A tremor ran through Subaru's entire body when he saw the woman standing at the entrance.
Even for Subaru—who, since being summoned to this other world, had weathered countless crises and at times even lost his life—she was an entity that brought a terror so alien it defied comparison.
She wore a black cloak draped over a figure sheathed in form-fitting jet-black attire that clung to every curve. Like Subaru, she had black hair—a rarity in this world—long and braided, and her gently downturned features wore a sultry smile.
In her hand, she casually held a blood-dripping blade. Without it, she would have been a beauty worthy of a painting—a woman, a murderer, the worst calamity Subaru could face. The First Killer. The "Bowel Hunter,"
"W-why… are you here?!"
"Oh my, you smell familiar. So it was you after all? How have you been feeling lately? Have you been taking good care of what's inside your tummy?"
Elsa raised her brows and tilted her head at Subaru's shocked exclamation, looking as though she had only just noticed his presence.
The question she had tossed out was already incomprehensible as conversation. Feeding one's own internal organs—such an absurd act was beyond any normal person. In other words, this woman who demanded such things with a straight face was unmistakably insane.
A madwoman, at that, of an entirely different vector from Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti.
Subaru tensed his entire body, focusing every nerve on tracking Elsa's slightest movement.
The combat ability of the lunatic before him was in a dimension that could make even the Sword Saint, Reinhard, fail to land a killing blow. No matter how finely Subaru honed his awareness, he wouldn't even be able to catch the first hint of her actions.
"—By whose permission did you come in here?"
A voice suddenly cut in from behind Subaru, directing the question at Elsa.
In response to the girl's question, Elsa flicked her long hair back with one hand and said, "The door didn't seem to be locked, so I just opened it and walked in. If you're in the middle of an important conversation, you should remember to lock the door next time."
"That's not what I meant. This is Betty's Forbidden Library. Unauthorized entry is—aside from that man over there—supposed to be impossible. How did you—"
"Oh, that's simple enough."
Beatrice glanced at Subaru—the sole exception to the Door-Disturbance—as Elsa nodded, finally understanding the meaning behind the question. She gestured at the open doorway with one hand.
"Your magic that separates spaces… it uses doors as a medium, yes? Connecting one closed room to another—a door-to-door spell."
"That is correct. Unless Betty grants permission, you shouldn't be able to reach the Forbidden Library no matter which door in the mansion you try to connect to. So how did you—"
"Like I said, it's simple. Since you use closed doors as the medium… if you leave every single door open, the options disappear on their own, don't they?"
"—!"
Elsa casually presented the method for circumventing Beatrice's Door-Disturbance, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Her words were, undeniably, correct. Beatrice's Door-Disturbance was ultimately a spatial-transit spell that connected one closed door to another. That also meant it could not link to a room that was already open. If the doors were limited to those in the mansion, then leaving every door in the estate wide open would mean the only remaining closed door would be the Forbidden Library itself—a trivially obvious conclusion. But to do that— "You'd have to open every door in the entire mansion… There's no way no one would stop you…"
As he spoke, Subaru became truly aware of how foolish he had been.
Or perhaps it was the result of turning his eyes away from a reality he didn't want to see.
"That knife in your hand… whose blood is it soaked in?"
The blade of the kukri knife in Elsa's grip was caked with gore. The blood dripping from its tip gave the unmistakable impression that it had just carved through prey moments ago. Combined with what he had just imagined, it was more than enough to conjure the worst possible scenario in Subaru's mind.
Subaru's bloodless lips trembled. Elsa drew a finger across the belly of the raised knife, smearing it with the blood on her white fingertip before licking it clean.
"Whose do you think?"
"You bitch…"
"A hint: she was wearing a maid uniform."
Three people remained in the mansion. All three wore maid uniforms. No—
"Hint number two: her hair wasn't long."
That left Petra, with her semi-long hair, and Frederica, with her long golden locks.
—Subaru's throat drew a breath for the scream that was about to erupt.
