Having fired off a question that struck at the core, Subaru understood where he stood.
The moment the words left his mouth and visibly struck Garfiel's eardrums, the golden-haired young man's expression shifted. And seeing that, Subaru's consciousness went blank for a split second.
That sharp, hawkish face that had always been wary of Subaru, its corners perpetually raised in a keen glare. Garfiel, who had maintained an unyielding exterior and never once let weakness show through.
That expression of his was now, unmistakably, twisted.
Like a child who'd had some precious secret ripped away and was on the verge of tears.
"You... what the hell did you just say?"
But that fleeting, vulnerable expression lasted only an instant.
Garfiel shut his eyes tight, then ground his teeth as if to obliterate the weakness he'd just shown. His entire body radiated an almost demonic pressure as he glared at Subaru.
The atmosphere that had been drifting through the forest—calm, even tinged with loneliness—changed in an instant. A prickling sensation crawled up Subaru's skin where Garfiel's gaze fell upon him.
Every last one of those sensations was nothing more than Subaru's body expressing the danger it had perceived. And that over-the-top reaction was— "Quite the murder aura you've got going."
More than enough for Subaru to become convinced that something had been touched—something Garfiel couldn't afford to have exposed.
At Subaru's murmur, the silent Garfiel's eyes grew even more intense.
Not a trace of that momentary weakness remained. The gaze now boring into Subaru carried the razor edge of someone staring at the object of their hatred.
Beneath a gaze sharp enough to kill, Subaru's entire body continued sounding its alarm bells. But Subaru consciously ignored them, maintaining his carefree demeanor— "Don't make me repeat myself. I saw someone who looked just like Ryuzu-san wandering around the
"...I got no idea what you're getting at. Ain't this just about you seeing the old lady shuffling around? If she was creeping about in the dead of night, that'd be a different problem, but that's a separate conversation."
"Two of them."
"Huh?"
As Garfiel tried to respond to Subaru's claim with orderly logic, Subaru shattered that attempt by raising two fingers on his outstretched right hand— "What I saw was two people who both looked like Ryuzu-san, acting together. Even if one of them was the real Ryuzu-san, the other one... who could that have been, I wonder—"
—And the instant he finished the sentence, Subaru realized he'd lost all sense of which way was up.
"Gwah!"
His back slammed into something hard, wringing a groan and the air from his lungs.
What he felt against his back was a thick, rough-textured surface—the trunk of a tree, pressing into him with considerable force. Not only that, his body was pinned up off the ground so he couldn't escape, held vertical against it.
A hand pressed against the center of his stomach served as the pivot point, keeping Subaru's body pinned in midair. And Garfiel, who had accomplished this feat through sheer balance and arm strength, glared straight into Subaru's eyes from up close— "Where did you say you saw that, huh?"
"Nothing about where... it was in the forest..."
"No way. That ain't possible. Y'think we ain't busting our asses to make sure that never happens? Otherwise, a busybody like you with a nose for trouble would get the drop on us."
The pressure of the palm increased, and Subaru drooled from the corner of his mouth as the force squeezed his stomach nearly inside out. He thrashed with all four limbs, but it was no use.
He looked like an insect pinned to a display board. The thought was revolting.
"Stay like this and your front and back are gonna get squished together, y'know? Before that happens, I'd appreciate it if you told me the damn truth."
With a sadistic grin curling at the corner of his mouth, Garfiel increased the pressure of his palm as if to drive the lesson into Subaru's body.
The compression was beginning to grind his bones and organs together, and Subaru felt it with enough certainty to know the fate Garfiel described was no joke. Panting, gasping for breath, he managed— "That... depends on how you behave..."
"Would ya look at that. You're still thinkin' we're on equal footing in this situation, huh? I thought I beat that hubris outta you from the start."
"If you... kill me here and now without asking anything... you won't solve a damn thing."
"............"
Through halting, broken words, Subaru could see that Garfiel was beginning to listen.
For Subaru, Garfiel's violent reaction had been half-expected, half-unforeseen.
In all his loops so far, Subaru had only witnessed the Ryuzu copies—the "Ryuzu clones"—during the final
Outside of that, you could say that not a single scene within the Sanctuary had even hinted at the clones' existence, let alone shown one. Looking back now, if he'd assumed clones existed from the start, there were several scenes where things would have clicked into place—but he'd skip that for now.
