――With the dry clasps of footsteps striking upon his eardrums, Subaru felt a sense of unease inside his very skin.
The cold wind flowing into the Tomb was accompanied by an unpleasant stickiness. As if the ground was clinging to his feet as he ran, every step drained him of strength.
Feeling sharp, electrifying sensations all over his exposed skin, it was like his body was being pummeled by objects protruding from the air. Essentially, it was a feeling that made him hesitate to go forward.
――Subaru already knew a feeling very similar to this.
But, urged on by his sense of foreboding, Subaru swept aside the tangling discomfort as he sprinted towards the entrance of the Tomb.
Passing through the moon-lit corridor and the ivy-ridden entrance, with a sensation of breaking through a membrane of air, Subaru came out of the Tomb.
And there, he saw it.
[Subaru: ...You gotta be kidding me, oy]
Subaru's feet gouged into the earth as he skidded to a stop.
Almost toppling over from the momentum, flooding into Subaru's sight was something in the realm of inconceivable.
So detached from common sense was the scene before his eyes.
[Subaru: A shadow...?]
The mutter that spilled from his lips―― summed up just about all of it.
Shadow―― was the only way to describe what he was seeing.
The Sanctuary, which was supposed to be visible from the entrance of the Tomb, was nowhere within sight. While it was true that the inhabited area was located quite far away from the Tomb, as far as Subaru was concerned, there was no way he couldn't see a single building from here.
Above all, the full moon was still clear in the sky, pouring its silver glow over all the earth. Yet the world he was seeing was far too dark, as if it was submerged under a shadow.
[Subaru: ――――]
Gulping down his breath, Subaru made up his mind to set out towards the darkness-befallen Sanctuary. Lifting his soles off the stone slabs, he stepped onto the soil and grass. ――Or, that should be what it was.
He did feel the sensation of stepping onto a bed of overgrown grass, but his vision, swallowed by the darkness, couldn't actually verify that fact. The sticky sensation on his skin didn't change, either.
[Subaru: E-Emilia――!]
Unable to endure these surreal surroundings, Subaru called out to the first name that appeared in his mind. After calling to the girl most certain in his memories, his thoughts resumed their motion, as the names and faces flashed across his mind,
[Subaru: Ram! Lewes-san! And-incidentally-Otto! Are you there!? Please come out!]
If this was immediately after the Trial, they should still be outside the Tomb waiting for Emilia's results. Ignoring their calls to stop him, Subaru had rushed into the Tomb and wound up becoming another participant in the Trials. That had always been what preceded his Returns.
Afterwards, when he carried Emilia out of the Tomb, he was always greeted by those usual faces.
This time shouldn't have been any different.
[Subaru: They're not here... but it's not only that… What's with the gloomy atmosphere? Even paddy roads in the countryside aren't this dark…]
Without artificial lighting, the paddy field roads in the night would sink into true darkness in the absence of starlight.
But the Sanctuary's situation was different from that "instant-dark". The moon was gleaming overhead, and that gleam was at least falling on Subaru's body.
And yet, that light somehow dissipated before reaching the ground, setting the scene for this vague and uncertain night. ――It was as if a spotlight was shining on him alone.
The only thing visible in this darkness was himself. Turning to look behind him, even the Tomb he had just come out of had been swallowed into darkness and could no longer be seen.
Memories of walking through the White Whale's fog came back to him.
Having lost the girl he relied on, thrown off the dragon carriage, unsure whether the White Whale's jaws were closing in behind him, and having lost both sense of direction and any reason to go on living, he remembered walking on.
In the end, eventually wandering out of that fog, he was picked up by Otto's favorite dragon, Furufu.
So this time, if he kept on walking through the darkness, perhaps he would be rescued as well?
[Subaru: What am I, an idiot? ...No, I am an idiot. What's with this deadbeat, loser-dog thinking? If I have no idea what happened, no idea what'll happen, don't even know where everyone is and here I am worrying about myself, idiot]
Hadn't he just confirmed his resolve at Echidona's tea party?
