[User] The instant Subaru set eyes on Emilia, his mind clicked and switched to a different gear. He forgot all about the pain in his stomach, the ache in his chest, and the stifling feeling, turning everything toward Emilia. His cheeks bent into a smile. "Oh, Emilia-tan calling me by name. I’m happy, embarrassed—it’s so rare! Your word is my command! I will pass through fire and water for you, even loot sellers!" Subaru shoved his emotions to the back of his mind for Emilia with a lot more verve than was necessary.

[Assistant] He prided himself on quick comebacks, but Emilia had a different reaction to seeing it than he had expected. He expected an exasperated look and a sigh or something, but instead…

[User] "...Subaru…"

[Assistant] "Wait, now, if you’re the Emilia-tan I know, you should be… Hurk! Are you an imposter?! But could someone else really copy a beautiful girl wrapped in such an adorable package?!" His ridiculous humor invited amazement, but Emilia’s reaction to even this was muted. Defying all his expectations, Emilia looked at Subaru, her eyes filled with…pity. —Not good, his instincts warned him.

[User] "Eh? You’ve gone quiet. This isn’t some sort of prank you’re playing on a guy who gets carried away on tangents, right? You know, like me!" This is wrong, said a voice inside his brain, over and over. Emilia wasn’t shocked or angry; she was simply staring at Subaru with pained eyes. —I wonder if the comedian’s mask I’m wearing slipped somehow. The instant worry wormed its way in as Subaru remembered the kitty cat always hovering by Emilia’s side. That cat was also a spirit able to read the subconscious thoughts of others. It was only then that Subaru realized that the jig was up. The charming smile plastered onto his face vanished, replaced by a look like that of a child fearful of being scolded.

[Assistant] What a joke. She’d seen through him time and time again while he danced in an effort to hide it all. More than that, Emilia was the one he least wanted to know; his tiny bit of pride at pulling the wool over her eyes was destroyed. A silence fell between them. Subaru could no longer find words to say. Emilia looked like she was trying to find some herself, without success. —I’m disappointing Emilia. I didn’t want that to happen, above all else. But Subaru didn’t know what excuse he could form. He opened his mouth several times, stopping each time, unable to find the right words.

[User] Seeing words fail Subaru, Emilia abruptly murmured "all right" to herself quietly before continuing. "Subaru. Come with me."

[Assistant] "...Ah?"

[User] "Just come on." Emilia grabbed Subaru’s arm, dragging him along into the guest room right beside them.

[Assistant] A questioning look came over Subaru about going back to the room he’d just left.

[User] Emilia left Subaru hanging as she put her hands on her hips and looked around the room.


[User] When she pointed at the floor, her voice rang like a silver bell, as always. “All right, Subaru. Sit.”

[Assistant] He followed her finger downward. "If I’m going to be sitting, why not the bed or a chair? Why the floor specifica—”

[User] “Just sit already!”

[Assistant] “Yes, with pleasure!” Cowed by the strong tone she had never used, Subaru dove onto the floor without hesitation and sat properly on his knees.

[User] Emilia nodded, apparently satisfied, and stood right beside him. “…Okay.” She seemed to have said it for her own benefit. Emilia took a deep breath and sat right beside Subaru, kneeling just as he was.

[Assistant] Subaru’s heart thumped at Emilia sitting within touching distance, but his sideways glance at her pale face could not tell him what she was thinking. He belatedly realized that her cheeks were flushed; even her ears were red.

[User] “This is a special occasion, all right?”

[Assistant] “—Eh?” Something pressed against the back of Subaru’s head faster than he could properly voice his doubts. Already kneeling, his body offered no resistance as it bent forward—until a very soft sensation hit him.

[User] “The position’s a little awkward, and, mm…kind of prickly.” Something shifted around under his head as he heard Emilia’s fairly bashful-sounding voice from right overhead.

[Assistant] In surprise, he looked up; the sight before him made his eyes go wide. Right above him, Emilia’s face was so close that they were almost touching. His eyes reflected a beautiful face that was inverted. Subaru belatedly grasped, Oh, I’m upside down looking up at her. This distance, her upside-down position, the soft sensation under his head… —Subaru mentally searched for terms to describe it and found exactly one. “Lap…pillow?”

[User] “It’s embarrassing, so please don’t say it out loud. And you’re not allowed to look this way. Close your eyes.” She gave his forehead a light slap, using the palm of her hand to cover his eyes, obstructing his field of vision.

[Assistant] However, Subaru moved Emilia’s resisting hand aside and dragged the words out. “Emilia-tan, you’re the best when you’re embarrassed…but what is this? When did I do something to earn a reward like this?”

[User] “You don’t need to put up that front right now.” She smacked his forehead again. But this time Emilia left her hand on it, stroking Subaru’s hair with her fingers.

[Assistant] He squinted at the ticklish feeling. “You asked me to let you rest on my lap when you were tired, didn’t you, Subaru? So that’s what I’m doing. It won’t be like this all the time, but today’s special.”

[User] “Special? Come on, it’s not even the end of the second day here.


[User] "My body’s not weak enough to keel over from overwork that fast…”

[Assistant] “I can tell you’re beat-up just by looking at you. You won’t go into the details and tell me, will you? I don’t think this’ll make everything better, but…it’s the only thing I can do, so…” Her compassionate gaze made it hard to brush her off. Her fingers had parted his black hair; she began to gently stroke his forehead like he was a little boy.

[User] Subaru burst out laughing and tried to twist away from Emilia’s fingers. He had promised himself to stay strong in front of Emilia. To say this was all a misunderstanding. To say he wouldn’t do anything as unseemly and uncool as that. “Ha-ha… Emilia-tan, you, doing that…for…me…” Yet his voice was shrill. His throat caught, and the next words wouldn’t come out. Subaru couldn’t switch mental gears when he felt her soft fingertips stroking his forehead.

[Assistant] “You’re tired, aren’t you?”

[User] “I—I can still do…more. I’m totally…all right…”

[Assistant] “Have you been having trouble?”

[User] “You’re being so nice to me, I mean, I’m gonna blush. If you keep doing that, I’m…gonna… Ha-ha…” Subaru’s reply to her brief question sounded like complete lies. Even he could tell that his words sounded hollow and empty.

[Assistant] Then Emilia gently drew her face close to Subaru’s. “It’s been hard for you, hasn’t it?”

[Assistant] She sounded like she pitied him. She sounded like she sympathized with him. She sounded like she cared for him. That was all it took for Subaru’s walls to collapse. They crumbled, fell apart, and came crashing down all at once. All the powerful emotions he’d tried to keep bottled up hadn’t gone away in the slightest and came rushing out. “It was…hard. It was really, rough. I was really, scared. I was really sad, enough that I thought I was gonna die. It hurt so much…!”

[User] “Yeah.”

[Assistant] “I—I tried. I really tried. I did everything I could. I desperately tried to do everything right…! I did! Really, really. I’ve never tried to do anything that hard before!”

[User] “Yeah, I know.”

[Assistant] “It’s because I like it here… This place, it’s precious to me…! That’s why I was dying to have it back. I was afraid. I was so afraid to see that day again…and I hated it. I hated myself for that!” He couldn’t control his emotions. The initial explosion had blown the dam wide open, a deluge of tears marring the smiling mask over his cowardly face. The tears wouldn’t stop. His nose was runny. His mouth was awash in some sort of weird liquid as Subaru’s sobbing became harder to listen to with each passing moment. It was a sorry sight: a grown man with his head on a girl’s lap, bawling his eyes out. It was pathetic enough that he could die, but the warmth filling him might just kill him, too. Emilia made gentle sounds of understanding as she listened to Subaru weep.


[User] Emilia was gently stroking Subaru’s hair as he slept when Rem arrived at the guest room.

[Assistant] Opening the door without a sound, Rem saw Emilia inside and opened her mouth, but she closed it when Emilia put a finger to her own lips.

[User] "Shh."

[Assistant] Rem narrowed her eyes a bit, walking over as she looked at the two of them nestled close together on the floor. "Subaru is merely asleep?"

[User] "Yes. Hee-hee, he’s like a little boy. He looks so peaceful when I stroke his head like this." Emilia seemed to enjoy petting Subaru, as she prodded Rem for agreement.

[Assistant] Rem replied with a quiet shake of her head. "It seems Subaru will not be able to work any further today."

[User] "Yeah, he gets the rest of today off. He’s a very naughty boy for taking time off on his second day. When he’s all better, make sure to punish him, okay?" Emilia made a small smile and returned to toying with Subaru’s head.


[User] “It is hard to think of that when you see him sleeping like this, though.” Rem seemed to be murmuring that more to herself than to Emilia as she gave Subaru’s hair a light caress with her fingers. His ignorance of the world, like an innocent babe, made Rem’s lips slacken just a little. “I will inform Sister that Subaru is of no use for today. We must reallot today’s chores.” Rem left things at that, bowing politely as she turned to leave. She started to go find her sister. Around this time, she would still be cleaning up the dining hall. There, they would rearrange their schedule for the day.

[Assistant] Rem stopped and gently turned her whole body around as Emilia called out to her.

[User] “Rem…”

[Assistant] Emilia was sitting below her on the floor. In spite of that, Rem mysteriously felt a powerful pressure coming from Emilia’s gaze, like Rem was the one who stood lower. Emilia, not noticing Rem’s small measure of surprise, spoke in a quiet voice. “Subaru is a good boy.”

[User] “—” Rem responded with a single, solemn bow. Then, without another word, she headed to the door and left Subaru and Emilia behind in the guest room. She mulled over Emilia’s statement as she walked down the hallway. Even Rem did not notice the slight tremble on the side of her neutral visage.


[User] Beatrice landed with an elegant flutter of the hem of her skirt, turning her head and sending a snort Subaru’s way. “Do you see what happens when you get carried away with frivolity, I wonder?”

[Assistant] “That’s not the only thing I saw. They’re white!”

[User] “—. —?! Take this, would you? !”

[Assistant] “Brfhh!” Subaru took the second shot right between the eyes, sending him flying into a corner of the archive like a rag doll. He rolled head over heels before slamming into a bookshelf, bringing heavy books down upon his head. He crawled his way out of the mountain of books, tears in his eyes from the many bumps and bruises.

[User] “The friendship gauge goes down just a little and I get this?! If you’re not happy with something, just say it, geez!”

[Assistant] “Being picked up like a little child, spun around in midair, having my panties seen, you speaking superficially lovey-dovey words, all of it! Is your entire existence a nuisance, I wonder? !”

