kind of perverted request, you know..." It seemed like the older sister was giving Rem the excuse to indulge in her unexpressed interest. Maybe it was an issue of personalities. Unlike Ram, already giving Subaru no quarter, Rem apparently hadn't decided yet how she should act toward him. Subaru agreed with the need to close the distance, but... "If you don't want to, then you don't have to. I kind of hope you do, though!" "No, not at all. It is true that it bothers me slightly, very slightly, just a little." Knowing that it was really bothering her, Subaru lost more confidence. He thought he was just indulging in his individuality but with such thoughts on his mind, three voices sounded as one. " Ah." The edge of Shooting Star shifted from a potato to Subaru's thumb. Subaru yelled out as he shallowly peeled the wrong kind of skin. "Whoaa! Oh man! It took off a little !" "It seems it is displeased to be called your 'beloved knife.' Since your love is so one-sided, perhaps you should try calling it your favorite knife instead?" "Sister, the water is boiling, so let's put in the vegetables you cut " "You two love hazing the new guy, don't you?!" Their prioritizing of the work was admirable, but Subaru lacked the mental strength to praise it. And so, half a day flew by. "So tired !" As Subaru spoke, he flopped completely onto the bed, all his strength exhausted. He was in the servants' quarters he'd been given. From that day onward, it would serve as Subaru's private quarters and sleeping space. It was a frugal room with a cheap bed, desk, and chair, so of course it lagged far behind the standards of the guest room where he'd been a patient. "Well, the expensive stuff is really stifling, so this is A-OK..." Burying his face into the pillow, he decided it still smelled and felt up to high-class standards. Now that he was off work, Subaru quickly changed from his uniform to his tracksuit, intending to go to sleep in clothes that he was more accustomed to. "Man, they worked me to the bone. Work's hard work. I seriously get why Dad and they are so awesome in the working world. Even one day of this is nothing to sneeze at." He let out honest admiration as he loosened his creaky body, thinking back on his first day at work. Sure, there were lots of little details he didn't know, but he was still depressed at how bad a job he'd done. The saving grace was perhaps Ram's attitude as an instructor. "She's blunt and to the point, but she's gentler and more polite than I expected, really... Ah?" He lifted his face at the abrupt knock on the door. As he did so, he heard a voice from the door's direction. "It's Rem. Subaru, is now a good time?" "Ah, sure, sure. I'm not doing anything weird, so come on in!" "That makes it sound more suspicious rather than less, but pardon me." Rem opened the door and entered the room, still dressed in her maid outfit. For a moment, Subaru raised his eyebrows at Rem's visit, but he understood the reason as soon as he saw the black jacket she had in her hands. "Wait, you don't mean you're done already? This redefines the words fast job." "It is nothing so grand as re-tailoring it altogether. I would have to take more care if it were one of Master Roswaal's outfits, but this will do for you." "That made it sound like you, um, really cut corners?" Rem made no reply as he took the jacket, briskly opening it and putting his arms through the sleeves. Before, the outfit's armpits were too tight and his shoulders could barely rotate, but... "I hate to admit it, but you did it perfectly. My arms can go round and round... Ah, does it look good on me?" "When combined with the rarity of your gray-colored clothing, nobody else's strange outfits could compare." "Okay, that didn't sound like a compliment. Guess even I can tell that much!" Having the manservant's jacket over a T-shirt made Rem's assessment a natural one. Indeed, it must have taken considerable effort not to laugh. But... "What shall we do about the cuffs?" "Cuffs... Ah, you mean for the pants. Crap, I forgot. With a needle and thread I could do it myself, though." "I have brought some with me. Shall I adjust them now?" It was a good-faith suggestion with no apparent ill will from Rem's side. She'd slipped in some choice words with it, but that was her style, so he let it slide. Either way, Subaru wanted to repay the favor somehow. "Okay, hand the needle and thread over here. My sewing skills are gonna get a whole new grade today!" "I should expect more from the person who had showed such dexterity while struggling to peel vegetables for dinner today?" "Keh-keh, underestimate me while you can. And by all means, prepare to be shocked!" Looking like she was giving up on Subaru, sky-high with confidence, Rem took a fantasy-world sewing kit out of a pocket and handed it to him. He took it, finding that the contents matched up pretty nicely with what he could expect from home. With a practiced hand, he passed the thread through the needle and pulled the cuffs of the trousers up over his knees. "Mmm, hmm, mm-hmm." As Subaru made a singsong sound, Rem let out a sigh of admiration. "...I am shocked. You really do have experience." Subaru moved the needle in a brisk, lively fashion. Before he finished humming, he pulled it up. "Okay, one side done. Take a good look. I sewed it right, didn't I?" Subaru stretched out the pants to show off his own work. Rem drew in her chin in plain acknowledgment. His mood improved by the reaction, Subaru began working on the other cuff when Rem spoke abruptly. "Ah...Subaru, about the conversation at noontime..." "Mm, noon? Noon, what happened then?" "Ah...er, if you have forgotten, it's quite all right." Rem made a small shake of her head in front of Subaru, who still had his head down. Narrowing his eyes at her reaction, he recalled that they'd discussed fixing his hair when preparing dinner. "Oh, about the hair? I half thought that was a joke. You gonna do it?" "No, I just thought it was very impertinent of me. You may be a coworker, but you are also Lady Emilia's savior, so our positions are different." "That kind of stiff attitude will just crimp my style... Wait, that's what you think?" Her statement, that she couldn't treat him as a simple coworker because they stood apart, stuck in his ears. Seeing Rem raise her eyebrows at the question, Subaru began roughly tugging on the hair on his head. "To be honest, I'm not good at picking up on stuff like that. Sorry to...make you worry about it." "No, I am simply saying it cannot be helped. Please forget about it." "I can't just let that go so easily. People are petty like that. Now, then..." Subaru put a hand to his forehead, lowering his eyes as he looked at Rem. She seemed not so much regretful about her slip of the tongue as she seemed chastened by Subaru's admonition. That helped him decide what to say. Subaru lifted a finger as he made a suggestion. "Okay, I'll give you my one condition. If you're okay with that, I'll totally forget what you just said." Rem closed her eyes briefly before nodding with a look of resignation. "Condition...you say? I understand. I will hear you out." Subaru made a strained smile, not intending to draw out that big a reaction, and then said... "If you fix up my hair and give it a little brushing, I'll forgive you." *** Unable to take Rem's silence in the face of his counteroffer, Subaru raised his voice. "The silence is kind of painful to me here, you know." Rem's pale blue eyes reflected Subaru in them as she sighed a little. "Lady Emilia already pointed this out, but you desire very little, Subaru." "That's weird. I thought we'd be making up instead of you getting all shocked like that..." "As I have heard from Sister how you gave her perverted looks when you were alone, I was rather resigned to something less decent." "Slander's a horrible thing!!" He was scared that Ram's gossipy statement would make sparks fly with Emilia in short order. He'd have to establish a direct lifeline with Emilia before that could happen. Subaru was still plotting countermeasures against Ram in his head when Rem grasped the hem of her skirt. "I accept your condition I shall go along with your idea." And so, with a prim and proper bow, she accepted his suggestion for smoothing things over. Her performance drew a laugh out of Subaru as he looked down at his hands. "Hey, I wrapped up shortening the legs while we were talking. I did it right, huh?" The work complete, Rem took hold of the trousers, acknowledging his work... "...Yes, you did. You get full marks for sewing. But much like yourself, I do not think it will be of use, Subaru." ...then poured cold water all over him. "Huh?! I thought we just made up here?!" Combined with Subaru's retort, the earlier awkward atmosphere had fully lifted. Subaru returned the sewing

kit to Rem before stroking his own forehead. "So, about my hair...when do you wanna do it? It's tough to do it today 'cause it's so late." "That is true. I would like to get it done as soon as possible, but I will be working in the evening for several days...unfortunately." "We'll just have to make the time. Man, it's really been a while since I had my hair styled!" He'd been cutting his own hair since he got into middle school, nearly five full years earlier. He was good enough to do it by touch without using a mirror. "Well then, it is getting late, so I will excuse myself. You will be working in the morning as well. Can you wake up on time on your own?" "Honestly, not all that sure there. I'm good at waking up if I have a clock, but there's nothing like that here, so maybe not? Don't you have roosters or something?" Faced with Subaru's unreliable reply, Rem reluctantly launched him a life raft. "...This seems severe, so Sister or I shall wake you in the morning." "Seriously? I feel bad to use my seniors in place of a clock, but..." "It shall do us no good to have you sleep into the afternoon, after all." "What kind of oversleeper do you take me for?!" "Someone who could sleep away the entire day, I imagine?" It took a while for Subaru to realize that this was a joke, by Rem's standards. After the banter, Subaru thanked Rem as she left for accepting his suggestion. She passed through the doorway and waved a hand as she went out of sight. "Whatever comes out of their mouths, they're sisters through and through, huh." Rem was superficially polite as she slipped in the dagger; Ram was arrogant. But just the same, they were considerate to the point of overbearing, something Subaru thought was highly desirable in coworkers. Later. "So then, how was Subaru after all that?" It was evening the sun had already set in the west, just as the crescent moon took its place in the night sky when the secret report took place. It was a large room. The center had a table and tall chairs for receiving guests; farther within, the room was furnished with a chair and desk for its owner to conduct his writing affairs. The ebony desk had sheets and feather pens strewn over it, beside which stood a cup that was still steaming, a gentle aroma wafting up from it. This was the uppermost floor in Roswaal Manor's main wing, the private study of its lord, Roswaal L. Mathers. His voice was like a whisper, but it reached its mark with no difficulty. Of course it did. The small body of Roswaal's speaking companion was sitting right across his lap. "It's been five days since that spectacle time enough for you to see how this shaaall proceed?" "I suppose so He is no good." Ram heard her master's voice in her ear as he stroked her pink hair. Roswaal and Ram were the only two people in the room; there was no sign of the twin's "other half," Rem. Put simply, that day's report was about the issue of Subaru and Ram's education of him. With her stating that his education was going most poorly, Roswaal stared for a moment before laughing. "Ahaaa, is that so. Completely useless?" "Barusu really can do nothing at all. He's no good at cooking, clumsy at cleaning, and the very thought of entrusting laundry to him disturbs me. He's oddly skilled at sewing, but besides that, nothing can be left to him alone." "In a place with so many girls, that, too, is a grave matter, is it nooot?" At that age it cannot be helped, Ram seemed to say with a strained smile, looking up at her master as she thought back on the details of the previous four days. In that brief but vivid time, even a stranger would have noticed the grimace replacing Ram's graceful, neutral expression. "It is quite raaare to see such a face on you. Is he so worthless?" "Worthless through and through. It is not that he is clumsy; it is that he does not know. I cannot but think he was raised poorly. However, he is also lacking in culture." "So haaard on him." Roswaal held back a laugh. Ram sighed a little, shifted her position in her master's arms, and sank farther against him. He gave Ram's pink hair a good stroke with his palm. "So, Ram, the important part Do you think he is involved?" Roswaal maintained his smile, his tone of voice unchanged from before. The subject was unstated, but she knew what he wanted to hear. Ram closed her eyes, thinking for a little while. "I cannot rule it out, but I think the possibility is low." "Hmmmm. Why is that?" "He stands out too much to have been sent to infiltrate this House... Not in a good or b... No, in an especially bad way... In the first place, Barusu himself is..." The words seem to pour out of her mouth. It was, in a fashion, a reply to his question, so Roswaal greeted her answer with a satisfied smile. It was the smile of a master that said: It makes perfect sense. Though the smile was not being sent her way precisely, Ram realized her cheeks were burning nonetheless. "I see, and I must agree with that. Meaning he truly is a benevolent bystander." As Roswaal spoke, the chair creaked as he shifted positions. He turned opposite to the desk, straight toward the large window through which shone the moonlight. Roswaal's oddly colored eyes seemed to twinkle; the corners of his lips rose at the scene below. "I muuust say, he certainly doooes not discourage easily." The private study overlooked the manor's garden. There, in one corner of it, he saw a black-haired boy speaking and laughing with a silver-haired girl. As was typical, the young man made one-sided conversation, but the girl didn't seem to mind. "How chaaarming. I no longer possess such passion." His words were like a soliloquy, but Ram looked into Roswaal's eyes from close up as she replied. "Women are happy when they're pursued." But in contrast to the luster in her eyes, Roswaal's eyes narrowed in a teasing look. "Perhaps you measure Subaru higher than I thought?" "...He is no good at all, but I do not think poorly of him. He knows nothing related to the work, but what he simply does not know, he can be taught." Responding to the dissatisfaction in Ram's eyes and her chilly voice, Roswaal used the hand with which he had brushed her hair to caress her cheek. Ram seemed too enchanted to speak as Roswaal pondered her reply. It was rare for Ram to speak of others like this. Her unexpressed counsel to her master was, Let us get to know him better. It seemed the two maids were quite fond of the black-haired young man. There is beauty in enthusiasm, Roswaal thought with a nod. "Based on my position, I shooould probably intercede, yeees?" Roswaal commented as he looked down on the cute rendezvous in the garden with his yellow eye alone. "Both are such children. Nothing will happen regardless." "You do have a point." Faint laughter filled the private study as they pulled the curtain over the window overlooking the rendezvous between the boy and girl below. What happened after that, not even the moon was given the privilege to see. With the moon still lingering in the center of the night sky, Subaru was full of optimism. He stretched out the wrinkles visible through his manservant outfit's sleeves and checked how he looked in the window. It'd already been four days since he was wearing these clothes, so he thought it was about time he felt used to them. "Not bad, not bad at all. I can do this. Right out of the bath, I look fifty percent sexier in the mirror. I feel like this is gonna work!" Whether it was objectively 50 percent was another question, but it was important to reassure himself. Trying to at least surround himself with an attractive aura, Subaru took a long, shallow breath and stepped forward. He was walking on the shortly mowed grass of the garden, heading for a green-covered corner lined by high trees, a place where the blessings of the moon were all the more remarkable. There sat a girl, her silver hair twinkling in the moonlight as a pale light surrounded her. Subaru now knew that the firefly-like pale glow actually came from spirits. That fact added to how watching the surreal scene bewitched his heart, like a demoness that wouldn't let go. He unintentionally stopped in place, his breath catching. Perhaps sensing him, the girl's closed eyes abruptly opened. The two amethyst jewels caught sight of Subaru approaching. "Oh, hi. R-real coincidence bumping into you like this?" "You come like this every day, you know. As for coincidence...don't we live under the same roof?" One glance from being spotted before he could speak threw Subaru off his game; for her part, Emilia sighed at the already typical line from him. Undeterred by his slip, Subaru smiled at Emilia. "Hearing the words under the same roof really gives me a tingling..." "The word tingling really sends a shudder up my spine. For some reason, I don't like it." With Emilia staring up at him, Subaru scratched his cheek and sat next to her like it was perfectly normal. They were a mere three hands apart, proof that the sense of distance between them had lessened. Emilia, by now used to Subaru sitting next to her, did not bother to point out the distance. Between her daily morning ritual and mealtimes, his sitting beside her was something she now took for granted. It was unclear whether she was silently permitting it or simply giving up on forbidding it, but either way, Subaru was happy to be so close. "So, what are you doing?" "Mm? An extension of the morning routine. I can meet most of them in the morning, but I can meet some of them only at night, so..." Subaru nodded in response, readily accepting Emilia's reply. He was finally accustomed to living in a world where time was measured in "day" and "night." Incidentally, daily life over a twenty-four-hour period was largely as one would expect. Living in accordance with the body's internal clock brought a sense of tranquility like nothing else. His four days of training as a manservant had also been four days acquiring that world's common knowledge. That said, learning servant work came ahead of academics, so his overall comprehension was still rather thin. "Gives me new perspective looking back on my school days with the weekends off..." Subaru had often disparaged his Spartan instructor during the last four days. But such one-sided comments from Subaru still furthered the friendly conversations he had with Emilia at night. Subaru silently watched the side of Emilia's face as if bewitched by the dreamlike scene. Emilia suddenly commented, perhaps finding it rare for Subaru to be lost for words. "It's no fun to watch, is it?" How Emilia somehow sounded apologetic made Subaru sit up and shake his head. "Nah, I could never be bored being with you, Emilia-tan." "Wh " The straight-hitting statement made Emilia's breath catch as her cheeks reddened. Seeing Emilia's face flushed from the surprise attack made Subaru redden up to his ears. After all, the line he'd said just then had been the complete, literal truth. Subaru rapid-fired his words as if trying to explain away his blushing. "Ah, er, I mean, we hadn't had a chance to settle down and talk for days, right?" Emilia nodded in full agreement. "Th-that's right. Seems you've had quite a time learning how to work at the manor... You've

been working your heart out, huh?" "Hearing that makes me so happy I wanna cry..." Glossing over the atmosphere, they buried that topic in a deep hole and turned it into an unintentionally bittersweet moment. Assessments of Subaru's work over those four days had been rather harsh, and even if he managed to somehow bribe his superiors, it would not change his score of "totally useless." Subaru's first job, since he was lacking ability in the domestic fields of cleaning, laundry, and cooking, was to acquire the skills required of a servant at a manor. His current grade for all of the above was stuck at C. "Shortening the sleeves of my uniform and putting buttons on an apron got me top marks, but that's it." "You really are exceptional in only one area." "Well, I tried to grow up to be a guy with an edge instead of perfectly round and flat..." Subaru's skill at sewing was a product of how his parents had raised him, but he, too, wondered what in the world they'd been thinking. Emilia, not knowing of Subaru's introspection, gave honest praise for his self-confidence. "I see, is that so. I'm glad that you're confident in something, too." Subaru made a rather conflicted smile at the sight of Emilia being happy for him. "Besides, it's not like you're awful at the other jobs. Ram and Rem keep this quiet, but they have been praising you, you see..." "Seriously? So I'm making ground even with my seniors here? So, what, cutting myself with the knife, knocking over the bucket, and messing up the laundry, it all raised my relationship points?!" "I think you should reflect on that just a little." Emilia made a pained smile at Subaru's stating his glaring failures. Her violet eyes gently narrowed, looking at Subaru, examining him carefully at close range. "But work's hard every day, isn't it?" "Super hard, totally tough. It makes me wanna borrow Emilia-tan's arms and breasts and lap for some low-stress healing." "Yes, yes. If you're making light of it, you must be all right." Emilia reached with a fingertip and gave Subaru's forehead a light push. Subaru, weak to the pressure, could not resist Emilia's fingertip, making a showy tumble backward onto the grass. He let out a pleasant sigh as he felt the soothing coolness of the grass and gazed up at the star-filled sky. A world without city lights made Subaru appreciate the beauty of the stars and the moon in the sky more than ever before. " The moon's so pretty, isn't it?" "There are some places you just can't reach, right?" "I wasn't asking for it at all, and you hit me with something like that?!" "What, did I say something bad?" Subaru's attempt at dropping a romantic line fell flat due to cultural differences in a different world. He pressed a hand over his heart to show he was apologetic, startling Emilia. "Ah..." "Oh, darn it! I was tryin' to hide that..." Subaru tried to hide his blushy smile as he moved the hand Emilia was staring at behind his back... The left hand that had borne the brunt of his repeated failures at work. Subaru stuck out his tongue to try to gloss over it, but Emilia lowered her eyes with a serious look. "So, everyone else is working hard, too." Emilia's murmur sounded like she was criticizing herself. Subaru silently acknowledged what Emilia was thinking as she spoke to herself like that. Subaru wasn't the only one learning something at Roswaal Manor. Emilia was in the middle of absorbing a wide variety of things that she had to learn as a royal candidate. Subaru and Emilia were after much different things. To compare the pressure on the two of them was nearly outright rude. Bearing such heavy burdens must have been exhausting. Perhaps Emilia carried worries that she couldn't discuss with anyone. Belatedly, Emilia asked a question. "...How about I cast a healing spell?" "Nah, it's fine. I'd rather not heal it and leave it like this." "Why's that?" "Mm, it's hard to put it into words... It's kinda a sign of how hard I've worked?" Subaru thought that they weren't typical words coming from him as he strongly clenched his beat-up hand. "I don't mind working hard as much as I thought I would. Being able to do things I couldn't do before...it ain't bad. It's hard, it's really tough, but it's kinda fun. I mean, Ram and Rem are surprisingly strict, that loli's annoying, seen less of Rozchi than I thought I would, though..." "Roswaal would probably get prickly if you told him that." "Nobody uses prickly anymore..." Subaru bent a hip to emphasize his bending the conversation. Then, rising to his feet like a spring-loaded doll, he brought his right hand to his forehead in a tidy salute toward Emilia. "Well, just need to knock down the problems one by one. I mean, this is the only place for me to live... Either way, it's fun, see?" In his original world, living "easy" had been just fine with him. But he couldn't expect that kind of peaceful daily life in this world. Hence, Subaru sought as much "ease" as he could. Having been senselessly tossed into that world, one could call it Subaru's stubbornness toward his fate. Subaru's display of determination made Emilia's expression freeze like time had stopped. Only her eyes moved, blinking several times over, before a smile suddenly came over her. "That's right. Yeah, I think that, too... Goodness, Subaru, you're such an idiot." "Wait, isn't that reaction weird?! Shouldn't we be falling back in love or something?!" "I wasn't in love to begin with! You really are such a... I'm an idiot, too." Subaru looked hurt at the exaggerated reaction. Emilia's final murmur never reached him. Emilia's smile deepened. The softness of her charming smile was as if the earlier pressure on her was long forgotten, like Subaru had unintentionally bewitched her with his own spell. He couldn't express how Emilia looked at that moment with mere words like pretty or cute. "E M D (Emilia-tan's Majorly Divine)!" "I'm genuinely grateful and you joke about it like that...?" Emilia tapered her lips in a slightly annoyed pout and pushed a finger into Subaru's forehead again. It was likely not Subaru's mere imagination that these occasional touches carried more warmth than they had before. "Having said all that...it's nice that you're trying hard, but how'd you get your hand all beat up like that, anyway?" "Oh, this one's simple. This afternoon, I tagged along when Rem went shopping at the village close to the mansion. The kids were playing around with me when this little dog-ish thing chomped on me." "So it's not the product of hard work?!" "Nah, it's so big you can't notice the traces of hard work... I didn't think I was the type animals hated, though..." Back in his own world, children and little animals loved him that, or he just looked like a pushover. That made the former result odder still. But his effect on kids was still going strong. "The village kids... They smacked me, kicked me, and blew snot on me, too. That sucked, damn it." "Somehow you seem good at looking after little kids, Subaru." "That's taking it the wrong way, Emilia-tan. Winning them over now means I'll reap the rewards when they grow up. I'm a long-term thinker, see." "Yes, yes. I will admit you're honest about your petty stubbornness." Emilia, accustomed to Subaru's silliness, let it roll over her as she stretched and looked up at the sky. "I'd best return to my room now. How about you?" "I can't sleep by Emilia-tan's side, so I'll head back, too." "You get that job only when you've polished your skills with your current work." "Now you said it. Just watch, they're gonna write legends about me...!" Subaru took Emilia's words to heart, burning with enthusiasm. Emilia made a strained smile as Subaru looked back and raised a finger. "Ah, right. Would you come with me tomorrow when I give the village brats some payba er, a lovey-dovey da er, go to watch the cute little animals?" "Why did you correct yourself several times...? And, ah, I..." Emilia lowered her eyes, seeming hesitant as she murmured, "I don't mind going with you, and I'm curious about that small animal, so..." "Okay, let's go, then!" "But it might be troublesome for you to have me with you like..." "Got it, let's go!" "...Are you really listening?" "I'm listening! I could never let a single word or phrase from Emilia-tan escape!" "Oh, Subaru, I just hate you!" "Aaa! Aaa! Sorry, what was that?! I can't hear you!" How Subaru covered his ears, spectacularly taking back what he'd said the moment before, made Emilia break out in laughter, all ills forgotten. Then, she wiped a teardrop from her eyes with a finger as she looked at Subaru. "Goodness...but only after I finish my studying and you finish all your work, Subaru?" "Oh yeah! Roger that! I'll so totally get them done!" With the date arranged, Subaru made a dramatic fist-pump pose. Watching Subaru's self-satisfied look, a charming smile came over Emilia as she let out a little sigh. "I was thinking, watching you makes my worries seem so small, Subaru." "No way?! I mean, you might become queen; worries and social stress like that would turn my stomach inside out!" Emilia, unable to hold back any more, burst out laughing, her mirthful voice making Subaru laugh, too. The two laughing like that announced that their rendezvous for that night had come to an end. Let it be noted that there was one final exchange. "Come to think of it, why are you dressed like that after work?" "Ah, I thought it'd make a good impression on you... So, what do you think? Pretty handsome, huh?" "Mm, I suppose so. It has that 'I'm a capable servant' look." "Well, there you go crushing my hopes!" Subaru had his hand on the door, peeking in as he spoke in a casual voice. "Huh, do you actually sleep right, loli girl? If you stay up too late, you won't grow as tall as you should and you'll end up as an adult that short." Beatrice replied with resentment in her voice. "...Do you breach the Passage as if it is a matter of course, I wonder?" She sat on the wooden stool well within the archive as she glared at Subaru. "Did you have a reason to come see me, I wonder?" "Not really. I thought I'd say hi before I went to bed. I was gonna give up if I didn't get it in three tries, but I got it in one, so..." "Truly, what kind of intuition do you have...?" Beatrice had a tired look as she pulled on one of her rolls. When her fingers released it, the stretchy, elastic roll bounced the other way. The sight struck Subaru profoundly. "Can I try it, too?" "Only Puckie may touch the likes of me... Would you go away already, I wonder?" "Not fair only you get to play. Oh well. I'm in a good mood, so I'll forgive you." Still buoyant from the promised date, Subaru headed out as Beatrice glowered at him. But the moment before the door closed, he thought he heard a voice speak with a lonely echo. " That has nothing to do with me." The voice tugged at him. "Huh, gotta open the door so I can give her a good comeback." The once-open door to the secret archive now led to a simple guest room once more. He tried opening and closing the door in front of him to see if he could catch it connecting to the archive again. Rem looked beside herself as she watched Subaru there, opening and closing the door. "...What have you been doing? Checking the condition of the lock?" "Oh yeah, I

thought I heard a creak in the hall the last few nights... So that was you, Rem?" Rem was carrying a silver tray with nothing on it in one hand as she watched Subaru feel up the door. "Is something bothering you?" "Nah, this led to the archive of forbidden books with the loli girl till just now; it's gone, though." "Did you want something from Lady Beatrice? You could ask me if you prefer...?" "Just saying hi before going to sleep. Nothing...big." The phrase he heard from Beatrice just before the door closed was on Subaru's mind, but he shook his head it wasn't something he needed to press her about at the moment. "What, you're still working, Rem? Better turn in. Morning's coming quickly." "I'll sleep after I do the dishes. At the moment, Sister is serving tea to Master Roswaal, you see." "What the heck are those two doing at a time Ah, well, that's fine." It was almost past midnight; he didn't much care for Roswaal and Ram having a private chat, discussing some lively topic between just the two of them. Not my business to say, though, Subaru reflected. He suddenly realized that Rem was watching him. Her pale blue eyes were staring in the direction of his head. "Don't suppose chances like this come up much. Doesn't look like it bothers you any, though." "...No, until now it has not bothered me that much, or somewhat, or even a little bit." "Geez, downplaying a bunch of times back-to-back makes it sound like it really bothers you!" The sharpness and intensity of Rem's gaze increased to the point that his capacity for speech faltered. Subaru wrapped up work rather late and Rem had been constantly busy, so few opportunities presented themselves. What the heck, thought Subaru with a grimace when Rem raised her hand a bit. "If you like, how about I do it now?" "What... Now? It's pretty late, isn't it?" "A quick cut and wash will not take very long. If I do not, I cannot fulfill the cherished desire you confided in me from your own lips, Subaru." "Cherished desire is a little much!" For such a neutral expression, Subaru saw Rem's eyes brimming with fierce determination. Subaru scratched his face, realizing it must have annoyed her quite a bit over the last four days. He wanted to do something about that annoyance if he could, but "Sorry, Rem. I've made a promise to go out with Emilia tomorrow. I've gotta get up early and take care of work quickly, so I really can't do it tonight..." "Is that so... No, I was being unreasonable. I'm sorry." Using the just-made promise as his reason for putting off the promise he'd made to Rem before, at his own suggestion, weighed on his conscience. But Rem was a practical girl and tried to take Subaru's circumstances into account. Feeling guilty about Rem's position, Subaru felt his words left a bitter taste in his own mouth when suddenly, "How about tomorrow night?" "...At night, you say?" "My condition for the promise with Emilia is getting all my work wrapped up. There's no special work scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so after that, since it's still on your mind..." As he spoke, he was truly shocked with himself for arranging dates with two girls on the same day. Not that his feelings toward Emilia and Rem were in the same vein to begin with... With Rem, he felt fondness toward a fellow coworker. He still didn't really know how he felt toward Emilia. Faced with Subaru's suggestion, Rem closed her eyes and made a small nod. "Understood. Tomorrow night it is. This is a firm promise, you understand?" "I don't know why it bothers you that much, but yeah, a promise it is. Tomorrow night, then." He thought about making it a pinkie promise, but he hesitated, not knowing if such a thing existed in that world's customs. As he hesitated, Rem made a polite bow, turning around with a small flutter of her skirt. She departed with quiet, gliding steps. Subaru watched her go before heading back to his room, biting down a yawn as he mentally went over his schedule for the coming day. "I have to thank the kids for creating the reason for a date all the way to the village tomorrow. Oh, before I do that, got to find out where the best flower gardens are..." As he entered his room, he held his nose high and puffed out his chest, full of hopes and dreams for the coming day. Subaru stripped off his butler uniform, giving himself a makeover with the tracksuit as he crawled into bed. As his head hit the pillow, his eyes were open, thoughts racing about the next day, not conducive to sleep at all. Faced with his mind betraying his body, Subaru immediately switched mental gears and resorted to his secret weapon. Namely... "One Puck, two Pucks..." In the back of his mind, little gray kitty cats were running around and frolicking as he counted them one by one. Subaru linked his fantasy Puck to the real one, letting his memory of the fluffy feline lead him to a happy place. His mind slowly sank, pulled into dreamland. "One...hundred and four Pucks..." Picturing a fluffy paradise, warmth enveloped his mind and finally vanished. As Subaru awoke, he felt like his consciousness was rising as if poking his head through the water's surface. Suddenly released from the suffocating feeling, his eyes opened, waiting several seconds to take in the world. He felt like he'd woken up in a different place than where he'd gone to bed. He felt sunlight burning his eyes. Subaru sat up his slightly sluggish body and shook his head. His head was a bit heavy. Perhaps he was tired from not being entirely used to his new life yet. But this was not the day for such weak thoughts. Wide-awake, Subaru went over the date promise he'd made with Emilia the night before. "That's right, Subaru Natsuki today's the time to leap into action!" The day was a day with a happy future. A day he'd awakened to crisply, a day of promised victory. But... *** Pink-haired and blue-haired twin sisters looked upon Subaru's determined face in surprise. Subaru, blushing to the tips of his ears, buried his face in the pillow to hide it. "What! You were there?! Then you should've said something! Aw man, I'm so, so embarrassed!" The fact that they'd stopped rousing him awake two days before made him careless. To think that both of them would visit on that particular morning... As usual, the twins' expressions did not change much as Subaru groaned on top of the bedding. Though it did seem like they were fighting the temptation to point at him and break out laughing. "Er, hold on, you two. I mean, that reaction kinda hurts. I'm a delicate soul here. There are other reactions, right?!" He was looking forward to their at least engaging in the cold verbal abuse to which he was accustomed. Subaru realized afterward that it was quite awful for him to actually be looking forward to the verbal abuse. "Sister, Sister. He's greeting us as if he knows us somehow." "Rem, Rem. He's greeting us in a very chummy fashion." It didn't feel right. Their murmurs brushed against something in the back of Subaru's mind. "Er, ah? Something weird? My seniors coming to wake me up is one thing, but playing pranks on me is bad taste, you know?" Certainly the two were always blunt, but something felt off. As Subaru spoke, he began to realize why he felt that something was off with them. Their eyes. The way they looked at Subaru. The familiarity from the previous night was gone; they'd gone back to treating him like a complete stranger. Then, decisive proof came flying at him. "Sister, Sister. Our Dear Guest seems to be a little confused?" "Rem, Rem. Our Dear Guest seems to be a little touched in the head." Subaru was aghast at being called "Dear Guest." The polite echo made Subaru feel like something sharp had gouged out the back of his stomach. Subaru pressed a hand to his chest to hold back the phantom pain. He didn't know what it all meant. Their reactions, it was as if "You two... Ha-ha, this really isn't...funny..." With both of them still looking at him like a complete stranger, Subaru abruptly brought up his left hand to block them from his view. But Subaru instantly regretted doing so... ...because he saw that the bandage on his left hand was gone. The rough fingertips from kitchen work, the callouses from handling knives in ways he wasn't used to, the bite marks from the puppy that had bitten him while the children toyed with him they, too, were gone. Somewhere distant, he heard what sounded like a bell tolling. The ringing came over him in a rush, crashing against him over and over again like a wave. Subaru didn't realize that the pain that came with the sound was from him pulling out his own hair. The temple of his head really hurt; he felt a hot, nauseous feeling in his nose. But Subaru's mind focused instead on the sharp pain and taste of blood from biting his own lip, as if he were using it to drown out the sense of loss that felt like someone had carved out his internal organs. The facts at hand forced Subaru to accept reality. Feeling his eyes grow hot inside, Subaru buried his face in the pillow for an entirely different reason than before. For he absolutely, absolutely did not want anyone to see his face at that moment. Not the people he'd grown so fond of. Not the people who'd seemed to grow so fond of him. He absolutely didn't want to cry in front of people looking at him like he was a stranger. "Why'd I...go back?!" And so, Subaru was dragged back into the loop anomaly that had brought him so much suffering. For the second time, his first day at Roswaal Manor began CHAPTER 3 *** "Dear Guest, Dear Guest. You look rather unwell. Are you all right?" "Dear Guest, Dear Guest. You look like your stomach hurts; did you soil yourself?" As Subaru hung his head in shame, the sisters called out with voices of concern. They were familiar voices, even after such a short time. The voices were sometimes annoying, sometimes relieving, voices that he could trust. But now those voices sounded entirely different, ringing harshly against Subaru's eardrums. Responding to the feel of their gazes, Subaru put his breathing in order and lifted his face. "Sorry to...make you worry. I'm just a bit...dense when I'm waking up." Somehow, the rage surging within him had dissipated while he pressed his face into the bedding. Though the initial shock had subsided, he felt as if he were bound with silk string, a sense of loss that made him feel a sob rising from his chest. Thinking how wonderful and infuriating it would be if only this was all just some mischievous trick Roswaal was playing on him. The pretense in his own mind making him feel somewhat better, Subaru opened his eyes and looked straight ahead. " Ah, that's right." After an instant, the blurry world became clear and reality forced itself upon the young boy. Subaru saw the twins standing on both sides of the bed, their hands on the bedding. The familiar faces of Ram and Rem were gazing expressionlessly at Subaru, as per usual. Neither pair of eyes contained any emotion toward Subaru whatsoever. The four days that he had lived with them, growing closer to each other bit by bit, had evaporated like morning mist. "Dear Guest ?" With bewildered voices, both of their lips wove the words in unison. Their gazes chased after Subaru, now sitting up in bed. But

Subaru, seemingly feeling a chill in the air, obeyed his feeling of unease and rose in great haste, putting distance between them. "Dear Guest, you mustn't move suddenly. You are not yet well rested..." "Dear Guest, it's dangerous to move suddenly. You have not yet soundly rested..." Subaru's body reflexively pulled back from the two girls and their concerned voices. The cold response made their eyes tighten with hurt looks, but Subaru was too frantic to notice such a thing. He was having a very hard time dealing with the feeling that he knew them but they did not, in turn, know him. It was only a few days prior that Subaru had the same feeling in the busy street, the back alley, and the dilapidated shop. But it was completely different now. The situation was different. The time was different. The experience was different. It wasn't like when he'd redone things with Emilia and Felt when he'd barely known them. Certainly he'd done some arm-twisting to redo things with the people he trusted. But now, faced with having people he knew turn back into strangers, Subaru was gripped by an unshakable, faceless terror. The maid twins before Subaru's frightened eyes had begun to sense that something was terribly wrong. Silence descended upon the room. Neither side could say or do anything. That was why... "Sorry I can't do this right now!" ...Subaru's action, gripping the doorknob and practically falling into the hallway as he rushed out, was just a moment faster than the twins' move to stop him. Subaru ran, the bare soles of his feet soaking up the cold of the hallway, drawing heavy, ragged breaths as he went. He ran fiercely, in a daze, with no particular destination in mind. He ran. He fled. Yet he didn't comprehend what he was running from. All he knew was that he couldn't bear to remain in that place a moment longer. Subaru ran down a corridor lined with similar-looking doors, his strides still tenuous, like he was about to fall over at any moment. Then, out of breath, Subaru put his hands on a door as if it led right to it and, as he tumbled in, he was greeted by the great mass of bookshelves in the archive of forbidden books. With the door shut behind him, the archive was completely sealed off from the outside world. The only remaining way to intrude into the room from the outside was to open every single door in the entire mansion. Subaru no longer sensed pursuit. He slumped his shoulders, leaned back against the door, and sank to the floor. He wasn't squatting, and yet, his knees were shaking. So were the fingers he stretched out to try to hold them in place. "If I were playing paper sumo, I'd cut some crazy lines right about now, ha-ha..." Even his self-mockery had no bite to it. His dry smile seemed to contain nothing but hollowness. The scent of old paper in the air of the calm archive gently sprinkled a sense of ease and tranquility into Subaru's mind. Though Subaru knew it was shallow comfort, it was the only thing he had to cling to at the time. One after the other, after another...he desperately took deep big breaths. As Subaru gasped like a fish out of water, a scornful voice spoke from within the archive. " Quite a rude thing you are, barging in without so much as a knock." There was a footstool sitting straight ahead from the entrance, well inside the dimly lit room. A girl sat upon it. It was Beatrice, guardian of the archive of forbidden books, keeping her distance from Subaru, the same as always, not a single hair of difference. With a loud sound, Beatrice closed the book, altogether too large for her tiny body, and looked at Subaru. "I wonder, how do you breach the Passage...? This makes twice now." "Sorry, a little while is fine, so let me stay here a bit. Please." Subaru put his hands together, bowed his head in supplication, and closed his eyes without waiting for her reply. This is a quiet place with no one here to bother me. I've gotta get a grip on the facts. What's my name, where am I, who are the two twins from earlier? What's the name of the girl in front of me, and who is she? This weird room? The four days I spent? The promise I made, to be with someone, tomorrow, who "Oh yeah, Emilia..." He recalled her silver hair, twinkling under the moonlight, her bashful smile... He remembered the promise he had made with Emilia, with the moon and the starry sky shining above them... "Beatrice..." "...Are we close enough for you to be calling my name, I wonder?" "You said I breached the Passage just now, and once before, too?" Beatrice made a sour look at being addressed like an acquaintance and having a question foisted upon her. However, Beatrice valiantly maintained her poise as she replied, "You and your thick skull barged in here not three or four hours ago." "The time I came in, messing with your setup, and you got mad so you bullied me. Got it." Though there was no strength behind it, he did not neglect his sarcasm toward Beatrice, getting further under her skin. Subaru had encountered Beatrice three to four hours earlier, she'd said. Her words could only mean when he had first awakened at Roswaal Manor, when Subaru had, without any thought whatsoever, broken through the looping corridor on his first try. When he next awoke that morning, Ram and Rem were in front of the bed. "In other words, this is the...second time I woke up in the manor, then." Subaru gathered up memories from all over the place to piece together his circumstances. The only time the twins had both been present when Subaru woke was that morning. They'd alternated after that. Furthermore, the first day was the only time when he'd had the social status to use the bed in the guest room. "In other words, I went five days ahead, and I've gone four days back...?" Just like in the royal capital, Subaru had gone back in time. That summed up his present situation. But understanding it was one thing; accepting it was something else. Subaru clutched his head and tried to think of what could cause him to go back in time. When Subaru had gone back in time at the royal capital, it was triggered by death, which he'd dubbed Return by Death. He'd decided that, having died three times over before saving Emilia, he'd left that loop behind. In point of fact, he'd spent five days at Roswaal Manor in absolute peace and quiet, hadn't he? And then, poof, suddenly going back in time he hadn't received any warning whatsoever. "Did the conditions change from before...? I made myself think dying sent me back, but maybe it goes back on auto after one week...? No, if that were the case, then..." If that was so, there was no reason for him to have awoken on the first day at Roswaal Manor at all. The principles underpinning going back in time remained unclear, but loops like the one at the royal capital surely followed certain rules. One rule was definitely the place where you were reborn. If Subaru hadn't been freed from that loop, he should have awoken right in front of the owner of the fruit shop with the scarred face, as he had three times over. "But it wasn't a scarred middle-aged man, it was those angelic maids. Guess I've moved on up..." That part made him feel like he'd traded Hell for Heaven. With several pats, Subaru felt up his own body and ensured that he was uninjured. You wouldn't think anything had happened. "But if I died, how did I die? Everything was normal before I slept during the fourth night. At any rate, it didn't feel like any situation I'd die in my sleep before reaching the fifth day." He wondered if instant death without any conscious knowledge of it whatsoever was truly possible. He tried to picture dying from poison or gas in his sleep, but that meant being assassinated. There was no reason anyone would assassinate Subaru, so the preliminary conditions simply hadn't been met. "So does that mean it's a forced loop unless I reach clear conditions...?" If you looked at it like a game, it was like a Game Over that happened if you didn't trigger the necessary flags. Not knowing who'd put up the flags or why was bad enough, but not knowing the triggers that was pretty dismal game design. "Besides, I'm the kind of gamer who gives up quickly and runs off to read a strategy guide..." A scornful smile came over Beatrice as she watched Subaru sink into an ocean of introspection. She sounded bored when she spoke. "It's become rather boring around here with all the mumbling you've been doing. Death this, life that this is why humans are so boring, I suppose. It's all deceits and conceits to the very end. This is why I can't hold a conversation with your kind." It was a blunt, even cruel way of blowing him off. But Subaru was relieved that Beatrice's attitude hadn't changed a bit. He rose up, dusting off his rump as he turned to face the door. "Leaving, I suppose?" "There're some things I've gotta figure out. I'll leave moping around for sometime later. Thanks." "I have done nothing at all... Would you leave already, I wonder? I really must readjust the Passage." Though there was not even a sliver of gentleness in her tone, for some reason, Subaru found that reassuring. Beatrice herself may not have had any such intention, but Subaru felt like her words were pushing him onward. He twisted the doorknob; a cool breeze blew as he took his first step outside. The wind made his short hair sway; he covered his face with an arm as he felt a faint prickling in his eyes. Then, the wind stopped, he felt grass under his bare feet, and his breath caught a bit as he spotted the silver-haired girl in the garden, making his heart leap for joy. "Ahh, she really is so radiant." Well, this is a nice touch, he thought, internally pouring out a string of invectives at the cheeky guardian of the archive. " Subaru!" Upon noticing Subaru, the girl's violet eyes opened wide as she urgently rushed to his side. Those three bell-like syllables pouring from her lips were in the highest pitch she could make. Subaru spontaneously shifted his feet toward the fast-approaching girl. As she gazed at him from head to toe, the corners of her eyes descended in relief. But she immediately snapped back to her senses and returned to her normal look. "Don't make me worry like that. Ram and Rem were really worked up, running all around the mansion making a big fuss because you ran off right after you woke up." "Rare for them to get that worked up, huh. And sorry. Beatrice held me up for a bit." "Again? I heard she picked on you once already before I got up, but..." As Emilia's beautiful face drew near with an expression of concern, her defenseless look made Subaru reach out his hand to her, as if his own weak heart were trying to cling to her for support. But it was far too abrupt a place for it. If he did that, calming down in the archive would lose all meaning. It wasn't his goal to make a scapegoat out of Beatrice. All Subaru could do, seeing Emilia's anxious face, was respond with a vague expression. It wasn't very Subaru-like behavior, but Emilia's formality didn't permit her to dig much deeper. Of course it didn't. Emilia hadn't spent a single hour with this Subaru since meeting

him; there was no way she could know that. The four carefree days Subaru and Emilia had spent together had been tossed into the gutter; four carefree days that had really happened, that Subaru knew but Emilia did not. "What is it? Is there something on my face?" "Yeah, there are cute eyes, nose, ears, and mouth all over your face... Er, I'm glad that you're all right." Emilia's face, scowling as if to complain about the initial sweet talk, immediately nodded at the last part. "Yes, I'm quite all right, because you protected me. How about your condition, Subaru?" "Ah, all good, all good. Thanks to blood loss, mana drain, and the shock from when I woke up, I'm a bit weak and my mind feels like it's been beaten with a bat, but I'm feeling good!" "I see, that's won Eh? That sounds like you've been taking a beating all over..." "I'm fine. See?" He spread out both arms and turned all around to show Emilia that he was in good health. He did seem to be returning to top form, bit by tiny bit. The gears were turning, the tongue was moistening the lips; he had to start being Subaru Natsuki. "Well, that's fine and good... Er, are you going back to the mansion? I have a little bit of business, actually." "Ah, chat time with the spirits, huh? I won't be in the way, so can I stay? And lend Puck to me, would you?" Emilia tilted her head and spoke as if speaking down to a child. "That's fine, but you really have to stay out of the way. This isn't a game." Emilia's sisterly behavior was just so adorable that it made Subaru's spirit burn with determination. "Okay, Emilia-tan, let's get this show on the road! Time is short, the world is big, and our tale has just begun!" "I suppose s... Eh? What did you say just now? Where did this 'tan' come from...?" "It's okay, just go with the flow!" With Emilia expressing surprise at his intimate pet name, he pushed on her back as both headed to that spot in the garden. Her losing the will to keep "correcting" him and grudgingly accepting how he spoke to her had been one of the bonds built up between them during those four lost days. Emilia still wore a face of resistance as Subaru walked behind her and murmured very quietly. " We'll get them back." As they stopped, he gazed at her long silver hair, and then shifted his eyes to the sky. He spitefully looked at the sun rising in the low sky of the east. This and four more and he'd be right at the appointed hour. All he needed to fulfill the promise with this girl like the moon was to greet the arrival of the sun. He had time. And he knew what the answer would be. "I dunno who's got it in for me, but I'm gonna take it all back and make you cry. Don't underestimate how tenacious I can be after I fell madly in love with the smile I saw that night." He shook a fist toward the sky and declared war to no one in particular. It was Subaru's first declaration of open defiance at the "summons" and "loop" that had brought him to that world. He had begun his battle against the second loop. All so that he could move past his week at Roswaal Manor and learn how those days would continue. And to protect and fulfill the promise he had made that night Subaru's caustic words to the rising sun raised the curtain for his second "first day" at Roswaal Manor. All he had to do was see the sun rise five times. Subaru's plan was to spend the intervening time doing the same things to the fullest extent possible. In accordance with his resolution in the garden, Subaru's final objective was to fulfill the promise he'd made to Emilia on the final day. To do that, he had to get to that fourth night and make that promise once more. This was because he'd concluded that loops were, to a certain degree, set in stone. If he followed the same path, the story would "conclude" at the same place. If things followed the same flow as before, it was a natural result. Factoring in the thought processes and behavior patterns of the people involved, things would surely head to the same place. To Subaru, the important thing was to redo everything and change up only the end result. That was the best way to proceed he could think of. In other words, the best way to reach his objective was to see the loop through. With sublime mischief, Subaru resolved to save and load his way forward, leading events to the conclusion he desired. "So, what is this...? Did I mess up somewhere...?" In the steamy bath, Subaru opened his mouth wide and blew bubbles as he looked back on his first day. As far as his plan was concerned, everything after that moment of resolve that morning had been a complete disaster. First, he'd finished his daily morning routine with Emilia and awaited Roswaal's return to the manor before speaking to him in the dining hall. Put bluntly, he didn't have confidence he could reproduce all the fine points of an in-depth conversation, but surely he'd touched on all the high notes from last time. He'd got to touch Puck as a reward, addressed Emilia like a friend, discussed Emilia's candidacy for the royal succession, and determined where he stood in relation to Roswaal Manor. Just as before, Subaru had charmed his way into becoming an apprentice servant at Roswaal Manor. Afterward, he'd gone off with Ram to be shown around the manor and begin his first day of work, but that's when things went off the rails. Subaru, his face the only part not submerged in the bath, let his chin ride upon the water of the tub as he murmured with dismay. "Then why was everything different from last time? I feel like a student who went through all the trouble of writing cheat sheets when they changed all the subjects on the test... What was the point of redoing it?" Subaru's whole plan had been to redo everything exactly as he'd done before. However, the details of the training for his new post and the duties Ram had imposed on him were completely different from before. He felt like it went from Odd Jobs 101 to Odd Jobs 401. "They were still all odd jobs, but...there was waaaay more to them than last time." Perhaps he needed to look at it as trusting him with higher-level work and more of it? "Last time everything just ran me ragged, but this time it was hard as nails... Damn, I thought it was gonna be easy, all the same stuff." Subaru was not merely venting complaints at his expectations being so cruelly disappointed. He'd decided he really wasn't in a good situation. This was the result of his trying to spend his time like before. With so many details of his first day altered, he could not rationally expect things would be like last time on the second and following days. Overlooking the fine details, he was terrified that a much larger problem might yet rear its head. "I still don't have any real clue why I went back this time around..." This time, he'd gone to sleep "normally" and woke up having gone back in time. Unlike the death loop he had been in before, he had no way to avoid something he couldn't anticipate. Just the thought of it made his head hurt. "With this many differences, can I rely on my memory at all...?" He thought back to that fateful day when he met Emilia in the capital. A mountain of little details differed, but things were still proceeding in largely the same direction. He didn't know how to escape from the big event. The only thing that stood out differently from the last time in Subaru's mind was the promise he'd made with Emilia. Surely, if he made it that far, he'd be able to change the results and get past this. Subaru sank into the bathtub, put his thoughts in order without a breath of oxygen, and poked his head out of the bathtub once more. "Well, hello. Maaay I join you?" The sight of the bare-naked nobleman before him, hands on his hips, made Subaru deeply regret that he required air. They were close enough to touch as he stood in the nude, his crown jewels swaying between his legs as he looked down at Subaru. "It's currently occupied. I refuse." "The facilities in my own manor are my personal belongings, are they nooot? Allooow me to freely enjoy them." "Then don't ask. You don't need my permission to get in the tub!" "Oh my, so haaarsh. You do not understand. The bath is certainly my personal possession..." Roswaal went down on one knee as his hand reached out and gently lifted Subaru's unresisting chin. "...but in the capacity of my servant, are yooou not as well?" Chomp. "No hesitation, I seeee." After biting the creepy fingertips holding his chin, Subaru swam backward, putting distance between Roswaal and himself. The bathroom's size was firmly in the realm of "stupidly huge," with a tub as broad as the oldest, best bathhouses. Plainly, it was the habit of nobles to use an excessively large amount of space, but he had to admit that monopolizing all that space felt pretty satisfying. "Another twist I didn't expect, geez..." During the previous four days, he hadn't encountered Roswaal in the bathtub even once. During the last loop, Roswaal had been extremely busy; the two barely saw each other. No doubt the twins had tended to his needs, but Subaru barely had any contact with him outside of mealtime, their initial meeting excepted. "Damn it, every little thing's happening in completely different ways than what I expected..." "Althooough I know not what troubles you, not eeeverything in this world goes according to plan." Roswaal moved to Subaru's side as he spoke of it being a tough world. He leaned back against the wall of the bathtub and let out a long sigh, somehow looking like any other man in the world enjoying the pleasures of the bath. "I only just noticed, but I guess even you take off your makeup for hot baths." "Mm? Aaahh, that's right. Oh my, Subaru, I wonder iiif this is the first time you have seen my face unadorned?" "I suppose it is. I'm like, you look totally normal. No need to hide your face like that." "Cosmetics is a hobby of mine. 'Tis nooot out of any need to hide my face. It is not as if the curl of my lips or the arch of my nose are abhorrent to the eye... Oh my." "Don't look at me while saying that stuff. Make three doe-eyed blinks and I'm keeling over here and now." Being born with bad looks was a serious drawback when making first impressions. And if Subaru wanted to complain about the face he was born with, what could he say? He looked exactly like his mother. Remembering his parents, Subaru had a conflicted look on his face as Roswaal changed the subject. "Aaare you getting along nicely with Ram and Rem? They've worked here for quite a while, so they are suuurely passing things along to their junior?" "Well, I haven't talked to Rem much, but I'm getting along well with Ram. If anything, Ram is a bit too friendly. Even with us senior and junior, she hasn't treated me any differently from when I was a guest." "Weeell, Rem will make up for that shortcoming. It is only right sisters support each other. Those two are verrry

well suited for each other in that sense." "From what I see and hear, Ram's the weaker sister, while Rem always covers for her." In every sense, it was clear which twin sister had the superior ability at domestic work. Rem had first-rate skills across the board while Ram would have needed to work hard to come close to second-rate. Normally, that setup would give Ram an inferiority complex, but... "But all I hear is, 'Ram's amazing because she's older.' Being so bold is unreal." "If you wish to speak of being bold, I think you are quiiite the specimen? But I see. I wonder if you replied and said the same things to her? It is quite a thing you are treading upon without reserve, which is quite maaarvelous." "The emphasis there doesn't sound like praise at all, you know?" Subaru didn't hesitate to intrude on other people's personal turf because he was so bad at reading the mood. That aloof disposition made it easy for him to get isolated. You might say that it was his bad habit to get on other people's nerves. At Subaru's reply, Roswaal closed his right eye and looked up at the ceiling with his yellow left eye alone. "It is not sarcasm. I truly believe it is a gooood thing. Those girls are a little too perfect for each other, you see. Quiiite likely, some things change only when someone comes from outside and gives a liiittle...push, yeees?" "Something like that, huh?" "Something like that, indeeeed." The two immersed themselves into the bathtub up to their necks, letting their entire bodies soak up the sensations. A little after that, Subaru raised his eyebrows, remembering something. "Oh, right. Ros, there's something I wanted to ask you. Is that all right?" "Weeell, if it is within my vast personal knowledge, I wooould not mind." "That's the most roundabout way of saying 'I'm really smart' that I've ever heard. But ah, anyway, how is this bath heated?" Subaru knocked a couple of times on the bottom of the tub as he addressed what had been nagging him the whole time. The bathtub Subaru and Roswaal were soaking in was made of stone; its pleasant smoothness made him think of marble. The bath was in a corner under the mansion, and of course it was for both genders. To begin with, everything in the bath was swapped after each time, so he had no special sense of fulfillment from getting in after Emilia. Subaru added a thought. "Not that I'm boiling in here. I just noticed before I got in." "From time to time, your inquisitive spirit truuuly astounds me. I wonder if it is youth...although I wonder if I would have had that thought when I was your age?" Roswaal seemed to see a rare dazzle in Subaru's youth as he nodded. "Regardless, the answer iiis quite simple. You seeee, there is a fire-attuned magic crystal under the bathtub that heats it. When triggered by the mana of someone entering the bath, it activates and brings the water to a boil. Surely you used such a thing in the kitchen?" "So that's how that pot worked. I was wondering how you cooked here without gas." After Rem had made brief use of it, it'd been Subaru's turn to peel vegetables. In the first place, not understanding the meaning of words like it runs on mana, spoken like an obvious, everyday thing, probably meant the dawn of Iron Chef Subaru was still a long time away. "I mean, if it's mana, does that mean only magic users can use it?" "Nooot at all. All life forms have 'gates.' Nooo plant or animal is an exception. If 'twas not so, we could nooot achieve a society built on the use of magic crystals." Subaru puzzled over the new piece of vocabulary. Roswaal, watching Subaru like that, cleared his throat and raised a finger. "Very well, shaaall we indulge in a lesson here? I, teaching magic tooo you, the somewhat unenlightened?" "I'll ignore the way that stuff came out and accept with grace." Responding to the lecture proposal, Subaru turned to face Roswaal, who was kneeling in the center of the bathtub. None of that changed the fact that both were buck naked. "Verrry well. First, the basics. Subaru, you know what a 'gate' is, do you not?" "No, you say it like it's obvious, but you don't know what you don't know..." "Your voice sounds very low all of a sudden. So you do not know of gates...or shall I saaay, totally? Mm, did I use that correctly?" Roswaal checked on the proper use of the word totally. Among all the little expressions Subaru had imported that originated from his world, he'd used that one especially frequently, so Roswaal was quite accustomed to it. Subaru gave Roswaal full marks for good usage. After making a high five, they returned to the lecture. "So, what is a gate, anyway? Is that something you have or don't have?" "Put very simply, a gate iiis a doorway that leads inside your own body. Mana enters through the gate; mana leaves through the gate. A basic rule ooof life." "Ahhh. It's like a faucet connected to MP..." He grasped Roswaal's simple explanation. So that was a gate; his ears had heard the term several times over. So it was pretty much what he'd guessed. "So if everyone has a gate, I have one, too?" "Weeell, you surely would, if you are confident that you aaare human. So, are you?" "There's no purer human that's been thrown into another world, ever. Totally normal. Totally mob-grade." Situations that required combat strength to bust through them were completely new to him. His scientific know-how was fairly below average; his hand-eye coordination was pretty high, but his endurance was a sore point. His Acquired Skills were Sewing and Bed-making. One-way trip to becoming cannon fodder. But Subaru wasn't hung up on that; this was the second thing to be happy about since arriving in a different world. Enthralled by the word magic, his heart thumped, his eyes twinkling with hope. "Of course the first thing I'm happy about is meeting Emilia, but this is pretty awesome! Finally, I can fulfill my dream of being a magic user... I've waited my whole life for this!" "Weeell, I am glad speaking of magic pleases you so, but becoming a magic user is largely dependent ooon fortune. In the first place, the properties of gates matter a great deal. You are uuunlikely to be as blessed as a genius such as I. I boast only because I must." Roswaal's behavior made Subaru hear a little ding as a flag rose in his mind. In spite of Roswaal's overwhelming confidence, he didn't know that Subaru, soaking in the bathtub in the nude before his eyes, was a "guest" summoned from another world. Tradition held that those summoned from another world possessed special abilities. So far, weapon skills were out, intellect was out, his luck modifier was either zero or somewhat negative, but: magic! "My new hope is in your hands, Rozchi. Magic, magic, let's talk magic some more! There's a magic wave here, and my twinkling future's surfing on it!" "Is that sooo? Then let us continue. Did you knooow that magic has four basic affinities?" "Nope!" "Ahaaa, it feels good to have someone so senselessly, pointlessly guileless and ignorant before me, so I shall explain. The four elements of mana are fire, water, wind, and earth. Dooo you understand?" "Got it; these are the basics, huh? Consider them absorbed. Go on, go on!" Subaru's request seemed to rub Roswaal the right way, so he nodded and continued his explanation. "Fire element relates to temperature. Water element regulates life and healing. Wind element functions outside the bodies of living things. Earth element functions inside the body. So, most affinities are divided by these four categories, aaand normal humans have an affinity for one of the four! Incidentally, I shall have you know I have an affinity for aaall four." "Whoa, the boasting's annoying but I'll praise you anyway. That's fantastic! How do you figure out someone's element?" "Naaaturally, a magic user as accomplished as I can discover that through mere touch." "Seriously?! This is what I've been waiting for. Well, do it and tell me!" As Subaru begged like a puppy that hadn't been housebroken, Roswaal gave him a halfhearted look and pressed his palm to Subaru's forehead. The eyes of both completely nude men twinkled at the scene. "Well, if you shaaall excuse me. Myon myon myon myon..." "Whoa! A magical sound! Total fantasy immersion!" Subaru was taken in by the invigorating scene before his eyes, forgetting his many sources of worry for that moment. Magic. Finally he, having been summoned to another world, would get fangs of his very own. His eyes twinkling in certainty of his hope, Subaru awaited the results of the scan. " Yeees, I see." "Here it comes! What, what is it? Maybe fire element that burns like I do? Or water for when I'm calm and composed, the coolest guy in the room? Or maybe wind because of my refreshing nature, like the breeze blowing through the grass? No, no, it's gotta be earth for my being such a laid-back, big-brother-type nice guy, definitely!" "Yes, it's Dark." "None of the above?!" Doubting his ears at the scan result, his reaction was like someone being told he had cancer. Roswaal then spoke in a grave tone that seemed to fit that image perfectly. "You are completely, uuutterly Dark. Your connection to the other four elements is quiiite weak. Put differently, though, this iiis exceedingly rare..." "So what is Dark, anyway?! It's not in the other four categories? Some kind of reject?" "I did not mention it, buuut there are also elements beyond the basic four, namely Dark and Light. Hoooweeever, very few people have those affinities, so I diiid not bother to explain." Meaning Subaru was far, far off the beaten path. Hearing Roswaal elaborate made Subaru feel less buffeted and calmed him down. Yes, this was a rare, limited element: in other words, a special power! "It's gotta be a really awesome element. Like some super-special power that comes only once in five thousand years." "Yes, Dark element magic is quite famous...able to obstruct an opponent's vision, sever him from sound, slow his movements, and the like. Rather convenient uses." "I'm a Debuffer?!" A Debuffer was a specialized support class dedicated to so-called debuffs skills that weakened the enemy. He'd had his hopes up that he could use magic of peerless, legendary destruction, able to rend the sky and split the earth, but Roswaal was breaking it to him that his magic would have crowd-control and attribute-lowering properties. He really did seem apologetic, so it was no doubt the truth. "Summoned from a world without weapons skill, intellect, or cheat codes...and a magical element for debuffs..." "Incideeentally, you have no talent for magic. If my limit is a ten, yours is about three." "I wanted to hear that even less! This place is forsaken by God and Buddha!" Subaru opened his mouth and made a loud groan as he immersed himself in the bathtub. Until a few moments before, it had been a theoretical hope, but expectations, once sprouted, were not so easy to brush aside. "Well, using it at all is good, I think... Or maybe being a debuffer makes me kinda cool...?" "Putting aside the level of coolness, there is nooo harm in learning. If you wish to use magic, by all means, learn. Fortunately for you, there is indeeeed a specialist in Dark spells here at this mansion." "I see, that's it! I suppose I should be satisfied with learning magic for situations where you wanna slow someone down. Okay, let's get this show on the road!" Subaru was eager to have Emilia guide him into magic, drawing both of them