No matter what happens, no matter how much he must suffer, if Subaru could just pay with his life to solve everything in the end, he would consider it a bargain.
Compared to losing the people most important to him and proceeding into an irreparable future, how fortunate it is to be able to exchange his life for the chance to try again.
So, dawdling around embattled by fear in front of an incomprehensible situation, going in circles before meeting a pathetic end to his life was not what Subaru needed to do.
Rather, he should be boldly challenging his incomprehensible circumstances, and even if he fails to reach an answer, he should grasp every clue he could for vengeance in the next life before welcoming a meaningful death.
[Subaru: In any case, what I have to confirm now is...]
Where Emilia, Ram, and everyone else had gone.
When he first saw that Emilia was not in the Tomb, for a moment, Subaru thought that she had passed the Trial, woke up, and left on her own. But he immediately ruled out that possibility. Because if Emilia passed the Trial and woke up safely, there was no reason for her to not wake Subaru.
Subaru knew from experience with Emilia that when someone inside a Trial is touched or called, the Trial would be interrupted.
Although more accurately, Subaru's consciousness was inside Echidona's tea party rather than the Trial, so that premise might not apply here.
[Subaru: But still, it's not like Emilia to leave me and head out by herself]
She would have tried to pull the unconscious Subaru out of this place, or at least rested him against a wall. He couldn't imagine that she would just leave without doing anything.
And then, there was also the rather mean conclusion―― Subaru didn't think Emilia was capable of passing the first Trial on the first try.
Knowing that since day one, Emilia had been stuck on the same Trial in every loop, Subaru was skeptical of the idea that she could have cleared it on her own to begin with.
Therefore, Subaru decided that Emilia's disappearance was probably not according to her own will. Either someone carried her out, or――
[Subaru: Maybe she came back from the Trial completely dazed, and went out without even noticing that I was here... that's not entirely inconceivable]
But that still wouldn't explain how the world outside was plunged into darkness.
Even if Subaru could accept that as the explanation for Emilia's disappearance, he still couldn't begin to imagine what the cause and reason of this scene might be.
At least, in Subaru's experience, the Sanctuary never once became like this while a Trial was taking place.
As for the absence of the people waiting outside, Subaru's heart shuddered at the possibility that the ferocious white rabbits might be behind it. But he quickly shook his head and denied that hasty conclusion.
According to his calculations, the attack of the Great Rabbit should take place on the night of the sixth day―― five days from now. Even if it arrived ahead of schedule, he'd still like to believe that it couldn't have come on the very first day.
――Although, he was intentionally ignoring the fact that the timing of Elsa's attack on the Mansion had mysteriously changed as well.
That was just another one of the mysteries Subaru had no answers to. But if the date of the Great Rabbit's attack could randomly change like Elsa's, then that would leave no room for Subaru to even begin to unravel these circumstances.
Aside from having faith that there was no situation Return by Death couldn't avert, there was not much Subaru could do.
[Subaru: All I can do now... is call out to Emilia and the others while looking around and head to the Cathedral to check on the villagers, I guess…]
Straining his eyes trying to see ahead, it dawned on Subaru just how unfeasible his plan was. Although he had the layout of the Sanctuary more or less memorized, it wasn't to the point of being able to navigate it with his eyes closed.
At this point, even just wandering around this area would require that level of memory power.
Needless to say, getting to his destination safely would be exceedingly difficult. And he couldn't just unconditionally accept the plan of calling out while searching for the others, either.
[Subaru: If this pitch-darkness was somebody's doing... can't really guarantee whoever I run into will be friendly]
Burning up with anxiety, Subaru continued agonizing over what his best course of action would be.
If he wanted to rendezvous quickly, he should raise his voice and call out. That would be the best way to find out if Emilia and the others were safe. But he was quite aware of the folly of acting blindly from his miserable past experiences. Just how many times had he died in this world because of that?
[Subaru: ...Damnit. If I don't at least figure out what's going on, I'll be screwed if I get killed before that]
At the end of his deliberations, Subaru decided to take the cautious approach.