"Hint number three—Subaru, Subaru, she was crying your name when she died."
"ELSAAAAA—!!"
Baring his teeth, Subaru dropped low and charged headlong at Elsa.
Elsa stretched her slender frame gracefully, angling the tip of the knife in her right hand to meet the oncoming Subaru—when— "Oh my?"
"I ain't dumb enough to charge straight at a freak like you!"
Elsa's voice was laced with surprise at the feint.
Subaru, crouched low in front of her, swung his arm in a wide uppercut that nearly grazed the ground. Caught in the arc and sent fluttering into the air were the scattered pages of the Gospel.
More than a dozen white pages momentarily blocked the line of sight between Subaru and Elsa. In that instant, Subaru sucked in a breath, clenched the center of his abdomen, and squeezed out every drop of mana— "—SHAMAK!"
Black smoke erupted, and the void of incomprehension flooded the space between Subaru and Elsa.
Shamak had been of limited use against Julius, but Subaru had already confirmed through experimentation in his previous world that it was quite effective against Elsa. Unlike before—when he had expelled all the mana in his body—his improved mana management now meant that using it again would only bring a lingering fatigue throughout his entire body.
"Beatrice!"
Subaru spun around and seized Beatrice's arm from where the girl had been watching the exchange from behind. For an instant, her stiff arm tried to pull free from his grip, but she couldn't wrench herself free from the crushing strength of his hold.
He yanked her light body in roughly, tucked the small girl under his arm, and without a moment's hesitation launched himself into the Shamak along with her.
—Incomprehension. Nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to feel. Only darkness.
The sensation of his soles against the ground—that was everything Subaru had, and everything the world contained.
Right foot lifts from the ground. Left foot reaches the ground. In that interval, he was completely severed from the world. Left foot lands. Contact. Left foot lifts. Severed. Right foot lands. Contact. Severed. Contact. Severed. Something shifts within his arms. Hold tight. Don't let go. Don't sever the contact. Contact. Contact. Contact.
"Baah!"
The next instant, the darkness cleared with the abruptness of breaking the surface of water.
The revealed world: Subaru was standing in the mansion's corridor. The hallway was carpeted in crimson—he had burst out of the Forbidden Library's entrance.
He had dodged Elsa, who had been standing at the entrance, and shot straight through.
"I knew you'd do that—!"
If he had cast Shamak directly in front of him, then the battle-hardened Elsa would have evaded the wall of darkness and targeted Subaru on the other side. Playing the reverse card, Subaru had deliberately leaped straight into the darkness itself, passing through the very entrance Elsa had so generously opened for him.
"Serves you right—though I'd love to say that right about now…"
There was no time for triumph.
The duration of Shamak was uncertain, but the moment Elsa realized they were no longer on the other side, she would immediately give chase.
Subaru slammed the door shut with his foot, cutting off the Door-Disturbance. Whether this would prevent the Forbidden Library from connecting directly to the space before them depended on Beatrice—but at the very least, he had bought time.
"Beatrice! Connect the current room to a different room—"
"I'm already doing that without you telling me. More to the point, you should go around closing open doors. That'll buy more time."
"Shit, you're right!"
Subaru responded to the venomous tongue of the girl in his arms while violently slamming the door of the adjacent room, and the one next to that, shut. He peeked inside before closing each one, but found no obvious signs of disturbance.
He wasn't sure how much of Elsa's statement he could trust—but.
"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do—"
The questions were endless.
Why was Elsa here now, of all times? This time around—even compared to his previous loops—he had returned to the mansion at the earliest possible moment. The sixth day, the fourth day, and this time the second day—no matter the opportunity, Elsa had always struck on the first day Subaru returned.
This had already planted a seed of suspicion in Subaru's mind before, and what he had encountered now—Elsa's words inside the Forbidden Library—was crystallizing it into certainty.
But if that were the case, then why— "Why couldn't you wait just one more day—no, just a few more hours!"
Tonight, he had promised to send Petra back to the village.
