Entranced by the sadness of her eyes, Subaru couldn't bear to look away.
An emotion rose up in his chest, making him want to snicker and laugh at her words,
――What did you say just now?
He should have thrown her senseless words back at her.
He should have twisted his lips into a grin and cracked a joke like they always did.
But there was―― just a hunch, telling him that it wouldn't work.
Because otherwise,
[Subaru: ――――]
Why else wasn't he laughing off the girl's death-wish as some joke?
[Subaru: What did you... say, just now?]
After a moment of hesitation and a brief lapse of silence, Subaru stuttered out this prepared line.
It would have been perfect if his lips were still smiling and his shoulders weren't shuddering.
But,
[Subaru: ...a]
His cheeks grew stiff, and he was trembling all the way to the tips of his fingers, nevermind his shoulders.
It was as if the Natsuki Subaru reflected within Beatrice's eyes was fixed in place, trapped within the confines of that world.
[Beatrice: As you wish, I will say it again, I suppose]
[Subaru: No, wait...]
[Beatrice: ――Betty wants to be ended by your hands]
[Subaru: STOP IT!!]
Screaming, Subaru shouted over Beatrice's words.
It was almost comical how they've switched places from just moments before.
These were the same words Beatrice had shouted when Subaru relentlessly pushed his discoveries upon her.
And so, Subaru didn't exactly have the right to complain when Beatrice did the same to him. Yet, even though he knew he had no right,
[Subaru: Do you… even realize… what you've just said...?]
[Beatrice: I should be asking you. Do you understand what I've just asked of you, I suppose?]
[Subaru: What?]
[Beatrice: I want you to be the one to bring about the end of this spirit, Beatrice. You will be "that person" who marks the end of the contract that, for four hundred years, has bound me]
"You should take that as a compliment", she seemed to say with her strange, ironic smile.
It was a smile that seemed to be thirsting for something―― watching her, Subaru felt like twisted claws were tearing his chest from within.
Unable to bear it, he clutched his hand to his heart,
[Subaru: I don't understand... are you telling me you want to die?]
[Beatrice: Do I want to die? Strictly speaking, no, I suppose. Betty wishes for the contract to end. Betty wants to be released from this everlasting covenant]
[Subaru: If that means taking your life, how is that any different!!]
Stamping down his foot, Subaru screamed from his trembling lungs.
He was trampling on the scattered Gospel pages, but he didn't care.
Jabbing out his finger, Subaru glared at Beatrice and barked.
[Subaru: Don't talk about wanting to die like it's some joke! Wanting to die or whatever... I don't care what you say to other people... just don't say it in front of me!]
Once you're dead, you won't come back to life.
Natsuki Subaru was the exception, and could start over even if he died. Only Subaru could throw away his life and still come out with something of value, and so only Subaru could justify suicide.
But that was not the case for Beatrice. Nor anyone else, for that matter.
Once life is lost, it can never be retrieved.
Knowing this, she still said it to Subaru's face.
[Subaru: What do you mean you want it to end!? Do you realize how selfish that is!? Asking for an end... trying to die, even if everyone else forgives you I won't forgive you for it!]
[Beatrice: What an arrogant thing to say, I suppose. ――And just how much do you know about Betty?]
Nevertheless, Beatrice gave him this cold and unyielding reply.
She smoothed out her dress, stood up, and ran her fingers against the tips of her curls,
[Beatrice: Betty is the Keeper of Knowledge, and has been watching over the Forbidden Library for four hundred years. For four hundred years... in accordance to the contract, Betty has waited here]
[Subaru: Four… hundred years...?]
That number again? Subaru wanted to click his tongue and furrow his brows.
Four hundred years ago was an age when the Witches ran rampant, a contemptible era which seems to have at least something to do with every long-living being he knew.
Beatrice, too, had lived through that age, and still lives on to this day.
[Beatrice: I sealed my contract with the Witch, and came to live with the similarly-contracted House of Mathers. From the beginning, I followed the Gospel's instruction, and simply passed the days in silence, waiting for that time to come]
[Subaru: ――――]
[Beatrice: But while I waited here, time in the outside world went on, I suppose. One by one, the heads of the House of Mathers, who shared in my obligations, died of old age and was succeeded by the next. I witnessed their transfers of power, yet Betty's time flowed on, unchanging, I suppose]
And how painful must that time have been for Beatrice?