Suppressing his voice and holding down the sound of his breathing, he focused his eyes into the darkness and followed the map in his mind towards the populated area of the Sanctuary.
Only the sensation beneath his feet was certain. It was the only proof of the existence of the reality outside the Tomb and his only reliance in the world painted in darkness. Despite having fallen into pitch darkness, the Sanctuary should still be the same as before――
[Subaru: ――――U?]
Slowly but surely, Subaru carefully landed each step on the grass. But after only a few steps, he stopped.
The reason, was the wind.
[Subaru: ――――?]
Lifting his face, Subaru somewhat pointlessly looked around in the darkness, hoping to find the source of the ominous breeze.
He felt it. There was something unique about the wind that swept by just now.
It was neither the refreshing breeze passing a field of grass, nor the dusty wind blowing inside the Tomb, nor a wind infused with the blood-soaked scent of a scene of carnage. Instead, it was an air carrying the unmistakable warmth of having touched a living thing.
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[Subaru: Wh――]
Unsure of where the wind was blowing from, Subaru looked back in search of the answer.
The Tomb should be directly behind him, but having walked only a few steps away, it was already impossible to see its outlines.
――No, there was a reason other than the darkness why he couldn't see the Tomb.
[Subaru: ――――a?]
[???: ――――]
At a distance close enough to feel each other's breaths, in the world of true dark, someone was standing right before his eyes.
The reason he couldn't see the entrance of the Tomb, was because that person was blocking his view.
How did he not notice when someone had gotten so close to him? And why did that person not utter a sound when they approached him? In that instant, those questions stormed within Subaru's mind.
But that storm of questions was soon answered.
It couldn't have been any clearer than that.
{???: ――I love you}
The shadow said to Subaru with a voice so overflowing with affection that it sounded like it was about to melt.
It was a murky voice.
A sound so indistinct that Subaru couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman's.
Compared to a voice passing through a voice changer or one muffled by a cloth, it was more ambiguous and opaque, as if obscured by some invisible power operating on his perceptions.
But even so, the instant Subaru heard those words―― those whispers of love, he instinctively understood who the shadow before him was. And shuddered.
Thinking back, Subaru had already vaguely sensed it before coming out of the Tomb.
The feeling of the thick Miasma stinging his skin. The sight of the Sanctuary submerged in shadows. The stifling pressure engulfing his surroundings. And the world that fundamentally lost its life.
It was every bit a reenactment of the time-stopped reality brought about by the uttering of the forbidden words, where Subaru met the Witch.
That is to say, the one standing before him was,
[Subaru: Wh..y...!?]
[???: ――――]
There was no answer. But there was also no doubt that it was right in front of him.
Subaru twitched his fingers, checked that he was still breathing, and confirmed that time hadn't stopped. The second-hand of the world was definitely ticking as it should. And yet the Witch was standing right before him.
Faced with a threat beyond his imaginations, Subaru's mind was painted over with complete white.
The oath which he had sworn only moments before, to uncover the details no matter what happens without letting a single second go to waste, all vanished in the face of that shock.
So unexpected was Subaru's encounter with the Witch at this point in time.
His throat rapidly drying up, Subaru's body stiffened as he forgot how to breathe. Bound by the overwhelming pressure, Subaru turned as rigid as a frog being stared down by a snake.
Becoming immobile now would certainly only make the situation worse. But, even understanding this, Subaru's limbs gave no indication of obeying the blaring alarms.
It was a matter far beyond what Subaru's heart and mind could handle.
Subaru's heart did not falter, and his mind was burning with the need to do something, but his body and the deep-rooted faculties governing it only calmly looked on.
Because――regardless of whether he moved or not, the result would be exactly the same.
[???: ――――]
There was no hostility emanating from the shadow before his eyes. Nor did it seem to have any intention to hurt him.
But that is not to say that it was uninterested in Subaru.
Quite the opposite.
[???: ――――]
The entity before him was instilling him with so much interest that it was sending chills running down his spine.
It was blind, obsessive passion, overwhelming to the point of making him wonder why, binding him so tightly as if to never let him escape.
――The shadow had no interest in anything other than Subaru.