closer together. His prior goal of following the same route as last time was long forgotten. "You seem to harbor a misunderstanding, buuut the specialist in Dark spells is nooot Emilia, you know?" "The heck?! Are you enjoying playing with someone's heart like this?! So who's the specialist, you, the elite magic user with all elemental affinities?! This sucks!" "It is Beatrice." "That's worse!!" With a great kerplunk, water spray leapt everywhere as he let loose his loudest shout of the evening. "Damn, that was all over the map. Damn that Roswaal, working me up and down like that like I'm on Buddha's palm!" In the washroom, Subaru's face was red as he put his hands through the sleeves of his change of clothes. With the affinity scan in the bathtub ending in dejection, Subaru got out of the bath first. He'd been worked up during the conversation with Roswaal, but his face felt heavy from the effects of the long bath. After all, it hadn't been a full day yet since being healed from his wound; he had to expect some anemia. "Plus I'm gonna have serious aches and pains tomorrow. Ugh, damn you, Ram; you remember this, just because I'm better than last time doesn't mean you have to work me like a dog..." "I will remember that as you wish." "Fwaaaah?!" The timely reply, coming just as Subaru was leaving the washroom with his laundry in a basket, surprised him enough to make him jump. As Ram stood in the corridor before the washroom, his underwear, scattering out from the bouncing basket, fell to her feet. "My goodness." Ram crouched, plucked Subaru's underwear off the floor, and stuffed them into a garbage bin right beside her. "There's a guy carrying a basket heading to the laundry right in front of you, y'know?!" "I'm sorry, I was gripped by psychological distaste the instant I picked them up. I had to get rid of them without a single moment to spare." "Considering all that, your form was very relaxed, huh?!" Subaru tearfully recovered his underwear from the garbage bin and turned to face Ram. Seeing Ram serenely standing in the hallway, he tilted his head and wondered what she was up to. Ram seemed to reply to his unasked question. "Unfortunately, I have already bathed, so my clothes will stay on no matter how long you wait." "I didn't say anything!! And ain't that backward for a maid?!" "I jest. I am simply waiting for Master Roswaal to finish before helping him dress." "That's pampering him a little too much. I'm sure he can dress himself." Apparently, in this world, there existed people who'd never in their lives worn a single shoe without a servant slipping it on their foot. Roswaal surely fit the bill. "Don't tell me you both help him put on that weird makeup. My low trust's falling even further." "There shall be no rudeness toward Master Roswaal in my presence. Next time I shall spank you." It felt like a warmth-filled warning, but seeing that she wasn't kidding, he knew he ought to take it to heart. In point of fact, Ram had explained his chores at the mansion with great care and patience, but she had a look that suggested she'd make him work in the hog house if he asked her the same question twice. "I'll save myself the grief, then... If you'll excuse me. See you tomorrow." "Basuru, what are you doing later?" "I'm just heading off to sleep. Morning comes early after all? Damn it. Those mornings are really tough." At Subaru's reply, mixing rebelliousness with weakness, Ram nodded a bit and closed her eyes. Subaru was just about to ask the silent Ram if there was something she wanted to say when she opened her eyes. "Wait in your room, then. I'll be there later." Subaru's response sounded very obtuse. " Huh?" Subaru Natsuki, as he'd declared several times over, was firmly in Emilia's corner. Perhaps it was because he'd never encountered such beauty, either in this new world or the one from which he came, but Emilia stood out in Subaru's mind. It was partly pure physical beauty, but also the beauty of each and every action. Consequently, there was simply no room for anyone else in his heart, no matter what she looked like. "That's why this perfectly made bed has one purpose: for me to get a good night's sleep!" Subaru forcefully thrust an accusing finger at his bed, venting to no one in particular. Subaru, having returned to his room after leaving the bath, had wasted all the intervening time on putting his bed in order. He'd abandoned his laundry, working up quite a sweat in spite of having just bathed. "There's no deep meaning to it. No deep meaning to it! Mundane thoughts out, mundane thoughts out. Calm down, calm down. One Emilia, two Emilias, three Emilias... Is this Heaven?!" "Be quiet, Barusu. It's night already; do be quiet." "Yikes!" He made a large leap and slammed into the wall. Ram, having opened the door without a sound, was standing at the entrance to the room. "And just after I told you to be quiet. You are hopeless." "What's with rules that apply for only you?! Anyone would jump from that! What do you want from me here?!" Ram made a muted hmph at Subaru as he vented. Subaru, struck by the humiliation of not being worth a proper word, had no good option left but silence. Then, cutting in front of the silent Subaru, Ram entered the room and headed straight to a writing desk in the corner. It was something every room was supplied with, but to Subaru, who couldn't read that world's books, it was a worthless piece of junk, so he had not turned in the desk's direction until then. "What are you standing there for? Come here, Barusu." Subaru made a dispirited face at being spoken to like a dog being taught manners, but he was resolute to not get wrapped up in Ram's pace. Besides, screwing around was Subaru's job. He headed toward her with a steely resolution to not be swayed no matter what wacky statements she might dish out. Subaru felt like he was going to war as he stood before Ram, puffing out his chest. "And? What impossible trial awaits me this time?" "What are you talking about? I told you, sit down quickly if you want me to teach you how to read." "That's news to me!" His steel heart was instantly shattered. Subaru could not hide his unease at having his hardened resolve so easily broken. He sucked in his breath as he beheld the pure white note page spread atop the table, joined by a feather pen and a reddish-brown bound book. Apparently, this was neither a joke nor a prank; she truly intended to teach him how to read. "But why now, all of a sudden..." Ram's reply to the bewildered Subaru's question was extremely straight and to the point. "I realized while watching you work today that you could not read. So I will teach you. If you cannot read, I cannot send you to buy groceries or leave you notes." Ram showed Subaru the red-bound book as his mouth flapped like that of a fish caught off guard. "We shall begin with a simple picture book meant for children. I will accompany you for study every night from now on." No doubt it was an offer he should be grateful for, but Subaru's bewilderment was stronger than his gratitude at that moment. Like the events that unfolded in the bath, this situation was one that was unthinkable last time. And, according to Subaru's senses, his intimacy with the twins still fell far short of what he'd experienced on the fourth day last time. "Why are you being nice to me like this?" "It is obvious. I... No, it is to make things easier." "Man, you're hard-boiled. You didn't even say what you corrected..." "It is only natural. As your work increases, mine decreases. If my work decreases, Rem's work will naturally decrease as well. It's all for a good cause." "That means a ton of work falling on me, though?!" *** Ram tilted her head like she couldn't understand what he was getting at. He was at a loss for words. But even if he was at a loss like this, he was happy that Ram was showing him such concern. "Okay, roger that. Let's get this studying started, shall we?" "Since you already have the spoken language down, it should not be all that difficult. After all, now is the time to correct your vulgar word selection." "Tossing in insults with your help, huh?" As he spoke, he sat down at the desk and completed preparations, feather pen in hand. With light and rather smooth and speedy strokes, he wrote his first words one ought to use to commemorate a visit to another world. "Subaru Natsuki enters stage left... There we go!" "You do not have the free time to be scribbling. Time is limited. Morning comes quickly, after all." "Well, this is actually my mother tongue... Guess it wasn't obvious, huh?" He'd held out hope that their being able to talk might mean she'd be able to read his writing, but nothing so convenient unfolded. Just like Subaru, she was unable to read the other side's language. "First, we'll begin with basic I-script, moving on to Ro-script and Ha-script after you've perfected I-script." "So there're three types, huh? Sucks to hear that." It was tough to have your spirits discouraged right before a lesson in a new language. He recalled how foreigners felt when trying to clear the high hurdle of the hiragana, katakana, and kanji when learning Japanese. "You can read the picture book by grasping I-script. Time is limited to one hour. Tomorrow is another day, and Ram is sleepy, too." "That last bit sounded like the real story. Not that I mind..." "I think my honesty is one of my selling points." He didn't know if her unhesitant reply was serious or a joke. It really felt like she meant it, so Subaru dove right into the script lesson. Fundamental to learning any new language was grasping the characters through repetition of the writing process. He copied the basic characters Ram wrote down, filling the page with them. It was enough drudgery to break him, but it was necessary, indispensable labor. Subaru felt fatigue and sleepiness pile up when, seized by a somewhat mushy feeling, he conveyed his honest thoughts to Ram. "Y'know, even if you said it's to make things easier for you, I'm still glad." The feather pen made a faint sound as it ran along the paper. Subaru thought back to the four days from last time while writing down the same characters page after page. Now that he thought about it, he was chasing after Emilia every day whenever he had the chance, but he'd spent the most time with Ram during that period. Subaru was basically an amateur at all the chores of the mansion. Of course teaching him was bone breaking, all the more so because Ram was doing that on top of her regular duties. The burden naturally fell on Rem as well. In addition to that, he hadn't had much contact with Rem during those four days. Subaru knew that the highly competent Rem was covering for a portion of her sister's chores, so Subaru owed her for indirectly shouldering his burden, too. "Honestly, I didn't think you liked me that much." It was natural that educating a useless newbie like Subaru was a pain. Certainly that was the opinion Ram voiced, but Subaru felt used to it already. "I hate to weigh you down, but thanks. I want to be useful as soon as possible." Subaru was thanking her from the bottom of his heart for then and

for the future. For her part, Ram quietly went... "Guu." ...making a cute sleeping sound atop the immaculately made bed. The feather pen made a sharp sound as it snapped. Subaru, surrendering to his sudden impulse, opened his mouth wide and yawned. He brusquely wiped away the wetness from the corners of his sleepy eyes and stretched all the way up. The sinking sun of the evening sky had left an orange tint as its parting gift to the leisurely passing clouds, thanking them for another day's work. Subaru watched the clouds as he rotated his arms, legs, and neck to make sure everything was in working order. Effects remained from heavy labor, but he didn't feel the same fatigue that he had on his first night. No doubt it wasn't that his body had grown tougher; rather, he'd become more accustomed to his chores, the greater efficiency leaving him less beat. Since his body didn't get any stronger with Return by Death, he had to rely on learning through experience. "Sorry to make you wait, Subaru Are you all right?" "Mm. Yeah, I'm totally okay. Finished your shopping, Rem?" "Yes, no holdups. It seems you were rather popular." Holding a carry bag containing the things she'd bought and complimenting Subaru was the blue-haired girl Rem. Wearing her maid uniform, Rem was holding down her windblown hair as she looked at Subaru his servant's outfit stained with mud, dust, tears, and snot with a slightly hardened expression. "Kids have taken a liking to me since way back. I guess they really fell for, you know, motherly stuff that I just can't keep bottled up?" "It's because children are just like animals and naturally decide a hierarchy. They instinctively recognize whether it's appropriate to make light of a person or not." "That doesn't sound much like praise!!" Sharp comments like that were what made him accept that Rem and Ram were actually sisters. Ram was direct; Rem was roundabout. You had to have a thick skin to stick around them. Of course, their job was one that could not be accomplished without physical toughness as well. The village closest to the mansion where Subaru and Rem were at was called Auram. Though Roswaal dwelled in the hinterlands, he was nonetheless a minor lord possessing several pieces of land. Everywhere within them, and Auram Village was no exception, the residents welcomed Subaru and Rem like it was the natural thing to do, speaking to them in a very friendly manner. Apparently, just the fact that the twins spent a lot of time in contact with them in the course of shopping meant word of Subaru's existence had passed around. The shock at the speed rural rumors traveled surprised Subaru, but still, though it was awkward, Subaru was happy for the warm welcome. "Having said that, what's with those brats getting all clingy like that... Don't they know that touching everything just gets your fingers burned? Can't they tell I'm putting out a hard-boiled aura here?" "It seems your pretending to be a 'motherly' adult kept you quite busy all by yourself." "The 'by yourself' part sounded a bit sharp there, but it would've been nice being busy without getting mobbed like that. I really should've stuck with you going shopping..." Since Subaru's inability to tell ingredients apart made him useless, Rem had him kill time in the village while she was shopping. The kids found him and he was immediately abducted. "Man, they just don't have any respect. That's why I can't really get to like kids." "When it comes to lack of respect, you look plenty childish to me...?" "A very sound theory! Having said that, I think taking someone for granted from the get-go is a little different... Ram's really good at that, though." "Sister is incredible." They were speaking past each other somewhat. The way Rem seemed full of herself as she boasted about her sister, plus the fact that her sister wasn't watching, made Subaru surmise they were her true feelings. "Feels like Ram's personality causes a lot of conflict, though." "Her unflinching demeanor is part of her charm. It is not something I can pull off..." Subaru, hearing a sad undertone to the words she added at the end, knit his brow but didn't press the point. With Subaru suddenly at a loss for words, Rem seemed to snap back to normal as she changed the subject. "Come to think of it, how is your studying going?" "I'd like to say...steadily, but it's not as simple as that. Stuff like this needs time to slowly nurture and develop...just like love!" "As long as you don't give up midway." "There wasn't much tenderness in that comment just now!" Seeing that his shout brought a slight smile to Rem's face, Subaru also smiled in relief. It had already been four days since Ram had offered him personal lessons. He'd heard Rem might take over, but she hadn't actually assumed the instructor's position as of yet. Ram being that busy meant that the burden on Rem was all the greater. Subaru kept smiling and waved to Rem, who was acting slightly hesitant for once. "Don't worry about it. I'm not going to give up or disappoint Ram. I just wish she wouldn't fall asleep on my bed in the middle of the lesson. It's really distracting." "Sister is probably acting that way to spur you forward." "Man, your total worship of your sister is way past normal. Totally demon possessed." "Demon possessed...?" Rem tilted her head at the latest word trend Subaru had coined. "Like possessed, except by a demon instead of a divine spirit. Demon possessed. It works, huh?" "Do you like demons?" "Better than gods. I mean, gods don't give you anything, but a demon will have a good laugh with you over a chat about the future." Talking about the last year seemed especially popular with them. Subaru remembered the image of the Red Demon and the Blue Demon hugging each other as they laughed themselves silly, when he suddenly realized there was a definite smile carved upon Rem's face. "Whoa..." He'd seen her faintly smiling several times over, but this was the first time he'd seen a real smile on her face. Subaru didn't know what had tickled Rem's thoughts, but he snapped his fingers. "That smiling face is worth a million-volt skyline." "I will tell on you to Lady Emilia." Subaru straightened himself and meekly pleaded for forgiveness. "I wasn't trying to hit on you!" Rem lightly raised her eyebrows toward Subaru. "What happened to your hand?" "Mm? Oh, that mangy mutt with the kids went all chomp-chomp on me." His left hand, covered in bite marks, had already stopped bleeding, but it still looked somewhat pathetic. Incidentally, it was only after he returned to the mansion that he realized that the middle of the back of his servant outfit was stained with snot. "May I heal that wound?" "Eh? What, you can use healing magic, too, Rem?" "Only simple magic up to first-aid level. Perhaps you prefer Lady Emilia?" "Mm, that is a pretty attractive suggestion, but...I'll pass on both." Subaru declined her offer while gazing at the bite marks on the back of his left hand. He'd decided that scars, in a way, were a good thing. The fact that everything, up to and including his scars from the previous loop, had vanished when he'd begun this play-through weighed heavily on Subaru's mind. The presence or absence of scars was a great way to tell if he'd done a Return by Death or not. If the dog hadn't happened to bite him, he'd have been forced to cut himself with a sharp feather pen. "Well, it's a mark of honor. No one lives as prettily as on the day they were born." "It is said that scars are a man's medals, though all you accomplished on the battlefield were mistakes." "That might have a kernel of truth, but don't say stuff so cold, geez!" The way Rem tilted her head and looked at him indicated she didn't realize what a venomous tongue she had. That was even scarier. "Besides that, I've cut my hand lots of times in front of you before, so why offer to heal me all of a sudden? I mean, you never offered to do it before?" "That's because I thought you'd forget if it didn't hurt, so you should keep the wounds as a warning." "That's educational policy straight outta Sparta... So why'd you offer now, then?" He wanted to know the reason why this case was different from the others, making her unable to let this one go. After Subaru posed his question, Rem kept her silence for a while. Looking at her face from the side, Subaru thought it might have to do with the little smile from earlier. "The futon flew on. The kitten catnapped. Who's the one who said a pun?!" "Did you suddenly go wrong in the head?" "You're jumping to conclusions. No, I thought I'd find out for sure why you were all smiles earlier." Though, considering her reaction to the demon talk earlier, he thought it could be that, too... "I thought you'd really go for cheap gags. So I wondered if I tried it, maybe it would put you in a good mood and make you want to be nicer to me, or something like that." "Do not expect you will get a chance to have me heal your wounds ever again." "You're that angry?!" "I have been this angry since earlier from your bad-mouthing Sister behind her back." "I do that a lot lately!" The look Rem shot at Subaru grew sharper still thanks to that last comment. Fearful, Subaru gave up on apologizing, closing his mouth and gazing at the sky. Evening was slowly giving way to night. That was when he felt his limbs stiffen. After all, it was his second time in that world reaching the fourth day. "So the challenge is to get to tomorrow morning safely but before that..." ...Before that came another important challenge: making sure that he actually had a promise with Emilia for a date to begin with. For the second time, Subaru Natsuki was approaching his greatest crisis during his first week at Roswaal Manor. With things having gone so much against his experiences during the first loop, he couldn't really call it smooth sailing, but the greatest danger was indeed that moment. And so, with a slight blush, Emilia said to him... "So, since Ram and Rem both said they weren't going to show their faces here tonight, I've come to supervise your studying in their place. Not that I can do much to help..." ...and cutely stuck out her tongue. With Subaru sitting facing the desk, having Emilia sitting on the bed, watching him like a hawk, was ferociously whittling down his endurance. Here was a cute girl in the room of a teenage boy, just the two of them, late at night like this... Surely no one could blame Subaru for losing his concentration as he struggled against his baser instincts? "Hmm. You're taking studying more seriously than I expected, Subaru." Subaru was desperately chanting innocent inside his head, unable to feel innocent at all, when Emilia got up and voiced her admiration. Apparently she'd bathed just earlier; the faint hint of warmth hovering around Emilia, mixed with her own scent, were two more sharp blows to Subaru's state of mind. Subaru fumbled with his notebook as he opened it to show Emilia where he'd gotten in his studying. "R-right now I'm learning basic I-characters by writing them. My current goal is to read this picture book for kids, since it's mostly written in I-script." "Hmm, the goal is a picture book... Ah!" "What, it's got an interesting story or something?" Emilia lightly shook her head at Subaru as her hand stopped midway through browsing the picture book he was using

for reference. "Well, nothing big, but yes, a little. When you can read this, too... Yeah." Audibly closing the book, Emilia sat on the bed once more and got comfortable. Subaru was unable to conceal how Emilia's refined but unguarded nature left his mind all jumbled. "Normally I wouldn't be doing this for someone I met only a few days ago, but I'm giving you special treatment...to thank you for your hard work." "Sheesh, that's not a whole lot of thanks, Emilia. If you want to show your thanks, how about a massage? Something to melt away and heal all the aches and pains of a hard day's work, geh-heh-heh." Emilia clapped her hands as she scolded him. "That sounds perverted somehow, so no. And don't change the subject. Keep going, will you?" Subaru turned back toward the desk as he fought his worldly desires. Subaru chanted innocent, innocent in his head as he wrote the characters onto the notebook, driving out idle thoughts as he focused his head on one thing at a time. "Goodness, you can do it just fine if you don't let yourself get distracted." "That's because I lose track of everything around me once I'm into something. That's why I'm straight-like-an-arrow aimed at the person I like!" "Hmm, is that so? It'd be nice if the person you like notices that sooner rather than later." Certainly, Subaru's statement had been very frivolous, but Emilia brushed it off like it had nothing to do with her. The fact that she clearly didn't see herself as the target of Subaru's affections gave him no route to follow up. "Hey, Subaru... Why don't you take work as seriously as you do studying?" "My motto is to be diligently un-diligent...is what I would say, but this isn't the right mood for that. Uh?" "It's a serious matter Ram was complaining about it a little, too. From time to time it feels like you're holding back." Naturally, Emilia's words and expression both held distaste at having to convey such a message. Hearing this, Subaru could make only a pained grimace, for she had hit the mark. Ram was correct in her assessment that Subaru was holding back from work, for the truth was that Subaru wasn't taking the work seriously. More precisely, he was deliberately trying to produce the same outcome as the last time. Compared to last time, when he hadn't learned the first thing about being a servant, Subaru was at least a little bit better. His slight adjustments hadn't escaped the veteran maid's attention. "...So you do feel guilty about it. It feels like you're honest to a fault in some odd places, Subaru. You're not slacking off studying, after all." "Well, there's some little circum... I guess that's not an excuse. I'll put everything into it starting tomorrow, so please forgive me, Your Highness!" "Mnn, I have no objections... Ah, was that a little off?" Emilia cutely tilted her head, perhaps wondering if she'd been a little too haughty. Subaru, relieved at seeing Emilia's stance softening, firmly resolved to honor the pledge to Emilia he'd just given. At the very least, there'd be no need to copy the last time after that night was done. He'd work very hard to repay the debts he owed to Ram and Rem from over those four days. ...Not that he thought easing up on the brakes would turn everything around overnight... "Feelings are real important here. I want my renewed hard work to completely provoke those two sisters!" "And there, another splendid moment completely wasted... Are you finished studying?" "I managed to get today's part done! Hey, Emilia, would you listen to a little request of mine? I'd like a reward for working hard from tomorrow on, so...?" "A reward? Just so you know, I don't have a lot of money I can spare." "Wow, you sure were brought up strict. Now, now, just hear me out. I'll work seriously starting tomorrow, so...let's go on a date!" Subaru posed with a full smile and a thumbs-up as he made his proposal to Emilia. Faced with the greatest smiling face in Subaru's arsenal, Emilia's big eyes blinked slowly. "Um, what's a date?" "Heh. A date is when a guy and a girl go out all by themselves. What happens between them, only the Goddess of Love knows!" "Then you went on a date with Rem today, Subaru?" "Nooo, an unexpected counterattack?! Please, that didn't count, that didn't count!!" Certainly that counted as going out with a beautiful girl, but Subaru was hoping for something a little more mutually involved than buying groceries for the household. "I understand you want to go out with me, but where?" "Actually, there's this village close to the mansion with this super lovely mutt. It has flower gardens, too. I wanna use my metia to record for all eternity you standing among the blooming flowers." Subaru went to a corner of his bedroom, where his shopping bag with his few, precious possessions from his original world were stored. The cell phone and cup of ramen were still in there, having survived the ferocious combat at the fence's shop. "If the battery holds up, I wanna fill the whole memory card with pictures of Emilia..." "Ah...the village, huh?" In front of the person who wanted to drag her out from her daily routine, Emilia put her hand to her cheek, deep in thought. Subaru recalled that she'd hesitated considerably before the last date invitation, too. Somehow he'd gotten her to say yes the last time. Subaru made his teeth shine to recreate that memory. "The dog's super cute. Let's go!" "But it might cause you quite a bit of trouble, Subaru. The villagers...." "The kids there are completely innocent, totally a bunch of angels. Let's go!" "...All right already. It can't be helped. I'll just have to go with you." "The flower gardens are magical and wonderful and... Wait, seriously?" He was struck senseless at how Emilia seemed less resistant to the idea than last time. Subaru was still thrown off as Emilia tapered her lips and drew in her delicate shoulders. "If that'll make you work hard from tomorrow on, I'll go with you. So don't go drifting off anywhere, okay...?" "Nope, nope, will do no such thing! My soul's already burning with determination to finish all my work perfectly!" "Your soul's burning for something like that?!" Emilia's shocked face at Subaru's burning drive sent them both into laugher. After laughing like that for a while, Emilia nodded a bit and got up from the bed. She passed by Subaru's side and looked out the window, making a faint, charming smile up at the sky. "Mm, the stars are so pretty tonight. It'll probably be clear tomorrow, too." " Yeah. It'll be a day I'll never forget." "There you go again, Subaru..." Emilia turned around and leaned against the windowsill as she began to admonish Subaru for his frivolity. But her tongue stopped moving when she saw the expression on Subaru's face. No doubt it was because, when she hadn't been looking, Subaru's expression had become uncharacteristically serious. "If you stay here too long, I'm gonna end up falling asleep and mistaking you for a squeeze pillow till morning..." "Just now... Ahh, it's nothing." "You know, if you suddenly stop talking like that, it really makes guys nervous...?" Emilia, perhaps set off by his probing the deeper meaning of her actions, remarked, "It's nothing!" as she left the window and cutely strode past Subaru. She went straight to the doorknob before looking back. "Now then, Butler Subaru. Work hard come tomorrow. Rewards come only to children who work hard for them." She made a light wave of her hand to bid him good night, followed by a smile and a toss of her hair. Without waiting for Subaru's reply, the silver silhouette vanished past the doorway. He could stretch out his hand, but it could not reach. All that remained in his room of the lovely girl was the faint scent of her perfume in the air. But "Hold on, hold on, seriously? Geez, I'm getting real popular here. Seriously." The promise had been made once more. Now, Subaru could challenge the night again. It was six hours to get through the fourth night. Six hours before the promised morning of the fifth day. "Now, Mr. Fate, let's do this " Subaru was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed, anxiously passing each moment as he waited for daybreak. The coldness of the floor hadn't really registered in the two-plus hours he'd spent sitting there. But Subaru's body was extremely, almost excessively aware of the cold. The reason was simple. "Who could sleep with his heart pounding like this anyway?!" His heartbeat was fast and loud, making large thumps that he could swear were ringing in his eardrums. His senses were keen to the point of feeling his blood coursing through his whole body; his fingers throbbed nonstop like they were numb. "Here's what I get for looking forward to the promise with Emilia. Geez, I haven't had this much trouble sleeping since before that picnic in first grade...and I ended up oversleeping for the school trip. Really takes me back..." His reminiscing distracting him somewhat, Subaru glared at the sky he'd been looking up at for hours on end. Still a long time, he belatedly thought. It was about four hours until morning. He didn't feel sleepy whatsoever, but remaining on guard for whatever might occur had frayed his nerves. Thinking of the possibility of an attack made it impossible for him to focus on anything else to kill time. Besides, continuing to think was the only thing Subaru could do. He'd redone the last four days, as in, four days for the second time. There were numerous differences in discord with prior events. They had heavily affected the path he'd taken to reach that night. But Subaru had surely checked off the majority of the events in his memory. However, what nagged at him was that he still didn't have a clue how to avoid causing a new loop. Relations with Emilia were good. He felt like relations with Ram and Rem were getting better, but... He hadn't encountered Beatrice since that night. The last time, it wasn't for long, but Subaru had been in contact with Beatrice. Setting that aside, he had barely seen Beatrice this time around. Strict time management had prevented him from exchanging more than a few words with her. "Just like before, she gave me a good tongue-lashing just from seeing my face, sheesh..." He didn't recall having much discussion with her, but it was most certainly Beatrice's being there that had saved Subaru's mind from shattering when confronted with facing his "second" first day. It was the sheer normality of how she blew him off that made Subaru feel calm enough to find himself. "I should've thanked her for that somehow." Not that Beatrice would appreciate what he was thanking her for, and no doubt she'd make quite a sour face if he did, but Subaru still wanted to share his thoughts with her. With a smile, he thought back on the thorny conversations the two had instead engaged in. If he made it to the next morning, there would be lots and lots more that he could accomplish. He had things he wanted to say, not just to Beatrice but to Ram, Rem, and even Roswaal. Of course, he wanted that to be after first exhausting ten thousand words on Emilia. Looking back on it, he had to smile. Putting last time and that time together, it was eight days all told. Maybe it was the mushy feeling inside him that made his eyelids seem a bit heavier, though there were still three whole hours until morning. "This isn't an MMO. It's no joke if I fall asleep here..." He rubbed his eyelids as the sudden

sleepiness faded away. But the sleepiness had come with a chill; he made a bitter smile as his body began shivering out of the blue. He cradled both shoulders, trying to raise his body temperature. But the chill wouldn't leave him no matter what he did. Still, the sleepiness gradually got worse. Subaru, so gripped with optimism, realized that the situation had changed. Looking closer, he saw that the skin under the sleeves of his track jacket had goose bumps all over. Chilled to the bone, he couldn't stop shaking. It wasn't normal. The season of this other world was like late springtime in his own world. The days were almost too warm for long-sleeve shirts. So why were his teeth chattering like this? "This is bad; don't tell me this is...?!" Feeling a chill that came not from cold but from fear, Subaru nervously put his hands on the floor. But with the shaking already spreading through his whole body, his arms could not support him. When he got up, his knees felt creaky enough to break apart; Subaru was aghast at how sluggish and nauseated he felt. "S-somebody..." Subaru's heart rate, so strong just earlier, had weakened, and his breathing was hard as he left the room. He wanted to call for help, but his raspy voice caught in his throat. His legs were cramping as if his lungs weren't accepting oxygen from the dry air that hovered in the dark corridor. This is bad, was the thought that dominated the back of Subaru's mind. He didn't have any tangible understanding of what was happening to his body. The one thing he did know was that his life was in danger. Subaru sluggishly walked forward, groaning as he made his way toward the stairway going up. Each step through the familiar passageway was labored enough that it seemed to shave off another piece of his soul. "Haa...haa..." Reaching the stairs, he climbed up one step at a time on hands and feet. He wondered how long it would take him to reach the top. Just thinking about it deflated Subaru as he crawled deeper into the hallway. The insides of his body seemed to be melting; he felt like everything was turning into some kind of soup. The vomit that welled up dripped from the corner of Subaru's mouth onto the corridor; his face was stained with tears. Subaru, crawling so pathetically, had only one thing, one person, in the back of his mind. Emilia. Emilia. Emilia. I have to get to Emilia. Responsibility, or perhaps duty Subaru was driven by an emotion he couldn't put into words. In that moment, Subaru had none of the self-preservation instinct common to all species. Subaru, crawling his way to Emilia's room, was already barely breathing. His arms too weak to bear the weight of his body, he leaned against the wall and slid his way forward. Anyone watching would have felt less pity than disgust at his having lost the dignity of walking upright like a man. *** His whole body was sluggish. His breaths were ragged as his ears continued their high-pitched ringing. So it was pure happenstance, one might even say dumb luck, that Subaru noticed the strange sound. The sound he noticed was like the clank of a chain. Getting a bad feeling, he stopped moving. His shoulder slid down the wall; he pressed his head against the floor. " Uh?" The next moment, an impact blew Subaru back. Subaru's body, flopping to the floor but a moment before, flew. He bounced several times, his face literally wiping the floor, as Subaru realized something had hit him incredibly hard. There was no pain. However, he felt a malaise like everything from the tips of his fingers and toes to the middle of his chest had gone through a blender. "What happ..." What happened, he started to say as he tried to put his hand to the floor to lift himself. But his shaking hand had no strength to grip the floor. That was strange. He had no balance. His right arm was working so hard; what was his left arm doing? Where'd it run off to? Annoyed for no tangible reason, Subaru glared at his useless left arm. That was when he realized that everything left of his shoulder had been torn off. " Ah?" Falling on his side, Subaru gazed dumbfounded at his amputated left arm. A large quantity of blood gushed out from the wound carved into him that had sent his left arm and shoulder flying, dyeing the hallway red. A moment after he noticed the existence of the wound, Subaru was wracked with pain like lightning coursing through his whole body. Subaru, no longer able to process the pain and heat, flailed around like a stranded, dying fish and slammed himself against the ground several times, too choked up to even scream. His vision faded, with red and yellow light mixing together as Subaru's consciousness faded from the mansion. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I don't wanna live. I just wanna die. I'll die soon. I'm dead. I don't know anything. Everything's far off. Can't remember anything. Don't care about anything. Just let me die already. As if responding to Subaru's earnest plea "The sound of a chain..." That faint sound was the last thing he heard before his skull was smashed, granting his wish. *** Waking up screaming was an experience that was bad for the heart. Subaru, thrusting off the sheets as he woke, breathed raggedly as he absorbed the shock. "L-left hand... It's here; it's here, isn't it?" He stretched his left hand into thin air as if grasping for something with it. His severed, blown-off left side was intact. Clutching his right arm to confirm it, too, was there, the sense of loss Subaru absorbed for a while made him shake and feel sick to his stomach. Subaru felt like his heart was wrenching as he looked at his restored left hand. Of course, there were no scars, either, not from being blown off, not from the dog biting the back of his hand. "I've gone back again..." The vanishing scars meant that Subaru had lost his bout against fate. He'd gone back in time. Perhaps one could instead say that he'd been given another chance for a rematch. At any rate, he had to confirm the time and as he arrived at that thought... "Ah, sorry. Good morning." Subaru finally realized that the twins were clutching each other in a corner of the room as they watched him. Like small animals keeping their distance, neither replied to Subaru's completely out-of-place greeting. Subaru scratched his head as he wondered what he should do. Ram and Rem had no doubt forgotten about Subaru. That pained Subaru's chest somewhat, but Subaru ignored the pain and formed a smile. He'd show his sincerity as the first step to getting along. After all, even if they'd forgotten him, he hadn't forgotten them. "Sorry for the trouble. Subaru Natsuki, rebooted and ready to go!" Subaru strongly rose from bed, standing and pointing his index finger to the heavens. Disregarding the twins' surprise at his sudden approach, Subaru remained in his dramatic pose and said, "By the way, what's the date and time?" And so began his first day at Roswaal Manor for the third time. CHAPTER 4 *** Looking back on his memories of the four days, Subaru came to a conclusion. "So when I went back the first time, it was debilitation causing death in my sleep..." As Subaru waited for morning, he'd been assaulted by unbearable cold and sleepiness. That feeling of having his mental and physical strength drained away was plenty strong enough to shave away his life in a short time. Someone hit by that while asleep and defenseless would simply never wake up. "But what about the sound of the chain...?" He couldn't come up with any connection between that chain sound and his debilitation hypothesis. It was a sound specific to long, heavy metal chains. That was probably the deadly weapon that had carved a chunk out of Subaru. Just remembering the injury made his lost body parts throb and go numb. Though his body hadn't experienced it, his soul was rejecting the memory. "So there was an...attacker, then? Not that I know if the debilitation and the chain were by the same person." What he'd gleaned this time around was only enough to judge there was a perpetrator. Someone had attacked Roswaal Manor on the fourth night. Subaru's name was on the list of pitiful victims. He didn't know if any other residents of the manor were on it. "If I'm included, it's probably everyone. No doubt related to Emilia's royal candidacy, just like with the fence..." But having thought that far, Subaru clutched his head. He'd come to understand there'd be an attack on Emilia and the others. That much was a success. "But even if I know it, I don't have any proof to explain it with, and I'm too green to have any way to stop it..." You could say that the problem with Return by Death was that you had no way to explain the information you got before you died. That went double for a prediction of an attack on the manor. Even if he got Roswaal to take countermeasures, it wouldn't help if the attacker changed his plans. Beyond that, there was the option of driving away the attacker himself, but Subaru's low combat ability and ignorance of the opponent's capabilities ruled that out. It'd probably end like last time: him crying like a baby while getting beaten to death. "I'm just too pathetic. Plus I didn't see the opponent's face or weapon. A total dog's death, geez..." He couldn't begin to plan to drive off an opponent he knew nothing about. Beatrice, seated in the middle of the room as Subaru paced around her in a circle, spoke with ill humor from the bottom of her heart. " You are so gloomy I could die. Either stop right now or I shall blow you away. Choose." Subaru glanced back at the dangerous look Beatrice was giving him and innocently stuck out his tongue. "Sorry, sorry. But for some reason, making something other than my head turn around gets my head turning, too. So let it slide, okay? We're buddies, after all." "Is there such a relationship between us, I wonder? We have met only twice, after all?" "The heart speaks louder than words. I mean, you did let me in here." "You broke through the Passage all by yourself, I suppose. It is really quite unbelievable." In typical fashion, Beatrice did not hide whatsoever her hostility toward Subaru. Subaru had made his way to the forbidden book archive on the morning he woke back up, feeling saved by her cold demeanor once more. He'd meant to see it through, but being treated by Ram and Rem like a complete stranger was hard, after all. Unlike last time, he'd properly excused himself as he left the room, but it was truly the only place he could cling to. "Well, I won't cause you any trouble. Let's have some tea and take it easy." "We shall do no such thing. You truly are irritating." The corners of Beatrice's lips twisted in annoyance as she toyed with one of the curls of her hair. Watching Beatrice like that, Subaru suddenly had a thought. "Come to think of it, you don't look like it, but you're a magic user, right?" "Your choice of words offends me. Will you not associate me with such second-rate imbeciles, I wonder?" "...You don't have many friends, do you?" "How did you leap from that subject to this one, I wonder?!" "Er, I don't have any friends, either, so I picked up on it, but that's not good for you. Being

so high-handed at such a young age is going to affect you later in life. Should adjust that now while you can." Feeling the glare of Beatrice's reddened face, Subaru coughed to clear the air. There was something Subaru really wanted to ask Beatrice, the magic user with the dissatisfied look on her face. And that was... "Is there magic to...weaken someone and kill them in their sleep?" Subaru wanted to clear up whether the debilitation inflicted on him was via magic rather than poison or illness. In hindsight, he suspected that the terror and lethargy assaulting his entire body had been caused by magic. For one thing, he didn't know of any disease with an onset that rapid that debilitated and killed you within hours. Even if it was another world, it was still a little hard to believe. He'd thought about assassination via poison, but he just couldn't put good odds on it. When you added the fact that someone had bludgeoned Subaru to death, attacking both with poison and by weapon just didn't make any sense. Listening to Subaru's question, Beatrice raised her eyebrows and shrugged her small shoulders as she replied. "Such things do exist." "They do, huh?" "It is closer to a curse than a spell, I suppose? Shamans specialize in such arts, as suits their devious natures." Bewildered, Subaru added the new profession shaman to his lexicon as Beatrice raised a finger and elaborated. "Inflictors of curses, or shamans, hail from the nation of Gusteko to the north and practice an offshoot of magic and spiritualism. They are all worthless sorts unable to use their talents for anything better, I suppose." "But how do you call someone who can kill someone else with a curse 'worthless'?" "Because that is all they can do curses have no use except to inflict harm on others. That is why they are the pettiest of all mana practitioners, I suppose." Apparently, aversion to the dark arts was so ingrained that Beatrice could not hide her disgust. Subaru wasn't trying to stick up for curses, either; he simply craved all the information he could get, visibly prodding her for more. "So curses can do things like what I said earlier?" "I believe they can. But are there not simpler methods than a curse, I wonder?" "Simpler?" "I believe you have experienced it already." As Subaru inclined his head, Beatrice turned her palm toward him with a cruel smile. The malevolent smile that in no way suited a little girl clued in Subaru as to the true meaning of her words. "You mean...I could've died from that invasive mana-drain thing?!" "Mana is the force of life itself, I suppose. Had I continued draining you so strongly, I could have indeed weakened you until you died. It is a much easier and more reliable method than relying on a shaman." "So that thing you used at our first...I mean, the first day! You mean one slip and I was a goner?!" "I held back because having your husk in here would be too much trouble, I suppose." "Don't say husk! That sounds like I'm a bug!" Subaru himself wondered why he felt such tranquility there when Beatrice truly thought of him as nothing more than that. "Don't tell me you were the one who killed me..." "It would be more peaceful if I had killed you and we weren't having this conversation. Unfortunately, I am quite busy, so I lack the time to bother to kill you, I suppose." Beatrice held her hands behind her back, striding past Subaru to stand before the bookshelf. The hem of her goth loli outfit quivered as the little girl stretched, trying to get to a place just a little bit higher than she could reach, when... "Is it this one?" "...The one next to it. Give it to me already?" "Yeah, yeah." Subaru took the unexpectedly thick tome off the bookshelf and handed it to Beatrice, whose cheeks were puffed out. Beatrice kept up a sullen look as she accepted the book from him, not speaking a single word of thanks as she sat on a stool in the center of the room. He'd seen her several times like that in the archive of forbidden books. It probably suited her better than an actual chair. "What kind of book are you reading, anyway?" "One that contains a method for driving an insect out of a room." "A bug in an archive, huh... Sounds horrible. What kind?" "It has large black eyes and a foul mouth. Also, it thinks rather highly of itself." "That's pretty specific for an insect, there..." He looked around the area, thinking of driving it off straightaway if he could. As Subaru twisted around his neck, his eyes fell upon the book once more. Beatrice went, Ahem. "Is there still something you want, I wonder? If not, could you please go?" "Ah, er... Right, is that mana drain something anyone can do?" "Should I feel slighted, I wonder... In this manor, only Puckie and I can perform such a feat. Even Roswaal cannot." "Huh. I thought he said he could do it all." So Roswaal was indulging in vanity? That or mana drain was an unexpectedly rare skill given the simplicity of its effect. "Anyway, um, don't go sucking people dry too much, okay? Especially me I'm seriously short on blood right now, so I'd weaken and die pretty easily." "Ah, because the flesh was all restored but the blood was not? Well, I had no obligation to go that far regardless." To Beatrice's declaration, made with a shrug of her shoulders, Subaru tilted his head and went, "Mm?" The grammar she'd used just then implied something rather odd. "The way you said that just now, it sounded like you closed my wound. Don't tell me you're petty enough to take credit for Emilia's work?" "That half-baked little girl lacks the power to heal a fatal wound. She and Puckie stopped the bleeding, but I healed the wound... What of it, I wonder?" "Er, I'm seriously super conflicted here!" The circumstances of Subaru's recovery had been exposed in highly unexpected fashion. Subaru had been absolutely certain that Emilia had healed his wounds just like she'd done in the alley previously, but... Though he narrowed his eyes suspiciously and made a look of doubt, Beatrice was unmoved. Barring her being a liar of exceptional gall, the truth was no doubt as she'd spoken. Meaning Beatrice was... "Then you're a big filthy liar! Lot of gall you have there. Bottom-of-the-barrel personality!" "And you have quite some gall to not politely accept the generosity of others!" Subaru's rude statement and Beatrice's angry shout resulted in a staring contest between them, one Beatrice finally resolved by sending Subaru flying back with magic until he smacked into a wall. As Subaru bounced off the wall and rolled head over heels before her, Beatrice slowly stroked one of her long curls. "Could you finally leave, I wonder? Your hands aren't shaking anymore, so it would seem you've put your fears behind you." "...So you noticed, huh?" "You were trying to hide it, I suppose. I'm offended you tried to play me like that." Beatrice made a bored-sounding snort and shooed away Subaru with her hand like he was an annoying insect. Her words and how she lifted her hand before Subaru's face made his fingertips forget to tremble. He'd died a total of five times so far, but he most certainly wasn't used to it. Quite the opposite; the more times he died, the more the accumulated experience made his knees quiver from his raw fear of experiencing death again. That went double for the cause of death being first-degree murder. Upon his return, Subaru's heart creaked from despair; surely no one could blame him for his courage not reaching the tips of his fingers and toes. "Guess there's no more time for excuses. Man, you're not nice at all." Sighing away the last cobwebs, Subaru got up and reached toward the archive's door. Subaru looked back and made a bitter smile toward Beatrice, who wasn't even looking at him. "Sorry, but thanks. See ya next time." "I shall take more mana from you next time, so could you simply stay away, I wonder?" Her eyes remained fixed on her book as she verbally brushed him off. Feeling Beatrice's attitude spurring him onward, Subaru turned the knob and slipped through the Passage. Then "Wait, the insect from earlier don't tell me you meant me?!" "You want to leave not on your feet but through the air, I suppose?!" And so, he flew out of the Passage. In the garden, the silver-haired girl looked down at him. "Er, may I ask if you're all right?" "That kindness alone heals my wounds. That much is no lie." Subaru slumped his shoulders as he spoke. Sent flying by Beatrice's magic, Subaru had been rammed through the Passage and shot out of a second-story terrace window facing the garden, tumbling onto a flower bed below. He'd almost died from a domestic dispute. "The theory that she killed me is getting more and more convincing..." "I think Rem fertilized that flower bed with manure yesterday..." "Whoaaaa, three-second rule !!" Having been thrust into the flower bed for more like thirty seconds than three, Subaru leapt out. He desperately tried to brush the mud and perhaps things other than mud off him as he stood before Emilia at an oddly close distance. "It doesn't count! It doesn't count, right?! That was yesterday and all!" "Well, just think of it as: When bad luck is with you, good luck is not far away." "And Emilia's already in Consolation Mode!" As Subaru wiped away small tears with his sleeve, Emilia, a bitter smile on her noble face, must have felt pity for him as she touched the pendant between her breasts. " Puck, wake up." The green crystal flared lightly, responding to Emilia's call. The light formed first the contours, then the full image of a little cat that materialized and rested on Emilia's palm. The little kitty heavily stretched its little body, looking like it was making a yawn. "Mm, good morning, Lia. Ahh, Subaru's up already." "Good morning, Puck. Sorry to wake you all of a sudden, but could you wash Subaru, please?" Puck, watching with one eye as Emilia pled her request, suddenly oohed as he looked in Subaru's direction. Looking at Subaru's mud-covered appearance, he nodded, apparently agreeing with the girl's request. "Time for a bath, then. There!" "Bath is putting it mildly. I... Whoa?!" As Puck thrust out both hands, the dazzling, pale light that came from them turned into a large amount of water the next moment, slamming into Subaru's upper body with incredible force, scrubbing away all the world's impurities. "That's a water cannon !!" "Whoops, I threw off his balance a little." With Subaru's body turning around from his upper body being bathed in water, Puck adjusted the water flow in the other direction with a little too much oomph. Subaru was unable to resist being turned right to left, round and round. "See? You're all clean now. Isn't that nice?" "Wh... When you play with me like that...my heart goes...round and round..." Subaru, sitting on a soggy patch of grass, was groggy with his eyes still spinning. He wiped his face with his soaked sleeve and somehow rose up despite his wobbly state. "Man, if you're that rough, I'll start seriously thinking you're the culprits?" "I'm not sure what I'm being suspected of, but I'm deeply, deeply hurt... Nyaa?!" As the little kitty floated in midair, pretending to be upset, Subaru pressed a finger to his narrow forehead and turned him toward Emilia as he cried out. Somehow, this was the most frivolous, wonderful reunion he'd had so far. Putting aside that Emilia should have been tearfully rushing to greet Subaru upon his revival from mortal injury... He wondered what he should say as

his first step to resolving the situation "Bwa." "Huh?" "Bwahaha! I'm sorry, I can't, ah-ha-ah-ha-ha-ha! What are you two doing... Ah, my sides hurt; I'm going to die..." Suddenly Emilia, unable to hold it in any longer, burst out laughing, driving away all his worries. As Emilia pointed at Subaru, who looked like a drowned rat, her normally neatly arranged expression was gripped by mirth. The unexpected reaction made Subaru look at Puck, who was floating right beside his face. "Well, my initial bad impression's all gone! Thanks for the assist, Dad!" In response to Subaru's impudent suggestion, Puck puffed out his chest haughtily. "Who are you calling 'Dad'?! You won't have my daughter that easily!!" Upon hearing this, Emilia's loud, laughing voice filled the whole garden. Having finished her laughter, Emilia was watching Subaru as she spoke. "I heard Ram and Rem were heading for the garden, but they're a little late..." Emilia was still wiping the vestiges of the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard. Subaru, the chief culprit, toyed with Puck in the middle of his hand. "Huh. So when you say they're late, can I take it that you've been waiting here for my sake?" "Uh, isn't it the other way around? It's true that I should thank you, and if I moved without thinking, we might miss each other and I don't want that, but it's just coincidence that I stayed here with you." "Right, it's just coincidence, Subaru. She makes me drag out my grooming for one reason after another and speaks to the lesser spirits about the same things over and over... She says it's all just coincidence." As usual, just as Emilia was in the middle of completely self-destructing, Puck added fuel to the fire. "Sheesh, Puck!" "She should just be honest with herself. That's a cute thing about Lia, though...don't you think, Subaru?" "Oh, definitely! Everything about Emilia-tan is the brightest star in my sky!" "Now Subaru's teasing me... And what is that 'tan'? Where did that come from?" She was finally voicing some doubts about the way he was speaking to her. Up until last time, it was a subject Emilia had managed to let slide. Subaru put a hand to his chin and made what sounded like some kind of diabolical chuckle. "It's a sign of my affection. It's like how Puck calls you Lia... A way for two people to show how close they are to each other." "...Not that I remember being quite that close to you?" "Wow, that statement kind of hurts, you know. I was kind of making a down payment. I'm totally planning to have a relationship with Emilia-tan that goes hand in hand with the pet names. Okay?" At the very least, he hoped to get close enough to her by a few nights from then that she'd forgive him for it. Emilia's face expressed surprise at Subaru's strong approach, then her cheeks reddened a bit. "F-fine. I'll accept that. Hey, don't look at me like that!" "Er? I thought I was getting brushed off? What's that positive reaction? Explain this, Mr. Puck." As Emilia turned her face aside, Puck sat on her shoulder and twirled his mustache. "My daughter doesn't have many friends, so being called by an intimate nickname makes her happy. Put simply, she's easy." Subaru exclaimed in surprise, "My leading lady's easy!" He thought he'd merely climbed a treacherous wall, but he felt the sudden realization that it was more. He continued, "But we're still a long way apart... I need to learn a little more about this whole nobility thing." "Ugh...could you not mention something I really don't want to talk about?" "I just want to reach an agreement on E M P (Emilia-tan's Majorly Pretty). Oh?" Subaru pressed silliness onto Emilia when he abruptly looked back at the mansion and narrowed his eyes. Emilia followed Subaru's gaze, tilting her head as she watched the twins come out of the mansion. "Ram and Rem, huh... It's a bit too soon to be breakfast time, though..." The image of the sunlight reflecting off her silver hair seemed to burn into Subaru's eyes as he confirmed that events were proceeding. It was the time of Roswaal's return. The twins simultaneously bowed their heads before them. They spoke with the same stereo effect he'd now heard many times over. "Master Roswaal, lord of the manor, has returned. Please come with us." Subaru watched Emilia nod to them as he turned toward the twins with a hand casually pressed to his rear. "Sister, Sister. Since last we saw him, he has become a muddy drowned rat." "Rem, Rem. Since last we saw him, our guest has become a stained, filthy rag." Subaru made a pained smile at their sharp comments as he looked up at the sight of the mansion. He would change clothes, tidy himself up, and head to meet Roswaal for a fresh start. Because this time, he intended to take a completely different approach than before. And so, his first week at Roswaal Manor began in earnest for the third time. For this third loop, Subaru wanted to emphasize gathering information. "My keywords are magic and chain...but that doesn't tell me anything yet." The only thing he knew for sure was that someone would attack in the dead of night on the fourth day. Under the present circumstances, if he told Roswaal and the others, they'd no doubt ignore him. Subaru simply couldn't explain where he got his information. Subaru could even get himself suspected as one of the assassins arrayed against them. If he at least had a physical description of the attacker, things might be different, but... "That's why I've gotta spend this time gathering intel. If the Return by Death conditions are the same as before..." On the royal capital loop, he'd died three times and had a breakthrough on the fourth. If things were as before, he'd be able to return one more time. So this time he'd gather the intel he needed for a breakthrough the fourth time around. "To be honest, I don't like picking a plan that's giving up from the start..." However, his options being very limited, he had to resign himself to some sacrifices. At any rate, he had no intention of throwing away his opportunity. It was the difference between resolving to redo everything and aiming from the start to overcome the challenge. This time, he'd focus entirely on getting out of the loop. "For that, I had to tell Puck under the table to keep Emilia safe." In the middle of playing around with Puck in the garden, Subaru had whispered to Puck to pay attention to Emilia's surroundings. The little kitty could read minds; Subaru figured he'd know Subaru's earnestness was no lie. "I made things pretty vague, but he seems genuinely protective of Lia." After all, he'd given Subaru's pushy suggestion a warm reception. He could now assume that Emilia would be relatively safe. It wasn't much, but it did relieve a bit of the burden on his shoulders. "After that, there's Roswaal and the loli... But after that, what?" Subaru scratched his head all over, plucked out a hair, pinched his feather pen under his nose, and stretched his back. His head hurt from the difficult dilemmas. That being said, he had to do whatever he could. If possible, he wanted Ram and Rem, and of course Roswaal and Beatrice as well, to get through those four days safely. He had his reasons for not running no matter how formidable the challenge. "My concentration just ain't cutting it. What to do... Huh?" As he leaned back against his chair, it made a creaking sound when he heard a voice from outside. "Pardon me, Dear Guest." Faster than Subaru could reply, the door opened and he saw a pink-haired maid Ram. Subaru raised an eyebrow as Ram came in with a steaming cup sitting on a tray in her hands. "Oh my, Dear Guest, you really are studying." "That's super rude, you know. I am kind of an actual guest at the moment?" "Dear Guest, you are the manner of houseguest known as a freeloader." Looking calm and composed, Ram let herself into the room and began serving tea. Watching from the side as she worked, Subaru could not conceal his bitter smile at her words. A houseguest and freeloader he thought the terms fit all too well. "Here you go, Dear Guest." "Oh, thanks. Hot-hot-hot..." When he took the cup and looked down into it, he saw steam rising from the surface of the hot amber liquid. The tea of this world was nearest to black tea in appearance and taste. The rich aroma was just as easy to enjoy. Ram's attitude was very blunt, but it was odd that she'd come in to serve tea like this. As he watched Ram's polished movements, Subaru slowly tasted the tea he'd been offered, nodding. "Mm...really does taste awful." "This manor serves tea using leaves of the highest quality, so that is quite a statement." "If it tastes bad, it tastes bad. I just can't think of it as anything but black tea. Tastes like...plant." Ram coldly watched Subaru's scowling face as she served herself tea that she had brought like it was the most normal thing in the world, sitting down on the bed and stretching her legs without a care. "I don't have words for the guts you have, slacking off in front of a guest." "I believe you were the one who said to take it easier, Dear Guest? I am doing this only to respond to your request. You should be thanking me." "This is, like, even pushier than you were before, though?" Subaru voiced his complaints as he sank back in his chair and made a loud sound. Ram listened to that sound as she wet her tongue with black tea, finally giving Subaru a sideways glance. "And, Dear Guest leaving in two days, have you made any progress?" Subaru broke out in a small, bitter smile as he listened to her exceptionally dry delivery. It was already the second night since he had begun the third loop. For this third time around, Subaru had been treated at the mansion like a guest, a sharp difference from before. That was because Subaru had requested as much at that first breakfast. Now that he was being treated as a guest, Subaru had his own room and Rem and Ram took turns serving him as he continued the language study he'd begun the last time. All of it was to justify his leaving the mansion temporarily without creating a stir. He was forming plans in his head while his fingers continued copying I-script almost automatically. His movements were robotic enough to make one's stomach twist, but nothing was really getting into his head. "Are you always this bad, or is your foolish head unable to concentrate?" "Got some nerve saying that to a literary enthusiast like me. Aren't you inspired from watching me give this desk my all back there?" "An uncouth statement to match such sloppy writing I am aghast you call yourself a literary enthusiast, Dear Guest." "This is the first time I've seen a maid talk to her guests like you do." Ram politely ignored Subaru's resentful statement and browsed with apparent interest the pages filled with characters. Even with the distance so close, he glared as he watched the side of her face, unable to stop the feeling that his insides were being wrung. Unlike the previous occasions when Subaru had been treated as a servant, he'd had little contact with Ram this time around. Beyond his time spent in pursuit of Emilia, he'd mainly stayed in his room writing characters like this. Though once in a while he spared some time to go tease Beatrice a little... So the distance between Ram and Rem and himself felt far greater than

when he was treated as a servant. In spite of that, here was Ram visiting Subaru in his room, spending time with him and speaking to him like a very blunt friend. He couldn't help but find it strange. "If you do not stop staring at me like that, I shall slap you, Dear Guest." "Hey, the only one making the inside of my head go pink is Emilia... Oh, that's right." Trying to deflect his unease as he averted his eyes, he set aside the tea and picked up a book with its back cover facing up. This was the picture book he was using as learning material; he was finally able to understand the characters in it. "In other words, I want to make all this studying feel like it got me somewhere." "It contains only common stories you should be ashamed not to know. You need to master basic I-script before calling yourself a 'literary enthusiast.'" "Does calling myself that tick you off that much?" Ram made no reply to Subaru's question as she poured the remaining contents of her cup down her throat. She then reached for Subaru's cup. "Wait, you're gonna drink all the tea you brought here?!" "You do not need it if you are making a face like that when you drink it. At least it shall be enjoyed by someone with a properly functioning tongue." "I told you, I just can't get that plant taste out of my h... Oh, never mind. I'm gonna focus on this book, so you can kill time or head off, whatever you want." Subaru made a brusque wave before leaning forward in his chair and opening the picture book. First came the author's preface and the table of contents; after that came the body, written in the characters he'd now grown accustomed to. "Err, let's see...a long, long time ago..." So fairy tales start the same way in every world, huh, he accepted with strange ease as he continued reading the story. The fact that it was in a picture book meant the story was exceptionally concise with a clearly defined introduction, body, and conclusion. Child-level comprehension was prioritized, with pictures used precisely where there was room for imagination. Incidentally, if one asked Subaru which fairy tale he liked best, he would reply, "The Crying Red Demon." If one asked Subaru which fairy tale he hated most, he would reply, "The Crying Red Demon." "It's, like, a happy ending and a bitter ending slamming into you at once. Why can't it all be happily ever after?" "Sorry to intrude on your deep thoughts, but are you finished reading?" "I'm finished reading. The things that went against common sense were fun, so it was more interesting than I expected. Guess that's another world's culture for you. Maybe I should bring in fairy tales from my own homeland, too, like 'The Crying Red Demon'?" "'The Crying Red Demon'...?" Subaru was mumbling about the copyright issues in another world's jurisdiction when Ram's eyebrows trembled in response. Huh, went Subaru, getting a rare rise out of Ram. "It's the title of a fairy tale from where I come from. How about I tell it to you?" Ram did not reply as Subaru made the suggestion with a thumbs-up. However, the way she sat on the bed with her hands on her knees, shifting her gaze to Subaru, clearly conveyed that he should get on with it. "All right, attention, please. 'The Crying Red Demon.' A long, long time ago, in a certain land, there was..." The fairy tale began with a bitter argument. "The Crying Red Demon" was a tale of friendship between the Red Demon, which wanted to become friends with humans, and his best friend, the Blue Demon and what came between them. It went something like this: The two demons living on the mountain tried various things to get the Red Demon in the good graces of the villagers, culminating in the Blue Demon committing wicked deeds upon the village, only to be driven off by the Red Demon, who thus befriended the human beings. The tale ended with the Blue Demon leaving; the Red Demon, dispirited at the Blue Demon's display of friendship, cried for the Blue Demon's sake. "And so, the Red Demon read over and over the letter left at the Blue Demon's house and cried... The end." Subaru finished conveying to Ram a somewhat abridged version of the fairy tale. It was a fairy tale Subaru himself had read many times over. He thought he was as faithful with his words as possible, keeping his own opinions out of it. Ram lowered her eyes as she listened to the tale. Subaru stayed in the same position as when he'd finished the story, waiting for her to speak. Finally, Ram let out a small sigh. "...A rather sad tale." "I suppose so. But I think it's a happy story, too." "I think the cast of characters was full of idiots... The Red Demon, the Blue Demon, and the villagers, too." "Well, that's being a tough critic. Not that you'll get any argument from me..." He agreed that none of the three sides had enough introspection. The villagers were pure suckers, and if the two demons had spoken more to each other, they might have found proper common ground. At the very least, surely they could have avoided the need for one to put distance between him and the other for the rest of their lives. "That's why I love this story and hate this story. The Blue Demon's self-sacrifice was super cool, but he was an idiot beyond saving, too. I like to think I can save myself through putting in the effort..." "So you think that about the Blue Demon...I think it is the Red Demon who is beyond saving." Ram's reply made Subaru lift his head. Ram was looking at Subaru as she bit her tongue. "He wrapped the Blue Demon in his own desires, losing nothing when the Blue Demon lost everything. I think that is a rather horrible result." "What do you think the two demons should've done, then?" "...If the Red Demon truly wanted to be friends with the humans, he should have gone to live in the village, even if it meant cutting off his horn. He should have done that long before the Blue Demon left." "Man, that's a pretty extreme position, there!" Subaru raised his voice at the radical view she'd provided, but Ram simply stroked her own short hair like she was saying, Is it now? She proceeded to toy with the ribbon holding her hair in place. "Making the Blue Demon pay for something he wants is unforgivable. If the Red Demon wants it, the Red Demon should pay the price. The Blue Demon robbing him of that chance is a problem, too." "That's a really strict view of it. Do you have something against demons...?" " Dear Guest, which of the two demons would you rather befriend?" Subaru blinked at Ram's question. He hadn't really thought about it. "...Which of the two?" Ram nodded and stretched out both hands toward Subaru, raising one finger from each. "On the one hand, the Red Demon who asks and asks and leaves others to pay the consequences, or the Blue Demon, the idiot drowning in his own martyrdom. Which?" "Geez, you make both of those choices feel bad... So what, I'm a villager who just arrived here?" It was rather rare for the point of view of the villagers to come up in a discussion about "The Crying Red Demon." Either way, Subaru was a little lost as he stared at the two hands Ram presented before him when she said, "...What an uninteresting reply." "Don't say that! Since I've read 'The Crying Red Demon,' I sympathize with the two of them, so I want to help out both, okay?" Subaru gently pressed both his hands onto both of Ram's hands. Subaru's reply drew a long sigh out of Ram; she glared at Subaru, who of course was close enough to touch. "So you're the type who understands neither his position nor that of others... When distance grows, your type gets left behind by both." "Distance, huh. Why not just tell people how you feel while they're still close? The Red Demon's not a bad guy for wanting to get along, and the Blue Demon's not a bad guy for wanting to help him, either. I'm the type who likes demons, not the type to just drive 'em off the island at the drop of a hat." Ram sighed at the grinning Subaru and looked at her own two hands as he grasped her raised fingers. As she brushed him off, Subaru shrugged and sat back in his seat, readjusting himself to face Ram again. "You know, Ram, you seem to like 'The Crying Red Demon' quite a bit." "Dear Guest, you will someday regret fickle, indecisive thoughts such as wanting to be friends with both." "I don't remember that being what we were talking about here?! I thought we were talking about demons?" As Subaru shouted and shook his head, Ram made a small clap of her hands to indicate the subject was closed. Her quick-tempered behavior tugged at him, but Ram pointed to the book on the desk before he could say a word. "Setting aside the tales from our Dear Guest's homeland... What did you think of the stories of this land?" "Let's see... I suppose the one that stood out was the dragon one in the middle of the book and the witch one at the end. No matter how I slice it, those two are different somehow." Subaru gave a wandering reply as he browsed the book. Those were the two tales that had left the deepest impression upon him. The former definitely got special treatment. As for the latter... "The witch story was like...they felt they had to put it in but they went halfway. It completely ignored story structure...like a bunch of highlights." "...That cannot be helped. We are in Lugunica... Of course the dragon story gets special treatment." Subaru nodded as he flipped the pages of the picture book on the desk. "Right, 'Dragonfriend Kingdom of Lugunica,' right? Now I get why it's called that." Apparently the large kingdom Subaru was staying in was called the "Dragonfriend Kingdom of Lugunica." On world maps, it looked like the easternmost nation in the world, but apparently it had good reason to be called the "Dragonfriend Kingdom." It was a simple tale, really. Long ago, the kingdom had come under the protection of a dragon, forming a pact. "The dragon is said to have lent its power to Lugunica, protecting it in times of famine, plague, war with other nations, and other various predicaments." "So that's why they call it 'Dragonfriend,' huh. It did say in the picture book that the royal family made a pact with the dragon. This is less of a fairy tale than ancient history, right?" "I suppose so. It's a true story, after all. Even now, the dragon protects the peace of this land from under a great waterfall far away until the day its promise to the royal family comes to an end." Subaru cleared his throat as he listened to the oh-so-strict Ram speak such words. A promise made with a dragon in ancient times... The picture book had not drawn the details, but it was a big enough deal that the kingdom had been saved from crisis many times over. Thinking of that, Subaru suddenly realized something about the royal family that'd made the pact with the dragon. "Hey, the family that made the promise with the dragon...didn't it just die out?" "It did, and suddenly at that." "Isn't that, like, bad? Er, not that I'd know what bad means here." No doubt the dragon had been promised something considerable in return for protecting its