Her dispassionate tone only seemed to be a reflection of the abrasions left by the meaningless passage of time, driving a chill into Subaru's heart as he listened.
[Beatrice: The destined coming of the promised day―― Betty didn't know when it would come, or who "that person" would be, and I passed those days without knowing anything]
"But even so", Beatrice shook her head,
[Beatrice: It never worried me, I suppose. After all, the Gospel was in Betty's hands. As long as I place my faith in the Gospel that records the future, and wait for the coming day to appear on its white pages, then all will be well in the end. If I only waited, that time will surely come... I went on believing that]
[Subaru: But...]
Looking down at the pages trampled under his feet, Subaru felt the cruelty of their pristine whiteness. As if sensing the meaning of Subaru's gaze, Beatrice nodded.
In fact, before she knew it, the Gospel that was meant to be her beacon of hope, had――
[Beatrice: Every day, checking time after time, the instruction did not change... until even the time spent checking was too painful]
[Subaru: ...]
[Beatrice: How many times I've dreamt of new words appearing on the page after the final entry, I suppose. Time and time again, I envisioned the day when that unknown "person" would come to visit Betty, when I would have finally fulfilled the role given to me]
[Subaru: ...Beatrice]
[Beatrice: The House of Mathers is not without its visitors, I suppose. Many humans have visited Betty's Forbidden Library, and many have touched the Forbidden Library's door... but each time, Betty's heart would be betrayed]
And the one who opened the door was not "that person".
So many times, she was disappointed, and so many times, her hopes were dashed. Over and over, her betrayed expectations must have worn down her heart until her eyes were buried in apathy.
Time and time again, Beatrice's hopes came to nothing. And now, even that hope was lost. She could no longer endure the pain of being hoisted up within reach of her hopes, only to be cast to the ground once more.
It was only natural that her heart, which had endured so much, would begin to tear.
[Beatrice: It was during that time, that I realized... or maybe, I had realized it long ago, I suppose]
[Subaru: Realized what?]
[Beatrice: The Gospel will never show Betty another instruction]
Beatrice folded her knees, and picked up the fallen cover of the Gospel. Emptied of its pages, the binding just seemed extraordinarily lonely.
Lifting it up, she traced her fingers over the cover, and began again, [Did you know, I suppose?],
[Beatrice: That the Gospel records its owner's future? The less its owner deviates from the world's memories, the clearer its details will be]
[Subaru: The world's memories...?]
[Beatrice: The Memories of the World, I suppose. ――It knows not only the world that is now and that was past, but also the future that is to come. It is a forbidden book that draws necessary knowledge from the Book of Wisdom. Whereas the Gospel merely inherited a portion of its functionalities]
Echidona herself had called the Book of Wisdom the "Memories of the World".
Indeed, there was no doubt that there existed some close connection between Echidona and Beatrice. There, Beatrice held up the black binding, as if to show it to Subaru,
[Beatrice: The false Gospels in the Witch Cultists' possession operate on the same principle, I suppose. While their accuracy marks their only difference, their algorithms are based on this one's]
[Subaru: ...How did this technology leak after Echidona's death? Shouldn't you and Roswaal have the only two existing Gospels?]
[Beatrice: Who knows. I don't really care, I suppose. Whoever created these false copies, and whoever they are giving it to, it has nothing to do with Betty]
[Subaru: Then why did you bring up the Witch Cult?]
[Beatrice: Because there's something I need to do with a Witch Cult Gospel, I suppose. Don't go jumping to conclusions]
Unfazed by Subaru's challenge, Beatrice replied calmly. Then, she asked him, [You have a Witch Cult Gospel yourself, I suppose?].
Subaru nodded in reply.
[Subaru: I don't have it here. I took it with me into the Sanctuary, and it's safe there for now. As for the ones we picked up from the other Witch Cultists, we left them in more capable hands]
The only Gospel in Subaru's possession was the one that belonged to Petelgeuse.
Most of the other Gospels, owned by Petelgeuse's fingers, were destroyed by the Cultists in their final moments, while the few that they managed to salvage were handed over to Crusch's camp to be dealt with accordingly.
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In fact, if everything had gone according to plan, they were supposed to have fetched Roswaal from the Sanctuary and met up with Crusch and Anastasia's camps to divide the spoils of their victory over Petelgeuse and the White Whale.
