[User] He approached Rem to check her pulse, but…

[Assistant] "—Don’t touch her!" She slapped his hand away, hard.

[User] Subaru yelped and looked up.

[Assistant] Ram was glaring angrily at him, tear-filled rage on her face. "Don’t…touch my little sister!" She clung to Rem’s body, tears flowing quietly down her face, refusing to let anyone come between them.

[User] There was no sign that the devoted, pain-filled older sister expected her little sister to ever awaken.


[Assistant] Rem really was dead. Subaru wobbled out of the room.

[User] Roswaal stood by the doorway. "Appaaarently, death by debilitation. Her vigor was stolen as she slept, her heartbeat gennntly slowed, and the fire of her life puttered out, likely the work of a curse rather than magic per se."

[Assistant] Subaru’s eyes snapped open at the word curse.

[User] "But I thought the curse came from Rem…"

[Assistant] "Then the shaman and Rem are separate…?" Subaru’s mind was in chaos as the thought of a new, separate shaman arose.

[User] “The fourth time…I didn’t do anything, so Rem was the target instead…?”

[Assistant] It was baseless supposition, but based on the circumstantial evidence, it was the only reasonable conclusion.


[User] "You appear to be in raaather deep, serious thought?" The mismatched blue and yellow eyes looked down, reflecting Subaru in them.

[Assistant] Subaru’s eyes rose as he felt like Roswaal’s scrutinizing gaze was seeing into his very soul.

[User] “It pains me to ask such a thing…but do you have aaany idea about what happened, good guest?”

[Assistant] "Wh-why would you think…I…"

[User] “Myyy, forgive my rudeness. I am simply somewhat…displeased at the moment, that one of my pretty retainers has suffered such a fate, you see?” Roswaal abruptly shifted his gaze from Subaru to the painful sight inside the room. Looking at the side of his face, it truly sank in to Subaru just how precarious his situation had become. Subaru had no way to prove his innocence. This time, Subaru had done nothing to earn the slightest smidgen of trust from the others.

[Assistant] “…Subaru.” Emilia tugged on his sleeve, speaking with an anxious voice.

[User] If you know anything, please say it. Her eyes and her calling his name told him that much.

[Assistant] Subaru made no reply.

[User] “Subaru…” Emilia’s small fingers trembled a little as they held his sleeve. He’d thought that repeating the past would lead to a better future, yet here he was, every silver lining having a dark cloud, with the outcomes worse than he ever imagined possible.

[Assistant] "—" The moment he pictured the black cloud and the world stopping, ceaseless pain gripped his head. His breath caught. The sensation of Emilia touching his sleeve made Subaru’s stomach twist in pain. If Emilia kept her pleading look trained on him, Subaru’s heart would falter. Even if he didn’t, Puck, able to read emotions, could easily expose the fact that Subaru was hiding something. But still, Subaru couldn’t explain anything about Return by Death. And that meant the torture would continue, pain without end, over and over. He felt his tongue quickly dry. Unable to resist his urge to flee, he took a small step back.

[User] “—If you know anything, you’ll never escape me.” To the girl crying her eyes out inside the room, Subaru’s small action looked like nothing more than an attempt to flee for his own convenience.


[Assistant] Instantly, a raging gust of wind made the door violently shake, its passage blowing Subaru’s hair down flat. The moment after the sudden gust made him close his eyes, a sharp pain heralded a vertical cut on his cheek.

[User] “Ow…!” He immediately touched his cheek, moistening his palm with blood. Wind. The wind had wounded him.


[User] From within the room, Ram was shooting Subaru a hate-filled look as she trained her palm toward him. "If you know something, spill it!"

[Assistant] "Wait, Ram! I…!" Can’t, Subaru was about to say, but the word died instantly on his lips, since he knew what would befall him. But he was coming up empty for any way to kick that can down the road.

[User] With Subaru holding his tongue, Ram shot him another gust of wind as a warning of what would follow.

[Assistant] Had he been able to calmly assess the matter, he would have called it a Blade of Wind. Wind magic—magic that inflicted cuts like the whirlwind monsters of lore. The sharp slice had enough power to leave a cut on the floor between Subaru and Rem, slice the door in half, and stop right at Subaru’s cheek; such was the power she threatened him with.

[User] If that hit him full force—faced with the phenomenon before his eyes, Subaru forgot to breathe.

[Assistant] Beatrice extended her cream-colored palm in front of Subaru and countered the Blade of Wind. "—I am one who keeps her promises." She gave her raised palm a small shake, as if that were no great feat, as she looked back at Ram. "I have made a promise to protect this man from harm while he stays at the manor."

[User] "Lady Beatrice…!" Whereas Beatrice’s demeanor was elegant, Ram bit her tongue with indignant anger.

[Assistant] As Ram raged to the side, Beatrice looked up at Roswaal, still standing right beside them. "Roswaal. Your maid is being quite rude to your guest."

[User] "Certainly. I find that sinceeerely unfortunate. If possible, I wooould like to welcome him anew as my guest, as soon as he breathes out what he is holding within, to feel all the lighter."

[Assistant] "How could he be involved in this matter, I wonder? He was in the archive of forbidden books all night."

[User] "This is too grave a matter to simply drop. Surely you cooomprehend this?"

[Assistant] With negotiations having failed, Roswaal shrugged and raised his palms into the air. Subaru saw the multiple orbs of differing colors that floated from his palms. They were red and blue, yellow and green—even Subaru, untrained in the ways of magic, understood that those four colors represented magical power. Their beautiful glows contained energy beyond his imagination.

[User] "It is just like you to engage in petty tricks. Just because you have a little talent, a little more power than others, a pedigree just a little finer than others, you need to flaunt in others’ faces… You are quite a child, I will have you know."

[Assistant] "How very haaarsh of you. Is the difference between we, who walk about normally, and you, passing time in a room where time has stopped, sooo great? Perhaaaps we should put it to the test."

[User] He could feel the magical tension between them making the very air twist. Subaru was becoming a third wheel as hostility rose.


[User] "Hooowever, to think that you would go through such trouble…are you truly sooo fond of him?"

[Assistant] "Your jokes are in as poor taste as your makeup, Roswaal. Puckie is my ideal partner. That human cannot match such lovely fur." Beatrice looked defenseless as she stood before Roswaal’s four glowing, floating balls. However, the “simply standing” girl projected something around her so powerful that it made the air itself bend. Something invisible but frightening was about her.

[User] "Who cares about that? Who cares?!" Everyone looked at her as she stormed over, hands holding the hem of her skirt. "Let me through and do not interfere. If you know something, say it, all of it. Help…help me avenge her!" It was a sad, painful plea.

[Assistant] The words gripped Subaru’s heart.

[User] Ram shot Subaru a despondent, despairing glare.

[Assistant] Emilia stood beside Beatrice, as if they were both shielding Subaru from her hostile gaze. "I’m sorry, Ram. I still believe in Subaru." Emilia put her palm toward Ram to hold her in check while looking back at Subaru from the corner of her eye. Her eyes wavered, trying to find the words, before dropping for but a moment. "Subaru, please. If there’s something you can do for Ram and Rem…please."

[User] "I’m sorry—!" As if crushing Emilia’s concerns under his heel, Subaru stepped not forward but back.

[Assistant] In that instant, Emilia’s eyes went silent as her emotions raced. They spoke of shock, sorrow and, above all, unbearable disappointment that her trust was about to be betrayed.

[User] What Subaru truly saw in Emilia’s eyes was his own despair. He knew his actions had opened the door to a nightmare and could never be taken back. That was when Subaru, no longer able to meet Emilia’s eyes, turned his back on her.

[Assistant] Instantly, Emilia reached out toward his back. But this was to block the Blade of Wind before it reached Subaru. "Subaru—!"

[User] Shaking off the voice trying to stop him, Subaru rushed down the corridor in a daze. He felt the magical confrontation behind him increasing in severity, but Subaru lacked the courage to look back. He was weak. He was fragile, unable to do anything. That was why he’d run out on Emilia, who’d trusted him after all that, and Beatrice, who’d tried to save his life, spurning their goodwill and good intentions. He didn’t know what to do anymore.


[User] "—I’LL KILL YOU! !" Ram shouted behind him like she was spitting blood. Having lost her other half, the girl pursued him with a cry that threatened to tear her asunder.

[Assistant] Covering his ears, shaking his head, making wordless sounds, Subaru ran. He ran. And he kept running. With his attention devoted solely to running, he didn’t know how much time had passed. Out of breath, his knees begging for mercy, sweat dripping down his chin, he kept running.

[User] "I can’t help it…! I want to…but I can’t!”

[Assistant] He didn’t know how it’d come to this. He didn’t know what he’d done wrong. Subaru didn’t know what he might do so that the world would forgive him. “After it was…so much fun…!”

[User] Suddenly greeted by another world, he’d had no choice but to live within it. For Subaru, surrounded by a vast desert of anxiety, the manor that had welcomed Subaru had been his oasis. Those beloved days, that beloved time, which didn’t amount to a single week, seemed so far from Subaru in that moment. He’d redone, he’d relived, and the world had sunk its fangs into him.


[Assistant] —Can’t do it anymore. Suddenly, that was the murmur that arose in the back of his mind.

[User] —There wasn’t any point in trying anymore.

[Assistant] He stopped, noticing the trees all around him. He was in the forest. Having rushed out of the mansion, he’d apparently gone off the road to the village, getting himself lost on a mountain path.


[User] “If I die…” The instant he recalled his own death, the third choice hit him in the face. —Would it save him?

[Assistant] “Yeah, that’s right. If I die, this’ll change.” When he said it with his own lips, they formed a smile as if there could be no finer idea.

[User] He’d died three times. He’d arrived at the fourth world, where he failed at anything and everything. This time he’d valued only his life. This time, his life was the only thing he had left. What was the meaning of continuing to struggle and struggle if this was the result?

[Assistant] “If you’re gonna do it, do it already. It doesn’t matter what happens to me anymore…” Biting his lip, he aired his bitter hatred of the situation he’d become wrapped in. The blue sky unfolded before Subaru’s eyes, reflecting his hate right back.

[User] “…A cliff.” Surely this was made-to-order by God himself. Answering that one prayer surely meant there was a Heaven he should be grateful for. —So that the foolish and pathetic Subaru Natsuki could find peace.


[Assistant] The cliff seemed to invite him as he headed toward it, wobbling and dragging his feet. The wind was strong. Using the sleeve of his jacket to shield himself from the strong headwind, Subaru stood at the cliff’s edge, peering into the blue sky beyond. Below him was a precipice with a face lined with sharp rocks, a drop dozens of meters onto a rocky place below. If he fell from this height, nothing would greet him but death. Subaru panted heavily as he looked down at the rocks below, able to acutely picture his own death. He heard the loud heartbeat he had forgotten once more. His lungs let out the air they’d been holding. His entire body was drenched with sweat, making Subaru feel cold as he closed his eyes. —If he kept his eyes closed and took one step forward, it’d all be over.

