human
Subaru:  "It was fifty-four steps to go up from the fourth floor to the third floor, but this was four hundred and forty-four steps. That’s almost ten times more steps."
gpt
Emilia:  "Y-you counted, Emilia?"
human
Emilia:  "Heh-heh, actually counting steps in a staircase has been a bit of a hobby lately… Why are you patting my head?"
gpt
Subaru:  "A-anyway, that’s a great observation, Emilia. If this really is the second floor like we hope, then…"
human
Beatrice:  "The examination should start. Most likely, that is the signal." Dodging Emilia’s question, Subaru looked at where Beatrice was pointing—the place right in front of where the stairway let out. There was an object there that made its presence felt.
gpt
Beatrice:  "" On the third floor, Taygeta, there was a thing like that in the center of the room, too. Touching it was the signal of the examination’s start. If the setup was the same, then most likely…"
human
Julius:  "It’s not a monolith this time. It’s a sword." His yellow eyes narrowed as he looked at the object sticking out of the ground in the middle of the room.
gpt
Subaru:  "So is this supposed to be a sword of selection or something…?"
human
Julius:  ""He raised his eyebrows at Subaru’s comment but managed to control himself.
gpt
Subaru:  Leaving his shock aside, Subaru looked over to Shaula first. The words “Whatever you ask, I don’t know!” were written all over her face, so he did not bother asking.
human
Emilia:  "Subaru."
gpt
Subaru:  "It’s okay, I think. There’s no way some instant-death trap is going to spring on it or something." Nodding at Emilia, who looked worried, Subaru slowly walked over to the sword. There was no telling what would happen the moment he touched it. So he made sure to give everyone ample warning.
human
Subaru:  "Be sure to catch Anastasia. The stairs are long, so if she went rolling, she’d tumble to her doom."
gpt
Julius:  "I will bear that in mind. You should stay vigilant for Lady Emilia and Lady Beatrice as well."
human
Subaru:  "It’ll be fine. I’ll will be sure to protect Subaru."
gpt
Emilia:  "Yeah, I’m being protected." Emilia flashed Subaru a thumbs-up, and Julius sighed a bit at how fired up she was.
human
Subaru:  Seeing that, Subaru stood in front of the sword. It was close enough to touch. At that point, it started to feel real. Unlike the monolith, it didn’t seem to be some sort of mysterious object.