[Beatrice: Have you looked over its contents, I suppose?]
[Subaru: Kind of… I don't know how, but I was just able to read it all of a sudden. I could barely make out that chicken scratch handwriting, but it's basically itemized information. Only... to me it looks more like a book of orders than a book of prophecies]
Subaru recalled the contents of the Gospel which Echidona's influence had most likely rendered legible.
The majority of the text in Petelgeuse's Gospel simply listed where Petelgeuse must go and what Petelgeuse must do. What would happen afterward was usually omitted entirely, and how the orders were to be carried out was left to its owner's discretion.
And so, rather than an all-powerful book of prophecies, the Witch Cultist Gospels were closer to a guidebook to the future―― and no more than that.
[Subaru: If they could perfectly predict the future, there would've been nothing we could do to stop them. So I guess I can see why they're considered incomplete]
[Beatrice: Betty has no interest in its contents. What I need to know is whether it recorded its owner's passing, I suppose]
[Subaru: ――Passing… is not exactly what I'd call it]
As far as Subaru knew, on the final page of Petelgeuse's Gospel,
――Aside from the words "THE END" that Subaru had written in his own blood, the Gospel's final entry was the brief passage:
"Go to Mathers Domain, put silver-haired Half-Witch to Trial"
That hastily constructed sentence didn't give Petelgeuse any indication of what would happen before or after.
Indeed, if that was as much of the future as the Gospel could reveal, it was simply no match for the precision of Subaru's Return by Death.
[Beatrice: ――That's what I thought]
Listening to Subaru's account of what he knew, Beatrice only nodded as if in agreement. Then, she twisted the empty cover in her hands,
[Beatrice: Did anything appear in the Gospel after that, I suppose?]
[Subaru: ...No, I don't think so. At least, the last time I checked, the final entry is still the owner's final assignment. Besides, there's no way anything could show up afterwards, because…]
Just as he was about to say it, Subaru suddenly felt the words freeze in his throat. And only then, did it dawn on him why Beatrice had asked that question.
He lifted his face, and saw that Beatrice was faintly smiling.
Just how many times over the course of this brief encounter had he seen her with that hollow, desolate smile?
[Beatrice: ――The Gospel stopped writing, because that's where its owner's future ends]
[Subaru: N-no, you're not like him at all...]
[Beatrice: It's the same, I suppose. The fact that the Gospel stopped recording the future means that even if I exist for now, I might as well not. ――Can you deny that, I suppose?]
[Subaru: No! You're wro――!]
His impulsive rejection abruptly froze in front of Beatrice's unmoving pupils. She had no need for this superficial consolation. Because, in her heart, she already knew the answer to her question.
Clenching his teeth so hard that they could crack, blood seeped from the corner of Subaru's lips,
[Subaru: Why..'re you... doing this!]
[Beatrice: ...]
[Subaru: Don't just make up your mind all by yourself! Anyone will go down that road when left to worry all alone! When you get stuck feeling like there's no other way... you'll just wind up thinking that the most awful thing you see is the reality!]
After countless hardships and countless sighs spilled for his own powerlessness, that was what Subaru had learned.
When assailed by mounting adversities and insurmountable obstacles, the world can seem like a wall.
Even as it forces you to power through it alone, you have its black, tangling fingers holding back your solitary heart.
That's why,
[Subaru: If it hurts, and you feel like you want it to change... Then just say it. Just say it to someone who'll listen. Just say you want help and that you're feeling sad... even if it's me!]
Helpless and trapped in fate's dead-end, wallowing in a despair you could not climb out of with your own strength, when it feels like you're all alone, you need only to look around.
Then, for the first time, you'll notice the extended hand.
When you take that hand, and feel its force pulling you up, only then, will you realize,
――There is no need to give up yet.
[Subaru: How many times, you've done it for me... so this time let me do it for you...!]
[Beatrice: ...I want y… to do it]
[Subaru: Yes... that's right, just say the words]
[Beatrice: I want you to help me...]
[Subaru: Yes! That's it, that's it that's it that's it! If you just ask, I'll…]
[Beatrice: I'm sad, and it hurts... Betty, wants to be saved from this darkness...]
[Subaru: Yeah, just leave it to me――]
A small, trembling finger reached out to Subaru.