[User] Subaru wondered what would happen if he died this time. Would he return to the first day at the manor and begin the loop anew? He thought he wouldn’t mind. If he did actually return to the first day, Emilia would be there, and so would Ram, Rem, everyone. Subaru would work as a servant, see everyone’s faces, and die peacefully in his sleep on the fourth day. If he continued that over and over, at least Subaru would be immersed in a little day-to-day peace. It seemed like a good plan. If he could not hope for greater salvation, death wasn’t so bad, he thought.

[Assistant] “—” And yet, Subaru’s body, standing atop the cliff, did not move forward. Only his knees moved—to shake. He reached down to stop his knees from trembling, collapsing the moment his hips bent. Falling to his knees, it was as if he were prostrating himself before the sky. Subaru bit his lip at how pathetic he was.


[User] "Just one step… I can’t even do…one simple thing…" —Perhaps he simply lacked the courage. Even under pursuit, he lost to his impulses, too indecisive to put it into action. His resolve and determination were so frail it was funny; Subaru could only remain on his knees and cry. He didn’t know why he should live, yet he was too afraid of death to die. Subaru wailed, clawing at the ground at how truly pathetic and unsightly he was. He continued to weep and mourn his own wretchedness until his endurance finally gave out.

[Assistant] Subaru thought that the scene he saw while unconscious was a nightmare. He was in a well-lit room, at a dining table with Emilia. Roswaal was in the seat of honor, with Beatrice there pouring black tea to Puck, his head diving into a plate right beside her. Emilia chided Puck for kidding around at the dining table, and Rem wove in and out, performing her duties, while Ram attended to Roswaal, ignoring all else. Subaru just laughed. The others laughed with him.

[User] —And so, he saw a nightmare full of happiness and warmth. It was a bitter dream, a dream that brought sadness and a sense of wrenching loss. His soul whittled down to the point of pain, Subaru’s agony made him forget to breathe.

[Assistant] "—" Suddenly, his face eased. He realized someone was holding his hand. The warmth conveyed to his palm seemed to push aside his negative emotions. Then, he saw a light. A white light. A dazzling light. A light that seemed to guide his consciousness back to—


[User] "—Are you finally awake?"

[Assistant] When Subaru opened his eyes, the orange sky of the setting sun was right in front of him. He realized, too, that he’d passed out on the ground lying face up. He recalled, too, what he’d been thinking about just before, as if it had consumed his consciousness. —Namely, that he’d chickened out from suicide, wept shamelessly, and fell asleep from exhaustion. It was too shameful to be funny or pitiable. He’d acted like a baby. No, Subaru was far lower than a baby, for they had no capacity to sin.

[User] "Could you say something, I wonder?"

[Assistant] "...Something."

[User] "What an old, rotten joke. You are quite something, joking with that glum face." Beatrice spat out a bitter reply as she tossed aside the hand of Subaru’s she was touching. Beatrice was wearing the same dress as always, something that looked extremely out of place on top of the cliff. It was like a landscape painting where a lone little girl stood out.

[Assistant] "...No sane person goes hiking dressed like that."

[User] "I had no intention of hiking in rustic mountains to begin with.


[User] “Perhaps you should not have fled to a place like this and cried yourself to sleep?” Beatrice was waving the sleeve of her dress, making her annoyed statement.

[Assistant] “Why…?”

[User] “Why what, I wonder?”

[Assistant] “Why did you come? I…”

[User] Seeing Subaru’s words catching, Beatrice made a sour, exasperated face and snorted. "I made a pact to keep you safe. Having you toss yourself off a cliff to kill yourself would be an affront to my dignity.”

[Assistant] “Weren’t you supposed to be my bodyguard only till…this morning?”

[User] “—I do not recall saying anything about a time limit. You assumed incorrectly that there was one, I suppose.” Subaru groped through his memories while Beatrice, looking at him out of one eye, glanced away.

[Assistant] Beatrice was using that contradiction between their “assumptions” about the details to continue her pact with Subaru.

[User] “This is no time for vain hopes.”

[Assistant] “—!” Beatrice shook her head, pouring cold water on Subaru’s easy way out. “You cannot regain what you have lost. There is little more I can do for you. You can no longer explain things to the older sister. You threw away that chance.”

[User] “I—!” I’d have told her if I could, he wanted to shout.

[Assistant] “At a time like this. Am I an idiot?…Yeah, I’m an idiot.”

[User] “If you know I can’t go back…what do you plan on doing for me?”

[Assistant] “At the very least, I will have you die where I cannot see, so as not to disturb my dreams, I suppose. If you wish to flee, I shall take you beyond this domain.”

[User] Beatrice’s expression was cold, her gaze acidic, as if beholding an annoyance.


[User] “—” Blood trickled a little from the painful cut left on his cheek by the Blade of Wind. Touching the wound, Subaru realized too late that he’d felt its kind before. Subaru’s very soul remembered its sharpness. When he had been fleeing from Rem in the mountains, a Blade of Wind had severed Subaru’s right leg at the knee. As he touched the wound, Subaru’s instincts told him it was the same magic.

[Assistant] “The magic that gouged out my neck at the end, too…? So they…double-teamed me…” His late understanding of how he had died deepened the silent despair in his heart. Even now, he could still hear Ram’s hate-filled roar, her heartrending wails from losing Rem.

[User] Subaru ought to have never fled the manor. Even if he didn’t have the resolve to endure the pain, he should have faced Ram and spoken to her. He’d missed his chance, and now their hearts were separated forever. Having let it slip through his hands once, Subaru could never have it back.


[Assistant] With a low, gloomy voice, Interrupting his silent contemplation. “The older sister endured for the younger. The younger sister lived for the older. Neither could exist without the other.” Beatrice ran her fingers through her own ornate hair, not looking back at Subaru as she continued to speak.

[User] “Now that one half is lost, the whole can never return. Roswaal is unlikely to forgive it, either.”

[Assistant] “What do you mean by that? What do you know…?” He felt like she was avoiding something. Something really important. Subaru urged Beatrice to share her true thoughts.

[User] Beatrice moved her fingers from her hair to Subaru’s sleeve, tugging and gently pulling him to the ground as she extended her foot. Subaru was in shock at how he seemed to flow right onto the ground. Beatrice tossed back her hair. “Does it truly matter to you, I wonder? These last four days, you spent most of your time holed up in your room and had little contact with them. Would the older sister let you press her about these matters now? I think not. It has nothing to do with you.”

[Assistant] “It’s not like…!” Like I don’t know anything about them, he would have said, but Subaru’s words died on his tongue.


[User] What was the point of Subaru feeling such loss and despair when he didn’t truly know anything about them? Was it all really just a bad dream? Or did Subaru not know anything, not a single thing, about the two of them? Even though he’d thought of them as precious people he wanted to protect…

[Assistant] “So in the end, I got worked up and pathetic all on my own, not knowing, not understanding anything…?” —It has nothing to do with you. Subaru knew nothing. He’d beaten away all his chances. He had nothing left but the skin on his back. Within the darkness covering his eyes, the memories of the days he’d spent at the manor broke apart, one by one, into dust. Subaru’s heart, too, shattered. Lying on his back, Subaru put his palms to his face and wailed at his own powerlessness. Had it all been a utopia beyond his reach from the beginning? Was everything Subaru had seen simply a dream, the time he’d spent there a mere illusion? Subaru looked like he was about to break out in tears.

[User] “…How long are you going to stay like that, I wonder? Stand before she finds you.” Impatient from Subaru still not moving, she roughly grabbed the palms covering his face and yanked them up. As his field of vision opened, the lightweight girl used her entire weight to haul Subaru to his feet.

[Assistant] “—” The sensation conveyed by her palms took away his thoughts. Ignoring Beatrice’s intent in rousing Subaru so insistently, he felt her palms, weighing how they felt.

[User] “H-hey. What do you think y— Why so interested in my palms, I wonder?”

[Assistant] “…I shall regret it for the rest of my days. Perhaps you were simply too wretched as you slept like that?” Abruptly, Beatrice looked away, giving him only her cheek.

[User] Subaru flexed his hands several times, reflecting on the warm, peaceful sensation he’d felt from them while he slept. —While Subaru had his nightmare. A dream with an agonizing sense of despair and loss, over and over again. That hadn’t been the only time he’d felt warmth when in pain. It’d happened before—

[Assistant] “Back then…someone held both my hands…”

[User] Beatrice suspiciously raised an eyebrow.

[Assistant] Subaru brought not only his right hand before him but his left as well. It was difficult for one person to hold both hands of someone who was asleep. He doubted a single person could lie on a bed alongside another and hold both hands without difficulty.

[User] “—” So why did he feel like both his hands had been held? The reason was simple.

[Assistant] “Ram. Rem.” Both had held Subaru’s hands while he slept. It had been here on the fourth loop, before anything had happened at Roswaal Manor.


[User] Seeing Subaru suffer as he slept, both of them had taken pity on him and given him some small measure of compassion.

[Assistant] “—” I will kill you, the hate-filled voice had cried out, her rage pounding into him like a curse. The cruel words had scarred his heart. But more than that…

[User] “—Can’t you make the crying stop?” It was Ram’s sad cry of despair at having her other half ripped from her that never left his ears. Some corner of Subaru’s heart, which should have been shattered already, cried out.

[Assistant] —By nature, Subaru was the sort to pick the path of least resistance. He didn’t want to feel pain, suffering, despair. Just the thought of living with such burdens made him want to run. “What…stupid things am I thinking here…” For he thought he didn’t want to run anymore. He wanted to do something. “I lived this time and everything…” His shameless plea to Beatrice had allowed him to reach the fifth day with ease. It was the thought of what had greeted him that very day that settled Subaru’s decision. “That’s right. My life’s mine. That’s why—” What was wrong with fighting for an easier, more enjoyable life? “—I’ll decide how to use it.” The moment Subaru said it, he crossed a line inside. There was no going back.

[User] Beatrice furrowed her brows at Subaru’s words. However, before he could ask her why she was doing that, her eyes looked toward the forest, full of caution. “—You dithered too much.” Beatrice’s regret-tinged words came as the rustle of the wind through the forest’s trees deepened. Mixed with the sounds of the swaying leaves, the sound of footsteps reached Subaru’s ears, too. He turned around. A girl with pink hair stood before him.


[Assistant] Ram, the forest at her back, glared at Subaru. “I’ve finally found you—you will go no farther.” Pain swept over Subaru’s heart as he beheld the look on Ram’s face, thick with hatred. As she stood there, Ram had none of her usual meticulous look. Branches had torn and punctured her skirt; there was no sign of the headdress normally on her head. Her pink hair, buffered by the wind, had lost its usual beauty. —The sisters dressed each other and did each other’s hair. Subaru knew this. He remembered that they’d told him at some point. He knew several other secrets between the two sisters.

[User] “Would you relent, I wonder? So long as the pact is active, I cannot hold back against anyone.”

[Assistant] “Lady Beatrice, it is you who should stand aside. I cannot hold back against you, either.”

[User] “A joke, I suppose. Did I hear you say to hold back in regards to me?”

[Assistant] “Perhaps you have forgotten you are not in the mansion, Lady Beatrice? Do you truly believe you can protect that man away from the archive, here in the forest?”

[User] Subaru held his silence as the two girls continued to square off before him.