Either way, the clones had been hidden remarkably well within the Sanctuary.
It seemed unlikely that Garfiel alone had been hiding all twenty-or-more of them within the Sanctuary. Nine times out of ten, it was common knowledge among the Sanctuary's residents.
If anyone on Subaru's side knew, it would be Roswaal and possibly
Either way, Subaru had believed that voicing this would touch a nerve. Confirming that much was the half he'd expected.
And what he hadn't expected was— "...You're outta your mind."
The moment Garfiel spat those words, the hold on Subaru's body released.
"Wha—!" Subaru cried out in surprise, unable to even break his fall as he dropped to the ground. Rolling with the taste of grass and dirt in his mouth, he spat out gravel and glared up at Garfiel.
"D-don't just let go like that! You're gonna give me a heart attack!"
"Shut it, lunatic. No joke. You were testin' me, weren't ya?"
"Testing you?"
Garfiel clicked his tongue in irritation at Subaru, who tilted his head with genuine puzzlement.
Looking up at Subaru from below, who was playing innocent— "Just now, you said those words knowin' damn well I might kill you for it."
"............"
What Subaru hadn't expected was that Garfiel hadn't immediately tried to kill him.
Even after touching a nerve like that, he'd still been given the chance to talk.
That is to say, Subaru had spoken while fully considering the possibility of his own death—and Garfiel, catching a whiff of that, viciously kicked the dirt— "No joke. You're usin' your life as bettin' money and lookin' at me like it's no big deal. If that ain't crazy, I don't know what is. Disgusting."
"That actually hurts to hear... It's not like I do this stuff lightly."
Subaru let out a weak laugh at Garfiel's words and scratched his head.
He could feel his own fingertips trembling faintly even as he did.
Even now, Garfiel had stopped roughing Subaru up, but he hadn't relaxed his hostility in the slightest.
Which meant his body was still screaming with primal terror, and the agony of having his insides squeezed wouldn't let up.
And of course. He had deliberately enraged Garfiel and was standing right in front of him.
That was, in other words, the same as half-accepting a face-to-face confrontation with that golden tiger that had rampaged through the night forest and slaughtered so many villagers.
The thought of those fangs, those claws, that terror—of being ravaged by them—made his body and soul shrink.
But even so— "If all it takes is my life, then the result's worth the cost."
If the only sacrifice required was wearing away at his own heart, what a bargain that was.
A happy ending this cheap didn't come along often.
Subaru's resolve seemed like it could snap at any moment—yet its foundation was rock-solid, more than enough to support its meager frame.
Garfiel seemed to grasp that too. He wrinkled his nose in distaste— "I ain't got a single good thing to say about a guy who looks at me with those eyes. Honest truth, I'd crush 'em right here and now if I could..."
"That'd be a problem for me, so I'd appreciate it if you let it slide. Same goes for what we were talking about earlier... Anyway—"
"............"
"Do you plan on answering my question or not?"
Brushing the dirt off his body, Subaru pressed on with the question.
Having the topic he'd tried to bury resurface like this put a sour look on Garfiel's face. He averted his eyes from Subaru, who refused to look away— "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Fair enough. Can't be helped, then."
Hearing that stubborn, childlike refusal, Subaru shrugged and backed off without a fuss.
Garfiel looked blindsided by Subaru's response.
"You... weren't you just askin'..."
"You don't want to talk about it, right? And even if I tried to force it out of you, I've got neither the muscle nor the persuasion to do it. I could beg, but it doesn't feel worth the risk, so I'll put a pin in it."
"...What?"
"Don't look so surprised, Garfiel. No matter how hard you try to cover it up, I will uncover it. Because I have to."
Subaru stared right back at Garfiel as his head snapped up.
Their gazes crossed, but this time Subaru wasn't crushed by it. Garfiel's killing intent was weaker than before, and Subaru had made up his mind.
"Garfiel. I will absolutely uncover what you... what you all are hiding in the Sanctuary. Once I know I have to do it, it's non-negotiable."
"...Shut up. If I shut that mouth of yours right here, right now, there ain't gonna be any 'absolute' or 'guaranteed' about anything, y'hear?"
"Sorry, but that's exactly what makes it absolute and guaranteed. As long as I don't give up, a secret I already know exists can't stay a secret. If you're gonna blame someone, blame your own carelessness."