[User] “Hey, don’t put down my existence; that’s really sad stuff! I’m trying not to be a masochist here!” Subaru hoped to find ways to improve himself, just like he’d found a chance to improve his circumstances. Just because I’m powerless doesn’t mean I have to be helpless, too, Subaru thought, nodding at his own internal rebuke. “Anyway, the situation’s a lot better than it was. It’ll be hard waiting out the night, but tomorrow I’m heading to the village.” Let’s find out who this shaman really is, he thought. That’d probably mean going with either Ram or Rem. Considering they both had combat strength, it was a natural choice in case he ended up duking it out with the shaman then and there. If he could get rid of the vile shaman and raise his friendship gauge with both girls in the process, that’d be the grand finale bringing his first week at Roswaal Manor to a successful conclusion. “Now that I think back on it, I sure went through a lot…” He knew it was speaking too soon, but it was a light at the end of the tunnel even so. Surely no one could blame Subaru for feeling that way. Shouldn’t you be thinking of something else? he wondered. Looking up meant missing that which was right at his feet, didn’t it? Subaru, a man of little nerve and much wariness, suddenly remembered… “The scent…of the witch…”

[Assistant] “What do you mean, I wonder?”

[User] “Right, the witch. Rem mentioned her. You did, too, Beako.” The moment the word witch formed on his lips, he remembered the various places he had encountered it. The witch was often treated as an abominable being by the residents of that world, but Subaru’s only clue as to why was the broad outline given in the children’s story “The Witch of Jealousy.” That really bothered him all of a sudden.


[User] After all, the road traveled by Subaru Natsuki had been peppered by references to her. Subaru lifted up his face and looked at Beatrice, who was knitting her eyebrows.

[Assistant] He wasn’t sure she’d even answer the question he was about to ask. It was grave enough that Ram had refused to answer it entirely, while Rem had used it as one of her justifications for attacking him. He felt that even Emilia strongly resisted the topic.

[User] “Beako, you know about the witch, right?”

[Assistant] “—” The reply didn’t come immediately. The word thrumming in her ears made Beatrice close her eyes, sinking into silence as if making sure she’d heard correctly.

[User] Her reaction left Subaru with no option beyond trying to keep calm and waiting.

[Assistant] When she suddenly murmured the words, Subaru’s breath caught as his eyes went wide. “She who drinks the world itself. Queen of the Castle of Shadows. The greatest of all disasters—the Witch of Jealousy.”

[User] Upon seeing Subaru’s reaction, Beatrice let out a gloomy sigh.

[Assistant] “In this world, there is only one being indicated by the word witch. Should I add, it is even considered taboo to speak her name aloud, I wonder?”

[User] “So everyone’s in awe and fear of her, and no one defies her?”

[Assistant] “Yes, precisely. Rather, why would you even ask if I know her, I wonder? In this world, aren’t the names you know best those of your parents, then other family, and finally, the name of the witch, I wonder?”

[User] “Oh, come on…” Subaru tried to poke fun, but he swallowed his words when Beatrice’s expression made plain that she wasn’t the slightest bit joking.

[Assistant] And if she was serious, that meant the witch was an unparalleled darkness in the world.

[User] “The Witch of Jealousy, ‘Satella.’ She consumed the great sinners of yore known as the Six Witches, swallowing up half the world in the process, the vilest of all calamities.” Beatrice’s words, spoken with emotions suppressed, brought a short, hard breath out of Subaru.

[Assistant] The name, one he’d heard before, bore much more gravity in the context of the rest.

[User] “It is said that the witch desires love. It is said she does not comprehend human speech. It is said she envies everything in this world. That none have seen her face and lived. That her body is untouched by the ravages of time, unable to grow old or decay. That the Dragon, the Hero, and the Sage combined their power to seal her away, because even they could not hope to destroy her.” Beatrice spoke point by point, not allowing Subaru to get a word in.

[Assistant] “It is said…” Finally, as if reaching the end of her tale, she paused after her preamble and said, “…she is a half-elf with silver hair.”


[User] After being roughly evicted from the archive, Subaru managed to get in a morning bath before meeting up with Emilia in the garden. The sight of her so diligently carrying out her daily routine made him clench a fist with renewed determination. A gray fur ball—in other words, Puck—popped his face up in front of Subaru’s eyes and called out to him.

[Assistant] "Well you seem to be doing better now." Puck continued to hover in the air as he began grooming his face with his short paws like any normal cat. He continued, "To be honest, you were not much to look at yesterday. I’m a little relieved.”

[User] “That so? Sorry to make you worry. But my naive heart still isn’t completely over everything, so I want the feel of your fur to comfort me. Ahhh…”

[Assistant] “Well, if you can bluff like that I suppose you’re fine. Lia did lend you her lap and everything.”

[User] Subaru’s fingers wrapped around the palm-size cat and, searching for something beyond even the surprising sensation of his ears, arrived at Puck’s tail. From base to tip, the feel of it was beyond even Subaru’s expectations, making his breath catch. Subaru savored the supremely comfortable touch in his hand as his eyes met Puck’s.


[User] "Did you see the lap pillow, too, by any chance?"

[Assistant] "Only because she did it for so long. It was quite difficult to stay kneeling in that position for hours, and I offered to take over several times, but… Relax, Lia saw it through to the very end." Subaru's metaphorical seal of approval abruptly made Subaru, still shy about the awakening of his love, red in the face.

[User] Puck nodded at Subaru’s schoolboy reaction. And then—

[Assistant] "Ei!"

[User] "Ow—! Why did you just scratch me? !"

[Assistant] "You had an explosion of complex feelings of affection for my daughter. Maybe I ought to explode you?"

[User] "You ought not!! That daddy mind-set’s a complicated thing, geez!"

[Assistant] Puck’s “explosion” of fatherly concern threatened to put distance between Subaru and Emilia.

[User] Subaru plaintively bowed his head before Puck, somehow managing to keep the situation in check. When this process was finished and he glanced back at Emilia, he saw that she seemed to still be immersed in conversation with the spirits, never noticing the comedy routine between man and beast that had ruptured the calm of the morning. Subaru watched the side of her face, gazing at the gentle, charming smile so beautiful that you could drown in it, when he abruptly murmured to himself.

[Assistant] "—A silver-haired half-elf, huh?"

[User] It was one of the things Beatrice had said about the Witch of Jealousy. The witch had shaken the world to its core, and even now, her name was synonymous with terror. He wondered how great a burden it must be to have similarities with such a being. Even Subaru, who had never felt hardships like this, could imagine it was no easy road to travel. And yet, Emilia had been raised to be an honest, benevolent person… No doubt in the hope that she would live as a lovely, untainted flower.

[Assistant] Puck looked back and smiled, one paw on his hip, the other toying with his whiskers. "Or maybe she was raised by a good father. Mm-hmm."

[User] The cat could read his emotions. He’d no doubt discerned Subaru’s thoughts to work out the context of the soliloquy from a moment before.

[Assistant] "Well, to a large extent she was just born that way. Not to harp on it, but that girl had a much, much harder time than you can imagine. It’s adorable how she’s like this in spite of it all, though." As Puck squinted, the thought of contradicting him never crossed Subaru’s mind. The plain fact was that Subaru didn’t know anything about Emilia, while Puck had spent an enormity of time with her. Subaru’s knowledge of how hard it’d been for her barely scratched the surface. Puck was driving home that Subaru had no right to act like he knew. Men were helpless in the hands of Fate. Subaru knew that powerlessness all too well.


[User] "Hey, Puck, do you know about the Witch of Jealousy?"

[Assistant] "There is little that I do not know."

[User] "Okay, I wanted to ask you this… Under what circumstances would you use the Witch of Jealousy’s name as an alias? Wait, alias doesn’t sound very nice; it’s more like…borrowing the Witch of Jealousy’s name temporarily." The back of his mind recalled an occurrence in the midst of the loop in the royal capital on the first day of his summons.

[Assistant] Not knowing Subaru’s intentions, swayed his tail and inclined his head a bit. "I think that would be a reckless thing to do. There are still many people with undiluted hate toward the witch, with fear and despair still carved into their souls. A person would have to be soft in the head to use the name of the witch as an alias around people like that."

[User] "I’ll take that as a ‘never.’"

[Assistant] "Meow meow?" Puck made a skeptical sound as Subaru poked him with a finger.

[User] Subaru snapped his fingers, for Puck’s support for his hypothesis made him put aside his own doubts. "So she was trying to creep out a weirdo to keep him out of this royal selection business…"

[Assistant] Subaru, struck by the tenderness of that Emilia in another dimension, was caught off guard as the current one sat next to him with a strained smile.

[User] "That’s quite the distant look you have. What’s wrong?"

[Assistant] Puck, having waited off to the side with Subaru until then, landed on her narrow shoulder to replace them. "Back in my proper place. Ahh, this is where I’m most at ease. Home sweet home."

[User] "Oh, so now you’re Daddy back home from a trip, are you?


[User] "Poor you, driving home all tired like that."

[Assistant] "That’s because my eyes were wide open protecting my daughter from a wolf’s poison fangs. Those poison fangs won’t come near her, you see?"

[User] "Hey, don’t stare at me and talk about ‘poison fangs’—twice! You’ll ruin my reputation here." Subaru forced a smile as Puck’s big black eyes beheld him. Playing with the little cat like this meant he was kicking down the road a bit one of his opportunities to speak with Emilia, even though she was right there. It wasn’t that he hated talking to Emilia. He just couldn’t look her in the eye. After all, he’d bawled his eyes out on her lap and spent untold hours with her stroking his head. It’d been only a single night since then; he didn’t know how he could face her. That he had gone to meet her even so proved only that Subaru had a severe case of Emilia poisoning.

[Assistant] Faced with Subaru’s extreme confusion, Emilia hesitated, too, running an unhurried finger through her long silver hair. After a brief silence, Emilia made a determined breath and smiled. "Err, this is a little embarrassing… Are you feeling all right?"

[User] "I was in a tight spot until I heard Emilia-tan’s voice. And, er, also, sorr—” The apology died on his lips. Subaru swallowed back the word he was about to say and changed his approach.

[Assistant] “…Thank you. For everything. After all that, I think I have my head on straighter."

[User] "It doesn’t seem you’re completely over it, but I’m glad you think you’re getting there. Mm, if I was able to help a little, that’s just fine. If you feel whittled to the bone again, just tell me. Your sister will gently console you." Emilia teasingly put a hand to her chest and winked. Surely she was acting this way to lighten Subaru’s feelings of guilt. But when he gazed upon her happy, older sister–ish look, the fact that she kind of seemed serious made him tremble a bit.

[Assistant] "The main thing is that you’re feeling better. You have to work hard today, you know? Are you sleepy? You slept at such odd times."

[User] "No need to worry. A shut-in like me holding down the fort sleeps all day and is up all night to begin with. Well, it got a bit healthier as of late."

[Assistant] "Just to ask, what is a shut-in anyway?"

[User] "He is the Guardian of the Culture, always immersed in an ocean of information about the state of the world and the global economy to better protect the home day and night… The upper ranks never set a foot outside the house and even commemorate their lovers’ birthdays through their screens." To be blunt, the souls of those who did that had long risen to a higher plane of existence. The oddness of Subaru’s explanation seemed to tug at Emilia a little as she made a lovely smile. Seeing Emilia’s reaction, Subaru suddenly had a thought.


[User] “Hey, Emilia-tan, what kind of magic do you use, anyway?”