[User] Beatrice’s words of regret proved that Ram’s words were no empty boast. Beatrice’s strength came with limitations, and this situation was beyond them. Even so, Beatrice stubbornly refused to move, upholding her pact in front of Subaru.

[Assistant] From behind, Subaru reached out toward Beatrice. Then…

[User] "Boing…" He grabbed hold of the girl’s two ornate hair rolls and pulled on them, hard. He let go. The large amount of hair bounced quite generously.

[Assistant] Bouncy-bouncy—

[User] “Mm, that felt pretty good.”

[Assistant] “W-w-w-wh…” Her eyes wide open, her tongue quivering, Beatrice turned around, all flustered.

[User] Subaru inclined his head slightly as he looked at her.

[Assistant] “Mm?”

[User] “What are you doing, I wonder?! You have a death wish, I suppose? !”

[Assistant] “Don’t be silly. I don’t wanna die one tiny bit. When you die, it should be one time, to end your life for good. I truly believe that.” As he spoke, he patted Beatrice on the shoulder and calmly walked past her.

[User] Straight ahead, Ram glared at Subaru’s face with astonishment. As Subaru walked before her, she heightened her guard, exhaling from pursed lips.

[Assistant] “Quite some nerve. Finally resigned to your fate?”

[User] “Not exactly. More like…I decided to do something.”

[Assistant] Not understanding Subaru’s intent, Ram scowled.

[User] “—What?”

[Assistant] “Sorry. Because I was sloppy, I brought you girls so much sadness.”

[User] “—! So you did do something to Rem…? !”

[Assistant] “No, sorry, but I honestly don’t know. There’s so much I don’t know. But…” Subaru’s words trailed off as he took a moment to breathe.

[User] “There’s so much I don’t know, but I think I know one thing now.”

[Assistant] “—What’s the point? !” Ram shouted back, unable to accept Subaru’s display of resolve as anything but childish games. Ram swung down a foot, kicking the earth like she was stamping her feet.

[User] “Rem’s already dead! There’s no taking that back! What good is it that you know something now? !”

[Assistant] “I’m not gonna say I can do anything. It’s because I couldn’t do anything that things ended up like this. I know more than anyone that’s not gonna convince anyone.” He wasn’t being defiant. Even now, regret deeply pierced his heart. He hated himself for his own stupidity and weakness. If you could die from shame, he might have been dead already. Still, his shameful behavior, his shameful living, his pathetic helplessness—these had brought him to this place. And, thus, to his conclusion.

[User] “And what is it you know about Rem and me? !”

[Assistant] “…You have a point. I don’t know any of the important stuff between you. But…” Subaru had spent almost twenty days together with them. They didn’t know that, and he was unable to tell them. But Subaru remembered. Even if they had forgotten, Subaru’s soul remembered. He’d seen them. Laughed with them. Spent time with them. The worlds Subaru had walked with Ram and Rem—those worlds really had existed. Which was why—

[User] “There’s no way you girls knew this, but…”

[Assistant] “What…”

[User] “—I! Love! Both of you!” The blunt, worrywart big sister.


[User] Subaru thought fondly of the days he had spent with both girls. They were precious memories to him, even though they had killed him more than once. Enough that, if he had the choice to spend time with them once more, that was a choice he would make.

[Assistant] Subaru’s shout made Ram open her eyes wide, freezing in shock.

[User] Subaru’s declaration was meaningless, empty nonsense. Furthermore, he’d already abandoned them in an instant.

[Assistant] Ram’s thought process froze for only a moment. In the next instant, her body thawed and leapt into action.

[User] "—!" Subaru’s sprint was just a moment faster than Ram’s switch to anger-filled attacking. Turning his back to Ram, Subaru rushed past Beatrice, his body moving like the wind—making a beeline toward the cliff.

[Assistant] "Wait—!" Behind him, a girl’s high-pitched wail reached out.

[User] Subaru’s mind never caught up to which girl’s voice it was. He’d meant to be determined, but now his thought process was in tatters, like someone had clawed it apart. His heart beat hard, but his body creaked all over, as if to betray his mind. His limbs felt like leaden weights. He was running with all his might, but the world seemed to move in slow motion. It was as if Subaru’s mind were putting off the results of his change of heart as long as it possibly could.


[Assistant] So stupid. He was conflicted even then. He knew why. He’d tenaciously clung to living without shame to that point. Even when he’d wanted to die, he’d chickened out in the end, able only to fall to his knees. But Subaru could do it now.

[User] "It’s rude to Beatrice, huh…" With those words, Subaru voiced his final regret and left everything behind. He raced to the cliff. A few steps more. He was too scared to count them. Pathetic. Insane. He had the urge to laugh. But he didn’t laugh. He couldn’t laugh. All that he was leaving behind was a life of living death. To Subaru, giving up on a future in that place meant he’d already died inside. If he could live as a dead man walking, he could do “something” with that life. And that decision, to do something instead of doing nothing, was one only Subaru could make.

[Assistant] "—I’m the only one who can do it." His feet left the ground. He clawed at the air. He could touch nothing. He could reach nothing. So fast. The wind was strong. His eyes hurt. His head hurt. The ringing in his ears was distant. He felt like he’d left behind his beating heart. He couldn’t hear the ringing. The ringing inside his skull was like a broken record. If it ended with his death, that was that.


[User] But if, if only he could go back, then… For she had cried out.

[Assistant] "I'll kill you."

[User] If he could go back—

[Assistant] "—I'll save you, I swear!" The moment after he voiced his determination, his head smashed into the hard ground. He heard the echo of something spectacularly breaking apart, and then nothing. The hate-filled voice could not chase him any longer. Nothing could, not anymore— 13 —All that was there was “nothingness.” Absentmindedly, he looked around the nothingness of his mind. Perhaps looked around was not the proper phrase. Eyes did not exist within his mind. Nor did hands, nor feet, nor any pieces of his body. All that remained was his incorporeal, floating mind. Knowing nothing, aware of nothing, he looked about. Darkness. A room with nothing. A room that was a world without a floor or a ceiling, covered in pitch-blackness so great that it defied thought.


[User] Suddenly, in the world of everlasting darkness, there was meaning. A silhouette abruptly emerged in “front” of his mind. The contours of the silhouette were slender and as pitch-black as the rest, the upper body more of a fog, rejecting his mind's recognition. With the emergence of the human shape, the mind gained its first strong desire. He felt a breach in the cold as the shadow gently moved, as if to convey something to his mind. He didn't understand. He was aware of nothing. But for some reason, his mind could not avert itself from the shadow—

[Assistant] "—I cannot meet you. Not yet." With that faint whisper, the dark world abruptly vanished, and in so doing, the shadow, and his mind, went with it.


[User] The first thing that flew into his eyes as they blinked open was an artificial sense of dazzling white. Beyond the light, a broad ceiling spread before him, with crystals attached to it providing flickering light that illuminated the room’s interior. Confirming in his head that he was waking up, Subaru’s mind immediately grasped how good his wake-up felt.

[Assistant] “…The pillow feels different, huh. Smells better, too… Definitely higher class than usual.” Subaru savored the feel of the blanket and the other fine scents as he sat up in bed. At a glance, he knew it was a room for the upper class. Subaru had slept in a king-size bed that could fit five people to spare; the room was about ninety square feet, oddly spacious with only a bed in it.

[User] “The quality of the painting on the wall is so high it makes the room feel lonelier, huh. A guest room, then?” Subaru, now completely awake, gently swung his legs over the side of the bed and checked his physical condition. He made sure he could rotate his legs and shoulders, finally pulling up his clothes and gingerly touching his belly.

[Assistant] “Abdominal wound…totally gone. No bruises, of course no scar, either… This world’s medical tech is pretty awesome to not leave sewing marks. Assuming my big scene wasn’t all just in my imagination, anyway.” He recalled the string of events leading up to his abdomen being deeply slashed. Subaru, a completely ordinary Japanese schoolboy, was abruptly summoned to another world in a painfully cliché manner, coming face-to-face with death, literally, on multiple occasions. That he was still alive was thanks to a string of coincidences that one could only call miraculous.

[User] “But how much time’s passed since then… No way to tell the time, huh?” He glanced all around the room, unable to find any sign of calendars, clocks, or anything similar. The gold-glowing crystal above the door stood out; the darkness outside the window told him it was night, which was news to him. Subaru slumped his shoulders and took a deep breath. Then, he voiced the inescapable conclusion on his lips and finally resigned himself to face reality.

[Assistant] “Any way you slice it…this time I managed to avoid Return by Death, huh?”


[User] At any rate, he’d somehow managed to avoid Return by Death and had finally been able to move time forward. The fact that he was all right after sustaining a plainly lethal wound meant…

[Assistant] “Considering the situation, it was that girl’s…Emilia’s healing magic, huh?” An image arose in the back of his mind of a beautiful lilac-eyed girl with silver hair—Emilia. He thought it was safe to assume she’d healed his abdominal wound. Having had a wound healed by Emilia once before, it was a natural assumption for Subaru to make.

[User] Subaru reasoned that, as a result, the guest room he was resting in was part of a mansion owned by Emilia. Then again…

[Assistant] “It’s entirely possible this mansion’s connected to Reinhard’s family… But, well.” Glancing toward the door, Subaru let out a dissatisfied sigh at the lack of information on his current situation.

[User] “Normally, there’d be a pretty girl at your bedside when you open your eyes, saying, ‘Are you awake?’ And there weren’t any pretty girls when I was summoned, either. For a summons, this one sure has some glaring inadequacies…”

[Assistant] This summons was definitely third-rate. He couldn’t slice through armies, and he’d barely had any meaningful encounters.

[User] “Besides, nothing’s happening so far… So it’s up to me to do recon and make myself comfortable.” Subaru practically leapt to his feet and put his hand on the door. The refreshingly cool air blew in through the open doorway and the floor transferred the cold directly to his bare feet. When he left the room, the walls and floor of a corridor, all in warm colors, unfolded before him. The passageway continued on and on to both the left and right. Frighteningly, he couldn’t see either end of the corridor.

[Assistant] “It’s so much like a palace that all I can say is whoa. It’s insanely huge… Can’t even tell if anyone’s here.” Delicately walking down the corridor on bare feet, Subaru scowled at the silence. It was as if he couldn’t hear any signs of life that should normally be there.

[User] “It’s too quiet, even for the night… Makes me not wanna raise my voice…” Personality-wise, Subaru was geared toward asking, Is anybody here?! in a loud voice, but the present circumstances made that too dangerous. After all, Subaru had not yet determined whether this was a safe place for him or not. Subaru had accepted as a matter of course that the host was friendly, but in the worst case, it was possible the assassin with a love of slitting bellies might have returned and abducted him. All the same, he wouldn’t be able to lift a finger if he assumed everything was doomed.

[Assistant] “Kenichi once said, life must be lived. That’s what I think, too.” Incidentally, Kenichi was Subaru’s father. It was very fitting that a person like him was his father. Subaru’s steps forward did not falter. But after walking awhile, Subaru twisted his neck a bit.


[User] "I’ve walked this much, but I haven’t hit a bend. Is that even possible?” Unsurprisingly, he could not contain his misgivings.

