Blue and yellow, two pairs of differently-colored eyes faced each other with such intensity that one's thoughts risked being swallowed by the depth of it all. Holding his breath and clenching his teeth to keep from being consumed by the atmosphere, he— He placed his hands on the table, interlaced his fingers, and rested his chin on them as he spoke.
"You've got your surroundings well mapped out, you know. From the way you've been speaking, how easy it is to follow your logic—for a commoner, you're far from ordinary."
"Much obliged for the kind words, I'm sure. Now how about you answer my question, Blue-Hair Long-Coat. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?"
At Roswaal's provocatively raised eyebrow, Subaru gritted his teeth in frustration.
"I will—against every fiber of my being—take the hand I use to pet this
"Nnh!"
The words were delivered with such force that Emilia's lips nearly cracked, and she couldn't help but shudder, sending Subaru's perverted heart aflutter. For a split second, he almost regretted nothing about making that declaration a reality—but what snapped him out of that reckless impulse was the dry crack of clapping hands.
The sound came from Roswaal, who had pulled Subaru's consciousness back from the precipice where his moral compass had nearly tipped into sexual harassment territory.
"Close one! Thanks for saving me."
"Why am I the one getting thanked? ...Good grief, you're a strange one. Using a negotiation tactic like that—never heard of anything like it."
"Hah! Putting the highest-ranking person in the room within arm's reach was your fatal mistake. Doesn't matter what scheme you cook up. Even if it's just for an instant—a mere fleeting encounter—I've got the genetic predisposition in my bloodline to stretch that millisecond into eternity through magical modification—"
"Stretch a fleeting moment into eternity... the pinnacle of shadow magic...!?"
Emilia was left speechless at Subaru's incomprehensible nonsense, unable to process the fact that he was apparently going to pet her head.
He did seem to be getting treated like some kind of time-manipulation ability user, but remarkably, that wasn't entirely wrong given the situation, so he decided not to bother explaining.
After all, neither his "Return by Death" nor the Japanese national trait of turning fleeting fantasies into spectacular reality through sheer idiocy were lies.
Setting aside Emilia's stunned reaction, Subaru kept those thoughts hidden and fixed Roswaal with a sharp glare. He wore a fearless grin—full villain mode, no holds barred.
Yet the long-haired man opposite him remained unruffled by the whole act. Maintaining that soft, inscrutable smile with no readable emotion behind it, Roswaal cut every bit the composed aristocrat.
Their gazes locked in a silent standoff, sparks practically flying between them. It was Subaru who broke the impasse, suddenly lowering his gaze.
Roswaal watched as Subaru refused to even blink, his eyes drying to the point of discomfort. With a small sigh, Roswaal raised both hands in surrender.
"Alright, alright. I'm impressed by that stare of yours. You're right—it wouldn't be fair for me not to clarify my position."
"Ow, ow, my eyes hurt! Emilia-tan, rub them gently for me?"
"Is that really what you want as your reward?"
"I'll do it myself! Jeez, she's way sharper than she looks!"
Having nearly lost the upper hand in the negotiation, Subaru leapt back and rubbed both eyes. He blinked until the pain subsided, then squared up with Roswaal once more.
"Not that there's really anything to hide, I guess. My lip did slip a little, but I'm in a position where I support Emilia-sama as a candidate for the royal selection. A backer... well, a patron with deep pockets, you might say."
"A patron, huh."
So Roswaal was the head representative of her supporters.
Subaru studied the tall man's enigmatic presence once more, then timidly turned to Emilia.
"Hate to say it, but... Emilia-tan, couldn't you have picked someone better?"
"I didn't have a choice. I had no one I could rely on in the capital, and honestly, the only person weird enough to cooperate with me was Roswaal..."
"I see—process of elimination."
"The two of you, standing in front of your patron and acting like you've got no fear—what a pair."