[Assistant] “Err, strictly speaking, I’m not a magic user. That’s because I’m a spirit mage, including my pact with Puck here. What I use isn’t magic but spirit arts. The principles are largely the same, though…”

[User] “So how are magic users and spirit mages different?” Subaru turned his neck and looked at Puck sitting on Emilia’s shoulder.

[Assistant] The little cat, realizing the conversation had shifted in his direction, stroked the fur over his belly as he explained. “Magic users use the mana inside them when they use magic. In contrast, spirit mages use the mana in the air around them. The process is fairly different, even when the effects are the same.”

[User] “So what kind of differences are those, sensei?” Subaru raised his hand and asked his question.

[Assistant] Sitting in the lecturer’s role, grinned like a cat in a good mood. “Technically, it’s whether a gate is used or not. The size of a gate depends on the individual magic user, but that doesn’t matter much for spirit mages. That’s because you’re using external mana.”

[User] “I see. So magic users bring in mana from around them through the gate, then send it back out the gate when they use magic, but spirit mages can cut out the middleman.” Subaru was digesting the explanation when he tilted his head halfway. “Mm? But then that makes spirit mages way too powerful. Magic users are limited to the amount of fuel they can store inside them, but spirit mages have a free pass to use as much as they want. There’s no contest.”

[Assistant] “You understand quickly. But it isn’t quite that convenient. In the first place, the mana in the air isn’t infinite…” Puck’s words trailed off as he looked up at Emilia.

[User] The girl nodded as she took over. “And the strength of the spells a spirit mage can use is dependent on the spirit you’ve formed a pact with. The predisposition needed to form pacts with spirits is rare to begin with, and powerful spirits are even rarer. It’s difficult to say which is better.”

[Assistant] “Mm-hmm…but it must feel pretty good to get a pact with a strong spirit, right? You must really be hot stuff, Emilia-tan. Seems like Puck is hot stuff himself, though…”

[User] “Well, I can’t really deny that I’m above average.”

[Assistant] “Man, you just said that with a straight face; no hesitation at all rating yourself like that?” Subaru thought his self-consciousness outclassed most, but Puck’s bluntness was a level higher. No doubt it was the age difference. A greenhorn had seen many fewer years than Mr. Great Spirit. Though, judging from the rather merry, blushy smile the Great Spirit was making, maybe he wasn’t as used to flattery as he pretended to be… “Oh, by the way, what kind of spirit is Puck, anyway?


[User] "He made ice come out at the loot seller’s place, but…if my memory’s right, there’s no ice affinity to begin with.” With the bath serving as a lecture hall, Roswaal had explained to him that the four orthodox magical affinities were fire, water, wind, and earth. The annoying light and dark affinities rounded out the six.

[Assistant] “My specialty is ice, but it’s actually fire mana. Fire relates mainly to temperature, so cooling that which is hot is classified as part of fire, apparently.” Replied to Subaru’s question, Not Puck, still making a blushy smile.

[User] “Huh, is that so? Magical logic…? Magic…? Magic, huh?” Upon hearing Emilia’s explanation, Subaru felt a fondness for magic bubble up within him.

[Assistant] Puck twitched his ears as he looked at Subaru’s face once again and nodded. “Hmm. By any chance, do you want to use magic?”

[User] “Can I?! I mean…if I can! Super-powerful stuff, like calling down a meteor shower and—”

[Assistant] “Ah, well, no. Fundamentals are important, both for magic and spirit arts. Magic is not something you can learn in a day.” Subaru’s hopes suddenly leaped up, only for Puck to smack them back down.

[User] Subaru wilted on the spot.

[Assistant] Puck twirled a whisker and added, “But…if you simply want to experience it, we can do that.”

[User] “Meaning…what?”

[Assistant] “Meaning, if you want to use magic, Lia and I just have to support you. We’ll use the mana inside you to use magic through you. The magic we use from the atmosphere is different from the mana inside you, so the magic itself will come out of your gate. How about it?”

[User] “Puck, wait. Don’t make it sound so causal. It might be dangerous.” Emilia rebuked Puck for his invitation.

[Assistant] “Sorry, Emilia-tan. I’m super happy you’re worried about me…but I’m gonna do it!” Subaru gave Emilia a congenial smile, complete with a glint of his teeth and a thumbs-up.

[User] “Wh-why do you want to do it so much…?” Subaru’s action, meant to drive away all unease and anxiety, made Emilia’s eyes go wide.

[Assistant] “That’s obvious—so that I can live as the man I was born to be!” Subaru clenched a fist as he made the manliest cry he could.


[User] Faced with Subaru’s strong spirit, Emilia shook her head, abandoning all thoughts of stopping him. "If you think it’s getting dangerous, you will stop right away, understand?”

[Assistant] Subaru accepted Emilia’s words of caution with a nice smile before turning back to Puck with bated breath.


[User] "So what should I do first? Draw a magic circle? If you need a sacrifice, can I volunteer Beako?"

[Assistant] "I’m happy you seem to be getting along better with Betty. Yes, first, how about I see what affinity you are, Subaru? That’s the first step to knowing what kind of magic you can use."

[User] Subaru’s expression, buoyant until that moment, instantly died when he heard Puck’s suggestion. "My…affinity…is probably…‘fire’…?" Subaru shook his head in robotic fashion.

[Assistant] "Why the sudden pauses…?"

[User] Subaru simply lowered his eyes.

[Assistant] Puck leaped off Emilia’s shoulder and hovered in front of Subaru’s face as he stretched his tail. "All right, let’s check. Myon myon myon myon…"

[User] "I know the weirdo nobleman did the same thing, but isn’t that, like, overkill?!" The tip of Puck’s long tail swished across Subaru’s forehead as his mouth made the accompanying sound effects. Subaru wallowed in apprehension as he awaited the scan’s verdict. "Wait, I should think positively about this. Thinking back on it, Roswaal’s behavior was unnatural, wasn’t it? Right, he was jealous of the hidden magical talent within me. Yeah, it was jealousy. That’s why he tried to convince me to just give up—"

[Assistant] "Wow, this is rare. Your affinity’s pure Dark."

[User] "Farewell, my magic-using life—!" Subaru wailed at crossing into another dimension only to be blacklisted by someone else. His glittering future was now closed, with the curtain rising on Subaru’s life as nothing more than a debuffer. "So all I need to do is practice saying, ‘I’ve turned their defense to paper! Go, NOW!’ Ha-ha-ha…"

[Assistant] "Ah, you have no talent at all, either. Your gate’s small; at least the number is kind of okay…? But there’s barely any opening, so not much is coming through."

[User] "Shut up, I know that already! Incidentally, what does that talent thing mean, by the numbers?"

[Assistant] "If you spent twenty years in daily training, you might become a high-end second-rate magic user."

[User] "So I’d devote half my life and still come up short of top tier… I think I’d better give up now…"

[Assistant] Emilia finally wore an exasperated look when she heard Subaru hold back tears as he gave up on his dream.

[User] "I just want to try the magic demonstration. What do I have to do?"

[Assistant] "Since it’s Dark affinity, Lia can’t handle it. How about something simple, like Shamak?"

[User] "Ah, a magic smoke screen? I’ve never seen it myself."


[User] “It’s not fair you’re in a world all by yourselves. I mean, we’re talking about my magic, right? I mean, can I actually use that Shamak thing? That’s kind of important here.”

[Assistant] “Good point. Unknown magic is a scary thing. All right, this is Shamak.”

[User] “—Eh?”

[Assistant] Puck, nodding in concession that Subaru had a point, made a brief incantation and waved a paw. The next moment, Subaru’s vision was shrouded in darkness.

[User] Instantly, the scene before his eyes was buried in pitch-black. Startled, he abruptly raised his voice, but the sound never reached his ears. The profound darkness had cut off his vision from everything outside him. A shiver went up his spine at being severed from the outside world.

[Assistant] “There, all done.”

[User] When Subaru heard the clap of hands, he realized that he had returned to reality. Seeing Emilia in front of him when his sight returned put him at ease.

[Assistant] “That was just a moment, but he broke out in such a sweat… Subaru, are you all right? Do you want me to hold your hand?”

[User] “I-I’m all right. I just lost my senses for a moment… Ah, I lost my chance to hold your hand.” While making his typically flippant comment, Subaru touched his own eyelids to make sure nothing had changed there. “So that’s a Shamak, huh? It’s simple, but it’s pretty strong stuff, isn’t it?”

[Assistant] “Not at all. Anyone but a lower-grade opponent can brush it off with skill, and it can’t be maintained for long. Although I could cast it on the likes of you so that you’d spend your entire life in darkness…”

[User] “That’s a scary thought!! I’d go crazy if I had to live one day like that, let alone the rest of my life!” Subaru made a strained smile. He quietly hid his trembling fists behind him. He didn’t want to convey how the feeling of being momentarily cut off from the world had filled his entire body with terror. The instant he thought that he was alone in the world, with no one on his side, the sheer loneliness made Subaru’s heart quake. I’m pathetic. He bit the thought down and smiled to conceal his inner turmoil. “Anyway, whether it’s any use or not, I can use that magic, too, right? I wanna try that right away! I want to, but, um!”

[Assistant] “That’s fine. I’ll assist you. Lia, if his mana runs wild, it might blow up, so please move back. I don’t want to get your clothes dirty.”

[User] “It’s not like that’s gonna happen, right?! That’s, like, a super-rare case that basically never happens, right? !”

[Assistant] Puck smiled in silence.

[User] “Don’t be reckless, okay?” Emilia made a slightly sad face, counseling, as she really did move away from him.

[Assistant] The very outpouring of concern deepened his unease. Left in the lurch, Subaru was in an exceedingly uneasy position as events proceeded. Puck sat down on top of Subaru’s black hair and adjusted the position of his tail.


[User] "What a prickly and uncomfortable head to sit on."

[Assistant] "Hey, it’s not like I thought someone was going to sit on it someday! No one warned me to bring a cushion, but just, uh, help yourself, okay?"

[User] "Nah, I’ll be done and back to Lia’s lovely hair in no time. So, ready to begin?"

[Assistant] When prompted, Subaru hesitated for just a moment, but a smile quickly came over him as he nodded.

[User] Having received Subaru’s assent, Puck made a large nod of his own. Then, Subaru suddenly felt his entire body get hot.

[Assistant] "Subaru, try to picture it in your mind. Move the mana inside your body, flowing through me, by your own will. Push a portion of it out of your body through your gate. Picture it as a black cloud."

[User] "Picture, picture. Trust me, daydreaming is totally my thing." Subtly distorting Puck’s advice, Subaru tried to picture where the energy wriggling inside his body was supposed to go. He tried to picture the gate—the doorway at the center of his body. He pictured himself carefully opening a heavy door to make the energy inside flow out. Once outside, Subaru would generate the phenomenon by his own will—

[Assistant] "Huh, this isn’t good. All of a sudden, the gate…" Puck murmured abruptly.

[User] "Are you two—? !" The next moment, Emilia cried out.