Elsa's assault was a tragedy half-expected. Petra's lifeless form, lost in that maelstrom the previous time—it was seared into Subaru's eyes and wouldn't leave. That was why this time, he had taken measures to keep her away from that tragedy. And yet, malice had closed in faster than his countermeasure could keep pace, and fate had not let the young girl escape.
"Not yet. Why should I give up? It's possible that bastard was talking nonsense. It is possible! I can't afford to give up hope…"
"That's not hope so much as it is attachment…"
"Shut up! You just keep being carried! That psycho intends to kill you too, you know! She's the type who gets a thrill from slitting someone's belly open and peering at the insides!"
"Wanting to see a spirit's intestines—that's a special kind of bad taste."
Subaru murmured in silent agreement. Then Beatrice slipped from his arms and stepped lightly down to the corridor. She brushed the hem of her dress and asked, "So, what do you intend to do?"
"There's no 'intend' about it. Petra's safety and Rem's condition are top priority. After that… I'm getting you out of the mansion. Unless—you want to fight that thing?"
"…If she came to kill Betty, it seems like Betty could just put up no resistance, and her wish would be fulfilled."
"That's exactly why I dragged you along by force. If that notion hasn't left you, I'll carry you over my shoulder. What'll it be?"
Subaru looked down at Beatrice—height difference and all—and pressed her for a decision. Not that he intended to give her a choice. If she dug in her heels and refused to leave, he would drag her out by force.
Beatrice seemed to pick up on this. She let out a sigh.
"Even if Betty cannot choose where she dies, she would at least like to choose the one who kills her."
"I'll have that conversation with you properly some other time, in some other place. Let's go!"
Subaru called out to Beatrice, who had finally shown willingness to follow, and took her hand as they broke into a run. Subaru sprinted while Beatrice trailed behind with her small strides and cumbersome dress. After about ten meters, Subaru couldn't take it anymore.
"Ugh—crap! Hurry up and get over here!"
He pulled her arm and once again tucked the girl snugly into his embrace.
Beatrice's body was lighter than her appearance suggested. Subaru didn't know whether this was because she was a spirit, or simply because of her stunted growth.
"…Are you going to put me down?"
"If I match your speed, they'll catch up in no time! It's faster if I carry you and run! Besides—"
Cradled against his chest, Beatrice spoke words of rejection. But her hand was weakly clutching at the front of Subaru's shirt. Seeing this, he cut himself off without confirming or denying or addressing it at all.
That was fine. For now, he decided it was fine.
"Anyway, before Elsa shows up… I have to find Petra and Rem!"
"I thought there was one more maid left in the mansion."
"Frederica is… better not to face right now. Probably."
Subaru's words trailed off as he shook his head, picturing the blonde maid. Beatrice furrowed her brow at his attitude but said nothing.
He wanted to avoid meeting Frederica's face right now. After he confirmed the safety of the other two, then it would be fine. Meeting her and hearing what she had to say could wait until then.
If Subaru's suspicions were correct, then that was surely the right call.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ —Petra had been laid out on the dining table, arranged alongside the dishware.
The white tablecloth had been dyed a dark red-black centered around Petra's prone body. Time had already passed, and the spilled blood had begun to turn a dark, blackened hue—transforming the scene into something even more ghastly in the eyes of whoever beheld it.
"Petra…"
Subaru staggered toward the table on unsteady legs.
Petra lay face-up in the center. Her once-lovely features were frozen in a mask of anguish and terror, her eyes wide with the final sight of despair. Blood trailed from the corners of her open mouth. The fatal wound was unmistakably the deep gash that had been slashed across her abdomen.
The adorable waitress outfit—the one in which she had so charmingly swayed her skirt like a fairy in front of Subaru—had been split vertically from below her chest to her lower abdomen. The spilled blood and entrails made the young girl's body seem even lighter than before.
"…Ugh"
Something rose from the depths of his throat. Not nausea—an哽咽.