Even with all this said against him, Roswaal showed not the slightest displeasure—didn't so much as change his gentle expression. Either his composure was immeasurably vast...
"Or maybe he's a textbook masochist."
"Mm?"
Subaru formed the letter "M" by curving both arms overhead, fingertips touching at the crown of his head.
A gesture that would convey absolutely nothing to anyone in this world, he attempted to explain to the head-tilting Emilia.
"Wait—actually, thinking about it calmly, this is a recycled bit. It loses its freshness, so doing it again with the same person is a bit..."
"Stop agreeing with yourself! What does it even mean?!"
"Yesterday's you already knew. That's all. Live strong."
He patted her head lightly in a comforting manner, then flashed a nihilistic grin.
Emilia was left gaping in bewilderment, but Subaru's heart was clear—he hadn't told a lie.
Well, the Emilia he knew from the world he'd been living in didn't exist anymore. She slept quietly in his heart, alongside an unpayable debt of gratitude.
He gave the pouting Emilia a thumbs-up, then turned the same gesture toward Roswaal—and flipped it upside down.
"Why does just flipping it over feel so insulting?"
"Does it? Where I come from, it's a sign of affection. It means 'I love you so much I'd let you lick my shoes.'"
"In Subaru's homeland, licking shoes is a gesture of affection...?"
"It's the highest expression of love—'Everything about you is precious to me.' If I were in the mood, I'd eat Emilia-tan's hair without a second thought."
"Please, never get in that mood."
Subaru shrugged at the rejection. Roswaal burst out laughing at their exchange, and Emilia looked thoroughly annoyed by both reactions.
All three of them had different takes on the situation, but the conversation had made exactly zero progress.
"Hey, we're having a serious conversation here—can you stop derailing it?"
"That's the one person I absolutely did NOT want to hear that from!"
Subaru waved off Emilia's exasperated complaint with a breezy "Yeah, yeah," then turned his gaze back to Roswaal—the same gaze he'd repositioned countless times by now—and got down to business.
"So, the main topic. Roswa, you're Emilia-tan's patron. Got it. I mean, the way you carry yourself gives off these vaguely shady vibes, which is oddly endearing when it's Emilia-tan. Her being alone in the capital was pretty unusual, right?"
"...Practically the first time, I'd say.
He grimaced as he adjusted his collar, directing the conversation toward the pink-haired maid. When Subaru cast a suspicious glance behind him, the pink-haired girl had her part flipped to mimic the blue-haired one and stood there completely unfazed—even though the different hair color made the whole thing obvious.
"That smug look on your face like 'Fooled him, mission accomplished' is seriously irritating."
"Sister, Sister, the guest is saying such things."
"
"Your attitude's still recognizable even when you're pretending to be each other!"
After this painfully transparent attempt at misdirection, Subaru slumped his shoulders with an exasperated shout. But it was Emilia who timidly responded to his outburst.
She raised her hand awkwardly and said in a small voice: "It's not Ram's fault. I... got a little too curious and wandered off on my own. I got separated from Ram while I was aimlessly wandering around."
"What kind of moe-character excuse is that? Ironclad defense! But still—a maid failing to follow her master's orders is a fact, right? Isn't that a big no-no?"
He jutted out his lip and posed the question with exaggerated pronunciation. Roswaal responded with a tilted head and a preamble of "You've got a point there."
"Ram's failure in supervision could indeed be considered my responsibility, in a way. But setting that aside—what exactly are you getting at?"
"Simple. Emilia-tan forgot her homing instinct and started wandering around, and her attendant couldn't even track her down—that's a catastrophic failure! And of course, yours truly swooped in as the villain to exploit that. But that being the case, the proper villain move is to squeeze every last drop you can from the advantage, right?"
Every person in the room shifted their expression at once, as if a light had gone on.
Emilia's face stiffened. The twins glared at Subaru with eyes that mixed guilt and hostility in equal measure.
And Roswaal nodded repeatedly, wearing a smile that seemed to say "Now I see."