[Assistant] A few seconds later, a black cloud spewed out with explosive force, shrouding the corner of the inner garden of Roswaal Manor.

[User] "If I must make a conclusion, your control of your gate is too weak, so you shouldn’t push it, Subaru."

[Assistant] "You see me like this and that’s the first thing you say, damn it? !"

[User] Puck slapped his head and stuck out his tongue. "Tee-hee-hee."

[Assistant] "That’s not cute, you know!" Subaru shouted at Puck as his whole body soaked up the sensation of the lawn.

[User] "For better or worse, Subaru simply isn’t used to using his gate.


[User] “That’s why it ignored the user’s will and everything inside flew right out.”

[Assistant] “So I didn’t close the lid right… What am I, soy sauce…?” He managed to voice his resentment, but the depletion of his strength was nothing to laugh at. He wanted to at least manage to get up, but he couldn’t put any energy into his limbs or the rest of his body. Subaru was still stuck lying on the ground when Emilia, kneeling beside him, met his gaze.

[User] “You mustn’t move. You’re all out of internal mana, so behave yourself. Maybe you should take today off work, too.”

[Assistant] “—That’s really bad!” Emilia was scolding him like a misbehaving child when Subaru raised his voice out of the blue. Emilia blinked in surprise off to the side as Subaru deeply rued his own carelessness. If he really did have to give up the whole day, it meant abandoning one more day he needed to put this loop in order. That was crazy, even fatal. And now his body felt like it was rusted over.

[User] “Ughhhh…”

[Assistant] “Now hold on, I told you not to push it!”

[User] “Now’s when I have to push it. If I don’t, I’m going to really seriously regret it later…” It was by no means unusual for him to reap what he had sowed, but the timing was simply too awful. Emilia, seeing Subaru’s brow covered with sweat as he struggled with all his might, slumped her shoulders.

[Assistant] “Goodness, you really can’t be helped.” Once more, Emilia’s lips tapered as if she was upset with him. Subaru, not grasping the meaning behind Emilia’s statement, could only lift his eyes to look at her.

[User] “—? Emilia-tan, what’s mnnff? !” Emilia peered down at his face from above while suddenly stuffing something into his mouth. He felt something round and soft on his tongue. Though bewildered, Emilia put a hand over his mouth and nodded to him.

[Assistant] “Bite down.”

[Assistant] “Bite down…and swallow. Yes, there you go.” With Emilia tolerating no dissent, Subaru located the object in his mouth and bit down on it—hard. A bittersweet taste swirled all around his mouth. He narrowed his eyes as his taste buds sensed it was some kind of fruit. The next moment…it hit him.

[User] “Whoaaaaaaa—? !” Subaru, feeling like his whole body was alight, got up then and there, practically leaping to his feet. He felt like his blood was boiling as it coursed through his entire body, scalding heat reaching all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes. He exhaled hard, as if the air in his lungs was too hot to handle, and his knees were marching up and down all on their own. It was around that point when Subaru realized he was standing on his own two feet. There were still vestiges of sluggishness in every part of his body, but the crippling lethargy had vanished.

[Assistant] “Wh…? What was that…?”

[User] “It’s called a bokko fruit."


[User] "When you eat it, it gives the mana inside your body a kick so that your gate powers up again, just enough to feel a bit better.”

[Assistant] Subaru rotated his arms and, finding that nothing was wrong aside from a little fatigue, breathed a sigh of relief. “Wow, I’m relieved. I’d never forgive myself if I got another BAD END on account of that. Thanks, Emilia-tan.”

[User] “I don’t have many of them, and it’s not good for the body, so I didn’t really want to use it… You weren’t bluffing there, were you?”

[Assistant] Subaru responded to Emilia’s prodding by sticking out his chest and boldly declaring, “Not one bit. I won’t let you regret this.” Then he immediately wiped all the sweat off his brow. “But man, I was an idiot there… When this is all over I’m going to kick myself even more than before.” He carried the burden of having experienced numerous forms of death, something other people would only experience but once, but he wanted to avoid dying from embarrassment if he could at all help it. In fact, he wanted his suicide by leaping off a cliff to be the last death he ever experienced. The scars of having decided to end his own life ran deep. He didn’t want to do that again, ever. One death was enough for anyone. He wanted death to be the natural end of his life. Of course, the best result would be some crazy event that ended with Emilia embracing him, but—

[User] “Man, I’m such a kid I can’t even think about it, huh?” Even though he was always so glib, he would never again casually speak the word death. Surely Subaru could only laugh at his own cowardice because he was reliving the same experiences, literally whether he wanted to or not.

[Assistant] Seeing the change in Subaru’s expression, Emilia had a sullen look as she asked, “Are you all right? Do you think you can go to work?”

[User] “I’ll do work, and all the other stuff, too. Having you on my side is like riding an unsinkable battleship, so I’ll give it all I’ve got.”

[Assistant] “…Riding a… I’m not quite sure what you mean by that, but…”

[User] “Hey, Emilia-tan, how you put that kind of makes me excited. Can you say that again?”

[Assistant] “You have a lewd look in your eyes, so no.”

[User] Their usual banter left Subaru laughing as he stretched his limbs and finally his back. “Well, I’d better go face my seniors and turn over a new leaf!”

[Assistant] “I suppose so. I don’t think either has spoken one word about you since yesterday.”

[User] “—Ah.” Subaru stretched his back as his hips made their own dull creak.


[Assistant] 6 “Sister, Sister. The lout known as Subaru has come.”

[User] "Rem, Rem.


[User] “The wage thief named Barusu has appeared.”

[Assistant] “I’m very sorry about yesterday…! Please forgive me!” Subaru sought forgiveness, bowing his head low in an earnest apology. He felt like he’d done nothing but bow his head for half an entire day. He’d accounted for everyone at the mansion except Roswaal—meaning the entirety of the female population.

[User] “I’m back to a route with all the girls looking down on me again… I’ve got some deep karma here.”

[Assistant] “Sister, Sister. It seems Subaru is quite the pervert.”

[User] “Rem, Rem. Subaru is a masochist who likes being degraded.”

[Assistant] “That’s going too far, especially for you, Big Sis!”

[User] Shouting in response to the sisters’ sharp rebuke, Subaru used his arms as a fulcrum to go from his prostrate position into a handstand, twisting his body around and using the momentum to rise to his feet. "Anyway, I’m sorry about being pathetic yesterday and annoying the day before… Well, a lot happened, but I’ve had a complete change in attitude, so it’s a new me going forward.”

[Assistant] “It was the lap pillow.”

[User] “The lap pillow, yes.”

[Assistant] “Don’t tell me everyone knows?! That’s so embarrassing!” Subaru hid his reddened face and crumbled as the twin maids met each other’s gaze.

[User] “It is time to begin the morning chores, Sister.”

[Assistant] “It is time to begin our morning duties, Rem.”

[User] “No comment?! That puts me down even more! !” With a wave, the two left behind Subaru and his pleas, heading off to work just as they had declared. As they did so, Subaru called for them to stop.

[Assistant] “Time-out, time-out. There’s a favor I want to ask about work this morning.” Subaru’s appeal made both twins stop, turn around, and tilt their heads in sync.

[User] “A favor?”

[Assistant] “A hassle?”

[User] “Weird, I haven’t heard Big Sis’s bluntness for a while and it’s getting me all fired up…” A pained smile came over him. Unlike the little sister, the older sister’s unpleasant attitude was a lot easier to deal with, but he was glad he could talk to them like this at all. He breathed out, trying to brush off the absurdity of it all. "Actually, I’d like to go see the village. It’s nearby, right? Isn’t there something you need to buy there?” Overnight, he’d formed a firm hypothesis in the archive of forbidden books, but he wanted to get to the village that day no matter what. That was what was on Subaru’s mind as Rem put a hand to her chest, sinking into thought.

[Assistant] “Certainly, we are running a bit low on spices, so I was thinking of heading to the village tomorrow…”

[User] “Let’s change the schedule and do it today, then. Might as well get more before you’re running out, and you can’t just borrow some from the neighbors out here, can you?” There were no other mansions in the first place, even if they had wanted to go see the neighbors.


[User] Rem seemed to ponder Subaru’s suggestion a little when…

[Assistant] “It’s fine, isn’t it?”

[User] “Sister?” In contrast to the little sister’s pondering, the older sister stroked her own pink hair with a look of indifference.

[Assistant] “We have to buy them either way, and there are no other pressing matters. It is the perfect opportunity to employ Barusu as a mule.”

[User] “I was in bed with a gut wound just three days ago, so take it easy, okay? !” Subaru had hoped for some warmth from the merciless Ram, but her cover fire still made him tilt his mind’s inner head a bit. He’d thought so, but this was vivid proof that the twin maids were not united in their opinions. He remembered how, in the loop before last, Rem’s coming to kill him had been on Rem’s own judgment. Perhaps their thinking was even less on the same page than Subaru had assumed. Either way…

[Assistant] “…If Sister…says so, then…” After thinking it over a bit, Rem finally gave her own consent. The majority of work at the mansion got done only because of Rem, but Subaru knew from long experience that she let Ram, the less accomplished of the two, make a lot of the decisions. Whether mere coincidence or not, Ram’s intervention had essentially settled the matter. Subaru pumped a fist as Rem’s face went from contemplation back to a calm, neutral look.

[User] “However, either way, going to the village must wait until after lunch. Let us do it after Two Solartime…after we have finished all other outstanding work.”

[Assistant] “It will be all right. Barusu has pledged to work until his body is ground to a pulp, yes?”

[User] “Yep. Just watch what I can do now that I’ve been reborn. I’ll work like a hot knife through you know what.” They corrected his corrupted idiom in unison.

[Assistant] “Butter.”

[User] “Right. That.” Subaru scratched his face as it sunk in that he’d succeeded in his negotiations. Now that the promise to go shopping had been made, it was finally time to begin servant time. He watched Rem leave in a hurry, probably sorting out in her head the order of her chores, before shifting his gaze to Ram beside him. Naturally, Ram had been given orders to stick with Subaru for another day and oversee his education. No doubt it was best to avoid the tension that had built up the day before—or rather, the day before last. More to the point, finding himself had been so painful that re-creating the tension was a little too much to ask.

[Assistant] “Getting self-conscious of my own bad points in such a short time like that… It’s a bigger shock than seeing an infant grow into a man in three days.” As Subaru sank into reflection, Ram folded her arms and gave him a cold look.

[User] “Before we get to the issue at hand…” For some reason, Ram’s gaze made Subaru feel like he should straighten his back. He did so and turned toward her.


[User] "About that magic in the garden earlier…"

[Assistant] "Ah, sorry for the mess. I can’t use that thing right, so I’m not touching it for a while. I hear it’d take twenty years for me to learn the fundamentals right."

[User] "A mess it may have been, but do not provoke Rem too much."

[Assistant] "...?" Not understanding what Ram meant, a virtual question mark came over Subaru’s face.