Spurred on by the overflowing emotions in his chest, Subaru jumped up and extended out his hand.
He had already completely forgotten the reason he came here.
He was supposed to find a way out of the impasse and ask for Beatrice's help. If anyone was to help him, he had hoped that it'd be her.
But it all vanished when he saw her sorrow and the darkness within her heart. Only the impulse to save a girl from her loneliness continued to push him forward.
Taking her outstretched hand would mean taking on a burden that he could never relinquish. Ignoring the crushing weight already bearing upon his shoulders, Natsuki Subaru chose to embrace yet another impossible burden.
But he didn't mind. Because,
[Beatrice: ――――]
――How could he abandon a girl looking at him with those wavering eyes?
Beatrice had asked for his help.
Her request called forth an unbearable, irresistible emotion. He didn't know why. Nor did it matter. For there was only the screaming of his soul:
Help her. Save her. Because to you, she is――
[Subaru: I will, definitely――]
[Beatrice: In that case...]
Extending a single finger, its tip touched Subaru's.
He grasped her faltering fingers in his hand and wrapped his fingers around her palm.
Gazing into Beatrice's eyes, he saw his reflection in their watery contours. And there, as he watched a large teardrop fall,
[Beatrice: ――I want you to please kill Betty]
――As if to say "I did not ask for such convenient salvation", she let go of Subaru's hand.
Why. The question groaned in Subaru's throat as he sucked in a breath.
Looking at the hand that was shaken away, and at his own fingers, grasping at nothing, Subaru turned to Beatrice, and wanted to ask her why.
[Subaru: ――――]
But no words came, because he could see in Beatrice's eyes that it was far, far, far―― too late to come back from that.
[Beatrice: Four hundred years... I've been alone, I suppose]
[Subaru: B-Beatri...]
[Beatrice: "That person" who should have come, never came, and I've already spent four hundred years alone here]
He couldn't pull his gaze away from Beatrice's eyes.
And even calling her name made him hesitate.
[Beatrice: I don't know how many times I've thought about leaving it behind me. Or how many times I prayed I could forget everything. It may have been hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions or more, but it's still not enough...]
In this dim and narrow room, how long had Beatrice spent in this solitude?
Hugging her knees, seated on her step ladder, she went on waiting for someone whose face and name she did not know.
An ocean of books spanning as far as the eyes can see―― even if she read every book in that ocean, she still wouldn't see her awaited person's arrival, while the book that should reveal her future had nothing to show her.
How many times had that loneliness murdered this girl's heart?
[Beatrice: I want to be saved...? I want a way out...?]
[Subaru: ――a]
[Beatrice: Do you know how many hundreds of times….. those thoughts crossed Betty's mind? Did you think Betty just gave up without ever considering such things, I suppose?]
Her broken words slowly grew in intensity.
A pressure pushed back on Subaru. His throat was muted, the burning passion of his soul was extinguished in an instant, and his limbs felt as heavy as lead.
Whether it was to approach the girl before him, or to turn and run away, there was nothing he could do.
[Beatrice: Did you think that by reaching a hand into the darkness, you can pull Betty out? Did you think you can give Betty the answer to this endless dead end, I suppose?]
[Subaru: ...]
[Beatrice: If you... can really do it... then why... why]
She lowered her head, and her words were interspersed with sobs.
Unable to see Beatrice's expression, Subaru felt his heart being overwhelmed by a nondescript darkness. He couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet, as though he had lost the way to Beatrice though she was close enough to touch.
Fear and hesitation overtook him, and through that silence, Beatrice looked up once more.
Glaring into his eyes, she opened her mouth, teeth bared,
[Beatrice: ――Then why did you leave Betty here for four hundred years, all alone!?]
[Subaru: ――――hg]
[Beatrice: All alone! Always! Always always always, Betty was alone, waiting for this meaningless time to pass! I was lonely! I was scared! I was abandoned, unable to fulfill my purpose, unable to abide by my promise, unable to even decay with the passage of time... I must spend an eternity alone here, that much I've already realized!]
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Huge tears began to fall from her eyes.
The large droplets trickled down her cheeks, and dripped from her chin to the floor. Every drop striking upon the ground was a merciless shock ramming into Subaru's heart,
[Beatrice: You want to help me!? Save me!? Then why didn't you come sooner!? Why did you abandon Betty!? If you say those gentle words now, then why didn't you keep hold of Betty from the start!? Why did you let go!? Why! Why! Why did you leave Betty all alone!?]