promise all that time. Yet with the royal family that would be granting it dying off on him like that, who would honor that obligation? Ram began. "No one knows what the dragon seeks, so it was not put in the picture book. Only gods know what the dragon will do in this situation..." At that point, Ram paused for a moment. "Rather, Dear Guest only the dragon knows." Subaru's breath caught. He wasn't warm, but he felt sweat on his brow regardless. He chewed over Ram's words, swallowed them, and breathed in and out hard enough to make his stomach churn. Negotiating with the mighty dragon was the responsibility of the ruler of the kingdom. In other words... "That has to be a mountain of pressure on Emilia, then..." "Yes. The dragon can protect the kingdom or destroy it on a whim... Thus, the kingdom and its destiny rest upon Emilia's shoulders. Just thinking about it makes it seem like a story from that picture book." There'd been a conflicted look on Emilia's face when she saw the picture book on the last night of the previous loop. Now Subaru understood why Emilia's hand had stopped when she was flipping the pages. The size and weight of Emilia's burden had far surpassed Subaru's expectations. His mind wanted to cry out just from thinking about the heavy responsibility borne by those delicate shoulders. "It cannot be helped." " Ah?" "Everyone was born with a role to play and the responsibility to live up to it. This is what Lady Emilia was born to do. It is a path she must walk, no matter how treacherous it may be." Subaru's voice was shaking with anger from a source he couldn't place. "One girl's supposed to shoulder the whole burden like that?" For her part, Ram's voice was cold and logical. "I believe it is best if others can carry it with her. However, sooner or later, Lady Emilia must be seen to climb that summit herself." Subaru slumped his shoulders when he realized Ram was holding back to not fuel his anger further. He could vent at Ram all he wanted, but he'd be mistaken. Ram wasn't responsible for the weight of Emilia's burden; at any rate, Subaru had no right to be angry. That part really burned him. "Oh, right. Ram, about that other story..." Wanting to do something other than apologize, Subaru changed the subject and pointed at the picture book. Contrary to how the story of the dragon in the center of the book had received special treatment, the story of the witch had only a few pages drawn for it at the very back of the book. The story was titled, "The Witch of Jealousy." "So this witch story..." "I do not wish to speak of it." Just like that, she seemed to verbally cut things off after the story of the dragon. Subaru opened his eyes wide without thinking as Ram briskly got up, tray and cups in hand. "I have been here too long. I do not wish to cause Rem too much trouble. Dear Guest, I shall call you again for dinnertime." "R-right..." Ram, turning her back like she would brook no argument, immediately headed out of the room. But just before her hand reached the door, Ram stopped and looked back at Subaru, left in her dust. "About the demon story from earlier..." "Mm, right. 'The Crying Red Demon.' What of it?" "Don't tell Rem that story. She would probably find it distasteful." Surely no one would have that kind of reaction over a simple fairy tale. Regardless, Subaru, feeling overwhelming pressure from Ram's words, could only nod meekly in response. Seeing this, Ram finally left. Subaru, feeling drained, flopped onto the bed. It felt like there was something more to Ram's last action than just banning him from telling Rem a fairy tale. "What the heck's up with all that...?" Venting at the ceiling, Subaru picked up the picture book and flipped through the pages. The final chapter, "The Witch of Jealousy," was a short tale only four pages long. "A scary witch, a frightening witch, it is terrifying to just speak her name. That was why everyone called her 'The Jealous Witch' " There was no story structure, just contents conveying the raw terror of the witch. It was straight-up eerie, doubly so when written in characters meant for small children. "And after all the trouble of studying to read this thing..." His feelings of success, satisfaction, and the glow of having just read a book seemed to fall by the wayside. Subaru turned in bed and switched his head to a different subject: thinking of what he could do for the remaining two days of that loop. He'd put his preparations for the last day in order and shifted to what he'd do two mornings hence. Subaru squished his countless worries one by one until he finally fell asleep. "Err, my time here's been brief, but thanks for taking care of me." In the mansion's entry hall, all the human beings in the mansion (meaning only four people, with Beatrice not included) were seeing Subaru off as he made his good-byes. Subaru had asked that he be allowed to stay for three days. That time had passed; that morning, he would journey onward. Subaru wore his tracksuit and carried the convenience store bag containing his starting equipment, but he also carried a knapsack over his back that Roswaal had generously provided. The knapsack was fairly heavy from a decent sum of coinage, Roswaal explained simply. "My thanks for taking care of Lady Emilia." Among those seeing Subaru off, Emilia called out to him, a look of deep concern on her face even then. Subaru, grateful for Emilia's feelings, vividly thumped his chest. "I'll be fine. I'm just gonna take it easy. When I become a strong, wise, and rich man suitable for you, I'll come riding back on a white horse." "You have your handkerchief? And drinking water, lagmite ore, and, and..." "She's totally acting like she's my mom?!" Emilia fussed about this and that. The way she asked last, "Can you sleep all by yourself?" made Subaru wonder just how much she longed for the company of others. Or perhaps she was acting on instinct, voicing the unease Subaru was desperately shoving down inside him. Roswaal came to shake his hand. "Weeell then, be in good health, Subaru. It has beeeen a short time, but it was quite enjoyable. Do not be concerned about my parting gift. Consider it a smaaall reward for the memories you created these last three days." Roswaal added a wink to the last part. Subaru could guess what he meant; the knapsack over his back was jingling just from their shaking hands. "I get it; you're paying me to keep my mouth shut. I won't say anything. I swear on the dragon." "It will keep others from approaching you as part of some wicked scheme. Besides, in this nation, to swear upon the dragon is to make the highest of oaths. It is not that I doubt you, but strive not to forrrget that." Subaru raised a hand in response to Roswaal's reminder; he then turned to the twins, standing behind the clown-faced nobleman. The two stood silently as Subaru reached and patted them both on the shoulder. "You two were a huge help, especially Rem with those really delicious meals. Ram... Mm, well, she cleans toilets really well?" "Sister, Sister, the Dear Guest's flattery is despairingly awkward." "Rem, Rem, the Dear Guest's flattery is a complete disaster." "Well, excuse me, I really couldn't think of anything else! But thanks." Having said his good-byes to everyone, he pushed open the front doors before he got cold feet. From the entrance of the manor, he cut through the garden, passed through the metal gate, and continued on to the forest path that was a straight shot to Auram Village. Subaru's stated plan was to head from there to the nearest highway, hire a passing carriage, and head to the capital but that plan was a feint. "Subaru, thanks for everything. If anything happens, come back anytime, okay?" With Emilia's statement of farewell, her words gentle until the bitter end, Subaru departed, walking the path toward Auram Village. The silver-haired girl waved until she could no longer see Subaru from the mansion. Her oh-so-adorable behavior dulled his worries and made his sense of duty burn once more. After heading down the path to the village for a while, Subaru stopped and cautiously looked around the area. When he was sure no one was around to watch him, he left the path and dove into the woods. He did so regardless of Ram's and the others' admonitions that this was dangerous due to the many wild animals within. Ignoring their warnings, Subaru pushed his way through the foliage as he headed deeper into the forest. At some point, he ascended a slope, not slowing his pace when branches and briar patches scratched him. He proceeded up the mountain like that for about fifteen minutes. "Okay, I'll do it here." Subaru left the greenery, the soaring sky greeting his vision. Subaru had cleared the forested slopes, arriving at a foothill nestled among the mountains. He could watch the mansion below from the cliff right in front of him. From there, he could observe the familiar, luxurious sights of Roswaal Manor. He'd circled around from the forest path and cut through forest and mountain to arrive at the perfect observation point. "It has an especially good view of Emilia's room. I'll see anything weird happening right away." He could make out the window to Emilia's room even at a distance. He couldn't see inside, but it was a good spot for watching for any signs of trouble. And on the night of the fourth day, trouble would surely come. "In other words, tonight. All that's left is to wait for something to happen." From that morning, Subaru had about sixteen hours to kill surely he could hold his concentration that long. This way, he could figure out what would happen at Roswaal Manor beforehand and rush back to the manor immediately. This time Subaru would have the element of surprise on his side. If he'd remained at the mansion, Subaru would be one more victim of the attacker's curse. With limited means of counterattack and low overall combat ability, Subaru couldn't take on the attacker straight up. He desperately needed any shred of information he could get on the assassin. So, what to do? Subaru had come up with a simple answer. "This time, my goal is to identify the attacker and nail down the details of the attack...even if it kills me." Having died twice so far, Subaru had determined that the attack was an assassination having to do with the royal succession. He didn't know if he'd been collateral damage with Emilia as the main target or if he'd been killed as some kind of message to her. But having been murdered twice already, Subaru considered it highly likely everyone close to her was being slaughtered. "Putting aside if countermeasures will work...seems like Roswaal has his guard up anyway..." Subaru based that on the premise that Roswaal, the nobleman with a scheming mind behind his clown face, was not such a fool as to leave his king piece, bearing the name of Emilia, defenseless on the chessboard. The existence of Ram and Rem, the two servants he'd left behind at the mansion, was further evidence. "To be honest, at first I thought it was nuts to have just two maids taking care of a huge mansion like that, but..." They were lord and vassal, their mutual trust rock solid, bonds of loyalty formed through long service. Seeing Ram's slavish devotion and Rem's adoration of her had told him that much. Roswaal had surely surrounded Emilia with people who would never betray him.

The fact that one maid had retired several months before, yet, according to Ram, no replacement would be hired, assured him Emilia would be protected. "The problem is, I don't know if they're on guard enough, given that I died from the attack already. If I'm the only one who died, well, good... Wait, that's not good." If Roswaal's defense plans simply didn't account for Subaru, a wild card, then all was well and good. If it wasn't so, that meant Emilia would come to harm as well. And Subaru, having died three times at the capital and two at the manor, was accustomed by now to reality foiling the best of plans. You needed to expect the worst case...and then expect worse than that. "Here, the worst case is that Roswaal's guard is down and Emilia gets assassinated. Of course, that'd mean Roswaal, Ram, Rem, and then Beatrice get slaughtered, too... Ugh, damn it." Just picturing the worst-case scenario filled him with disgust. Though it was to stop all that, he wanted to vent at his entirely logical decision to watch events unfold from the outside. Of course Subaru, who wore his heart on his sleeve, planned to stay on guard the whole time, ready to instantly rush back to the manor if anything happened, running around and warning of the enemy attack, but... "Well, it'd be nice if the guy's super cautious and runs off just from my yelling at him, right?" Subaru voiced the optimistic view as he pulled a rope out of his knapsack. It was a rather long rope he'd borrowed from the manor's warehouse. Subaru firmly tied one end around the trunk of a nearby tree and the other around his own waist. He used complex knots along the way as if his life depended on it, which it kind of did. "And last, the knife to cut the rope... She'd probably be ticked off if she knew I was using it like this." As he spoke, he took out the knife that he'd lovingly dubbed Shooting Star. In the present loop, he'd been in a position to lay his hands on it for the first time only that day. "I used it a whole bunch during the four days of the other loops, though." During his time doing odd jobs as a servant, Subaru's kitchen duties mainly involved peeling vegetables and washing tableware. Shooting Star was the beloved blade that Subaru had used to cut potato-like veggies, apples, and, from time to time, his own hand. When, this time, he'd come up with a plan that required a knife, he grabbed that one without a second thought. "Hopefully just for cutting the rope, but if worse comes to worst..." The knife was not only to facilitate his escape but to wound himself if the time came, for surely stimulation from the pain of self-harm would make him able to resist the gnawing sleepiness of the curse. If worse came to worst, he might have to turn that blade upon the enemy. And if it was worse than that "For suicide, huh? Geez...can I do that? Something that scary..." Subaru looked at himself reflected in the blade's edge as a laugh at his own expense came over him. As he looked at the blade in his hand, memories of Ram and Rem rose in the back of his mind. Ram had insulted Subaru for his clumsy knife work; Rem had shot him shocked sideways glances when he'd cut his own hand with the knife. They angrily shouted things like, Do not cut what you are not supposed to. "...They'd be angry with me for misusing it like this, too, wouldn't they?" He could totally picture in his mind both girls angry with him, with Ram glaring down at him and Rem looking aghast. Ahh, that scene was just "They'd be totally pissed, huh... I hope they would be..." The longing words leaked out from his lips. One way or another, he truly wanted to bury himself in that day-to-day life again. "I don't wanna die I don't wanna let them die..." Subaru said it for his own benefit as he remembered the faces of the people he'd only just said good-bye to. Subaru had cast away Emilia and the others to prepare for the next loop. Yet this time, just like the last times, he'd formed definite bonds with the girls. He suppressed his throbbing chest. This was his punishment, the natural price to pay for what he had done. It was a cross to bear that Subaru, having formed a plan premised on losing something, could not shirk. He had to carry both the sweet and the bitter thoughts with him. Subaru had spent those thrown-away four days prying open that raw wound, enduring pain like that of having his flesh gouged and his bones broken, all so that he would remember it. "You said it yourself, Subaru Natsuki. Even if everyone else forgets...you'll remember." That was why he couldn't think of this time as something he could forget. Subaru had to continue to crave a happy ending until the last possible moment. No one had the right to decide that Emilia and the others were no more than bubbles on the edge of the time stream. Subaru kept hidden among the trees as he observed Roswaal Manor. The resolve permeating his presumably stressed body quieted his breathing and lowered his heart rate. He felt like his body was acting in accordance to his will in a way it never had before. Trusting his body to that hard-earned feeling, Subaru stayed put and waited for time to pass. As evening drew near, the setting sun bathed the hill Subaru was on in an orange light. Squinting from the sun's rays, Subaru moved his tense body around, shaking out the cobwebs. He'd already been watching the manor for something like eight hours. During that time, there had been no sign of anything unusual; the mansion remained entirely peaceful. So things really were fine there until night fell. "Come to think of it, Rem didn't go shopping this time..." There had been no sign of the Day Four event of Rem going shopping. Perhaps she simply didn't need to because Subaru's departure meant one less mouth to feed. It was an odd discrepancy. When Subaru realized he was smiling at the memories, his sense of tension lifting, he pinched his own cheek. This wasn't the place or time to let up on his concentration. "Like I can do something stupid like that with eight hours to go. Concentrate, concentra " He stopped mid-word. For better or worse, it was at the very moment Subaru switched gears that the attack came. *** The instant his eardrums detected a faint sound, Subaru dove to the side without hesitation. He'd devoted his five senses to determining when to do the evasive maneuver he'd settled on beforehand. The next moment, he heard something exceptionally heavy make a smashing sound, snapping trees in two. The trees all around him, plus their leaves and branches, came down with a wild cacophony of snapping sounds. Amid all that, Subaru rushed straight for the cliff and leapt straight down. " Aa!" Even clenching his teeth, he couldn't stop himself from letting out a faint cry, his insides turning over from the weightless feeling of falling. But his lifeline cut that short after two long seconds. He let out an anguished cry from the pain of the ropes biting in. "Emergency escape...!" Cutting the rope with his knife, he resumed his descent, the bottoms of his shoes digging into a slanted rock face. Sliding and hitting his shoulder, Subaru landed on the ground roughly, somehow keeping his footing, and ran without pausing for breath. He tossed away the knapsack to lighten the load, breathing raggedly as he ran without a care for proper form. "I saw it! Yeaaaah...I totally saw it!" The object that had attacked Subaru by surprise and mowed down various trees was a spiked iron ball as large as a man's skull. It was basically a killer bowling ball on a really, really long chain the weapon known as a "morning star." Subaru had hit the dirt when his eardrums picked up the faint metallic sound of that horrible weapon's chain. Having witnessed its fiendish power for himself, Subaru still wasn't biting with his teeth lined up right. The way that thing had flown at him, his body probably would have been splattered if it had connected. Now Subaru could understand how half his body had been sent flying. "But...he came here, huh?!" He stomped on branches, leapt across a gulch, and raced across areas with poor footing. Subaru had anticipated that he might be attacked. Having distanced himself from the manor, he determined that an attack on him was just as possible as a raid on the mansion itself. If the objective was to kill anyone involved, Subaru was still on that list. "But that's based on knowing I was at the mansion since days ago!" That would mean the assailant had been observing the mansion for several days, drawing up plans in secret. *** Out of breath, he'd lost his way, focusing on not tripping as he headed down a game trail. Subaru, breathing roughly, clicked his tongue at the scene unfolding before him. "So I've been totally dancing on the other guy's palm?" Dismayed, Subaru stood before a cliff that hemmed him in. Looking at the hard, jagged rock wall, it was like a natural fortress for resisting all attempts to climb. Naturally, Subaru had no way at the moment to overcome that obstacle. Subaru turned around and girded himself, taking deep, ragged breaths. The forest before him had grown darker at some point, with the trees filtering out the setting sun, making him feel cut off from the world and very, very alone. "If you're coming, bring it on...!" Subaru shoved away his misgivings, opening his track jacket in front and stripping it off. He spread out the track jacket with both hands, quietly waiting for his assailant to arrive. He was being pursued. He'd been backed into a corner. That moment, Subaru felt as helpless as prey caught in a predator's trap. But he wasn't so cute and helpless that he'd let himself get eaten without a fight. He'd make the other guy earn it. "Damn it...you coming or not?!?" Subaru's body demonstrated uncanny reflexes toward the lethal attack before his eyes. He raised the track jacket aloft with both hands, catching the flying iron ball from below, enveloping it as he barely evaded by the skin of his teeth a ferocious strike to his body. But the top was ripped from his hands as his body smacked against the wall with an undiluted impact. But the moment Subaru lifted his eyes and saw that the iron ball, having missed its target, was stuck in the face of the cliff just as he'd hoped, he got a firm grip on the elongated chain. Then he glared down the chain he gripped in the direction of the assailant holding the other end. "Now, show yourself, bastard! I've gone through a lot of trouble to see your face!!" He raised an angry shout and talked trash to lift his own spirits. Gripping the chain in one hand, he used the other to re-grip the knife he'd cut the rope with earlier. He resolved to swing it in the assailant's face if worse came to worst. If it came to that, Subaru wouldn't hesitate. His eyes hardened. He wouldn't run no matter who or what came out. His life was in grave peril, but somehow, he was still alive. Maybe he didn't have to throw away this time; maybe it was still possible to drive off the assailant. Having already given up once, Subaru desperately reached out for any glimmer of hope. Perhaps that glimmer was Emilia. Perhaps it was the maid twins.

Perhaps it was that cheeky little girl or maybe Roswaal. Without intending to, Subaru forgot his situation, remembering the collection of memories he thought he'd shoved aside. He'd made promises. Promises he had to keep. But then... " You leave me no choice," she said. The chain made a sound. He felt slack in the chain as its wielder drew closer. But Subaru didn't pick up those subtleties as his eyes opened wide. He couldn't speak. His lips quivered as a whimper came out of his throat. Unintentionally, his fingers grasping the chain let go as he made a small, listless shake of his head, as if rejecting the reality before him. Walking on the grass, stepping over branches, a young girl emerged from the darkness. She was wearing a black, rather short apron dress. She wore a white lace hairpiece. She gripped a handle chained to the iron ball thoroughly unsuited to her small stature. Her blue hair rustled in the wind as she made a familiar tilt of her head, a neutral look on her face. "...You're kidding, right, Rem?" One of the girls Subaru had meant to protect was wielding the fiendish iron ball before him. Instantly, the back of Subaru's mind was completely filled with white noise. He desperately wanted to deny the sight before his eyes, but he could think of nothing that would let him. Subaru's thoughts were white, pure white, with nothing in them whatsoever. His breathing stopped. His heart seemed to stand still, like it had forgotten to keep beating. What freed Subaru from that state was the cold feel of the drop of sweat rolling down the skin of his forehead. This is bad. Bad bad bad bad bad bad. His empty thoughts became filled over and over with violent unease and panic. No rational thoughts came. Was this truly Rem before his eyes? Was this truly the Rem Subaru knew, her polite words sliding in like daggers, punctual to the point of obsession, doting on her impudent sister, harboring a serious inferiority complex? With Subaru having lost his earlier will to fight, Rem looked at him as she ran her free hand through her hair. "If you do not resist, I can grant you a quick end?" " You really think I'm gonna say yes? That's like telling me to eat shit." "How very rude. Yes, I suppose that is in your nature, Dear Guest?" Rem was behaving just like she had at the mansion, her curtsy and polite speech so thoroughly out of place that he felt like he really was seeing things. But that could not make him dismiss the brutal foreign object in Rem's hand. "I'll grant you that a girl with a blunt weapon is kind of hot, but..." A spiked iron ball on a chain. A blunt weapon that could turn an opponent into mincemeat with one blow. Rem had to be quite a sadist to pick a weapon like that. Subaru, having tasted its might and losing his life to it once already, knew only too well that Rem's control of the iron ball was absolute. Little by little, Subaru ground the reality down between his teeth, his mouth forming the words he was reaching for. "It's kinda cliché to ask, but...why are you doing this?" "It is nothing complicated. You are suspicious, so I will render judgment as a maid should." "Haven't you ever heard of 'love thy neighbor'...?" "I am fully committed to this, so..." Rem looked at Subaru like she expected a prompt response, apparently having no intention of letting him play for time. If he moved now, she'd kill him for sure. It was less of a stalemate than staring down the barrel of a gun. Subaru's brain spun as he desperately tried to wring a little info out of this without his anguish lowering his guard. " Does Ram know about this?" Abruptly, he invoked the name of the sister sharing Rem's face. Ram wore three crowns: she was arrogant, rude, and overbearing. As a maid, she was inferior to her little sister in every respect, but Subaru had spent more time with Ram than anyone else at Roswaal Manor. If even Ram had become his enemy what did those days they spent together mean? That was why Rem's reply was the one Subaru had sought without knowing it. "I intend to finish this before Sister is aware of it." Subaru took a deep breath and looked back straight into Rem's eyes. Rem raised her brows as she watched Subaru lick his lips as if he'd come back to life. "So you decided this on your own? Roswaal didn't order you?" "I will eliminate all who oppose Master Roswaal's wishes. You are merely one." "Man, can't he train his lapdogs not to bite at people just passing thro Ugh?!" Subaru taunted Rem a little to probe Rem's true feelings, only to have the chain leap in from the side. "You shall not insult Master Roswaal." The blunt impact made his vision waver; a sharp pain conveyed the vertical cut in his left cheek. With the iron ball still stuck in the rock face, she'd smacked Subaru by using the chain as a whip. So that was the price he paid for his flippant taunt. But he'd gotten something for it. At the very least, he could now confirm that Rem's loyalty to Roswaal was the real thing. She no doubt really believed silencing Subaru was for Roswaal's benefit. She'd decided that Subaru's leaving Roswaal Manor was disadvantageous for Roswaal, who was supporting Emilia's candidacy. In other words, this was "Ah, that's what it is That's how little you trust me, huh?" "Yes." Her grudging nod made Subaru feel pain equal to a sharp blade being thrust deep into his chest. Subaru had dreaded that answer, for accepting it meant looking at his days at the manor in an entirely different light. So Subaru didn't say it. He locked that horrid feeling deep in his chest. But he couldn't help himself from laughing at his own obliviousness. "Damn, just look at me. I thought I'd done all right, but I was so wrong..." "...My sister " "I don't wanna hear it ! Take this!" Rem hesitated slightly for one instant as Subaru shouted and drew his cell phone from his pocket, thrusting it before him. The next moment, a white light cut through the darkness of the forest, freezing Rem momentarily. " Raaah!" Subaru screamed as he leapt in and tackled her small body, knocking her away. Rem was able to wield that violent device with unbelievable force, but in a straight-up collision, Subaru's greater height and weight won out. His charge held nothing back, sending her small body flying; she lost her balance and stumbled to the ground. Subaru didn't spend even a moment to look at her as he rushed past. He wheezed as he shoved air into his lungs and thought as he ran. If this was Rem's decision alone, Subaru had two options for survival. One surely was to return to the manor and speak directly to her master. But if Roswaal thought the same way Rem did, he'd simply be going from the frying pan into the fire. "But even so...there's Emilia...!" His memory of her shone brighter than that of any other. If he could trust anyone, it was her. But would she, a royal candidate, trust Subaru's words when she had the most to lose from doing so? *** Instantly, the voice from the back of Subaru's head struck him with the force of a thunderbolt. Without any doubt, it had been his voice that doubted Emilia's heart. It was Subaru himself who had doubted her, knowing how she was forthright, earnest, and unhesitant to put herself in harm's way for others. "Why...am I doing...!" His standpoint had changed, and so had his thoughts. But to doubt Emilia? If Subaru couldn't even trust the person he'd resolved to protect, who could he believe in? He was pathetically fleeing through the mountains because of the big plan he'd formed to protect the life of someone whose heart he doubted. How sane was that? He'd gather intel this time? Yeah, right. Why was he here, under threat from a completely unexpected direction, running for his life like this? He'd been too proud. He'd been naive. He hadn't thought it through. His breath ragged, half running and half falling down a slope, Subaru was awash in regrets. He whined as tears clouded his vision. His steps grew clumsy. Suddenly, the trees opened wide into a clearing; Subaru saw that night was creeping across the sky. Then " Ah?" A blade of extremely concentrated wind lashed out, slicing off Subaru's right leg at the knee, sending it flying away. Subaru watched his right foot leap and bounce with great force as he lost his balance, slamming into the ground. The impact made the cut on his cheek bleed again; his shoulder bone sounded like it'd exploded as it rammed into the rock. Subaru screamed, the cut across his whole body jabbing into his brain like an electric shock. "Aaaaaaagh! M-my leeeeeg?!" It didn't hurt, and that felt scarier. Pieces of his lost lower leg were blown off, sailing into the thickets ahead. A delayed gush of fresh blood dyed the ground reddish-black; only then did the pain invade his nervous system in earnest. *** He clawed at the ground as unspeakable pain rippled through him. He pressed down on the wound, thrashed his body, pounded his free right hand against the ground, smacked a tree, and clawed at the bark as his consciousness boiled from the heat. It hurt, it hurt, it really hurt. He felt the pain shaving away his nerves as if a carpenter's plane were whittling him from the inside out. Having lost so much blood so quickly, it gradually dawned on him that he was dying. "Mana of Water, grant thy healing." A soft palm abruptly pressed down on Subaru's thrashing body. Unable to move, Subaru shifted his bloodshot eyes and noticed the girl in the maid outfit at his side. It was the blue-haired Rem. Rem, who had tried to kill Subaru just now, enveloped her palm in a pale light, pouring warm magical energy onto Subaru's amputated right leg. He felt the itch of healing magic. The pain didn't vanish completely, but shock seized Subaru at the surreal scene. Subaru didn't know why Rem was healing him at a time like this. Sensing Subaru's gaze, she gave him a soft, casual smile. What seemed like a tiny ray of hope died with the words that followed. "I will not be able to ask you anything if I let you die so easily." It truly sank in what an optimistic idiot he was. Rem stood up as she finished her first aid, making a sound with her chain as she pulled along the iron ball. Subaru was lying faceup with the iron ball gouging the earth as it neared him. The closer he saw it, the clearer it looked like the crude, unrefined, specialized tool for violence that it was, existing only to take life. Rem had deliberately brought it where he could see. Her intentions were crystal clear. It was the easiest way for her to demonstrate that his life was in her hands. " I am confiscating this." Rem spoke as she crouched and opened up Subaru's firmly closed hand. His hand had been locked around the knife since his encounter with Rem, unable to let go. Rem roughly pried open his fingers and took the knife, turning it around in her hand. "Had you stabbed me with this earlier, you would have been able to flee a little farther." Rem knitted her brows, speaking like she couldn't comprehend Subaru's illogical act. But Subaru, suppressing his breathing amid the throbbing pain, shook his head. There was no way he could have stabbed Rem with that knife. That knife had

been the implement in his hands when he'd spent such busy and gentle times with Rem's back to him as Ram taught him how to peel vegetables. He couldn't stab Rem with that. Subaru's heart lacked the strength for that. As Subaru continued shaking his head without a word, Rem sighed and discarded the knife into the forest thicket. She seemed to refocus her attention as she made the chain clank and coldly looked down at Subaru. "I ask you, are you working with one of Lady Emilia's rival claimants to the throne?" "...My heart belongs to Emilia." The moment he spoke, the chain ferociously lashed Subaru's upper body. His shirt, scratched all over during his flight, easily tore open, as did the skin underneath. Subaru's scream echoed through the forest. "Who hired you and on what terms?" "E-Emilia-tan's smiling face is...priceless." She moved her wrist the other way and did the same thing again. Feeling like she'd lashed him in precisely the same place, he knew his anguished cry served as praise for her skill. She asked more questions like that. He made more replies like that. Several times more, the chain rang out. Several times more, Subaru's painful cries matched it. When his consciousness faded, Rem treated him with healing magic. Trapped in a hell of repeated healing and violence, Subaru's spirit frayed; he lost consciousness several times like that. Yet, his heart did not submit to Rem's lashings. Rem must have felt tired of Subaru's obstinate attitude when she wiped the blood spatter off her face and looked up at the sky. "If I do not get back soon, I will be late preparing the meal..." "...Dinner, huh. What's on the menu today, huh..." "Let's see. How about mincemeat pie?" "S-sorry, I think I'll have to skip it..." Rem finally showed some sign of emotion as she sighed at Subaru's behavior, flippant to the bitter end. After that, she fell silent for a while before looking down at Subaru, her eyes colder than ever before as she interrogated him. " Are you a member of the Witch Cult?" Subaru knit his brow, perplexed at having vocabulary he'd never heard before thrown at him. He didn't know what those words meant in regards to the place, the circumstances, or Rem's real thoughts. "Answer, please. You are one of the Bewitched, yes?" "...Be what?" "Do not play games with me!" Agitated, Rem's pale blue eyes shot daggers through Subaru in a rage. It was literally the first time Subaru had seen Rem worked up like this since they'd met. Rem's pale face glowered as she looked down at Subaru with pure hostility. "I don't know them... My whole family's atheist to begin with..." "Still denying it? It is plain you are involved with the witch. Her stench is all over you!" Hatred. Rem's eyes seethed with dark hatred as they glared at Subaru. Subaru's eyes widened, feeling like this part of Rem, this vortex of emotion, put every single thing she'd done in a completely new light. "Even if Sister or no one else notices, I can smell it on you! The leftover stench of that monster makes me want to spit in disgust!" Subaru fell silent. Rem, standing before him, bit her lip so hard that she seemed to be grinding her teeth. "I was anxious and angry when I saw you speaking with Sister. You, someone involved with the one who put Sister through so much...weaseling into our precious home !" Her words of undiluted malice mercilessly bathed Subaru in bitterness. "I have been watching you since Master Roswaal welcomed you...but the entire time, it hurt to watch you. I could not bear it." Subaru had been unable to say a word. Then, Rem drove the dagger home. "Even if I knew that the whole time Sister was taking care of you, she was just pretending to be friendly!" *** Rem seemed to be making up for her seemingly inadequate emotions by slamming all her bottled-up resentment at Subaru in one go. Rem stopped speaking as her shoulders shook, her eyes filled with rage as they glared at Subaru. Then, her anger abruptly wavered from surprise. " What the hell...?" For, as Rem spoke words filled with hatred, Subaru had been crying quietly. "I knew it was...something like that." Sobs came up his throat, hot tears slipping out of his eyes and falling upon his cheeks. The flood of seemingly ceaseless tears continued as Subaru said in a sorrowful, halting voice, "So that's what it was... I knew there was some reason behind all the kindness. But...I was too afraid to ask..." It was the two of them who had drilled the basics of work into good-for-nothing Subaru. Ram had scoffed at him for not knowing how to put on a butler outfit. Rem had re-tailored the ill-fitting suit and taught him how to put it on. Ram had patiently stuck with Subaru when he'd been painstakingly learning characters. After the promise to have Rem cut his hair, she'd often been staring at him; he'd been happy to have people paying attention to him and urging him on. They were all kind memories he could never forget. "I finally learned how to peel veggies without cutting my hand. I learned how to do laundry right. Didn't finish learning how to clean the place, but..." He couldn't have hoped for more in four days. But he'd thought that, if he could get past those four days, there was much more to learn in the days to come. "Reading... It's just the simple stuff, but I can do that now. I studied like I promised. I read the picture book. It's all thanks to you two..." "What are you...talking about?" The tone of Rem's voice fell, like she was creeped out by Subaru's rambling words. Subaru looked straight up into Rem's eyes. "I'm talking about what you two have done for me..." "I recall no such thing." " Why don't you remember?!" The sudden burst of rage made Rem take a step back without thinking. Subaru forced his lying body to rise, glaring at Rem with his teeth bared as he shouted. "Why'd everyone leave me behind...! What did I do to you...! Tell me what I did to you...!" He couldn't control his emotions. He knew full well he'd be ripped to pieces, but Subaru's heart, his very soul, could not stop shouting. He'd been summoned to another world, subjected to senseless things, and in spite of it all, he'd gritted his teeth and pushed forward. But he'd reached his limit. "What'd I do wrong? What's wrong with me? Why do you girls hate me that much...? Even...that promise... I've always..." *** "I've always lo " The impact did not permit him to say any more. The sudden force bent back Subaru's body; it gently hit the tree trunk behind him. Subaru heard nearby sounds like faint breathing and frothing water. When he shifted his gaze, he immediately discovered the cause. *** His throat. Half of Subaru's throat had been ripped out. He was gurgling air and bubbles of blood from the middle of his windpipe. Dumbfounded, he looked at Rem's face as she stared at the wound. Having seen that much, Subaru's eyes lost their spark, going dizzy and white. He couldn't speak. His mind felt like someone had turned off the switch. Everything grew distant. There was no pain, no sadness; he left behind all his emotions. But in the end, he had the faint sense he could hear someone's sad voice. " Sister is too kind." CHAPTER 5 *** He wasn't aware of the exact moment he returned to consciousness. The sound of heavy rain kept ringing in his ears. His vision flickered between red and white. The world was bent and warped. Unable to feel his arms or legs, he made a thick, anguished scream as if someone were wringing his intestines like wet laundry. He twisted his body and leapt, every movable part of his entire body unleashing fierce incomprehension. He didn't know what was going on. The burning pain of his leg being severed and the scars of his body being lashed all over by the chain were...gone. He'd lost his blood. He'd lost his life. He'd died. He hadn't wanted to die. He hated the pain, the suffering, the sadness, the fear, all of it. He wanted to push it all away. Everything he could see, everything he could touch, everything he could feel. *** He heard something. He heard someone's voice. He heard a voice, like someone was desperately trying to calm a wild beast. The meaning didn't get through. He didn't understand the meaning. He didn't want to understand the meaning. It was useless to listen. Listening would only get him hurt. Listening wouldn't change a thing. Yet as he rejected all, color returned to the world, as did sound, as did shape. The senses of his entire disheveled body told him, correctly, that blood was reaching his limbs. His flailing hand hit something, breaking fingernails and ripping the back of his hand, making it bleed. The sharp pain jabbed into his brain, somewhat lessening the force of his scream. Then he realized it. Someone had grabbed and wrapped up his hurting arms. He felt something similar on his legs. Something was covering him, making him unable to move either leg. Right above him, his returning vision saw the familiar white ceiling he'd seen several times over now. He realized he was lying faceup on the soft bed. He finally breathed out, strength draining from his stiffened body, when... "Dear Guest, Dear Guest. Have you finally calmed down?" "Dear Guest, Dear Guest. Have you finally stopped flailing?" The instant his ears heard the two familiar voices, Subaru remembered to scream. Subaru's fourth first day at Roswaal Manor had begun in the worst way possible. Subaru lived with the shame of having already died six times since arriving in that world. They were most certainly not peaceful deaths. Each death came with its own commensurate sense of loss. You didn't get used to the pain and suffering of it. Though he picked himself up each time, no one could understand the loneliness, the desolation, the anguish he felt. He'd resolve that no matter what pickle he might find himself in, his heart, at least, would not falter. But that resolve had been shattered by his latest Return by Death. His sense of loss, of despair, of loneliness, gouged Subaru just as deeply as the bonds formed over the days before. There was no way he could recover. He didn't have the strength to recover. Emilia, sitting on the bed beside Subaru, smiled at him as she patted his injured right hand. " All right, done. I think it's nicely patched up, but you mustn't thrash around like that, okay?" At that moment, Subaru and Emilia were the only two people in the room. The two maids who had been present when Subaru awoke retreated in the face of Subaru's disgraceful behavior right after waking, leaving things to Emilia. "Ram and Rem were really so worried about you." Subaru reflexively raised his face at the mention of two names he didn't want to hear. Subaru's reaction put a bit of surprise on Emilia's face, but she instantly brushed it off with a small shake of her head. "They're feeling unusually down, thinking they may have offended you somehow. How about you say something to them next time you see them?" "Offended, huh? No, they didn't do anything... There's nothing between those people and me." Emilia's feminine eyebrows softly grimaced at the insensitive tone of his voice. Her reaction was in the corner of Subaru's vision, but no apology or excuse came from his lips. Instead, what came out was a question without the slightest hint of sarcasm. "Hey, Emilia, do you...think I'm a bother?" Emilia raised a finger and seemed to speak rapid-fire to hold Subaru in check.

"How could I think you're a bother? You saved my life, Subaru. What are you supposed to do if someone you owe a debt to just gets up and leaves? It'd really put me in a bind." Subaru listened in silence, belatedly realizing that he was staring intently at every detail of Emilia's face and actions. "Whoa, I was seriously..." He was disheartened that it was he who'd given Emilia such a look of distrust. Emilia had unexpectedly hit the nail on the head, had she not? To stop thinking of your benefactor as your benefactor was the lowest thing you could do. Emilia was the only oasis Subaru had in an uncertain world. Subaru, having lost everything else he'd set his heart upon, had nowhere else to turn. *** He suddenly had a small thought. Perhaps it was to Emilia that he should reveal the truth of the Return by Death? "That's right..." Now that he thought about it, Subaru had tried to change his dead-end reality completely on his own so far. But all he'd achieved was a dead-end fate, with both the future and the past blocked off. Breaking through that stalemate required fundamental change. Maybe the answer was to form a bond of trust with a third party, someone he could rely on? " Emilia, there's something I want to tell you." The clouds seemed to lift as Subaru's feelings of hesitation and unease parted inside him. Hearing the tone of Subaru's voice fall like that, Emilia sat back down in a chair, looking at Subaru with a face tense with concern. Watching himself reflected in her violet eyes, Subaru thought of how he should begin this. How should he talk about Return by Death? Perhaps Subaru ought to first find out if it was something that happened to other people of that world, too? It was a pretty funny story, really. The chances were high she'd think it was a big joke. But Emilia would listen to Subaru tell it, wouldn't she? Then and there, that was the hope that kept Subaru going. He'd talk to her about Return by Death. And that he hoped she would lend him her strength. Subaru, well aware that here he was, already receiving her gratitude and yet making another request, opened his mouth. They'd change this extremely confusing situation. They'd fight against Fate and win...together. Or so he thought. "Emilia. I c " He began his confession. The moment the thought formed, it came. *** Discomfort. Something's wrong, Subaru's mind told him. What's wrong, he wondered back, but he immediately noticed why. Sound. Sound was gone. There was no sound anywhere. His own heartbeat. Emilia's breaths. The sounds of morning filtering through the window. All had completely vanished from the world. And that was but the prelude for what was to come. Next, movement followed sound, vanishing from the world as well. The passing of time lengthened. A single moment extended to eternity. The next second simply never arrived. Emilia's serious expression remained before his eyes, unmoving. She was like an ice statue, her next motion an eternity away. Subaru was the same. He couldn't move. His mouth, his eyes, nothing for eternity. Sound had vanished, time had stopped, and Subaru's hand could not even reach out to beg. For some reason, only Subaru's mind continued on during the phenomenon beyond his understanding. And then, suddenly, it came. A black cloud. Subaru, unable to blink, suddenly saw it fill his vision. In a world where nothing could move, only the cloud was still in motion. The cloud wriggled and changed shape. Its mass was such that it could be held in the palms of one's hands. Bit by bit, the contours of the cloud took form, and it finished changing shape. Subaru saw something like a black palm. It had five fingers. It didn't reach to an elbow, but he could definitely make out a forearm. The black fingers shifted. The gentle movements of what clearly had the shape of a hand swam through the air. Subaru's mind gasped when he saw where it was headed. The black fingers slowly reached to Subaru's chest...and seemed to go right in. Subaru felt the feeling straight to his soul. The feeling of the fingers brushing against his internal organs, stroking his rib cage... Discomfort and unease gripped Subaru. The black cloud wouldn't stop moving. It was as if it hadn't found what it was looking for and had to look deeper, deeper into Subaru's chest. Hey, hold on here. His voice wouldn't come out. His body couldn't resist. Subaru's mind let out a terrified yelp. This isn't funny. Subaru was shaken beyond what he could call his innards, to the very core of his being. Could anyone put into words why having your internal organs damaged hurt? The question is pointless. No one needs to think about it. In that instant, Subaru felt no need to put into words what that excruciating pain felt like. It was really simple. Having his heart mercilessly squeezed felt like his very soul was being crushed. He couldn't scream. He couldn't writhe from the pain. There was only suffering. And along with suffering came something that made Subaru wish he could scream. The pain was pulling apart the person called "Subaru." His mind was frayed, twisting, falling apart. Subaru was being cut into pieces, unable to remember what a logical thought felt like " baru," *** "Subaru, what's wrong? Don't go all quiet like that. It worries me." Her hands were on his thighs as the silver-haired beauty gazed into Subaru's eyes with concern. Subaru seemed to stop holding his breath when he was sure his fingers were moving as he intended. He gingerly touched his own chest, confirming from the outside that his heart was making quiet beats. His body moved. His voice came out. He couldn't feel any pain from his heart. But the fear remained. Subaru fell into despair, for it had ripped his one hope to shreds. Just thinking about defying it a second time made him see the swaying black cloud in his mind. Subaru had no choice but to face facts. Unable to hold back her emotions, Emilia put her palm against Subaru's face, at a loss as she asked an uncertain question. " Wh-what's wrong? You've been acting weird since earlier. If something's wrong..." " I want to ask you a favor." Subaru cut off Emilia's worried voice midway, lying down and turning away his head. He couldn't face her. His features probably looked horrible. If he looked at Emilia in his current emotional state, there was no telling what he might say to her. Working all out to keep his mind steady, Subaru could manage to say only one thing. He threw away the words he wanted to say. He threw away the feelings that wanted her to hear. He threw away everything. "Don't have anything to do with me." Listlessly, that was all he said as he curled into the bed. He didn't even look at Emilia's shocked reaction. Unconsciously, Subaru had firmly grasped a single fact the moment the palm touched his chest. He would not be permitted to break free. Subaru was alone. And he would remain alone. Having brushed off Emilia, Subaru gloomily began his fourth loop. Roswaal went to Subaru's room after he'd hurt Emilia with his heartless statement. Subaru largely didn't remember what they'd talked about. But he felt like he'd been appraised like an expensive vase. He didn't know if that was just this time or if it had happened before and he just hadn't noticed. "I shall treat you as a guest for as looong as you prefer." Subaru felt like he'd said something convenient like that. He also felt like the details didn't matter anymore. If he left the mansion, they'd shut him up for good. That was certain. But even if he was dead weight in the mansion, he couldn't avoid getting ground into mincemeat in the near future. He felt like his saved game guaranteed a BAD END. The fact that it was autosave made it extra brutal. *** Subaru was on top of the bed and not moving much, but his breaths were quick and ragged. Fearful of falling asleep, Subaru had used the feathered pen in his hand to cut the back of his other hand several times. Every time his eyelids seemed to droop, he forced his consciousness awake through pain. If he slept, he didn't know what he'd wake up to. He'd already died three times. In the royal capital loop, he hadn't experienced more than three deaths. To Subaru, plunged into that first day for the fourth time around, dying a fourth death was unknown territory. Maybe, if he died here, he'd never come back. He couldn't find a way to avoid death. But still, he didn't want to die. He distrusted all and struggled against all in his desperate fight to live. He forgot the passage of time, the churning of his empty stomach; Subaru became eager to simply exist. The pain of his wound felt like affirmation of his existence. The spaces between the holes in his hand vanished. Pain. Joy. Pain. Joy. Pain. Pain. Pain Suddenly, his face shot up when he abruptly heard a little girl's voice. " You certainly have a cowardly look about you." A girl was standing at the entrance, leaning against it, shooting Subaru a look like she was gazing at a beast. Beatrice, whom he had yet to meet even once during this loop, had come to visit. Subaru's vigilance ratcheted up at the unprecedented change of circumstances. " So it's you this time?" He belatedly realized that his voice was low and scratchy. It surprised him. His voice held more hostility in it than he'd imagined. Maybe he was voicing his feeling that the world was cursed. "What an incorrigible fool, to waste away like this in the span of a day or two." "No one asked you What'd you come for?" Beatrice, having mocked Subaru's disgraceful sight and received his sullen retort in turn, narrowed her eyes slightly. "...Puckie and that little girl asked me to pay you a visit." "Puck and...Emilia?" "You were acting oddly since you awoke, I suppose, so they suspected that I had done something to you when you first woke up. A rather rude suggestion, if I may say so." It was true, and Beatrice was innocent, but those things didn't register with Subaru. Surely Subaru's heartless words had hurt Emilia, yet she was concerned for Subaru all the same, enough to speak directly to Beatrice, even if her suspicions were misplaced? As a result, Beatrice, with a weakness for Puck to begin with, had Puck begging her to help them, so here she was, reluctantly showing herself in Subaru's room. Emilia's concern for him brought just a tiny bit of warmth to Subaru's heart. Even if it was meaningless as far as breaking the stalemate was concerned... "Got it. I'm all right now. You came to apologize, and that's enough." Beatrice's lips twisted as Subaru tried to brush her away. "Why must I apologize to you, I wonder? Before anything else, I will not be leaving until that misunderstanding is cleared up." Instead of leaving the room, she marched over to the bed. Subaru was about to pile on more complaints when... " Hm?" Subaru watched as she crinkled her nose and tilted her head. If she just stayed quiet she'd look pretty adorable, but... Beatrice looked displeased at being stared at and covered her face, glaring at Subaru. "'Tis not just your dull face, I suppose, that is rotten. It is quite thick all around you." " Huh?" "Perhaps I speak of the scent tickling my nose? It would be wise to avoid meeting the twins for a while." Beatrice pinched her nose and waved with her free hand as if driving off an unpleasant scent. *** But Subaru's mind couldn't

let go of the keyword scent. Scent. Certainly someone had used that word around the end of the third loo "A smell coming from me...?" " The scent of the witch. Perhaps your nose is broken?" He remembered that word. He'd come across that piece of vocabulary only recently. So that meant "The jealous witch?" "In today's day and age, there is none other who would be called witch, I suppose." Her statement, belittling him as a petty idiot, aroused only more questions in Subaru. "Why is that scent coming from me?" "Who is to say? Perhaps the witch took a liking to you, or perhaps she hates the very sight of you. Either way, the witch giving you special treatment makes you attract trouble." Beatrice slumped her shoulders, her gloomy behavior indicating any further talk about it was unwelcome. Witch a being shunned throughout the world to the point that the fairy tale "The Witch of Jealousy" would not record her name. But Subaru had no connection to the witch or the story; he'd read about it only in a book. Naturally, without any memory of having met the witch, he had no memory of how he might carry a lingering scent from her touch. Rem had also said he stank of the witch, hadn't she? He felt that the overwhelming hostility was related in part to the scent of the witch. If that was so, he'd earned her hatred through something he had no memory of; with one slander piled on another, she felt she had no choice but to silence him. Subaru, having grasped something that was wholly outside his control, sighed at length. As Subaru remained silent, Beatrice looked at him as she reached toward the doorknob. "If nothing's wrong with you, I'm leaving. I should tell Puckie that we had a chat and what we talked about, I suppose." She seemed ready to vanish into the Passage when he called out to stop her. "Wait a sec." Beatrice looked distinctly displeased as she looked back at him. Subaru stubbornly arrived at the words and tossed them out. "You feel bad about what you did to me, don't you?" He didn't know if it meant anything or not but he thought it was worth a shot. Beatrice shot Subaru a sour look as Subaru knocked against the bed and asked again. "Do you feel bad about it? Yes or no?" "I think no such thing." "I'll tell Puck on you." Beatrice repositioned herself to face Subaru, crossing her arms and raising her nose with a haughty air. "Ugh...perhaps I think it a teeeeeny bit." "I'll forgive you if you'll do one little favor for me." "...Would you speak it, I wonder?" "Could you protect me until sunrise on the fifth da The morning after tomorrow?" It was a thoroughly shameless request to make of a girl who looked younger than he did. Beatrice was silent for a while in the face of Subaru's heartfelt request. "That is a rather vague statement. Perhaps there is a reason someone is after you?" The question Beatrice countered with was quite natural and sensible. Beatrice kept Subaru in her sights as she paced around the room. "In the first place, I do not want to bring discord to this manor. This manor is a place that, to me, I must not lose, I suppose." "...I don't want to cause any trouble. I just wanna put out any sparks that fly." "That is quite a sentiment coming from someone trying to make it another's problem?" "For once, I don't have a comeback." Beatrice sighed as Subaru bowed down before her. Subaru was still bowed as he thought he heard a sound like the door being closed from the inside. The sound of Subaru's request being denied and Beatrice returning to her archive. The moment he heard that sound, Subaru's threadbare hope snapped. "Could you put out your hand, I wonder?" With Subaru filled with resignation, Beatrice walked to the side of the bed and offered her tiny hand. Beatrice's irritation sent Subaru, in complete shock, rushing to take her hand. As he did, Beatrice scowled as she looked at the damaged back of his hand. "Disgusting. Perhaps you are an unsalvageable deviant who delights in self-harm?" "Roswaal's got the deviant market locked up. I was just trying to give myself a tattoo and messed it up." "Your artistic sense, skill, and talent for lies are completely lacking... There is no saving you from that." Exhaling, Beatrice put her tiny palm on top of Subaru's hand, as if trying to cover the wounds. Her smooth fingers invited his in until their hands intertwined. " I shall grant thy wish. By the name of Beatrice, the pact is formed." Beatrice's solemn statement left Subaru completely at a loss for words. Suddenly, the girl before his eyes looked completely different than before. As her fingers gripped his, the warmth they conveyed made his mind see the aura of mystique surrounding her. "Makeshift or not, a pact is a pact Perhaps I have been moved by your irrational request." Beatrice released his fingers and crossed her arms once again. Subaru bowed before her, suppressing the wave of emotion that hit him. He didn't put the emotions into words, but they gushed from a bottomless well deep in his heart. He didn't know how to react to being offered salvation from the least expected source. "Seriously...a little girl's gonna make me cry..." "Could you not say little girl, I wonder? Also, I will never forgive you if you say one word to Puckie about this." "So that's the important part?! Desperation gets you demon-possessed, I tell you." Subaru made a bitter smile in response to Beatrice's look of genuine hostility. His fourth loop had begun with despair. It was a small smile, the only of this loop, but it was there. By forming a temporary pact with Beatrice, Subaru gained a tiny but tangible piece of security. However, the circumstances pressing down on Subaru had not fundamentally improved at all. As was his wont, Subaru continued life as a hermit in the room he had been granted; Beatrice was not hovering around Subaru, protecting him twenty-four hours a day. The problem was from the night of the fourth day to the morning of the fifth to reduce the effort needed to protect him during that time, he'd be leaving the room, not showing his face again until the appointed hour. In return, the one who visited Subaru time and again, and currently nodding while sitting on the side of the bed with a charming smile on her face, was Emilia. "I see, so Beatrice came to properly apologize. I'm glad. A job well done." For Emilia to approach him like this after Subaru had treated her so poorly, which weighed heavily on his conscience, it was no exaggeration to say he thought of her like a goddess, his one light in a dark world. When Emilia visited again and he tried to apologize for his initial rude statement, she simply brushed off Subaru's horrible words. "You were just overwhelmed, right? It can happen to anyone. It can't be helped. Ram and Rem will be pleased to hear you say that, though." Subaru gave no proper reply to the gentle request she'd slipped in at the end. Their loyalty was so great that they'd kill someone merely for knowing an inconvenient truth. Subaru had experienced that firsthand, but he couldn't hate them for it even so. He closed his eyes and thought back on his days at the manor. Back then, during those memories, were there not moments when Subaru and the sisters drew closer together? Maybe he just wanted to believe it was so. Emilia looked at the tray left on the side of the bed and the untouched meal, slowly going cold, resting upon it as she murmured in a sullen tone. "So you really didn't eat breakfast, did you?" "...Sorry." After snapping at Emilia, Subaru had become more quiet and withdrawn. Though Subaru acted like that, Ram and Rem diligently went about their duties as servants. Even when they knew he would never touch the food nor thank them for it. One was rude, while the other was polite only on the surface, but both were very formal and professional at heart. Subaru knew that. Despite knowing that, he could not accept the food. For all he knew, it might be poisoned. That was the thought that passed through his mind when he looked at it. He hated himself for doubting the two of them. However, Subaru knew a future existed where the sisters waved around horrid weapons to kill him. He knew they had many virtues, but they'd try to kill him anyway. It was when Subaru had accepted that fact that his despair had truly begun. "Maybe it's tough, but it's bad for you if you don't eat at least a little bit." "My stomach won't take it... Well, maybe if Emilia-tan went 'Say aah' for me I could eat, but..." Subaru cursed what an incurable joker he was, sending such a flippant remark Emilia's way when she was genuinely worried about him. However... "Here, then. Say aah." " Eh?" "I said, say aah " Emilia had set the food tray on her lap, lifting a spoon and looking at Subaru. She used the spoon to scoop up some soup, which was still somewhat warm, and gently brought it toward Subaru's mouth. Subaru immediately shook his head, unable to understand what Emilia was trying to do. "No, nonono, wait, hold up, Emilia-tan, what are you doing?" "What do you mean, what? You said you'd eat if I did this, didn't you? So eat. I'm saying 'say ahh' and everything." "Err, this is like a ritual that girls don't actually do; their faces just go bright red and that's as far as it goes, I thought?" "If you're going to speak like a child, you can't be embarrassed at being fed like one. That would be silly." As Subaru dragged his feet, Emilia went "Say aah" again with a powerful, compelling stare. Subaru finally buckled under the pressure, feeling like he'd gone red to the tips of his ears as he opened his mouth. "A-aah..." "There, swallow. Here's the next one. Here, here, here, here, here." "That's too fast!! Was that aah just to get my guard down?!" The way Emilia carried soup to his lips, automatically with no wasted motion whatsoever, made him wonder if she'd been in a fast-feeding competition or something. Subaru tried to keep up with one spoonful after another before roughly waving his hand midway. "T-time-out, time-out! Can we stop? It's going down my th-throat the wrong way...!" "Goodness, and it was going so well, too... Subaru?" "Cough, cough, r-really, my throat feels...all weird..." Subaru averted his face from Emilia, faking coughs to try to make the action seem more natural. He didn't want Emilia to see his face just then. Something hot was welling from deep in Subaru's eyes. He opened his eyes to give his tears somewhere to run and desperately tried to stop them from flowing. She continued to be kind to him in a world where he could see no hope. He wondered if he was truly worthy of such treatment... ...for Subaru Natsuki was in despair precisely because he rejected that he was. "Hey, Subaru." As she called out to him in concern, Subaru lightly cleared his throat and tested his voice as he got back in order. "...Mm, ahh, ahh. Okay. Yeah. I'm all right now. I think. I'm all right." He made the richest expression as he turned toward Emilia... ...and met her extremely gentle eyes, looking right at him. "Let's continue." "...The way you put that makes this feel really naughty somehow..." *** Emilia, tilting her head, apparently hadn't noticed the risqué, bewitching nature of her statement. Or maybe it'd all been in his head to begin