[User] Ram watched Subaru’s inquisitive look before making a belated hmph. "Rem was quite disturbed by the magic that covered a corner of the garden as well as Lady Emilia. You should be dancing for me in thanks for stopping her, Barusu."

[Assistant] "Ah… Ahhhh… Yeah, you’re right…" In his shock at the failure of his magic, Subaru hadn’t noticed, but a third party was unlikely to see that situation as a mere failed spell. He was truly grateful that Ram hadn’t jumped the gun. On the other hand, he was aghast at Rem’s willingness to make a snap judgment on the spot. "Oh man, I was way too careless… I have to think ahead more after four Continues."

[User] "What are you mumbling about…? If we do not get to work soon, both breakfast and dinner shall run late."

[Assistant] "Oh, I was just thinking about the shopping in the afternoon. Which one of you will be going with me?" Under the circumstances, going with Rem would be a heavy weight on his mind. Either way, though, it made practical sense for Rem to be the one to go with him to the village. Subaru figured that he’d be going shopping with Rem, just like he had on two previous occasions. However…

[User] "What nonsense are you speaking?"

[Assistant] "...Eh?" Subaru inclined his head.

[User] For once, Ram’s neutral expression broke into a smile—an extremely cold, malicious, devilish smile. "You shall go with both of us. You will have a lovely flower on each arm, Barusu."

[Assistant] That would be nice, as long as the flowers aren’t poisonous. Subaru, now aware that the negotiations had gone a little too well, covered his face with a palm, looked up to the heavens, and groaned.


[User] Subaru raised an eyebrow at the odd nuance of her statement and her un-Ram-like demeanor.

[Assistant] Ram instantly gave her usual hmph, not allowing Subaru to voice his question. "Your wound and clothes are both unsightly. We shall quickly rendezvous with Rem, because she can actually heal you."

[User] "Ramchi, you don’t use healing magic?"

[Assistant] "I can handle sealing a wound after an amputation."

[User] Subaru could not conceal his shudder. "That’s some really extreme first aid there! !"

[Assistant] Ram walked over and tugged on Subaru’s sleeve. "Aren’t you coming, Barusu?"

[User] Subaru blinked, turning only his head to face Ram. "It’s with you, so yeah."

[Assistant] Ram proceeded straight to leading him off by his sleeve.


[User] He set the oversize keg aside and flopped onto the ground, breathing hard. “I made it… I made it! …Good job, me! Totally good job!”

[Assistant] "Yes, yes, well done." The twin maids sandwiched the fallen Subaru as they gave him stiff, formal thanks for his labors.

[User] "Yes, yes, much appreciated."

[Assistant] He wanted to make up for it somehow, so when she’d made him carry a heavy barrel back to the mansion out of apparent spite, he hoped it would improve her impression of him just a little.

[User] Rem spoke down toward Subaru. “Well, then, we shall return to the mansion ahead of you. Take your time.” She then picked up the large barrel as if it were filled with feathers.

[Assistant] Subaru laughed drily at the pretty picture it all made.


[User] “You didn’t need me to carry that, did you?”

[Assistant] “As you can see, not at all.”

[User] Ram wasn’t minded to pamper Subaru’s inner boy at all. As he saw Rem casually walk off while carrying the cask, he was painfully aware that his grunt work had been meaningless.

[Assistant] “So why’d you make me do it, then? Was it seriously just a grudge against me? Stop bullying the new guy, sheesh.”

[User] “Do you not understand, Barusu? It is out of consideration for you, of course.”

[Assistant] “I don’t get what you mean by ‘consideration’ here.”

[User] “Barusu, what would Lady Emilia think if she saw you coming back carrying nothing but a small bag full of spices behind Rem while she carried a large, heavy object?”

[Assistant] “You’re such a considerate supervisor, it leaves me speechless!” As Ram knelt, he expressed deep gratitude toward her. If Subaru had come back full of himself carrying a little bag while a girl smaller than him lugged around something huge…and Emilia had seen… Just picturing it was enough to make him want to die.

[User] Rem, who had gone to the mansion ahead of them, returned during their exchange, looking down at the two. “Sister, Master Roswaal summons us.”

[Assistant] Ram responded quickly to the mention of her master on her little sister’s lips. Instantly, her usual laid-back attitude vanished; she straightened herself and looked down at Subaru. “What are you doing, Barusu? Do you intend to make Master Roswaal wait?”

[User] “Just because you two know something doesn’t mean I do. Er, what, this is a meeting with all the servants?” Subaru felt like he was being treated like a child who was slow on the uptake as he followed behind the others. Along the way, he straightened himself in accordance with Ram’s lessons and opened the mansion’s front doors. As he did so, Roswaal, the lord of the manor, awaited the three with open arms.


[Assistant] “Ohhhh, you were together, were you nooot? That indeed saves me some tiiime.” He had indigo hair and oddly colored eyes, one blue, one yellow. He had the delicate build of a pretty boy, but the clown makeup adorning his face put it all to waste. But all that included, the air he gave off felt different somehow. “Are you wearing that to go out somewhere?”

[User] “Precisely. I actually do not faaavor formal wear like this, either, but it cannot be heeelped. The other paaarty is troublesome to deal with in normal attire, so I am forced to go out wearing thiiis.” Usually, Roswaal indulged in his eccentric taste in clothing. It had been some time since Subaru had seen him wearing something with geometrical patterns, lacking the usual clownish spirit. Or rather, it was the very first time. Subaru could think of only two possibilities as to why Roswaal would be wearing such an outfit. Ram and Rem, thinking the same thing as Subaru, aired both possibilities simultaneously.


[User] “Entertaining a guest?” “Going on a trip?”

[Assistant] A pained smile came over Roswaal as he pointed at Ram. “Ram is correct… I am heading out. A somewhat troooublesome message has arrived, you see. There is something I must check in the environs of Garfiel, though I do not plan on being very laaate.”

[User] Having never heard that particular word before, Subaru couldn’t be certain whether it was the name of a person or a place. But given that the twins seemed to know what he was talking about, Subaru nodded without objection.

[Assistant] “For that reaaason, I do not believe I shall be back tonight, so…Ram, Rem, I leave matters in your hands.”

[User] “Yes, if you command it.”

[Assistant] “Yes, even at the cost of my life.”

[User] Roswaal acknowledged the pair’s immediate replies with his oddly colored eyes alone before gazing at Subaru with them.

[Assistant] Subaru, feeling backed into a corner by the differently colored glints, squirmed uncomfortably. “Sorry, I’m not loyal enough to swear even at the cost of my life yet.”

[User] “That is fine and weeell. If you swore that all of a sudden, it would feel raaather disconcerting. But I leave things in yooour hands as well, Subaru.” Roswaal patted Subaru’s shoulder, one eye closed, so that only his yellow iris was visible. “This has a fishy aroma to it. I can cooount on you to take care of Lady Emilia, yes?”

[Assistant] “Yeah, you can seriously count on me for that.” That went without saying. Subaru didn’t know how much of a read Roswaal had on the situation. He didn’t know, but he’d picked up this much… —This had never happened before. Perhaps it truly meant that Subaru’s actions had changed the world around him.

[User] Nodding, Roswaal gave Subaru a satisfied smile before giving his faithful twin retainers various instructions. “Well, theeen, I shall be off. I pray that nothing shall occuuur.” As he spoke, Roswaal went out the entrance, with the three of them watching him go. But Subaru belatedly realized that there was no coach or carriage to whisk Roswaal away. Surely Roswaal wasn’t going to walk—

[Assistant] “Well, I leave it in your hands—” When Roswaal spoke, his overcoat flapped as he made a light leap. And then, Subaru saw: Roswaal’s body sailed up into the sky, wind wrapping around it as he soared at high speed.

[User] Subaru’s mouth opened in surprise as Roswaal rose almost as high as the clouds, heading toward the mountains, growing smaller, and finally vanishing from view. “H-he flew… Geez, magic’s amazing stuff.”

[Assistant] In contrast, the sisters, clearly accustomed to Roswaal’s flight magic, quickly switched gears. They instantly established the order of affairs in the mansion in the absence of their master. “Even if Master Roswaal is absent, our duties do not change. Indeed, the fact that he is not present means we must be even more diligent.”


[User] "That’s a nice professional attitude. Okay, then, let’s get this started!" Rem began divvying up work as Subaru rolled up his sleeves, burning with enthusiasm.

[Assistant] Subaru wasn’t just fired up about work but about the changing situation, too. The change clearly made the twins expect a potential attack on the mansion. They would be securely guarding the mansion, but Subaru, who knew with certainty an attack was coming, was even more on guard than they. He needed to discover the shaman’s identity without a single moment to lose. If the other side was acting faster, there was no doubt in his mind that the visit to the village that day had triggered it. In other words, Subaru’s decoy plan had worked as he had meant it to. All Subaru had to do now was confirm his suspicions and smoke the shaman out.


[User] "So, it’s that time again, Beako!" Those were the first words out of his mouth when he pushed open the door and entered the archive of forbidden books.

[Assistant] His grand and very pushy entrance made Beatrice, sitting on the footstool as she read a book, slump her shoulders. "Really…? How do you breach the Passage with such ease…?"

[User] "Intuition. It’s all intuition. I’ve got a sixth sense about these things."

[Assistant] Beatrice wore a very sour face as Subaru approached, and she abruptly narrowed her eyes, no doubt because she noticed the seriousness in Subaru’s. "Another half a day and you have yet a different expression. I suppose you are a busy sort?"

[User] "Hey, I want to take it easy, too. But the world’s enough of a mess that it’s not exactly giving me the chance." Subaru, an ordinary person, had been buffeted by one problem arising after another. But he was confident that, at long last, he was catching up to the problems, instead of them purely catching up to him. "I want you to check something for me, so I finished cleaning the bath in record time."

[Assistant] "If cleaning the bath came first, surely it is no great affair?"

[User] This applied to Subaru as well, but time in the bath was one of the few respites in a world of few pastimes. Just thinking of Rem’s reaction if she found out he’d slacked off in cleaning that place of rest was enough to give him chills. After all, Subaru getting along with her big sister had put his friendship rating with Rem in the dumps. Even if he located the shaman, poor relations with Rem meant Subaru couldn’t escape a BAD END. Having to advance along both routes simultaneously made Subaru feel like he was walking a tightrope. "If it was just a problem of which girl to get lovey-dovey with, I’d be real happy, but…"

[Assistant] "Are you wandering off topic again, I wonder…? What did you want of me, then?"

[User] "Ah, yeah, about that…" Subaru sank in thought in front of Beatrice, who at least seemed tentatively willing to hear him out.


[User] After hesitating about how to put it exactly, he nodded once. “I think there’s a little curse on me. Can you check?”

[Assistant] “…What are you saying, I wonder?”

[User] “I think there’s a little curse on me. Can you check?”

[Assistant] “I did not tell you to repeat yourself! Has it been even half a day since we spoke about shamans in detail, I wonder?! Even gullibility has its limits…” Beatrice stormed over and yelled, probably thinking Subaru had some sort of persecution complex.