A searing heat burned behind his eyes. Before the tears could spill, Subaru reflexively reached out and placed his hand on Petra's face. Her expression was twisted and rigid with terror. At least he could close her eyes. Just as he had done before, Subaru draped his jacket over her body.
How many times had he now offered this hollow gesture to Petra—the one he couldn't save?
He had known this would happen and still couldn't prevent it. How many times would Subaru let this child die?
Because she had become involved with Subaru, how many times did this child have to suffer like this?
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, I'm sorry… Petra…"
Even the words of apology sounded hollow in his mouth.
Petra had no one to turn to. She had encountered a terrifying murderer here, called out Subaru's name, and been brutally slaughtered.
His chest felt as though it would collapse from grief. His entire body burned hot enough to catch fire from hatred.
If hatred alone could kill, Subaru would not tire of killing Elsa ten thousand times over.
What she had done was that unforgivable. Someday, without fail, he would make her understand that.
"That's why… I can't let it end like this this time…"
"This time…?"
"Talking to myself. I don't want to leave Petra like this, but… there's nothing I can do right now. Rem comes first. I'll get Rem and then get straight out of the mansion. Can you use the Door-Disturbance?"
"I need to go through the Forbidden Library for that. Besides, the doors are probably all open right now."
"—So that's how it is."
The countermeasure to the Door-Disturbance was simple, but that was precisely what made it work.
If every door in the mansion was left open, the target pool was automatically narrowed. And if the Forbidden Library's own door was left ajar, then access from any door other than the one currently linked to it would be blocked.
If even a single wedge was used to keep a door propped open, even Beatrice would be unable to summon the Forbidden Library.
"Can you tell where the Library is currently linked?"
"Of course. Right now, it's connected to the guest room on the third floor—on the west side."
A guest room on the west side meant considerable distance from the central building's dining hall. However, the fact that a door was open there meant Elsa had at least made it outside the Forbidden Library.
With that murderess's keen senses, it would not be long before she tracked them down.
There was no time.
"No time to waste. Either way, I need to get to Rem—fast…"
Subaru wiped the tears that were seeping out with the back of his hand and turned toward his destination. Rem was sleeping in one of the servants' private rooms in the east wing. If Elsa was starting from the west side, then she likely hadn't gotten there yet.
That was assuming it was only Elsa, however.
"Frederica could very well be there…"
She knew how much Subaru valued Rem's safety. After evading Elsa's attack, she would surely anticipate that Subaru would head for that location. It was entirely possible she had gotten there first.
Beatrice narrowed her eyes at Subaru, who stood lost in thought with his hand on his chin.
"I've been wondering about something. …You suspect that tall maid, don't you?"
"…I don't want to, but yeah."
At Beatrice's question, Subaru gave a feeble nod.
He was half-convinced that Elsa's assault on the Roswaal mansion was the result of Frederica's betrayal.
This was Subaru's third encounter with Elsa at the Roswaal mansion.
The past encounters were on the sixth day and the fourth day—both after a few more days had elapsed. But this time, it was only the second day after reaching the
Every single time, Elsa appeared as though she had been waiting for Subaru to return. If there was a mechanism behind it, the only explanation was an inside operative.
"The day I return to the mansion, someone's been slipping Elsa in. I figured they'd been sending her to the cabin in the mountains, but…"
Subaru's initial suspicion had been that Frederica was the one luring Elsa out of her mountain hideaway. That was why, upon returning this time, he had asked Frederica—with full awareness that he would be raising her suspicions—"Are you not going to the cabin?"
There had been no signs of dishonesty or unease in Frederica's response and demeanor. He had tried to accept that he was merely being paranoid.
"Besides, it's not like that was her only method… I can't see inside someone's gut. Even if I got tricked, I wouldn't know."
If she had skillfully maintained her composure, then Subaru's vigilance would have failed to detect her. Worse, she may have realized Subaru was wary of her and simply adjusted her actions accordingly.
That was Subaru's failure, and in the end, it had cost a young girl her life—twice over.