with. And so he finished eating, with Emilia offering a 'Say aah' and him opening his mouth, cheeks red from shyness and complicated sentiments. With the meal finished, Emilia clapped once in satisfaction. "Good. Now, what do we say when we're done eating?" "That was great." "That's bad manners. Once more, and say it right." "Thank you for the food." "You're very welcome." Faced with Emilia's broad smile, Subaru patted his belly, which strangely felt nice and full. His stomach felt no discomfort at having been stuffed after two days of going empty. "Ram said, 'He hasn't eaten properly in a while so we must be gentle on his stomach,' and that's how Rem made it. They're such good girls, aren't they?" Emilia's words, as if boasting on behalf of the sisters, stabbed Subaru's doubts like a dagger. If that was the truth, he'd be happy enough to cry at such a show of concern. But Subaru knew better. The very pain of the delusion made him want to cry. If only their gentleness and kind treatment didn't have that lurking behind it. "Well, now that you've eaten, too, you must be tired, so I'll head back and let you rest." "You could always sleep here beside me?" "Good, good, seems you're already your usual self. Now, I do have things I need to be doing, too. Don't tell anyone I was slacking off, okay?" Emilia winked and stuck out her tongue. Subaru, remembering what Emilia would normally be doing at a time like this, felt deeply ashamed. Emilia had a kingdom resting on her shoulders; she didn't have one second to waste as she spent each day striving for a better future. She shouldn't have been wasting a single second of that precious time on someone worthless like Subaru. " Emilia. Keep your door locked at night and don't let anyone in, okay?" Perhaps he said it because Emilia's kindness had rekindled the tiniest spark of the will to defy Fate. Emilia brushed back her silver hair and inclined her head ever so slightly at Subaru's sudden admonition. "Or you'll sneak in?" "Right, exa... No!! Hey, that was Puck not Emilia just now, wasn't it?!" "Wow, got it in one." Puck popped his head out of Emilia's hair and grinned at her and Subaru. He swished his tail as Subaru glared at him, no doubt having been listening in that hiding place from the very beginning. "I didn't want to intrude on such a lovely scene, but your emotions suddenly turned serious, huh? That got my attention." "...I just have a bad feeling, okay? You take good care of Emilia, now." With the black cloud lurking, Subaru had to be evasive when speaking about the future. Even so, Puck, able to read emotions, accepted his words without question. "I'll have you know I really don't like feeling left behind in this conversation," Emilia complained. "It's just saying a cute girl like you should always be careful about night visits, and to watch out for cars and men. Right, Dad?" "That's right, Lia. Daddy forbids you from seeing men...bad-looking, dark-haired men in particular." "Brutus?!" Puck laughed out loud as Subaru invoked the name of the famous betrayer. Emilia pinched the laughing Puck and shoved him back into her hair, this time rising to her feet. Subaru saw both of them off and, now alone in the room, flopped onto the bed. He'd gotten them to watch out more, but it was a small comfort. To begin with, the current crisis had little to do with either of them, so he figured they'd be all right. "Aw, no..." The instant Subaru's mind felt a smidgen of relief, his consciousness dove into a deep sleep. The pangs of sleep that he'd kept at bay with pain for so long suddenly rushed back, robbing Subaru of his will. And his stomach was full, too. His consciousness felt like it was sinking downward, unable to resist. Subaru's consciousness felt like a floating cloud, trapped between dream and reality. He'd heard somewhere that dreams had the side effect of organizing the waking brain's information. That would explain why Subaru, having delayed his sleep so long, beheld a string of such clear and vivid memories, as if they meant to haunt his dreams. Subaru's vivid, "dead" memories replayed over and over, etching themselves deeper into his mind. He moaned, tossed, turned; he made anguished sounds as sweat drenched his entire body. Immersed in tears and faint sounds, his soul was whittled down, down, down, and when the final thread was cut, surely nothing would remain. That was how far he had been worn down, both mentally and physically. *** Abruptly, the tension in Subaru's body vanished. It was as if the cold and terror that made his body shake had been swept aside. It was his hands. Someone was holding Subaru's hands. Someone's touch from the real world pulled back Subaru, drifting in unconsciousness in the bed. It was a warm sensation, a gentle sensation, one that conveyed compassion. He felt like he'd been saved. He felt like a gentle breeze blew into his tattered mind. His ragged breathing eased; he forgot his suffering and returned to peaceful sleep. Who did it? What was it? Was it real or just a convenient trick of the dream? He continued to feel warmth lingering between the palms of his hands " Just how long are you going to sleep, I wonder?" "Whoaaaa!" Subaru cried out in pain, having been violently kicked, followed by a hard landing on the floor. When Subaru shook his head and rose up, Beatrice was there, scowling, one leg raised in an unladylike manner. Beatrice snorted, once again unable to hide her displeasure. "You were sleeping quite comfortably while I bothered to come at the appointed hour." "It's like, you've got to put people down even when you don't have to?" As Subaru talked back, he broke out in a cold sweat at having unintentionally slept. He'd gone as far as to hurt himself to stay awake and to keep his guard up. "Sleeping on the all-important fourth day. Maybe I really do have a death wish." "Would you cease your muttering, I wonder? There are more appropriate places for it." Beatrice, looking down and watching as Subaru lightly poked himself, sat on her stool as she spoke. Seeing her in her usual position like that, Subaru realized something was off and looked all around. He was already in the archive when he awoke. "Well, this is a surprise. Did you carry me in my sleep?" "I would not like to spend time in a room filled with that scent of yours, I suppose. This archive is my place and none other's. Could you behave yourself while here, I wonder?" Subaru decided that Beatrice's actions, taken without asking him, had improved his situation. Beatrice's Passage would keep an assailant from narrowing down Subaru's location. Surely Rem had no sure means of breaching the Passage herself. "You actually thought this out, huh?" "Do not just sit on the floor mumbling. Would you like to be swatted like an insect, I wonder?" Oh, so that's what you're reading, said Subaru, looking at the pages open before Beatrice as he stuck out his tongue. Apparently, thinking of this as consideration would be overstating the case. Subaru rose from the floor, abruptly staring at his own two hands. An odd sensation remained. Someone had held his hand as he slept, hadn't "Hey Beatrice, don't tell me you held my hand while I was asleep?" "I won't be telling you such a thing, I suppose. I would not, even if Puckie asked me to." "What a thing to say... But hey, at least we can die together!" "No. Absolutely not." Beatrice, rather sour, tapered her lips as Subaru looked around the room once more. The archive, filled with books as usual, lacked any convenient place to sit. "How am I supposed to kill time in here...?" With the time limit so close, his anxiety and stress were heightened; it was an open question as to how long he could keep his cool. If he could just immerse his head into something and forget the passage of time "Oh, right. Are there any books here written just in I-script?" " To think that you cannot read but the simplest things. How many humans do you think would cry with joy at just the thought of entering the Mathers family's archive of forbidden books?" "Well, I do feel bad for them... So what, you're here full time?" Subaru had never seen Beatrice walking about except at mealtimes. Aside from the exception of her having visited his room the day before, Beatrice was always in the archive on her stool. Beatrice lowered her head a little at Subaru's question. "Such is the pact I have made." "Another pact, huh? Maybe I shouldn't say this when you're helping me, but isn't it rough?" Beatrice closed her eyes and spoke as if to cut off all further inquiry. "All the pacts, they are things I desire, I suppose." He'd heard the term pact several times since arriving in that world, always with heavy overtones. Beatrice spoke the word with the same weight as Emilia and Puck did for the spiritual pact they had. Subaru appreciated as much, having formed one temporarily with Beatrice himself. Beatrice looked so young, yet here she was, in and upholding a pact for some reason, Subaru felt something like an unendurable ache deep in his chest when he looked at her. "Hey, are you really fine with all Whoa!" "Your questions are becoming annoying. You can read something and be quiet, I suppose." She underscored her statement by tossing a book at him. When Subaru caught it, he realized that the book he'd caught was written in I-script, down to the title. When Subaru lifted his face, Beatrice had already lost interest in him, lowering her eyes to the book in her own hands, making a show of declining conversation. She seemed to be strenuously insisting that he leave his half-asked question unfinished. While her demeanor left no room for words of thanks, Subaru was grateful and happy. Time in the archive of forbidden books passed gently and quietly. With neither exchanging words, only the sounds of the pages being softly turned echoed within the archive. That said, Subaru's heart wasn't into reading at the time; all he was doing was turning the same page over and back again, making the same page sound like a prank. Shut in the archive of forbidden books, he had no way to know what was going on outside. Beyond the room not having windows, the very nature of the archive was to be in a separate space, locked off from the outside world. He had no way to tell the time of day or feel the passage of time. He wondered what time it was by then. By simple logic, being in the room for half a day would get him through the problematic night. But he had only a vague sense of just how much time had passed while he'd been in the archive. He couldn't trust his own senses, but he also hesitated to ask Beatrice. It wasn't for any reason as simple as not wanting to stop Beatrice while she focused on her reading. Subaru was afraid that any action he initiated might stir up something. His fingers turning the pages of the book were numb. The tip of his tongue begged for water. His heart was beating like an alarm bell. He was out of breath. How long could he remain strong against such tension, he wondered? If the start had been so brutal, the end might be without any warning whatsoever. A murmur abruptly echoed through the silent archive. " Calling." Subaru's face seemed to leap up as Beatrice put down her book and slid her legs onto the floor. Rather than

speaking to Subaru, it felt like she was murmuring to herself. "A call for me, I suppose?" Beatrice waved a finger as she spoke. The next moment, Subaru's whole body felt ill as space bent. Subaru made a small moan as his entire body shuddered from the sensation that most resembled floating. Hearing this, Beatrice looked at Subaru as if only just remembering he was there. "Ah, you were there, weren't you? I forgot, I suppose?" "That's a bad joke, forgetting about a guy right in front of your face..." " Puckie is calling. It would seem this is an urgent matter." With that as Subaru's only warning, Beatrice strode past him to the door like it was the natural and obvious thing to do. Subaru's voice shook as he called out to stop her. "W-wait, hold on! If you go out now..." "You can stay shut in here if you like. Perhaps you will be safe here?" Beatrice left behind her words of obvious sarcasm as she passed through the door. Subaru, blood rushing to his head from her attitude, seemed to kick away his chair as he leapt up and reached toward the door. He'd hesitated for only a few seconds, but... "Aw, to hell with it. What's the big deal, right?!" Spurring himself on with the foul-mouthed statement, he roughly opened the door and stepped outside. The next moment, it hit him. "Ah " Without thinking, Subaru's voice leaked out of his lips like a complete idiot. His hand shielded his eyes from the piercing sunlight of the morn that greeted him. Deeply moved, he waved his hand in the air as if to confirm it. Subaru's body wobbled forward toward the window just on the opposite side of the corridor that peeked out over the inner garden beyond which the sun had just begun its rise. It was the morning of the fifth day that he'd yearned for but had never reached. "You mean...I made it? Past the fourth night...?!" Unable to believe the result before his eyes, he pushed open the window, almost pounding it. Holding down his hair as a cool breeze blew in, Subaru took a breath of the fresh morning air. He stumbled, bumped his back against the wall, and slid down, having lost the will to stand. He could do nothing but stare in shock. He'd given up. He'd surrendered to despair. He'd been worn to the bone. And yet, Subaru had passed beyond the fourth day and arrived at the fifth. "Ha-ha-ha..." Without realizing it, a dry laugh came over him. Once it began, he knew no way to stop it. "Heh-heh, ha-ha-ha. What is this? Hey, what is this? This is just... Ha-ha..." He couldn't think of any rational way to show how he felt at that moment. Hugging his knees, Subaru remained squatting in the hallway, laughing like a madman. He thought it was a far-off place that his hand would never reach. He couldn't speak. He couldn't find the words. Finally, Subaru had Suddenly, a voice like a bell interrupted Subaru's hollow joy. " Subaru?" Lifting his gaze in annoyance, he saw a silver-haired girl standing deeper in the hall Emilia. He was able to find her safe and sound, here on the morn of the fifth day. Both of them had gotten past the fourth night. That fact made Subaru tremble. He'd hoped for this chance. If the morning of the fifth day greeted both of them, they could rekindle that promise and have it granted. He'd introduce Emilia to the kids in the village, they'd both walk around the blooming flower garden together, they'd form the same memories together and yet... "Emilia...?" Subaru began feeling a sense of accomplishment that barely seemed real while Emilia watched him in silence. Then, as if Emilia had remembered something, she rushed over to Subaru. "Subaru, where did you go?" "Er, I..." "I mean... No, that's fine. It's fine, just...come with me." Emilia pulled up Subaru with surprising insistence and ran off with him. She looked like she wasn't going to take no for an answer as a smirk came over his face. "Where are we going... Hey, Emilia, listen to me. I've worked really hard to get to this point..." Subaru stared at the side of Emilia's face as he tried to find the words to convey his success. "Why are you making a face like that? I mean, it all turned out all right...didn't it? I'm safe and sound, and you're... Yeah. Let's go to the village...together, and then..." *** "There's lots I want to do with you and talk about with you. A lot's happened. I wanted you to know th " " Subaru." With one brief call of his name, she interrupted him. That was when he noticed the momentary wavering in her eyes, the irritation she could no longer conceal. The look she had was like when they'd been fighting for their lives at the fence's shop. "What in the world h " Happened, he tried to ask but couldn't. For before he could put the word on his lips, a different sound slammed into his eardrums. He thought it was a yell. Perhaps it was a wail instead. It was a long, high-pitched sound filled with sadness that scarred the very soul. The morning air of the manor was rent by the unending cry of pain, as if someone were being torn asunder. They passed through the corridor and headed up the stairs. The east wing of the second floor of the manor was for the servants' bedrooms, where Subaru's room on previous loops had been. Emilia led him by hand to the innermost room. And there stood... "Roswaal and..." ...The man with long indigo hair narrowed his eyes as he saw both rushing over. Beside Roswaal stood Beatrice, leaning her back against the wall as a gray cat curled up on her shoulder. With the three of them having arrived, Subaru was about to ask about the circumstances when Roswaal spoke simply. "Inside." Roswaal motioned to the open door of a bedroom beside him. When Subaru turned toward Emilia, she nodded to him as well. Emilia's clear violet eyes settled things for him. Holding his breath, Subaru walked in. Here, too, the yell continued unceasingly, filling the whole of the room. Subaru entered, his eyes wide open, frozen from tension and then he saw. It was an immaculately preserved room. It looked like a girl's room with minimal furnishings employed to maximum effect, a reflection of a steadfast maid's personality. Though Subaru had received an identical room, it felt different. For a moment, such feelings let Subaru forget the sight before his eyes. But the moment passed as the horrible truth crashed upon him, a truth from which he found nowhere to run. "AaaaaaAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAaaaaA !" It was Ram yelling, tears pouring out, her deep sadness threatening to rip her throat asunder. And there lay Rem, still clinging to her older sister when she had breathed her final breath. How many times had his mind gone blank from what he'd experienced? How many times had he come face-to-face with tragedy beaten into him? Wasn't it time someone saved him from this? *** The blue-haired girl lay upon the bed, no longer breathing. Her skin was pale; her eyes would never open again. She was dressed in a delicate negligee that somehow seemed perfect on her. Subaru abruptly realized that he hadn't seen Rem out of a maid uniform once. "Why did...Rem..." As Subaru murmured, brushing his short hair back with his hand, he fell to his knees. His head hurt. His brain came up with the wonderful suggestion that the sight before him was all in his sleep-deprived imagination. This was his fourth loop at the manor. To Subaru, who'd already died and gone back three times, Rem was the person he was most wary of. "Then why...why was Rem killed...?" Surely it was Rem who killed Subaru, not the other way around. Suddenly, a little devil on Subaru's shoulder whispered maybe she wasn't really dead? Maybe it was all a trick, a trick to make Subaru drop his guard? A joke in exceptionally poor taste was incomparably better than the nightmare before him being real. He approached Rem to check her pulse, but... " Don't touch her!" As he reached out to touch Rem, his hand was slapped away, hard. When Subaru yelped and looked up, Ram was glaring angrily at him. The tear-filled rage on her face easily drowned out any words of retort Subaru might have used. "Don't...touch my little sister!" She refused to let anyone come between them. With a tearful voice, Ram repeated herself as she clung to Rem's body, tears flowing quietly down her face. There was no sign that the devoted, pain-filled older sister expected her little sister to ever awaken. That made the truth clear. Rem really was dead. As Subaru wobbled out of the room, Roswaal stood by the doorway and voiced his deductions. "Appaaarently, death by debilitation. Her vigor was stolen as she slept, her heartbeat gennntly slowed, and the fire of her life puttered out, likely the work of a curse rather than magic per se." Subaru's eyes snapped open at the word curse, the word for what the clown believed to be the cause of death. Death by debilitation via a curse: that was the direct cause of Subaru's deaths during the first and second loop. In other words, Rem had died from the same curse that had previously killed Subaru. "But I thought the curse came from Rem..." The second loop, Subaru had died from debilitation via curse as well as having his head smashed by an iron ball. Subaru had deduced from that night's circumstances that the witchcraft and the iron ball were linked. But Rem herself being killed by a curse had ripped his hypothesis to shreds. "Then the shaman and Rem are separate...?" Subaru's mind was in chaos as the thought of a new, separate shaman arose. Rem had slain Subaru out of loyalty to Roswaal. At the very least, that was the only answer if Rem's words during the third loop were true. He wondered if Rem, who'd killed him by her own hand, and the shaman were connected somehow. But if that was the case, Rem being killed this time around made no sense whatsoever from the shaman's point of view. So maybe Rem and the shaman weren't connected to begin with...? The first time, the magic of a shaman had slain Subaru; the second time, the shaman's spell had debilitated Subaru when Rem murdered him for whatever reason. The third loop, Rem had eliminated him with no connection to the shaman whatsoever. "The fourth time...I didn't do anything, so Rem was the target instead...?" It was baseless supposition, but based on the circumstantial evidence, it was the only reasonable conclusion. If Subaru had been the target for reasons related to the royal succession, he could understand it as an indiscriminate preemptive strike against Emilia's side. The victim, be it Subaru or Rem, was random. "You appear to be in raaather deep, serious thought?" The mismatched blue and yellow eyes looked down, reflecting Subaru in them. Subaru's eyes rose as he felt like Roswaal's scrutinizing gaze was seeing into his very soul. "It pains me to ask such a thing...but do you have aaany idea about what happened, good guest?" "Wh-why would you think...I..." "Myyy, forgive my rudeness. I am simply somewhat...displeased at the moment, that one of my pretty retainers has suffered such a fate, you see?" Roswaal abruptly shifted his gaze from Subaru to the painful sight inside the room. Looking at the side of his face, it truly sank in to Subaru just how precarious his situation had become. Subaru had no way to prove his innocence. This time, Subaru had done nothing to earn the slightest smidgen of trust from the others. Emilia tugged on his sleeve, speaking with an anxious voice. "...Subaru." When

he looked, the shimmer in her violet eyes seemed to be pleading with him: If you know anything, please say it. Her eyes and her calling his name told him that much. The implication of answering Emilia's earnest request hit Subaru hard. He'd have loved to tell everyone what he knew. He wanted to shout it at the very top of his lungs. When Subaru made no reply, Emilia's small fingers trembled a little as they held his sleeve. He'd thought that repeating the past would lead to a better future, yet here he was, every silver lining having a dark cloud, with the outcomes worse than he ever imagined possible. "Subaru..." Confusion clawed at the inside of his head. He'd thought that it would all be swept aside and things would be better someday. No, he thought they'd become better already. And the moment he thought it, this happened. *** The moment he pictured the black cloud and the world stopping, ceaseless pain gripped his head. His breath caught. The sensation of Emilia touching his sleeve made Subaru's stomach twist in pain. If Emilia kept her pleading look trained on him, Subaru's heart would falter. Even if he didn't, Puck, able to read emotions, could easily expose the fact that Subaru was hiding something. But still, Subaru couldn't explain anything about Return by Death. And that meant the torture would continue, pain without end, over and over. He felt his tongue quickly dry. Unable to resist his urge to flee, he took a small step back. " If you know anything, you'll never escape me." To the girl crying her eyes out inside the room, Subaru's small action looked like nothing more than an attempt to flee for his own convenience. Instantly, a raging gust of wind made the door violently shake, its passage blowing Subaru's hair down flat. The moment after the sudden gust made him close his eyes, a sharp pain heralded a vertical cut on his cheek. "Ow...!" He immediately touched his cheek, moistening his palm with blood. Wind. The wind had wounded him. From within the room, Ram was shooting Subaru a hate-filled look as she trained her palm toward him. "If you know something, spill it!" "Wait, Ram! I...!" Can't, Subaru was about to say, but the word died instantly on his lips, since he knew what would befall him. But he was coming up empty for any way to kick that can down the road. With Subaru holding his tongue, Ram shot him another gust of wind as a warning of what would follow. Had he been able to calmly assess the matter, he would have called it a Blade of Wind. Wind magic magic that inflicted cuts like the whirlwind monsters of lore. The sharp slice had enough power to leave a cut on the floor between Subaru and Rem, slice the door in half, and stop right at Subaru's cheek; such was the power she threatened him with. If that hit him full force faced with the phenomenon before his eyes, Subaru forgot to breathe. But Beatrice extended her cream-colored palm in front of Subaru and countered the Blade of Wind. " I am one who keeps her promises." She gave her raised palm a small shake, as if that were no great feat, as she looked back at Ram. "I have made a promise to protect this man from harm while he stays at the manor." "Lady Beatrice...!" Whereas Beatrice's demeanor was elegant, Ram bit her tongue with indignant anger. As Ram raged to the side, Beatrice looked up at Roswaal, still standing right beside them. "Roswaal. Your maid is being quite rude to your guest." "Certainly. I find that sinceeerely unfortunate. If possible, I wooould like to welcome him anew as my guest, as soon as he breathes out what he is holding within, to feel all the lighter." "How could he be involved in this matter, I wonder? He was in the archive of forbidden books all night." "This is too grave a matter to simply drop. Surely you cooomprehend this?" With negotiations having failed, Roswaal shrugged and raised his palms into the air. Subaru saw the multiple orbs of differing colors that floated from his palms. They were red and blue, yellow and green even Subaru, untrained in the ways of magic, understood that those four colors represented magical power. Their beautiful glows contained energy beyond his imagination. "It is just like you to engage in petty tricks. Just because you have a little talent, a little more power than others, a pedigree just a little finer than others, you need to flaunt in others' faces... You are quite a child, I will have you know." "How very haaarsh of you. Is the difference between we, who walk about normally, and you, passing time in a room where time has stopped, sooo great? Perhaaaps we should put it to the test." He could feel the magical tension between them making the very air twist. Subaru was becoming a third wheel as hostility rose. "Hooowever, to think that you would go through such trouble...are you truly sooo fond of him?" "Your jokes are in as poor taste as your makeup, Roswaal. Puckie is my ideal partner. That human cannot match such lovely fur." Beatrice looked defenseless as she stood before Roswaal's four glowing, floating balls. However, the "simply standing" girl projected something around her so powerful that it made the air itself bend. Something invisible but frightening was about her. As the situation became explosive, with both wielders of supernatural power glaring at each other, Ram's shrill voice wedged itself between them. "Who cares about that? Who cares?!" Everyone looked at her as she stormed over, hands holding the hem of her skirt. "Let me through and do not interfere. If you know something, say it, all of it. Help...help me avenge her!" It was a sad, painful plea. The words gripped Subaru's heart. He truly wanted to tell her what she wanted to know. But Subaru had no words to offer her. Ram shot Subaru a despondent, despairing glare. Emilia stood beside Beatrice, as if they were both shielding Subaru from her hostile gaze. "I'm sorry, Ram. I still believe in Subaru." Emilia put her palm toward Ram to hold her in check while looking back at Subaru from the corner of her eye. Her eyes wavered, trying to find the words, before dropping for but a moment. "Subaru, please. If there's something you can do for Ram and Rem...please." Her compassion made Subaru feel more ashamed. Emilia had sided with Subaru, even in such extreme circumstances, even though Subaru had said such horrible things to her at the start of the week, even though he was still holding his tongue in silence... "I'm sorry !" As if crushing Emilia's concerns under his heel, Subaru stepped not forward but back. In that instant, Emilia's eyes went silent as her emotions raced. They spoke of shock, sorrow and, above all, unbearable disappointment that her trust was about to be betrayed. What Subaru truly saw in Emilia's eyes was his own despair. He knew his actions had opened the door to a nightmare and could never be taken back. That was when Subaru, no longer able to meet Emilia's eyes, turned his back on her. Instantly, Emilia reached out toward his back. But this was to block the Blade of Wind before it reached Subaru. The wind crashed against pure magical power; mana bounced off mana as Subaru ran. "Subaru !" Shaking off the voice trying to stop him, Subaru rushed down the corridor in a daze. He felt the magical confrontation behind him increasing in severity, but Subaru lacked the courage to look back. He was weak. He was fragile, unable to do anything. That was why he'd run out on Emilia, who'd trusted him after all that, and Beatrice, who'd tried to save his life, spurning their goodwill and good intentions. He didn't know what to do anymore. What he did know was that Ram shouted behind him like she was spitting blood *** Having lost her other half, the girl pursued him with a cry that threatened to tear her asunder. Covering his ears, shaking his head, making wordless sounds, Subaru ran. He ran. And he kept running. With his attention devoted solely to running, he didn't know how much time had passed. Out of breath, his knees begging for mercy, sweat dripping down his chin, he kept running. If he didn't keep running, the incoherent emotions following behind him might catch up. And when they caught up with him, this time everything would be finished. Ram's sad, painful yell, and the malice and hatred it contained, still rang in his ears. He couldn't go back. Now that he'd run, Ram and Roswaal would not spare him; surely Emilia and Puck could no longer trust him for keeping his mouth shut. Beyond that, he'd abandoned Beatrice despite forming a pact with her. She would not be his ally any longer. "I can't help it...! I want to...but I can't!" He didn't know how it'd come to this. He didn't know what he'd done wrong. Subaru didn't know what he might do so that the world would forgive him. "After it was...so much fun...!" Suddenly greeted by another world, he'd had no choice but to live within it. For Subaru, surrounded by a vast desert of anxiety, the manor that had welcomed Subaru had been his oasis. Those beloved days, that beloved time, which didn't amount to a single week, seemed so far from Subaru in that moment. He'd redone, he'd relived, and the world had sunk its fangs into him. Can't do it anymore. Suddenly, that was the murmur that arose in the back of his mind. There wasn't any point in trying anymore. Bewitched by his own voice pleading with him to give in, his pace relented. If he did as the words said, it really would be easier, he thought. Subaru, after all, was the type of person who looked for the easiest solution to any situation. It wasn't just Subaru. That's what people in general did. When faced with two unpalatable choices, they looked for a third way. Who could blame him for feeling like there was a third, Heaven-sent option? Blood suddenly drained from his head, making his heart, beating so powerfully, feel distant. His limbs grew heavy; he found himself dragging his feet as if they were rejecting him. *** It was right around when he stopped that he noticed the trees all around him. He was in the forest. Having rushed out of the mansion, he'd apparently gone off the road to the village, getting himself lost on a mountain path. The gloom from the sky being blocked off and the briars all around him made Subaru think it resembled where he'd died the third time around. The instant he recalled his own death, the third choice hit him in the face. "If I die..." Would it save him? "Yeah, that's right. If I die, this'll change." When he said it with his own lips, they formed a smile as if there could be no finer idea. He'd died three times. He'd arrived at the fourth world, where he failed at anything and everything. This time he'd valued only his life. This time, his life was the only thing he had left. What was the meaning of continuing to struggle and struggle if this was the result? "If you're gonna do it, do it already. It doesn't matter what happens to me anymore..." Biting his lip, he aired his bitter hatred of the situation he'd become wrapped in. The blue sky unfolded before Subaru's eyes, reflecting his hate right back. And... "...A cliff." Surely this was made-to-order by God himself. Answering that one prayer surely meant there was a Heaven he should be grateful for. So that the foolish and pathetic Subaru Natsuki could find peace. The

cliff seemed to invite him as he headed toward it, wobbling and dragging his feet. The wind was strong. Using the sleeve of his jacket to shield himself from the strong headwind, Subaru stood at the cliff's edge, peering into the blue sky beyond. Below him was a precipice with a face lined with sharp rocks, a drop dozens of meters onto a rocky place below. If he fell from this height, nothing would greet him but death. Subaru panted heavily as he looked down at the rocks below, able to acutely picture his own death. He heard the loud heartbeat he had forgotten once more. His lungs let out the air they'd been holding. His entire body was drenched with sweat, making Subaru feel cold as he closed his eyes. If he kept his eyes closed and took one step forward, it'd all be over. Subaru wondered what would happen if he died this time. Would he return to the first day at the manor and begin the loop anew? He thought he wouldn't mind. If he did actually return to the first day, Emilia would be there, and so would Ram, Rem, everyone. Subaru would work as a servant, see everyone's faces, and die peacefully in his sleep on the fourth day. If he continued that over and over, at least Subaru would be immersed in a little day-to-day peace. It seemed like a good plan. If he could not hope for greater salvation, death wasn't so bad, he thought. *** And yet, Subaru's body, standing atop the cliff, did not move forward. Only his knees moved to shake. He reached down to stop his knees from trembling, collapsing the moment his hips bent. Falling to his knees, it was as if he were prostrating himself before the sky. Subaru bit his lip at how pathetic he was. "Just one step... I can't even do...one simple thing..." Perhaps he simply lacked the courage. Even under pursuit, he lost to his impulses, too indecisive to put it into action. His resolve and determination were so frail it was funny; Subaru could only remain on his knees and cry. He didn't know why he should live, yet he was too afraid of death to die. Subaru wailed, clawing at the ground at how truly pathetic and unsightly he was. He continued to weep and mourn his own wretchedness until his endurance finally gave out. Subaru thought that the scene he saw while unconscious was a nightmare. He was in a well-lit room, at a dining table with Emilia. Roswaal was in the seat of honor, with Beatrice there pouring black tea to Puck, his head diving into a plate right beside her. Emilia chided Puck for kidding around at the dining table, and Rem wove in and out, performing her duties, while Ram attended to Roswaal, ignoring all else. Subaru just laughed. The others laughed with him. And so, he saw a nightmare full of happiness and warmth. It was a bitter dream, a dream that brought sadness and a sense of wrenching loss. His soul whittled down to the point of pain, Subaru's agony made him forget to breathe. *** Suddenly, his face eased. He realized someone was holding his hand. The warmth conveyed to his palm seemed to push aside his negative emotions. Then, he saw a light. A white light. A dazzling light. A light that seemed to guide his consciousness back to " Are you finally awake?" When Subaru opened his eyes, the orange sky of the setting sun was right in front of him. He realized, too, that he'd passed out on the ground lying face up. He recalled, too, what he'd been thinking about just before, as if it had consumed his consciousness. Namely, that he'd chickened out from suicide, wept shamelessly, and fell asleep from exhaustion. It was too shameful to be funny or pitiable. He'd acted like a baby. No, Subaru was far lower than a baby, for they had no capacity to sin. "Could you say something, I wonder?" "...Something." "What an old, rotten joke. You are quite something, joking with that glum face." Beatrice spat out a bitter reply as she tossed aside the hand of Subaru's she was touching. Beatrice was wearing the same dress as always, something that looked extremely out of place on top of the cliff. It was like a landscape painting where a lone little girl stood out. "...No sane person goes hiking dressed like that." "I had no intention of hiking in rustic mountains to begin with. Perhaps you should not have fled to a place like this and cried yourself to sleep?" Beatrice was waving the sleeve of her dress, making her annoyed statement, when Subaru realized just what Beatrice was doing outside the manor, to the point of showing up all the way over here. "Why...?" "Why what, I wonder?" "Why did you come? I..." While Beatrice had honored her pact to protect Subaru, he could tell her nothing. Seeing Subaru's words catching, Beatrice made a sour, exasperated face and snorted. "I made a pact to keep you safe. Having you toss yourself off a cliff to kill yourself would be an affront to my dignity." "Weren't you supposed to be my bodyguard only till...this morning?" " I do not recall saying anything about a time limit. You assumed incorrectly that there was one, I suppose." Subaru groped through his memories while Beatrice, looking at him out of one eye, glanced away. Beatrice was using that contradiction between their "assumptions" about the details to continue her pact with Subaru. It suddenly struck Subaru how a girl with a viper's tongue and a foul-tempered horse's personality like Beatrice could show such deep compassion. Beatrice had not forsaken him. If that was true, then just maybe maybe he didn't have to give up? "This is no time for vain hopes." *** Beatrice shook her head, pouring cold water on Subaru's easy way out. "You cannot regain what you have lost. There is little more I can do for you. You can no longer explain things to the older sister. You threw away that chance." *** I'd have told her if I could, he wanted to shout. Subaru would have confessed all and pled for forgiveness if his heart wouldn't have been crushed in the process. Not because it would help Ram he knew it wouldn't. Simply for his own peace of mind. "At a time like this. Am I an idiot?...Yeah, I'm an idiot." Subaru had come this far by putting on a face, apologizing, pleading, protecting himself over and over. And now, he'd been driven to the top of a cliff, physically and mentally, with nowhere to run. Run, run, run, and run some more was exactly how Subaru had arrived at this point. "If you know I can't go back...what do you plan on doing for me?" "At the very least, I will have you die where I cannot see, so as not to disturb my dreams, I suppose. If you wish to flee, I shall take you beyond this domain." Beatrice's kindness, wrapped in severity, cut deeply into his heart. Beatrice's expression was cold, her gaze acidic, as if beholding an annoyance. Even so, the kindness of the intent behind her words struck Subaru like none other. No doubt Beatrice spoke the truth. If he desired to flee, she would agree and aid him. He didn't know what waited for him after fleeing. But it couldn't get any worse than this. His own foolishness having wrecked his oasis, what was wrong with throwing away everything and running? *** Blood trickled a little from the painful cut left on his cheek by the Blade of Wind. Touching the wound, Subaru realized too late that he'd felt its kind before. Subaru's very soul remembered its sharpness. When he had been fleeing from Rem in the mountains, a Blade of Wind had severed Subaru's right leg at the knee. As he touched the wound, Subaru's instincts told him it was the same magic. "The magic that gouged out my neck at the end, too...? So they...double-teamed me..." His late understanding of how he had died deepened the silent despair in his heart. Even now, he could still hear Ram's hate-filled roar, her heartrending wails from losing Rem. That was the moment. That was the point of no return. Subaru ought to have never fled the manor. Even if he didn't have the resolve to endure the pain, he should have faced Ram and spoken to her. He'd missed his chance, and now their hearts were separated forever. Having let it slip through his hands once, Subaru could never have it back. At least, in that world. With a low, gloomy voice, Beatrice interrupted his silent contemplation. "The older sister endured for the younger. The younger sister lived for the older. Neither could exist without the other." Beatrice ran her fingers through her own ornate hair, not looking back at Subaru as she continued to speak. "Now that one half is lost, the whole can never return. Roswaal is unlikely to forgive it, either." "What do you mean by that? What do you know...?" He felt like she was avoiding something. Something really important. Subaru urged Beatrice to share her true thoughts. But she moved her fingers from her hair to Subaru's sleeve, tugging and gently pulling him to the ground as she extended her foot. Subaru was in shock at how he seemed to flow right onto the ground. Beatrice tossed back her hair. "Does it truly matter to you, I wonder? These last four days, you spent most of your time holed up in your room and had little contact with them. Would the older sister let you press her about these matters now? I think not. It has nothing to do with you." "It's not like...!" Like I don't know anything about them, he would have said, but Subaru's words died on his tongue. His repeated loops had given him more than two weeks of time with them. Subaru could have responded that he'd forged memories with them during the time that this Beatrice knew nothing about, but he did not, for he suddenly realized something. Subaru realized it was possible he knew nothing of Ram and Rem, not their true faces, their feelings, or the bond between them, just as Beatrice had stated. Subaru wondered what he really had learned about them during those first three lives. What was the point of Subaru feeling such loss and despair when he didn't truly know anything about them? Was it all really just a bad dream? What was it that Subaru could draw on to refute Beatrice, who looked sternly down at Subaru at that very moment? Or did Subaru not know anything, not a single thing, about the two of them? Even though he'd thought of them as precious people he wanted to protect... "So in the end, I got worked up and pathetic all on my own, not knowing, not understanding anything...?" It has nothing to do with you. Subaru knew nothing. He'd beaten away all his chances. He had nothing left but the skin on his back. Within the darkness covering his eyes, the memories of the days he'd spent at the manor broke apart, one by one, into dust. Subaru's heart, too, shattered. Lying on his back, Subaru put his palms to his face and wailed at his own powerlessness. Had it all been a utopia beyond his reach from the beginning? Was everything Subaru had seen simply a dream, the time he'd spent there a mere illusion? Subaru looked like he was about to break out in tears when Beatrice called to him. "...How long are you going to stay like that, I wonder? Stand before she finds you." Impatient from Subaru still not moving, she roughly grabbed the palms covering his face and yanked them up. As his field of vision opened,

the lightweight girl used her entire weight to haul Subaru to his feet. *** The sensation conveyed by her palms took away his thoughts. Ignoring Beatrice's intent in rousing Subaru so insistently, he felt her palms, weighing how they felt. "H-hey. What do you think y Why so interested in my palms, I wonder?" "I've felt these hands before, just like this... Earlier, did you?" "...I shall regret it for the rest of my days. Perhaps you were simply too wretched as you slept like that?" Abruptly, Beatrice looked away, giving him only her cheek. Subaru flexed his hands several times, reflecting on the warm, peaceful sensation he'd felt from them while he slept. While Subaru had his nightmare. A dream with an agonizing sense of despair and loss, over and over again. That hadn't been the only time he'd felt warmth when in pain. It'd happened before "Back then...someone held both my hands..." Beatrice suspiciously raised an eyebrow. Subaru brought not only his right hand before him but his left as well. It was difficult for one person to hold both hands of someone who was asleep. He doubted a single person could lie on a bed alongside another and hold both hands without difficulty. *** So why did he feel like both his hands had been held? The reason was simple. "Ram. Rem." Both had held Subaru's hands while he slept. It had been here on the fourth loop, before anything had happened at Roswaal Manor. Seeing Subaru suffer as he slept, both of them had taken pity on him and given him some small measure of compassion. *** I will kill you, the hate-filled voice had cried out, her rage pounding into him like a curse. The cruel words had scarred his heart. But more than that... " Can't you make the crying stop?" It was Ram's sad cry of despair at having her other half ripped from her that never left his ears. Some corner of Subaru's heart, which should have been shattered already, cried out. By nature, Subaru was the sort to pick the path of least resistance. He didn't want to feel pain, suffering, despair. Just the thought of living with such burdens made him want to run. "What...stupid things am I thinking here..." For he thought he didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to do something. "I lived this time and everything..." His shameless plea to Beatrice had allowed him to reach the fifth day with ease. It was the thought of what had greeted him that very day that settled Subaru's decision. "That's right. My life's mine. That's why " What was wrong with fighting for an easier, more enjoyable life? " I'll decide how to use it." The moment Subaru said it, he crossed a line inside. There was no going back. Beatrice furrowed her brows at Subaru's words. However, before he could ask her why she was doing that, her eyes looked toward the forest, full of caution. " You dithered too much." Beatrice's regret-tinged words came as the rustle of the wind through the forest's trees deepened. Mixed with the sounds of the swaying leaves, the sound of footsteps reached Subaru's ears, too. He turned around. A girl with pink hair stood before him. Ram, the forest at her back, glared at Subaru. "I've finally found you you will go no farther." Pain swept over Subaru's heart as he beheld the look on Ram's face, thick with hatred. As she stood there, Ram had none of her usual meticulous look. Branches had torn and punctured her skirt; there was no sign of the headdress normally on her head. Her pink hair, buffered by the wind, had lost its usual beauty. The sisters dressed each other and did each other's hair. Subaru knew this. He remembered that they'd told him at some point. He knew several other secrets between the two sisters. "Would you relent, I wonder? So long as the pact is active, I cannot hold back against anyone." "Lady Beatrice, it is you who should stand aside. I cannot hold back against you, either." "A joke, I suppose. Did I hear you say to hold back in regards to me?" "Perhaps you have forgotten you are not in the mansion, Lady Beatrice? Do you truly believe you can protect that man away from the archive, here in the forest?" Subaru held his silence as the two girls continued to square off before him. Beatrice's words of regret proved that Ram's words were no empty boast. Beatrice's strength came with limitations, and this situation was beyond them. Even so, Beatrice stubbornly refused to move, upholding her pact in front of Subaru. From behind, Subaru reached out toward Beatrice. Then... "Boing..." He grabbed hold of the girl's two ornate hair rolls and pulled on them, hard. He let go. The large amount of hair bounced quite generously. Bouncy-bouncy "Mm, that felt pretty good." "W-w-w-wh..." Her eyes wide open, her tongue quivering, Beatrice turned around, all flustered. Subaru inclined his head slightly as he looked at her. "Mm?" "What are you doing, I wonder?! You have a death wish, I suppose?!" "Don't be silly. I don't wanna die one tiny bit. When you die, it should be one time, to end your life for good. I truly believe that." As he spoke, he patted Beatrice on the shoulder and calmly walked past her. Straight ahead, Ram glared at Subaru's face with astonishment. As Subaru walked before her, she heightened her guard, exhaling from pursed lips. "Quite some nerve. Finally resigned to your fate?" "Not exactly. More like...I decided to do something." Not understanding Subaru's intent, Ram scowled. " What?" "Sorry. Because I was sloppy, I brought you girls so much sadness." " ! So you did do something to Rem...?!" "No, sorry, but I honestly don't know. There's so much I don't know. But..." Subaru's words trailed off as he took a moment to breathe. "There's so much I don't know, but I think I know one thing now." " What's the point?!" Ram shouted back, unable to accept Subaru's display of resolve as anything but childish games. Ram swung down a foot, kicking the earth like she was stamping her feet. "Rem's already dead! There's no taking that back! What good is it that you know something now?!" "I'm not gonna say I can do anything. It's because I couldn't do anything that things ended up like this. I know more than anyone that's not gonna convince anyone." He wasn't being defiant. Even now, regret deeply pierced his heart. He hated himself for his own stupidity and weakness. If you could die from shame, he might have been dead already. Still, his shameful behavior, his shameful living, his pathetic helplessness these had brought him to this place. And, thus, to his conclusion. "And what is it you know about Rem and me?!" "...You have a point. I don't know any of the important stuff between you. But..." Subaru had spent almost twenty days together with them. They didn't know that, and he was unable to tell them. But Subaru remembered. Even if they had forgotten, Subaru's soul remembered. He'd seen them. Laughed with them. Spent time with them. The worlds Subaru had walked with Ram and Rem those worlds really had existed. Which was why "There's no way you girls knew this, but..." "What..." " I! Love! Both of you!" The blunt, worrywart big sister. The sarcastic, superficially polite little sister. Subaru thought fondly of the days he had spent with both girls. They were precious memories to him, even though they had killed him more than once. Enough that, if he had the choice to spend time with them once more, that was a choice he would make. Subaru's shout made Ram open her eyes wide, freezing in shock. Of course it did. From Ram's point of view, Subaru's declaration was meaningless, empty nonsense. Furthermore, he'd already abandoned them in an instant. Ram's thought process froze for only a moment. In the next instant, her body thawed and leapt into action. But a momentary opening was an opening nonetheless. *** Subaru's sprint was just a moment faster than Ram's switch to anger-filled attacking. Turning his back to Ram, Subaru rushed past Beatrice, his body moving like the wind making a beeline toward the cliff. "Wait !" Behind him, a girl's high-pitched wail reached out. Subaru's mind never caught up to which girl's voice it was. He'd meant to be determined, but now his thought process was in tatters, like someone had clawed it apart. His heart beat hard, but his body creaked all over, as if to betray his mind. His limbs felt like leaden weights. He was running with all his might, but the world seemed to move in slow motion. It was as if Subaru's mind were putting off the results of his change of heart as long as it possibly could. So stupid. He was conflicted even then. He knew why. He'd tenaciously clung to living without shame to that point. Even when he'd wanted to die, he'd chickened out in the end, able only to fall to his knees. But Subaru could do it now. "It's rude to Beatrice, huh..." With those words, Subaru voiced his final regret and left everything behind. He raced to the cliff. A few steps more. He was too scared to count them. Pathetic. Insane. He had the urge to laugh. But he didn't laugh. He couldn't laugh. All that he was leaving behind was a life of living death. To Subaru, giving up on a future in that place meant he'd already died inside. If he could live as a dead man walking, he could do "something" with that life. And that decision, to do something instead of doing nothing, was one only Subaru could make. " I'm the only one who can do it." His feet left the ground. He clawed at the air. He could touch nothing. He could reach nothing. So fast. The wind was strong. His eyes hurt. His head hurt. The ringing in his ears was distant. He felt like he'd left behind his beating heart. He couldn't hear the ringing. The ringing inside his skull was like a broken record. If it ended with his death, that was that. But if, if only he could go back, then... For she had cried out, "I'll kill you." If he could go back " I'll save you, I swear!" The moment after he voiced his determination, his head smashed into the hard ground. He heard the echo of something spectacularly breaking apart, and then nothing. The hate-filled voice could not chase him any longer. Nothing could, not anymore All that was there was "nothingness." Absentmindedly, he looked around the nothingness of his mind. Perhaps looked around was not the proper phrase. Eyes did not exist within his mind. Nor did hands, nor feet, nor any pieces of his body. All that remained was his incorporeal, floating mind. Knowing nothing, aware of nothing, he looked about. Darkness. A room with nothing. A room that was a world without a floor or a ceiling, covered in pitch-blackness so great that it defied thought. Suddenly, in the world of everlasting darkness, there was meaning. A silhouette abruptly emerged in "front" of his mind. The contours of the silhouette were slender and as pitch-black as the rest, the upper body more of a fog, rejecting his mind's recognition. With the emergence of the human shape, the mind gained its first strong desire. He felt a breach in the cold as the shadow gently moved, as if to convey something to his mind. He didn't understand. He was aware of nothing. But for some reason, his mind could not avert itself from the shadow " I cannot meet you. Not yet." With that faint whisper, the dark world abruptly vanished, and in so doing, the shadow, and his mind, went with it. CHAPTER 1 *** Subaru Natsuki experienced only a single moment between losing consciousness

and reviving. *** His head had smashed against the hard ground, bathing his world red just an instant ago. The moment after he lost all five senses, Subaru found himself on top of the soft bed. "Whew " He exhaled. His body relaxed as the shock of death retreated from his soul. It was enough to make him pull up the sheets and cower, forgetting even to breathe. Of course it was. He'd never leaped off a cliff and taken his own life before. His fourth death in this loop was suicide. Without a manual for how Return by Death worked, or any precedent, that could have truly been the end of Subaru's life for all he knew. But "I'm...back..." Subaru clenched his trembling fist, smiling thinly at the white ceiling that filled his vision. The soft bed, the sweet-smelling pillow, the well-furnished suite all of it belonged to the guest room that had greeted Subaru on his first day at Roswaal Manor. And more importantly "Sister, Sister. Our Dear Guest appears to be slow to wake." "Rem, Rem. Our Dear Guest seems to be slow in the head for his age." The twin sisters were clasping the other's hands, their eyes side by side as they looked at Subaru from the foot of the bed. They wore little black dresses with white aprons on the front. Both had dazzling white lace headpieces on top of their short bob hairstyles, one with pink hair, the other with blue. Their faces were young and lovely. They were the maids who took care of the mansion, and also the reason Subaru had made his Return by Death. Subaru's heart shuddered at hearing their familiar voices speaking in familiar ways, during what would be the fifth round of meeting them for the first time. He had a mountain of things he wanted to ask. But he felt like something was lodged in his throat; the words wouldn't come out. Seeing Rem alive and well, while Ram behaved with her typical rudeness, everything felt so ordinary and natural that it was hard for Subaru to keep his emotions down. "Dear Guest, Dear Guest. Is something wrong? Are you unwell?" "Dear Guest, Dear Guest. Are you sick? Perhaps a chronic illness?" Subaru put a hand on his chest and lowered his head before the bewildered twins. The maids went to one side of the bed and separated slightly, reaching out with one small palm each as if to touch Subaru from both sides. Those hands "Let me borrow those for a sec." "Eh?" "Ah." Subaru, not waiting for them to say yes, grasped their hands, entwining his fingers into theirs. With the sisters frozen in surprise, he got a good feel for their slender fingers and the warmth of their palms. "Yeah, I knew it... There's no mistaking it." Subaru remembered the feel of their hands and how their warmth had saved him in his time of need. He wasn't wrong about what had given him the determination to throw himself off that cliff. Both pulled their hands back and poured scorn on Subaru's rude, insolent behavior. "No, Dear Guest. You are surely mistaken. About everything." "No, Dear Guest. It was surely a mistake that you were born." But Subaru nodded as if even those cruel words were music that refreshed his soul. "All things considered, I probably shouldn't smile at that...but right now, it feels good." "Sister, Sister. Might Dear Guest actually enjoy being insulted?" "Rem, Rem. Might Dear Guest be a perverted masochist?" These were odd accusations to throw at a "Dear Guest" so quickly, but he smiled and let them slide. If it meant he could really do things over with the two of them, everything else was unimportant. Faced with an attitude that was less caution and more blatant, visceral distaste, Subaru hopped off the bed. He pressed a hand to his butt as he double-checked his body's condition before turning toward their two suspicious faces. "Sorry for doing that earlier without even saying hi. There's something I want to say beyond apologizing, though." Subaru crossed his arms, dramatically puffed his chest, and sat back down, directly facing Ram and Rem. Feeling the rather sharp gazes that both trained upon him, Subaru absentmindedly mused, They're probably already starting to assess me. If Subaru Natsuki could not win their trust, indeed, the trust of everyone under the mansion's roof, he could not hope to regain the peaceful, tranquil time he had lost. So he chose to throw caution to the wind, hoping to assuage their suspicions "I mean, geez, I'm not some kind of delinquent who can't get along with anyone..." Hearing Subaru's murmur, both of them tilted their heads a little, as if they had their doubts about that. Finding it funny that even now their gestures were syncing up, Subaru felt the tension and stress drain from his body. He already knew what he wanted to say, as well as what he needed to do. " I trust you, so let's get along, okay?" Just like in the first loop, he'd do his best to earn the girls' trust. Having a little knowledge of the future didn't change Subaru's core nature, nor did the mere possibility he might be able to change things. All he could do was address the situation before his eyes and live every day to the fullest. Subaru's request made the twins look at each other and trade a silent conversation between their eyes. Their back and forth was still going on when they abruptly looked toward the door, having noticed a lone girl entering at just that moment. She had skin so pale you could almost see through it, with silver hair she wore down to her hips. Her violet eyes seemed to emit a bewitching magical spell that lured you in. It was Emilia, a girl of inhuman beauty. Emilia, noticing Subaru staring at her, broke out in a small smile as she looked among the three in the room. "I heard a ruckus, so I came to peek... You seem pretty lively, Subaru. I'm glad." "I felt kind of conflicted there, but seeing Emilia-tan blows all that away. You're like a compassion pill that works extra strong on my heart." "Sorry, I don't really know what you're saying..." A troubled look came over Emilia's beautiful face because Subaru was speaking even more glibly than usual. "Even your sad look is cute... You're always fresh, and that makes me feel refreshed." "Somehow, that sounds kind of creepy. But good morning. I'm glad you're safe." The grimace she had made quickly softened into a charming smile and she beamed at Subaru. As far as Emilia was concerned, this was their first reunion after the events in the royal capital. Subaru sincerely accepted Emilia's words of relief at seeing him come back from the brink of death. "Yeah, good morning. Well, let's start again, shall we?" The three girls in the room, not understanding what Subaru meant by that, tilted their heads slightly with puzzled looks. Seeing all three of them react like a trio of sisters made Subaru break out in laughter. "What I meant was, it's time for me to start clearing the Roswaal Manor level." His goal was to reach the morning he wished to see for him, and for everyone at the manor. Now, let's get this show on the road. And so, he began his first day at Roswaal Manor for the fifth time. He needed to surpass two major obstacles to get through his first week at Roswaal Manor. The first was to win the trust of everyone living there. This meant not just Ram and Rem but their master, Roswaal, as well. If the girls saw any part of him as even remotely dubious, the chances they'd commit murder to silence him were exceptionally high. The second obstacle was bringing down the shaman attacking Roswaal Manor. But he didn't have any real leads for doing that as of yet. His opponent was a tough one, his true identity remaining concealed even as Subaru was taking his fifth crack at it. Subaru needed to earn the twins' trust and deal with this unknown, evil magic user. Those were the victory conditions he had discovered by his fourth death. However, Subaru still lacked many of the elements he needed to fulfill those requirements. In spite of his Return by Death, he hadn't been able to lay his hands on anything solid. His head felt stuck between a rock and a hard place, but Subaru threw off his negative emotions and looked to the future. He had to confront the wall standing before him no matter how high it was. It was Subaru's choice to come back and do this, not knowing if he'd even make it. He decided that, having once experienced death by his own hands, he would do it...even if it killed him. The moon was rising in the nighttime sky as a private discussion took place in the study on Roswaal Manor's highest floor. The man sat at the desk, posing his question in his slow, exaggerated manner of speech. "So hooow is he, Ram? How would you raaate him from what you have seeeen?" He was a man with long indigo hair with ghastly pale skin, and he would look something like a classic variety pretty boy if not for the clown-like makeup covering his face. That, combined with his peculiar speech pattern, made him a hard man to forget. He was Roswaal L. Mathers, lord and master of the manor. Participating in the conversation were Roswaal and a maid Ram facing toward him and the desk. Roswaal crossed his arms and made a broad smile while Ram tilted her head, deep in thought. He raised an eyebrow, finding her hesitance to make her report a rare sight. "Hmmmm, to see Ram, prone to snap judgments about everything, so conceeerned, it is quite a siiight, is it nooot? Perhaaaaps one day is not sufficient to get to know him?" "That is...not the case. However..." Though she immediately denied it, her words revealed a lack of clarity. Ram put a fingertip to her own lips and still seemed a little unsure as she began to speak again. "Let me grade him first. He...Barusu...has no ability. His workmanship as a servant is completely amateur." "My, my... Is it not somewhat puuuzzling that he himself asked for this role?" Roswaal grinned as he recalled the exchange over that morning's breakfast. He remembered, too, what words the freshly awakened guest employed as he sought a reward for his exploits. What stood out was Subaru's claim of being a teenager with good health, a half-decent education, and a not-terrible head. It was a robust self-assessment that, by the same token, merited a certain level of caution. Accordingly, he had commanded Ram to oversee his education, as well as to observe his actions and report her findings, as she was doing that moment. He had not thought the matter would be resolved in a single day, but Ram's hesitance in making her report was a problem in itself. Roswaal rested his cheek against his hand. Ram held her silence for a little while before opening her mouth. "There are some mysterious things about Barusu." "Yes, yes, do teeell. Speak of anything that stands out." "He can be said to be completely without talent, but Barusu seems to be...a little too quick-witted when it comes to particular things." "What do you mean, a little toooo quick-witted?" "These are very minor things, but...in the middle of work, he seems overly familiar with minor details about the mansion, things I have yet to teach him. When putting dishes away, he opened the drawers in the proper order. Also, our...tastes in tea leaves." *** Roswaal said nothing in reply to Ram's words, instead silently running a fingertip across his chin. Seeing Roswaal do this, Ram added, "Of course, these are all quite minor

details. After breakfast, I gave him a brief tour and explanation of the mansion. I noticed his eyes drifting to various places. That is really all, but..." "I see, too much to be a set of simple coincidences... That is rather iiinteresting." Suspicion begins from the smallest things. If he was not overthinking it, Subaru could have checked out the mansion before infiltrating it in earnest. But what made that possibility difficult to fathom was... "His feat was protecting Lady Emilia in the royal capital, was it nooot...?" "It seems too...blatant a means to infiltrate the mansion. At any rate, he might well have lost his life had Lady Beatrice not been available." The memory of his being carried into the mansion was still fresh in Roswaal's mind. Though he had not healed the boy personally, it was impossible that Beatrice would participate in such a scheme. Furthermore, Ram had nursed the wounded Subaru the entire way back from the royal capital. Slipping something past both of them was very unlikely. "All things considered, such thoughts seem sooomewhat excessive in light of the faaacts." "The Bowel Hunter' who attacked Lady Emilia... I imagine it is possible he conspired with her to infiltrate the mansion, but..." Ram's words lacked conviction, suggesting even she viewed it as unlikely. For his part, Roswaal shook his head. "No, that is not pooossible. Surely we need not even suspeeect that the Bowel Hunter would team up with him?" "...Is...that so?" "More importantly, are there any other issues of concern?" Prodded by Roswaal to move on, Ram lowered her eyes. "I suppose that...putting aside his being too quick-witted from time to time...Barusu is so optimistic, it is rather nauseating." "Eh?" Roswaal raised an eyebrow at Ram's statement. She seemed to be not so much choosing her words carefully as she was searching for the right ones to use. Surely even Ram knew she'd said something off topic. Ram continued, looking frustrated at her own inability to find a more accurate explanation. "At this rate, he will speak himself to death. His smile never falters when he bumbles, and he seems exceptionally attentive to how he behaves toward us..." "...What do you thiiink of that?" "...It is different from how Lady Emilia describes him... Namely, how he's honest about his own desires like a little child, genuine in a likable way..." Ram tried to keep her response to the subtle question short. Roswaal, having had little contact with Subaru, couldn't understand what made Ram so doubtful. But these were the words of a loyal retainer who had a long record of service. Roswaal tugged on his chin as he digested Ram's analysis "It seeeems we shall have to keep an eye on him for some tiiime. His first day made for difficult viewing, but it cannot be heeelped. It is aaalso a fact he deserves a commensurate rewaaard in thanks for saving Lady Emilia." "...And if...it becomes necessary?" Ram's hesitation made it seem like she didn't want to hear what would come next. The expression on her face remained the same, but Roswaal had spent long enough around her to read what she was feeling inside. Roswaal beheld Ram's moment of weakness with his yellow eye as he made a small shake of his head. "This is a matter we must handle with great deeelicacy. Above all else, see to it that Rem does not get ahead of herself." Ram nodded crisply in response to Roswaal's command. The maid not participating in the conversation, Rem, had a tendency to act according to her own ideas from time to time. Usually, her rushed judgment could be met with just a cute little scolding. At times like these, however, independent action was likely to push things in a very poor direction. She might well eliminate the danger beforehand, worsening his relationship with Emilia in the process. The thought did not amuse him. "Yes, I shall...endeavor that Rem does not act on her feelings of distrust toward Barusu." Roswaal leaned back with a creak of the chair. His voice felt tired somehow as he murmured. "I am deeply grateful. This is a time of great expectations... Indeed, time to put them all to the test." Ram started to say something to him, but she closed her mouth and held her tongue. Silence descended between the two as the cool night air drifted in. "So, Ram, shall we concluuude your report here?" "...Yes. I apologize for not being able to convey a great deal." "I shall not scooold you for such a thing. Now, then, shall we proceed? After nothing for two days, you are aching rather considerably, are you nooot?" "Ah...yes." Ram somehow seemed bewitched as she obeyed Roswaal's beckoning finger. From her standing position before the desk, she seemed to wobble as she stepped close to Roswaal and meekly sat on his lap. "Once again, if you will...excuse me." "'Tis merely exercising a natural right. It is the same as always, nooothing to be embarrassed about. Your precious body does not belong to you alooone, after all?" He stroked her cheek. She gently closed her eyes as he tilted her head up. Stroking her pink hair with his other hand, Roswaal closed one eye, gazing down upon Ram with his golden iris. "Now, theeen, given what you are to us...we should get along nicely, yes?" Roswaal murmured mostly to himself as his consciousness switched to a different gear. He stared at Ram before him, his consciousness sinking into Ram and Ram alone. The first night at Roswaal Manor grew late as the suspicious conversation between master and maid came to a conclusion. "Good morning! The weather's great today, perfect for laundry! Let's make this a happy day!" Subaru raised a shrill hip, hip, hurrah! to welcome the arrival of the rising sun. It was his fifth go at his second morning in Roswaal Manor. He stood in the middle of the garden, his body bathed in morning sunlight as he twisted his upper body all about. He used the popular morning warm-up exercise to get blood circulating through his whole body, making full use of the energy he had gained from sleep. "Yes, victory!" Finally, he thrust both hands into the sky and shouted in triumph as he finished the start to the start of another day. Subaru vigorously wiped away the light sweat on his brow and turned around with a smile. Emilia smiled back, albeit tersely, standing in the corner of the garden as she engaged in her daily conversation with lesser spirits under the shade of a tree. "You really are energetic in the morning..." "Hey, don't talk like it's all me here. Put your back into it, Emilia-tan!" Puck, Emilia's little cat spirit, was hovering alongside her, cleaning his face with his paw. "When I see him clean his face like that, I'm like, he's seriously a cat. I guess spirits get sleepy, too, huh? He looks half asleep there." "You sleep when you're tired, too, don't you? When mana, the source of our vital power, fades away, well, it's close enough. If we're not getting enough mana..." Puck yawned generously. Emilia put her hand to her mouth and yawned a little, too. "Both up late, huh? You were staying up talking to a boy you like, weren't you? Let me in on it! Huh? Which girl do I like...? That's, ah, embarrassing to say, you see..." Subaru folded his arms, looking down as he glanced a little at Emilia. "All right, all right," Emilia said, waving casually at Subaru's act. "I like Puck. Puck likes me. The end." "Mutual love?! Is there any room for me in there?!" "Not even a little, meow. My charm sets Lia's heart a-flutter. You might not be a bad catch, Subaru, but all that is wasted before me. You should just give up on Lia right...meow, meow!" Subaru closed on Puck, glaring down at him with reproach, but Emilia's fingers caught one ear on each of them before they could start anything. "Don't get carried away. I'm going to be upset if that's all you two do." "Ow, ow, she's upset, ow!" Subaru and Puck meekly endured Emilia's punishment together. When Emilia let go of their ears, they both rubbed their aching heads as she stood before them, hands on her hips. "I'm glad you two are getting along, but no taking advantage of people just so you can play. Say yes if you understand." "Yeees." Both of them raised a hand and nodded firmly. Strangely, though being treated like a child should have bothered Subaru, seeing Emilia's pleasant, satisfied smile made such minor concerns irrelevant. Emilia, not noticing that Subaru had completely fallen for her smile, abruptly clapped her hands. "Oh, right, now is good. Subaru, sit over here for a moment?" Emilia sat on the grass with her legs out to the side, patting the ground beside her to invite Subaru over. "You call, I come running! What, what? The timing's good for what exactly? No matter what your request, Subaru Natsuki leaves no itch unscratched. If there's a place you can't reach, just command me to scratch it and I shall obey!" "All I said was to sit beside me. That's a bigger reaction than I expected. What should I do?" Unsurprisingly, Emilia made a pained smile at Subaru's fierce enthusiasm. "Err...yesterday was your first day at work. How did it go? Did you do well?" "Ah, yeah, failed at eighty percent of it!" "I see; you're certainly full of confi... Eh? Failed? Eighty percent of it?" "Er, maybe eighty's overstating it... Maybe more like six, no...seventy-five." "That still means you flunked a lot of things..." Emilia acted like she felt responsible somehow for Subaru's unexpectedly low rating of his own work. But she immediately lifted her face in a show of concern. "Ah, but, hey, that meant you got twenty percent of work right on your first day, huh? That's fine; I'm sure it's all right. Be confident, now." "Hey, you're right! It's a long road, but if I start at twenty percent, I can raise that little by little from here!" "Don't be conceited. Reflect on it properly." "If you're going to start sweet, why can't you end sweet?! Ah, no, it's nothing, very sorry." Subaru, cowed by the pressure of Emilia's glare, shrank and nodded meekly. In any case... "I do feel like I'm eating Ram's and Rem's dust somehow. Getting twenty percent right while trying my best means that's just where I'm at, so no helping it. I'll just expect better from myself going forward." "If you're going to be that optimistic about it, there's nothing more I can say, but..." Upon hearing Subaru's positive declaration, Emilia tapered her lips into something that resembled a pout. The cute childlike behavior she indulged in from time to time never failed to light a fiery yearning in Subaru. But he restrained himself, smothering the embers. Subaru pointed at Emilia with a finger from each hand in a comical gesture. "So, so, you see, I'm spending every day with maid sisters tutoring me while I devote myself to life as a servant. If I get tired of that life I'll just come running to Emilia-tan's lap, so leave it open, okay?" "...I was only half listening to that, but it sounded kind of all right." "Harsh assessment with a cute face! Well, if that half was the lap part, that's A-OK! Like I said, leave that lap open for me for tonight, Emilia-tan... Don't steal my spot, Puck!" Subaru thrust a finger at Puck, calling out his name. Puck reacted to the declaration of war with a casual flick of his own whiskers. "It doesn't matter what you say, Lia's pact with me means her heart and body are already mine. There's no changing our relationship meow, meow!" Emilia grabbed Puck's ears for his incorrigible behavior and tossed him into the air to make