In that shadow, there was only Subaru. Only Subaru. Only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru only Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru Subaru――
{???: ――I love you I love you I love you}
That voice echoed, spiraling in his mind.
His thoughts were thrown into chaos, unable to even recognize what he was seeing in front of him. Was he standing, or sitting? Was he breathing? Was he conscious? Was he alive? Or was he dead? He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure. He was becoming less and less sure.
A fingertip reached for him.
The surrounding shadows rose, expanding to envelop Subaru's body from all directions.
He had no strength left to oppose it. No reason to oppose it. Resist, don't resist, let himself be swallowed, what will happen then? It was too tiresome to think about. And――
{???: I love you I love you I love you――}
[????: Quit fuckin' around KkkrrraaAAAHHH――!!]
――The next instant, terrifying destruction descended on the space between Subaru and the shadow.
Inches from his eyes, the impact crashed into the shadow, shattering the invisible ground in a swirl of darkness as it sent Subaru flying backwards.
[Subaru: uUoOOaa――!?]
Tumbling while being bumped by hard objects all over, Subaru finally came to a stop when his whole body was soaked in shadow. Giving his head a shake, his rigid body and thoughts simultaneously broke free.
With the noise filling his mind somewhat clearing up, and despite the lingering heaviness that felt like his head was stuffed with sand, the weight had considerably lightened.
Spitting out the mud in his mouth while looking back towards the direction he tumbled from, Subaru's eyes widened at the sight.
[Garfiel: Can't get much worse than this, oy. Can y'move or not?]
With his back to Subaru, the person facing against the shadow snapped impatiently.
His stature was rather small for a man. With short, golden hair, and a rude way of speaking. He kept his posture low, readied for combat, with his legs drawn back and his fangs bared in caution.
[Subaru: Why...would y…me… Garfiel...]
[Garfiel: Hah? Ain't time t'be jokin' around, can't y'see what's happenin' right now?]
Answering Subaru's voice that was still trembling in shock, Garfiel sounded somewhat annoyed. While keeping his eyes fixed on the shadow in front of him, bit by bit, Garfiel edged closer to Subaru,
[Garfiel: I'm gonna grab yer collar 'n jump. Might break yer neck, so pull up some backbone n' bear it]
[Subaru: I don't have the kind of special characteristic where I can use backbone to increase health-points in my neck――uwa!?]
Right in the middle of his rebuttal, Garfiel dived down with incredible speed, and, true to his word, hoisted Subaru up by the collar, prompting a strangled [Uegh!]. But, before Subaru could complain,
[Subaru: ――――!]
――The ground swelled up, and the shadow exploded.
Waves rolled out from the detonated shadow, lunging towards Subaru and Garfiel, threatening to crush them. In an instant, the surrounding shadows joined into the wave, prompting Garfiel to click his tongue as his feet sank into the black mire while trying to back away.
[Garfiel: Agh, fuck! Divine Protection o' Earth Spirits can't work when the ground's like this――!]
[Subaru: Garfiel, my legs are sinking too!]
[Garfiel: The whole damn place's like this! T's what they meant by "If yer bad the Witch gonna be comin'" ain't it!!]
Being dragged along, the parts of Subaru's limbs that were touching the ground were beginning to be swallowed by the shadow. It was an entirely different sensation from sinking into water or mud.
Warm, tender, and smooth, it was like silk trying to wrap around him and enshroud his body within. In a more peaceful setting, he might even have thought that it'd be rather nice to be embraced by that feeling.
But in these terrifying circumstances, he'd have to reject that idea.
[Garfiel: Tch, don't bite yer tongue!!]
With a snort, Garfiel scanned over his surroundings and shouted.
He bent his knees, and lightly leaped his sinking body off the ground. With the shadow tangling to his feet, the jump only managed a few meters, but, extending his legs the instant they touched the ground, he leaped again, and again, and again,
[Garfiel: There, we, are――!]
In a world concealed by night, Garfiel beautifully leaped his way to an area populated by buildings. Literally kicking his foot into a wall, he leaped up once again, and, landing on a roof, he tossed Subaru down with a sigh.