[Assistant] Subaru turned around, thinking about going back the other way. “Huh…? That painting… I think it was right in front of me when I came out of the room…”

[User] Subaru crossed his arms as he stood in front of the oil painting decorating the corridor.

[Assistant] “Maybe the floor has some trick that makes it move around on its own or…could it be that the corridor loops around…?”

[User] “If the corridor’s looping, maybe it’s got something to do with Return by Death.” Subaru, hoping someone out there agreed with him, grasped the doorknob of the closest room and opened it.

[Assistant] “A looping corridor with any number of rooms… So if I don’t find the right one, I can’t get out?”

[User] “So if this goes according to cliché, it could take me hours to find the right one. I’ll go hungry; my mind’ll give out, then my body will, too. If that’s the case…” The situation made Subaru want to hold his head.

[Assistant] Taking a deep breath, Subaru wiped the sweat off his brow and took the first decisive step forward.

[User] “I’ll sleep in my room till someone comes. Maybe that first room was the goal anyway.” Speaking his characteristically flippant thoughts, Subaru entered the room.


[Assistant] “…How do you look like such a deeply irritating person, I wonder?” Within the book-filled archive that Subaru had no recollection of seeing earlier, a girl with curly hair glared right at him.

[User] “Man, here in a place full of books and I can’t read a single one… What a bummer.” His breath caught when he looked all around the bookshelves, unable to find a single one with the title on its spine in Japanese.


[User] It wasn’t some sort of alphabet, either; rather, these were characters like those he saw in the royal capital—the characters in common use in that world. Subaru let out a sigh as he looked over the characters he couldn’t read no matter how hard he tried.

[Assistant] “Looking all over someone else’s bookshelves, and sighing on top of that… Are you trying to offend, I wonder? Perhaps I should respond in kind?”

[User] “Your pretty face’ll go all to waste if you’re that prickly. C’mon, smile, smile!”

[Assistant] “I am simply pretty by nature. I suppose my contemptuous sneer should be enough for the likes of you.” Putting the tips of her fingers to her cheeks, the girl formed a cruel smile.

[User] “You know big words like contemptuous sneer, huh…and you’re in a bad mood because I got it right in one go? My bad! I’ve been doing stuff like this since way back.”

[Assistant] “All my hard work constructing the domain, all for naught, just like that… It is quite horrid.”


[User] "Watching from above, I felt…dismay at seeing your considerably disappointing head, I wonder?" She says this in place of a greeting.

[Assistant] Subaru made a sour face at her sarcasm. "What’s with talking like that on a fine morning like this, loli?”

[User] "What is that term, I wonder? I have never heard it, yet it feels distinctly…unpleasant.”

[Assistant] “It means you’re not on my list. I never go for girls younger than me.”

[User] “…Perhaps I should pity you for having insulted me so?”

[Assistant] Deliberately ignoring the sarcastic girl’s words, Subaru looked over the dining hall. “I don’t know anything about table manners. How about I let you give me pointers?”

[User] “Is that arrogance, I wonder? If you do not understand, simply say so and lower your head.”

[Assistant] “If I could do that much, I might as well just sit in the big chair and really irritate you.” The girl shook with anger, her face going red as Subaru waved with a palm and sat in the big chair.

[User] Seeing Subaru genuinely unable to get comfortable in the chair, the curly-haired girl shook her exasperated face. “Well, fine. More importantly, have you no words with which to thank me?”

[Assistant] “Thanks? I asked for help just now and you brushed me off, didn’t you? And what kind of person asks to be thanked? I’d wanna see the look on your dad’s face for that one!”

[User] "What are you angry for, I wonder?! I should be the angry one! After all I did…!" They kept egging each other on.


[Assistant] The girl, her voice flustered at Subaru’s reply, never quite finished her sentence.

[User] Mindful of the unnatural pause, Subaru prompted her to continue.

[Assistant] “Pardon us, Dear Guest. I shall set the meal.” The door to the dining hall opened and the twin maids came in pushing a cart.

[User] “Pardon us, Dear Guest. I shall set the tableware and the tea.”

[Assistant] The blue-haired girl laid out an orthodox breakfast menu consisting of salad, bread, and the like.

[User] The pink-haired girl briskly poured and placed cups of tea.

[Assistant] The warm scents made Subaru’s stomach grumble out of nowhere. "Whoa, not bad at all."


[User] “…Now this is a breakfast fit for nobility… I was worried it was going to be some weird out-of-this-world thing.” Subaru, worried that any strange thing could potentially be served here, was considerably relieved. When he looked all around, he couldn’t place anything in particular that seemed to pose physical or mental danger. His enthusiasm rising, Subaru leaned back against the chair, making it creak. The sound echoed throughout the dining room, bringing a hint of annoyance to the girl’s soothing face.

[Assistant] Wanting to see her soothing face break down further, Subaru, full of mischief, decided to move his butt all around the chair. However, before he could do so, a new individual entered the dining hall

[User] “Ohhh my. You certainly seem raaather spry. That is good, veeery good.” He was a tall man, at least half a head above Subaru’s height, wearing his dark blue hair long to nearly cover his entire back. But his body seemed not so much slender as delicate, with his skin color ghastly pale. Combined with the look of his face, he somehow seemed like some sort of pretty boy. The effect was further accentuated by his left and right eyes being different colors, the first yellow, the other blue. —Well, it might have if he wasn’t decked out in that weird outfit and makeup that made him look like a clown.

[Assistant] “…Man, you hired a jester to entertain us before breakfast? I’ll never get how rich folks think.”

[User] “I have some idea what you must be thinking, but I shall not get in the way.” Beatrice watched and commented.

[Assistant] “Don’t be that way, Betty. We’re friends, right? Let’s do some more small talk.”

[User] “What kind of relationship do you and I have, I wonder? Also, do not speak my name so casually.” The girl snubbed him with a shrug and withdrew from the conversation.

[Assistant] Subaru scowled at her behavior as the clown walking into the dining hall opened his eyes wide, looking at both her and Subaru.

[User] “Oh my, it is raaare to see Beatrice here. Is it not fortuitous thaaat you decided to share a meal with me after so looong?”

[Assistant] “If that man over there is the only optimist, wouldn’t that already be too many, I wonder? I wait for Puckie and Puckie alone.” Brushing off his chummy statement, the girl—Beatrice—shifted to behind the clown.


[User] Silver-haired girl, having finished changing her attire, entered the dining hall a bit after the clown.

[Assistant] “Puckie!” Practically leaping from her seat, Beatrice ran over, her long skirt swaying. Seeing a smile like a flower in bloom come over her was so adorable that it made him forget how he’d pegged the girl as “cheeky.” Her gaze was trained on Emilia, but it was not Emilia who replied.

[User] “Heya, Betty. It’s been four days.


[User] "Have you been happy and ladylike?" Puckie asks, his voice buoyant as he pops out of Emilia's hair.

[Assistant] Beatrice nodded at Puckie’s words.

[User] "I have been eagerly awaiting your return, Puckie. You would enjoy spending the day together, I wonder?"

[Assistant] "Yeah, that'd be great! Both of us can take it easy for one day."

[User] "That is wonderful!" Puck leapt off Emilia's shoulder to land upon Beatrice's outstretched palms.

[Assistant] As she caught Puck, Beatrice lovingly embraced him and ran around in circles then and there.

[User] Subaru was struck senseless by the happy, carefree scene.

[Assistant] Emilia walks over with a teasing smile. "Tee-hee, aren't they merry? Puck and Beatrice are very close, you see."

[User] "Nobody uses merry anymore…" Subaru gave Emilia his stock reply for when she used outdated words.

[Assistant] "Mm?" Emilia pointed Subaru's way. "Er, Subaru, that chair…"

[User] "Oh, right! Uh, it's not what you think. I mean, a cold chair really throws you off, so I figured I'd warm it up a little. It wasn't that I just wanted to sit where you usually sit, like an indirect sit-down, really."

[Assistant] "Sorry, I'm not really sure what you mean, but that's Roswaal's seat."

[User] With Subaru's big scheme foiled, he slid off the chair in front of the wide-eyed Emilia.

[Assistant] "Oh, there's no need for concern. I see, your warmth may not reach Lady Emilia, but I shall treasure it greatly." The clown reached out and patted Subaru's shoulder, smiling at him in consolation.

[User] The touch to his shoulder and the gently smiling, made-up face drew a sour frown from Subaru. "This clown's acting real chummy. It's not polite to touch the dancing girls, you know?"

[Assistant] "Since when did you become a da… Er, no, Subaru, this man is…"

[User] "My, my, myyy, I do nooot mind, Lady Emilia. Considering how he went from being at death's door to being in such high spirits, shooould we not be quiiite grateful?" The clown’s tone of voice excelled at getting on one’s nerves, yet his statement was extremely sensible.

[Assistant] The others continued to watch the clown as he slowly sat down in the chair—the very chair at the head of the table that Subaru had been seated in just before.

[User] "Hey, now. Not that I should say this, but sitting in someone else's chair is gonna tick people off."

[Assistant] Emilia made an exasperated face at Subaru's statement as she murmured, "No need to worry about th… You, ah, really should introduce yourself to Subaru."

[User] Emilia's exasperation was also directed toward the clown.

[Assistant] "What do you mean?"

[User] "In ooother words, she meeeans…this.” The clown seated in the chair replied to Subaru's query as he spread his arms out wide. "’Tiiis I, lord of this manor, Roswaal L. Mathers. It is goooood that you feel so safe and comfortable under my roof, Subaru Natsuki."


[User] Beginning with Roswaal in the seat of honor, they sat in prearranged seats and began breakfast.

[Assistant] “Mm…this is better than usual…” Subaru was admiring the food before his eyes reminiscent of salad and soup.

[User] Roswaal nodded back, seeming to take personal pride in Subaru’s appraisal of the cooking as he looked at Rem. “Mm-hmm, iiindeed, indeed. She may not look it, but Rem’s cooking is quite something.”

[Assistant] When Subaru looked at Rem, too, she made a fox sign with a hand. Subaru didn’t know what it meant, but it might’ve been this world’s version of making a V with your fingers. Subaru made a frog with both hands in reply.

[User] “So the blue-ha… Is calling you Rem fine? So you cooked this?”

[Assistant] “Yes, Dear Guest. Rem handles the meals in this household. Sister is not especially good at it.”

[User] “Oh-ho, so it’s like, you twins have different specialties. So, your sister’s really good at cleaning?”

[Assistant] “Yes, Sister specializes in cleaning inside and doing the laundry.”

[User] “So since you’re good at all the cooking, you’re not so good at cleaning and laundry, Remrin?”

[Assistant] “No, I excel at all domestic chores, including cleaning and laundry, more than Sister.”

[User] “What’s she here for, then? !”

[Assistant] The older sister seemed to pay no heed to Rem’s statement. Subaru couldn’t prove it, but he guessed the words were true. So why wasn’t Ram bothered by it at all…?

[User] “So maybe it’s different fields, huh? Ramchi does combat stuff and the other does more domestic stuff?”

[Assistant] “Not a baaad guess. Though Ram and Rem make a poor first impression because of their idiosyncrasies, yes?”