"Ah, I see. For Emilia-sama, whose personal finances are essentially destitute, I as the patron would indeed be the more appropriate target for demanding rewards."
"Right? And you can't refuse. Be·cause—I'm the one who saved Emilia-tan's life, AND I'm the hero who prevented her from dropping out of the royal selection! In short, for Emilia-tan's faction in the selection, I'm practically a messianic figure!"
"I'll admit it—it's the truth. And on that basis, let me pose a question."
Roswaal rose from his seat, his tall frame towering over Subaru.
Subaru looked up at him defiantly. The dynamic was reminiscent of their first meeting's surprise head-butt, but the weight of atmosphere surrounding them now was incomparably heavier.
Emilia clasped her hands together, fretting over how the negotiation would turn out. Feeling the weight of her silent plea against his back, Subaru nodded.
"Go ahead—lend me both ears."
"What is it that you want from me? As things stand, I cannot refuse. Whatever treasures of gold and silver you desire—or even if you wanted something more... extravagant, a life of decadence, if you will. To conceal the truth of the lost insignia, I will do anything."
"Heh heh, as expected of a nobleman. You know how to talk business!"
Subaru poked Roswaal's thin chest with his elbow, wearing a lecherous grin.
The sound of everyone's approval rating plummeting behind him was painful to hear, but it was all part of the setup. Still playing the villain, he spread his arms wide.
"The reward is whatever I want! And you can't refuse! That's the deal between me and Roswa. Break it, and you'll have to swallow a thousand needles!"
"That sounds like it might be deadly before needle number hundred. Very well. Let's make it a deal."
"A real man doesn't go back on his word, right?!"
"That's quite the saying. Indeed. A man should not make excuses. A deal is a deal."
A man-to-man agreement.
Subaru crossed his arms smugly—believing that a promise made under these terms was worth trusting.
"Then—hire me at the mansion."
After all that lengthy preamble, Subaru delivered the line with clean, simple directness.
The women behind him wore expressions of utter bewilderment. The twins showed their usual limited range of facial movement but with clear confusion mixed in. Beatrice's face scrunched up in genuine distaste. And Emilia— "W-well, it's not really my place to say, but that's a bit..."
Her beautiful mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, her eyes spinning in confusion. Any hint of mystique she might have had was completely stripped away by the intensity of her fluster.
Subaru turned back to her and shrugged apologetically.
"Yeah, honestly, I figured Emilia-tan wouldn't be thrilled about it since it's a recycled idea. But based on my experience, the best strategy is to ride the one method that already worked at least once more..."
"That's not what I'm—No! You're asking for too little!"
Emilia was outraged as though it were her own problem, slamming the table and leaning in close to Subaru. Her extended finger poked his chest over and over.
"Listen! With Puck's situation and everything you've said just now... no, that's not even the whole of it. From the beginning, when you heard my name in the capital—that was the same."
She rattled off every instance she could recall where Subaru had been in a position to earn a reward. Having knowledge of all those outcomes, Emilia shook her head in genuine incomprehension.
"You don't understand how grateful I feel. You... something like that doesn't even begin to repay the debt of having my life saved..."
Her voice trailed off weakly, the poking lost its force, and she pressed her palm flat against his chest, bowing her head.
Hearing her quiet anguish, Subaru cursed his own thoughtlessness.
She had been carrying that guilt all along. At the absurd disproportion between what was asked of her in return for his help.
But the same was true for Subaru.
Subaru had been carrying his own guilt toward her. And it was the kind of guilt that could never be repaid to her. And toward Puck, too.
As the two of them exchanged silent convictions, Roswaal quietly sidled over toward Beatrice. Or rather, toward Puck, who was on her side.
"What is it? Is the Great Spirit giving that boy a reward too?"
"Mm. Apparently he wants to pet my body freely. Says he's a top-tier fluff enthusiast."