him ponder the error of his ways. "Goodness, don't change the terms of our pact behind my back." Maybe Puck was just used to it, for despite that, he simply landed in Emilia's hands and happily wriggled in them with a look of complete calm. Subaru couldn't help but feel envious of their relationship. "Well, now that I've energized myself I'd better start the morning work." "What do you mean, 'energized yourself'?" "By teasing Emilia-tan." "There you go again. If all you do is tease people, they won't trust anything you say when you're actually telling the truth, you know?" "That sounds like something out of a fairy tale. If that happens, guess I'll be reaping what I sowed..." "Wait, you're telling me that...?" With Emilia giving him an exasperated look, Subaru sent a bright smile back her way as he rose, brushing off his backside. "They'll be seriously ticked if I don't get going, though. I'm supposed to help them with this morning's breakfast. Emilia-tan, you don't like eating green beppers, do you? I'll make sure they're not on your plate." "You have to eat even the veggies you don't li When did I tell you I don't like green beppers?" Emilia tilted her head with a questioning look as Subaru departed with a little smile and a wave. She actually had talked to him about it; he'd even seen her distaste for them with his own eyes. He focused on staying on the path, always joking whenever Emilia set eyes on him. He had to focus, focus, always focus, to keep the smile on his face. Emilia watched Subaru wander off until he was out of sight before letting out a small sigh. Puck, watching Subaru from her palm, abruptly looked up when he realized Emilia was now watching him. "That's a gloomy face. What's wrong?" "I just feel down somehow. I can't really put it into words." Emilia cringed at the wishy-washy attempt to express her internal unease. But what caught in her throat didn't have a chance to become proper words as she sighed again. Puck's pink nose twitched as he watched Emilia's conflict. "You're worried about Subaru? It's not often you worry about other people like this." "Don't go off and phrase it like I'm some sort of klutz at dealing with people. I'm not bad at getting close to others... I just haven't had many chances to do it!" Emilia puffed out her cheeks, an expression she refused to show to anyone save Puck. Though it looked like the act of a spoiled brat, it was a testament to Emilia's absolute faith in Puck. The spirit, fully accepting her trust, smiled up at her like she was his own daughter. He offered a nod toward the delicate emotions Emilia couldn't put into words. "Well, it's no surprise it's throwing you off. Because this has become a little bit of a problem." "Bit of a...problem?" He'd said the words in a casual manner, but Emilia's face grew tense; she couldn't miss the tone behind them. By nature, Puck behaved exactly the same no matter how high-pressure the situation. She didn't know if it was because he was a spirit or if it was simply his personality that made him that way, but he reserved grave observations as a spirit to provide input for hard, important decisions namely Emilia's. Seeing Emilia's breath catch, Puck casually toyed with his whiskers. He still spoke in his peculiar manner to the end. "I only touched him a little, but Subaru's mind is all scrambled. What he shows on the outside doesn't match the inside. At this rate, it won't be long before he reaches the end of his rope." The high-pitched ting and the sound of pottery breaking made Ram's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. The young manservant prancing around like a dancer Subaru raised his voice as he grabbed hold of a broom and dustpan. "It's okay! It's okay! Don't worry! I've got this!" He quickly cleaned up the ceramic fragments scattered at his feet and pretended to wipe sweat off his brow. When he looked at Rem, who'd stared at him during the entire sequence, he flashed his teeth in a fiendish smile. "Don't worry. I took care of it super fast, and there wasn't even one casualty." "I think your concern is praiseworthy, but were you not the one who dropped the vase, Subaru? I need to get a replacement vase, wipe the floor, put the flowers in order..." "No, it's all right! I can get a vase and put the flowers in myself! Go ahead and focus on your own work!" Driving Rem off almost like he was ordering her, Subaru headed to the storage for furnishings and returned several minutes later with a proper vase. He promptly put the new vase in the same place as the old and added water and the flowers, returning things to as they were. "Whew. Feels good to get a job done, Remrin." "It is extra work you made for yourself, but at least you took care of it... Subaru, where did you hear where the spare vases are? From Sister?" "Mm, ah, er... Right, your big sis! It's me we're talking about here she was pretty sure I'd break one at some point. So she told me in advance exactly where to get a new vase!" Listening to the clumsy excuse, Rem did not think, That is Sister for you, such foresight. She was less concerned with the vase and more with the fact that Subaru had such a grasp of the mansion's layout that he'd retrieved the broom and dustpan to clean the broken vase with, then gone to grab a spare, without any hesitation. Rem really doubted someone working for only a day or two would do such a thing. That said, rather than raise her suspicions... "You all right? You're so swamped with work, go ahead and send some my way. I'll do it; I'll do anything." ...He was so friendly about it that she just couldn't put a finger on the problem. It was not the behavior of someone bearing malice or hostility, but neither was it how a guileless person behaved. More to the point, for someone hiding something, his facade was riddled with openings. He looked like he was genuinely trying to get used to the job and attempting to get along well with Rem and Ram. Rem knitted her brow, looking like she was warding off the emotions bearing down on her at his earnestness. The sight of Subaru striving so hard, even when no one acknowledged it, stirred up a throbbing ache in her chest. "Subar " "Oh, I forgot the work Ramchi asked me to do! Sorry, I'd better hurry up and take care of that! I'll hook back up with you right after!" Subaru rushed into the hallway faster than she could call out to stop him. Rem withdrew the fingers she'd reached out to him with, looking over her shoulder as if she should discuss her misgivings with her older sister, but " No, it is not enough to trouble Sister over." Rem walked toward her own work space, trying to wrap up her remaining work and reduce the lingering ache in her chest in the process. I feel sick. "Oh, Ramchi! Did you see me? I'm doing pretty well with a kitchen knife after just one day learning it, huh? Maybe my talent is taking bloom!" I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick. "Remrin, look, look! Right now, my fingers are miraculously imbued with the skill that makes such fine workmanship possible! The power of illusion!" I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick. "Meeting Emilia-tan really puts my heart in a jumble! It's too sinful! I feel so guilty!" I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick I feel sick. He kept a smile nailed to his face as he continued trying to sound playful. He wrestled with his entrusted tasks full force, resolutely attacking problems with no fear of failure, and when he was done, he wandered around looking for more to do. He had to. He needed to. He didn't have a single second to waste. It was like a video game where you simulated in your head every potential outcome to a particular event. He had to manage the event flags. That was his specialty, right? The more he encountered them, the better his odds. I should be able to make them smile more. I should be able to make them laugh more. His actions were meaninglessly exaggerated. He tried to convince them he was an oblivious fool. He tried not to make them think he was useless. His head spun and spun, always weighing his actions. Subaru constantly kept watch for anything that seemed remotely out of the ordinary. He couldn't let his guard slip for a single instant, never mind a second. I can't make a mistake. I just can't. I can't. Warning bells rang without pause in his head at repeating things over and over. Danger, danger, they announced. He hadn't advanced an inch since reaching this other world, but he felt his sensitivity to peril, at least, had grown more acute. "See, Ramchi? I'm not slacking off here. I'm totally doing so much work. Almost enough that my superior could just go back to her room and take a nap, you know?" He evaded the situation with an irregular approach, casually glossing things over with a charming smile. He wondered if he could really do it. Could Subaru Natsuki really pull this off? He hadn't given them reason to doubt him, had he? He paid ten, no, a hundred times more attention, not only in front of Ram but Rem as well. He played Subaru Natsuki, erasing the unnatural with the natural. It was simple. It was all up to him. He had to pay not the slightest bit of attention to what anyone living at the mansion really thought, bathing himself in innocence and lack of restraint, until he seemed like a lazy pig who took whatever was given unto him. As far as the world was concerned, he knew nothing, could do nothing, noticed nothing, and that was all there was to him. He continued to loiter about, wearing his charming grin like a mask. He was inside the mansion. He didn't know who would pop out or when. His free time wasn't free. He spent all his spare time examining his past actions and forming plans for what he'd do in the hours to come. "Wh...o...a..." He suddenly felt the urge to throw up. A slight moan slipped from the corner of his mouth, but Subaru's smile did not falter whatsoever. He kept his expression steady, skipping as he walked, practically dancing his way as he slipped into the nearest guest room. And he stepped over to the room's lavatory when... "...Blehhch. Uuogh, uuuuughnn...!" The contents of his already-empty stomach poured out. He vomited up every bit of the food and drink that had entered his body. That time, everything came out as sickly yellow stomach acid. And the internal pain that had made him spew it all continued to ache. The nausea wouldn't go away. He gulped down running water until he was full, then expelled it immediately afterward. This repeated several times, his stomach heaving like it was cleaning itself out. "Haaah...haaah...haaah..." Subaru roughly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, his face pale and his breath ragged. The pressure was killing him. If he kept this up without any time to rest his mind, he felt like he'd

waste away and expire from that alone. He wanted to laugh at himself for putting himself in this situation, but not even the faintest smile would form on his lips. All that welled up from within his chest was anxiety and despair. Am I really pulling it off? The time he'd gotten along with everyone best was during that first loop, when he knew nothing. From the second loop on, he'd been so obsessed with the first loop that it caused problems in his work and personal relations. That was probably a major reason why he hadn't earned the sisters' trust. Consequently, Subaru was using the first loop as his model this time around. That said, he'd failed in the second loop by trying to copy the first. That meant he had to do things better than the first time. Meaning, all he had to do was put everything into any work he found in front of him and do well at it. "But that still only gets me fifty points... Can't get a hundred if I don't figure out who the shaman is..." Merely evading death by the sisters' hands wouldn't protect Subaru from the menace of the shaman. On the morning of the fifth day, someone in the mansion would be crying. It might be over Subaru; it might be over Rem. Subaru really wanted to get information on the shaman, to turn it over to the others so they could plan a counterattack, but he could not. Even if he suggested courses of action, they didn't trust him enough to act on them yet; he also couldn't divulge the source of his information. And Subaru would get a little taste of hell if he broke the prohibition on speaking to others about Return by Death. Pain scared him, but what terrified him even more was meeting the fingertips of that black cloud. He had to win the others' trust and expose the shaman's identity. Time was extremely short enough to make him feel like the walls were closing in. He had to do something, but he was rushing down a blind alley. The night before, he'd been held captive by that vortex of helplessness, unable to get a wink of sleep, no answer forthcoming. He felt powerless, having well-founded reasons for his anxiety but being unable to find any solution for it. He'd paid with his life to come back, yet there he was, an incapable fool. "Ah, damn it... I'm being pathetic." He couldn't fail here. His back was against the wall. Even if it was a life he'd thrown away, a life that ought to have been over, he was afraid of losing it again. It was his fifth time. Even Subaru wasn't optimistic enough to think he could come back again. His spirit was in tatters from his mind continually being bashed. If he wasn't at the brink, he wouldn't have made the decision to struggle with all his might. He simply lacked the courage. He was mediocre. Ordinary in every way. The more he learned how small a person he truly was, the more he grew to despise himself. "Stupid, stupid. This isn't the time to whine and cry..." If he had time to complain, then he had time to run his frivolous mouth and make a better impression. Shaking off his nausea, Subaru slapped his stiff cheeks in self-rebuke and headed out of the guest room. It was free time right now, but he didn't have a moment for a break. He couldn't waste a second on rest. He had to find where Ram and Rem had gone and "I've finally found you." He was putting his thoughts in order when he heard someone call to him from behind. When he looked back, he saw Emilia standing there, breathing slightly heavily. The instant Subaru set eyes on Emilia, his mind clicked and switched to a different gear. He forgot all about the pain in his stomach, the ache in his chest, and the stifling feeling, turning everything toward Emilia. His cheeks bent into a smile. "Oh, Emilia-tan calling me by name. I'm happy, embarrassed it's so rare! Your word is my command! I will pass through fire and water for you, even loot sellers!" Subaru shoved his emotions to the back of his mind for Emilia with a lot more verve than was necessary. He prided himself on quick comebacks, but Emilia had a different reaction to seeing it than he had expected. He expected an exasperated look and a sigh or something, but instead... "...Subaru..." "Wait, now, if you're the Emilia-tan I know, you should be... Hurk! Are you an imposter?! But could someone else really copy a beautiful girl wrapped in such an adorable package?!" His ridiculous humor invited amazement, but Emilia's reaction to even this was muted. Defying all his expectations, Emilia looked at Subaru, her eyes filled with...pity. Not good, his instincts warned him. "Eh? You've gone quiet. This isn't some sort of prank you're playing on a guy who gets carried away on tangents, right? You know, like me!" This is wrong, said a voice inside his brain, over and over. Emilia wasn't shocked or angry; she was simply staring at Subaru with pained eyes. I wonder if the comedian's mask I'm wearing slipped somehow. The instant worry wormed its way in as Subaru remembered the kitty cat always hovering by Emilia's side. That cat was also a spirit able to read the subconscious thoughts of others. It was only then that Subaru realized that the jig was up. The charming smile plastered onto his face vanished, replaced by a look like that of a child fearful of being scolded. What a joke. She'd seen through him time and time again while he danced in an effort to hide it all. More than that, Emilia was the one he least wanted to know; his tiny bit of pride at pulling the wool over her eyes was destroyed. A silence fell between them. Subaru could no longer find words to say. Emilia looked like she was trying to find some herself, without success. I'm disappointing Emilia. I didn't want that to happen, above all else. But Subaru didn't know what excuse he could form. He opened his mouth several times, stopping each time, unable to find the right words. Seeing words fail Subaru, Emilia abruptly murmured "all right" to herself quietly before continuing. "Subaru. Come with me." "...Ah?" "Just come on." Emilia grabbed Subaru's arm, dragging him along into the guest room right beside them. A questioning look came over Subaru about going back to the room he'd just left. But Emilia left Subaru hanging as she put her hands on her hips and looked around the room. When she pointed at the floor, her voice rang like a silver bell, as always. "All right, Subaru. Sit." He followed her finger downward. The carpeted floor belonged to a room no one was using but was cleaned regularly nonetheless. Granted, it was soft enough to sleep on, but... "If I'm going to be sitting, why not the bed or a chair? Why the floor specifica " "Just sit already!" "Yes, with pleasure!" Cowed by the strong tone she had never used, Subaru dove onto the floor without hesitation and sat properly on his knees. Emilia nodded, apparently satisfied, and stood right beside him. Naturally, this left Subaru looking up at Emilia from a submissive position, but wicked thoughts never entered his mind. Instead, he was desperately trying to figure out what her intentions were. Emilia's voice sounded quietly from her throat. "...Okay." She seemed to have said it for her own benefit. Emilia took a deep breath and sat right beside Subaru, kneeling just as he was. Subaru's heart thumped at Emilia sitting within touching distance, but his sideways glance at her pale face could not tell him what she was thinking. He belatedly realized that her cheeks were flushed; even her ears were red. "This is a special occasion, all right?" " Eh?" Something pressed against the back of Subaru's head faster than he could properly voice his doubts. Already kneeling, his body offered no resistance as it bent forward until a very soft sensation hit him. "The position's a little awkward, and, mm...kind of prickly." Something shifted around under his head as he heard Emilia's fairly bashful-sounding voice from right overhead. In surprise, he looked up; the sight before him made his eyes go wide. Right above him, Emilia's face was so close that they were almost touching. His eyes reflected a beautiful face that was inverted. Subaru belatedly grasped, Oh, I'm upside down looking up at her. This distance, her upside-down position, the soft sensation under his head... Subaru mentally searched for terms to describe it and found exactly one. "Lap...pillow?" "It's embarrassing, so please don't say it out loud. And you're not allowed to look this way. Close your eyes." She gave his forehead a light slap, using the palm of her hand to cover his eyes, obstructing his field of vision. However, Subaru moved Emilia's resisting hand aside and dragged the words out. "Emilia-tan, you're the best when you're embarrassed...but what is this? When did I do something to earn a reward like this?" "You don't need to put up that front right now. " She smacked his forehead again. But this time Emilia left her hand on it, stroking Subaru's hair with her fingers. He squinted at the ticklish feeling. "You asked me to let you rest on my lap when you were tired, didn't you, Subaru? So that's what I'm doing. It won't be like this all the time, but today's special." "Special? Come on, it's not even the end of the second day here. My body's not weak enough to keel over from overwork that fast..." "I can tell you're beat-up just by looking at you. You won't go into the details and tell me, will you? I don't think this'll make everything better, but...it's the only thing I can do, so..." Her compassionate gaze made it hard to brush her off. Her fingers had parted his black hair; she began to gently stroke his forehead like he was a little boy. Subaru burst out laughing and tried to twist away from Emilia's fingers. He had promised himself to stay strong in front of Emilia. To say this was all a misunderstanding. To say he wouldn't do anything as unseemly and uncool as that. "Ha-ha... Emilia-tan, you, doing that...for...me..." Yet his voice was shrill. His throat caught, and the next words wouldn't come out. Subaru couldn't switch mental gears when he felt her soft fingertips stroking his forehead. "You're tired, aren't you?" "I I can still do...more. I'm totally...all right..." "Have you been having trouble?" "You're being so nice to me, I mean, I'm gonna blush. If you keep doing that, I'm...gonna... Ha-ha..." Subaru's reply to her brief question sounded like complete lies. Even he could tell that his words sounded hollow and empty. Then Emilia gently drew her face close to Subaru's. "It's been hard for you, hasn't it?" *** She sounded like she pitied him. She sounded like she sympathized with him. She sounded like she cared for him. That was all it took for Subaru's walls to collapse. They crumbled, fell apart, and came crashing down all at once. All the powerful emotions he'd tried to keep bottled up hadn't gone away in the slightest and came rushing out. "It was...hard. It was really, rough. I was really, scared. I was really sad, enough that I thought I was gonna die. It hurt so much...!" "Yeah." "I I tried. I really tried. I did everything I could. I desperately tried to do everything right...! I did! Really, really. I've never tried to do anything that hard before!" "Yeah, I know." "It's because I like it here... This place, it's precious to me...! That's why I was dying to have it back. I was afraid. I

was so afraid to see that day again...and I hated it. I hated myself for that!" He couldn't control his emotions. The initial explosion had blown the dam wide open, a deluge of tears marring the smiling mask over his cowardly face. The tears wouldn't stop. His nose was runny. His mouth was awash in some sort of weird liquid as Subaru's sobbing became harder to listen to with each passing moment. It was a sorry sight: a grown man with his head on a girl's lap, bawling his eyes out. It was pathetic enough that he could die, but the warmth filling him might just kill him, too. Emilia made gentle sounds of understanding as she listened to Subaru weep. There was no way she actually understood what Subaru was saying. And yet, the kindness of her voice brought relief to Subaru's heart. He didn't understand why. Maybe he just wanted it to be so. But it was true nonetheless that Subaru felt saved by her warmth. And so, a flood of tears flowed from Subaru as he continued to cry on Emilia's lap. He cried, he cried, he wailed, and at some point, the sobs faded into the distance. The only noise that filled the guest room after that was the sound of quiet sleep. As Subaru sank into slumber, he felt the presence of heat deep inside his chest. Subaru knew now what that emotion was. The throbbing in Subaru's chest had grown stronger each time he looked at Emilia, spoke with her, felt the touch of her fingertips but he hadn't had a name for it before. When he thought of her, his body was afflicted by the hot pangs of that troublesome illness known as love. Once a person became aware of it, he lost all will to fight against the disease. Subaru was no exception. After all No matter how much he got hurt, no matter what pain he endured, no matter how often he tasted despair, it was all to save Emilia. Everything was so he could spend his days walking by Emilia's side. Even if Subaru Natsuki died again and again, that love would live on. Emilia was gently stroking Subaru's hair as he slept when Rem arrived at the guest room. Opening the door without a sound, Rem saw Emilia inside and opened her mouth, but she closed it when Emilia put a finger to her own lips. "Shh." Rem narrowed her eyes a bit, walking over as she looked at the two of them nestled close together on the floor. "Subaru is merely asleep?" "Yes. Hee-hee, he's like a little boy. He looks so peaceful when I stroke his head like this." Emilia seemed to enjoy petting Subaru, as she prodded Rem for agreement. Rem replied with a quiet shake of her head. "It seems Subaru will not be able to work any further today." "Yeah, he gets the rest of today off. He's a very naughty boy for taking time off on his second day. When he's all better, make sure to punish him, okay?" Emilia made a small smile and returned to toying with Subaru's head. She appeared to have no intention of moving the sleeping Subaru to free up her legs. Rem, reading Emilia's intent, quietly looked down at Subaru, who seemed to be deeply asleep. He looked so innocent. There was not even the slightest trace of tension on his childlike face. It was completely different from his strained attempt at lightheartedness when last they had spoken during work. It was enough to make her earlier suspicion seem incredibly stupid. "It is hard to think of that when you see him sleeping like this, though." Rem seemed to be murmuring that more to herself than to Emilia as she gave Subaru's hair a light caress with her fingers. His ignorance of the world, like an innocent babe, made Rem's lips slacken just a little. "I will inform Sister that Subaru is of no use for today. We must reallot today's chores." Rem left things at that, bowing politely as she turned to leave. She started to go find her sister. Around this time, she would still be cleaning up the dining hall. There, they would rearrange their schedule for the day. "Rem..." Abruptly called, Rem stopped and gently turned her whole body around. Emilia was sitting below her on the floor. In spite of that, Rem mysteriously felt a powerful pressure coming from Emilia's gaze, like Rem was the one who stood lower. Emilia, not noticing Rem's small measure of surprise, spoke in a quiet voice. "Subaru is a good boy." *** Rem responded with a single, solemn bow. Then, without another word, she headed to the door and left Subaru and Emilia behind in the guest room. She mulled over Emilia's statement as she walked down the hallway. Even Rem did not notice the slight tremble on the side of her neutral visage. But the faintest trace of a vile odor remained lodged in a corner of Rem's mind. CHAPTER 2 *** "Borrowing a girl's lap, letting her caress my head, and falling into a peaceful sleep... By itself you'd think it was awesome, but man..." Subaru said things like that over and over, red to the tips of his ears as he plucked a bit of hair from his head. He thought back to the scene several hours before, when he'd spectacularly laid bare his soul. "So I was a big crybaby in front of my sweetheart, fell asleep with tears on my face and a runny nose. Plus, I had her lap to myself for hours on end... This is like a humiliation game." He thought back to the sensation of Emilia's knees, as well as the price they had paid to convey it to him. The spectacle had left Emilia's skirt all a mess from his runny nose. No matter what problems Subaru had been going through, this was inexcusable, even if just from a hygienic view. Still, Emilia hadn't rocked him awake in all that time, nor did she hold it against Subaru as he earnestly apologized for dirtying her clothes. "That's fine if it makes you feel a little better. Besides, you really don't understand, Subaru." "Eh?" "It's more satisfying for the other person to hear a single thank-you than a dozen apologies. I don't want you to apologize for something I wanted to offer you, so there." The way she pressed a finger to his apologizing lips and winked at him would bowl over any man. Indeed, Subaru bowled over right on the spot. Now that Subaru knew he loved her, everything she said and did, that included, seemed covered in glitter and gloss. Emilia headed off to change clothes in her room. Subaru kept wandering around the mansion in a dreamy state for a little while before finally regaining his senses and clutching his head at what he'd done. "Oh man, I've totally done it now. Emilia's the one I didn't want to look weak in front of. Is there anything more embarrassing I could've done? I seriously can't look her in the eye now!" "...Is that what a person says when entering someone's room late at night, I wonder?" The way Subaru pressed the middle of his thigh against the stool and writhed around it put the girl in the dress Beatrice in a particularly bad mood, bringing a dreadful scowl over her adorable face. After parting ways with Emilia, Subaru had it in his head that he couldn't let anyone else see him, so his feet carried him to the archive of forbidden books, and thus beyond anyone's reach. Though, he liked tweaking the nose of the girl in charge of it, too. "Don't say that, Beako. We're friends, right?" "What kind of relationship do you think Wait, what did you call me just now, I wonder?" Beatrice raised an eyebrow with a twitch of her cheek when Subaru clapped his hands. "Beako. I think nicknames are an indispensable way to show my friendship. You're the only one in the mansion so far who didn't like it even a little bit, though..." He thought back to the last loop, when the loneliness and despair had been driven home. One could even say he was cajoling her into bringing sophistry and threats at him. It was from such humble beginnings that a firm pact had been established between them. In the end, Subaru had unilaterally severed the deal. But Beatrice had exploited the vagueness of the details to continue to protect him. Even if Beatrice had forgotten, Subaru would never forget how he felt back then. " So I don't care what you think of me, I'm going to call you Beako. It's the greatest sign of affection I can give you!" "That does not please me whatsoever! What is with that overbearing goodwill?! Is it merely distasteful or completely disgusting, I wonder?!" "Hey, what's with that way of talking?! I'm thanking you from the bottom of my heart here. This is no time to make fun!" "If you're going to insist that what you said just now was not meant in jest, you and I are no longer engaged in conversation. It may look like dialogue, but it is not!" She informed him that if conversation was supposed to be a game of catch, this was more like rugby. He was showing considerable affection in an appropriately Subaru-like way, but that seemed to be lost on Beatrice. "Well, I'll set that aside, but I'll still call you Beako." "Such single-minded resolve is quite unnecessary. What would happen if I simply do not respond to that name, I wonder?" "Don't say cold things like that, Beako." *** Subaru called out to Beatrice, but silently keeping her gaze lowered to her book, she made no reply. Apparently she meant what she had said earlier. While Beatrice acted stubborn, Subaru grudgingly walked over and paced around the stool. "What's wrong, Beako? You look glum, Beako. Are you all right, Beako? If there's something wrong, you can talk to me, Beako. Mm? What is it, Beako? We can do this, Beako. Beako, Beako!" "I have never seen anyone as annoying as you! What is with you, I wonder?!" Someone as thin-skinned as Beatrice was natural prey for someone born with a talent for getting on other people's nerves like Subaru. He pumped a fist, the corners of his lips twisting as Beatrice's shoulders shook in anger. "Actually, I've got an admission to make. I'm backed into a corner and really need your help." He explained to the curly-haired girl the conclusion he'd formed after pathetically bawling his eyes out. While on Emilia's lap, all the ugly feelings and tears built up inside Subaru had come pouring out. What remained were Subaru's pure personal desires. He loved Emilia. He'd thought he loved her before, but now he truly knew what falling for someone meant. It was love at first sight. Just hearing her voice made his heart skip a beat. Just talking with her was so pleasant it felt like a dream. He couldn't leave this girl who put herself in harm's way for others. That's why I love her, he had thought, but now he sincerely understood what he'd felt. She was the first one to save Subaru when he was summoned to another world without anyone to depend on. And, when he'd been backed into a dark alley of despair, it was she who had saved his dying heart. She'd saved both his life and his heart. He could no longer think of living in a world without Emilia. He loved spending his days with Emilia at the mansion. He loved learning all sorts of things about the world. He loved Ram, who'd taken such care of him in spite of her blunt tongue. He really loved Emilia. He loved Rem, who insulted him with polite language but always showed him how to do

things. He was enveloped by goodwill toward everyone living at the mansion. Subaru wanted to stay there forever. Those overflowing feelings filled his chest to bursting. But on the other side of that happy coin He loved Emilia. He despaired at lacking the power to protect her. Life at the mansion had grown stale. He didn't know where or when he'd be found out. He feared Ram, who commanded Blades of Wind that could slice his throat. He was terrified of Rem and her skull-crushing iron ball. Roswaal's disturbing madness could lead him to command the twins to eliminate Subaru without mercy. Every time he woke up, he checked whether he was still alive, and he could sense himself cracking under his own constant vigilance against despair. These, too, were Subaru's true, indelible feelings. Emilia had saved Subaru before the friction in his mind had roasted Subaru from the inside out. By consoling him, Emilia had pulled his heart back from the brink. Thinking about her filled him with life and energy. Emilia was what kept his urge to flee in check. "In other words, E M D (Emilia-tan's Majorly Divine)!" Beatrice responded to Subaru's declaration by acting astounded and shooting him an annoyed grimace. "Did you say something exceedingly stupid just now, I wonder?" "Not at all. I'm putting my top priorities back in order." "Let us return to the topic at hand... You say you want my help? What do you mean, I wonder?" "Yeah, I'm pretty serious about that, like enough to beg God for help. I can't think of anyone else I can go to." In the present situation, Emilia was, of course, the member of the mansion he could place the most trust in but she was also the most important part of Subaru's life. In other words, the absolute last thing he wanted to do was put her in danger. To Subaru, who normally prioritized his own life, Emilia's life weighed much heavier than his on the scale. That being the case, he couldn't go to Puck for help, either, which left "Beako. She's actually pretty sweet. And softer than she looks." "I don't understand your meaning, but I do sense that you are mocking me." "That's not my intent at all... Actually, the way things are in the mansion right now, you're the only one I can rely on." Of course, he couldn't come clean to Ram and Rem, let alone Roswaal. Except for Emilia, Beatrice was truly the only person in the mansion who he could trust. "Please. I'm begging you." Subaru was kneeling on the floor before Beatrice, bowing his head as he petitioned for aid. Subaru needed a lantern to light the way so that he could bring an end to the chain of despair. "I need your help. I want to set everything right and protect the place where I can be happy. And that's no good if it doesn't include everyone here." *** Subaru, touching his head to the floor, looked up at Beatrice after a long silence. "...Beatrice?" The conflict he saw in her eyes made his breath catch. Beatrice knit her brows and bit her lip as she glared at Subaru. And yet, despite the ferocity of her gaze, she looked on the verge of tears. *** She opened her mouth to speak, but her gaze wavered as she found herself unable to find the words. Beatrice's heart had been shaken. He had to make her speak to him. "Listen to me, Beatrice. I understand why you don't want to help me out of hand. To you, I'm a weirdo and a stranger who wandered in just the other day." "...If you know that much, you do not need to hear it from my lips, do you?" "You're the one who patched me up. Thank you. I know you don't know this, but I have a mountain of other things I need to thank you for. And here I am asking you for help again... It's pretty pathetic. It's a miserable sight, really, but you're the only one I have." He laid out all his cards on the table. It was the lowest form of begging pushy and self-centered and with no regard for Beatrice's feelings whatsoever. With Subaru lowering his head in nothing but earnestness, wearing sincerity on his sleeve, Beatrice made a very typical snort. "You are a worm crawling on the ground, wailing about your own powerlessness. Do you have any pride at all, I wonder?" "I know what's important to me. I'll bow my head ten times or a hundred times and pound the floor if that's what it takes." He was too much of a weakling to obsess over petty pride. Subaru kept his head down as he continued to plead for her aid. He knew it was a cowardly way of doing things. During his five loops, he'd continued to quarrel with Beatrice during their encounters along the way. That's how he knew. Beatrice acted like she was blowing him off, but "You may...raise your head." The moment the soft voice reached his ears, Subaru believed his craven request had been granted. He was acutely aware of his own pettiness and he resented himself for his insincere behavior toward Beatrice. But even that had been necessary to make the girl named Beatrice come to her decision. That was how the rather simple man named Subaru Natsuki had seen it, but... "Bea..." "Take this, would you?" "Bwah!" But that miserable, heartfelt face met the merciless sole of a shoe. Subaru was still prostrate as his head alone lifted from the floor, with his formless sound of anguish echoing around the archive. Subaru remained in that awkward, bent-back position, making an incoherent yell as she stomped him a few more times. "Hey...this is...!" "You could think on it a hundred times and you would never comprehend the work I go through. No matter how many silver coins you gather, they will never equal the sacred glow of a gold coin. Do you understand, I wonder?" "Er, if you get a few thousand silver coins they'll equal it, I'm sure. It's just a matter of comparable value, right? Or maybe you're just bad at math?" "Will you stop looking at me like a pitiable child, I wonder?! Are those the eyes of someone who was just begging me?!" And so, Beatrice and Subaru resumed their bickering. It was a pointless battle that had begun for no particular reason, repeated several times across different worlds. As he continued his familiar banter with Beatrice, he thought on some level that the pathetic stubbornness inside him was pretty moronic. "All right, then, I'll play my trump card. If you cooperate with me, I'll give you a reward of equal value, you hear?" "Do you think the likes of me would be lured by any reward you can muster, I wonder?" "How about this? Because I saved Emilia at the capital, I get to borrow Puck. And Puck said if I want to swap that for something else, I only need to ask... You see what I'm getting at here?" Beatrice's expression changed. Subaru smiled unpleasantly as he brought all his negotiation skills to bear. Now that it involved a reward, she agreed to reluctantly cooperate with Subaru. Subaru thought it was pretty silly to settle things by offering up Puck on a silver platter. He knew the little magic user would go for it, but still... It hadn't exactly been a warm and fuzzy process, but Subaru had finally managed to win Beatrice's cooperation. He'd repent of pushing things on to a little girl because of his own powerlessness after all the problems were cleared up. "...You want to know more about shamans?" Subaru's cut-and-dry statement caused Beatrice to raise her shapely eyebrows with an air of disgust. His top priority was to deal with the menace of the shaman's attack on the mansion without a moment to lose. A large part of why he asked Beatrice for help was so that her magic could counter the deadly curses. Explaining as much as possible to Beatrice without getting to the heart of the matter was crucial for Subaru. "I'll probably pay a price if I let too many cats out of the bag, so..." When he'd tried to confess his Return by Death to Emilia, time had suddenly stopped all around Subaru as a black cloud took the shape of a hand and inflicted immense agony upon him. Subaru's silent screams and the torture of having his heart crushed had robbed him of any notions of easy defiance. As a result, Subaru was immensely wary of the black cloud, choosing his words very carefully as he continued to explain. "I know there's such a thing as curses, but I don't know anything else beyond that they're different from magician and spirit stuff. I want to know more about them." "It is rare for someone to ask about that. I wonder, does paying that bunch any heed get you anywhere?" Like before, Beatrice's distaste toward even forming the word curse on her lips was considerable. Back then, he'd avoided pushing deeper into the matter, but that would not be the case this time. "Curses are magic spells that exist only to cause trouble for other people and come from some country up north, right?" "Is it not sufficient to know that much, I wonder? Curses invade their targets like a disease, limiting their movements and robbing them of their pure life forces... A tradition in very poor taste." "Normally I'd say it depends on how you use them, but looks like you can't use them except to hurt people, huh?" Reason enough to call these curses. If curses were supernatural powers that existed to bring down others, the practice in his home world of putting needles into voodoo dolls probably counted. Well, not that he actually accepted the existence of the occult in that world... Subaru sat up more, thinking about the things Beatrice had mentioned in a grave tone of voice. "So, let me ask this... How do you defend against a curse?" It was pretty tough to aim a counterattack at the shaman without knowing his identity. Subaru's one advantage was knowing in advance that an attack would take place. Consequently, figuring out a way to stop the shaman's attack in its tracks was a wonderful idea...in theory. "You do not." " Eh?" "No means exist to defend against a curse once it is activated. Once activated, you are finished. Isn't that what a curse is, I wonder?" "I-isn't there any kind of Instant Death Resist...?!" In a video game, you dealt with Lv. 1 Death type spells by casting Instant Death Resist in advance. With the light at the end of the tunnel growing ever distant, Subaru pulled his hair, his brain on fire as it tried to come up with a new plan. He'd underestimated the situation. That reality sent Subaru's mind into free fall. " However, that is limited to curses that have activated." " Huh?" The words spoken to Subaru a moment later made his eyes go wide. Beatrice grinned with what seemed to be great delight. She got me good, thought Subaru as the look on her face confirmed it; all he could do was open and close his mouth like a flounder in a mix of surprise and anger. "Just as I said, there is no way to defend against a curse once it has been activated. However, an un-activated curse can be blocked. It simply requires a cleansing rite prior to activation, so anyone with the requisite skill would find removing it rather simple." "I'll save getting angry for later... So, who can do that?" "In this mansion, there's me, and of course Puckie. Beyond that, Roswaal and...the three little girls do not have the requisite experience, so no. Oh, and of course you cannot." "I know that one only too well..." He'd

gone through hell because of his lack of resistance, not once but twice. Subaru put aside his unpleasant memories as he raised a hand and asked Beatrice a question. "So how would you know to use a rite before a curse activates?" "Powerful curses place a commensurate burden upon the body. Perhaps magic and curses share that in common? The side effects of a curse are considerable. Could I say that they are deeply flawed, I wonder?" "So...is there something you can do in advance to protect yourself?" Subaru asked his question like he was hanging from a thread. In response, Beatrice closed her eyes for a while, licking her lips. "Though it depends upon the specific details...there is an iron rule for curses." "An iron...rule?" With bated breath, Subaru prodded Beatrice to continue from where she'd left off. And so she did. " Physical contact with the target. An absolute prerequisite, I wonder?" *** Subaru's brain spun round and round the instant that detail entered his skull. The caster of a curse needed to touch his target. In other words, both times Subaru had suffered from the effects of the curse, he had made physical contact with the shaman beforehand. That narrowed the possibilities to "If it's no one here at the mansion, then...it's gotta be the village..." Subaru had walked to the village both times he'd undergone Return by Death from suffering the effects of witchcraft. When he thought about it more, he'd gone to the village midway through the fourth day both times. At the village, the shaman had performed the rite for the curse, and that curse activated that night at the mansion resulting in his death. That had been the pattern. The shaman being at the village would explain why Rem had fallen prey to the curse during the last loop. That time, Subaru had never gone to the village, so Rem became the shaman's target instead. If Ram had gone, she would've been the target; if Subaru had gone there with her, no doubt he would've been the target again. It connected. It connected everything. The shaman was in Earlham Village. It was unclear whether the shaman was a resident or a visitor. If he was the latter, finding him wouldn't be all that hard. It was a village with a small population. A stranger's face immediately became known to all, just like Subaru's had. If the former, it'd have been a carefully premeditated crime, but... "That doesn't seem likely." In the prior incident, someone tried to throw a monkey wrench into Emilia's royal candidacy. But that candidacy didn't exist before the royal family suddenly died out only half a year beforehand. Emilia's name popping up on the candidate list probably took time, so that meant only three or four months to prepare at absolute most. A shaman would have had to infiltrate the village years beforehand to be considered a native. "So the shaman's an outsider. Finding him won't be all that hard, either..." Subaru voiced his thoughts out loud as he began to search for holes in his logic. It wasn't a bad idea to raise a hypothesis, even if you amended it as you went along. As far as the shaman was concerned, he hadn't actually done anything yet. Short of his opponent being God or the Devil himself, it was impossible for his existence to be exposed as of yet. Subaru mulled over the fact that he was still on the night of the second day. He had a long grace period before things were due to take a turn for the worse on the fourth. In other words, it meant he could do his own preemptive strike on the shaman. "I've got you by the tail now, damn it. I didn't die twice at your hands for nothing!" Subaru, finally able to see his situation brightening, clenched a fist as his voice quivered with joy. While Subaru delighted in the change in circumstances, Beatrice looked quite dissatisfied at having been dropped from the conversation. Her lovely cheeks reddened to emphasize the sourness of her gaze. "What is that attitude in front of someone you asked for aid, I wonder? If what I spoke was of service, I think you should say as much to my face." "Yeah, you're right! You saved my bacon; I can see the light thanks to you! I love you, Beako!" "Wha ?!" Subaru leaped over to Beatrice, picking up her very light body and twirling all around with her on the spot. Despite her elaborate dress, the girl's body was as light as a feather. Subaru's spinning increased in synergy with the buoyancy of his mood. "Let g Would you put me down, I wonder?!" "Ha-ha-ha, I could just fly in the sky right now! Nah, how 'bout we fly together, Beako?!" "Fly all by your lonesome !" "Bwah?!" She released magical energy from right above him, slamming him hard enough to make him do a full leg split on the floor. The impact he felt on the top of his skull transferred to the rest of his body. Subaru's internal mana was all a jumble. His eyes were spinning as he continued to rest on his butt. For her part, Beatrice landed with an elegant flutter of the hem of her skirt, turning her head and sending a snort Subaru's way. "Do you see what happens when you get carried away with frivolity, I wonder?" "That's not the only thing I saw. They're white!" " . ?! Take this, would you?!" "Brfhh!" Subaru took the second shot right between the eyes, sending him flying into a corner of the archive like a rag doll. He rolled head over heels before slamming into a bookshelf, bringing heavy books down upon his head. He crawled his way out of the mountain of books, tears in his eyes from the many bumps and bruises. "The friendship gauge goes down just a little and I get this?! If you're not happy with something, just say it, geez!" "Being picked up like a little child, spun around in midair, having my panties seen, you speaking superficially lovey-dovey words, all of it! Is your entire existence a nuisance, I wonder?!" "Hey, don't put down my existence; that's really sad stuff! I'm trying not to be a masochist here!" Subaru hoped to find ways to improve himself, just like he'd found a chance to improve his circumstances. Just because I'm powerless doesn't mean I have to be helpless, too, Subaru thought, nodding at his own internal rebuke. "Anyway, the situation's a lot better than it was. It'll be hard waiting out the night, but tomorrow I'm heading to the village." Let's find out who this shaman really is, he thought. That'd probably mean going with either Ram or Rem. Considering they both had combat strength, it was a natural choice in case he ended up duking it out with the shaman then and there. If he could get rid of the vile shaman and raise his friendship gauge with both girls in the process, that'd be the grand finale bringing his first week at Roswaal Manor to a successful conclusion. "Now that I think back on it, I sure went through a lot..." He knew it was speaking too soon, but it was a light at the end of the tunnel even so. Surely no one could blame Subaru for feeling that way. Shouldn't you be thinking of something else? he wondered. Looking up meant missing that which was right at his feet, didn't it? Subaru, a man of little nerve and much wariness, suddenly remembered... "The scent...of the witch..." "What do you mean, I wonder?" "Right, the witch. Rem mentioned her. You did, too, Beako." The moment the word witch formed on his lips, he remembered the various places he had encountered it. The witch was often treated as an abominable being by the residents of that world, but Subaru's only clue as to why was the broad outline given in the children's story "The Witch of Jealousy." That really bothered him all of a sudden. After all, the road traveled by Subaru Natsuki had been peppered by references to her. Subaru lifted up his face and looked at Beatrice, who was knitting her eyebrows. He wasn't sure she'd even answer the question he was about to ask. It was grave enough that Ram had refused to answer it entirely, while Rem had used it as one of her justifications for attacking him. He felt that even Emilia strongly resisted the topic. "Beako, you know about the witch, right?" *** The reply didn't come immediately. The word thrumming in her ears made Beatrice close her eyes, sinking into silence as if making sure she'd heard correctly. Her reaction left Subaru with no option beyond trying to keep calm and waiting. When she suddenly murmured the words, Subaru's breath caught as his eyes went wide. "She who drinks the world itself. Queen of the Castle of Shadows. The greatest of all disasters the Witch of Jealousy." Upon seeing Subaru's reaction, Beatrice let out a gloomy sigh. "In this world, there is only one being indicated by the word witch. Should I add, it is even considered taboo to speak her name aloud, I wonder?" "So everyone's in awe and fear of her, and no one defies her?" "Yes, precisely. Rather, why would you even ask if I know her, I wonder? In this world, aren't the names you know best those of your parents, then other family, and finally, the name of the witch, I wonder?" "Oh, come on..." Subaru tried to poke fun, but he swallowed his words when Beatrice's expression made plain that she wasn't the slightest bit joking. And if she was serious, that meant the witch was an unparalleled darkness in the world. "The Witch of Jealousy, 'Satella.' She consumed the great sinners of yore known as the Six Witches, swallowing up half the world in the process, the vilest of all calamities." Beatrice's words, spoken with emotions suppressed, brought a short, hard breath out of Subaru. The name, one he'd heard before, bore much more gravity in the context of the rest. "It is said that the witch desires love. It is said she does not comprehend human speech. It is said she envies everything in this world. That none have seen her face and lived. That her body is untouched by the ravages of time, unable to grow old or decay. That the Dragon, the Hero, and the Sage combined their power to seal her away, because even they could not hope to destroy her." Beatrice spoke point by point, not allowing Subaru to get a word in. "It is said..." Finally, as if reaching the end of her tale, she paused after her preamble and said, "...she is a half-elf with silver hair." Satella, the Witch of Jealousy. The Six Witches had made the world scream, but this witch wiped them out in one fell swoop, ushering in a calamity that destroyed half the world. A hero had sealed her flesh within a crystal, where she continued to sleep, even then, in some corner of the world. That's an absurd story, Subaru's sensibilities as a child of modernity made him think. Crimes so vile that people spoke of them centuries afterward were already bad enough, but the fact that the perpetrator continued to exist, sealed away somewhere out there, would be unthinkable in his world. Subaru began to cite a rather extreme example as he sat cross-legged with his chin on a palm, watching a corner of the garden. "Well, I can't really go by that. Even if people don't know the name of their own prime minister, they know the name of, say, the nation's most popular idol group..." It was morning as Emilia sat on the grass of the inner garden, conversing with the flickering lights surrounding her. The scene never lost its mysterious, surreal air no matter

how many times he set eyes on it. Seeing Emilia like this every day was one of the most beautiful sights that world had to offer. Subaru was watching at a distance so as not to interfere with Emilia's conversation. He was still wearing his servant's outfit as he suppressed a yawn, letting out a long breath as he sank into a sea of contemplation once more. It was now the morning of the third day, for night and sunrise had passed since his conversation with Beatrice in the archive of forbidden books. As the night had crept toward morning, Beatrice had suddenly scowled. "I suppose my skin shall be compromised if I do not get my beauty sleep. Staying up late like this is quite a bother." After being roughly evicted from the archive, Subaru managed to get in a morning bath before meeting up with Emilia in the garden. The sight of her so diligently carrying out her daily routine made him clench a fist with renewed determination. A gray fur ball in other words, Puck popped his face up in front of Subaru's eyes and called out to him. "Well you seem to be doing better now." Puck continued to hover in the air as he began grooming his face with his short paws like any normal cat. He continued, "To be honest, you were not much to look at yesterday. I'm a little relieved." "That so? Sorry to make you worry. But my naive heart still isn't completely over everything, so I want the feel of your fur to comfort me. Ahhh..." "Well, if you can bluff like that I suppose you're fine. Lia did lend you her lap and everything." Subaru's fingers wrapped around the palm-size cat and, searching for something beyond even the surprising sensation of his ears, arrived at Puck's tail. From base to tip, the feel of it was beyond even Subaru's expectations, making his breath catch. Subaru savored the supremely comfortable touch in his hand as his eyes met Puck's. "Did you see the lap pillow, too, by any chance?" "Only because she did it for so long. It was quite difficult to stay kneeling in that position for hours, and I offered to take over several times, but... Relax, Lia saw it through to the very end." Puck's metaphorical seal of approval abruptly made Subaru, still shy about the awakening of his love, red in the face. Puck nodded at Subaru's schoolboy reaction. And then "Ei!" "Ow ! Why did you just scratch me?!" "You had an explosion of complex feelings of affection for my daughter. Maybe I ought to explode you?" "You ought not!! That daddy mind-set's a complicated thing, geez!" Puck's "explosion" of fatherly concern threatened to put distance between Subaru and Emilia. Subaru plaintively bowed his head before Puck, somehow managing to keep the situation in check. When this process was finished and he glanced back at Emilia, he saw that she seemed to still be immersed in conversation with the spirits, never noticing the comedy routine between man and beast that had ruptured the calm of the morning. Subaru watched the side of her face, gazing at the gentle, charming smile so beautiful that you could drown in it, when he abruptly murmured to himself. " A silver-haired half-elf, huh?" It was one of the things Beatrice had said about the Witch of Jealousy. The witch had shaken the world to its core, and even now, her name was synonymous with terror. He wondered how great a burden it must be to have similarities with such a being. Even Subaru, who had never felt hardships like this, could imagine it was no easy road to travel. And yet, Emilia had been raised to be an honest, benevolent person... No doubt in the hope that she would live as a lovely, untainted flower. "Either she grew up in a real friendly environment, or..." Puck looked back and smiled, one paw on his hip, the other toying with his whiskers. "Or maybe she was raised by a good father. Mm-hmm." The cat could read his emotions. He'd no doubt discerned Subaru's thoughts to work out the context of the soliloquy from a moment before. "Well, to a large extent she was just born that way. Not to harp on it, but that girl had a much, much harder time than you can imagine. It's adorable how she's like this in spite of it all, though." As Puck squinted, the thought of contradicting him never crossed Subaru's mind. The plain fact was that Subaru didn't know anything about Emilia, while Puck had spent an enormity of time with her. Subaru's knowledge of how hard it'd been for her barely scratched the surface. Puck was driving home that Subaru had no right to act like he knew. Men were helpless in the hands of Fate. Subaru knew that powerlessness all too well. "Hey, Puck, do you know about the Witch of Jealousy?" "There is little that I do not know." "Okay, I wanted to ask you this... Under what circumstances would you use the Witch of Jealousy's name as an alias? Wait, alias doesn't sound very nice; it's more like...borrowing the Witch of Jealousy's name temporarily." The back of his mind recalled an occurrence in the midst of the loop in the royal capital on the first day of his summons. In the very, very first loop, Emilia had called herself "Satella" to Subaru, who knew nothing at all at that point. Subaru had vaguely guessed what she must've been thinking, but he wanted a second opinion on the matter. There was no one better than the person who knew Emilia best. Not knowing Subaru's intentions, Puck swayed his tail and inclined his head a bit. "I think that would be a reckless thing to do. There are still many people with undiluted hate toward the witch, with fear and despair still carved into their souls. A person would have to be soft in the head to use the name of the witch as an alias around people like that." "I'll take that as a 'never.'" "Meow meow?" Puck made a skeptical sound as Subaru poked him with a finger. Subaru then snapped his fingers, for Puck's support for his hypothesis made him put aside his own doubts. In this world, using the name of the witch as an alias would obviously be insane. It was only Subaru, there by chance without the slightest clue about what passed for common sense, who would think it was normal. So why would Emilia, who certainly knew better, claim the name of the witch as her own? "So she was trying to creep out a weirdo to keep him out of this royal selection business..." She had tried to protect him, a boy she had met only in passing. Emilia's thoughts behind claiming the alias had already vanished into another dimension. Only Subaru knew she had ever done such a thing. And Subaru would never have the chance to ask her what she truly intended by it. But he couldn't help but imagine that that was what it meant. All he could do was believe. Subaru, struck by the tenderness of that Emilia in another dimension, was caught off guard as the current one sat next to him with a strained smile. "That's quite the distant look you have. What's wrong?" He could no longer see the flickering lights frolicking around Emilia, so her pleasant conversation with them seemed over. Puck, having waited off to the side with Subaru until then, landed on her narrow shoulder to replace them. "Back in my proper place. Ahh, this is where I'm most at ease. Home sweet home." "Oh, so now you're Daddy back home from a trip, are you? Poor you, driving home all tired like that." "That's because my eyes were wide open protecting my daughter from a wolf's poison fangs. Those poison fangs won't come near her, you see?" "Hey, don't stare at me and talk about 'poison fangs' twice! You'll ruin my reputation here." Subaru forced a smile as Puck's big black eyes beheld him. Playing with the little cat like this meant he was kicking down the road a bit one of his opportunities to speak with Emilia, even though she was right there. It wasn't that he hated talking to Emilia. He just couldn't look her in the eye. After all, he'd bawled his eyes out on her lap and spent untold hours with her stroking his head. It'd been only a single night since then; he didn't know how he could face her. That he had gone to meet her even so proved only that Subaru had a severe case of Emilia poisoning. Faced with Subaru's extreme confusion, Emilia hesitated, too, running an unhurried finger through her long silver hair. After a brief silence, Emilia made a determined breath and smiled. "Err, this is a little embarrassing... Are you feeling all right?" "I was in a tight spot until I heard Emilia-tan's voice. And, er, also, sorr " The apology died on his lips. Subaru swallowed back the word he was about to say and changed his approach. "...Thank you. For everything. After all that, I think I have my head on straighter." "It doesn't seem you're completely over it, but I'm glad you think you're getting there. Mm, if I was able to help a little, that's just fine. If you feel whittled to the bone again, just tell me. Your sister will gently console you." Emilia teasingly put a hand to her chest and winked. Surely she was acting this way to lighten Subaru's feelings of guilt. But when he gazed upon her happy, older sister–ish look, the fact that she kind of seemed serious made him tremble a bit. "The main thing is that you're feeling better. You have to work hard today, you know? Are you sleepy? You slept at such odd times." "No need to worry. A shut-in like me holding down the fort sleeps all day and is up all night to begin with. Well, it got a bit healthier as of late." "Just to ask, what is a shut-in anyway?" "He is the Guardian of the Culture, always immersed in an ocean of information about the state of the world and the global economy to better protect the home day and night... The upper ranks never set a foot outside the house and even commemorate their lovers' birthdays through their screens." To be blunt, the souls of those who did that had long risen to a higher plane of existence. The oddness of Subaru's explanation seemed to tug at Emilia a little as she made a lovely smile. Seeing Emilia's reaction, Subaru suddenly had a thought. "Hey, Emilia-tan, what kind of magic do you use, anyway?" "Err, strictly speaking, I'm not a magic user. That's because I'm a spirit mage, including my pact with Puck here. What I use isn't magic but spirit arts. The principles are largely the same, though..." "So how are magic users and spirit mages different?" Subaru turned his neck and looked at Puck sitting on Emilia's shoulder. The little cat, realizing the conversation had shifted in his direction, stroked the fur over his belly as he explained. "Magic users use the mana inside them when they use magic. In contrast, spirit mages use the mana in the air around them. The process is fairly different, even when the effects are the same." "So what kind of differences are those, sensei?" When Subaru raised his hand and asked his question, Puck, sitting in the lecturer's role, grinned like a cat in a good mood. "Technically, it's whether a gate is used or not. The size of a gate depends on the individual magic user, but that doesn't matter much for spirit mages. That's because you're using external mana." "I see. So magic users bring in mana from around them through the gate, then send

it back out the gate when they use magic, but spirit mages can cut out the middleman." Subaru was digesting the explanation when he tilted his head halfway. "Mm? But then that makes spirit mages way too powerful. Magic users are limited to the amount of fuel they can store inside them, but spirit mages have a free pass to use as much as they want. There's no contest." "You understand quickly. But it isn't quite that convenient. In the first place, the mana in the air isn't infinite..." Puck's words trailed off as he looked up at Emilia. The girl nodded as she took over. "And the strength of the spells a spirit mage can use is dependent on the spirit you've formed a pact with. The predisposition needed to form pacts with spirits is rare to begin with, and powerful spirits are even rarer. It's difficult to say which is better." Subaru replied, "Mm-hmm...but it must feel pretty good to get a pact with a strong spirit, right? You must really be hot stuff, Emilia-tan. Seems like Puck is hot stuff himself, though..." "Well, I can't really deny that I'm above average." "Man, you just said that with a straight face; no hesitation at all rating yourself like that?" Subaru thought his self-consciousness outclassed most, but Puck's bluntness was a level higher. No doubt it was the age difference. A greenhorn had seen many fewer years than Mr. Great Spirit. Though, judging from the rather merry, blushy smile the Great Spirit was making, maybe he wasn't as used to flattery as he pretended to be... "Oh, by the way, what kind of spirit is Puck, anyway? He made ice come out at the loot seller's place, but...if my memory's right, there's no ice affinity to begin with." With the bath serving as a lecture hall, Roswaal had explained to him that the four orthodox magical affinities were fire, water, wind, and earth. The annoying light and dark affinities rounded out the six. It was not Puck, still making a blushy smile, but Emilia who replied to Subaru's question. "My specialty is ice, but it's actually fire mana. Fire relates mainly to temperature, so cooling that which is hot is classified as part of fire, apparently." "Huh, is that so? Magical logic...? Magic...? Magic, huh?" Upon hearing Emilia's explanation, Subaru felt a fondness for magic bubble up within him. Having withdrawn momentarily, Puck twitched his ears as he looked at Subaru's face once again and nodded. "Hmm. By any chance, do you want to use magic?" "Can I?! I mean...if I can! Super-powerful stuff, like calling down a meteor shower and " "Ah, well, no. Fundamentals are important, both for magic and spirit arts. Magic is not something you can learn in a day." Subaru's hopes suddenly leaped up, only for Puck to smack them back down. Subaru wilted on the spot, then Puck twirled a whisker and added, "But...if you simply want to experience it, we can do that." "Meaning...what?" "Meaning, if you want to use magic, Lia and I just have to support you. We'll use the mana inside you to use magic through you. The magic we use from the atmosphere is different from the mana inside you, so the magic itself will come out of your gate. How about it?" Emilia rebuked Puck for his invitation. "Puck, wait. Don't make it sound so causal. It might be dangerous." However, Subaru's feelings were set in stone. "Sorry, Emilia-tan. I'm super happy you're worried about me...but I'm gonna do it!" Subaru gave Emilia a congenial smile, complete with a glint of his teeth and a thumbs-up. Subaru's action, meant to drive away all unease and anxiety, made Emilia's eyes go wide. "Wh-why do you want to do it so much...?" "That's obvious so that I can live as the man I was born to be!" Subaru clenched a fist as he made the manliest cry he could. To anyone born a man, ceasing to pursue your dreams was the same as death itself. Since arriving in another world, Subaru had never displayed as much courage as he had then and there. Besides, being able to use magic gave him one more option. Perhaps it would increase his chances of protecting Emilia and the others during the current loop. Faced with Subaru's strong spirit, Emilia shook her head, abandoning all thoughts of stopping him. "If you think it's getting dangerous, you will stop right away, understand?" And so, with that warning, she resolved to see Subaru's battle through. Subaru accepted Emilia's words of caution with a nice smile before turning back to Puck with bated breath. "So what should I do first? Draw a magic circle? If you need a sacrifice, can I volunteer Beako?" "I'm happy you seem to be getting along better with Betty. Yes, first, how about I see what affinity you are, Subaru? That's the first step to knowing what kind of magic you can use." Subaru's expression, buoyant until that moment, instantly died when he heard Puck's suggestion. As Puck and Emilia blinked in surprise side by side, Subaru shook his head in robotic fashion. "My...affinity...is probably...'fire'...?" "Why the sudden pauses...?" When Emilia asked, Subaru simply lowered his eyes. He didn't want to remember any further. But Puck leaped off Emilia's shoulder and hovered in front of Subaru's face as he stretched his tail. "All right, let's check. Myon myon myon myon..." "I know the weirdo nobleman did the same thing, but isn't that, like, overkill?!" The tip of Puck's long tail swished across Subaru's forehead as his mouth made the accompanying sound effects. Subaru wallowed in apprehension as he awaited the scan's verdict. "Wait, I should think positively about this. Thinking back on it, Roswaal's behavior was unnatural, wasn't it? Right, he was jealous of the hidden magical talent within me. Yeah, it was jealousy. That's why he tried to convince me to just give up " "Wow, this is rare. Your affinity's pure Dark." "Farewell, my magic-using life !" Subaru wailed at crossing into another dimension only to be blacklisted by someone else. His glittering future was now closed, with the curtain rising on Subaru's life as nothing more than a debuffer. "So all I need to do is practice saying, 'I've turned their defense to paper! Go, NOW!' Ha-ha-ha..." "Ah, you have no talent at all, either. Your gate's small; at least the number is kind of okay...? But there's barely any opening, so not much is coming through." "Shut up, I know that already! Incidentally, what does that talent thing mean, by the numbers?" "If you spent twenty years in daily training, you might become a high-end second-rate magic user." "So I'd devote half my life and still come up short of top tier... I think I'd better give up now..." Emilia finally wore an exasperated look when she heard Subaru hold back tears as he gave up on his dream. But it couldn't be helped. Yes, effort and trying your best were words prominently featured in Subaru's lexicon, but whether to give up on a man's impossible dream or not was a different subject. "I just want to try the magic demonstration. What do I have to do?" "Since it's Dark affinity, Lia can't handle it. How about something simple, like Shamak?" "Ah, a magic smoke screen? I've never seen it myself," Emilia replied. Apparently, it was something of such a trivial level that she'd never encountered it professionally. The two continued their magic talk while leaving Subaru aside as he sank into deeper despair about his tiny skill tree. "It's not fair you're in a world all by yourselves. I mean, we're talking about my magic, right? I mean, can I actually use that Shamak thing? That's kind of important here." "Good point. Unknown magic is a scary thing. All right, this is Shamak." " Eh?" Puck, nodding in concession that Subaru had a point, made a brief incantation and waved a paw. The next moment, Subaru's vision was shrouded in darkness. Instantly, the scene before his eyes was buried in pitch-black. Startled, he abruptly raised his voice, but the sound never reached his ears. The profound darkness had cut off his vision from everything outside him. A shiver went up his spine at being severed from the outside world. "There, all done." When Subaru heard the clap of hands, he realized that he had returned to reality. Seeing Emilia in front of him when his sight returned put him at ease. "That was just a moment, but he broke out in such a sweat... Subaru, are you all right? Do you want me to hold your hand?" "I-I'm all right. I just lost my senses for a moment... Ah, I lost my chance to hold your hand." While making his typically flippant comment, Subaru touched his own eyelids to make sure nothing had changed there. "So that's a Shamak, huh? It's simple, but it's pretty strong stuff, isn't it?" "Not at all. Anyone but a lower-grade opponent can brush it off with skill, and it can't be maintained for long. Although I could cast it on the likes of you so that you'd spend your entire life in darkness..." "That's a scary thought!! I'd go crazy if I had to live one day like that, let alone the rest of my life!" Subaru made a strained smile. He quietly hid his trembling fists behind him. He didn't want to convey how the feeling of being momentarily cut off from the world had filled his entire body with terror. The instant he thought that he was alone in the world, with no one on his side, the sheer loneliness made Subaru's heart quake. I'm pathetic. He bit the thought down and smiled to conceal his inner turmoil. "Anyway, whether it's any use or not, I can use that magic, too, right? I wanna try that right away! I want to, but, um!" "That's fine. I'll assist you. Lia, if his mana runs wild, it might blow up, so please move back. I don't want to get your clothes dirty." "It's not like that's gonna happen, right?! That's, like, a super-rare case that basically never happens, right?!" Puck smiled in silence. Emilia made a slightly sad face, counseling, "Don't be reckless, okay?" as she really did move away from him. The very outpouring of concern deepened his unease. Left in the lurch, Subaru was in an exceedingly uneasy position as events proceeded. Puck sat down on top of Subaru's black hair and adjusted the position of his tail. "What a prickly and uncomfortable head to sit on." "Hey, it's not like I thought someone was going to sit on it someday! No one warned me to bring a cushion, but just, uh, help yourself, okay?" "Nah, I'll be done and back to Lia's lovely hair in no time. So, ready to begin?" When prompted, Subaru hesitated for just a moment, but a smile quickly came over him as he nodded. He was on something of a knife's edge of unease, but he just couldn't deny his curiosity. Having received Subaru's assent, Puck made a large nod of his own. Then, Subaru suddenly felt his entire body get hot. He felt something besides blood running through his veins no doubt it was the formless gush of mana stirring inside him. He could tell that the energy inside his body was moving in accordance with Puck's hand. "Subaru, try to picture it in your mind. Move the mana inside your body, flowing through me, by your own will. Push a portion of it out of your body through your gate. Picture it as a black cloud." "Picture, picture. Trust me, daydreaming is totally my thing." Subtly distorting Puck's advice, Subaru tried to picture where the energy wriggling inside his body was supposed to go. He tried to picture the gate the doorway at the center of his body. He pictured himself carefully opening a heavy door to