[User] “Hard for that to stand out now when their master’s so unique, Rozchi.” By Rozchi, Subaru was addressing the man in charge by a pet name, but Roswaal let the statement pass with practiced ease. Subaru had an ingrained tendency to get a rise out of people, but not so here.

[Assistant] That said, the items on the menu vanished from the plates one after another before they knew it.

[User] “It’d be something of a dilemma if the food wasn’t good, but it’s delicious, so no prob. Right, Emilia-tan?”

[Assistant] Emilia wiped her lips with a napkin, grimacing at Subaru’s carefree words.

[User] Subaru tilted his head, wondering what was up, as Emilia exhaled slightly.

[Assistant] “You know, Subaru, you shouldn’t speak at the dinner table. It’s rude to Ram and Rem, who prepared this all by themselves. Without proper manners, you’ll make blunders during important occasions, so…”

[User] “No one uses blunder anymore… Table manners, huh. Kind of late to learn them now, though, right?” Subaru delivered his cliché while motioning toward the dining hall with his hand. In spite of the spacious hall, Subaru was sitting right beside Emilia. By rights, the two would be seated quite far apart to make full use of the dining table.


[User] "But I moved closer because I wanted to eat with Emilia-tan. Roswaal didn’t say he minded, so what’s the big deal? I mean, you can give me any veggies you don’t like."

[Assistant] "All right, you can have my green bepper— Wait, that’s not the point. I’m being an idiot."

[User] Subaru laughed, finding it cute how Emilia tapered her lips in a pout at being outdone in their verbal jousting. "Incidentally, Rozchi, I thought I heard Emilia-tan say this household has only two maids working here?"

[Assistant] "Ahh, yeees, such is currently the caaase. Ram and Rem are the only ones left."

[User] "Two people handling a place this huge? You’d think people would die from overwork no matter how good they are. That said…it doesn’t feel like you’re going to be hiring any new maids here?"

[Assistant] Roswaal was silent to Subaru’s question, crossing his arms at the table. Roswaal’s face displayed a smile, but the eyes with which he regarded Subaru had subtly changed. "You truly are a mystery, having come to the house of Mathers at the far reaches of the Kingdom of Lugunica, yet you do not know the circumstances? Amazing that you made it past royal customs."

[User] "Well, I am kind of an undocumented immigrant in a sense…"

[Assistant] Subaru’s casual reply startled Emilia; she gave him a glare like she was scolding a young child. "I can’t believe it. If you say things like that so easily, bad people will make mincemeat out of you."

[User] "Nobody uses mincemeat anymore."

[Assistant] "Don’t joke about this. Hey, Subaru, is that really true? Is everyone where you come from like this, or is it really just you who doesn’t know?"

[User] Subaru, feeling bad at how Emilia was genuinely worried, reflected upon his own behavior. "Err, more like my education’s especially lacking. So if it’s no bother, I really would be grateful if you filled me in."

[Assistant] "You seem an educated enough child to me from the big words you’re using, but…"

[User] "I mean, this here’s my debut with high society. I mean, there’re things you don’t know either, Emilia-tan? Honorifics like that and extra-polite words seem to throw you off?"

[Assistant] "Err…you do have a point." Emilia seemed to shrink at Subaru’s observation.

[User] Seeing Emilia like that surprised him, but it was not the wilting Emilia who followed up but Roswaal, previously silent in the seat of honor. "I do understand what you are saying, but Lady Emilia is cuuurrently studying such things, you seeee."

[Assistant] "Studying, huh. Wait, you mean we lost her when we were talking earlier?"

[User] "You truly do have an active mind. It is because you think so much that you can make such thoughtless-sounding statements."

[Assistant] Subaru slouched from Roswaal’s apparent praise before giving his own chest a thump. "Thinking while you live is just common sense. It’s the duty of every man to think on his feet for when the chips are down.


[User] "That or your guts get spilled all over the floor."

[Assistant] "I feel like your guts kind of did spill on the… Ahem. Back to the other subject… Subaru, do you know this country’s…the Kingdom of Lugunica’s situation at the moment?"

[User] "Not the smallest, tiniest bit."

[Assistant] "Hearing you say it like that, I’m shocked you’ve lived this long."

[User] That doesn’t sound like praise to me, Subaru thought while looking fondly at Emilia. He wasn’t trying to arouse her protective instincts, but she was certainly giving him that mother-hen feeling.

[Assistant] "By ‘situation’…you mean the country’s in a bad spot?"

[User] Roswaal carefully chose his words. "A fairly difficult situation, yes, for Lugunica currently lacks a king."

[Assistant] Subaru’s breath caught as it sank in. He gave the man in performer makeup a guarded look as he sat straighter in his chair.

[User] "There is no need for suuuch concern. The gravity of the situation is alreeeady well known to the public, you see."

[Assistant] "It’s sad you’re hearing it first from us… Anyway, the nation’s highly unstable right now."

[User] I see, thought Subaru as that sank in. A kingdom without a king was in a very precarious situation. The sudden death of a king, from natural causes or otherwise, could shake a country to its core.

[Assistant] "But isn’t that usually dealt with by having a child of the king inherit and take over?"

[User] "Usually, that iiis the case. Howeeever, that went awry due to an incident half a year ago when a great plague struck inside the palace walls." As Roswaal told it, they announced that the epidemic only affected those of a particular bloodline. And so, the king and his descendants dwelling in the castle perished.

[Assistant] "Can’t blame them for getting sick and dying. But what’s gonna happen to this country, then? If there’s no royal bloodline, what, start a democracy and elect a prime minister?"

[User] "I do not cooomprehend the latter part of your statement, but presently, a Council of Elders manages the affairs of the country, formed from great families decorating the kingdom’s history. The country will continue to operate. However…" After pausing a moment, Roswaal grew tenser. "...a kingdom must have a king."

[Assistant] "I suppose so." Even if just for show, you couldn’t have an organization without someone at its head, let alone a kingdom.

[User] "I see,” reflected Subaru. “I’ve got the gist of it. In other words, the country has no king and is in a jumble while it’s trying to pick a new one. Your relations with foreign countries are deteriorating and you’re in international isolation. So a mysterious foreigner like me appearing is…super suspicious?!"

[Assistant] "Fuuurthermore, by making contact with Lady Emilia, you have become associated with the House of Mathers, you see… Though the evidence is circumstantial, that is all some would need to…" Roswaal lowered his eyes and traced a line across his throat with his thumb.


[User] Though Roswaal looked like he was joking, Subaru suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He had a bad feeling about something. He’d picked up on it earlier, but it loomed larger and larger with each passing moment. "Why is…the lord of the manor calling Emilia-tan lady?"

[Assistant] The golden rule of any household was that everyone paid respect to the person of the highest rank. When Roswaal laughed, Subaru felt like the bud of anxiety in his chest had begun to bloom. "Is it not naaatural to address someone of higher rank than I with proper reeespect?"

[User] Subaru froze with his mouth open. He looked at Emilia so robotically that you could hear the gears turn in his neck.

[Assistant] The girl, a grimace on her face, sighed with resignation. "I don’t want you to think I was pulling the wool over your eyes, all right?"

[User] "—Err, in other words, Emilia-tan, you’re…?" Subaru stubbornly stuck to the nickname as she seemed to drive in the final nail.

[Assistant] "Currently, my title is royal candidate, one of those seeking to become the forty-second ruler of the Kingdom of Lugunica…with the backing of Roswaal’s House, that is." Her words made Subaru feel like he’d insulted Heaven itself.

[User] 3 —So the pretty girl he’d stumbled upon in the other world was a queen. That word alone firmly established that this was a true-blue fantasy world. Technically, she was a candidate to be queen. When he remembered his time in contact with her now… "Man, three lives aren’t enough to pay for this, are they…?"

[Assistant] "Sorry to surprise you this much. I really hadn’t meant to keep quiet about it, but, well…"

[User] "Hey, I’m not upset. You truly are as kind as an angel, Emilia-tan."

[Assistant] "Eh? !" Subaru’s overly direct words made Emilia’s face look shocked, then scarlet.

[User] "Well, you know, you’re the reason everything’s happened since I’ve been here, Emilia. You’re seriously E M T (Emilia-tan’s a Major Treasure), that’s my honest opinion!"

[Assistant] "...Sigh. Now I think I understand how I got involved with you. You’ll brush off anything from anyone. Let’s just get to the point, shall we?" Traces of redness still on her face, Emilia clapped her hands to reset the scene. Though still seated, the earlier sense of distance seemed to return; Subaru was forced to go along.

[User] "I feel like I am interruuupting, but regardless, let us indeed get to the poooint, shall we? Is that fiiine with you, Subaru?"

[Assistant] "Based on my head not flying off my shoulders, I’m guessing it’s nothing all that bad."

[User] Roswaal whistled at Subaru’s words. Emilia looked equally taken off guard, for both surely saw Subaru’s words and actions as a sign that he had a firm understanding of their intentions. Of course, both were reading far too much into it, but that flew way over Subaru’s head.

[Assistant] "Well, that’s what I guessed about the ‘point’ based on your telling me Emilia-tan’s a royal candidate and why that’s important, right?" Emilia made a belated remark.


[User] "…Subaru, are you actually smart, or are you simply wrong in the head?"

[Assistant] "Those are two extreme choices, you know? !" Subaru agonized as Emilia stuck out her tongue at him a little.

[User] She was cute, so all was forgiven.

[Assistant] Notwithstanding Subaru’s internal simplicity, Roswaal followed up after Emilia’s “apology.” "Your guess is quite on target. This matter is deeply related to what shall become of you. Lady Emilia?"

[User] "Mm, I understand." Emilia, nodding when called, pulled out something and set it on the table. Her white fingertips pushed it forward.

[Assistant] Subaru raised his brows when he saw it. "—That’s that badge from…?"

[User] Glittering atop a white cloth, it was a badge with a dragon motif, a jewel embedded in the center of its maw. It was also the key item stolen by the light-fingered Felt, which Subaru had returned to Emilia, its proper owner, coming back from three deaths to do it. The deep, serene twinkle of the jewel struck Subaru’s eyes, filling him with newfound awe.

[Assistant] "The dragon is the symbol of Lugunica, you see, enough that it is known by the rather graaand name, the Dragonfriend Kingdom of Lugunica. Castle walls and weapons are often adorned with this symbol, but this badge is particularly important." When Roswaal took a pregnant pause, Subaru looked at him to urge him to continue. Roswaal shifted his gaze to Emilia to suggest she proceed.

[User] Emilia closed her eyes as her lips trembled. "It is one’s qualification as a royal candidate—a test to determine if the person is worthy of sitting on the throne of the Kingdom of Lugunica." Her statement, said in a strained voice, made Subaru’s eyes go wide.

[Assistant] The badge sitting on the table, a dragon with wings outstretched on the glittering jewel, supported the proof of her claim.

[User] "H-hold on here… You lost the badge that proves you’re a royal candidate? !"

[Assistant] "That’s putting it rather crudely. A light-fingered girl stole it!"