Being tossed like that, Subaru quickly grabbed onto some shingles so he wouldn't slide off, before glancing up at the side of the panting Garfiel's face―― faintly obscured by the darkness,
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[Subaru: Th-thanks for saving me...!]
[Garfiel: Huh? Is that the face of someone feelin' thankful? Y'got a problem with me? Oy!]
[Subaru: Just something I haven't gotten over yet... and.. I never thought you'd come to save me]
[Garfiel: How heartless did y'think I am? If y'got a problem with me savin' ya, feel free to jump right back into that shadow if y'want]
Subaru tersely replied [No thank you] to Garfiel's retort, and sighed.
Garfiel looked away, and Subaru, watching him from behind, felt a flood of complex emotions flowing through his chest.
There was the incomprehensible situation as well, but the biggest reason for this was why did Garfiel choose to save him. Before this, Subaru had considered him the greatest obstacle in the Sanctuary and a target of his resentment on par with Roswaal himself.
Although he was aware that the change in situation must have caused this change in behavior, the complete reversal nonetheless left Subaru unsure how to react.
But, paying no attention to Subaru's internal confusion, Garfiel only gazed down towards the ground with a bitter expression. Clicking his sharp canine teeth, [This 's bad...], he muttered under his breath,
[Garfiel: This goes without sayin', but, doesn't look like it's gonna let us off]
Sliding down to Garfiel's side, Subaru timidly peeked off of the roof.
Witnessing the sight before his eyes, an [u...] inadvertently slipped from his lips. The Sanctuary had transformed into a sea of shadow, with its majority swallowed by the pitch blackness, depriving him of all sense of height and perspective.
But even within that darkness, there was an even darker, writhing figure lurking at the center of the whirling shadows, inching closer at a crawling pace.
It was the one who just tried to swallow Subaru and Garfiel into the shadows, the one who flooded the Sanctuary under a sea of shade. It was――
[Subaru: Garfiel… You have any idea what that is?]
[Garfiel: I got "It's exactly what it looks like", "Ain't no chance it ain't what I think it is", and "It'd be goddamn wishful thinkin' t'say that ain't what that is". Which one y'wanna go with?]
[Subaru: Does which one even matter? They're pretty much the same thing… Oy, you're being way calmer in front of this thing than I th...]
Before he could finish his sentence, Subaru stopped when he saw the expression on the side of Garfiel's face.
Honestly, despite harboring some complicated feelings about how Garfiel saved him, Subaru was nonetheless calmly organizing the situation in his head.
Among them, was why Garfiel, who showed such displeasure at the scent of the Witch――and had turned hostile towards Subaru just because he picked up the scent from his body, was not losing his composure when the source of the scent was right before him.
And that was why, just when he was about to ask―― Subaru dropped the subject when he caught a glimpse of his face.
[Garfiel: What'd y'just say?]
Garfiel uttered, gazing down with his bloodshot eyes. Subaru might just be imagining this, but Garfiel's fangs seemed to be growing longer.
Anger. Rage. Wrath. Fury. His pupils had turned into slits, and one could see the pure-red emotions churning within. How could anyone call that calm?
At the same time, Subaru remembered that there was something he had to ask.
[Subaru: ――Garfiel. Th...Ram and the others, what happened to them?]
[Garfiel: ...]
[Subaru: When I came out of the Tomb, the Sanctuary was already submerged in the shadow. You seem to be alright and lively… so what about the others...?]
[Garfiel: ...in the shadow]
Subaru's repeated attempts at denial only received this cruel reply.
Hearing Subaru gulp down his breath, Garfiel grunted with a tinge of remorse,
[Garfiel: When we noticed somethin' was off, the ground's already turned into th'shade. If Ram hadn't blown me away with her wind, I woulda been swallowed too]
[Subaru: ...and Ram's swallowed just like that? And Lewes, and Otto?]
[Garfiel: Aah, yeah. Granny 'n the noisy lil'bro, all'n one go]
Looking down at the strange writhing of the undulating shadow, Subaru's thoughts couldn't help but take a pessimistic turn in regards to their chances of survival after being swallowed.