Garfiel's eyes wavered with confusion, unable to grasp the meaning of Subaru's words.
Of course—he couldn't understand the word "carelessness" that Subaru had thrown at him. Because it referred to a mistake he hadn't yet made.
"...Probably no point talking any further."
Watching Garfiel fall silent, Subaru concluded the conversation.
Garfiel's wariness was at its peak, and on top of that, he'd dug his heels in. Right now—or in this loop at least—it probably wouldn't be possible to loosen his heart any further.
From the start, there had been almost no chance of clearing things in this loop, but having that chance completely crushed still stung.
"But still—"
—He had to endure.
Having chosen to bet his life, he'd have to keep company with this sense of loss over and over and over again.
He shouldn't allow himself to get used to this pain, or to forget it.
If he grew too accustomed to the repeated deaths, and could no longer sincerely wish for the future beyond them, Subaru's heart would surely be swallowed by shadow and never return. That's what it felt like.
"You still planning on stopping me, Garfiel?"
"............"
"If you are, it'll just be a detour. Better for me if you're not."
Even if he were killed here, Subaru would return to the tomb from several hours ago.
The events that followed would likely feel like a formality, but even if Garfiel dragged him out like this again, Subaru could probably handle it more smoothly this time.
Of course, avoiding Return by Death altogether would be ideal.
There was no response from Garfiel to Subaru's provocation.
Without another word, Subaru turned his back on him and headed from the forest back into the Sanctuary. He needed to organize his plan for tomorrow and the things he still had to verify.
Even if chances existed in proportion to his stubbornness, that didn't mean he could waste them.
"Y'know..."
As Subaru began to walk away, Garfiel's hushed voice stopped him.
Subaru stopped but didn't turn around. And to that Subaru, Garfiel said— "What the hell do you want to do with the Sanctuary... with this place? What are you trying to do to us, huh? Hey, I'm talkin' to you!"
"I told you my goal. I'm here to help
At the very least, he knew about the disaster that would befall the Sanctuary.
He wanted to save Ryuzu and the residents from that disaster, and he intended to act on that. Including Garfiel in that was only natural.
But that was only the end goal— "Along the way there, I'll probably make you feel like crap more than once. For that, I'm sorry in advance. ...My bad."
"...I got no idea what you're even sayin'. At least in that regard, you're exactly like every last one of 'em."
Subaru thought of Garfiel's attitude—the way he looked at something he couldn't understand—and accepted it with a resigned sigh. It couldn't be helped.
He wanted to be understood. But he didn't expect to be.
"I'm not looking to be enemies. Starting tomorrow, let's just act normal... well, you don't have to, but don't get in my way. Keep warm tonight and get to bed early. Forget your morning routine if you feel like it—sleep in tomorrow. Maybe even sleep twice—"
Mid-sentence, as he was tossing out his final words before leaving, Subaru suddenly cut himself off.
Because the words he'd just spoken had caught on something.
And that something took on an unexpected shape in Subaru's mind— "Is it worth it?"
"...Huh?"
"Anyway, it's done for tonight, Garfiel. Your worries, your fears—I'll deal with all of it. So just hold tight and wait until then."
"You—! You—!"
At Subaru's words—words that always looked past the present toward what lay ahead—Garfiel finally raised his face.
His face was flushed red with fury, teeth bared, spittle flying— "Sittin' there with your high-and-mighty attitude, spoutin' off like some...! Who—who the hell asked you to fix anything?! Don't you go doin' somethin' stupid! This place, the old ladies... Y-you don't know... a thing! Not a damn thing, and yet...!"
"That's exactly why I'm going to learn. At least, that's how I see what I'm doing."
"You think you can understand anything when all you know is the surface, the top layer?! A con artist who grins like an idiot, talks about nothing but pipe dreams, and smooth-talks his way past everything—"
"————"
"You don't know jack about pain or suffering, so don't you dare talk like you understand anything—!!"
Garfiel screamed at Subaru, his words tumbling out in a torrent.
The curses dissolved into the night sky of the forest, as if swallowed whole.
Condescending, know-it-all tone and attitude, saying unnecessary things when he didn't know a single thing.
—And yeah, every word was spot-on. Not a single thing to argue against.
But— "...I know."
"————"
"I know what hell is. —I've seen it, again and again."
If hell existed in this world, it was the world Subaru had seen.