[User] "Same difference—! !" With that great shout, Subaru smacked his palms against the dining table as he rose to his feet. The impact threatened to make utensils fall to the floor, but Rem’s quick follow-up prevented that. Subaru paid that no heed as he spoke. "Wait, seriously, what’d happen if you didn’t have it?! That’s, like, the type of item that’s really, really bad to throw away, right?! They can’t issue another one? !"

[Assistant] "Weeell, if a candidate loses it, it won’t end with just talk and excuses, yeees?" With Subaru all flustered, Roswaal adjusted the lapel of his unnecessarily large outfit as he spoke. "A king carries the kingdom on his shoulders. It is thought that a person who cannot protect a single small badge cannot be entrusted with a responsibility as grave as an entire land."

[User] "Well, that figures. If anyone knew, it’d be a huge scandal… Which means? !"

[Assistant] The strife in the royal capital over the stolen badge and the warm reception now—it could mean only one thing.


[User] "It’s really bad if the public finds out you lost the badge. That’s why Emilia-tan was looking for it all by herself."

[Assistant] “…Yes, that’s right.”

[User] "Felt was the one who stole it, but Elsa was the client, and she said someone else put her up to it…meaning someone’s trying to stop Emilia-tan from becoming queen?"

[Assistant] "That wooould appear to be the case. There is no simpler way to disqualify someone than to steal the baaadge.”

[User] Inside Subaru, everything that had taken place the day before started to come together.

[Assistant] “Man, looking back on it, I did a super good job! Man, I need a bigger reward, huh!" Subaru was full of himself now that he suddenly knew the importance of his own actions. He looked down at Emilia haughtily, wagging his finger teasingly. He was waiting for the punch line.

[User] “Yeah, you’re right. You’ve been a huge help to me, Subaru. So much that merely saving your life isn’t enough. That’s how much this means to me.” The way she lifted her hand to her breast, giving Subaru a serious look, put him at a loss for words.

[Assistant] The stiffness of his cheeks didn’t match the tense, serious aura all around him. —Oh man, I seriously suck at reading the mood. Subaru’s inability to read the tension in the air clashed with the serious look on Emilia’s face. Finally, amid his great embarrassment…

[User] “…What are you doing?”

[Assistant] “Er, my hand just kind of reached out.” With Emilia staring at him, Subaru had gently brushed his fingertips into her hair, not so much stroking her head as simply passing his fingers through the hair and enjoying the feeling.

[User] “I’m an easygoing guy. I was thinking this would be reward enough for me.”

[Assistant] “…You stroked Puck’s fur, too. Subaru, do you have some kind of hair fetish?”

[User] Subaru let out a yell at the harsh assessment. "Hey, wait, fur and hair aren’t the same thing at all! Your silver hair’s really pretty!”

[Assistant] Emilia’s silver hair truly felt smooth as silk; its soft charm bewitched Subaru in an entirely different way from Puck’s fur. But for some reason, Subaru’s words made Emilia lower her eyes with a pained look. Subaru tilted his head, not knowing the reason for Emilia’s action. His head was still like that when he felt a gaze from behind.

[User] “Ah, perrrhaps we are in the way? We could leave you two to yourselves?”

[Assistant] “Your concern’s the dictionary definition of none of your business. And it’s still my turn to ask questions." Subaru continued enjoying the feel of Emilia’s hair as he used his free hand to point at Roswaal.


[User] "I understand Emilia-tan being a candidate for becoming queen, but what about this business of you backing her?"

[Assistant] "You really aaare rather observant. You’ve picked up the preeevious matters quite well, though this is aaall second nature to any human born and raised in the city."

[User] "I’m honored to have your praise, Count. Though simple anime and romance novels kind of prepared my mind for this fantasy stuff."

[Assistant] Like any reader, he’d been thrust into original scenarios with confusing, hard-to-remember world-building. Stuffing this level of background info into his head was no big accomplishment.

[User] "Well, it is not something I was trying to conceal. My title is the Kingdom of Lugunica’s…I suppose technically I am lord of the outer regions, but my role sounds better expressed as…court magician, perhaps?"

[Assistant] "Court magician…? So you handle magic use at the castle?"

[User] Emilia picked up where Subaru’s words left off. "Yes. That’s the magician of the highest rank… He’s the foremost magic user in the entire kingdom." She looked a little dissatisfied nonetheless.

[Assistant] Roswaal seemed nothing but pleased with Emilia’s reply, smiling as he brought some tea to his lips. "So continuing the earlier topic, I stand in support of Lady Emilia’s royal candidacy. I am the shield behind her, her patron, sooo to speak."

[User] "Patron, huh." A representative for those backing her. So that was the position of the man before his eyes. Subaru looked anew at the tall man in clown makeup before gently trading a glance with Emilia.

[Assistant] "I don’t mean to put this the wrong way but…Emilia-tan, you sure about this guy?"

[User] "It can’t be helped. He’s the only one in the kingdom I can ask for support. In the first place, only a meddlesome eccentric like Roswaal would help someone like me, so…"

[Assistant] "Ah, I see. Process of elimination."

[User] "Quiiite a conversation you two are having right in front of your patron, if I maaay say so…" Perhaps feeling somewhat slandered, Roswaal gave off an adult chuckle rather than anger. Maybe he had really thick skin—that or he simply took pleasure in ignoring people.

[Assistant] "So, back to the point, Rozchi. I get that you’re Emilia-tan’s sponsor. It’s cute how she goes from one extreme to another to hide how she’s a bit of an airhead, but acting on her own like she did yesterday in the capital, that’s kinda rare, huh?"

[User] "I wooould call it unprecedented. Thooough Ram should have been with her…" Roswaal made a strained smile as he shifted the topic to Ram.

[Assistant] When Subaru looked at her, he saw she had the same hairstyle and face as Rem, standing beside her. At least you could nicely tell them apart by their hair color.

[User] "Man, that totally smug ‘I got away with it, just as I hoped’ look gets on my nerves." Whether she intended to reflect on her error or not, he had her over a barrel.

[Assistant] However, Emilia raised a hand in her defense with an awkward look on her face.


[User] "Um, it’s not Ram’s fault. Yesterday I split up from Ram because I…lost out to my curiosity and wandered all around."

[Assistant] "What’s that doe-eyed little-girl excuse?! Emilia-tan being a big airhead doesn’t change the fact that she didn’t fulfill her lord’s commands. Is that all right…?"

[User] Subaru pointed a finger from each hand at Emilia before he shifted them over to Roswaal. "You dooo have a point, thoooough I share responsibility for Ram’s lack of discretion. But what are you trying to say, I wooonder?"

[Assistant] "Simple. You’re the ones who dropped the ball by taking your eyes off someone important like Emilia-tan. That’s where I came into the picture. I’m saying, if you had it all covered to begin with, none of this would’ve happened." Subaru’s little speech changed the looks on everyone’s faces.

[User] "I seeee. Certainly Lady Emilia’s worth exceeds my considerable personal fortune. It is appropriate that you should seek a reward only from me, as her sponsor, iiis it nooot?"

[Assistant] "Yep. And you’re not gonna say no, are you, Rozchi? I mean, I saved Emilia-tan’s life and stopped her from dropping out of the royal selection. I’m totally her savior!" Subaru rose from his seat and posed with a finger pointed up to the sky.

[User] "I muuust admit that it is the truth. Now, then, would you care to elaborate?" Roswaal, too, rose from his seat, looking down at Subaru from his superior height.

[Assistant] Emilia looked worried as she watched Subaru and Roswaal stare each other down.

[User] "Whaaat is it that you seek from me? I cannot refuse your request, if only to prevent this matter from becoming public knowledge. Nooow then, what is your desire?"

[Assistant] "Heh-heh-heh, that’s a noble for you; you really get it. Whatever reward I want! And you can’t say no, Rozchi! A man doesn’t take back his word!"

[User] "That is quiiite a saying! I see, a man should make no excuses. No reneging on his word."

[Assistant] Subaru’s petty villain behavior made him hear his popularity meter drop in his mind, but the entire effort was devoted to dragging that one statement out of him. Roswaal’s consent made Subaru’s inner self smile. "I want one thing and one thing only. I want you to hire me."

[User] "I-it’s not for me to say, but that’s kind of…" Her eyes were so wide that even the sublime beauty she was born with lost half its power.


[User] "You’re cute when you’re surprised, but are you that against the idea?"

[Assistant] "It’s not that; you want so little!" It was like Emilia was angry for him as she slapped the table and closed the distance with Subaru. "It’s not just the thing with Puck, okay? It’s…like when you asked me my name back in the royal capital." Emilia listed the rewards Subaru had claimed to the best of her knowledge. Emilia knew what he’d done to get those rewards; she shook her head like she really didn’t understand. "You don’t…understand how grateful I feel. I can’t…repay you at all for saving my life and more, if you ask for so little!" Emilia’s inflection tapered off as she pressed a palm to Subaru’s chest and lowered her head.

[User] Hearing Emilia’s lament, Subaru painfully understood his own thoughtlessness. Emilia had always felt indebted to him. She wanted to pay him back in some suitable way. But the same went for Subaru. Subaru had always been indebted to Emilia. And twice he had become indebted to her in a way he could never repay. He could not repay kindness that had “never happened.”

[Assistant] Before him, Emilia raised up her wavering violet eyes. Seeing the serious look with her plea.

[User] Subaru abandoned all thought of kidding around or papering it over. Subaru decided to convey to Emilia how he really felt with all the seriousness he could muster. "You don’t understand, Emilia-tan. At the time, that was what I truly wanted from the bottom of my heart, you see?"

[Assistant] "—Huh?"

[User] "At the time, I wanted to know your name. I think being in a new, uncertain land with no idea what would come the next day, if I’d stopped to think about it, there were lots of things I could’ve considered— But I’m a man who can’t lie to himself." It was a reward for which he’d died three times. For nothing more than to see the smiling face of the silver-haired girl before his eyes and to learn her name. —At that moment, there was no greater reward he could wish for. "My request to Rozchi’s like that, too. Right now, I’m completely, totally broke. Sure, I could ask for a pile of gold, but why not set myself up so I can make a living long-term?"

[Assistant] "…If you wanted that, you could ask to just live here for free, not as a manservant, you know?"

[User] "Oh, I could’ve done that?! Hey, Mr. Roswaal, could you let me live as a fr—" Looking at Roswaal as Subaru tried to amend his wish

[Assistant] The man crossed his hands above his head in an X mark. "I shall honor the first request. A man does not take back his word, dooooes he?"

[User] "Whoa! You’re right! A man doesn’t do that, huh? !" Subaru tearfully found his request denied because someone had to open his big mouth earlier.


[User] “And I thought for a moment there you seemed actually serious… I must have just imagined it.”

[Assistant] “And then Emilia-tan lowers my rating! That’s kicking me while I’m down!” Subaru realized he’d passed up the chance to establish the perfect easy life in a fantasy-world environment. He didn’t need to lower the beautiful girl’s opinion of him on top of that.

[User] “Anyway…that’s how it is, so…I mean, Ramchi and Remrin must be straining to take care of this place all by themselves, so please let me work under them.”