If they were being imprisoned in some alternate dimension, then there might still be hope. But, judging from the sensation of touching that shadow, it would be a far too optimistic possibility.
[Subaru: Wh-what is this, seriously, this... why would that thing suddenly....!]
Elsa, Great Rabbit, Garfiel.
He had only just sealed his resolve to repulse the threats facing the Sanctuary and the Mansion, to face down all obstacles and obtain the perfect future no matter the cost.
And yet, just when that resolve was sealed, this incomprehensible thing washed it all away.
Why on earth did this thing burst out all of a sudden?
[Subaru: Garfiel... what happened to Emilia?]
[Garfiel: ――――]
[Subaru: I couldn't find Emilia in the Tomb. ...Was she, swallowed, too?]
[Garfiel: ――――]
Noticing that something was wrong when she woke, Emilia must have ran out of the Tomb.
After all, if she saw the Sanctuary being swallowed by shadow, there was no way she would just stand by and watch. She would have jumped in to save anyone she could with no regard for her own safety, and――
[Subaru: If the shadow... then, she...!]
[Garfiel: After swallowin' Ram 'n the others, the shadow went into the Sanctuary and drank everythin' up. I chased after it and landed a few blows but it all did jack shit. Then the thing turned back all o' a sudden, I followed it, and there's that]
And that led to what happened just now, it seems.
The shadow was ravaging the Sanctuary, but when it sensed Subaru coming out of the Tomb, it immediately turned around. Then the shadow's objective was Subaru, after all.
An all-devouring shadow. Bearing whispers of love. And overwhelming power.
Its identity went without saying. But,
[Subaru: Why the hell is the Witch of Envy here...!!]
[Garfiel: Ain't the time to be askin' that, oy]
While Subaru wrenched out these words, beside him, a battle-hungry smile emerged on Garfiel's face. Taking care not to lose his balance, Subaru stood up as well, clenching his teeth as he locked his gaze onto the same thing as Garfiel.
A great mass of whirling shadow surrounded the building they were using as their foothold.
Everything caught in the cyclone's range was swallowed. Earth and structure alike were stripped away and forced into its swirling orbit.
[Subaru: Uu, ooOOAAAHH――!]
It was like a great tsunami or a large-scale flood carrying houses along with its current.
Experiencing the bizarre sensation of supposedly massless shadows uprooting the building beneath his feet, Subaru did all he could not to be flung off of the roof.
He tried, but that didn't solve the fundamental problem at all.
[Garfiel: Tch, I'm jumpin' again, grab on!]
[Subaru: ――――!]
Quickly grabbing onto the crouching Garfiel, they escaped the floating rooftop along with Garfiel's leap. Shooting out like a bullet without regards for target, they plunged right into a flock of trees, snapping branches on the way before slamming into a trunk.
[Garfiel: Ghagh――!]
Punching his arm into the trunk, with that inelegant gesture, Garfiel managed to stop himself from falling into the shadows. Subaru, who was clinging to his shirt, took hold of a branch and shifted himself over, maintaining his posture that way.
And just when they were finally allowed to catch their breath, they heard the loud crack of splintering wood behind them.
Quickly turning to look, they saw the building they had just been standing on being pulled into the center of the vortex, and crushed into thin, tiny pieces.
With the collapse of the building's structure, the shadowy vortex swallowed it into the true body of the shade―― into the heart of the writhing shadow, further enlarging its mass.
[Subaru: ――――]
Witnessing the devastating destruction left both Subaru and Garfiel at a loss for words.
Passing several seconds in that silence, the shadow's contours began to blur. And the next moment―― Subaru was certain that his eyes met the eyes of the murky, all-encompassing shadow.
{???: ――I love you}
[Subaru: Uu, a...]
{???: I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you}
[Subaru: ――――]
{???: I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you}
Swelling, boundless love. All he could see was black. Love in the form of a shadow, looming, and about to drown him.
Coming to drown him with love, the love of the Witch of Envy was approaching――
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