Her words were like daggers, like flames, like steel, and each left a wound on Subaru's heart. In every sense, and in every way, every ounce of pain they carried tore at Subaru.
But Beatrice's claims were all too unreasonable.
Four hundred years――for the greater part of that time she spent alone Subaru had no say in the matter. Subaru had only met her two months ago, and, going by her standards, he would have been too late no matter how quickly he came to her. If he wanted to protest, he could have simply said that.
But there was no point in protesting, because who could that possibly help?
Whether it was Beatrice or Subaru, it wouldn't help anyone.
Only now, was Subaru made aware of how he had neglected how much time the girl Beatrice spent waiting.
Four hundred years. ――It was four hundred years.
On the surface, there seemed to be nothing significant about that number.
In fantasy fictions, four hundred years isn't even that big of a number. There are stories with more ridiculous year counts, even ones that span the entire history of the world. Compared to those, four hundred years is nothing.
But was he an idiot? Was he really an idiot? How hopelessly stupid did he have to be?
In front of a girl who had spent an actual four hundred years alone, kept at a loss as to the purpose of her existence like some unanswerable riddle, how much of it could he possibly fathom from those three simple words? How much could he understand? How much could he feel?
And just how much could Subaru's flimsy words heal her of her four hundred years of loneliness?
[Beatrice: Asking for help... wanting things to change... that wish had already withered in those four hundred years, I suppose...]
[Subaru: ...]
[Beatrice: Did you think you were the only person who tried to take Betty away? Betty is a High Spirit. In search of that power, countless humans have endeavored to take Betty from this place]
It was the first he had heard of this. That there had been humans just like Subaru who tried to make Beatrice leave the Forbidden Library. As for whether they succeeded, her presence here was answer enough.
Seeing Beatrice watch him with her feeble gaze, Subaru quickly shook his head,
[Subaru: D-don't group me along with those guys! I just want to...]
[Beatrice: Like you, there were also those among their number who did not care about Betty's power, who merely wanted to save a person in front of their eyes... naive as that may be, I suppose]
[Subaru: ――――]
[Beatrice: But none of them could bring Betty out of this place. It was only natural, I suppose]
"After all", Beatrice sighed with a faint, ephemeral smile,
[Beatrice: The contract binding Betty to this place cannot be abolished by such half-baked convictions. The contract that has bound Betty to her task for four hundred years... is not so easily broken by mere human whims]
[Subaru: Then… what will I have to...]
[Beatrice: ――Put Betty above all else]
The words she said to him were so quiet, and yet so sharp.
So sharp that they were like needles puncturing into Subaru's eardrums.
[Subaru: Wh, at...?]
[Beatrice: Put Betty above all else. Think first of Betty. Choose Betty over everything. And thus overwrite the contract. Paint it over. And erase it from existence. Take Betty from here. Lead me by the hand. And embrace me]
[Subaru: ――――]
[Beatrice: That is something you will never be capable of]
That was Beatrice's true, desperate, and heartfelt wish.
A far too heavy request, and one not easily granted.
[Beatrice: You have already chosen who is foremost in your heart, I suppose. Whether it's the silver-haired girl, or the blue-haired maid... either way, you will never cast those two aside and put Betty above them. It simply cannot be]
[Subaru: Emilia... Rem...]
[Beatrice: The contract is absolute. Absolute, I suppose. Aside from fulfilling its terms, it is impossible to replace a sealed contract without paying the corresponding price. Betty does not believe that the promise has been fulfilled, I suppose. And so, the only way to be released other than by fulfilling the contract is...!]
At the mention of the two girls, it was as if something hard had struck Subaru's heart.
Whenever he thought of them, Subaru's heart would pound, scream, and burst into heat. It was already the immutable reply carved into his very soul.
[Beatrice: So, break Betty's contract... and destroy this useless body drifting through the meaningless flow of time...]
[Subaru: Your contract... is it really that important to you? If you hate it so much... can't you will yourself to change it...?]
Unable to answer her, he didn't know what to say to Beatrice.
And so, Subaru took the cowardly approach and chose to divert her question away.