Time and again, the worlds he'd visited came to their ends, and Subaru had been forced to gaze upon a hell he wanted to look away from—burned into his eyes, driven into his understanding, over and over.
That was precisely why— "Let me be the only one who knows hell. That's why I'm here."
—Right now, that was what he believed.
--- After having his heart wrenched by Garfiel's anguish, Subaru did not return to the cathedral where his bed awaited.
Normally, he should have gone back and taken his time to flesh out his plans for what came next. In fact, that was what he'd been planning to do until moments ago.
There was a reason he'd abandoned that plan and come all the way out here instead.
"...I'm pretty sure it was this way."
Pushing aside the overgrown vines with his arms, Subaru pressed forward along a pathless trail, muttering to himself.
The moonlight was blocked by the trees, leaving visibility poor. Worse still, the ground was choked with grass up to his knees, making footing treacherous. The terrain wasn't even level, so he had to walk slowly to keep from tripping.
"My sense of direction is actually pretty solid, but my memories are hazy. I didn't exactly have time to take in my surroundings either, so I can't really complain."
Even his self-justification came out feeble as Subaru fumbled through the undergrowth, searching for a path.
Right now, Subaru was in the forest outside the Sanctuary—not the spot where he'd been talking with Garfiel. He'd returned to the Sanctuary from there, then ventured back into the forest.
The reason was— "That's where Garfiel appeared from last time."
Before the loop began—that is, going all the way back to before the first "trial" at the tomb.
On the morning of the day he'd taken the trial, Subaru had brought Otto along to the tomb to verify whether he qualified for the "trial."
As a result, the tomb had accepted him, and that night he'd been given the chance to challenge the trial and settle things with his past—but that wasn't the issue.
That morning, while Subaru and Otto were exchanging their usual banter in front of the tomb, Garfiel had appeared from the forest and joined them. When asked, Garfiel said he'd been on his usual patrol of the Sanctuary.
"The timing was suspicious, and the fact that he came from that direction."
It was the perfect timing and the spot he'd emerged from that bothered Subaru.
Recalling Garfiel stepping out of the brush beside the tomb, Subaru had felt a flicker of familiarity. Sifting through his memories, pulling out what had snagged his attention, he realized— The mysterious facility where
When Subaru had returned to the Sanctuary from that facility, he'd emerged at a spot that felt close to where Garfiel had come from.
So Subaru had bet that something was hidden at that facility and entered the forest. Now he was searching the nighttime woods for the path to it, and— "A worn-down path..."
Seeing a stretch of cleared ground where the undergrowth parted, Subaru judged it was proof that someone regularly walked this route. Following that path deeper into the forest and letting himself quicken his pace, the view before him eventually brightened— "...Found it."
A crumbling stone building. A dilapidated, fossil-like structure, built against a rocky outcrop deep in the forest.
Approaching the building that was hard to make out in the dim light, Subaru took in its exterior and tilted his head.
"Huh... I could've sworn it was in worse shape last time..."
He couldn't disguise the building's age, but its state of disrepair seemed better than what he remembered. To put it plainly, what he'd seen before had been a ruin; the structure before him now still barely clung to the appearance of a building.
Which meant— "If I'm not misremembering, something happens to make this place deteriorate even more between now and six days from now?"
Matching his memories to the situation, that was the only conclusion that made sense.
And if events did unfold that way, this place was probably connected to whatever was going to happen in the Sanctuary.
Holding his breath, Subaru cautiously killed his presence and turned the handle on the entrance.
The door opened with an unexpectedly quiet sound, and he stepped inside to the welcome of a stale, musty smell.
Same as before—scattered furnishings, a rough entryway that had never seen a drop of maintenance. Passing through what looked like a waiting area or reception, Subaru headed for the room he was really after.
Down the corridor, to the final door—the room where, after being teleported by Beatrice, he'd found a bottomless pit in the floor.
The moment he opened it, he remembered the trap door. Keeping that in mind, Subaru slowly pushed the door open and leaned his head in to check— "You've got to be kidding..."
The sight before him was so unexpected that the words slipped out before he could stop them.
Bathed in a pale, blue-white light that scattered in dazzling reflections, narrowing his eyes against the glare, Subaru stared straight at it.
At the very back of the facility, in the room he'd been looking for, there was— "Is that... Ryuzu?"
—a crystal the size of a person, radiating a soft blue glow, with a small woman sealed inside.