[User] But her expression changed midway to one of surprise; she looked up at Subaru as if some doubt had just been answered. “I sense a curse rite… You truly have been cursed.”

[Assistant] “Seriously? I mean, I figured as much, but having it actually said out loud is still kind of a shock…” The whole point of the decoy operation was to get cursed, but it was still a jolt to know that he really had been. What brought a pall over his face was not only fear but his own thoughts—in other words, the fact that one of those lighthearted villagers had been an assassin. “Do you know what kind of curse it is?”

[User] “I can say nothing from merely seeing the rite. But as we discussed, the odds are extremely strong that it is a curse to take your life.”

[Assistant] Subaru calmly accepted Beatrice’s statement when she looked up at him with a blink of her large eyes in apparent surprise. “You do not look like you think dying is a frightening thing, you know?”

[User] “Huh? What a stupid thing to say. I’m super scared of dying. There’s nothing more frightening in this world than death. People who say there’s worse stuff than dying should say that after they’ve tried death once or twice.” It was the one unshakable truth Subaru had learned from that world: Death was absolute. He could not abide it being treated lightly. Nor could he stand comparing death to other things by those who had not experienced it. After all, Subaru, having experienced death multiple times, had returned to the world to start over because he had himself tasted despair worse than death. “That’s why I’m going to get through it this time, Fate.” If there was indeed a deity that governed fate, Subaru had just declared war upon him. Subaru Natsuki would snatch back his happy ending to make up for the agonizing times he had suffered. Having finished his rant at the supernatural being, Subaru turned back to Beatrice. “So, could you lift that little curse for me? I’m short on time here.”


[User] “…Why do I have to save your life, I wonder?” Subaru scratched his head as he replied.

[Assistant] “I thought you might say something un-cute like that, so I came beforehand with a way to convince you. If I die, it’ll make Puck sad, too.”

[User] “…Would Puckie’s heart be greatly moved by your demise, I wonder?”

[Assistant] “No, no, if I die, it’ll be a pretty huge shock to Emilia. If it’s a shock to Emilia, that’ll hurt Puck, too. And especially you, the one who could’ve stopped it beforehand!”

[User] “You are completely touched in the head, unable to distinguish begging for your life from using it as a threat!” Beatrice stomped on the floor, but apparently a rebuttal to Subaru’s declaration was not forthcoming. She sighed in annoyance and gave him a reluctant look as she beckoned him with a hand.

[Assistant] “I suppose I shall yield. However, do not bother me any further, ever!”

[User] “To be honest, I can’t promise you that, either. If I’m in trouble, I’ll be back to ask for your help. I’ll pick the scraps from your table if I have to.”

[Assistant] “Are you even aware that I am saving your life, I wonder?”

[User] “I’m super aware that I’m annoying you with weakling logic. Sorry.” Subaru bowed his head in apology.

[Assistant] Beatrice shook her head with a look of annoyance. After that, her palm glowed with a white light, which she gently touched to Subaru’s body. “I shall now destroy the curse rite. Bear in mind that it is implanted in the place where the shaman touches your body directly.”

[User] “Sure, don’t worry, I’m all set.” Subaru checked his own body as he felt the light in her palm convey its warmth. He’d kept track of where the suspects in the village had touched him. Only the granny searching for her lost youth had touched his butt. So, if Beatrice moved her hand to his butt, he’d know that the granny was the perpetrator. He’d also complain to Beatrice about sexual harassment.

[Assistant] “—Eh?” But the place Beatrice’s palm touched was completely at odds with Subaru’s expectations. He felt a swirling heat where the white glow leaped from her palm into his flesh. There was an itchy feeling where she had touched, but it seemed to ooze right out of his body as a…

[User] “Black…cloud…?” The light in Beatrice’s hand directly caught hold of the black fog that had been the curse. The itchiness vanished as Subaru shuddered from that wriggling cloud having been inside his own body. Then…

[Assistant] “Must you be so abominable, I wonder?” Beatrice crushed it in her hand before it vanished, then shook her hand as if having touched something icky. Realizing Subaru had gone silent, she harrumphed.

[User] “It is done. I suppose you will be fine now?” When she said it is done, Subaru realized that he’d stopped breathing. He rued his timid heart, but a more pressing concern came to mind.


[User] “Hey, Beako.”

[Assistant] “Would you stop addressing me that way already…?”

[User] “Is the place you touched with your palm the place the shaman touched me?”

[Assistant] Beatrice set her own complaints aside and reluctantly nodded. Her nod affirmed in Subaru’s mind the perpetrator behind the string of curses.

[User] “I’ve got to…go to the village—!” Now that he knew the culprit’s identity, he had no choice but to act immediately. He’d originally planned to wait until the next day, go to the village with Roswaal and the twins, flush the shaman in the village out of hiding, and deal with him. But he couldn’t do that now. Subaru’s heart continued to race as he rushed to put his hand on the door. His breath was so ragged as he ran that he didn’t even hear Beatrice call out for him to stop. Fate’s irrationality and poor taste in irony, dangling Subaru and the others on a string, filled him with rage. That anger gripped Subaru as he ran, yelling at the top of his lungs. “Just how far are you gonna take playing me for a fool…? !” He kept running.


[Assistant] Subaru dashed through the hallway, leaped down the stairs, flipped around at the landing of the stairs, the heels of his shoes sliding to a stop at the entry hall as he raised his face and yelled out. “—Ram! Rem! I’ve gotta talk to you!”

[User] Ram immediately popped into view, responding to the shout that probably carried throughout the entire mansion. Apparently she’d been working quite close by. She looked at Subaru’s red face and ragged breathing with her eyes narrowed in disapproval at the impropriety. “What is it, Barusu? Your haste is quite unsightly.”

[Assistant] “Sorry, I’m heading to the village. You can’t stop me; I’ll go even if you try. I just thought it’d throw everyone off even worse if I just left without a word.”

[User] “The village…? Why would you…? No, more importantly, do you intend to disregard Master Roswaal’s instructions? Tonight, Rem and I are in charge of this mansion. Surely you understand this?” Ram glared at Subaru even more sharply. Ram’s position was that whatever Roswaal wanted came first. Subaru’s open disregard of her master’s command really rubbed her the wrong way.

[Assistant] “Time’s short, so I’ll get right to the point. There’s a bad magic user in Earlham Village. I know who it is, so I have to go now.”

[User] “…You ask me to accept what sounds like a child’s made-up excuse?”

[Assistant] “I can’t help it; there’s no other way to put it here. Go talk to Beako; you’ll see I’m telling the truth… Besides…” As he pleaded with the increasingly suspicious Ram, the great doors opened behind him as Rem emerged.

[User] “Sister—” When Rem saw the two speaking in the entry hall, she went to her sister’s side like it was second nature.


[User] “Sister, what is…?”

[Assistant] “He says he is heading out to rid us of an evil magic user in the village.” Ram bluntly conveyed Subaru’s statement to Rem for him.

[User] Hearing it put that way, even Subaru thought it sounded like pure fiction.

[Assistant] “Sister, Sister. Subaru’s joke is not very funny.”

[User] “Rem, Rem. Barusu thinks he has a future in comedy.”

[Assistant] “Ram, Rem. I might kid around all the time, but I talk seriously sometimes, too.” Faced with their twin-act lines, Subaru spoke to both at once. He took a step forward as if to emphasize that he wasn’t cowed by the sisters’ reactions.

[User] “I know it’s an unbelievable story, and it’s asking too much for you to just take my word for it right now. But I’m not asking you to let me go without any conditions.” To Subaru, this was a crucial fork in the road. Subaru wet his lips with his tongue, jabbing a finger toward the silent pair as he made his proposal.

[Assistant] “I’m going to the village. If you think that’s suspicious, fine, tag along. Watch me and see. But I’m not going with Emilia left all alone, so it has to be just one of you.”

[User] “You cannot simply go off on your own… In the first place, neither Sister nor I have any reason to go with you if we are to uphold Master Roswaal’s command…”

[Assistant] “No, you don’t, if Roswaal’s command in the evening is the only one you’re upholding. Are those the only orders Roswaal gave about me?”

[User] “—” Rem was at a loss for words. Subaru’s statement a moment before had been a mere bluff, but her uncomfortable reaction made it plain he’d hit the mark. Piecing together info from the previous loops, Subaru had guessed that Roswaal had ordered the pair to keep an eye on him.

[Assistant] “Understood, Barusu. We will accept your independent action.” Ram beat her to the punch, exhaling.

[User] “Sister? !” Rem was in utter shock at seeing her sister wave a white flag so easily.

[Assistant] But Ram indicated to her little sister to keep quiet.

[User] “However, just as you said, we cannot allow you to go alone, Barusu. Allowing you to act alone here would in itself disregard Master Roswaal’s commands.”

[Assistant] “I figured as much. So what’s our compromise gonna be?”

[User] “Though it pains me, we have no choice but to go along with your prior suggestion. Rem will accompany you.”

[Assistant] “Ask and ye shall receive, I guess.” Subaru thrust out a clenched fist to show his agreement with Ram’s terms.

[User] Ram sighed a little as she turned to her little sister, shunning Subaru.

[Assistant] “Rem, this is how it is, so, please. I shall confirm matters with Lady Beatrice and protect Lady Emilia myself—I shall be watching you from here.”

[User] “Sister, you must not use that eye too oft—”

[Assistant] “This is no time to say that.


[User] "I will use it if I need to. The same goes for you, Rem.” The way the older sister put it left no room for Rem to question any further.

[Assistant] Rem shifted an unfriendly glance at Subaru. “Subaru, I would like to hear the details.”

[User] “I’ll tell you on the way. Things might’ve already gotten pretty bad, though…”

[Assistant] He gave Ram’s shoulder a light, grateful pat as he headed to the entrance with Rem, who still didn’t look on board.


[User] A voice clear as a bell danced down from above the great stairway of the entry hall. "—Subaru, where are you going?”

[Assistant] Turning around without a thought, he looked up to see Emilia standing there, her silver hair swaying.

[User] Judging from her heavy breaths, she’d heard Subaru’s earlier shout and had come over to see the three of them below. “I thought I’d come down because I heard a loud voice earlier… Did something happen?”

[Assistant] “Something…might’ve happened. You don’t need to worry. Ah, I’ll be happy if you worry a little bit.” Subaru was behaving casually on purpose so as not to make Emilia too anxious.

[User] “Your face says you’re going to do something dangerous again.” Emilia had a sullen look about her as she saw right through him.

[Assistant] Subaru wailed inside at how his grand act had been so easily foiled as he covered his face with his palms. “That’s what we were arguing about just now. We finally got everything cleared up, so…”

[User] “There’s no point trying to stop you, is there?”

[Assistant] “Well, not really. And if you succeeded, it’d only make things worse…”

[User] “Yes, yes, I understand. I won’t stop you.” Emilia walked down the stairs, stopping just in front of Subaru and placing her hands on her hips.

[Assistant] Subaru was unable to look away from her glimmering violet eyes.