make the energy inside flow out. Once outside, Subaru would generate the phenomenon by his own will Right around the last part, Puck murmured abruptly, "Huh, this isn't good. All of a sudden, the gate..." Subaru didn't even have time to ask, The gate what...? The next moment, Emilia cried out "Are you two ?!" A few seconds later, a black cloud spewed out with explosive force, shrouding the corner of the inner garden of Roswaal Manor. He didn't blow up, but the result was a spectacular failure nonetheless. "If I must make a conclusion, your control of your gate is too weak, so you shouldn't push it, Subaru." "You see me like this and that's the first thing you say, damn it?!" Puck slapped his head and stuck out his tongue. "Tee-hee-hee." "That's not cute, you know!" Subaru shouted at Puck as his whole body soaked up the sensation of the lawn. Lying atop the grass, Subaru felt his breaths were labored; his whole body felt unusually languid. He was as sluggish as if he had a high fever. His limbs seemed to lack the will to move. He'd felt something like this before. Back on what was, in a true sense, his first day at the mansion, he'd felt the same sluggishness after Beatrice drained his mana. That was to say, Subaru was completely out of gas at that moment. Emilia interrupted. "For better or worse, Subaru simply isn't used to using his gate. That's why it ignored the user's will and everything inside flew right out." "So I didn't close the lid right... What am I, soy sauce...?" He managed to voice his resentment, but the depletion of his strength was nothing to laugh at. He wanted to at least manage to get up, but he couldn't put any energy into his limbs or the rest of his body. Subaru was still stuck lying on the ground when Emilia, kneeling beside him, met his gaze. "You mustn't move. You're all out of internal mana, so behave yourself. Maybe you should take today off work, too." " That's really bad!" Emilia was scolding him like a misbehaving child when Subaru raised his voice out of the blue. Emilia blinked in surprise off to the side as Subaru deeply rued his own carelessness. If he really did have to give up the whole day, it meant abandoning one more day he needed to put this loop in order. That was crazy, even fatal. And now his body felt like it was rusted over. "Ughhhh..." "Now hold on, I told you not to push it!" "Now's when I have to push it. If I don't, I'm going to really seriously regret it later..." It was by no means unusual for him to reap what he had sowed, but the timing was simply too awful. Emilia, seeing Subaru's brow covered with sweat as he struggled with all his might, slumped her shoulders. "Goodness, you really can't be helped." Once more, Emilia's lips tapered as if she was upset with him. Subaru, not grasping the meaning behind Emilia's statement, could only lift his eyes to look at her. " ? Emilia-tan, what's mnnff?!" Emilia peered down at his face from above while suddenly stuffing something into his mouth. He felt something round and soft on his tongue. Though bewildered, Emilia put a hand over his mouth and nodded to him. "Bite down." *** "Bite down...and swallow. Yes, there you go." With Emilia tolerating no dissent, Subaru located the object in his mouth and bit down on it hard. A bittersweet taste swirled all around his mouth. He narrowed his eyes as his taste buds sensed it was some kind of fruit. The next moment...it hit him. "Whoaaaaaaa ?!" Subaru, feeling like his whole body was alight, got up then and there, practically leaping to his feet. He felt like his blood was boiling as it coursed through his entire body, scalding heat reaching all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes. He exhaled hard, as if the air in his lungs was too hot to handle, and his knees were marching up and down all on their own. It was around that point when Subaru realized he was standing on his own two feet. There were still vestiges of sluggishness in every part of his body, but the crippling lethargy had vanished. "Wh...? What was that...?" "It's called a bokko fruit. When you eat it, it gives the mana inside your body a kick so that your gate powers up again, just enough to feel a bit better." Apparently, the mysterious fruit was some kind of MP recovery item. Subaru rotated his arms and, finding that nothing was wrong aside from a little fatigue, breathed a sigh of relief. "Wow, I'm relieved. I'd never forgive myself if I got another BAD END on account of that. Thanks, Emilia-tan." "I don't have many of them, and it's not good for the body, so I didn't really want to use it... You weren't bluffing there, were you?" No doubt it was Subaru's genuineness that had spurred Emilia into using such a precious item on him. Subaru responded to Emilia's prodding by sticking out his chest and boldly declaring, "Not one bit. I won't let you regret this." Then he immediately wiped all the sweat off his brow. "But man, I was an idiot there... When this is all over I'm going to kick myself even more than before." He carried the burden of having experienced numerous forms of death, something other people would only experience but once, but he wanted to avoid dying from embarrassment if he could at all help it. In fact, he wanted his suicide by leaping off a cliff to be the last death he ever experienced. The scars of having decided to end his own life ran deep. He didn't want to do that again, ever. One death was enough for anyone. He wanted death to be the natural end of his life. Of course, the best result would be some crazy event that ended with Emilia embracing him, but "Man, I'm such a kid I can't even think about it, huh?" Even though he was always so glib, he would never again casually speak the word death. Surely Subaru could only laugh at his own cowardice because he was reliving the same experiences, literally whether he wanted to or not. Seeing the change in Subaru's expression, Emilia had a sullen look as she asked, "Are you all right? Do you think you can go to work?" "I'll do work, and all the other stuff, too. Having you on my side is like riding an unsinkable battleship, so I'll give it all I've got." "...Riding a... I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but..." "Hey, Emilia-tan, how you put that kind of makes me excited. Can you say that again?" "You have a lewd look in your eyes, so no." Their usual banter left Subaru laughing as he stretched his limbs and finally his back. "Well, I'd better go face my seniors and turn over a new leaf!" "I suppose so. I don't think either has spoken one word about you since yesterday." " Ah." Subaru stretched his back as his hips made their own dull creak. "Sister, Sister. The lout known as Subaru has come." "Rem, Rem. The wage thief named Barusu has appeared." "I'm very sorry about yesterday...! Please forgive me!" Subaru sought forgiveness, bowing his head low in an earnest apology. He felt like he'd done nothing but bow his head for half an entire day. He'd accounted for everyone at the mansion except Roswaal meaning the entirety of the female population. "I'm back to a route with all the girls looking down on me again... I've got some deep karma here." "Sister, Sister. It seems Subaru is quite the pervert." "Rem, Rem. Subaru is a masochist who likes being degraded." "That's going too far, especially for you, Big Sis!" Shouting in response to the sisters' sharp rebuke, Subaru used his arms as a fulcrum to go from his prostrate position into a handstand, twisting his body around and using the momentum to rise to his feet. "Anyway, I'm sorry about being pathetic yesterday and annoying the day before... Well, a lot happened, but I've had a complete change in attitude, so it's a new me going forward." "It was the lap pillow." "The lap pillow, yes." "Don't tell me everyone knows?! That's so embarrassing!" Subaru hid his reddened face and crumbled as the twin maids met each other's gaze. "It is time to begin the morning chores, Sister." "It is time to begin our morning duties, Rem." "No comment?! That puts me down even more!!" With a wave, the two left behind Subaru and his pleas, heading off to work just as they had declared. As they did so, Subaru called for them to stop. "Time-out, time-out. There's a favor I want to ask about work this morning." Subaru's appeal made both twins stop, turn around, and tilt their heads in sync. "A favor?" "A hassle?" "Weird, I haven't heard Big Sis's bluntness for a while and it's getting me all fired up..." A pained smile came over him. Unlike the little sister, the older sister's unpleasant attitude was a lot easier to deal with, but he was glad he could talk to them like this at all. He breathed out, trying to brush off the absurdity of it all. "Actually, I'd like to go see the village. It's nearby, right? Isn't there something you need to buy there?" Overnight, he'd formed a firm hypothesis in the archive of forbidden books, but he wanted to get to the village that day no matter what. That was what was on Subaru's mind as Rem put a hand to her chest, sinking into thought. "Certainly, we are running a bit low on spices, so I was thinking of heading to the village tomorrow..." "Let's change the schedule and do it today, then. Might as well get more before you're running out, and you can't just borrow some from the neighbors out here, can you?" There were no other mansions in the first place, even if they had wanted to go see the neighbors. Rem seemed to ponder Subaru's suggestion a little when... "It's fine, isn't it?" "Sister?" In contrast to the little sister's pondering, the older sister stroked her own pink hair with a look of indifference. "We have to buy them either way, and there are no other pressing matters. It is the perfect opportunity to employ Barusu as a mule." "I was in bed with a gut wound just three days ago, so take it easy, okay?!" Subaru had hoped for some warmth from the merciless Ram, but her cover fire still made him tilt his mind's inner head a bit. He'd thought so, but this was vivid proof that the twin maids were not united in their opinions. He remembered how, in the loop before last, Rem's coming to kill him had been on Rem's own judgment. Perhaps their thinking was even less on the same page than Subaru had assumed. Either way... "...If Sister...says so, then..." After thinking it over a bit, Rem finally gave her own consent. The majority of work at the mansion got done only because of Rem, but Subaru knew from long experience that she let Ram, the less accomplished of the two, make a lot of the decisions. Whether mere coincidence or not, Ram's intervention had essentially settled the matter. Subaru pumped a fist as Rem's face went from contemplation back to a calm, neutral look. "However, either way, going to the village must wait until after lunch. Let us do it after Two Solartime...after we have finished all other outstanding work." "It will be all right. Barusu has pledged to work until his body is ground to a pulp, yes?" "Yep. Just watch what I can do now that

I've been reborn. I'll work like a hot knife through you know what." They corrected his corrupted idiom in unison. "Butter." "Right. That." Subaru scratched his face as it sunk in that he'd succeeded in his negotiations. Now that the promise to go shopping had been made, it was finally time to begin servant time. He watched Rem leave in a hurry, probably sorting out in her head the order of her chores, before shifting his gaze to Ram beside him. Naturally, Ram had been given orders to stick with Subaru for another day and oversee his education. No doubt it was best to avoid the tension that had built up the day before or rather, the day before last. More to the point, finding himself had been so painful that re-creating the tension was a little too much to ask. "Getting self-conscious of my own bad points in such a short time like that... It's a bigger shock than seeing an infant grow into a man in three days." As Subaru sank into reflection, Ram folded her arms and gave him a cold look. "Before we get to the issue at hand..." For some reason, Ram's gaze made Subaru feel like he should straighten his back. He did so and turned toward her. "About that magic in the garden earlier..." "Ah, sorry for the mess. I can't use that thing right, so I'm not touching it for a while. I hear it'd take twenty years for me to learn the fundamentals right." "A mess it may have been, but do not provoke Rem too much." *** Not understanding what Ram meant, a virtual question mark came over Subaru's face. Ram watched Subaru's inquisitive look before making a belated hmph. "Rem was quite disturbed by the magic that covered a corner of the garden as well as Lady Emilia. You should be dancing for me in thanks for stopping her, Barusu." "Ah... Ahhhh... Yeah, you're right..." In his shock at the failure of his magic, Subaru hadn't noticed, but a third party was unlikely to see that situation as a mere failed spell. He was truly grateful that Ram hadn't jumped the gun. On the other hand, he was aghast at Rem's willingness to make a snap judgment on the spot. "Oh man, I was way too careless... I have to think ahead more after four Continues." "What are you mumbling about...? If we do not get to work soon, both breakfast and dinner shall run late." "Oh, I was just thinking about the shopping in the afternoon. Which one of you will be going with me?" Under the circumstances, going with Rem would be a heavy weight on his mind. Either way, though, it made practical sense for Rem to be the one to go with him to the village. Subaru figured that he'd be going shopping with Rem, just like he had on two previous occasions. However... "What nonsense are you speaking?" "...Eh?" Subaru inclined his head. For once, Ram's neutral expression broke into a smile an extremely cold, malicious, devilish smile. "You shall go with both of us. You will have a lovely flower on each arm, Barusu." That would be nice, as long as the flowers aren't poisonous. Subaru, now aware that the negotiations had gone a little too well, covered his face with a palm, looked up to the heavens, and groaned. CHAPTER 3 *** From Subaru's perspective, it was his third visit to the village. It was a village named Earlham, practically right beside the mansion, part of the territory belonging to Roswaal in his role as margrave. It was a small village, with about two hundred residents, give or take. In his original world, that wouldn't have been enough to fill an elementary school. And there was Subaru, walking around a village you could do a full lap of in twenty minutes, with two girls, "a flower on each arm." "I must say, work was finished rather quickly." "Barusu was so deft, it was revolting. What happened to him?" "I won't blush, so praise me all you want. The latent potential sleeping in me has finally blossomed!" Subaru was rather full of himself at the high praise for his work before noon. He'd focused on speedy work for the sake of the afternoon shopping trip, and it worked out well. Apparently, he'd been failing as a result of putting too much stress on himself; this time, a more natural approach seemed to work much better. No doubt his ability to let go had something to do with the feel of Emilia's lap... That sure helped me relax, huh...? Unlike before when he was under so much stress, the lying on Emilia's knees had made him able to smoothly converse with the twins. The remaining nervousness only bolstered his resolve, erasing his carelessness in the process. Furthermore, at that moment, Subaru was calm enough that he felt like nothing could shake him. That was very fortunate, because he couldn't afford to behave like a troublesome eccentric here. The Q&A session with Beatrice the night before had established that a shaman had to physically touch the target of a curse. That's what made curses a fairly risky means of assassination. He compared having to get up close and personal to sniping from long range like someone would do from his world. The risk was probably offset by the curse being such certain means. "Either way, I have an MO for the perpetrator. It has to be someone who touched me on the trips to the village before." And if the person had arrived in the village in only the last few days, then his suspect was as good as found. That said, Subaru couldn't rely on everything in the village being perfectly as he remembered. He'd learned that the hard way back at the mansion. It'd be very hard to go over the same things save for a few specific events. "The ones who stand out are Muraosa, the acting headman, the granny touching butts in search of her lost youth, the leader of the young men with short haircuts, and the guy with a short cut leading the Ram-Rem Defense Force." Subaru named all the people whose faces stood out to him and went over each one. There was the guy who acted like he led the village, Muraosa, and the old woman who engaged in perverse behavior while laughing and saying, "Got me youth back, got me youth back." The two young men wore identical faces; they'd frequently butted Subaru's shoulders, perhaps out of jealousy for being so close with the twin sisters. "I had to lead Muraosa to the john when he started flaking out... Now that I think about it, all of them touched me somehow. That's kind of suspicious..." But all of them were native villagers through and through. They didn't fit the profile. "That being the case, guess I'd better just hang around the same places..." Subaru sighed at himself for his lack of any better idea. And as Subaru made that gloomy sound, a series of voices reached Subaru from above. "What's wrong, Subaru?" "Are you hungry?" "Do you have a tummy ache?" Subaru twisted his neck to see the multiple silhouettes glomping onto his back. They were children who had raced to reach Subaru first before he'd even set foot into the village. There were seven in all, not just latched onto his back but his legs and hips, too. Subaru, not finding the weight excessive for his build, cracked his neck. "I've got a connection with you across time and space or something..." "What are you saying?" "Did you hit your head?" "Do you have a tummy ache?" "Quit it about the tummy ache, geez. You make it sound like I've got diarrhea or something." As Subaru spoke, the children all burst into laughter. No doubt it was less about his joke than the word diarrhea being funny in and of itself. Apparently, hopping worlds didn't change the fact that kids of that age thought the cruder, the funnier. "And I've got kids all over me, just like old times..." The kids on his back were pulling on his cheeks. Subaru could only slump his shoulders at being a brat magnet. "Why is it I get along great with brats and the elderly? I mean, it's like it's the only good point I have in this world." He twisted his body to nuzzle the kids riding his back. Subaru heard merry cries behind him, voices calling, "Me next! Me next!" as he marched around the village, children in tow. At the time, Subaru was moving around by himself. Not that he actually was alone, but Ram and Rem were not with him. When they'd arrived at the village, the maid sisters hurried off to go shopping, leaving ominous statements behind them. "Sister, Sister. Let us gather all the light things." "Rem, Rem. Let us leave all the heavy things for Barusu." Subaru had said he wanted to have a look around the village, so no doubt they were being considerate, but he really did wish one of them had stayed with him. That way, the kids would have happily jumped onto her. "And I managed to meet all the suspects without being super nervous, even..." Subaru wiped some cold sweat off his brow, breathing heavily as he continued using himself as a decoy. Subaru had opted for the extremely risky method of searching for the shaman. It was near suicidal behavior to put himself back on the chopping block, but if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to get a look at the face of the one responsible. "At the very least, if it's just the rite, I can get Beako to lift it, right?" As long as there wasn't some mistake and the curse activated right away, just having the rite embedded in him shouldn't be a mortal threat. If he got cursed, he just had to bow his head to the floor before Beatrice and beg her to take it off. "Subaru, your face looks bad!" "Scary face!" "Weird face!" "Geez, you make that sound awful. And that third comment annoys me just a little!" Subaru continued strolling around the village, dragging the children along while bearing the brunt of their jokes. It wasn't like he could shake them off him, anyway, and they knew their way around the village, so they were somewhat useful. More importantly, to a shaman trying not to cause a fuss in the village, attempting to harm Subaru while he had a gaggle of children all over him was a poor option. So they functioned as human shields, too. "Man, I'm getting pretty evil, too. I'm expanding my horizons here!" "What's wrong, Subaru?" "What is it?" "Did you flake out?" "Nah, it's nothing." Subaru rubbed the heads of the children clamped on his legs and laughed at his own expense. "Well, this is all for my happiness. You'll cooperate a little longer, won't you?" Incidentally, he didn't think he liked children very much to begin with. They were noisy, way too chummy, and completely self-serving. Perhaps that was how he thought about himself, too. Ram ran a hand through her pink hair as she sighed with exasperation. "Free time was finally over, so we came to look, and this is what we see..." Ram stared at Subaru as he raised both arms to the sky then and there. "Victory!!" After Subaru raised his arms and shouted, a chorus of voices rang out in celebration. "Victory!!" The people beside him spontaneously patted one another's backs as they voiced their admiration. Subaru, too, wiped the sweat off his brow, exchanging pleasantries and giving high fives as he caught his breath and headed toward Ram. Subaru's buoyant approach was greeted by Ram's frosty gaze. "What kind of attraction is this?" "It's nothing big enough to call an attraction. I figured I'd kill time with

the kids, and then the adults saw and jumped on the bandwagon, that's all." Aerobics was his chosen method for playing with a bunch of noisy kids at the same time. The adults saw and they joined in, with the end result being a huge ruckus with almost half the village's population pitching in. "Well, I've gotten so popular it scares even me. It's something fun for the young and old alike. Maybe it really is the secret to living longer!" "I would not know." "Geez, that's a cold brush-off." Subaru gave Ram's unimpressed reply an exaggerated reaction. Upon seeing this, the children copied him. "That's cold, Ramchi!" "That's awful, Ramchi!" "You're scary, Ramchi!" "...You taught these children that manner of address?" "Not so much taught them as, ah, made you more approachable? I mean, if you keep everyone at arm's length, they can't see who you really are. That's a lonely thing... That's what I think, anyway..." "You certainly have an active mouth. I do not mind, but Rem may not care for it." "Remrin?" "Remrin." "Remririn." " Ah, we kind of...crossed that bridge already." Hearing from the children that her words of caution had come too late, Ram slumped her shoulders in resignation. "So, did you look around the village as you desired?" " Yeah, that part went off without a hitch." Subaru's cheeks warped into a grin in response to Ram's question. His stroll around the village to come into contact with the people on his suspect list was a great success. More to the point, Subaru stood out so much that it was he who had the opportunities to touch them this time. "The last, last thing on my to-do list was to high-five the guy with the crew cut after aerobics, and that's done." Having touched all the obvious suspects brought him a measure of relief. Now his time in the village was at an end in other words, time to say bye-bye to the kids. "I've got work to do, so get lost, guys. Ahh, what a pity. If I had more time I could've played with you some more. Ha-ha-ha, too bad so sad!" "He's smiling!" "He's laughing!" "Are you really so happy?!" Subaru "regretfully" shook loose of the kids, sticking his tongue out in the face of their complaints. He did not consciously recognize the sense of satisfaction filling him at having regained even such mundane ground with his limited capacity as a human being. Either way, he and Ram were on their way to the rendezvous point with Rem when "Ah?" Abruptly, the girl wearing her brown hair in braids tugged on Subaru's sleeve, her face red. Subaru was surprised, for until that moment, the braided girl had religiously maintained an arm's-length distance from the other kids while they'd piled onto him together, never entering the fray herself. Subaru crouched so that their gazes were at the same height. "What is it? If you've got something to say, I'm happy to listen." "Err, well... Come over here." The girl led him by his sleeve to another place. Subaru, guided by the slender hand, looked back at Ram. " You may do as you please a little while longer." "Oh, thanks, I owe you one. So, what is it?" With permission having been granted, he continued to follow the little girl's hand. With her in the lead, the children from earlier followed them to a corner of the village. "You'll be real surprised." "You'll love it." "You'll break out in a dance." "Surprise, happiness, dancing? You sure are expecting a big reaction out of me here." Surrounded by giggling children giving previews of how he'd react, they slipped past the houses of the village to a nook away from prying eyes. Then his eyes followed the children's pointing fingers and saw it. "Ah, yeah, there was this event, too, wasn't there...?" Out of the blue, Subaru voiced his assent, clasping his hands together and nodding several times over. The braided girl rushed over, picking it up in her arms, out of breath as she returned. This was the creature with brown fur that looked like a dog. Its eyes were round and its fur soft, making it almost seem like a newborn pup. The latter quality appealed to a connoisseur of fur such as Subaru. But unfortunately, the puppy did not respond to Subaru in kind. "Arf!" "I figured this was coming..." The moment Subaru reached out with his hand, every hair on the dog's body stood up as it barked out a warning. The children all wore shocked faces at how its small body shuddered, on guard against him. "But he's always been so good!" "He's only angry at Subaru!" "What did you do to him, Subaru?!" "That's what I wanna know sheesh! This is the third time and everything. Just not compatible or what?" The children booed behind Subaru as he turned toward the unfriendly puppy with a strained smile. He'd encountered this puppy on both his prior visits to the village in other words, during prior loops. Each time it had displayed a severe dislike of him, wounding his animal-loving heart. "I guess in one sense, having something not change between loops feels about right...but I'd have liked a more friendly reaction, seriously." In spite of Return by Death, many things had been repeated very differently, but the puppy's reaction was practically a broken record. But when Subaru made a friendly smile, the puppy suddenly let down its guard. With the puppy curled up in the braided girl's arms, Subaru snapped his fingers, realizing this was his chance. "Well, if you'll excuse me..." He'd show this puppy his full range of the fur-stroking skills he had honed on Puck. He rubbed the puppy in all the important places, like the head, neck, and the base of the tail, with the sensation bringing a big grin over Subaru. "Heh-heh, I've been looking forward to this feeling. Pretty nice stuff for a stray. A little tender, loving brushing and this'll be a long, shiny coat. Hey, there's a bald spot on the head. This a wound? Where did you bump against ?" Maybe the puppy had a complex about the white scar; the instant Subaru touched it, the puppy's maw chomped hard on his hand. He quickly pulled his hand back, but it had a prominent bite mark on it nonetheless. Subaru yelped at the sharp pain on the back of his blood-smeared hand as he stroked the wound. "What an event with which to get a one hundred percent completion rate. You even got me in the same place. What, did you do a time leap just for this?" Subaru smiled to put it at ease, but the puppy, back on guard, continued to snarl. Watching relations between man and beast return to the gutter, the children observing the two nodded to one another. "Yep, he got carried away." "It's because he touched it that much." "The puppy's a girl!" "I feel like that's a weird tangent at the end there...and what, no one's worried about me? I'm gonna cry here." Subaru lightly washed his hand at a watering hole and waved good-bye to the puppy and the frolicking children. The braided girl looked like she felt responsible, waving with a frail, bashful smile before returning to the others. When he got back, he had a maid waiting for him, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed and a big attitude. "Sorry for the wait." "I sent you off thinking it would be a brief affair, but you come back with your hair disheveled, your clothes a mess, and bleeding from your left hand, of all things." "Well, sorry about that! A bunch of things happened. You can tell just by looking, right?" "I suppose so. One glance and I can largely tell what happened." He saw a gloomy expression on her elegant face as she sighed a little. Subaru raised an eyebrow at the odd nuance of her statement and her un-Ram-like demeanor, but Ram instantly gave her usual hmph, not allowing Subaru to voice his question. "Your wound and clothes are both unsightly. We shall quickly rendezvous with Rem, because she can actually heal you." "Ramchi, you don't use healing magic?" "I can handle sealing a wound after an amputation." Subaru could not conceal his shudder. "That's some really extreme first aid there!!" Out of nowhere, Ram walked over and tugged on Subaru's sleeve. Subaru blinked, turning only his head to face Ram when she went, "Aren't you coming, Barusu?" "It's with you, so yeah." For a single, brief moment, he saw her lips slacken at his reply. Ram proceeded straight to leading him off by his sleeve. He thought that she'd be really cute if she always acted this straightforward, but that might have been because his honesty with himself kept him spewing lines like that all the time. Perhaps honesty, too, had a time and a place. That was the thought on his mind as he and Ram walked toward where Rem was waiting for them. For some reason, he sensed that the girl leading him was walking more slowly, more gently than usual. By the time the three returned to the mansion, the sunrays were heavily tilted, as it was well into the evening. As they stood before Roswaal Manor, bathed by the evening sun, a lone man collapsed onto the ground. It was none other than Subaru Natsuki. He set the oversize keg aside and flopped onto the ground, breathing hard. "I made it... I made it! ...Good job, me! Totally good job!" "Yes, yes, well done." "Yes, yes, much appreciated." The twin maids sandwiched the fallen Subaru as they gave him stiff, formal thanks for his labors. Ram's coolness was entirely normal, but Rem's bluntness was no doubt due to her anger at seeing Ram leading Subaru by his hand when they met up after shopping in the village. The first words out of Rem's mouth had been, "You and Sister seem to be getting along nicely." That made Subaru regret the decisions he had made. He wanted to make up for it somehow, so when she'd made him carry a heavy barrel back to the mansion out of apparent spite, he hoped it would improve her impression of him just a little. Rem spoke down toward Subaru. "Well, then, we shall return to the mansion ahead of you. Take your time." She then picked up the large barrel as if it were filled with feathers. Subaru could bench-press about 175 pounds, but he had serious doubts that he could lift that barrel above his shoulders. And yet, he'd just seen Rem pick up the heavy object with one hand while still carrying miscellaneous objects in her other arm. Subaru laughed drily at the pretty picture it all made. "You didn't need me to carry that, did you?" "As you can see, not at all." Ram wasn't minded to pamper Subaru's inner boy at all. As he saw Rem casually walk off while carrying the cask, he was painfully aware that his grunt work had been meaningless. "So why'd you make me do it, then? Was it seriously just a grudge against me? Stop bullying the new guy, sheesh." "Do you not understand, Barusu? It is out of consideration for you, of course." "I don't get what you mean by 'consideration' here." "Barusu, what would Lady Emilia think if she saw you coming back carrying nothing but a small bag full of spices behind Rem while she carried a large, heavy object?" "You're such a considerate supervisor, it leaves me speechless!" As Ram knelt, he expressed deep gratitude toward her. If Subaru had come back full of himself carrying a little bag while a girl smaller than him lugged around something huge...and Emilia had seen... Just picturing it was enough to make him want to die. Rem, who had gone to the mansion ahead of them, returned during their

exchange, looking down at the two. "Sister, Master Roswaal summons us." Ram responded quickly to the mention of her master on her little sister's lips. Instantly, her usual laid-back attitude vanished; she straightened herself and looked down at Subaru. "What are you doing, Barusu? Do you intend to make Master Roswaal wait?" "Just because you two know something doesn't mean I do. Er, what, this is a meeting with all the servants?" Subaru felt like he was being treated like a child who was slow on the uptake as he followed behind the others. Along the way, he straightened himself in accordance with Ram's lessons and opened the mansion's front doors. As he did so, Roswaal, the lord of the manor, awaited the three with open arms. "Ohhhh, you were together, were you nooot? That indeed saves me some tiiime." He had indigo hair and oddly colored eyes, one blue, one yellow. He had the delicate build of a pretty boy, but the clown makeup adorning his face put it all to waste. But all that included, the air he gave off felt different somehow. "Are you wearing that to go out somewhere?" "Precisely. I actually do not faaavor formal wear like this, either, but it cannot be heeelped. The other paaarty is troublesome to deal with in normal attire, so I am forced to go out wearing thiiis." Usually, Roswaal indulged in his eccentric taste in clothing. It had been some time since Subaru had seen him wearing something with geometrical patterns, lacking the usual clownish spirit. Or rather, it was the very first time. Subaru could think of only two possibilities as to why Roswaal would be wearing such an outfit. Ram and Rem, thinking the same thing as Subaru, aired both possibilities simultaneously. "Entertaining a guest?" "Going on a trip?" Faced with questions from all his servants, a pained smile came over Roswaal as he pointed at Ram. "Ram is correct... I am heading out. A somewhat troooublesome message has arrived, you see. There is something I must check in the environs of Garfiel, though I do not plan on being very laaate." Having never heard that particular word before, Subaru couldn't be certain whether it was the name of a person or a place. But given that the twins seemed to know what he was talking about, Subaru nodded without objection. "For that reaaason, I do not believe I shall be back tonight, so...Ram, Rem, I leave matters in your hands." "Yes, if you command it." "Yes, even at the cost of my life." Roswaal acknowledged the pair's immediate replies with his oddly colored eyes alone before gazing at Subaru with them. Subaru, feeling backed into a corner by the differently colored glints, squirmed uncomfortably. "Sorry, I'm not loyal enough to swear even at the cost of my life yet." "That is fine and weeell. If you swore that all of a sudden, it would feel raaather disconcerting. But I leave things in yooour hands as well, Subaru." Roswaal patted Subaru's shoulder, one eye closed, so that only his yellow iris was visible. "This has a fishy aroma to it. I can cooount on you to take care of Lady Emilia, yes?" "Yeah, you can seriously count on me for that." That went without saying. Subaru didn't know how much of a read Roswaal had on the situation. He didn't know, but he'd picked up this much... This had never happened before. Perhaps it truly meant that Subaru's actions had changed the world around him. Nodding, Roswaal gave Subaru a satisfied smile before giving his faithful twin retainers various instructions. "Well, theeen, I shall be off. I pray that nothing shall occuuur." As he spoke, Roswaal went out the entrance, with the three of them watching him go. But Subaru belatedly realized that there was no coach or carriage to whisk Roswaal away. Surely Roswaal wasn't going to walk "Well, I leave it in your hands " When Roswaal spoke, his overcoat flapped as he made a light leap. And then, Subaru saw: Roswaal's body sailed up into the sky, wind wrapping around it as he soared at high speed. Subaru's mouth opened in surprise as Roswaal rose almost as high as the clouds, heading toward the mountains, growing smaller, and finally vanishing from view. "H-he flew... Geez, magic's amazing stuff." Subaru voiced his admiration at the solo flying he had just witnessed. In contrast, the sisters, clearly accustomed to Roswaal's flight magic, quickly switched gears. They instantly established the order of affairs in the mansion in the absence of their master. "Even if Master Roswaal is absent, our duties do not change. Indeed, the fact that he is not present means we must be even more diligent," said Rem. "That's a nice professional attitude. Okay, then, let's get this started!" Rem began divvying up work as Subaru rolled up his sleeves, burning with enthusiasm. Of course, he wasn't just fired up about work but about the changing situation, too. The change clearly made the twins expect a potential attack on the mansion. They would be securely guarding the mansion, but Subaru, who knew with certainty an attack was coming, was even more on guard than they. He needed to discover the shaman's identity without a single moment to lose. If the other side was acting faster, there was no doubt in his mind that the visit to the village that day had triggered it. In other words, Subaru's decoy plan had worked as he had meant it to. All Subaru had to do now was confirm his suspicions and smoke the shaman out. "So, it's that time again, Beako!" Those were the first words out of his mouth when he pushed open the door and entered the archive of forbidden books. His grand and very pushy entrance made Beatrice, sitting on the footstool as she read a book, slump her shoulders. "Really...? How do you breach the Passage with such ease...?" "Intuition. It's all intuition. I've got a sixth sense about these things." Beatrice wore a very sour face as Subaru approached, and she abruptly narrowed her eyes, no doubt because she noticed the seriousness in Subaru's. "Another half a day and you have yet a different expression. I suppose you are a busy sort?" "Hey, I want to take it easy, too. But the world's enough of a mess that it's not exactly giving me the chance." Subaru, an ordinary person, had been buffeted by one problem arising after another. But he was confident that, at long last, he was catching up to the problems, instead of them purely catching up to him. "I want you to check something for me, so I finished cleaning the bath in record time." "If cleaning the bath came first, surely it is no great affair?" This applied to Subaru as well, but time in the bath was one of the few respites in a world of few pastimes. Just thinking of Rem's reaction if she found out he'd slacked off in cleaning that place of rest was enough to give him chills. After all, Subaru getting along with her big sister had put his friendship rating with Rem in the dumps. Even if he located the shaman, poor relations with Rem meant Subaru couldn't escape a BAD END. Having to advance along both routes simultaneously made Subaru feel like he was walking a tightrope. "If it was just a problem of which girl to get lovey-dovey with, I'd be real happy, but..." "Are you wandering off topic again, I wonder...? What did you want of me, then?" "Ah, yeah, about that..." Subaru sank in thought in front of Beatrice, who at least seemed tentatively willing to hear him out. After hesitating about how to put it exactly, he nodded once. "I think there's a little curse on me. Can you check?" "...What are you saying, I wonder?" "I think there's a little curse on me. Can you check?" "I did not tell you to repeat yourself! Has it been even half a day since we spoke about shamans in detail, I wonder?! Even gullibility has its limits..." Beatrice stormed over and yelled, probably thinking Subaru had some sort of persecution complex. But her expression changed midway to one of surprise; she looked up at Subaru as if some doubt had just been answered. "I sense a curse rite... You truly have been cursed." "Seriously? I mean, I figured as much, but having it actually said out loud is still kind of a shock..." The whole point of the decoy operation was to get cursed, but it was still a jolt to know that he really had been. What brought a pall over his face was not only fear but his own thoughts in other words, the fact that one of those lighthearted villagers had been an assassin. "Do you know what kind of curse it is?" "I can say nothing from merely seeing the rite. But as we discussed, the odds are extremely strong that it is a curse to take your life." Subaru calmly accepted Beatrice's statement when she looked up at him with a blink of her large eyes in apparent surprise. "You do not look like you think dying is a frightening thing, you know?" "Huh? What a stupid thing to say. I'm super scared of dying. There's nothing more frightening in this world than death. People who say there's worse stuff than dying should say that after they've tried death once or twice." It was the one unshakable truth Subaru had learned from that world: Death was absolute. He could not abide it being treated lightly. Nor could he stand comparing death to other things by those who had not experienced it. After all, Subaru, having experienced death multiple times, had returned to the world to start over because he had himself tasted despair worse than death. "That's why I'm going to get through it this time, Fate." If there was indeed a deity that governed fate, Subaru had just declared war upon him. Subaru Natsuki would snatch back his happy ending to make up for the agonizing times he had suffered. Having finished his rant at the supernatural being, Subaru turned back to Beatrice. "So, could you lift that little curse for me? I'm short on time here." But at the very moment Subaru was burning from the chance to strike the perpetrator when least expected, the girl who should have been his greatest ally cut him off at the knees. "...Why do I have to save your life, I wonder?" Subaru scratched his head as he replied, "I thought you might say something un-cute like that, so I came beforehand with a way to convince you. If I die, it'll make Puck sad, too." "...Would Puckie's heart be greatly moved by your demise, I wonder?" "No, no, if I die, it'll be a pretty huge shock to Emilia. If it's a shock to Emilia, that'll hurt Puck, too. And especially you, the one who could've stopped it beforehand!" "You are completely touched in the head, unable to distinguish begging for your life from using it as a threat!" Beatrice stomped on the floor, but apparently a rebuttal to Subaru's declaration was not forthcoming. She sighed in annoyance and gave him a reluctant look as she beckoned him with a hand. "I suppose I shall yield. However, do not bother me any further, ever!" "To be honest, I can't promise you that, either. If I'm in trouble, I'll be back to ask for your help. I'll pick the scraps from your table if I have to." "Are you even aware that I am saving your life, I wonder?" "I'm super aware that I'm annoying you with weakling logic. Sorry." When Subaru bowed his head in apology, Beatrice shook her head with a look of annoyance. After that, her palm glowed with a white light, which she gently touched to Subaru's body. "I shall now

destroy the curse rite. Bear in mind that it is implanted in the place where the shaman touches your body directly." "Sure, don't worry, I'm all set." Subaru checked his own body as he felt the light in her palm convey its warmth. He'd kept track of where the suspects in the village had touched him. Only the granny searching for her lost youth had touched his butt. So, if Beatrice moved her hand to his butt, he'd know that the granny was the perpetrator. He'd also complain to Beatrice about sexual harassment. " Eh?" But the place Beatrice's palm touched was completely at odds with Subaru's expectations. He felt a swirling heat where the white glow leaped from her palm into his flesh. There was an itchy feeling where she had touched, but it seemed to ooze right out of his body as a... "Black...cloud...?" The light in Beatrice's hand directly caught hold of the black fog that had been the curse. The itchiness vanished as Subaru shuddered from that wriggling cloud having been inside his own body. Then... "Must you be so abominable, I wonder?" Beatrice crushed it in her hand before it vanished, then shook her hand as if having touched something icky. Realizing Subaru had gone silent, she harrumphed. "It is done. I suppose you will be fine now?" When she said it is done, Subaru realized that he'd stopped breathing. He rued his timid heart, but a more pressing concern came to mind. "Hey, Beako." "Would you stop addressing me that way already...?" "Is the place you touched with your palm the place the shaman touched me?" Faced with Subaru's grave question, Beatrice set her own complaints aside and reluctantly nodded. Her nod affirmed in Subaru's mind the perpetrator behind the string of curses. "I've got to...go to the village !" Now that he knew the culprit's identity, he had no choice but to act immediately. He'd originally planned to wait until the next day, go to the village with Roswaal and the twins, flush the shaman in the village out of hiding, and deal with him. But he couldn't do that now. Subaru's heart continued to race as he rushed to put his hand on the door. His breath was so ragged as he ran that he didn't even hear Beatrice call out for him to stop. Fate's irrationality and poor taste in irony, dangling Subaru and the others on a string, filled him with rage. That anger gripped Subaru as he ran, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Just how far are you gonna take playing me for a fool...?!" He kept running. Subaru dashed through the hallway, leaped down the stairs, flipped around at the landing of the stairs, the heels of his shoes sliding to a stop at the entry hall as he raised his face and yelled out. " Ram! Rem! I've gotta talk to you!" Ram immediately popped into view, responding to the shout that probably carried throughout the entire mansion. Apparently she'd been working quite close by. She looked at Subaru's red face and ragged breathing with her eyes narrowed in disapproval at the impropriety. "What is it, Barusu? Your haste is quite unsightly." "Sorry, I'm heading to the village. You can't stop me; I'll go even if you try. I just thought it'd throw everyone off even worse if I just left without a word." "The village...? Why would you...? No, more importantly, do you intend to disregard Master Roswaal's instructions? Tonight, Rem and I are in charge of this mansion. Surely you understand this?" Ram glared at Subaru even more sharply. Ram's position was that whatever Roswaal wanted came first. Subaru's open disregard of her master's command really rubbed her the wrong way. But Subaru wasn't minded to retreat an inch even so. "Time's short, so I'll get right to the point. There's a bad magic user in Earlham Village. I know who it is, so I have to go now." "...You ask me to accept what sounds like a child's made-up excuse?" "I can't help it; there's no other way to put it here. Go talk to Beako; you'll see I'm telling the truth... Besides..." As he pleaded with the increasingly suspicious Ram, the great doors opened behind him as Rem emerged. "Sister " When Rem saw the two speaking in the entry hall, she went to her sister's side like it was second nature. "Sister, what is...?" "He says he is heading out to rid us of an evil magic user in the village." Ram bluntly conveyed Subaru's statement to Rem for him. Hearing it put that way, even Subaru thought it sounded like pure fiction. Apparently that was Rem's conclusion, too. "Sister, Sister. Subaru's joke is not very funny." "Rem, Rem. Barusu thinks he has a future in comedy." "Ram, Rem. I might kid around all the time, but I talk seriously sometimes, too." Faced with their twin-act lines, Subaru spoke to both at once. He took a step forward as if to emphasize that he wasn't cowed by the sisters' reactions. "I know it's an unbelievable story, and it's asking too much for you to just take my word for it right now. But I'm not asking you to let me go without any conditions." To Subaru, this was a crucial fork in the road. Subaru wet his lips with his tongue, jabbing a finger toward the silent pair as he made his proposal. "I'm going to the village. If you think that's suspicious, fine, tag along. Watch me and see. But I'm not going with Emilia left all alone, so it has to be just one of you." "You cannot simply go off on your own... In the first place, neither Sister nor I have any reason to go with you if we are to uphold Master Roswaal's command..." "No, you don't, if Roswaal's command in the evening is the only one you're upholding. Are those the only orders Roswaal gave about me?" *** Rem was at a loss for words. Subaru's statement a moment before had been a mere bluff, but her uncomfortable reaction made it plain he'd hit the mark. Piecing together info from the previous loops, Subaru had guessed that Roswaal had ordered the pair to keep an eye on him. Rem looked like she was searching for an escape route, but Ram beat her to the punch, exhaling. "Understood, Barusu. We will accept your independent action." "Sister?!" Rem was in utter shock at seeing her sister wave a white flag so easily. But Ram indicated to her little sister to keep quiet. "However, just as you said, we cannot allow you to go alone, Barusu. Allowing you to act alone here would in itself disregard Master Roswaal's commands." "I figured as much. So what's our compromise gonna be?" "Though it pains me, we have no choice but to go along with your prior suggestion. Rem will accompany you." "Ask and ye shall receive, I guess." Subaru thrust out a clenched fist to show his agreement with Ram's terms. Ram sighed a little as she turned to her little sister, shunning Subaru. "Rem, this is how it is, so, please. I shall confirm matters with Lady Beatrice and protect Lady Emilia myself I shall be watching you from here." "Sister, you must not use that eye too oft " "This is no time to say that. I will use it if I need to. The same goes for you, Rem." The way the older sister put it left no room for Rem to question any further. Subaru was glancing toward their conversation, understood by only the two sisters, when Rem shifted an unfriendly glance at him. "Subaru, I would like to hear the details." "I'll tell you on the way. Things might've already gotten pretty bad, though..." If Subaru's worst premonition proved true, there would be damage that simply couldn't be laughed off. Not to Subaru personally but in a much larger sense. He gave Ram's shoulder a light, grateful pat as he headed to the entrance with Rem, who still didn't look on board. He was figuring it was fifteen minutes to the village if they ran straight there, when " Subaru, where are you going?" A voice clear as a bell danced down from above the great stairway of the entry hall. Turning around without a thought, he looked up to see Emilia standing there, her silver hair swaying. Judging from her heavy breaths, she'd heard Subaru's earlier shout and had come over to see the three of them below. "I thought I'd come down because I heard a loud voice earlier... Did something happen?" "Something...might've happened. You don't need to worry. Ah, I'll be happy if you worry a little bit." Subaru was behaving casually on purpose so as not to make Emilia too anxious. Though Subaru was acting in his usual lighthearted fashion, Emilia seemed to pick up on something. "Your face says you're going to do something dangerous again." Emilia had a sullen look about her as she saw right through him. Subaru wailed inside at how his grand act had been so easily foiled as he covered his face with his palms. "That's what we were arguing about just now. We finally got everything cleared up, so..." "There's no point trying to stop you, is there?" "Well, not really. And if you succeeded, it'd only make things worse..." "Yes, yes, I understand. I won't stop you." Emilia walked down the stairs, stopping just in front of Subaru and placing her hands on her hips. Subaru was unable to look away from her glimmering violet eyes. With Subaru unable to move, Emilia reached out and gently touched his chest. "Even if I tell you not to be reckless or careless, you probably will anyway, won't you?" "If that's what it takes... Ah, er, not that I want to do either, mind you." Whether it was achievable or not, the best thing would be to travel a path free of worry and strife. If, instead, Subaru was the only one who could change the situation, he had to act, even if it was recklessly. He wondered where he'd picked up such a troublesome personality. Probably has something to do with the girl I'm staring at right now, he thought with a strained smile. Emilia was still touching his chest as she murmured. " May the grace of the spirits be with you." "What was that?" Subaru tried to decipher the expression without success. Emilia shot him a broad smile. "Words you say when seeing someone off. They mean 'come back safely.'" "Ahh, I see. Got it, Emilia-tan. So when I do come back safe and sound, you'll gently hug me to your chest like a baby chick, right?" "Yes, yes." Letting Subaru's desire for coddling slide off her, Emilia shifted her gaze to include Rem. Rem, who had been silently watching the exchange, straightened her back in response. "Be careful, Rem. Also, make sure Subaru doesn't do anything rash." "Yes, Lady Emilia. As you wish." Seeing Rem grab the hem of her skirt and make a polite bow, Emilia nodded to her in satisfaction. Subaru waved. "Well, Emilia-tan, I'm heading off." Emilia's voice had given him words of encouragement to see him on his way. "Come back soon." He pushed the doors of the entrance open and began to run toward the village side by side with Rem as the remaining two watched them go. "So, I would like to hear the details now..." "There's a shaman in the village to hurt Emilia's royal selection. He cursed me good, but Beatrice removed it. If we don't act now, the whole village could get wiped out." Even while running, Rem's breath caught, her eyes going wide as she asked, "Are you...serious?" Subaru replied with a silent nod as he focused his energy on getting to the village. He wouldn't have had to imagine a shaman with human intelligence taking such a measure.

But if Subaru's deduction was correct, he had to assume the worst. And so, Subaru ran onward. Rem continued to silently sprint by his side, as yet unaware of the gravity of the situation. By the time they arrived at the village, bonfires burned brightly, pushing back the dark of night. Normally, there was no way anyone would have so many fires lit just to keep it bright at that hour. Rem, standing beside the out-of-breath Subaru, picked up on the strange atmosphere; her face showed she understood something was wrong. A young man from the village recognized the pair and hurried over. "Hey, it's the two from the mansion. What are you doing here at a time like " Rem interrupted the youngster's question. "It seems good that we are. Has something happened?" The young man seemed a little surprised by Rem's manner of speaking, but he immediately replied excitedly. "Yes. Actually, a bunch of village kids are missing. We knew they were out playing before it got dark, but...well, that's why a whole bunch of people are looking." Since the youngster in front of them wasn't being specific, Subaru cut in before Rem could ask further. "The missing kids, that's Luca, Petra, Mildo, and them?" "Y-yes, them... Do you have any idea where they went?" When the young man answered affirmatively, Subaru clicked his tongue and kicked the ground. His gaze shifted outside the village toward the wall that separated it from the forest. "Who else is looking for the kids besides you?" "All the young men in the village, plus Muraosa." "The kids are in the forest. You'll never find them by looking around the village like this." Subaru's declaration brought a change in the young man's face. He seemed like he wanted to ask Subaru more, but Subaru patted his shoulder and ran toward the trees. "I'm going into the forest. Tell everyone that's where the kids are!" Subaru made a beeline toward the woods, paying no heed to the questioning voice behind him. Rem hurried to keep up with Subaru, giving him a look wrapped in doubt about how certain he seemed. "How do you know such a...?" "I can tell. No, I know. If what the brats said was right, they should be this way." A tall wooden fence surrounded the village. The pair climbed over a section bordering the forest and cut among the trees as they headed deeper in. Subaru had just been going by his memory of what he'd heard, but Rem, walking beside him, suddenly lifted her face. " The barrier has been...severed." Rem's surprised voice made Subaru grit his teeth, because he had been right. Rem pointed to a crystal embedded in a large tree right before their eyes. Judging from how it wasn't glowing, it must have been placed there to power a barrier blocking off the spaces between the trees. Subaru remembered several times when people had pointed to the forest and spoken of the barrier. He couldn't recall exactly when, but Ram had told him point-blank not to go into the mountains. "What does the barrier being cut mean here?" "It means that demon beasts can cross the boundary. This forest is their habitat, you see." "Demon beasts...? Huh? So, um, what are they, anyway?" Subaru's question made Rem's eyes waver as she delivered a textbook reply. "They are beasts imbued with dark power, the enemy of intelligent life. It is said that the witch created them." "More of the witch, even here, geez..." Subaru grimaced at the piece of vocabulary that stuck out, but Rem's explanation made him certain: He knew who the "shaman" was, and that this was just a prelude to an attack on the village. Before Rem's eyes, Subaru stepped into the gap between the trees she had called a barrier and headed deeper into the woods. " ! Subaru, what are you ?!" Rem, surprised, raised her voice to stop him. "The kids are in there. I have to save them." "Do you have hard proof of that? Master Roswaal's permission is required before crossing the ba " "The scar on my hand is proof!" He raised his left hand so that Rem could see the animal bite mark on the back of it. It was the scar left by the bite he'd gotten in the village that afternoon when the kids had surrounded him and he'd touched the puppy. Beatrice had pointed to that scar and said that the being that made it was the culprit behind the curse on Subaru. Meaning "The kids had a cute puppy with them. It looked like a dog, but what if it wasn't a dog? What if it was a demon beast that curses whoever it bites?" That puppy had bitten Subaru not once, not twice, but three times. If he hadn't been bitten this time around, he had no doubt Rem would've been bitten instead. Human hands hadn't cast the curse; it was more like a natural disaster. Just like rats were the medium through which the Black Plague spread, demon beasts were the vector by which the curse was propagated. The kids had followed the demon beast into the forest. There was no telling whether or not they were safe within. "This gets worse the more time passes. We don't know if the kids are already cursed, but for now we've got to bring them all back to the mansion and purify them." "Hold on. You cannot simply decide that on your... In the first place, the situation is too suspicious." "Huh?" Rem pointed toward the village, which happened to be toward the mansion as well. "To have such a problem occur while Master Roswaal is absent... Are you certain this is not a diversion for an attack on the mansion?" "So what would you do? Abandon the kids in trouble right this minute, go back to the mansion, and batten down the hatches? I mean, yeah, we can do that, if you're all right with everyone in the village being dead by morning." Even as he said it, Subaru was well aware of how cruelly he'd put it. Rem was just trying to do her job and minimize the risks to the people at the mansion. It was natural for her to think that way, and he had no intention of blaming Rem for it. But there came a time when you had to make a choice, no matter how much you tried to push it away. And Subaru knew only too well that the greatest regret came from choosing not to choose at all. "Rem, let's go. We've got to do something." "Why are you that determined to...? Subaru, what connection do you have to the vill " Perhaps it was her still being unsure about his judgment, but it was the first time Subaru had heard Rem murmur in a feminine fashion. Here was Rem, prim and proper through thick and thin, uttering such soft complaints. If he was being honest, Subaru would've said he was scared to go forward. His legs were trembling from fatigue, but from another reason as well. Who could have blamed him if he'd displayed the face of a coward he was desperately keeping concealed? But Subaru slapped his own cheeks to make his heart forget its slide toward weakness and escape. " Petra wants to be a clothing maker in the capital when she grows up." "...Ah?" "Luca wants to follow in the footsteps of his dad, the top woodcarver in the village. Mildo wants to make a wreath from flowers from all the flower beds and give it to his mom as a present..." *** Subaru recalled each face one by one in the back of his mind as he continued, counting with his fingers. "Meyna's all happy because a little brother or sister will be born anytime now, and those brothers Dyne and Cain are both working hard to get Petra's hand in marriage..." He let out a small laugh. Then he shook his head to Rem, who stood in silence. "I know their faces, their names, and what they want to do in life. I'm not some stranger anymore." Subaru hated kids. They were noisy, rowdy, and they talked trash with no respect for their elders. They thought nothing of discourtesy or disrespect, were brash and unreserved it was like looking at himself in the mirror. "But, Rem, I promised them I'd do aerobics with them again tomorrow morning." Subaru had thought the same things during the loop on the first day after his summoning. It'd be easier just to let things go. But he ran forward because he couldn't. He looked at Rem. She was conflicted. She hesitated. Looking weak, powerless, about to break out in tears that was Subaru's job. Seeing her looking weaker than he, Subaru resented himself for hardening his resolve. He loathed that he was a small and petty-enough person to use others to protect himself, even though he was the incurable scaredy-cat. If his own cowardice could be used as a tool, he'd use that, too. "I keep my promises and expect others to keep theirs I'll do aerobics with those brats again, you'll see. That's why I'm heading in." He had no idea courage was such a terrifying thing. Subaru was so focused on keeping his hands from shaking that he didn't even notice the tremor in his voice. From behind, Rem watched all this, then silently closed her eyes. Then... "Then it cannot...be helped." "Rem?" Subaru lifted his face as Rem's tongue abruptly loosened. It was practically the first time since he'd met her that she'd displayed clear emotion on her face. "After all, I have been assigned to watch over you, Subaru. I cannot accomplish that duty if I let you go by yourself, can I?" Rem sounded like she was teasing Subaru, leaving him in shock before he finally shook his head. "Yeah, I suppose not. Keep a good eye on me to make sure I don't do anything suspicious." "Yes, I will. So, let us be off?" Seeing Rem standing beside him, Subaru felt like it was the first time they had truly stood side by side. He had an urge to thank Rem, but before he could find the words, he noticed it. As Rem walked beside him, she had at some point taken an iron ball in her hand. Attached to a handle via a long chain, the metal looked much too heavy for the ease with which she carried it. "Er, ah, Rem, that's..." "For self-defense." "Er, but that's..." "For self-defense." Subaru and Rem traded words along those lines as they walked into the woods without any path to follow. He desperately tried to re-harden his resolve and revive the courage he'd wrung out of himself at such great pains. With Rem maintaining her combat readiness with the iron ball "for self-defense" in one hand, the two continued exploring the night-covered forest. The moonlight was obstructed by the tree canopy, bringing a deep, black darkness over the forest. As they stepped around the trees obstructing their path, plowing forward through leaves and branches, their bodies picked up scratches that oozed blood. Plunged into a world with just a little moonlight trickling through to light the way, there was only one thing they had to search for. *** Rem stopped, looking all around as she sniffed the air. Her motion was like that of a police dog, and they were indeed relying on Rem's sense of smell to guide them through the forest. Subaru kept from speaking to her so as not to disrupt her concentration, but his unease was intense. He trailed after her small back as she stepped ahead of him, the long silence whittling Subaru's mental state down further, when... " I smell something alive... It is close." Rem sent a sharp gaze to her left as she murmured, and Subaru followed suit. But he saw nothing there but darkness, the same as all the

