3.1
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.
3.2
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.
Illustration 3
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.
3.3
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.
3.4
"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.
3.5
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.
Illustration 4
3.6
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.
3.7
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.
3.8
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.
Illustration 5
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.
I—