[User] With Subaru unable to move, Emilia reached out and gently touched his chest. “Even if I tell you not to be reckless or careless, you probably will anyway, won’t you?”

[Assistant] “If that’s what it takes… Ah, er, not that I want to do either, mind you.” Subaru thought with a strained smile.

[User] Emilia was still touching his chest as she murmured.


[User] "—May the grace of the spirits be with you."

[Assistant] "What was that?" Subaru tried to decipher the expression without success.

[User] Emilia shot him a broad smile. "Words you say when seeing someone off. They mean ‘come back safely.’"

[Assistant] "Ahh, I see. Got it, Emilia-tan. So when I do come back safe and sound, you’ll gently hug me to your chest like a baby chick, right?"

[User] "Yes, yes." Letting Subaru’s desire for coddling slide off her, Emilia shifted her gaze to include Rem.

[Assistant] Rem, who had been silently watching the exchange, straightened her back in response. "Be careful, Rem. Also, make sure Subaru doesn’t do anything rash."

[User] "Yes, Lady Emilia. As you wish." Seeing Rem grab the hem of her skirt and make a polite bow, Emilia nodded to her in satisfaction.

[Assistant] Subaru waved. "Well, Emilia-tan, I’m heading off."

[User] Emilia’s voice had given him words of encouragement to see him on his way. "Come back soon."


[Assistant] He pushed the doors of the entrance open and began to run toward the village side by side with Rem as the remaining two watched them go. "So, I would like to hear the details now…"

[User] "There’s a shaman in the village to hurt Emilia’s royal selection. He cursed me good, but Beatrice removed it. If we don’t act now, the whole village could get wiped out."

[Assistant] Even while running, Rem’s breath caught, her eyes going wide as she asked, "Are you…serious?"

[User] Subaru replied with a silent nod as he focused his energy on getting to the village. He wouldn’t have had to imagine a shaman with human intelligence taking such a measure. But if Subaru’s deduction was correct, he had to assume the worst. And so, Subaru ran onward. Rem continued to silently sprint by his side, as yet unaware of the gravity of the situation.


[User] By the time they arrived at the village, bonfires burned brightly, pushing back the dark of night. Rem, standing beside the out-of-breath Subaru, picked up on the strange atmosphere; her face showed she understood something was wrong.

[Assistant] A young man from the village recognized the pair and hurried over. "Hey, it’s the two from the mansion. What are you doing here at a time like—"

[User] Interrupting the youngster’s question. "It seems good that we are. Has something happened?"

[Assistant] The young man seemed a little surprised by Rem’s manner of speaking, but he immediately replied excitedly. "Yes. Actually, a bunch of village kids are missing. We knew they were out playing before it got dark, but…well, that’s why a whole bunch of people are looking."

[User] Since the youngster in front of them wasn’t being specific, Subaru cut in before Rem could ask further. "The missing kids, that’s Luca, Petra, Mildo, and them?"

[Assistant] "Y-yes, them… Do you have any idea where they went?"

[User] When the young man answered affirmatively, Subaru clicked his tongue and kicked the ground. "Who else is looking for the kids besides you?"

[Assistant] "All the young men in the village, plus Muraosa."

[User] "The kids are in the forest. You’ll never find them by looking around the village like this." Subaru’s declaration brought a change in the young man’s face.

[Assistant] He seemed like he wanted to ask Subaru more, but Subaru patted his shoulder and ran toward the trees. "I’m going into the forest. Tell everyone that’s where the kids are!" Subaru made a beeline toward the woods, paying no heed to the questioning voice behind him.

[User] Rem hurried to keep up with Subaru, giving him a look wrapped in doubt about how certain he seemed. "How do you know such a…?"

[Assistant] "I can tell. No, I know. If what the brats said was right, they should be this way." A tall wooden fence surrounded the village. The pair climbed over a section bordering the forest and cut among the trees as they headed deeper in.

[User] Subaru had just been going by his memory of what he’d heard, but Rem, walking beside him, suddenly lifted her face. "—The barrier has been…severed." Rem’s surprised voice made Subaru grit his teeth, because he had been right.

[Assistant] Pointed to a crystal embedded in a large tree right before their eyes. Judging from how it wasn’t glowing, it must have been placed there to power a barrier blocking off the spaces between the trees.


[User] "What does the barrier being cut mean here?"

[Assistant] "It means that demon beasts can cross the boundary. This forest is their habitat, you see."

[User] "Demon beasts…? Huh? So, um, what are they, anyway?"

[Assistant] Rem’s eyes waver as she delivered a textbook reply. "They are beasts imbued with dark power, the enemy of intelligent life. It is said that the witch created them."

[User] "More of the witch, even here, geez…" Subaru grimaced at the piece of vocabulary that stuck out.

[Assistant] Before Rem’s eyes, Subaru stepped into the gap between the trees she had called a barrier and headed deeper into the woods.

[User] "—! Subaru, what are you—? !" Rem, surprised, raised her voice to stop him.

[Assistant] "The kids are in there. I have to save them."

[User] "Do you have hard proof of that? Master Roswaal’s permission is required before crossing the ba—"

[Assistant] "The scar on my hand is proof!" He raised his left hand so that Rem could see the animal bite mark on the back of it.

[User] "The kids had a cute puppy with them. It looked like a dog, but what if it wasn’t a dog? What if it was a demon beast that curses whoever it bites?"

[Assistant] "This gets worse the more time passes. We don’t know if the kids are already cursed, but for now we’ve got to bring them all back to the mansion and purify them."

[User] "Hold on. You cannot simply decide that on your… In the first place, the situation is too suspicious."

[Assistant] "Huh?"

[User] Rem pointed toward the village, which happened to be toward the mansion as well. "To have such a problem occur while Master Roswaal is absent… Are you certain this is not a diversion for an attack on the mansion?"

[Assistant] "So what would you do? Abandon the kids in trouble right this minute, go back to the mansion, and batten down the hatches?"


[User] "I mean, yeah, we can do that, if you’re all right with everyone in the village being dead by morning.” Even as he said it, Subaru was well aware of how cruelly he’d put it.

[Assistant] Rem was just trying to do her job and minimize the risks to the people at the mansion. It was natural for her to think that way, and he had no intention of blaming Rem for it. But there came a time when you had to make a choice, no matter how much you tried to push it away. And Subaru knew only too well that the greatest regret came from choosing not to choose at all. "Rem, let’s go. We’ve got to do something.”

[User] "Why are you that determined to…? Subaru, what connection do you have to the vill—” Perhaps it was her still being unsure about his judgment, but it was the first time Subaru had heard Rem murmur in a feminine fashion.

[Assistant] Here was Rem, prim and proper through thick and thin, uttering such soft complaints. If he was being honest, Subaru would’ve said he was scared to go forward. His legs were trembling from fatigue, but from another reason as well. Who could have blamed him if he’d displayed the face of a coward he was desperately keeping concealed? But Subaru slapped his own cheeks to make his heart forget its slide toward weakness and escape. “—Petra wants to be a clothing maker in the capital when she grows up.”

[User] “…Ah?”

[Assistant] “Luca wants to follow in the footsteps of his dad, the top woodcarver in the village. Mildo wants to make a wreath from flowers from all the flower beds and give it to his mom as a present…”

[Assistant] Subaru recalled each face one by one in the back of his mind as he continued, counting with his fingers. “Meyna’s all happy because a little brother or sister will be born anytime now, and those brothers Dyne and Cain are both working hard to get Petra’s hand in marriage…” He let out a small laugh. Then he shook his head to Rem, who stood in silence. “I know their faces, their names, and what they want to do in life. I’m not some stranger anymore.” Subaru hated kids. They were noisy, rowdy, and they talked trash with no respect for their elders. They thought nothing of discourtesy or disrespect, were brash and unreserved—it was like looking at himself in the mirror. “But, Rem, I promised them I’d do aerobics with them again tomorrow morning.”

[User] Subaru had thought the same things during the loop on the first day after his summoning. It’d be easier just to let things go. But he ran forward because he couldn’t. He looked at Rem. She was conflicted. She hesitated. Looking weak, powerless, about to break out in tears—that was Subaru’s job. Seeing her looking weaker than he, Subaru resented himself for hardening his resolve.


[User] "I keep my promises and expect others to keep theirs—I’ll do aerobics with those brats again, you’ll see. That’s why I’m heading in." He had no idea courage was such a terrifying thing. Subaru was so focused on keeping his hands from shaking that he didn’t even notice the tremor in his voice.

[Assistant] From behind, Rem watched all this, then silently closed her eyes. "Then it cannot…be helped."

[User] "Rem?" Subaru lifted his face as Rem’s tongue abruptly loosened.

[Assistant] "After all, I have been assigned to watch over you, Subaru. I cannot accomplish that duty if I let you go by yourself, can I?" Rem sounded like she was teasing Subaru, leaving him in shock before he finally shook his head.

[User] "Yeah, I suppose not. Keep a good eye on me to make sure I don’t do anything suspicious."

[Assistant] "Yes, I will. So, let us be off?" Seeing Rem standing beside him, Subaru felt like it was the first time they had truly stood side by side. He had an urge to thank Rem, but before he could find the words, he noticed it.

[User] "Er, ah, Rem, that’s…" As Rem walked beside him, she had at some point taken an iron ball in her hand. Attached to a handle via a long chain, the metal looked much too heavy for the ease with which she carried it.

[Assistant] "For self-defense."

[User] "Er, but that’s…"

[Assistant] "For self-defense."


[User] Subaru and Rem traded words along those lines as they walked into the woods without any path to follow. He desperately tried to re-harden his resolve and revive the courage he’d wrung out of himself at such great pains. With Rem maintaining her combat readiness with the iron ball “for self-defense” in one hand, the two continued exploring the night-covered forest. The moonlight was obstructed by the tree canopy, bringing a deep, black darkness over the forest. As they stepped around the trees obstructing their path, plowing forward through leaves and branches, their bodies picked up scratches that oozed blood. Plunged into a world with just a little moonlight trickling through to light the way, there was only one thing they had to search for.

[Assistant] "—" Rem stopped, looking all around as she sniffed the air. Her motion was like that of a police dog, and they were indeed relying on Rem’s sense of smell to guide them through the forest. Subaru kept from speaking to her so as not to disrupt her concentration, but his unease was intense.


[User] He trailed after her small back as she stepped ahead of him, the long silence whittling at Subaru’s mental state.

[Assistant] "—I smell something alive… It is close." Rem sent a sharp gaze to her left as she murmured, and Subaru followed suit.

[User] Seized by impatience, he patted Rem’s shoulder. "Is it the kids?"

[Assistant] "I do not know, but it is not an animal smell."

[User] "That’s enough to go on." Subaru said, nodding to Rem as he rushed forward.

[Assistant] She ran right behind him. Even Rem’s expression brightened a bit from having a solid lead that cut through the darkness. She subconsciously picked up her pace.

[User] Although, as their expectations increased, so did their unease.