Petra's death was his responsibility. He had known and still failed to get her away in time. Subaru had killed Petra.
"She was so attached to you too, you know…!"
He remembered how Frederica had been called "Big Sister Frederica" and how Petra had looked up to her fellow maid.
Could Frederica's heart not have hurt at all, seeing Petra—whom she had been so fond of—placed into the hands of a murderer like this?
What was she thinking, to be involved in something like this?
"What really gets me is the way Beatrice's Door-Disturbance was broken. Honestly, I'm shocked that something so much like a child's trick could get through."
"…Betty never imagined it could be broken that way either. It's not exactly a method that leaps to mind."
"If I had enough time, I could probably have figured it out too… but that's the problem. It's a method you could only come up with if you already knew about your existence and the mechanics of the Door-Disturbance in advance. The idea that Elsa just thought of it on the spot—that's way too convenient. It had to be because things had been arranged behind the scenes."
"You seem to be familiar with that unhinged woman. Where did you meet her?"
"In the royal capital. She sliced me open. …Actually, she was the one who did it—back when you first healed me."
Come to think of it, Elsa had been involved in the chain of events that led to Subaru being carried into the Roswaal mansion in the first place. Beatrice nodded as if understanding at the word "oh."
Either way, even this time spent recapping results was a luxury he couldn't afford.
"Anyway, Rem is next. If Frederica is there—can I count on you?"
"Does the man who has feelings for a woman not even have the resolve to protect her himself? To think you'd be the one to think of Betty that way—just imagining it is disgusting."
"If feelings alone could crush a whale, I'd do it for you, but sadly the world isn't built that generously."
Beatrice's hostile words were a sign of grudging agreement. The fact that she had steered the conversation this far was also Beatrice's way of looking out for Subaru—trying, in her own manner, to distance his thoughts even slightly from Petra's death.
Unlike Subaru—who had been oblivious to Beatrice's own grief for so long and still couldn't offer a solution—Beatrice was simply too clever. That was why he leaned on her.
"Let's go."
"Mm, understood."
He extended his hand naturally, and Beatrice took it without objection, slipping back into his embrace. Subaru gathered her light body up and broke into a run, just as before.
Knowing it was pointless but doing it anyway, Subaru muffled his footsteps as he made for the east wing. There was no sign Elsa had gotten ahead of him. He charged up the stairs, reaching the second floor, then the third. Cautiously, he poked his head into the corridor and scanned for silhouettes along the path to his destination—when— "——"
He spotted a figure in front of the room and pulled his head back.
Beatrice, still in his arms, looked up at him in silence. He nodded back, jerked his chin, and leaned out slowly to check again.
There was a tall figure leaning against the door.
From a distance, but unmistakable—the long golden hair and the waitress uniform.
It was Frederica. Just as Subaru had predicted, she was standing guard in front of Rem's room, watching and waiting like a tiger stalking prey.
"What do I do…? Pretend I didn't notice and call out to her casually? If she hasn't linked up with Elsa yet, and hasn't realized I suspect her yet…"
"If your earlier suspicion is correct, then once she let the enemy in, there'd be no reason for her to be gauging your mood anymore. And besides, the last time you parted with her, you entered the Forbidden Library. As long as you're out here, she has no excuse to offer."
"Which means I've got no choice but a head-on approach."
Frederica's weapon—as far as Subaru had seen—appeared to be a pair of claw-like gauntlets worn on both hands. He had never confirmed her full combat ability, but between her agility and her status as Garfiel's older sister, she was almost certainly far stronger than Subaru. A frontal confrontation offered no chance of winning.
"What if I open with Shamak and go for a surprise attack, then Beatrice follows up with a long-range spell for a shot at…? I don't even need to incapacitate her—just enough to force a retreat…"
"Are you being soft with a traitor? The one coming to kill you will be fighting with the resolve to end your life. Unless you match that same resolve, there's no point even starting."