[Assistant] “It iiis true that is an actual concern… Though I beeelieve it is as Lady Emilia said, it is indeeeed asking rather little?” With Roswaal showing a strained smile for once, Subaru put up his left and right index fingers and wiggled them.

[User] “I’m a super greedy guy, actually. I mean, living under the same roof as a super cute, beautiful girl who’s totally my type, what guy wouldn’t want that? Close in body is close to the heart, and opportunities abound!”

[Assistant] “…I seeee, certainly it is as you say. It is rare one gets to work by the side of girls one is interested in, iiis it not? Quiiite pleasant for you.”

[User] “Well, besides.” Subaru stopped wiggling his fingers and used them to scratch his unkempt hair.

[Assistant] “Besides, you’re not gonna let a guy you know nothing about like me just pack up and leave. And to me, the pros and cons say I should stay with Emilia-tan.” Subaru knew a few too many inconvenient things. He was declaring his belief that nothing good would happen to him if he left the manor without any means of protecting himself.

[User] “Then it shall be as you ask—I hope we geeet along very nicely.” Roswaal’s instant reply came with one eye closed, looking at Subaru with his yellow eye alone. Subaru couldn’t read what he was thinking behind that suspicious twinkle. Incidentally, Subaru was very embarrassed inside from having made such a strong public confession.

[Assistant] Subaru timidly looked at Emilia’s expression.

[User] “Goodness, you really are a hopeless child… Did something happen?” Her perfectly calm reply left Subaru at a loss for words. Maybe he was overthinking it? This was just the result of his lack of experience with being around a beautiful girl.

[Assistant] “Man, dealing with a girl I like this much is gettin’ me all worked up…”

[User] “Which one’s more your type, I wonder…Ram or Rem?” Emilia put a finger to her lips in a huff, taking what he’d said earlier completely the wrong way.


[User] Seeing this, the first to stand was the girl with curly hair. “I see the discussion is settled, so may I take my leave with Puckie, I wonder?” Beatrice was quick to finish her own meal so that she could leave as soon as possible. Grimacing even then, she seemed about to leave without bothering to put her plates in order when Subaru wagged a finger at her.

[Assistant] “Wait, there’s no need to be in that much of a hu— Hey, at least introduce yourself. I don’t know what your place is here at all. You Rozchi’s little sister?”

[User] “Treating me as that thing’s relative? You are quite accomplished at angering me.” Beatrice let out a sigh full of disgust as Roswaal, thoroughly bad-mouthed, smiled in amusement.

[Assistant] Subaru slumped his shoulders as Beatrice shot him a nasty glare when Puck spoke up.

[User] “Betty’s the librarian of the archive of forbidden books here in Roswaal’s manor!”

[Assistant] “Puckie? !”

[User] Puck was busy nibbling on the heel of a loaf of bread glazed with sugar for a luxurious dessert. “Sweet, tasty, meow…”

[Assistant] “Hate to bug you when you’re on a sugar high, but could you tell me more?” With Puck lost in a sweet daze, Subaru touched Puck’s heavily sprinkled ear, urging him on. Subaru was toying with it quite a bit when Puck raised his face from the plate.

[User] “It’s because Roswaal’s a pretty accomplished magician, plus he comes from a pretty old family. There’re lots of books here that aren’t for other people to see. So, he made a pact with Betty for her to protect them.”

[Assistant] “Yes, that’s true. How is Puckie always so right, I wonder?” Beatrice seemed to agree without thinking, speaking as her hand sprang out to Puck’s other ear. A lovely look came over her as her fingers felt the fur of his ears. It was the first time Subaru had seen Beatrice with an expression that suited her loveliness. Subaru’s breath caught. The odd girl out, Emilia tilted her head a bit as she watched.

[User] “You two look like you’re really getting along nicely while playing with the cute kitty there.”

[Assistant] “Getting along nicely with this person is a little…!”

[User] “How could I ever get along with this person, I wonder? !”

[Assistant] Subaru and Beatrice both shot down Emilia’s idea. For his part, Subaru was hiding a blush; for her part, Beatrice looked quite serious.

[User] “Hee-hee. I’m so scary, making two people at odds with each other into my slaves… Meow meow meow!” Puck was busy being the literal center of attention when Emilia’s outstretched fingers grasped him. Puck was in Emilia’s fingers, unable to move, as she sighed.

[Assistant] Emilia sighs.


[User] “All that said, being the guardian of an archive of forbidden books… The sound of it really tickles a guy’s mind.” Beatrice was giving Subaru a sullen look as he tickled Puck, but Subaru’s suggestion softened her expression. She toyed with her own long rolls as she gave what was, for Beatrice, a frank reply. “Perhaps you did not hear Puckie’s explanation? It is the room you entered earlier.”

[Assistant] “Oh, the one with all the books!” Remembering the great volume of books chewing up all the floor space, Subaru could accept it being that kind of archive. On the other hand, the idea that all those volumes were somehow forbidden made him feel like it was a crime on a completely different scale. “Don’t tell me this loli’s your unwitting partner in crime…? !”

[User] “That word annoys me every time I hear it. And to answer your question, the very thought that I am an innocent victim annoys me enough, couldn’t I just die, I wonder?”

[Assistant] “Don’t be so prickly, shrimp. It takes calcium and a calm heart to get taller. If you were about as tall as Emilia-tan and me, we’d have quite a little love comedy going on here…” He left Beatrice to stew indignantly at his comment as he gave Emilia an amorous glance.

[User] But Emilia let that comment slide and pressed a different issue with Beatrice. “Wait a minute. Beatrice…don’t tell me you let him into the archive?”

[Assistant] “…I shouldn’t have to tell you. Why would I ever need to let in a stranger such as him on purpose, I wonder? No, he solved the riddle of the Passage all on his very own.” A vein bulged on Beatrice’s forehead as she roughly stood up and pushed open the dining hall door.

[User] Subaru, faced with the incomprehensible scene before him, asked like a complete idiot, “Ah? The hallway just…?” Before his eyes, the open door that should have led to the manor’s hall beyond had opened to a huge room lined with bookshelves. He almost swooned when he remembered that he’d seen it once before.

[Assistant] “This is the Passage. You are trembling as its sublime beauty burns itself into your eyes, perhaps?—Come on, Puckie.” Beatrice stepped into the archive of forbidden books, looking triumphantly at Subaru as she stretched out her hand. Puck leapt from Emilia to land upon her outstretched palm. Upon this, Beatrice closed the door behind both her and the cat.


[User] Ram didn’t say a word as she opened the shut door.

[Assistant] Subaru’s eyes widened in total surprise. “Whoa, that’s incredible.” Beyond the door, closed so roughly a moment before, Subaru walked with his own feet into the hallway beyond. The scene before him a moment before was like a mirage. “I see. In other words, magic makes it so any door here can connect to any room. Pretty neat for recluses who need to find the john in a pinch.”

[User] Emilia seemed a bit thrown off.


[User] “You actually look less surprised than I expected. What’s a recluse?”

[Assistant] “A guardian who sacrifices himself holding down the fort at home, waiting for weary family members to return.”

[User] “Er…that sounds noble. Are you a recluse, Subaru?” Emilia was full of concern when a puff of smoke interrupted her and Subaru, tickling his nose.

[Assistant] “Achoo!”

[User] “Yes, yes, shall we continue the introductions? Ram, Rem.”

[Assistant] “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Rem, employed as chief maid by this household.”

[User] “Nice to meet you. I am Ram, working as an ordinary maid in Master Roswaal’s mansion.”

[Assistant] Subaru crossed his arms. “Wow, you sisters suddenly got nice and formal. Well, not that I’m one to talk, but…”

[User] “But Dear Guest…or rather, Subaru, you are our coworker now?”

[Assistant] “But Dear Guest…or rather, Barusu, you work under us here now?”

[User] “Hey, Big Sis. You’re throwing my name back in my face here.” That was the one thing you absolutely did not do at your first formal introduction. Of course, there was no way for Ram or Rem to know of that rule of Japanese society. Subaru endured the mockery as he turned toward Roswaal.

[Assistant] “So that’s my standing, huh? Not so much a butler as an apprentice maid?”

[User] “In this situation, your doing odd jobs at their discretion seeems best. Dissatisfied…?”

[Assistant] “If I was gonna be dissatisfied I’d have only myself to blame. Well, had to be done, so no regrets. Take good care of me, my seniors. I’m gonna work super hard and break a leg!”

[User] “Break a leg.”

[Assistant] “So it would seem.”

[User] With a yeah! Subaru raised his hands and they high-fived each other.

[Assistant] “Harmonious relations are a beautiful thing. As your employer, I think it iiis just fine, so long as there are nooo ill feelings, yeees?”

[User] “For some reason, we kinda get along. A lot better than that loli! Way better than with her!”

[Assistant] “You really don’t want to be seen as Beatrice’s friend, do you…” Emilia’s pitying murmur signaled the end of the gathering.


[User] “Well then, shall we be off, Barusu?” Ram spoke, commanded by Roswaal to be Subaru’s personal tutor. Her little sister, Rem, was off to the side meticulously cleaning up the dining hall; Ram made no effort to help as she reached for the dining hall door.

[Assistant] “So you intend to call me that full-time, huh?”

[User] “Yes, I do, Barusu. Master Roswaal commands it, so I shall show you around the mansion. Can you at least make sure not to wander off?”

[Assistant] “I’m not Emilia-tan, so I won’t let curiosity get the best of me.”

[User] Emilia’s cheeks puffed up at being teased about getting lost in the capital. "Su-ba-ru!" Emilia was about to split off to continue studying various ceremonial roles, mandatory for a royal candidate. Subaru was making a point of burning Emilia’s beauty into his eyes before she left.


[User] “Well, with minor regrets, let’s be off. Lead the way.”

[Assistant] “Yes, let us, Barusu. Until later, Lady Emilia.” Ram held the hem of her skirt, bowing courteously as she left.

[User] Subaru started to follow behind her.

[Assistant] “Subaru. I will, too, but…try hard, okay?”

[User] “Wow, I’m super happy to hear that. I’m really pumped for this!” Mimicking Ram, Subaru held the collar of his track jacket as he bowed.

[Assistant] Emilia shot him a strange look as he did so before leaving the room.

[User] Ram had a grimace on her face, waiting as he walked into the hallway. “That’s quite a sour face, Big Sis. I was just playing around a little. I’m not so ignorant of maid culture to the point that I think a maid is the same as a manservant. Oh yeah, what about clothes?” He didn’t think it was very likely he’d be starting life as a servant in his tracksuit.

[Assistant] Prompted by Subaru, Ram put a hand to her mouth and nodded. “Certainly, clothing is very important. Let’s see, clothing in your size… Yes, we should have some.”

[User] “Awesome. Okay, let’s get me changed, then. I think formal actually suits me pretty well. Let’s make me a refined, high-quality man!” Subaru smiled with a thumbs-up and a twinkle of his eyes as Ram led him upstairs to take his measurements.

[Assistant] “The servant quarters are on the second floor, so you’ll change there. Your clothing size should be similar to Frederica’s, who quit several months ago.”

[User] “Huh, interesting timing to quit. This Frederica…is a woman?”

[Assistant] “Her dimensions should be right about the same as yours.”