[Assistant] That fact was probably part of why Rem was unwilling to say for certain if the scent belonged to the kids. Rem drove forward, shoving aside foliage to make a path.

[User] Subaru chased after her, out of breath as his legs began to grow heavy. But his mind was crystal clear. His eyes had begun to acclimate to the darkness, so Subaru started to make out the outlines of the forest, too—and the next moment, the forest opened up, and both arrived on top of a high little hill. Moonlight shone down on the green slope in the gap in the forest like something out of a dream.


[Assistant] "It’s the kids!" There, lying on the ground, were the children, arms and legs spread as they slept. Rem and Subaru rushed over together to check on whether they were safe. There were six on the ground in total. They weren’t conscious, but they were breathing, and their bodies were warm to the touch.

[User] "They’re alive. They’re alive!"

[Assistant] "We made it in time!" Subaru shouted with joy.

[User] Rem, standing beside him, had a stern look on her face. "No, they are still breathing, but they are heavily debilitated. At this rate…"

[Assistant] "Debilitated…? The curse?!" When he looked closer, he saw that the children all had pale faces; their breaths were short and ragged, like even that drained their strength. Their brows were covered in cold sweat as they slept with pained expressions, like they were seeing nightmares.

[User] "After we finally found them… Rem, can’t you lift the curses?"

[Assistant] "My skill is insufficient. If Sister is indeed watching this place… At any rate, I will use healing magic to put them at ease. We shall carry them once they calm down."

[User] "Got it. I’ll… Shit, I’m so useless. I’ll keep an eye out for trouble." Subaru resented himself all over again for his lack of ability.

[Assistant] Rem said nothing to him; instead, she infused her palm with a pale light—the light of healing mana—and began to treat the children. While he kept a lookout, Subaru watched as the wave of healing began to bring peace to more of the sleeping children.


[User] At the rate they were calming, they could bring the kids back to the mansion and ask Beatrice to lift the c— But just as Subaru was mentally putting plans in order, a girl lightly opened her eyes and called his name.

[Assistant] "Suba…ru?" Her gaze looked troubled, perhaps because her mind was so hazy.

[User] "You’re awake, Petra? Okay, good girl, you’re a strong girl. We’ll be taking you back real soon and making the reason you’re suffering go bye-bye, so right now you need to just rest…" Subaru took her hand.

[Assistant] "There’s one in… Still… The forest…"

[User] "—Hey, what did you say?" Petra was trying to tell him something with her halting words. The information nuggets gave him a bad feeling, so Subaru called out to Petra once more. But his voice never reached her; her eyes had closed and she’d lost consciousness again. Subaru patted the sleeping Petra’s forehead and urgently rushed to the other children, looking them over. Then…

[Assistant] "Aw, crap… She’s right. I don’t see the youngest one here." He knew the faces of all six of the children sleeping there from spending time with them during the day. Setting aside Subaru and the puppy, it left the shy, withdrawn girl missing.

[User] "Damn it all!" Subaru stood up, tearing at his hair at the turn for the worse.

[Assistant] Rem, who’d seen and heard the entire exchange with Petra, widened her eyes, apparently alarmed at Subaru’s behavior. "P-please wait. It is too dangerous. If she was taken away by the demon beasts, there is nothing—"

[User] "I know what you’re trying to say. I know. I know all too well, but you heard it, too, Rem. Petra said to go get the last one of them before anything else."

[Assistant] Petra was suffering to the brink of tears, weakened to the point that breathing was a struggle. Even so, she’d expressed concern for her friend rather than saying the words save me. She was a weak little girl, but the life of her friend came before her own. "…I want to do what Petra asked me to. If we’re gonna pick one up, we might as well do our best to pick ’em all up."

[User] "You are too greedy. If you pick up too much, you might end up dropping everything on the floor."

[Assistant] "You’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen, Rem."

[User] Rem looked daunted by it all.

[Assistant] Seeing her so surprised, Subaru spread his arms wide to make her look at him. "I can’t do anything here, either. I can’t use healing magic, and there’s no way I can bring the kids back by myself. If so, I should use myself as effectively as I can, right?"

[User] "What does that have to do with m—"

[Assistant] "You need to save your strength to carry the kids, Rem. The young men from the village will…probably be coming in after us soon enough.


[User] "Just hand the kids over to them and come after me.”

[Assistant] All Rem needed to do was hand the kids over and tell the men to bring the kids to the mansion. “While you’re doing that, I’ll go deeper in and look for the last kid… Hey, if it’s worst case, I’ll come running right back. But if there’s still any ray of hope, at least I can buy some time out there.”

[User] Rem, unable to accept Subaru’s decision, grabbed Subaru’s sleeve and argued vehemently. “You do not know your opponent’s strength. There is no guarantee when the villagers will come, and worst case, I may not be able to find you.”

[Assistant] Thinking that it’d be nice if it was the former, Subaru pulled Rem’s fingers off his sleeve and held her hand. “I’ll be all right. You’ll find me.”

[User] "What proof do you have of…?"

[Assistant] “I’ve got proof right here.” Subaru smiled, pointing a finger at his own nose before pointing it back at Rem’s face. “Even if no one else notices, you’ll notice my scent. I have the lingering stench of a villain hovering about me, right?”

[User] Rem’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

[Assistant] He laughed, like seeing this Rem before his eyes was taking revenge on that other Rem from times past.

[User] "Subaru…how much…do you know…?"

[Assistant] “Ah, I’m pretty ignorant about tons of things. It’s so bad, I’d never find the answers even if I repeated yesterday, today, and tomorrow over and over again.”

[User] “Looks like you have some things you want to ask me, and I have a mountain of things I want to ask you. So when this is all over, let’s talk it out till our throats go dry. It’s a promise.”

[Assistant] And, without waiting for Rem, he kept their hands together as he wrapped his little finger around hers. Rem remained perplexed at the sight of their intertwined pinkie fingers as Subaru moved the fingers up and down in a shake. “There. Pinkie promise.”

[User] "Wh-what did you just…?"

[Assistant] “It’s a ritual from my homeland for making a promise. It’s a terrible ritual guaranteeing you’ll get a thousand sewing needles stuck into you if you break it.”

[User] The encroachment of Subaru Space had already exceeded Rem’s comprehension. Rem was befuddled and confused beyond words when Subaru snapped his fingers and flashed his teeth. “I believe in you, Rem. So I want to act based on that trust. That’s why we need to promise here.”

[Assistant] “I told you, right?


[User] "I keep my promises, and I expect others to keep theirs. Plus I’ve got Emilia’s blessing on my side, so don’t worry, be happy.”

[Assistant] “H-happy…?” Completely unable to keep up, Rem made a long, exasperated sigh as she laughed weakly.

[User] Seeing that Rem was continuing to laugh, Subaru kept his voice down as he laughed, too.

[Assistant] “A promise, then. There really is much I want to ask you, after all.”

[User] “Sure thing. It’s a promise between the two of us that needed making. The same probably goes for the hair, too.”

[Assistant] “The hair…?”

[User] “The reason why you keep staring at my hair.”

[Assistant] Rem was at a loss for words when Subaru pointed it out. Guilt also seemed to well into her eyes as she watched her open her mouth. “Subaru, I…”

[User] “It’s all right. I’m not getting the wrong idea. You were always watching me while I did my amateur work because the shabby top of my head really bothered you…right?” On the last day before he’d begun looping again, Subaru and Rem had made a promise—a promise for Rem to cut Subaru’s unsightly hair. Now Subaru understood the truth behind those words. At the time, Rem had been seized by enormous distrust of Subaru, hence the intensity of her gaze toward him. Ram had simply been trying to cover for her. That promise had been made on the basis of a lie. He knew that now. But Subaru would take the promise that began with a lie and make it true, smiling all the way. “When I come back safe and sound, I’ll put myself at your mercy. I’m counting on you to make me look so cool that Emilia will fall for me without even thinking.”

[Assistant] “…Given what I am starting with, even I have my limits.”

[User] “Could you please put facts like that in a less direct way…?” This was the Rem who had always left him behind. Her agreeing to go along with his suggestion made him happy then and there. Subaru made a satisfied nod at how the cheerful days he sought were being born anew.

[Assistant] “I shall hand off the children and immediately catch up with you. Please do nothing rash in the meantime.”

[User] “Don’t worry. After all, I’m possessed by a demon today.”

[Assistant] “Possessed…?”

[User] “Possessed by a demon instead of a god. Lately it’s my favorite saying!” Subaru posed with two fingers standing above his head to act as pretend horns. Regardless of what she thought about Subaru’s frivolous behavior, she let his pose pass without comment.

[Assistant] “Please be careful.” With Rem sending him off and turning around, Subaru went down the low hill, going deeper into the forest. He headed in the direction Petra had indicated just before losing consciousness.

[User] “Well, Subaru Natsuki, let’s do this.” Speaking to encourage himself, Subaru ran, clenching the hand with which he’d made the pinkie promise for good measure.


[User] His heart was in a hurry, but he tread cautiously. The inside of his mouth was parched; his throat was tense with stress. He kept his footsteps quiet as he guardedly advanced into the dark forest.

[Assistant] His steps were hesitant, but not because he was afraid or timid about moving forward. “I sure flapped my lips in front of Rem there, but…”

[User] It was a dangerous move to go alone, but Subaru thought his odds were far from hopeless. In the first place, Subaru was a weakling; his personality was fundamentally averse to gambling. He was doing this precisely because he had a reasonable basis to think he had a chance. “If it was that puppy from today that cursed the kids, I’ve got a shot…”

[Assistant] It bore the frightening title of demon beast, but surely a puppy didn’t have much combat ability. Its curse was indeed a frightening thing, but if it came to a clash of man versus fang… “I won’t lose to that thing, right…?”

[User] It was rather pathetic to pin his hopes on his opponent’s small size, though. No doubt it was an optimistic and convenient thought, but he didn’t think he was wrong to be optimistic, especially because this world had given Subaru such a raw deal. If he just piled on negative images, he would lose himself, cast into despair too deep for his exuberance to get him out of.

[Assistant] Subaru sighed, slumping his shoulders at how his parents had taught him to look at the warped world around him.

[User] “—!” Subaru held his breath and stopped his feet at the sudden malaise he felt. The air seemed to shift against his skin. The sweat on his brow suddenly grew much cooler. The wind carried into his trembling nostrils the thick scent of beasts in the direction he was traveling. Whereas before the air was thick with the scent of grass and soil, it was now full of the stench of some wild animal in nature. Subaru, unable to quash the feeling that something bad was on its way, stilled his breathing. He poked his head out through a gap in the trees.

[Assistant] “—” At the end of his line of sight, in a tiny clearing, he saw a tree that had fallen due to wind and rot. A slender white leg was poking out beside it. When he craned his neck and peered in, Subaru saw that the leg had tattered cloth over it, attached to a girl wearing her frayed brown hair in braids. He’d found her.

[User] “—” He held his breath and thought about this. There was no doubt this was the girl in question. But the girl’s body did not so much as twitch while she lay on the ground.