rest. Seized by impatience, he patted Rem's shoulder. "Is it the kids?" "I do not know, but it is not an animal smell." "That's enough to go on," said Subaru, nodding to Rem as he rushed forward. She ran right behind him. Even Rem's expression brightened a bit from having a solid lead that cut through the darkness. She subconsciously picked up her pace. Although, as their expectations increased, so did their unease. That fact was probably part of why Rem was unwilling to say for certain if the scent belonged to the kids. Rem drove forward, shoving aside foliage to make a path. Subaru chased after her, out of breath as his legs began to grow heavy. But his mind was crystal clear. His eyes had begun to acclimate to the darkness, so Subaru started to make out the outlines of the forest, too and the next moment, the forest opened up, and both arrived on top of a high little hill. Moonlight shone down on the green slope in the gap in the forest like something out of a dream. And there "It's the kids!" There, lying on the ground, were the children, arms and legs spread as they slept. Rem and Subaru rushed over together to check on whether they were safe. There were six on the ground in total. They weren't conscious, but they were breathing, and their bodies were warm to the touch. "They're alive. They're alive!" "We made it in time!" Subaru shouted with joy. But Rem, standing beside him, had a stern look on her face. "No, they are still breathing, but they are heavily debilitated. At this rate..." "Debilitated...? The curse?!" When he looked closer, he saw that the children all had pale faces; their breaths were short and ragged, like even that drained their strength. Their brows were covered in cold sweat as they slept with pained expressions, like they were seeing nightmares. "After we finally found them... Rem, can't you lift the curses?" "My skill is insufficient. If Sister is indeed watching this place... At any rate, I will use healing magic to put them at ease. We shall carry them once they calm down." "Got it. I'll... Shit, I'm so useless. I'll keep an eye out for trouble." Subaru resented himself all over again for his lack of ability. Rem said nothing to him; instead, she infused her palm with a pale light the light of healing mana and began to treat the children. While he kept a lookout, Subaru watched as the wave of healing began to bring peace to more of the sleeping children. At the rate they were calming, they could bring the kids back to the mansion and ask Beatrice to lift the c But just as Subaru was mentally putting plans in order, a girl lightly opened her eyes and called his name. "Suba...ru?" Her gaze looked troubled, perhaps because her mind was so hazy, so Subaru took her hand. "You're awake, Petra? Okay, good girl, you're a strong girl. We'll be taking you back real soon and making the reason you're suffering go bye-bye, so right now you need to just rest..." "There's one in... Still... The forest..." " Hey, what did you say?" Petra was trying to tell him something with her halting words. The information nuggets gave him a bad feeling, so Subaru called out to Petra once more. But his voice never reached her; her eyes had closed and she'd lost consciousness again. Subaru patted the sleeping Petra's forehead and urgently rushed to the other children, looking them over. Then... "Aw, crap... She's right. I don't see the youngest one here." He knew the faces of all six of the children sleeping there from spending time with them during the day. Setting aside Subaru and the puppy, it left the shy, withdrawn girl missing. "Damn it all!" Subaru stood up, tearing at his hair at the turn for the worse. Rem, who'd seen and heard the entire exchange with Petra, widened her eyes, apparently alarmed at Subaru's behavior. "P-please wait. It is too dangerous. If she was taken away by the demon beasts, there is nothing " "I know what you're trying to say. I know. I know all too well, but you heard it, too, Rem. Petra said to go get the last one of them before anything else." Petra was suffering to the brink of tears, weakened to the point that breathing was a struggle. Even so, she'd expressed concern for her friend rather than saying the words save me. She was a weak little girl, but the life of her friend came before her own. "...I want to do what Petra asked me to. If we're gonna pick one up, we might as well do our best to pick 'em all up." "You are too greedy. If you pick up too much, you might end up dropping everything on the floor." "You're here to make sure that doesn't happen, Rem." Rem looked daunted by it all. Seeing her so surprised, Subaru spread his arms wide to make her look at him. "I can't do anything here, either. I can't use healing magic, and there's no way I can bring the kids back by myself. If so, I should use myself as effectively as I can, right?" "What does that have to do with m " "You need to save your strength to carry the kids, Rem. The young men from the village will...probably be coming in after us soon enough. Just hand the kids over to them and come after me." The villagers had to be well aware that demon beasts were in the forest. Furthermore, they'd no doubt girded themselves with gear and plenty of light sources. All Rem needed to do was hand the kids over and tell the men to bring the kids to the mansion. "While you're doing that, I'll go deeper in and look for the last kid... Hey, if it's worst case, I'll come running right back. But if there's still any ray of hope, at least I can buy some time out there." Rem, unable to accept Subaru's decision, grabbed Subaru's sleeve and argued vehemently. "You do not know your opponent's strength. There is no guarantee when the villagers will come, and worst case, I may not be able to find you." Perhaps she was worried about him. Perhaps it was just her nature not to go along with uncertain plans. Thinking that it'd be nice if it was the former, Subaru pulled Rem's fingers off his sleeve and held her hand. "I'll be all right. You'll find me." "What proof do you have of...?" "I've got proof right here." Subaru smiled, pointing a finger at his own nose before pointing it back at Rem's face. "Even if no one else notices, you'll notice my scent. I have the lingering stench of a villain hovering about me, right?" Rem's eyes opened wide in surprise. It was thrilling, really. He laughed, like seeing this Rem before his eyes was taking revenge on that other Rem from times past. "Subaru...how much...do you know...?" "Ah, I'm pretty ignorant about tons of things. It's so bad, I'd never find the answers even if I repeated yesterday, today, and tomorrow over and over again." He thought back on those days and how repeating them too much had worn him to the bone. He then realized he'd changed a lot to actually be able to laugh about it. "Looks like you have some things you want to ask me, and I have a mountain of things I want to ask you. So when this is all over, let's talk it out till our throats go dry. It's a promise." And, without waiting for Rem, he kept their hands together as he wrapped his little finger around hers. Rem remained perplexed at the sight of their intertwined pinkie fingers as Subaru moved the fingers up and down in a shake. "There. Pinkie promise." "Wh-what did you just...?" "It's a ritual from my homeland for making a promise. It's a terrible ritual guaranteeing you'll get a thousand sewing needles stuck into you if you break it." The encroachment of Subaru Space had already exceeded Rem's comprehension. Rem was befuddled and confused beyond words when Subaru snapped his fingers and flashed his teeth. "I believe in you, Rem. So I want to act based on that trust. That's why we need to promise here." *** "I told you, right? I keep my promises, and I expect others to keep theirs. Plus I've got Emilia's blessing on my side, so don't worry, be happy." "H-happy...?" Completely unable to keep up, Rem made a long, exasperated sigh as she laughed weakly. Subaru, seeing that Rem was continuing to laugh, kept his voice down as he laughed, too. Then Rem said, "A promise, then. There really is much I want to ask you, after all." "Sure thing. It's a promise between the two of us that needed making. The same probably goes for the hair, too." "The hair...?" "The reason why you keep staring at my hair." Rem was at a loss for words when Subaru pointed it out. Guilt also seemed to well into her eyes as he watched her open her mouth. "Subaru, I..." "It's all right. I'm not getting the wrong idea. You were always watching me while I did my amateur work because the shabby top of my head really bothered you...right?" On the last day before he'd begun looping again, Subaru and Rem had made a promise a promise for Rem to cut Subaru's unsightly hair. Now Subaru understood the truth behind those words. At the time, Rem had been seized by enormous distrust of Subaru, hence the intensity of her gaze toward him. Ram had simply been trying to cover for her. That promise had been made on the basis of a lie. He knew that now. But Subaru would take the promise that began with a lie and make it true, smiling all the way. "When I come back safe and sound, I'll put myself at your mercy. I'm counting on you to make me look so cool that Emilia will fall for me without even thinking." "...Given what I am starting with, even I have my limits." "Could you please put facts like that in a less direct way...?" This was the Rem who had always left him behind. Her agreeing to go along with his suggestion made him happy then and there. Subaru made a satisfied nod at how the cheerful days he sought were being born anew. Rem said, "I shall hand off the children and immediately catch up with you. Please do nothing rash in the meantime." "Don't worry. After all, I'm possessed by a demon today." "Possessed...?" "Possessed by a demon instead of a god. Lately it's my favorite saying!" Subaru posed with two fingers standing above his head to act as pretend horns. Regardless of what she thought about Subaru's frivolous behavior, she let his pose pass without comment. "Please be careful." With Rem sending him off and turning around, Subaru went down the low hill, going deeper into the forest. He headed in the direction Petra had indicated just before losing consciousness. "Well, Subaru Natsuki, let's do this." Speaking to encourage himself, Subaru ran, clenching the hand with which he'd made the pinkie promise for good measure. He didn't know if despair or hope awaited him, or something else. One way or another, the morning of the fourth day seemed far, far away. His heart was in a hurry, but he tread cautiously. The inside of his mouth was parched; his throat was tense with stress. He kept his footsteps quiet as he guardedly advanced into the dark forest. His steps were hesitant, but not because he was afraid or timid about moving forward. "I sure flapped my lips in front of Rem there, but..." It was a dangerous move to go alone, but Subaru

thought his odds were far from hopeless. In the first place, Subaru was a weakling; his personality was fundamentally averse to gambling. He was doing this precisely because he had a reasonable basis to think he had a chance. "If it was that puppy from today that cursed the kids, I've got a shot..." It bore the frightening title of demon beast, but surely a puppy didn't have much combat ability. Its curse was indeed a frightening thing, but if it came to a clash of man versus fang... "I won't lose to that thing, right...?" It was rather pathetic to pin his hopes on his opponent's small size, though. No doubt it was an optimistic and convenient thought, but he didn't think he was wrong to be optimistic, especially because this world had given Subaru such a raw deal. If he just piled on negative images, he would lose himself, cast into despair too deep for his exuberance to get him out of. Subaru sighed, slumping his shoulders at how his parents had taught him to look at the warped world around him. Then... *** Subaru held his breath and stopped his feet at the sudden malaise he felt. The air seemed to shift against his skin. The sweat on his brow suddenly grew much cooler. The wind carried into his trembling nostrils the thick scent of beasts in the direction he was traveling. Whereas before the air was thick with the scent of grass and soil, it was now full of the stench of some wild animal in nature. Subaru, unable to quash the feeling that something bad was on its way, stilled his breathing. He poked his head out through a gap in the trees. His breath caught when he saw the cause of the wafting scent. *** At the end of his line of sight, in a tiny clearing, he saw a tree that had fallen due to wind and rot. A slender white leg was poking out beside it. When he craned his neck and peered in, Subaru saw that the leg had tattered cloth over it, attached to a girl wearing her frayed brown hair in braids. He'd found her. *** He held his breath and thought about this. There was no doubt this was the girl in question. But the girl's body did not so much as twitch while she lay on the ground. She was not conscious, and of course, he couldn't even check to see if she was breathing from where he stood. He quickly scanned her surroundings, but it seemed like the demon beast that had left the girl here was not close by. So the beast had dragged back his prey, then abandoned it? That didn't feel right. It didn't, but... "...It's a golden opportunity... What to do...?" With every moment he waited during this ideal chance to save the girl, the danger increased, all the more so because Subaru had, at best, a 50 percent chance of actually handling his potential opponent. Why was Subaru Natsuki the one here? What if it had been Roswaal? Or Beatrice? Or Reinhard? If it were one of them, blessed with power worthy of heroes, the situation could be easily resolved. But it was Subaru Natsuki who stood there. It was Subaru Natsuki who yearned for a miracle. And it was Subaru Natsuki who most assuredly could not bring a miracle about. His rational mind pleaded for him to play the sure hand and wait for Rem. And yet... Emilia wouldn't hesitate. The instant he thought it, Subaru's legs stopped shaking. His pulse, quickened by the decision pressing upon him, calmed along with his ragged breath. Subaru rushed through the grass, flying into the clearing in front of him, and made a beeline toward the girl in the shade of the fallen tree. He sat up her tiny, light body and checked to see if it had a pulse. Her breathing was frail, but he felt a faint, steady pulse through her veins. "...I'm so glad." He was truly relieved that he hadn't decided to abandon her. The faint breathing and pulse might have meant she was being affected by a curse as well. If that was the case, he needed to get her healed by magic and have the curse lifted without a moment to lose. He wasn't exactly confident about his endurance, but he figured he could carry a single girl out of the forest...but as Subaru rose to his feet with that judgment in his head... *** The sudden chill running up Subaru's spine made him gasp and look over his shoulder. The bushes rustled as a four-legged beast crossed the grass and stepped onto the bare soil. It was a beast with short black fur. At a glance, it seemed similar in size to a Doberman from his world, but it was built twice as thickly as the dogs Subaru had seen. The clawlike paws were sharp; slobber was dripping out from its fangs even with its maw closed. It made a low growl as its bloodshot eyes glared at Subaru. It was a demon dog, or rather, a demon beast. Such a name suited its malevolent appearance. "...This is, uh...not what I had in mind here." He didn't even realize his cheek was twitching as a smile and a dry laugh came over him. The demon beast before his eyes was clearly not the little puppy-size one Subaru had expected. In addition, the timing with which it had showed itself meant that... "...You used this girl as a decoy and waited for her to lure me out...?" Subaru shuddered. Perhaps it was only feral instincts at work, but the beast's unexpected intelligence disturbed him. Either way, he didn't have any time to ponder the matter. His eyes roamed the area, but he saw neither any sign of Rem catching up to him nor any avenue for escape from the demon beast. Indeed, the latter had already lowered its head, clawing the ground. He had no time to hesitate. "Tch... Shit, if you're gonna come, come!!" As Subaru vented, he stripped his jacket off, wrapping the well-tailored garment around his left arm. In a confrontation with a wild animal, the thing you had to worry about the most was its sharp fangs. Wrapping thick fabric around your arm to limit the damage was the least you could do against a four-legged beast. He'd remembered seeing police dog training on TV in his old world and instantly copied that. He thrust his left arm out, glaring at the demon beast as it tried to figure out when best to leap at him. The way the demon beast kept its center of gravity low, not moving a muscle, unnerved Subaru. "Hey, what's with the laid-back attitude here?! Hey! Come on! C " It vanished. Suddenly, the demon beast that should have been right in front of him melted into the darkness. Fright froze his throat as an indistinct black cloud headed for Subaru's outstretched left arm. The next moment, he felt sharp fangs punch through the thick fabric, with the demon beast biting deep into his flesh. "That !" In an instant, he felt a jabbing pain, intense enough to turn his vision red, slam directly into his nervous system. But... " Didn't hurt!!" He poured strength into his left arm, tightening the muscles so that the fangs sunk into his muscles wouldn't come out. As a result, the demon beast clamped on at an angle was now completely unable to move. Its two red eyes met Subaru's gaze. Subaru bathed in the beast's overwhelming enmity as he said, "You bit me, you mangy mutt !" Wrapping his whole left arm around the demon beast, Subaru whipped his body around, hard. Centrifugal force sent the demon beast floating into the air, spinning it backward toward the fallen tree and slamming against an outstretched branch. *** The sharp branch ruptured its hide, making a dull sound as it rent the beast's flesh. Its dying howl echoed throughout the dark forest. The demon beast, impaled through its back, kept Subaru's arm clamped in its maw for a while, but it finally relented as it stopped moving. Subaru, for his part, fell to his knees. "I...won?" Seeing that it was not breathing, Subaru murmured as he yanked the demon beast's fangs from his arm. His forearm was in horrid shape under the bloodstained jacket. Upon actually seeing the wound, Subaru made a soundless whimper as pain assailed his nerves. Even so, he made a sigh of relief, grimacing all the while. Even without Rem's strength, he had been able to get out of that crisis. He took the time to retie the jacket around his arm, using it as a bandage. He made sure his arm could still move before walking back to pick up the girl for real this time. "Hurts...but that means I'm alive. Crap. Anyway, gotta get back to the vill " He cut his words off there because he noticed that the grass had rustled once more. His hair stood up as his entire body was gripped by the sense that something bestial still lurked. He looked back. Then Subaru murmured, "Oh come on..." Red eyes flared through the dark forest a horde of them gazed at him through the trees ahead, their numbers virtually beyond count. Not that he really wanted to count, but all his fingers and toes put together probably wouldn't cut it. Before he knew it, Subaru had thrust his arms out wide. Not to surrender to the countless points of light but to shield the little girl behind him. *** The beasts were unimpressed by his silent resolve. The red points of light ignored Subaru's wishes and leaped at him all at once. "Ooo !" Subaru realized his own throat howled. He roared, unwilling to give in. His spirit kept up the facade, telling him that he would not lose, no matter how many red eyes were before him. He was, of course, bluffing; his tiger's mask was nothing more than paper. As Subaru yelled, a demon beast rushed up to rip out his throat *** when the head of the demon beast before his eyes exploded like an overripe melon. Bludgeoned to death at point-blank range, its fresh blood showered Subaru's face. The demon beast's headless body sailed forward and crashed into Subaru. Blown backward by the force, Subaru rolled and, feeling unpleasant from the pain and blood, he shook his head and stood up. What just happened? A blue-haired girl had descended onto the field of battle, one hand lightly grasping the hem of her skirt as it made an elegant twirl, the other wielding a malevolent iron ball. "The children are safe and are returning to the village. I see your efforts to buy time have gone well." "Rem, look o !" Subaru's elation over the arrival of his awaited reinforcements was short-lived, for now that the vanguard of the demon beast force had been cut down, two more leaped toward her slender body. " Hah!" Her right arm, wielding the iron handle, whipped sideways; the iron ball followed in the wake of the whirling chain. The destructive weapon, which ought to have been slow and unwieldy, turned with incredible force, following the arc of the swing of her arm to utterly pulverize everything in its path. Its might mowed down branches and snapped tree trunks before slamming straight into the demon beast's body. The weapon connected with such power it split the torso in two, turning it into fertilizer for the forest. And, as the comrade beside it fell in a single moment, the other soared to angrily sink its fangs into Rem's left flank but just before it reached her, Rem smashed her left fist into its snout from above, pummeling it out of the sky. The might of her fist caved the beast's skull in, slaying it instantly with a blow powerful enough to bury its head into the soil.

Her skill was crystal clear. Subaru had thought he appreciated Rem's destructiveness, but now he truly knew. That made his head hurt. "Y-you're so strong!!" "Are those appropriate words to speak to a girl, Subaru?" "That's the only thing a weakling like me can say! You're really out there!" Ecstatic that Rem proved far more reliable than he'd imagined, Subaru leaped as if to embrace her. He then skirted around right behind Rem as the remainder of the pack spread out and surrounded them. Having lost two more of their number, the pack moved sluggishly. The beasts crouched, awaiting their well, Rem's next move; Subaru could tell that there was bitter enmity in their eyes. "...Incidentally, Rem, do you plan on wiping them out by yourself?" "There are too many of them. Alone, they can overcome me with numbers." "Well that figures. In that case..." Before the beasts could recover their bearings and come leaping at them, Subaru and Rem had the same thought. Their eyes swept the surroundings before settling on the same place a weak point in the encirclement with only three of the beasts. Subaru yelled in concert with Rem's attack. "There!" The iron ball ripped through the air, with the howl heralding the slaughter. A moment before reaching the cluster of demon beasts, the iron ball smashed into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dirt. Subaru sensed that the cascade of soil had thrown the beasts off. Rem was the next to yell. "Now !" Subaru ran like his body had been shot out of a cannon. The blow from a moment before had opened a hole in the barricade, a narrow area that he could break through As Subaru flew through the gap, the demon beasts howled at how they had left open a path. But when they rushed in pursuit, they became easy prey to the iron snake lashing behind them. "Whoa, traumatic sound alert !" As he sprinted full force, Subaru recalled the sound of the dancing chain sending his left arm flying off. Behind him, the iron ball swung ferociously, making numerous bloody flowers bloom fresh in the dark forest. Subaru vaulted over a tree root, getting smacked on the cheek by a branch as he yelled, "Rem, I can't see where I'm going!" "Straight...straight ahead. This will be settled when we pass through the barrier. Head for the bonfires in the village!" Straight ahead, she'd said, but Subaru couldn't even tell which way was the front. He never imagined that the darkness, leaving him able to see only a little ways in front, would ruin his sense of direction to this degree. Nor could he grope ahead with his hands when he had a little girl weighing down his arms. He was out of breath. He was full of anxiety that he had lost his way or that the beasts were about to catch up to him. His left arm was going numb. The bleeding had never stopped; the fabric of his jacket was drenched in blood. He could picture in his mind how blooddrops were falling to the earth, leaving a perfect trail that led his pursuers right to him. He saw what looked like the same scenery over and over, as if he hadn't made a single step of forward progress. A sense of irritation burned in his chest; he felt like he was about to fall to his knees. Yet, all the while... ...he heard the sound of a chain whipping behind him. "Aww, shit! My side really hurts !" Forward, forward ! Then the darkness before Subaru suddenly lifted. His field of vision broadened and, as his eyes instinctively narrowed at the suddenness of it, he saw man-made light off in the distance. "Rem! I see light! Someone from the village is...at the barrier!" Subaru looked back in joy at the appearance of a literal ray of hope. But a moment later, his eyes silently went wide. He could describe the sight of Rem fighting to protect him from behind only as heroic. Her perfectly sized maid outfit was ripped and gnawed to shreds; the white flesh below it was marked with countless cuts. Her vivid blue hair was all a mess, and there was too much fresh blood in it to make out the original color. He saw Rem in a ferocious battle worthy of legend. And at that very moment, the same Rem was fast approaching Subaru as she reached out to him with a hand. "Rem ?!" Rem's outstretched hand shoved on Subaru's back, adding enough forward momentum to send him sprawling. He instantly protected the girl in his arms from the shock, but in exchange, he was unable to protect himself as he hit the ground face-first, banging up his body. Subaru felt the pain and tasted the dirt in his mouth; he wanted to ask Rem why she'd done something so violent just then but he was at a loss for such words. "...You're kidding me..." Subaru murmured as, right before his eyes, the soil was sweeping from right to left. Wind enveloped the earth, sand and mud rose in a vortex, and trees were torn from their roots as the very terrain of the forest changed. Faced with the violent scene before him, Subaru caught his breath when he shifted his eyes to the point from which the flowing soil originated. For there, he saw the little demon beast, surrounded by a golden glow as it unleashed magical power. Demon beasts were enemies of mankind that possessed magical energy. This was no curse. Curses couldn't be wielded the way that energy could. In other words, it was using magic. " R-Rem?!" When he belatedly understood what was happening, Subaru realized that Rem was no longer behind him. He also realized that Rem had shoved him to protect him from the river of dirt. And in exchange... *** ...the dirt and stone had launched her uniform-clad body high into the dark sky. The ground gave Rem a rough welcome, buffeting her small body like a fallen leaf. The way blood scattered from her and how she flew helplessly in the air proved with crystal clarity that she'd taken more damage than she could bear. Rem was unable to soften the blow when she made a hard landing. The saving grace was that she hadn't cracked her skull on the ground left bare by the flow of the soil. "Re... You idiot! How can you...? What have I been...?!" Doing this for, Subaru was about to yell, but in that instant, his spine froze. No doubt they'd all felt it, too. The little demon beast making the current of earth and the pack chasing after them...they all stopped moving. He could feel it. He was sure of it. What hovered in the air was the heavy presence of death. Slowly, Rem's fallen body rose up. Even though she'd taken such a spectacular blow, Rem didn't show any sign of injury as she stood up. Indeed, as far as he could see, all her wounds had closed. The incredible healing energy emitted a high temperature, and her very blood boiled, rising as red steam. Rem turned her head, slowly looking around the area. Her eyes had lost all trace of reason. Her face, covered in blood spatter, twisted into an ecstatic smile. Then, Subaru saw. " A demon." With her headdress now off, he saw a white horn grow from Rem's forehead. "Ah-ha...ah-ha-ha " She laughed. It was loud laughter like that of a little girl but overflowing with naked cruelty. Twisting herself, Rem's body moved like the wind as it charged the demon beast pack. Faster than the unmoving demon beast in the vanguard could react, Rem smashed it with her heel. She kicked its body at the demon beasts ahead of her, slowing them down as she swung her iron ball, leaving a large quantity of bloody blossoms and beast corpses behind it. "Demon beast! Demon beast! Demon beast! Witch!" Rem continued to yell with each overpowering blow as she slew one demon beast after another. Blood scattered, skulls caved, and innards and gray matter scattered around the forest with great force. Subaru fell to his knees, forgetting all about his pain as he took in the scene. He didn't have the courage to raise his voice. That ought not have been so, but somehow, Subaru knew that if he appeared on Rem's radar right then, he'd have been killed in a heartbeat. Rem's behavior was so far off that he couldn't imagine he was wrong. Subaru was taking in the fact that Rem had gone berserk. But the demon beasts didn't simply sit and wait for death. Unfrozen after the initial shock, the demon beasts surrounded Rem to take advantage of any opening. The corpses slain by single blows grew in number as they whittled Rem down by fang and claw. The horde was endless. By now, she ought to have crushed at least the number that had initially pursued them, but the numbers of red eyes had increased along the way; they came in waves that seemed as constant as the tides. "Even if she's in her Ultimate Mode, there's no way she can hold out against enemies with infinite spawn...!" The circumstances had undergone a dizzying change, but Subaru and the others were still at a steep disadvantage. Subaru, grasping the situation objectively, looked back when he felt another spike in magical energy. The demon pup kept its distance from the melee between Rem and the pack while deploying a magic circle. It was sucking the air dry of its mana, preparing to release yet another force to warp the space around it. Rem's face whipped up, apparently sensing the vortex of energy, sending the iron ball flying high so that she could whirl it to dispose of the new menace. But when Rem stopped moving, the pack of demon beasts seized their chance, leaping at Rem's back all at once. *** It was instantaneous. He was reaching for Rem's back before a single thought entered his mind. Rem's breath caught at the impact that pushed her out of the way. Her face stiffened in shock and unrest. Her empty eyes regained the luster of reason, her monstrous smile dropped away, and her emotions spilled over. Ah, you can make a face like that, too, he thought in a corner of his mind. " Gaaaaah!!" The next moment, something crushed the wrist of his outstretched arm. He screamed. His right leg, his left flank, and his back felt fangs sink into them simultaneously. His vision was dyed red. He couldn't register the pain. His ankles were crushed. His belly was rent. Blood and intestines flowed out, a waste of blood and flesh. "Subaru !!" He thought he heard a shriek. Even though he tried to lift his face toward it, his body no longer moved as he wished. His balance was wrecked. His crushed ankles were unable to respond at even half normal strength. He collapsed to the ground as such wounds demanded. Right before him, a maw lined with fangs was rushing at him. It went for his windpipe. Also right before him, the iron ball rent the earth and smashed it. Blood scattered. Was it his blood, or...? His mind was wandering. He didn't know when it would vanish altogether. He felt his life drain away. He, too, thought it was a stupid thing. He'd put the cart before the horse. What was the point of redoing it all now? Pain. Suffering. Everything was so far away invisible, inaudible. Dwindling. His life was oozing out of the hole in his side like grains of sand from an hourglass. I'm fading. It's over. It's all...over. "Don't die, don't die, don't die !" A voice on the brink of tears. A cry. *** CHAPTER 4 *** His consciousness floated on a distant wave. His mind, in a daze atop the shifting tide, floated back and forth between dream and reality. " no other way to

save him?" " all, I wonder? You should do as you please, then." Far away no, close by at the border neither here nor there, he heard one person conversing with another. A clinging voice. A blunt voice. A crying voice. A voice with frozen emotion. Voices. Abruptly, he felt an embrace of a soft hand. He remembered whose it was, because he had felt it several times before. He craved that warmth. He wanted to go back. He didn't want it to be simply a dream. The sensation of the hand suddenly grew distant. Far, far away, unreachable and untouchable. " I will...save you." Only those words of iron determination remained. Everything vanished. It all left, leaving him far, far behind. And then How many times had he been knocked out cold, only to wake up like this? Subaru stared at the unfamiliar ceiling as such thoughts hovered in his mind. "Unngh, ow..." His side spasmed the instant he sat up in bed. That really woke him up. When he tried to touch his painful belly, he felt something very wrong with his left arm. The ill feeling remained as he brought his arm before him, seeing with his own eyes what a sorry state it was in. There were white scars covering him from the tips of his fingers up to his wrist. It wasn't just his arm that felt off. He yanked up his shirt and saw that he had similar scars on his right side. He had more on both ankles, on his right upper arm and shoulder, and lastly, one on his butt. They all seemed to be scars left from the demon beasts' fangs. "I was sure I was a goner..." He'd been bitten all over when shielding Rem. The maws of the ferocious beasts had made mincemeat out of Subaru's flesh. He felt how low his life had dimmed in his blood and internal organs; he'd been more than half sure that it was over. "So I barely held on to life and got patched up after...?" Subaru carefully looked around the area as he made sure his fingers were moving properly. The ceiling was unfamiliar; the bed, crude. The room was far too cramped to be one of the rooms in Roswaal Manor. Then he noticed the girl sitting in a wooden chair right next to the door, her head down as she slept. " Emilia." She showed no sign of responding to his call. Emilia was breathing quite deeply, matching the depth of her sleep. Her beautiful silver hair was disheveled for once; more than that, her clothes were still heavily caked with blood and mud. He was wounded. He'd slept close to morning. Emilia was sleeping right beside him. Add all that to the state of her clothing, and even someone as dim-witted as Subaru could grasp the situation. "I'm in her debt again, huh...?" "I wonder about that. This time, Lia might think of it as giving you a hand because your hard work brought results." Subaru turned in the direction of the faint murmur. Puck crawled out of Emilia's hair and hovered in the air beside her. "Heya. Good morning, Subaru. Those will hold you back, huh?" "Maybe not. Feels a little stiff where I'm scarred, but I'm not gonna complain about having my life saved. I'm a guy, so I don't plan on whining just because my body's scuffed up, either." He didn't intend to turn them into marks of honor from the field of battle, but the deep feelings inside him associated with the white scars would no doubt never fade. To Subaru, what had happened to the source of his scars was more important. "Guess it worked out like I expected, but...what actually happened after? To be honest, I don't remember a thing after the dogs went chompy-chomp-chomp on me." "'Chompy-chomp-chomp' is such a cute way to put it. From what I saw when they hauled you in, it was more like, 'Chomp-munch-crunch-rip-yank-tear'..." "If it was like that I'd be dead already. Five or six extra arms wouldn't cover all that." "Mm, well, the extra damage you didn't get was why the maid with the blue hair was in a sorry state." Subaru's throat suddenly froze over at the casual, carefree way he put it. Seeing Subaru react like that, Puck added another thought. "That's because changing to her demon form makes that girl heal wounds very rapidly. By the time she carried you back to the village, she didn't have more than scratches left on the outside, enough that she didn't even need recovery magic." "Don't scare me like that, then... Anyway, Rem got back to the village, too, huh? What happened to the last kid with me?" "You can rest easy about that. All seven children are safe. You really made the right call, Subaru." Puck said out loud "clap, clap" as he brought his paws together without a sound. Subaru imagined Puck's paws were simply too soft for audible applause, and he twisted his lips at the sight before shaking his head, driving away such idle thoughts. "Puck, what about lifting the curses on the kids who got back to the village?" "Don't worry about that, either. Magic healed them a fair bit, so Betty and I will lift those curses in no time at all. They're as good as cured; you have my guarantee." Puck thumped his own chest as he gave his grandiose seal of approval. Upon seeing that, Subaru let out a deep breath, relieved at the fact that his own actions had not been in vain. Subaru's hand was still on his own chest as his eyes drifted back to the sleeping Emilia. "And Emilia...? She pulled an all-nighter?" "I told her to just be patient and wait, but she wouldn't listen. She even wore down her od to heal you, so could you let her sleep?" "Od...? What?" Subaru shook his head when he heard the unfamiliar piece of vocabulary. Puck toyed with a whisker. "The magical energy that fills the air around us is called mana. Od is the opposite, the magical energy that all living things are imbued with. The total capacity varies greatly from person to person, and drawing on it really wears you out, so I told Lia to avoid using it as much as possible, but..." Puck's words and demeanor made it easy for Subaru to imagine how Emilia had taken that. In the first place, calling Puck out during the night was outside the terms of their pact. If calling upon Puck and Beatrice was what it took to lift the curses, Emilia wouldn't have hesitated even an instant. She helped others, even if it meant getting hurt. That was why he loved her. "This is someone's house in the village, right? Is it all right if I take a look around?" If he wasn't going to wake Emilia up, it was best to conclude his quiet conversation with Puck. Subaru was in the process of sliding his legs off the bed when Puck replied with an agreeable nod. "Probably best to move around a little and see how well the healing took, anyway." Having received Puck's permission, Subaru slowly began heading out. Along the way, before he stepped past Emilia, he lowered his head in a polite bow. As he bowed, he looked at Emilia's sleeping face, desperately holding out against his urge to tease her as he made his way outside. Subaru left his room, poking his head out of the building's entryway when he saw that the village was in an uproar. He murmured, "Ahh, well, guess that totally figures." The morning sun hadn't even begun to rise, yet numerous human silhouettes stood in the plaza at the center of the village. It was a small village. The details of even the tiniest disturbance spread like wildfire. Women, children, and the elderly all had looks of concern as they huddled around the stout young men arguing in the center. They were no doubt the young men who'd pursued Subaru and Rem into the forest. He saw that several were wearing bandages; apparently they'd had casualties, too. He scanned the crowd, troubled that he couldn't find the face he was looking for. " So you are awake, Barusu?" The voice came from behind. Subaru stopped and turned around. He could guess who it was from the way she'd said his name, but still, seeing her face filled him with relief. A pink-haired maid Ram stood behind him. Ram had the sleeves of her familiar servant outfit rolled up, and she was holding something akin to a basket in her hands. Judging from the large number of baked potatoes filling the basket, she was in the middle of moving them from point A to point B. The faint whiff of steam wafting from the potatoes sent Subaru's stomach into a small growl of heightened expectations. He belatedly realized he was really hungry. "How unsightly, waking up ready to eat after worrying others with such grave wounds. Perhaps you caught rabies from the bites?" "That's not what these dogs are spreading. Oh, and hey, you worried about me?" "Just eat." "Hfwoh!" Subaru was teasing Ram for her rare slip of the tongue. So she stuffed a hot potato into his mouth. His throat blocked off by the scalding potato, Subaru turned his face up and loudly wolfed the whole thing down. "I thought I was gonna die there! Tasted good, though!" "Of course it was tasty. They were freshly baked...no, steamed." "Oh man, that I'm-so-awesome face ticks me off. Still tasted good, though!" "Yes, yes. Be quiet if you want another one." When she handed him the potato, he accepted it, fawning over it like a child. "Well, I should simply thank you outright concerning the incident last night. Well done." "Sure didn't come easily... But why are you thanking me?" "When the people of a fiefdom suffer harm, it calls the lord into question. At that rate, the children would have fallen to the Urugarum pack...and so, I believe your actions to have been correct, Barusu." "Urugarum... Huh." So that's what the black demon beasts were called. Urugarum. As far as Subaru knew, it was also the name of a demon beast straight out of mythology. Somehow, the name seemed fitting to him. A single word conveyed that your life was in peril from even a single encounter with the creature. Subaru nodded as Ram shifted her gaze toward the forest. "We rewove the frayed barrier last night. Judging from the lack of any issues with it overnight, no Urugarum should be crossing the barrier from here on." "That's only if no one here crosses past it, right? Not much point to it if a bunch of kids crosses it to play on the other side and a 'puppy' comes back with them?" "That makes painful listening. I shall have a word with the villagers later." Ram's unchanging neutral expression gave her last sentence some unpleasant subtext. Most likely, it was the villagers' duty to check that the barrier was up and running and to report if it was not; their laxness in doing so had caused Roswaal difficulty and no doubt rubbed her the wrong way. After that, Subaru snatched a pair of steamed potatoes from Ram before they went their separate ways. Ram was heading for the distraught villagers still arguing among themselves. Ram was surely acting out of fondness for the village. It was just like Ram to use steamed potatoes to display that goodwill, too. "Man, these potatoes are delicious, though. Going light on the salt did real wonders." Subaru strolled around the village, munching on his potatoes along the way. He was checking both on the condition of his body and the well-being of the children they'd rescued from the forest. The children were still soundly asleep from fatigue and exhaustion from the now-lifted curses, but the parents and relatives of the children

thanked him, almost to excess. Put bluntly, Subaru hadn't done it out of a desire for gratitude, and this sparked a near-terminal case of stage fright. Unable to play the fool to deflect his rising panic, he blushed up a storm and ran for the hills. Having done a sweep of the village, Subaru thought he'd return to the house and wait for Emilia to awaken but he realized he had yet to see a certain blue-haired girl's face. *** Suddenly, the sight of the demon girl, laughing loudly while covered in blood spatter, rose from the back of his mind. It was a spectacularly ghastly sight. And yet, when Subaru remembered it, he felt no fear to make his body tremble. What was it that Subaru had felt when he saw the pure white horn grow from her forehead? Yes, back then, what Subaru felt was But before a word could properly express that emotion, a young girl's voice called out to Subaru. " There you are. Just in time." A thicket swayed, and through it walked Beatrice, the hem of her showy dress dragging along the ground in the process. "Aren't you going to get that long dress awfully dirty, going outside with it like this?" "I suppose magical power might repel the sources of grime, such as mud and sand More importantly, I need to speak with you." Beatrice gave Subaru's silly question a serious answer and beckoned him over. She wanted to go somewhere else meaning, it wasn't something she could discuss with him there. Though that unnerved Subaru a little, he had nothing against Beatrice here. Subaru followed the girl, who was also his savior, then abruptly clapped his hands together. "Come to think of it, you're here outside the mansion because you were lifting the curses on the kids, right? Thank you." "...'Tis nothing. I suppose I only did it because Puckie asked me to." Of course, the reason Puck asked her to was because Emilia asked him to. No doubt Beatrice understood as much. Yet, knowing this, she used Puck as her reason once again. She just wasn't a girl who admitted things straight up. Subaru found himself growing impatient as Beatrice led him to a flower bed right by one corner of the village. With the villagers gathered in the central plaza to discuss the demon beast incident, he couldn't see even a single person randomly strolling around in such a far-flung corner. "So, what did you bring me all the way out here to tell me?" Subaru spread both arms out as he spoke. For her part, Beatrice's reply seemed awkward. "I thought it had the proper atmosphere to deter you from making boorish jokes." Her gaze seemed to be wandering as she toyed with her skirt, like she was hesitant to say something. What's with her? Is it that hard to say...? As far as Subaru was concerned, this plainly wasn't typical Beatrice behavior. She had the air of a little girl afraid of angering her parents. Seeing that expression, Subaru just couldn't bring himself to drag it out of her. He crossed his arms, leaned back on the wooden fence protecting the flower bed, and waited for her to resume. The sight of Subaru waiting seemed to spur Beatrice into a decision. She closed her eyes, then gently opened them, gazing straight at Subaru. " In less than half a day, you will die." Subaru bit down hard on the words, ground them with his teeth, and swallowed them. He stopped for several seconds as they passed down his throat, into his stomach, and finally flowed through his veins to his brain. Beatrice raised her eyebrows in surprise at Subaru's reaction, apparently far more silent than she'd anticipated. "I suppose you are less agitated than I expected. I thought you would be crying like a baby by now." Beatrice still had that look on her face when Subaru raised his right hand before her, showing her a pair of raised fingers. "Okay. There are two possibilities I can think of here." Subaru bent down one of his raised fingers as Beatrice stood silently before him. "First, this is graveyard humor, a really awful joke. Put bluntly, this really isn't funny, so...if you're gonna bring out a wooden sign that says FOOLED YA! and laugh, go ahead, now's the time." He closed one eye in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Beatrice's expression went unchanged. With Beatrice saying nothing before him, Subaru folded the second finger. "If it's not a joke, there's only one possibility: The curse hasn't been lifted yet." Beatrice folded her arms as if to lend support to Subaru's hypothesis. This was the result of white scars from demon beast bites covering his entire body. They still throbbed as Subaru looked at them in a new, ominous light. "I'll ask just to make sure. You can't lift the curse? You're not holding out on me here?" He didn't think Beatrice would say, No one asked me to, so I will not, but he wanted to ask just in case some sliver of hope remained. Naturally, Beatrice replied to his question with a shake of her head. "If it was something I could remove, would it put you eternally in my debt, I wonder?" "Hey, give me a break here. I'm already up to my eyeballs in debt to you!" He couldn't repay her for even a smidgeon of it, not last time, not the time before that, not this time, either. Not in that world. Subaru's reminiscing brought a suspicious look from Beatrice, but he papered things over with a hand wave. "Mind if I ask why you can't lift the curse?" "...I suppose you should at least know how you shall pass on. It is a simple tale. There are too many layers of curses, making the curses too complex to lift." "...Curses have layers?" Subaru pondered, trying to come up with an image. Beatrice spread both hands apart. Suddenly, the two hands were connected together by a red string. "A curse is like this red string, I wonder?" Beatrice took the string she held on each end and tied a knot with it. "This knot is a curse rite. I suppose lifting a curse is as simple as undoing this knot. But..." With a deft motion of her fingers, Beatrice increased the number of strings between her hands. The new strings were blue, yellow, green, pink, black, and white. She entwined the new strings into knots and tied the knots into one another. "If it is only one curse, it can be undone. But if you mix more of them together like this..." Beatrice held out both hands, offering the knots to him. Subaru slid a hand into the tangle. The string, connecting finger to finger, offered no sign of how it might be unraveled. "If the curse is like this, too... Aw, crap, yeah, that's a high difficulty level there." Even if one or two could be removed, at some point it would be impossible to know what should be touched. Of course, given sufficient time, it was probably possible to undo the whole thing, but... "You said it's set for under half a day from now. What do you figure happens then?" "I suppose that part is rather simple. In half a day, the demon beasts' rite to seize your mana will activate." Beatrice raised a finger and pointed it at Subaru as she continued. "Would the curse's purpose be to drain your mana, I wonder? Its aim is to absorb fuel for the creature's body... In other words, you are the demon beasts' prey." "So they attack people when they're hungry? That's a wild animal for you keeps things simple. I suppose I should be grateful their bellies weren't empty before now." Subaru wanted to lash out and hit something, but unfortunately, his hand was buried in the string. Beatrice watched Subaru glare at the string as he spoke resentful words before she replied. "Are you not afraid, I wonder?" "Huh?" "From your point of view, what I have said is a death sentence. Also, even though Puckie and I have the means to save you, we cannot because there is no time for it." Optimistically, Subaru had twelve hours left to live. Depending on how hungry the demon beasts were, even that time might be shortened. Having informed Subaru of the fact that he could not be saved, Beatrice waited for Subaru's reaction. Subaru belatedly thought that Beatrice seemed to want something. "What's with you ? You want me to blame you here?" *** Beatrice didn't deny it. But she didn't agree, either. Since Beatrice chose silence, Subaru couldn't know what was going on inside her, but he made a pained smile anyway. "Maybe your and Puck's decision feels a bit inhumane, but it's the natural, logical choice. The risk and effort involved are too much. You two are right. I don't think it's heartless at all." He really believed that. It wasn't just because he was thinking long-term about his life. Hence " I wanted to ask you something else, though. Do you mind?" "...What is it, I wonder?" "Does Emilia know that I'm still cursed?" That very moment, Emilia was still sleeping in that room, having healed and nursed him to exhaustion. If Puck and Beatrice had given up, he wondered how Emilia took it. Had Emilia abandoned him, too? That was the one thing tugging at him. "The mixed-blood girl does not know. I suppose Puckie is not attempting to lift your curse to hide its existence from the girl?" "...Ah, I see. If Puck starts working on it, Emilia will be able to tell. She'd probably pick up on the fact that my being cursed like this means the chances of saving me are pretty slim, too." When Puck had realized he couldn't save Subaru, his concern had shifted to Emilia. If he kept his silence until the curse activated, Emilia's heart would bear only the wound of his death. For Puck, who prioritized Emilia above all else, it was a good and wise decision. Puck was tougher than he looked; Subaru had to accept his judgment. "That aside..." Subaru switched the subject as he pointed a finger at Beatrice. Beatrice raised her eyebrows, looking at the finger pointed at her, as Subaru declared: "You don't look malicious enough to go through all this trouble just to hand down a death sentence to me." "...What do you know of me, I wonder?" "At the very least, enough that it feels like I know you four times as long as you think I do." Subaru saw the creases on the girl's forehead deepen further as Subaru's last two weeks flashed before his eyes. His relations with Ram and Rem were as good as they'd been since the first loop. Putting aside the lap pillow, things were A-OK with Emilia. Now he knew the identity of the shaman, the source of all his ills, and the children's lives had been saved. Looking back on the previous loops he'd gone through, this one was near full marks. It would count as the best by far if only Subaru could live through it. "You, Rem, and Emilia healed my wounds, right? That's not the way you treat someone you figure is a goner from a curse and can't be saved." He felt Beatrice waver. Subaru laughed at how the girl just refused to be upfront. "Man, you suck at lying." "It is a fact that the odds of your being saved are incredibly low. I suppose that is why Puckie did not want the girl to have anything to do with it?" "So that's why you're playing the villain to soak up all my anger. That's way too roundabout for a little girl. So would you tell me about that really-low-odds possibility?" He formed a circle with his index finger and thumb, showing it to Beatrice in search

of a reply. Beatrice hesitated for a while before sighing in resignation. "Do you remember when I explained about curses, I wonder? I said there is no way to stop a curse once it has been activated." Beatrice's words seemed off. "Yeah, you did say that. That's why it had to be lifted before it activ No, wait. The premise is all wrong. If that's the case, then...how'd the kids get saved?" Subaru thought hard, unable to square that knowledge with the available facts. According to Beatrice, lifting a curse succeeded only against a rite that had not yet been activated. The fact that there was no way to stop it after it had been activated was what made it such a scary thing. The children they'd found in the forest were debilitated. He was certain that the demon beasts' curses had activated. So the reason the children were alive was As deductions formed in his mind, a possibility emerged that struck him like lightning. Subaru lifted his face, turned toward Beatrice, and asked, "What happens to the curse if the caster dies?" "A normal curse would continue to take effect. But isn't this rite for eating, I wonder? If the eater loses his life, the feeding would logically cease midway." Beatrice's affirmation rang true to Subaru. The curses on the children had progressed no further because the demon beasts that had inflicted them had perished. Upon the caster's death, the curse reverted to a simple rite that Beatrice could lift without difficulty. The night before, a considerable number of demon beasts must have lost their lives. If the individuals that had inflicted the curses on the children had been among them, that supported his deduction. And that certainty simultaneously gave rise to a new question. "So that's what it is. There were so many who put curses on me, some are still out there." Subaru looked over his shoulder at the forest in which the demon beasts dwelled. His entire body had been battered by the countless fangs of the demon beasts pursuing him. If each and every bite inflicted a curse, there was no way to know how many Subaru carried. More than that, taking out every single monster in less than half a day didn't seem realistic. That's why Puck and Beatrice had dug in their heels, refusing to tell Emilia the truth. "Puckie was..." "You don't need to say it. I know how Emilia is... If she knew, she'd probably try something crazy. That makes me real happy...and also real scared." Emilia didn't hesitate to help others, even if it hurt her. That was why Subaru didn't consider asking Emilia for help. He didn't want to even think about it. After all, if by some chance he did lose Emilia right before his eyes, ripping his own body apart a hundred times over wouldn't come close to the pain he would feel. "The degree of difficulty's totally demonic. Not totally impossible but still crazy. Gotta just give u " Are you giving up, then? Subaru was about to complete the word when the voice emerged from the back of his mind. It was a delicate voice, like a collection of fragments of noise echoing in his subconscious. He gasped, lifted his face up, and looked all around. But there was no one there, except for Beatrice and him. Still, the voice continued. Is there another way to save him? it asked, searching for something to cling to. But somehow the voice was imbued with sorrowful resolve. "Do you have a headache, I wonder? That is to be expected." Only that, I wonder? You should do as you please, then. The Beatrice before his eyes spoke, her words overlapping the different ones she had spoken elsewhere. He didn't know when or where he'd heard them. But the conversation he'd heard somewhere jostled around in his head. His field of vision narrowed as a ringing echoed like a warning bell. Before he knew it, he began to fall to his knees I will save him. The voice, echoing with iron resolve, jolted his knees back up. Subaru knew that voice. He knew whose it was and when he had heard it. "Where...is Rem?" Subaru hadn't seen the blue-haired girl anywhere that morning. He'd heard she had returned to the village with him, safe and sound. Beatrice stood silent. Subaru closed the distance and asked her. "Beako... Beatrice. Where...is Rem?" "If you were in her shoes, what would you do, I wonder?" "That's not an answer!!" Her self-important, roundabout reply made him shout, which in turn made him bend over. His anemic body wavered; Subaru rocked as he looked back on his own actions. He wanted to tear someone limb from limb. And here was Beatrice, standing there to be blasted by his emotions. He couldn't even manage annoyance with his own wretchedness in behaving exactly as she had expected. And then... "I cannot disregard what I heard just now." Quietly, the emotion in her voice suppressed, Ram walked between Subaru and Beatrice. Looking back, he realized that the pink-haired maid had walked over from the direction of the village square. "Ram..." When Subaru called out her name, Ram looked back. The sheer coldness of her gaze made Subaru's breath catch. He'd somehow imagined as much, but this was the Ram who had cried out in hatred during the loop she'd lost Rem. With the person she loved most, her little sister, in danger, would Ram come to hate everything like she had then...? *** Just when he thought that, Subaru realized it. The hands Ram held crossed in front of her were shaking a little. She was biting her lip to preserve her neutral expression, desperately trying to keep her emotions off her face. "My Clairvoyance cannot locate Rem... Lady Beatrice...where is Rem?" "All I did was present possibilities. Puckie and I do not have sufficient reason to act. Our choices are limited, I wonder?" "That's not it, is it...? So Rem really did go to...?" She went into the forest with the intention of wiping out the entire pack that lived there...by herself. All to save Subaru Natsuki. "Why...? Why would Rem go that far for my sake...?!" Rem had previously taken Subaru's life with her own hands. Even if the relationship between them was better than before, he didn't think they had a connection that made her think his life was worth saving at the risk of her own. Subaru was having a hard time digesting Rem's decision, when he saw the dramatic reaction in Ram as she stood beside him. In an instant, her expression of grief hardened into determination; she turned toward the forest, ready to run after her little sister without any hesitation. " Wait!" Subaru instantly leaped in front of Ram, spreading his arms wide to block her path. His demeanor earned him a sharp glare from Ram. "Move aside, Barusu. I have no time to spare, so I cannot be gentle with you." "You can't just go without thinking! I've got a bunch of things I have to ask you, and I want honest answers." "There is no time for anything like " "I wanna save Rem, too. If you think of me as one of you at all, listen to me. I want to raise the odds here, even a little." Hearing that this was about saving Rem, Ram's hard posture wavered just a bit. Subaru, seeing Ram's hesitation, raised a finger into the air. "There are just two things I wanna ask. Will you be able to tell where Rem is with your Clairvoyance?" "...Yes, I will. Once I am past the forest barrier, she will be within range of my Clairvoyance. With my vision set on 'Beings on the same wavelength as Ram,' if she is in range, I will find her." "Different fields of vision to see through, huh...? It's like checking on different security cameras in a monitor room. Anyway, if we can use that to link up with Rem, great." Nodding at the first condition being cleared, Subaru raised a second finger for question number two. "So, second question: Ram, are you the type of maid who can fight?" "...What do you mean by that question?" As Ram narrowed her eyes, Subaru slumped his shoulders. "Well, um...until we hook up with Rem, there's no telling how many demon beasts we'll run into. If we can't protect ourselves, this plan isn't going anywhere. Just so you know, I'm total deadweight in combat." "W-wait a moment. Barusu, you intend to come with me...?" How Subaru so confidently expressed his own shortcomings brought a rare nervous look over Ram. "I know that threw you off, but it's mandatory, right? Er, to be honest, if the goal's just making sure Rem's safe, then you don't really need me, but..." Ram looked even more doubtful as Subaru's line fizzled out. Seeing her expression, he hastily waved a hand. "I've gotta make it to the fifth day with everyone. That's what I've been fighting for over and over. So please, let me do this." Seeing Subaru bring both hands together in supplication, Ram's lips trembled as if she was at a loss for what to say. But in the end, it was not words that brought an end to that but a sigh. "If you expect me to fight as well as Rem's horned form, you hope in vain." "Meaning?" "Unlike Rem, I am hornless. I can use somewhat violent wind magic, but that is about all." As she replied, Ram twirled a finger and made Subaru's hair sway with a gust of wind. If she'd used that magic to interfere with nature more violently just then, she could have sliced off Subaru's right leg or gouged out his throat. The thought of it sent a chill up his spine. But he couldn't ask for anyone more reliable to have on his side of the fight. "Beatrice! Ram and I are heading into the forest. If Emilia wakes up before we're back, pull the wool over her eyes, okay?" "...To bring the younger sister back is to abandon your own life. Do you understand that, I wonder?" Subaru wagged a finger in response to Beatrice quietly questioning his resolve. "That's a little off, so let me correct you. I'm not giving up as if I'm used to dying. Life is precious, and you have only one. I know you've all worked desperately to save mine. That's why I'm gonna fight for it, even if it looks ugly." They'd saved a life he had once thrown away when he thought all was lost. It was because so many people had reached out to Subaru that he could do this. It was only thanks to them that he'd made it to extra innings. "We'll turn this thing around. It was real awful before, but we still got things this far. I'm doing this because I want to see myself in the sequel... I'm greedy like that." It was a stupid reason with no legitimate explanation. It wasn't a direct answer to Beatrice's question at all, but Subaru puffed his chest out to her nonetheless. "I have no idea what you are thinking whatsoever... I suppose you should just do what you like? I have presented choices. I suppose it is up to you to select whichever choice you prefer." "And that's how you sent Rem off, huh? Still...thanks, Beako." He headed toward the forest, his thoughts turning to Rem, fighting within its dark depths even now. She was a high-maintenance girl who had run off without a word, assuming how others would feel and coming to a hasty, arbitrary decision. Silly and stubborn. "I mean, geez, I want to help you at least as much as you want to help me here." He cracked his fist to harden his resolve, heading toward the demon beasts' forest as he made his declaration a declaration of war against the pack

of black beasts that dwelled within, and against the supernatural force that had dragged Subaru into this destiny, just in case it was forgetting about him. "All right, it's time for the championship bout. Mr. Fate? Game on!" Some fifty minutes after his declaration of war against Fate, they were in the gloomy forest when Ram murmured offhandedly, "Well, you certainly talked a good game." Ram was walking beside Subaru, looking up at him as he struggled on an area with poor footing. "It is difficult to hide my dismay at how much deadweight you truly are." "Do you even know what the word hide means...? If you let the other person know what you're hiding, what's the point...?" And so, Subaru made light of Ram's grandiose, high-handed declaration, adding a sigh at the end. Subaru and Ram were in the forest of the demon beasts, walking around and searching blindly for Rem. Consciously slipping past the barrier and walking their way deep into the forest was Ram's idea, knowing full well the nature of the demon beasts. Normally, they never got close to the village because the barrier hurt them, leaving the mountains as their habitat. Naturally, Rem ought to have headed there with the aim of wiping out the beasts. "That said, the fact that there're just game trails makes it tough going..." "You may not be accustomed to this, but our meager progress is unacceptable...truly." "Wait, don't leave me behind that quickly. I understand how you feel, but just a little longer!" Ram's maid outfit might have been wholly out of place for going hiking in the mountains, but her practiced gait made her marching twice as fast as Subaru's. To Ram, full of concern about her younger sister, matching Subaru's slow-footed pace was a hundred cons and no pros. At the very least, he couldn't restore his good name by moving so slowly. "I'm walking wounded with a blood shortage, so I'm getting tired easily... Come to think of it, I didn't have Emilia-tan telling me to come back soon, either!" "If you have yet to say, 'I'm back,' last night's 'come back soon' remains in effect." "It, ah, it works that way...?" Subaru tilted his head at Ram's sophistry and thrust the sword in his hand into the ground like a cane to support his shaky legs as he chased after Rem. He had borrowed the sword he was using in place of a cane from the young men of Earlham Village. Subaru had a hard time forgetting the look on the face of the young man representing the others the moment he told them he was heading into the demon beast forest. He had been shocked, and when Subaru brushed off his cries to stop and partially explained the circumstances, the young man lent Subaru his sword. The sword, supposedly the finest in the whole village, was a simple one-handed blade. Even an amateur like Subaru could manage to swing it. He had accepted the weapon and the villagers had seen them off. But that wasn't the only thing they had provided him. "Inside this pocket are...candy, a pretty stone, and... Whoa! There's a bug in here!" Subaru let out a cry as rummaging through the pocket led to touching something fairly disgusting. Freed from cramped quarters, the winged insect escaped from Subaru's hand; he watched it fly into the forest. "Just like those little brats to slip something like that in there. I'll give them a good sermon later." "It is proof that they adore you... What do they see in you...?" "The sincere eyes of children see how my manly nature sparkles before them. Besides, you're well aware I'm not the only one they like, right?" Subaru sought Ram's agreement, and Ram concurred. "...I suppose you are right." Subaru looked quite satisfied with that, nodding several times. Ram, too, had seen the children toying with Subaru before they left the village. Subaru connected heart-to-heart whenever he could; to Ram, that was something she only wished she could do. After the young men had seen them off, Subaru and Ram had been caught by the freshly awakened children. Wanting to thank Subaru and Ram in person, the children had stuffed one sign of their affection after another into his pocket as soon as they noticed him. The piece of candy, the pretty stone, even the bug these were the children's gratitude in physical form. Subaru could not treat them lightly...though the bug had gotten away. Subaru repeated what the children had said with smiling faces as he wavered under the pressure of unnecessary gratitude being pushed on to him. "'Bring back Remrin so we can thank her, too...' Huh." Where was Rem at that moment? How dangerous a spot was she in? Why was she fighting at the risk of her life? The children didn't know that. They didn't need to know. After all "Don't worry, ya little brats. I'll make sure she's right there with her big sister to lecture you about being bad kids for going into a dark forest to play without saying a word to anyone." He should probably join them as the stupid boy who'd made trouble for everyone by rushing headlong into the woods and turning into a human chew toy. Wouldn't it be fun to kneel for a lecture from the village chief all night? Naturally, drawing up that image of the future in his mind brought a twist to his lips. Then, in contrast to the odd grin on Subaru's cheeks, Ram stopped walking forward. She quietly lowered her head, speaking in a commanding tone without looking back. "Barusu, wait a little. I will be using Clairvoyance." She turned toward the silent forest. Subaru felt like sound itself had vanished as he rushed to Ram's side. He drew his sword from its scabbard as he looked around cautiously. He couldn't let his guard down, for Ram was defenseless while she was using her Clairvoyance. *** Ram lowered her pale face as she silently concentrated on Clairvoyance, also known as the Sight of a Thousand Eyes. She'd explained it as a power that could borrow the vision of other living things, and not limited to people, either. By riding the vision of creatures with compatible wavelengths and using the vision of yet other creatures to further expand her range, she was literally able to look around with "a thousand eyes." Ram had used that power to scry the forest several times since they had entered, but she had yet to locate Rem. Apparently the sheer abundance of life made it rather difficult. However "Barusu there are eyes watching us once again." "They came, huh...? Should I just walk in front?" Seeing Ram nod while keeping her eyes shut, Subaru inhaled a little and realized his heart was pounding hard. He gently stepped forward on the grass, leaving the defenseless Ram by herself and making his way up a moss-covered boulder. He stood on top of the rock and took a deep breath. He banged the iron scabbard against the hard surface of the boulder. As the sound echoed, the forest rustled right in front of him. *** The silence was broken as the sounds of running across the ground and unified howls thundered against Subaru's eardrums. He instantly looked back to see a black four-legged beast above his head, leaping out from among the trees. Its fangs were bared and aimed at Subaru's throat, pouncing on Subaru's slow reaction to rip him to shreds. Subaru instinctively used both hands to protect himself, but the wild beast's speed outpaced his own. Its maw opened wide as it closed in right before his eyes. Just before the tips of its fangs were about to easily puncture Subaru's flesh, bringing blood and his very life gushing forth, a Blade of Wind struck it in the flank, slicing it neatly into two, slaying it instantly. The front half kept going and collided hard with Subaru and sent him flying. "Whoa!" An exasperated-sounding sigh reached Subaru's ears. "I simply cannot understand why you lose your nerve at the sight of a single one of them, Barusu." Unfortunately for Subaru, he ended his flight by hitting the slope and rolling downward. He stood up, wiped off his scraped-up butt, and glared defiantly at Ram, who was looking down at him from the top of the hill. "Hey, you! You can cut that a little less close, can't you?!" Ram twisted her lips as she tossed him a nonchalant line. "I was too concerned about killing it with the least amount of suffering to think about your needs, Barusu." Subaru looked at the body lying beside him. It was already a lifeless corpse. Even though he knew it was a dangerous creature, the thought of a living being lying dead like that tugged at his thoughts. Subaru gently brought his hands together in a prayer. "Your heart will not hold up if it breaks over a single creature, all the more so because your life is forfeited if they are not annihilated, Barusu... Hunting it like this was your idea, was it not?" "Let me have my hypocritical sentimentality here, geez. It's important for my own peace of mind." It wasn't so much an issue of sentimentality as it was growing up in different worlds. Subaru couldn't exactly claim to be a man of deep faith, but he did revere life. His awareness of its value had grown a little stronger over the course of Return by Death. "So, did you find Rem with your Clairvoyance earlier?" "No. Unfortunately, she seems to be deeper in the forest. Like just now, it is proving difficult to concentrate on her location with the Urugarum sporadically targeting you, Barusu." Ram put a hand to her cheek as she said it, looking mystified at how the demon beasts went straight for Subaru. Subaru had a vague suspicion that he knew the answer, but he couldn't bring himself to say it directly he was weak. With Subaru's lips sealed, Ram glanced back and forth between him and the beast. "I suppose it is because you are weak." "And that's what you come up with?! That's rude." "It is because you are easy prey, then." "That's a distinction without a difference, Big Sis." Ram shrugged; Subaru slumped his shoulders. It was hard to tell if Ram meant those words or was just needling him. Probably the latter. Lone demon beasts had attacked them a few times since entering the forest. Either way, Ram had been using magic to strike down the ones targeting Subaru. It was Subaru who'd established the surefire hunting method. They always went after Subaru, even when Ram was defenseless while using Clairvoyance. At first, Ram had had her doubts about it, but that was then. Subaru halfheartedly thought that now was as good a time as ever to bring up a different subject. "Can I ask you what hornless means?" He'd kept wondering about the term he'd abruptly heard just prior to entering the forest. He could guess up to a point. Ram took the word in as she continued looking down at Subaru from above. "It is what it sounds like, a disparaging term employed by fools to mean a demon without a horn." The word demon brought to mind the sight of Rem from the night before. He would never forget the sight of her covered in blood, laughing hysterically, with a white, faintly glowing horn on her forehead. She looked like a demon straight out of the fairy tales. And Ram had called herself hornless. In other words, Ram's forehead "I lost my one and only horn in a minor skirmish. I have had to rely on Rem for everything ever since." "...Probably was a bad thing to ask, huh?" "Why?" As Subaru scratched his face, Ram tilted her head as if she was genuinely mystified. "Er, well, I don't know how big a horn