[User] “But she’s not the same gender, right?”

[Assistant] Ram stopped walking and gave Subaru a cold look. She looked tired as she put her hand to her forehead. “Clothing that is formal, refined, and high quality…which of these do you have a problem with?”

[User] “How about all the above?! Emilia-tan looked like she was gonna pay me and everything, so why do I have to borrow a maid outfit?! What if people think I’m some kind of weirdo?! I don’t want that!” A trip to a fantasy world without any special talents, save cross-dressing. Subaru would almost have rather died. But, since Subaru had a frightening ability, death was no consolation. Guided by Ram, he continued to the west side of the manor. Roswaal Manor had a main wing in the center, with a corridor connecting it to the east and west wings. The dining hall and Roswaal’s private study were in the main wing, whereas the empty servants’ quarters were on the western side.

[Assistant] “An empty room on the second… Yes, any room that has no plate above it is fine. Pick whichever you wish for your private quarters and I shall drop off your change of clothes there.”

[User] “Okay, roger that. Hmm, which one…” Having been granted private quarters in the mansion, Subaru surveyed the candidates from the end of the corridor onward.


[User] “All righty, I’ll pick this room over h—” He opened the door with no special consideration. At that moment, he spied what looked like a loli playing with a kitty cat in a library.

[Assistant] “Fuwaah, you’re so wonderful, Puckie. Your fur is the best fur ever…” The girl with the long curls noticed Subaru and slowly shifted her gaze toward him.

[User] Subaru looked back at Ram, standing in the corridor, as she shook her head. Subaru gave her a big thumbs-up. "Don’t worry, I won’t say a thing. That feeling turns all of us into blithering idiots…”

[Assistant] “Could you cut short the magnificently stupid statement and close the door already, I wonder? !”

[User] “Gyaha!” Some invisible power, likely something magical, threw Subaru back, and he flew hard into the corridor wall. The impact to the back of his head made Subaru’s eyes spin as he saw out of the corner of his eye the door slam shut with a ferocious sound. Shaking his head, Subaru retraced his steps to complain about the violence of a moment before. But when he opened the door, an empty room within greeted him. The Passage had done its magic.

[Assistant] “Once Lady Beatrice conceals her aura, one cannot know which door it is. She will not emerge unless you go opening every door in the entire mansion.” Ram spoke like he should bluntly accept defeat. From behind, she patted his shoulder.

[User] That feeling made Subaru admit he had lost this— “Oh man, she annoys me. She acted like I did something wrong there!” Or not. Brushing off Ram’s hand, Subaru turned and sprinted down the corridor full force. In front of wide-eyed Ram, he ran straight to the door at the other edge of the hallway. “Here! !”

[Assistant] “—Hyah? !” The girl yelped as the gray cat made a sound of admiration.

[User] "Impressive, Subaru." This time, seeing Beatrice’s face rocked at his having broken the Passage a second time, he instantly made a roll into the archives so that she couldn’t blow him out again.

[Assistant] Beatrice’s eyebrows rose with anger at something one simply did not do in any library, never mind these archives. “You are kicking up dust!”

[User] “Well, you should’ve dusted it better, then!! And you don’t bring cats into the library anyway! You get claw marks all over the covers!”

[Assistant] “It’s fine, Lia trims my claws really short!” The odd man out, Puck’s casual murmur failed to reach Subaru and Beatrice as they argued. They looked ready to shout loud enough that the echoes would carry through the entire mansion.

[User] Ram, belatedly entering through the door leading to the archive of forbidden books, looked at the arguing parties and said in a small voice, “If not friends, you certainly are birds of a feather.”

[Assistant] Roswaal Manor seemed to shake from their combined shouts. “—Absolutely not!


[User] “Hey, Ramchi, I put on the outfit, but…”

[Assistant] Ram, waiting outside the dressing room until he’d finished, entered when called. “Though I’d like to say something about how I’ve been addressed, is there something wrong with…?” Ram, complaining as she made her way in, stopped mid-sentence as she got a good look at Subaru, putting her hand to her forehead.

[User] “Indeed there is. Your shoulders, and also, your legs are too short.”

[Assistant] “You mean my height?! The shirt’s fine, but the jacket’s real tight on the shoulders. I’m decently athletic, not that it gets me anywhere, but this super tight top makes me look like a macho man here.”

[User] “I can roll up the sleeves, but the top’s no good like this. I suppose I can handle shortening sleeves on my own, but…”

[Assistant] “So you have unexpected talent, Barusu… We cannot have you working in such a sorry outfit. It will bring the manor’s, and Master Roswaal’s, standards into question.”

[User] “He dresses like that and he worries about standards?”

[Assistant] Ram had a neutral expression, the tilt of her head made plain her displeasure, so he shut up.

[User] “We can do nothing for what is inside, but we can at least make you look presentable. At any rate, let’s leave the shortening of the legs for later and just fix the top.”

[Assistant] “Easier said than done, though? I don’t have any experience with that, either.”

[User] Maybe I could manage anyway, voiced Subaru as he assessed the limits of his sewing skills

[Assistant] “No need for concern. Rem, come over here.”

[User] “Come over here…? She’s not gonna pop right in just ’cause you…”

[Assistant] “You called, Sister?”

[User] “Waaaaah!” As soon as she was casually called, Rem appeared right beside them, giving Subaru quite a fright.

[Assistant] “What are you so surprised for?” The twins tilted their heads in unison as they watched Subaru’s shocked, frozen reaction.

[User] “What are you so scared for?”

[Assistant] “I’m not s-scared! Just a little surprised! That Twin Power thing’s really something!”

[User] Seeing Subaru so shaken, Ram made a hmph sound.


[User] "Of course it is no such thing. I spotted her happening to walk by and called out to her. Perfect timing."

[Assistant] "That last part sounds like it’s rubbing it in somehow?" Ram cut in. "So what is it you need? I do not have much time to waste on Subaru."

[User] "That uncaring attitude really hurts, geez! I’m the new guy! Be gentle!"

[Assistant] Rem was indispensable for maintaining the manor, delaying her for any real length of time was surely a bad thing, yet Ram looked at Rem, pointing to Subaru as she stated. "Rem, surely you have noted Barusu’s pathetic appearance?"

[User] "His shoulders rotate oddly and his legs are too short. Also, his face is terrifying. And?"

[Assistant] "You just had to poke at two things I can’t do anything about!! It’s not like clothes; you can’t change how your face looks no matter how hard you try!" The sisters ignored Subaru’s complaints as they continued to converse.

[User] Subaru, the odd man out despite being the subject, was left with nothing better to do than to roll up his sleeves.

[Assistant] "Barusu, hand Rem your jacket. You will have to do without it until tomorrow morning."

[User] "That’s a big help, but…sure about this? You’ve got a mountain of work, right?"

[Assistant] "Of course I am quite busy. However, handing it over saves time and trouble later."

[User] "Ahh, right. Please and thank you." Swayed by the sound argument, Subaru stripped off his jacket and handed it to Rem.

[Assistant] Upon taking the jacket, Rem pointed to the dressing room and motioned with her chin for him to get in. "I need to take your measurements. You can’t take them yourself, can you?"

[User] "...I feel sorry for making you go through all this trouble."

[Assistant] "I do not mind. Someday, you shall repay me for this. With interest."

[User] "That doesn’t sound quite right, but you seem dead serious. So scary!" Subaru and Rem left the haughtier-than-thou Ram in the corridor and went into the dressing room. The dressing room held not only servant uniforms but various changes of clothes for Roswaal as well. Everything felt like it came straight from a circus dressing room. When his gaze left the area with lord’s attire of rather poor taste, several more flowery outfits drew him in. One of them was an outfit he’d seen at the royal capital, so these were no doubt outfits for Emilia. "I’d love to have her model all of those, twirling around and showing them off…"

[Assistant] "What are you mumbling about? Get over here, please." Summoned by the especially sharp voice, Subaru obeyed without further kidding around. The middle of the dressing room had no booth for trying on clothes, but it did have a divider for that purpose, and there awaited Rem with a slender measuring tape. The elaborate imprint on the tape marked it as a high-quality item. "Stand straight over there."


[User] "Stretch out your arms so I can measure your arms and shoulder height."

[Assistant] "Okay, roger that. Thanks.” Turning away from Rem, Subaru reached out both arms as she had instructed.

[User] Subaru stretched his short frame as much as he could while Rem wrapped the tape around his arms and back. Subaru’s shoulders quivered with a sensitive sound when he suddenly became aware of her soft touch and breathing.

[Assistant] “Please do not make strange noises, Subaru. It is unpleasant.”

[User] “I couldn’t help that! This is tough on a guy on more than one level!” Faced with Rem’s cold, heartless words, Subaru searched his mind for any change of subject. “By the way, there’s Rozchi’s and Emilia-tan’s clothes in here, but I don’t see any dresses for you, Ram, or the loli. They in another room?”

[Assistant] “Lady Beatrice changes her clothes in her private quarters. Sister and I do not wear clothes other than these, so we do not require different outfits. We change in our own quarters.”

[User] Subaru raised his eyebrows at Rem’s matter-of-fact reply. Then Rem, having just finished measuring him, wrote something on a nearby memo. Subaru crossed his arms and looked at her. “You don’t have any other kinds of outfits, so what, it’s all maid outfits? What about when you go out and days off?”

[Assistant] “It is no hindrance to our work here at the manor or when accompanying Master Roswaal in public. I think it is a quite logical way to present our status without need of an explanation.”

[User] “Logical ain’t the point here… I think a beautiful girl has a duty to wear pretty clothes and bring joy to others.”

[Assistant] “Sister may be another matter, but no one would be pleased were I to dress up.”

[User] “Maybe I would?”

[Assistant] “Would pleasing you do me any good, Subaru?”

[User] “Maybe it’ll make me work harder at the servant’s life. That’s logical, isn’t it?”

[Assistant] Rem had the slightest look of surprise at Subaru’s comeback.

[User] Subaru, pleased at cracking her neutral expression, twisted the corners of his lips into a grin. “Even your hairstyles and outfits are the same! Your personalities are different so at least pick different clothes! …Or something like that. I mean, the maid outfits look good on you, and it does kinda work for twins like you girls.” In her current outfit, she was cute with room to spare, but their attire was identical down to the haircut. Precisely because they were twins, he wanted to see some individuality, the essence of human emotion. That was how Subaru felt, but…

[Assistant] “I do not know why you would go so far as to say that, Subaru.”

[User] “—ness.”

[Assistant] “Eh?”

[User] “None of your business. What is wrong with my being the same as Sister?” It was hard to believe, but Rem’s expression was more glacial toward the wide-eyed Subaru than before. Subaru unintentionally hemmed and hawed, the exchange of small talk until just earlier seemingly long forgotten.

[Assistant] “…Let us go back and not speak silly things.


[User] "I cannot leave Sister waiting any further, and there is a great deal you must learn, after all." Her demeanor permitting no dissent, Rem turned her back on Subaru and headed to the room’s entrance.

[Assistant] Subaru, more confused than before, walked behind her as he murmured. “That’s being a little too into your big sister…” He sighed, concerned about where his relations with the seemingly unflappable girl would go.