In that instant, a color of disappointment flickered across Beatrice's pupils. And Subaru immediately realized that he had made a fatal mistake.
[Beatrice: That is... Betty's reason to live]
[Subaru: The contract...?]
[Beatrice: Betty was born for this contract, and lives for this contract. It was the task I was given at my birth, a contract I have never fulfilled for as long as I have lived... and you want me to selfishly break it... is that what you're saying, I suppose?]
[Subaru: It's not selfish at all! You've already tried your best for four hundred years, didn't you!? Who can blame you when you've stayed true to your promise for so long!? Who'd have the right to? You've already done enough...!]
[Beatrice: And accomplished nothing! If I throw away the purpose of my existence and the reason I was born for, what will I have to live for!? No one will blame me!? Betty will blame herself! The Spirit Beatrice will never forgive such a cowardly way to live!!]
Subaru stomped with his trembling legs and grabbed the small girl by her shoulders, shouting. But the girl looked up and screamed back even louder, breaking away once more. The strength of the frail little girl pushed Subaru's body backwards.
Powerless. What did she mean? He couldn't understand what he was seeing.
[Beatrice: To spirits, contracts are absolute! A contract sealed between contractor and spirit is the most important thing there is! It's the same with Nii-cha! Why else do you think he puts that silver-haired girl above everything else! He places her above everything! He loves her above everything! Between Betty and that girl, he wouldn't think twice about choosing her! Not even Nii-cha would put Betty first!]
As a fellow spirit, there was no one closer to Beatrice than Puck.
It was a friendship that had developed over four hundred years in each other's company, one far beyond what human lifespans could possibly manage.
What must Beatrice have thought of Puck? And what did Puck think of Beatrice? Subaru couldn't be sure.
But Beatrice herself already had the answer to that question.
Beatrice had more than enough time to contemplate the answer.
Panting, her shoulders shuddering, even her neat curls have become disheveled. Enormous tear drops emerged in her large, round eyes, and her trembling lips were still repeating her desperate plea.
So small, she's only a child, Subaru thought.
How could anyone leave a little girl like this?
[Beatrice: You... aren't the person mentioned in the contract. I know that, I suppose...]
[Subaru: ――――]
[Beatrice: But can you become "that person" for me? Or, if not become that person, then use some other way to save Betty, I suppose?]
[Subaru: ――――]
His answer never came.
He couldn't make her some casual promise, or impulsively refuse her.
In the short time he spent here, Subaru had managed to understand just a small portion of the mystery that was Beatrice.
Yet, if he were to truly understand her loneliness, he would have had to pass four hundred years in solitude just like she had.
But something like that was fundamentally impossible for a human. Her distress, her loneliness, and her sorrow were too far beyond Subaru's reach.
[Beatrice: Betty knows better than anyone just how impossible that is]
[Subaru: Beatrice...]
[Beatrice: So please, kill Betty. With your own hands. Suicide is a violation of the contract, so a spirit is forbidden to do so, I suppose. So even dying is something I can't do myself]
[Subaru: But why… me...?]
Reaching out her hands, Beatrice pleaded once more.
Hesitating before her outstretched hands and afraid that he might give in to her request, Subaru covered his face with his palms,
[Subaru: Your death, at the end of four hundred years… why are you leaving it to me...?]
[Beatrice: Why... I suppose]
Sobbing, whimpering, evading, Beatrice could have slapped down Subaru's question. But she chose not to.
As if she herself didn't know the reason, she slightly tilted her head.
And after a small lapse of silence, she slowly nodded.
[Beatrice: ――Yes, I think I know]
[Subaru: ...]
[Beatrice: Betty… wants to leave her death to you... because]
If he listened to her answer, he would have no escape.
Of that, he was certain. He lifted his head. If he doesn't plug his ears and refuse to listen to her answer, unless he holds a hand over her mouth and prevents her from speaking――
But he was too late. He had noticed it too late. There was no way he could stop it now.
Beatrice's lips shall announce the answer.
And, in that moment――
[???: Sorry to interrupt when you're in the middle of your conversation]
Hearing a voice that he should not have heard, a chill ran down Subaru's spine as he spun around where he stood.
And there, he saw it.
[???: ――What if I were to become "that person" for you, I suppose?]
Holding two blood-drenched Kukri-knives dangling at her side, a jet-black murderer stood at the doorway.
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