is to someone who's a demon, but I'm guessing it's a pretty big deal. I thought it might've been pretty insensitive to ask." "Even if that is the case, there is no getting it back now. Well, you can rest easy." Ram spoke down at Subaru, putting him in his place before lightening her tone very slightly. "I may not have been calm about it then, but I am now. I lost my horn, but I gained a life in its stead I suppose that is not what Rem thinks, however." Her voice had a painful overtone before she cut things off, a wave of her hand indicating her intent she was entering Clairvoyance again. By the time Subaru climbed up the slope, Ram was already deeply enmeshed in viewing the world through the eyes of others. Ram's eyes were closed, her breathing ragged, and she had a considerable cold sweat on her brow. Both of her legs trembled, looking like she'd run them ragged over the course of the long day; more than once, she looked like she was getting dizzy and was about to totter over. Using Clairvoyance to borrow the vision of other beings simply put that great a strain on her body. But no matter how painful it was, not the slightest sound of weakness passed through Ram's lips. When you really got down to it, Ram and Rem were twins who greatly resembled each other. If pushing themselves hard was what it took, they'd do it without a moment's hesitation. When you considered Emilia and Beatrice as well, the mansion's girl squad prioritized others just a little too much. "Man, this makes me feel even guiltier for being a weakling..." He kicked the grass at his feet. That was a major miscalculation, for a piece of grass leaped into his mouth and the dirt flew right into his eyes. Spitting out the earth-tasting grass, he cursed his own extremely hesitant nature. But he relaxed a little, thinking that even such stupidity was fitting for him. Even though he knew it wasn't a good thing to disturb Ram's concentration while in Clairvoyance, he asked, "Ram. You're worried sick about Rem, right?" Ram, her concentration focused on aligning herself with other people's vision, belatedly replied, "Of course I am. Certainly that girl is much stronger than me, but that is no reason not to worry." "...Yeah." "Even if she is better than I am at everything, I am still her older sister. That will never change." Until then, Subaru had seen Ram as someone who used her younger sister for the sole sake of making things easier on herself. He'd gotten it all wrong. Calling it a foolish misunderstanding didn't come close to cutting it. Ram understood her own position far more keenly than Subaru ever had. She was well aware that she couldn't live up to Rem's constant boasts. Subaru, seeing how Ram had accepted it, could only harden his own resolve. He scratched his head, murmuring as he stretched to loosen up. "I really figured we'd have met up with Rem by now, but..." Maybe Ram felt how Subaru seemed unable to calm down. At any rate, she abandoned her fruitless Clairvoyance and brought her mind back in full. She promptly put her sweaty hair in better order as she cast Subaru a suspicious glance. "Barusu, what do you plan on doing?" "The way things are, I'm just baggage, exactly as you said. I told you before we headed into the woods... I'm gonna make myself useful and help save Rem." He wasn't waiting to be sure of his guess, but based on prior events, he gave it about 70:30 odds in his favor. Of course, the remaining 30 percent weighed heavily on his mind, but... "I've gotta play the hot hand here. Ram, you ready to cross a somewhat dangerous bridge?" "I am alone with a young man in a forest full of demon beasts. As a maiden, there is surely no greater danger." "Oh, now you've said it, Sister." Subaru laughed, then took a deep breath and reopened his eyes. If Subaru's thought proved true, he could turn the situation around. Even though he knew it was necessary, it didn't quell the fear in his heart. He knew he was a scaredy-cat. Even so, there were some things he couldn't run from. If Subaru was right, this was one of them... "Ram, actually, I " He began to speak of Return by Death. Subaru acted like he was about to break the taboo, putting into words that which it was forbidden to convey. Before his eyes, Ram looked like she was wondering what Subaru was saying when her expression froze. No time itself had stopped. The world lost color, sound vanished, and the very concept of time came to a grinding halt. It was a world where everything had stopped. Suddenly, the sole exception to the rule appeared. "There you are." His murmur did not actually create a sound, but he hoped his invective still reached that which hovered before his eyes. If even a fraction of his emotions communicated, that would give him great satisfaction indeed. In the frozen world, the only thing unaffected was the black cloud. The cloud that had suddenly emerged before Subaru shifted into a silhouette of an arm to call his bluff. It formed fingers, then a wrist; the biceps emerged to complete a full right arm. Though the previous arm hadn't even reached an elbow, this one materialized all the way up to the shoulder. *** Subaru's breath felt like it caught inside him as the cloud, more distinct than the first time around, slid its black fingers forward. They moved past the thin flesh of his chest, stroked his rib cage, and went straight toward his heart. Even though he knew it was coming, there was no way he could endure pain so far past his limits. He had no words with which to express the mad screams inside his head from feeling his heart directly grasped. The long suffering, the time of unbearable anguish, continued. His heart rhythm was thrown off. His blood flow was cranked to the limit, making his entire body scream out. It was such torture that he felt like he was gushing tears of blood, biting down on his teeth hard enough to break them. For Subaru, the only thing he could sense in this world was pain. All he was allowed to do was continue to writhe. The agony seemed to last for eternity as his field of vision was dyed pure white " Barusu?" When he heard his nickname, Subaru realized he had fallen onto his knees and butt. He hastily wiped off the saliva that had spilled from the corner of his lips and rose back up. "Man, daydreams are bad, bad stuff." "It is because you forced yourself back from injury too soon. If it is too hard, you should return to the village. If you have some other way to find Rem, at least tell me that before..." Before completing her sentence, Ram gasped, and her expression changed as she looked all around the area. The only sounds were those of the quiet forest: tree branches swaying from the wind and leaves rustling as they rubbed against one another. Ram listened carefully as she looked back at Subaru. "What did you do, Barusu?" "...I rolled the dice a little, pain and all." Despite how extreme the pain had been, not even a single trace of that remained in his body at that moment. Even as Subaru silently reviled the wounds carved solely into his mind, he was grateful for the saving grace that his body still had enough endurance with which to act. After all Within the deep verdant foliage, the rustle of the wind began to lose its tranquility. Ram frowned and looked to her right. "The wind is astir... The scents of beasts approach, many of them." He looked that way, too, and saw multiple red points of light approaching from deeper in the forest. Based on the number of eyes, there were about five demon beasts running their way. Ram made a small click of her tongue. "And we haven't even found Rem yet...!" "Well, don't worry about that. She's not that far, so we'll hook up soon enough." "How can you be certain of such a thing?" Subaru shrugged in the face of Ram's sharp gaze and rebuke. "Rem's goal is to wipe out the demon beasts here in the forest, right? As long as I'm here, they're going to keep coming to try to eat me. That'll bring Rem running straight to me in time." He'd been thinking of it from the beginning. And he'd also thought it strange from the beginning. Why did the demon beasts prefer Subaru as their target for the curse during every loop? When Subaru repeated those four days, the demon beast always cursed Subaru when they'd met in the village. That wasn't so much unavoidable fate as the operation of some other compulsion. Subaru's existence provoked a reaction from the demon beasts. Subaru had deduced the answer as to why from the exaggerated reactions he'd received from other sources. "In other words it's the stench of the witch." Demon beasts were enemies of all mankind created by the witch. And they seemed to be intensely sensitive to Subaru, who carried the scent of the witch. That was no doubt why they'd gone after him and not Ram since they had entered the forest together. If all it took was a whiff of the witch to compel the demon beasts to appear, he'd make full use of that. He'd lure every demon beast in the forest to put their curses into Subaru, a grand feast that would bring Rem running in after them. He called it Operation: Subaru Chew Toy. When he'd previously tried to tell Emilia about Return by Death, Beatrice had made an offhanded comment in the aftermath that gave him the clue he needed to draw up his plan. Apparently, the appearance of the dark cloud had thickened the stench of the witch hovering around him. That haze was probably related to the witch in some way. Somehow, the scent of the witch around Subaru was related to the power behind Return by Death but it was not the time to think about such things. All he had was anguish he could not speak of to anyone, ferocious pain without anyone who could hear him complain. In the face of fast-approaching danger, the sheer exhilaration of turning the tables on the hand Fate had dealt him made the corners of Subaru's lips warp into a malevolent grin. Yeah, I've finally shot an arrow off at Fate for putting this loop together! Cheering inside his mind, he re-gripped his one-handed sword, positioning himself to face the oncoming tide. And to Ram, who stood by his side, he stated in a high-pitched voice, "So, since you're super reliable in a fight, please and thank you for that!" "After this, when you look back objectively at what you said, please beg me to kill you." A sigh trailed behind Ram's voice as she slammed a Blade of Wind into the throng approaching from the front. The cast had been changed for round two in the battle against the demon beasts. He kicked off from the ground and leaped forward. He trampled on the large, undulating root beneath him, slamming his feet into it as hard as he could. He had been truly mistaken to think that there was no sure footing when moving through forests and mountains without any proper roads. All he had to do was run down the natural game trails and not hesitate in his judgment as to where his heels should touch down. Trusting the stoutness of his shoes as he stepped forward made a huge difference in progress. His breath was ragged. The sweat on his brow

was getting into his eyes, so he made painful blinks to give the sweat somewhere to go. He was sprinting full force, tilting his body forward to reduce wind resistance even the tiniest bit. But the sounds of his pursuers' footsteps did not diminish. They rang out right beside him, as if mocking Subaru's attempt to escape. The chances of getting away were virtually nil. His lungs hurt, and he gasped as if desperate for oxygen. Subaru's mouth was open in an unsightly fashion. And to top it off "What a horrid face... I shall tell your home village on you." "I'll remember that later, damn it!!" Subaru immediately regretted his unnecessary use of oxygen as he continued to carry Ram in his arms as he ran. About ten minutes had passed since he'd used the stench of the witch for Operation: Subaru Chew Toy. As Subaru had planned, the demon beast pack had gathered around them. Amid exceptionally harsh combat, the two of them finally...had no option but to run through the forest for their lives. "And I believed you could fight them, geez!" "I did fight them. My endurance simply didn't hold up as well as I had hoped." "What about being ready to cross a dangerous bridge there?!" "It was a bridge too far. We would have fallen before crossing it." Ram had a comeback for everything Subaru had to offer. Her mana had been depleted from repeated combat; she wasn't even in any state to properly move her limbs. The demon beasts had treated Subaru's release of the witch's stench as a written invitation, arriving one after another, their numbers soon exceeding anything they could handle. The only word he could muster was regret. Ram had used her wind magic to take out some seventeen fiends. Things had gone swimmingly until that point, but Ram suddenly lost her strength and collapsed. Subaru, scared witless right beside her, picked Ram up, carried her, and started running for the hills "Nothing changes with you... Still, I appreciate your inability to prepare." "You're cheeky for a girl being carried around! And don't talk too much! Looks like you bit your tongue...and my strength's...not...gonna...hold...!" Subaru could boast athletic ability that scored well above the norm, but that was all indoor stuff. Outdoors, his stamina issues were substantial. He'd never dreamed of running a marathon back in school. Even with his pathetic stamina, he wrung out everything he could in that life-and-death situation. That said, it was only a matter of time until his endurance ran dry... No doubt the demon beasts pursuing them were well aware that Subaru was at the end of his strength. They'd nipped at his heels as if they truly enjoyed preying on the weak, which further fueled his flight instincts. "Looks like it's finally time to unleash the power hidden within m Ow!" Subaru let out a painful yelp as demon beast fangs sank into his right shoulder. One of the bastards toying with him had run ahead of them. The sharp pain buried deep in his shoulder and thrust into his brain, making his head feel like it was about to burst. He desperately twisted his body in an attempt to shake the beast off him " Barusu!" "Oh cra !" Right after Ram spoke from within his arms, the forest suddenly opened wide, and Subaru's feet were slicing through the air. His feet clawed at the sky as a floating feeling assaulted him, as if every internal organ were rising inside him. The next moment, his heels dug into the slope; Subaru and Ram lost their balance as they slid down together. "Bastards tricked me...!" He should never have underestimated them as mere beasts. Even though repeated contact with them had given Subaru an appreciation for their intelligence, when push came to shove, he'd been unable to shake his impression of them as just animals. As a result, the seemingly viable path he'd followed had literally led him off a cliff. "Damn it all!!" Subaru's yell made his throat tremble as they slid down at an even sharper angle. He held Ram tighter as he thrust the drawn sword in his left hand into the cliff. "Owwww, ow, ow, ow!" His left side scraped against the ground as the sword he'd thrust into the cliff twisted, stopping them from sliding farther. When he looked, the cliff ended a short distance below; had he been a single second slower, they would have surely met their deaths. "Whoaa!" When he looked up, several demon beasts pursuing them were rolling down beside them. The beasts, moving with too much force to stop, yelped like domesticated dogs as they vanished off the edge of the precipice. Their bodies mercilessly smashed against the sharp, rocky ravine below; the sound of their bones breaking reached even Subaru's eardrums. "Ah, we came very close to needing condolences ourselves..." "Arm...hurts...!" Ram complained as Subaru's arm tightened around her. Her body was light, but when added to Subaru's own weight, the burden on the sword thrust into the ground, and on Subaru as he gripped it, was more than two hundred pounds. His limit would not be long in coming. "It will of course be dangerous if we fall down the cliff. Can you climb, Barusu?" "I'd love to tough it out...but the demon beasts up there are still a problem," he said as he put more strength into his left arm. He let the blade, thrust in at an angle, support their weight as he tried to somehow get in a more stable position, when... " Ah," both said together. The same moment, the high-pitched sound of steel breaking rang around the area. The blade thrust into the cliff snapped, leaving the end of the sword stuck in the slope. He hastily thrust the warped blade into the ground anew, but the dull edge didn't penetrate very deep. He clung to the slope with all his body, resigned to however scraped up he might become, but friction alone could not slow two people. His efforts proved fruitless as the blade popped out. They began to fall once more. "Aaaaa! We're done for !!" " You owe me for this, Barusu!!" Subaru fell headfirst, every hair on his body standing up as he recalled flinging himself over a cliff. Even so, he never abandoned his duty as a man, continuing to hold Ram in his arms to try to shield her from the fall. Ram let him handle the physical work and twisted in his arms to aim her hands toward the ground. " El Fulla!" Mana welled up in Ram as she chanted, causing a powerful gust of wind to erupt at their estimated landing point. As they fell straight down, Subaru's body hit the ascending air current and rode on the pressure underneath them; he managed to get them upright again as their fall slowed further. We can do this, he judged while the world spun all around them. He focused all his strength into his legs, biting down hard enough to split his teeth as he endured the impact of landing. "Nguuuuuuh, aaaaaa we made it!!" They had endured. He labored to leap onto his numb, incredibly unhappy legs as he looked up at the cliff from which they had fallen. He was aghast at the height over thirty feet, the rough equivalent of jumping out from the fourth floor of his high school. That, combined with the hardness of the ground, made their very survival quite a feat. "You totally turned into my Buddha there, Ram. If it wasn't for your wind magic there, we'd be " It was when Subaru tried to express his gratitude for Ram saving his life that he realized she wasn't moving within his arms. Ram's head drooped as a thin line of blood trickled down from her nostril. Her eyes were closed, her breaths shallow, and the only sounds she made were painful moans. "Ah, er, Ram? Uh, geez, this is bad." He gently rocked her body and called out to her, but Ram made no reply. From the beginning, she'd been exhausted from using Clairvoyance and fighting the demon beasts. No doubt Ram had really overdone it with that spell, putting her mind in a precarious state. "Ah, crap. My timing really is shitty..." Subaru cursed his own impulsiveness as he re-embraced Ram more carefully. He laid her down beside him, awkwardly slid the broken blade into its sheath, and looked up. Even the demon beasts couldn't leap down the edge of a sheer precipice after them. Surely they'd circle around to resume their pursuit. He'd hoped that would give them the advantage in the meantime. "Oh, come on, you've gotta be kidding me!" The very moment Subaru looked above his head, a large number of rocks flowed down the slope that they'd barely survived falling from and riding atop them was a pack of demon beasts, with a pup deploying its mana leading the way. Subaru recognized the demon beast pup: He was absolutely certain it was the one that had first cursed him in the village, and the one that Rem had delivered a powerful blow to when it chased the children the night before. Seeing the way the other demon beasts followed it, as if it led that whole pack in spite of its size, Subaru couldn't keep a dry laugh away. "I'm starting to hate you, Lady Witch that perfume of yours is overkill." Duly lodging his complaint, Subaru checked on his numb legs as he prepared to flee once more. He prayed that the demon beasts would show them contempt and not pounce the instant they landed "Er, wha...?" A moment before Subaru started running, he tilted his head, sensing that something was off. The demon beasts sliding down the cliff looked wrong. They began to flinch while on the rolling rocks, and the instant they hit the ground under the cliff, they began to scatter in all directions. "Huh? Uh, I'm over here, guys...?" The sight of them scattering like little spiders was a bit much for him to take in. The heck's going on here...? The moment after he thought it, the explosion atop the cliff brought the answer. " Heh?" When he looked up again, the change atop the cliff surprised Subaru, but he instantly understood. A human silhouette now stood on the precipice far above them. It was a girl wearing a servant's outfit, her blood-drenched ball and chain held low as she glared down the incline with eyes that had lost all trace of sanity. The moment his eyes met that murderous gaze, Subaru broke out in a cold sweat as he experienced a bad feeling like no other. In an instant, the demon leaped off the high cliff to land on the ground far below. Subaru's breath caught. Here he was, deep in the forest surrounded by demon beasts, face-to-face with a demon girl, one arm around a girl he had to protect at all costs and he had arrived at the final stage wielding nothing but a broken sword. "This is just...a tiny bit unfair, don't you think?" His plea died on the breeze blowing through the forest, unheard. It was, as they say, a do-or-die situation Ram and Subaru had entered the forest of the demon beasts fully aware of the danger, but since they had cooperated together to take down the beasts, they had arrived deep in the forest without a scratch. The idea was to find Rem, who would be miraculously unharmed, and lecture her for being a loose cannon in a safe, peaceful, happy reunion. And, using Subaru's knack for drawing the demon beasts to him, they'd use Ram's and Rem's sisterly powers to take down the demon beasts one after another, liberating Subaru from the curse. End of story. "That's how I imagined it, but, yeah..." In a pathetic voice, Subaru mused about how his smooth-sailing scenario was now in tatters. Subaru didn't see a single shred of

friendship in Rem's eyes as she stood before him. All he sensed was pitch-black bloodlust. Though he couldn't be sure, she didn't look like she was in any mental condition for them to talk things through. The pressure rolling off her made him hesitate to even blink. He didn't know what might happen if he took his eyes off the threat in front of him for even a split second. That very thought brought a strained smile to Subaru as he realized Rem viewed him as her enemy. What the hell am I doing all the way out here, then? "Heya, Remrin, it's your pal Subaru! Your buddy!" Unaware that his face had gone stiff, Subaru nonetheless managed to call out with a cheerful voice. Perhaps he thought that calling to Rem might bring her back to her senses, but... Rem turned her head toward him, locking on with a look so sharp that he could practically hear it. "If you give me steamy looks like that, I'm gonna get singed..." Subaru felt the entire weight of her attention on him. Perhaps he had failed. Rem's dreadful appearance certainly warranted that thought. The familiar servant's outfit on her was fully covered in blood spatter. A coat of fresh blood dampened the dried blood below it in a gruesome two-tone pattern, sporting blackish red and vivid red. Her nails were long and sharp enough to rival those of the demon beasts perhaps an effect of her horned form. Under her right hand was her iron ball for "self-defense" and a pool of blood and little bits of flesh, an exceptionally ominous combination. He'd somewhat expected to find Rem like this, so he was able to keep hold of his senses, but if Subaru had met this Rem in a dark alley, it was safe to say he'd be 100 percent certain to piss his pants. That was how terrible Rem was in her ghoulish madness and yet, in the midst of it all, the white horn protruding from her forehead had maintained its purity and beauty. To Subaru, even though the horn was the very symbol of Rem's malevolent demon state, it was the only thing that seemed out of place in contrast to the rest. But the circumstances did not permit Subaru such leisurely thoughts. When he looked, he saw scattered demon beasts waiting behind the shadows of boulders and among the trees of the forest. No doubt the beasts were watching their every move. He'd be lunch the instant he showed them the slightest opening. Rem standing before him, the demon beasts standing behind his life was truly dangling by a thread. Subaru couldn't move. The demon beasts couldn't move. The entire situation would hinge on Rem's next action. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and looked straight back at Rem once more. He didn't know if he could make Rem's eyes waver, but he had to give it everything he had and leave no stone unturned. Then "Sister..." Her voice was tired and faint. However, the sound and its meaning thrummed in Subaru's ears. Her lips quivered, and she seemed out of sorts as her eyes fixated on the side of Ram's face. Even amid a frenzy sufficient to make her lose her sanity, Rem still recognized the sight of her other half, the sister she loved above all. Subaru sighed in astonishment. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you had a sister complex. If that brought you back to sanity, I'm all for " " Let her go." She interrupted his words as she flung the iron ball at him with the force of a typhoon. It was close to a miracle that he'd managed to bend his body to the left in time. It was perhaps fortunate that Subaru's knees were a little wobbly, having not yet recovered from the earlier hard landing. The spikes of the iron ball grazed his right shoulder as it passed. The anguish clawing out his flesh sent his brain into hysteria. Biting down to hold back a pain-filled shout, Subaru advanced at an angle. "That hurt, damn it!" Subaru turned his gouged shoulder before sidestepping the chain as it lashed downward. A moment later, the chain violently slammed into the spot where Subaru had just been, leaving a snakelike trail on the ground. If Subaru had been any slower in dodging, his back would have borne an identical mark. He shuddered, imagining his flesh rending as he looked at Rem. But Rem looked no different from before. Her eyes were steeped in enmity without having regained their sanity. "Horned form isn't the problem; it's whether or not you can control it..." That was Subaru's guess based on Rem's current demeanor. If that was the case, the issue was how to restore her sanity. She'd been in a frenzied state the night before, too, but her mind had been more Rem than mad demon in the moments before he'd blacked out. Perhaps the sight of Subaru gravely injured before her eyes would be enough of a shock to snap her back to lucidity. "Maybe I should try getting hit by the iron ball once? Wait, I'll be mincemeat then..." Repeating the conditions from the night before would surely bring Rem around, but by then Subaru would be dog food. *** Ram might have understood the situation, but the girl in his arms was a long way from conscious; he'd been trying to shake her awake, but that was probably going to take some time. Time that Rem and the demon beasts surrounding him weren't likely to permit. Subaru licked a drop of sweat trickling down his cheek, using the moisture on his tongue to lubricate his lips. If no new option presented itself, he'd just have to try everything. If charging forward was the only way, then that was that. It was the Subaru way. "Hey, Rem! Don't just look at your sister in my arms here, look at me! My name is Subaru Natsuki! The absolutely useless newbie doing odd jobs! The doe-eyed manservant at Roswaal Manor! I probably caused you and Ram a lot of trouble, but we got along some of the time, ri Whoa!" He was in the middle of appealing to Ram's memories and emotions when her short temper put an immediate stop to it. The whirring iron ball snapped and shattered the trunk of every tree in its path, smashing branches along the way as Subaru made a leaping forward roll to evade. He dodged her next attacks with a pretty hop-step-jump and looked back. "It's rude to beat someone to death midsentence! I saw my family's faces before my eyes there... Ah, here we are!" As Subaru yelled, Rem leaned forward and murmured, "Give Sister back...!" But out of the blue, Rem yanked back the iron ball she'd swung with one arm alone, using the momentum to spin her body around on a dime when... *** ...Rem's backward spinning kick connected with the torso of the demon beast leaping at her from behind. With a roar equal to that of a bomb, the demon beast exploded; even from some distance away, Subaru could clearly make out its innards sailing through the air. That's what you get for trying to profit from the misery of others. The demon beasts had formed a second wave to attack behind the vanguard, but the gruesome sight of that death made them stop in their tracks. But this was folly, no different from offering up one's belly in the face of one's predator. She unleashed a single horizontal attack that smashed together the bellies and skulls of the next two beasts. Rem, unconcerned by the flying blood and flesh, charged in the wake of her attack. One of the beasts drew its head back, so she crushed one of its front paws; now that it had stopped moving, she used her other foot to kick it in the head, snapping its neck. Her heel continued up, then back down into the torso of the next beast. A third pounced at Rem to avenge its comrade, but she gripped its throat below its wide-open maw and hurled it high into the sky. The demon beast arced through the air, curling its tail as it made a faint yelp. It flew farther and farther, then closer and closer, until finally smashing against the hard ground with a sound resembling that of an overripe fruit. Slaughter followed slaughter. It was carnage for the sake of carnage, a massacre even by massacre standards. It was already plain that the beasts could not compare to the destructive power of the single, mighty horned demon who had descended upon them. Yet even so "Damn, numbers really are a weapon all their own." Though the demon beasts saw their brethren cut down one after another, they showed no sign of disengaging. They bared their fangs, brandished their claws, and howled menacingly as they sprang at Rem. Even as they were blown away, crushed, smashed, and dismembered, adding to the pile of demon beast corpses, they carved shallow wounds into Rem's body little by little. When Subaru saw that the maid outfit, drenched in blood spatter, was reddening not just from the outside but fresh bleeding from the inside, he realized the tide had begun to turn against them. The battle before his eyes between horned demon and demon beast was extremely intense; they no longer paid any heed to Subaru and Ram whatsoever. Both sides were leaving low-threat opponents for later as they concentrated their rampages on their mortal enemies. If Rem had been dominating the battle, Subaru would no doubt have let her hunt the demon beasts to extinction without it weighing on his conscience. But her situation was gradually getting worse. *** Rem's arms flung about, mowing down demon beast torsos. She gasped in pain as claw after claw reached her own body. Blood scattered; lacerations carved into her white skin. Subaru couldn't just sit and watch. There was a way. All he had to do was butt into the fight. But charging in to join the fray directly would only get him wrapped up in the typhoon and blown back the way he came. For him, interjecting meant drawing the horned demon's and the demon beasts' attention to something besides one another it was the only way to save Rem. He resigned himself, spread his legs, took a deep breath, and looked right at Rem. I can do this. Girls have charm, boys have courage. "Don't make that scary face, Rem. Smile. I've Returned by " For the second time that day, the world ground to a halt, and the black cloud brought another banquet of screams. Even though he'd resigned himself to the extreme pain that would arise, it was not pain one could endure. All the more so because this time, it was not just a right arm but a left arm that emerged with it. Perhaps the completed right arm had developed a taste for this. Before Subaru's unmoving, wide-open eyes, the right hand slid past his rib cage and brushed against his internal organs as the left hand split off. The right hand went for his heart; the other caressed Subaru's cheek like it was fond of him. Terror welled within him, and the next moment, pain shot through his every nerve. He ceased to be himself. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, he had a horrible, unendurable sense that something was wrong. His brain boiled in a tempest of negative emotions; his consciousness faded in and out. And yet, the soft touch of the palm on his cheek bore warmth that brought relief when he felt like his mind and body were about to melt. But Subaru knew a feeling of beyond that, so "I'm...back!" His vision was blurred. His soul had been whittled down. None of the pain and suffering had carried over to the real

world. No time had passed. Rem and the demon beasts were in front of him, at each other's throats just like before. But the instant Subaru returned to reality, a great change came over the field of battle. Rem and the demon beasts poured all their attention onto Subaru; it was as if some anomaly had emerged then and there that could not be ignored. No doubt the cause was that, just as Subaru had planned, the witch's stench was erupting from him. *** Rem roared. The demon beasts howled in unison. Subaru, too, yelled at the top of his lungs. With split-second timing, he evaded the claws of the leaping demon beasts and the iron ball slamming toward him, as if his life, his very soul, had been set on fire. And so the great melee began. As the unquestionably odd one out in a battle of horned demon, demon beast, and ordinary boy, Subaru paid attention to every detail of the melee as he bobbed and weaved. His conduct was exceedingly simple. He'd hold his position as the battle grew more intense, making no effort to increase the distance, dodging only the sparks that fell in his direction end of story. *** Once again, the demon beasts pounded by the iron ball became wall paste before his eyes. Heedless of their comrades' deaths, three demon beasts teamed up to attack Rem without pause, aiming to inflict greater wounds upon her. But such crude intelligence went to waste, for her hand knocked them away; once they were immobile, they became easy prey for the iron ball's descent. Subaru glanced at the spectacle as he shifted his hold on Ram, in danger of falling out of his grasp, and jumped back. He barely evaded the fangs of one demon beast, only to dance right into Rem's range of attack. And when Rem realized Subaru was closing in, she instantly moved to intercept. Subaru came to a very abrupt stop to escape the thrust of her iron handle, then leaped back and ducked to avoid the lash of the chain that followed, with the iron ball passing over his head to change the head of the demon beast chasing behind him into a spectacularly blooming crimson flower. Subaru heard the body crashing down behind him as he threw shame and honor to the wind and crawled on the ground, cockroach-style, to escape immediately. Rem, hot on his heels, found her path obstructed by demon beasts. Escape successful. Subaru held his distance as he rewarded himself with a single sigh of relief for the quick thinking that had saved his life. " Hah! I'm actually doing pretty well here!" He'd desperately bounded away to avoid being bitten, foisted the pursuing demon beasts on the maid girl, and had crawled like a bug to escape the angry girl's wrath. If his actions were ever recorded for posterity, he would want to die then and there, but he focused on the fact that his conduct was intended to keep him alive. At that moment, things were unfolding according to Subaru's plan. The situation could be worse they were at least buying time and reducing the number of demon beasts. When he glanced up, he sensed the eyes of demon beasts all around the valley. Once they spied the battle, they joined the fray one by one. The demon beasts were obeying their instincts in response to Subaru's spreading the stench of the witch throughout the forest. This could work. He saw a chance for victory. That, at least, was what Subaru thought. " Uh?" Subaru engaged in more evasive action when he suddenly felt dizzy and tilted heavily. It wasn't that he'd been careless with his steps. He was suddenly assailed by a feeling of lethargy as a chill ran through his entire body... He knew. "The curse... At a time like this...?!" Subaru looked up to try to see if the demon beast from which the curse hailed was one of those surrounding Rem. But he had no way to tell which was the caster. Besides, it was unlikely the demon beast had triggered the curse just to make Subaru suffer. It was the simple result of being faced with the menace of Rem and craving the mana with which to fight her. And Subaru was right there with them, rite ready for activation, his mana there for the taking. A simple reason but also a fatal one. The curse got the better of Subaru, making him lose his balance and crash to the ground. If the demon beasts bit Subaru to death, it was only a matter of time until they weighed Rem down by sheer numbers. But more than that, the very reason Rem had entered the forest would be " Aah!" A great shout echoed loudly enough to rend the air and split the ground as she swung down, her fist turning one demon beast into dog food. In a single instant, with incredible, explosive force, Rem had broken through the monster ranks to kill a demon beast far away from her. The sight shocked Subaru and the beasts alike. When Subaru recovered, he immediately realized it. He was breathing easier. The lethargy had abated. He had been freed from the effects of the curse. " Rem." *** Rem returned to butchering the demon beasts surrounding her as if she hadn't even heard Subaru call her name. Subaru watched the blue-haired girl in the midst of combat as it keenly sunk in that, though she wasn't lucid or in a state to recognize who Subaru was, Rem had saved him by turning that demon beast into paste. She hadn't mistaken the sight of her beloved older sister. Nor, apparently, had she forgotten the reason why she'd plunged into the forest in the first place. If that's the case..., he thought. Subaru scraped his mind for the thing that only he could do. He thought that he should be faithful to his original goal, not resort to a roundabout plan like this. "In other words, I'll have the heartthrob maid sisters, Ram and Rem, send that curse packing!" If Subaru could accomplish that, he might yet be able to get out of the situation alive. Furthermore, to do that, he needed to bring Rem back to sanity in a real sense. Subaru's business was not with the murderous demon but with the superficially polite, quick-to-jump-to-conclusions girl whose running off on her own caused everyone else so much trouble Rem. " The horn." Suddenly, Subaru heard a voice from within his arms. Ram, still in his embrace, faintly opened her eyes, giving Subaru an unfocused upward glance. "You're...awake?!" "I think my timing here is quite...excellent..." Ram was smiling a bit. Subaru smiled back half seriously as he replied. "Yeah, you've got awesome instincts, Big Sis. What do you mean, the horn?" Ram pulled her chin in with a look of annoyance. "It is that horn that has led Rem astray... A single, powerful blow will...bring her back..." "You're sure that'll work?" "Fairly. Largely. I believe that it will." "That's kind of vague, you know?! But I wanna believe you." Subaru cut off his words and looked at Rem. The white horn jutted out from Rem's forehead to a length of some four inches. If Puck stood on her forehead, he and the horn would be around the same height. A single blow there. "Doesn't that seem kinda...impossible?" "Use your intellect and courage and just do it." "Well, I do kind of have a way to do this that involves intellect and courage, but..." Subaru's unexpected reply made Ram raise her eyebrows. He smiled weakly at her, as he had difficulty putting it into words. "It's probably gonna give you a scare." "If it brings my little sister back to sanity, I shall not be upset." "Really?" "Really-really." "You swear on Rozchi?" "...You must really not mind dying to pick that. Yes, I swear on Master Roswaal." It was because Ram had said it in such a thoroughly valiant way that Subaru respected her view so highly. Before them, Rem slowly turned in their direction. The bulk of her attention was trained on them, with the remainder toward the demon beasts surrounding them to warn her if they came close. In contrast to Rem, on guard for attacks from every direction, Subaru was focused solely on smacking that horn. Namely "Aaaaand, off you go!" " Ah?" Ram had a distant look of shock on her face as Subaru lifted her up by the hips...and chucked her forward. No doubt that the thought he'd throw her had never entered her mind. Ram looked aghast, but Rem was equally so. Rem, still in her horned form, stood agape for a brief moment before reaching out as her older sister flew through the air toward her. The iron ball fell from Rem's grasp as she welcomed her big sister with open, bloodstained arms. In an instant, her expression, so hard and painted over with hostility and bloodlust, changed into something much softer. Subaru sprang forward to not let that instant go to waste. The same moment he hurled Ram forward, Subaru lowered his body and charged. Rem's gaze was aimed up, preoccupied with her big sister, while Subaru approached from the blind spot closer to the ground. His feet slid as his right hand drew his sword from his waist. In one motion, he sliced through the wind as he slid the blade out of the scabbard, aiming it at the horn on Rem's forehead the timing was perfect. Even Rem could not respond in time to the sudden attack. But " Ah?!" Through a combination of the blade's broken tip and Subaru's own timid, halfhearted step at the end, the blade missed a direct blow to her horn, passing a few millimeters short. Subaru was appalled at having let his tiny moment of opportunity slip through his hands. "I chickened out! I didn't have enough courage for the last part!!" His body swam as he got nothing but air. Subaru's momentum carried him past her, exposing his back, and Rem raised her left hand to stab him. The long claws on her fingertips would surely go right through Subaru's back and stick out the other side. He regretted dying one step away from success, and at Rem's hands at that. The very moment he thought it "Whoaaaa ?!" The ground beneath his feet exploded, with the resulting cascade of rocks vaulting Subaru straight up. The scattering rocks pelted his body all over. Skin breaking and bleeding, Subaru looked down from midair to see the cause of his pain. South of the point where the ground had exploded under Subaru, he saw the demon beast puppy in a low crouch. The Urugarum had kept a low profile since leading the pack down the cliff, waiting for its opportunity to take Subaru and Rem out in a single cascade of rocks. And so, seeing Subaru create an opening, it had spectacularly intervened with the goal of sending both him and Rem flying. However... *** ...its plan was foiled when Rem roared and stomped onto the ground from which the rocks were erupting. Force canceled force, ending with only her blue hair heavily disheveled. She'd canceled out magical force with raw violence smashing the spell with brute force. The cascade of rocks ceased, and Rem's shoulders eased as she held her big sister preciously in her arms. Subaru, still above her, had vanished from even the furthermost reaches of her mind. Buffeted by the magic spell, Subaru whirled head over heels with no idea which way was up. But his right hand kept the sword firmly in its grip even then; fortunately, he landed not against the rock wall but merely on the hard ground. And Rem stood right below him, her head exposed, not noticing him whatsoever. There would be no better chance, nor no chance after. It was now or never. He gripped the single-handed sword's hilt with both hands

and swung with all his might. He had arrived at this point at the end of a long string of coincidences. Opportunism for the win. Miracles were awesome. Even if purely by whim, sometimes God did good work although God's work would also have helped tremendously with the previous attempt. And now he was right above Rem, unnoticed, her head fully exposed... He made a strained smile. There was no time. Rem was close at hand, and so was a slow, leisurely world with her. He saw the horn. He swung the sword past its apex with all the energy he could muster. "Laugh, Rem. Today, I'm more demonic than any demon!" The blade flashed straight down, aimed at the white horn The high-pitched sound of steel striking steel sharply echoed through the demon beasts' forest. The next moment, Subaru crash-landed, his own painful yelp merging with the echo. *** Compared to her older sister, the girl named Rem had a very difficult everyday life. Even among humanoids, the might and mana possessed by the demon race were head and shoulders above the rest. Their robust bodies and the quality of the mana they employed granted them peerless fighting strength. They boasted the title of the mightiest of all humanoid races. The single weakness the demons possessed was their crushingly low population. A race dedicated to producing the mightiest individuals did not give breath to great numbers, and so, despite their strength, the demon race was obliged to dwell in poor villages deep within the mountains. Because they were a race dwelling far from human habitation, there were strict taboos among the demons to protect their limited numbers. To their race, twins were abominations. This was one of the unbreakable laws of demon kind. By nature, demons are born with two horns on their head. In tranquil times the horns are hidden, but when circumstances change and their demon instincts awaken, the horns appear on their heads and consume mana from the surrounding area. Their horns draw in and control mana from the atmosphere, greatly heightening their combat capabilities. This purpose made them the pride of their race. But twins were born with only one horn each. Among demons, the "hornless" were considered the dregs of society. Losing even one was cause for ridicule. Twins lacked something deeply precious from the moment of their birth. What else could they be but abominations? And so, it was taught that twins were to be discarded immediately. The fate of this pair of twins ought to have ended then and there. And it would have, had one of the twins not displayed her gift from the heavens with a tremendous burst of magical power the very moment the chief, having made the bitter decision, was about to render judgment by his own hand. The older twin was named Ram; the younger, Rem. Both occupied the lowest rungs on the ladder among the tribe. Their daily lives were far from pleasant. Even though their lives had been spared, they were still twins. Both were treated as hornless from the beginning and raised inhospitably by their people. In spite of their connection by blood, their own parents acted distantly toward them. Their fellow tribesmen did not hide their contempt for the two "abominations." For both of them, it was the worst childhood imaginable. The hostility continued until the demons realized what they were capable of or more precisely, until the older of the twins became aware of it herself. The most accurate term describing Ram during childhood was wonder child. She had talent that exceeded even that of great demons throughout their storied history. Indeed, their entire race was enthralled by the beauty of Ram's horn, which allowed her to use a vast amount of mana in spite of her youth. Her demeanor was as forthright as the single, pure white horn on her forehead, lacking any hint of becoming drunk on her own might and potential, making it seem natural for their brethren to bow their heads before her. It was very special treatment for a girl who was not yet ten years of age. Even their cold and distant parents, even their kin who had openly scorned them, even the chief who had tried to slay the twins shortly after birth all were speechless before Ram's authority. She was destined from birth to become the pinnacle of the horned demons, the mightiest of all humanoid races. Members of a race that prized individual strength were flawless in their politeness toward an individual with such power. And yet, Ram never once used the tribe's reverence for her own benefit. All Rem could do was stumble down her older sister's path to glory. She had no abilities above the norm. Her mana supply was strictly average, with her body's capabilities in line with what a normal demon with only one horn could do. Compared to Ram, she did not have a shred of confidence; she cowered behind her sister's back like a shadow. That was how the young Rem coped. That was how she protected her immature heart. It wasn't that she was jealous of her older sister. She admired her. She adored her. It wasn't that her parents hated her. They loved the younger as well as the older. It wasn't as if their people had spurned Rem. Of course they had high hopes. She was her little sister. Her sister, kinder than anyone; her parents, full of expectations; all her kin, cheering her on to excel like her twin these were the little cuts that chafed Rem. No doubt it was the direct consequence of her and her sister looking like two peas in a pod. Yet even though their heights and faces were identical, their qualities as demons were on completely different scales. Of course, Rem strived to change those circumstances. It may have been no more than shallow, clumsy trial-and-error efforts by a young child, but Rem tried any and every way of getting closer to her older sister, to beat her in even a single area. But Ram was simply better at everything. And so, Rem was still a young child when she learned that the sister to whom she was closest, the sister she loved more than anything, occupied an area that she could never, ever reach. She could never stand by her sister's side. Ram would always walk ahead of her, bathed in the light of the world. Rem's place was behind her sister, cowering behind her back, peeking out once in a while, only to shrink away from the dazzling light. Once she gave up, she could accept the sufferings of daily life, like a reed bending with the wind. She wondered how long she would have to bear her own weak capitulation. One night, Rem awoke, unable to sleep well because of the heat. She slid off the wooden bed and pulled the blankets off her sweat-covered body. When Rem looked around, she suddenly realized that her older sister, always sleeping beside her, was gone. I have to look for my sister right away, she thought. If her sister was awake, she had to follow behind her majestic gait. To do so without fail, even for matters as trivial as waking up briefly to pee, was Rem's obsession at the time. I have to go outside but only then did Rem belatedly notice the source of the warmth flames that enveloped her home. When she touched the doorknob, she yanked her hand back from its heat. At that moment, the truth sank in. Rem's sleepy sense of smell was awoken by the scent of something burned; her forehead felt itchy as her horn grew, appearing fully. Instantly, she used her solid body to break the door down and dash out of the house enveloped in the hellish flames. She didn't know why this had happened, but she obeyed her instincts to flee, to get outside. Rem kicked apart the brittle fence and rushed from her home to the outside world. Even then, a single, fanatical thought ruled in her mind: I have to leave the house and have Sis tell me what to do. But then, that thought fell by the wayside at the sight awaiting her once she left the house. In the center of the village was a pile of burned bodies. The burning houses and flame-swept trees had turned her familiar world into a reddish hell in one night. When Rem saw the faces of her parents among the corpses swallowed by the flames, she immediately abandoned all rational thought and fell to her knees then and there. Rem remained kneeling as a group of men dressed in black robes calmly surrounded her. Even up close, the deep shadows of their hoods hid their faces until they were very close; even then, they were not faces she recognized. However, when Rem did not sense a single trace of goodwill from them, a smile came over her that seemed alien on her cheeks. That smile was the one that hid her despair for the good of everyone else. The figures did not respond in the slightest to the expression or the pain behind it. The shadows approached her, raising their hands and swinging the glimmering silver blades within them down at the girl but their heads flew off in the next moment. Blood. In a single moment, four lives had been taken with such skill that the heads never raised a shout, never even realized what had happened. The familiar feel of the mana pulsing against her skin instantly told Rem it was the work of her sister. She stood up. If her sister was here, Rem had to follow her lead. She didn't even need to look around. Her eyes located her older sister immediately. The face identical to Rem's own was warped with grief. The older sister ran over to embrace the younger, sighing with relief and relaxing her body when she realized Rem was unharmed. Rem hugged her sister back, never feeling more pathetic, or happier, in her life. Rem did not clearly remember what happened next. She thought that she'd leave everything up to her sister. That was best. That was right. Sis always chose the finest option among all available possibilities. And yet, they had been surrounded before she realized it. Even with silhouettes so numerous they formed a wall, Rem looked at them in a daze, still believing that Sis would somehow overcome. Her sister pushed before her, straining herself yelling. Tears flowed from her cheeks; her body seemed to shrink as she made a desperate plea. When they threw her sister to the ground, Rem felt troubled. To look down at her sister was to contradict her way of life. To stand behind her sister, to hide behind her back, was what brought meaning to her existence. Her sister screamed. She returned to her feet and spread her hands out before her. She unleashed the mana. The power would flow through her sister, and invisible blades would descend upon the world, slicing everything around them. But the moment before unleashing it, her sister turned around, embraced Rem then, an impact. And then, Rem could only watch. She saw steel flash at her sister's head from the side. She saw a white glimmer dance in the reddened sky. She saw the severed horn spin round and round and round. She saw blood gush out from her sister's forehead. She heard someone's high-pitched scream. She listened to the cries of the sister she adored, the sister who had shielded her and taken the blow for her, as the beautiful white horn that she had so envied tumbled through the sky. Finally. It finally broke off. That was the thought she had. Rem did not understand the details of what occurred after that point. What she did grasp was that at some point, they'd lost consciousness, only to awaken far from home with a huge mansion all around

her, and that her sister, who had lost her horn, was there with her. Her sister had regained consciousness first and was overjoyed to see Rem awaken, but Rem was lost in thoughts of her twin, whose abilities ranked lower than the average person's now that she had lost her horn. On the surface, her behavior was largely unchanged, but there was no trace of the talent she had commanded in every area. Now that she struggled with even minor things, Rem had many opportunities to help her. And so, one would think that Rem would develop a superiority complex toward her now universally inferior sister but one would be wrong; the inferiority complex took root in Rem's spirit even deeper than before. In other words, Rem felt shame at the fact that her sister had gone from beloved by the whole world to having to endure life at the bottom. Rem's guilt was spurred on by the admiration she had for her older sister. Had Rem's heart been filled with only jealous thoughts, no doubt it would not have been so. But Rem loved her sister. And she was not so shrewd or self-serving to live and forget the thought she'd had that moment when her sister's horn was broken. "I have to do everything in Sis's...Sister's place..." Rem changed how she addressed her older sister and put her days of hiding in her shadow behind her. Rem's battle had begun. In all things, in all duties she was assigned, all she could think was, Sister would do this. She'd always been right behind her sister, watching. Her sister's judgment had never failed. Even so, the results were always less than she expected. That was natural, for her sister was incredible. With a flawed little sister like her, even both of them working together could not reach the same place. Rem had to blaze the trail that was properly her sister's to have blazed, to have walked, to have led her down, and to lead her older sister along it by the hand. There was no longer any individual life for the girl known as Rem. To Rem, the only thing she could do was "live the life Sister would have." That she could not fulfill such a role made her unable to believe that she had any real value. Days and months passed. There, in the mansion that had taken them both in when their homeland was burned away, the gap between their reality and Rem's ideals wore at her day after day. It was not that she minded her role as a servant. The lord of the manor had benevolently given them a place to stay, and moreover, she adored her older sister enough that she did not mind offering up body and soul. If problems arose during these untroubled days, Rem took full responsibility. You have done well, the master would say in praise. She had heard such words from her homeland many times over. Don't force yourself, her sister would say to Rem out of concern. But even forcing herself was not yet enough. Why do you push yourself so hard? one irresponsible person had asked Rem. That was obvious. Because she was inferior in anything and everything. Even if she pushed herself to the breaking point, whittling away her soul and burning her body to ash, she would never reach that which ought to have been. What could she do to atone? And so, Rem dedicated her life to cutting open the path that her sister ought to have walked herself but that Rem had stolen from her. For Rem was a substitute for her sister in all things and nothing more. With her obsession strengthened, the seven years wore upon Rem. Others dutifully commended Rem on a daily basis for her earnest hard work, though to Rem these efforts never yielded satisfactory results. Even Margrave Roswaal praised her as a capable worker, to the point that he commanded her to serve at his side during that significant time when the royal selection was underway. And yet, all the praise she earned filled Rem's chest with vague unease. The days and months had not made her sense of guilt fade away; indeed, they had only reinforced it and she continued to live her life for the sake of her older sister. And then, Lady Emilia and Sister had returned from the royal capital, bringing a foreign element into the mansion. "My name is Subaru Natsuki. Zero work experience! Pleased to meet you!" The wounded lad had been brought into the mansion because he had saved Emilia's life. Upon waking, the young man negotiated with Roswaal and gained for himself the position of apprentice servant in no time at all. Naturally, Rem was gripped by a deep sense of distrust toward the youth of uncertain origin. In particular, she could find nothing to like during the first two days, when the young man had plastered a smile on his face and worked constantly to win her and her sister's favor. Furthermore, there was a scent wafting around him that triggered memories in Rem that she could barely endure. It was the scent of the witch the miasma that surrounded only a few beings in the entire world. Ever since her homeland had become a sea of flames, Rem's nose had learned how to pick out the scent. She did not know why. She knew only that it triggered abominable memories and that seven long, bitter years had taught her that nothing good came from that which accompanied the scent. She had been unable to make her antipathy plain in front of Roswaal and Emilia, but instead, she had often found herself staring at the young man while he seemed at war with himself. Now that she had lost her horn, Sister had no need for any relationships other than her one with Roswaal, whom she adored. To Rem, who had stolen her sister's proper place, there was nothing more important than protecting the place her sister could be at ease. And Rem would show no mercy to those who threatened their home. As far as anyone else could see, the boy showed no sign of untoward behavior whatsoever. Yet even as her sister told her that they should only watch, Rem thought he should be driven out of the mansion as soon as possible. By the time something happens, it will be too late. Such was the conclusion Rem had formed at the time. And then, she saw Subaru sleeping on Emilia's lap. Rem gave Emilia's opinion on the matter a great deal of weight, but internally she was still struggling to think of how she should treat the person known as Subaru. Rem, who had strictly observed Subaru's every action because he was an outsider, understood that he tried his utmost in everything he did including the sarcasm. It was in complete contrast to his frivolous manner. And seeing him struggle so hard to produce results in spite of inferior ability reminded her of someone, but she couldn't put her finger on it. From the following morning onward, she saw Subaru's demeanor and behavior in a different light. The strained atmosphere evaporated; how he approached everything changed, even if his technical skill had not. He had gone from striving without a tangible goal to burning with desire to accomplish something. Naturally, his approach to work changed as well. He still held others back, but the quality of his work did rise a little bit. Rem, who welcomed no changes to her environment, still regarded Subaru as a troublesome interloper, but she felt like she should at least not regard him as an enemy. Then, when Roswaal was absent, disaster struck. " Worst case, the whole village might get wiped out." Rem, ordered by her older sister to accompany Subaru, half doubted the extreme scenario he'd suggested so seriously. However, when they reached Earlham Village, the children really were missing, and the barrier that should have blocked off the forest had been breached and was no longer functioning. "Rem, let's go. We have to do something." Rem had recoiled at Subaru's invitation to go into the forest to rescue the children from their plight. Of course it was strange. Rem could not grasp why someone so powerless would act so desperately for children he barely knew. Subaru was not being reckless. He was well aware of his own weakness. And still he did not hesitate to ask others for the things he lacked. What incredible arrogance, she had thought. They had gone into the forest, found the children, and used magic to save them. Even when Subaru wanted to go deeper into the forest to find the missing last child, Rem was not surprised. With eyes that said he was useless, an expression that said he didn't measure up, a voice that bit back the urge to give in many times over Subaru never stopped struggling. When Rem watched Subaru head into the forest by himself as she healed the children, her heart fluttered furiously. She was filled with warmth that words could not express. After Rem had handed the children over to the young men of the village, relying on the miasma of the witch to reach Subaru once more, she had found him in a life-and-death situation, surrounded by a pack of demon beasts. Seeing the sleeping girl in Subaru's arms had cleared away all Rem's doubts. As Subaru ran, Rem leaped into action, running interference for him against the attacking mob of demon beasts. Blood and pain toyed with her, but Rem felt light, as if a weight had been lifted from her heart. Not once had she imagined that trusting someone, trusting Subaru, could feel so good. The next moment, Rem had sustained an impact that plunged her mind into darkness. In its place, her demon instincts took over, and she began an indiscriminate slaughter. She learned the pleasure of making flesh fly apart. She felt delight at indulging in her power, completely forgetting her goal. Her demon instincts demanded more blood, more lives *** The collision against her back had sent Rem flying, dulling her reactions. Something was holding her down. When she looked behind her, she saw Subaru's face. The relief on it snapped Rem from reflex to rational thought. She saw a ferocious demon beast right next to him, its fangs drawing near. She needed to jump, to reach out, to save him so thought Rem when suddenly, the miasma tickled her nose. That made her delay her decision by a single moment. And then... " Gaaaaah!!" ...Rem finally realized that she had not changed at all. She had committed the sin from long ago...again. CHAPTER 5 *** When Rem regained consciousness, her feet were not planted on the ground. There was an arm firmly around her waist. Someone was carrying her. She did not think that the rough manner was any way to touch a girl. Though that was indeed the case, the owner of the arm was sprinting recklessly, with not a shred of concentration for anything beyond that. " Barusu, go right at the broken tree in front! You are slow!" "Don't...demand the impossible... I'm haghh running...as hard as I can...here!" Two familiar voices, one more intimately so, were yelling at each other from close by. The intense up-and-down shaking jostled Rem's head back into consciousness. "...Subaru, what are y " " ! Rem...you're awake?!" Subaru kept running as he voiced his delight and glanced down at her. Rem looked up at him, her mind still rather hazy, when something unexpectedly caught in her throat. The side of Subaru's face was wet with blood. Maybe he'd cut his forehead? The scars all over his body from the night before had whitened; at some point, new wounds had been made on top of them, staining both with fresh blood. Ram, her pink hair swaying as she ran beside Subaru, made a faint, pleasant smile toward her. "...I am so

glad, Rem... You are one high-maintenance girl..." Ram's words were few, but only those who really knew her knew this particular smile. She reached out and stroked Rem's blue hair. A moment later "Fulla!" She conducted the Blade of Wind incantation and used the resulting attack to slice through the trees and cut the demon beast charging at them into discs to nourish the plants on the forest floor. For a moment, Ram seemed dizzy; her steps went astray, making her lightly bump into Subaru's body. "Owwwww! Ram, you know better than to touch my right shoulder, geez!!" "...Be quiet. You would have been bitten if not for me. You can at least be a wall for me to lean on." "At least pick the other should Owww!" Subaru was half in tears as he cried out in fierce pain. Ram put her weight on Subaru as she bled from the scar of her lost horn. Rem watched both of them as the current situation slapped her in the face. Why was she in a place like this? Why were they protecting her? "Wh...y...?" "Ah?" "Why...did you not just let me be?" She trembled as she voiced the question. Subaru stared down at her with a look of disbelief as Rem's quivering lips continued. "You and Sister coming made it meaningless. I...I have to do this myself... I should be the only one getting hurt..." "It's a little late for that. Ram and I are all beat up already! Hell, maybe more than you are!" Subaru was prone to exaggeration, but he seemed to believe every word of that last sentence. She wondered what Ram thought of that, but her beloved twin did not enter the conversation. Rem felt like her sister had left her out on a limb as she desperately tried to find the right words. "It...it is my fault. I hesitated last night, that is why... I have to take responsibility... If I do not, I cannot face you or Sister..." "Now may not be the best time for it, but we're actually, you know, talking! That's seriously awesome..." "Really, you should not have been bitten at all " Though Subaru didn't look like he was listening, he apparently heard her words loud and clear. His face went stiff, looking at Rem as she confessed her sin. Rem's shortcomings had caused Subaru to risk himself to shield her during the forest battle the night before. When she saw the fangs had punctured and ripped Subaru's flesh, bathing him in blood, she could only gape at what her conduct and judgment had wrought. The same scent as on that day long ago, when everything had been burned away, had hovered thickly around Subaru. And Rem had caught a whiff of it, leaving her unable to move. "It is because I hesitated to reach out to you that you nearly died. And then your body suffered too many curses to lift. That is why I " "You went off to deal with it by yourself to atone for it, right?" Just as Subaru nodded in acceptance, Rem drew in her chin, once again acknowledging her own sin. Rem was prepared to be scolded and scorned. Subaru should have given her a tongue-lashing before she had set foot into the forest again. She had not let him because she had not a moment to spare to save Subaru. That, or she was unprepared to face the consequences of her weakness. Rem, resenting her own frail heart, thought it must surely be the latter. She was prepared to accept whatever words he struck her with, however stern they might be. After all, that was only the punishment she deserved for the crime she had committed. "Rem." "Yes." Subaru's face was truly right before her eyes. "Bonk." *** The hard smack sound of bone upon bone sent sparks into Rem's vision. For an instant, the sharp pain narrowed Rem's field of vision as she put a hand on her forehead in confusion. When not in her horned form, her flesh was no hardier than an ordinary human's. No doubt others would be able to see a faint, reddening bump from the impact to her brow. Rem's eyes were still wide, with no idea what was going on, when Subaru looked down at her. "To begin with, are you an idiot? No, you are an idiot." "Barusu. You split your split forehead and it is bleeding again." Ram butted in to speak. Subaru shook his bloodied face. "I'm an idiot, too. I know that already! But your little sister's an even bigger idiot!" Rem realized that Subaru had head-butted her. She didn't understand the significance at all. "Now look here, in my homeland, they say, 'Three women make a market.' Not that that has anything to do with this. But they also say, 'Three heads are better than one.'" What's sagacity, anyway? Subaru murmured to himself after he spoke. "Er, anyway," he said, twisting his neck as he continued, "it's like how it's easier to snap an arrow with three people than a person might think." "I am guessing you are using that somewhat unlike the original..." "A-NY-WA-Y! Don't think about it all by yourself and rely on the people around you! You understand what I'm saying, right?! If you had your heart grabbed like m " Subaru was about to say something when his expression changed to one of pain. "That was over the line, huh...? Th-that's a little strict, ain't it?" "What are you talking ab ? Wait, Subaru, the scent of the witch is suddenly much thick " Rem pinched her nose, twisting her body away from the repugnant smell. Right beside her, the horrible, abominable stench wafted about. What had suddenly caused it to ? But Subaru moved to set Rem's misgivings aside with a statement of his own. "Well, I need you to switch gears on that for now. I'll switch gears, too." Rem was agape, but the serious look on Subaru's face told her to push that question down the road. Subaru looked ahead as they ran, the tension and caution in his eyes growing stronger. Simultaneously, Ram, again running beside him, put a hand to her painful forehead as she began to chant. "Ram, the villa No, the barrier's good enough. Which way is it to get there?" "If we can slip past the pack before us, we simply need to sprint to the left, but what are you planning?" When Ram asked, Subaru let out a long mmm sound as he made a sour face. "How about I push Rem onto you and I cruelly run off to the barrier on my own?" "You intend to let me flee with Rem while you lure the Urugarum away? Understood." "Can you not spoil what I was trying to hide?! It's embarrassing!!" The speed of their run did not abate as Subaru and Ram sparred with their words back and forth. When she heard what they were saying, Rem felt a feeling of despair, like the whole world was turning black before her. "I cannot...save you like that... Pl-please stop this. If you do this, I..." "Luggage should be seen and not heard! It's all right, I'll get past the barrier and hook up with you there. After that, I have a special plan you don't know about to take down the demon beasts all at once. It'll be big, an easy win!" She had no idea what "special plan" Subaru had prepared. To be blunt, she wondered if there even was one. Was he simply papering things over? Subaru slipping past the pack by himself was all but impossible in the first place, she thought. "You need to do no such thing... I will wipe out the demon beasts all by myse " She couldn't let Subaru do anything rash. Rem tried to move her arms and legs. But her limbs merely dangled, refusing to obey her commands. The most she could do was wiggle her fingers and move her tongue around a little. Nothing was working as she was accustomed to. "Where is my weapon...?" "Like I could carry around a heavy thing like that! I'll buy you a new one later, geez!" Pain shot through Rem as she realized she was unarmed and unable to move, so there was nothing she could do but be protected by others. The thought drove her to despair. Subaru gently handed Rem off to Ram. "Don't drop her." "I believe I have more strength than you possess in one arm, Barusu." "Why'd you make me carry her, then?!" "You never told me to, did you, Barusu?" "Seriously, that's your answer?!" Subaru slapped his own face for missing the opportunity. Rem looked up at Subaru from her sister's arms, shaking her head at the unbelievable reality. She'd said so many mean things about him. Why was he going this far? "Subaru, why are you going this far to...?" " Good question." Her inquiry sent Subaru into thought for but a single moment. He raised a finger and smiled. "Because you're the first girl I ever went on a date with. I'm not so cruel that I can just turn my back on you." As he spoke, he gently petted Rem with the same hand. "Well, I'm gonna head off for a little bit. Take care of Rem, Big Sis." "I pray that you meet with us safely, Barusu." With that brief exchange, they suddenly parted ways, with Subaru running one way and Ram another. Ram ran right. Subaru ran left. The Urugarum pack coming from the front hesitated at their prey splitting up, but only for a moment. They immediately ran off in pursuit of Subaru. " Sister!" "Barusu is risking his life to buy us time. I shall make good use of it." Sweat formed on Ram's brow as her tone made plain she had no margin for error. The combination of wounds and fatigue slowed her down considerably. Compared to Rem in horned form, it was nothing. When Rem thought of that, she regretted what she had done enough that she wanted to cry. If Rem could have returned to horned form, she'd have had the power to get them through this, not only to save Subaru but to carry her older sister out of danger. She could do it all. And yet, at the most critical of moments, she was unable to even bring out the demon within her. It was her own halfhearted weakness that had brought Subaru and her older sister here and held them back. In contrast to the regret-filled Rem, Ram had not hesitated when Subaru offered himself as a decoy. No doubt that was because she valued Rem's life above Subaru's and, indeed, even her own. Knowing that Subaru's ploy would buy them time and increase their odds of survival, she had accepted without the slightest falter. Though Rem thought her beloved older sister's judgment was correct, she suddenly rebelled against the idea. Why was Sister so strong, strong enough to cut anything and everything away? What incredible part of her allowed her to make such a horrible decision so easily? Rem wanted to see for herself. "Sister... Subaru... Subaru is !" "Rem. We cannot turn back. It would put his resolve to waste." They were the words of her beloved sister. Her sister was always right. If Rem followed her, she would surely be safe, for Ram had always been right. Then why did what was right feel so empty...? " Sis!!" *** Ram's expression greatly trembled in response to Rem's heartfelt shout. Ram bit her lip, her eyes wide open as her feet came to a stop. Rem instantly twisted her body, escaping her sister's arms to fall to the ground, rolling as she looked behind them and saw Subaru's back as he ran. Far away, his run was much too slow to be called a sprint. She saw his black hair and his wounds all over. She saw the sway of his listless