Beatrice's cold words. Subaru knew she was right, but the thought of doing it still gave him pause. Even knowing she had betrayed them, she was still someone he had been close to. As long as he remembered that time together, he couldn't simply cut ties in his mind.
Not even if Frederica had ultimately been deeply complicit in Petra's death.
"Beatrice. I'll block her vision with Shamak. Hit her with something light."
"—You'll pay the price for that softness before long."
"I need to ask her something. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less."
Even at this juncture, Beatrice looked as though she wanted to say something, but when Subaru bowed his head, she merely let out a small breath through her nose and said nothing.
Cursing himself for leaning on her, Subaru took a deep breath and opened and closed his palms. The fatigue still lingered dully, but for one more cast of Shamak— "Endure this, body of mine. —SHAMAK!"
Subaru burst from the corridor like a rolling tumbleweed. Before Frederica could even turn, black smoke erupted from his outstretched palm.
It struck true, blanketing the space between Subaru and Frederica and recreating the same conditions as the Forbidden Library. The sudden, unnecessary expulsion of mana made his head heavy, and his knees buckled as he nearly lost his footing.
Beatrice stepped forward beside him, both hands outstretched before her. Something murmured from her lips, and in front of her, the atmosphere warped and a hole opened in space—from which a stake wreathed in pale purple flame materialized.
The floating indigo stake wavered the air with its burning tip. It was obviously a lethal spell, and Subaru nearly called out—but Beatrice didn't spare him a glance as she prepared to launch the stake into the darkness— "…Something's wrong."
Beatrice tilted her head, murmuring softly.
Subaru was confused by her reaction, but Beatrice—keeping the stake hovering—extended the fingers of her right hand and swept them in a quick arc from right to left.
With that single gesture, the darkness of Subaru's Shamak was dispelled from the corridor. As a practitioner of shadow magic far superior to Subaru, Beatrice had intervened and undone it.
Subaru was left speechless, his effort to buy time with the fatigue he'd endured swatted aside so casually. But that thought was swept away in an instant.
He understood why Beatrice had halted her attack.
"——"
Subaru walked straight through the now-clear corridor toward Frederica.
Dragging his mana-depleted, heavy body along, he crept toward her like a crawling tortoise. But there was no need for caution. There was no reaction from her. None.
—There would never be a reaction from her again.
"…Why?"
Frederica had been standing in front of Rem's bedroom door.
A kukri knife had pierced through her abdomen, pinning her to the door like a skewered insect. Dangling gauntlets hung from her limp arms. Her clothing was torn in several places, suggesting she had fought—hard.
Frederica's body had already gone cold, and the light had long since left her expression. Her cheeks were rigid, her face contorted with the bitter frustration of unfulfilled duty. Even Subaru could tell: she had fought desperately to defend this door.
In other words, Frederica had struggled with everything she had to keep the intruder from entering this room.
There was no reason for someone who had guided the attacker here to do such a thing.
"After suspecting you this whole time… it was this?"
Subaru covered his face with his hand and accepted the unbearable truth before him.
Frederica, riddled with blade wounds, lying dead. Seeing her like this, how could anyone say she had been the mole—that she had betrayed them?
Had it been a falling-out among allies that led to this? To cast Frederica as the villain just to ease his own guilt over suspecting her—that was nothing more than self-serving arrogance.
He had to admit it.
"—I was the one who was wrong."
Frederica had not betrayed them.
She had fought to protect Rem, and she had fallen. Judging by how cold her body was, she might have died even before Petra in the dining hall.
There was no way she could have guided Elsa to the Forbidden Library.
"…Rem…"
It was as though a blank space had opened inside his skull—his thoughts refused to coalesce.
Forcing his scattered mind together, the first thought that surfaced was of the precious girl sleeping inside the room Frederica had been guarding with her life.
Frederica's body had already begun to stiffen and was heavy. Removing her—pinned to the door by the knife—was heavy labor. He had to be extraordinarily careful to avoid further damage to her body. And yet, his fingertips, his heart, they raced.
But as if to betray Subaru's intent— "I