"Our Nii-chan! What a hateful thing to say... We should throw him out."
Without anyone noticing, Subaru's expulsion plan was progressing in a direction he wasn't paying attention to. He deliberately ignored it and placed his hand on the slender shoulder in front of him.
Violet eyes, still glistening, looked up at him. Her lips trembled with a questioning look.
—Damn, way too cute.
He crushed the sudden impulse to steal her lips in a burst of passion—a miracle of self-restraint. Then, with the most sincere expression he could muster, Subaru spoke his honest feelings.
"Emilia-tan, you don't get it. I'm dead serious—from the very bottom of my heart, I'm always wishing for exactly what I truly want in that moment."
"...Eh?"
"Back then, I wanted to know your name. So much that I'd write 'serious' and read it as 'for real.' I was crazy hungry, terrified about being on unstable ground in this new world, and there was tons of stuff I needed to get, if I thought about it calmly. —But I'm not the kind of guy who lies to himself."
He'd died three times for that.
All to learn the name and see the smile of the silver-haired girl standing before him.
In that moment, no greater reward could have been asked for.
"The same goes for asking Roswaal for help. Honestly, right now I'm flat broke through and through! Trading it for temporary pleasure isn't great for my wallet or my head. This is the best option for me, you know?"
"...You wouldn't have to be hired. You could just be a house guest, you know."
"Oh—right! Roswaal?!"
Subaru spun around at her tearful objection, clinging to that one shred of hope as he looked at Roswaal. But the man crossed both hands in a large X in front of his face.
"The initial request stands. A real man doesn't go back on his word."
"Whaaat! Yeah, right! A man doesn't go back on his word! ...Wait, that works against me!"
Someone's earlier words had come back to bite him, and he reluctantly withdrew.
Dejected, Subaru trudged away, his mind drifting to what his working life at the mansion would look like.
"I want to rewind to that moment and rephrase it to 'Support me financially'..."
"He looked super serious for just a second there... guess it was my imagination."
"Now even Emilia-tan's piling on! Talk about being kicked while you're down!"
Subaru had lost the ideal NEET-in-another-world lifestyle he'd been dreaming of—all because of his own misspeak. To make matters worse, he'd also lost favor with a beautiful girl. There was nothing left to salvage.
Biting his lip in what felt like a blood-soaked anguish of the soul, Subaru glared at Roswaal with a pitiful expression.
"Anyway... that's the gist of it. Ram and Rem can't handle maintaining this mansion alone, so I'd appreciate being given a menial position—errand boy, chore guy, whatever works."
"That is indeed an urgent matter. ...As Emilia-sama says, though—it really does feel like you're asking for too little, doesn't it?"
Slipping his hand into the sleeve of his clown costume, Roswaal let a tinge of genuine amusement crease his otherwise gentle expression.
Subaru wagged a finger at him, clicking his tongue.
"I'm actually a super greedy guy. —Because think about it, right? I get to live under the same roof as a super cute, super my-type, super beautiful girl—rationally obtained, no less! And as a servant, I might even get lucky-pervert opportunities! The possibilities are infinite, and my heart is excitedly watching tomorrow for once!"
"...Indeed. That's a fair point. A workplace where you can stay near the woman you're attracted to—that's quite the rare opportunity. A sweet deal, truly."
"And also—"
He stopped wagging his finger and instead reached up to tousle his own black hair. Looking away from everyone, gazing at the ceiling.
"Having a weirdo like me left to his own devices without supervision is just asking for trouble. Rather than letting that happen, keep me where you can watch me. Then you can judge for yourself whether I'm useful or harmful to Emilia-tan."
He'd said it because he believed that if he'd been allowed to leave the mansion without any strings attached, things would have gone badly.
This was honestly within the realm of prediction, and it almost felt like he was testing Roswaal's character—which made him a little uneasy. Without some reason to care, it would have been nothing but baseless suspicion. But contrary to Subaru's awkward sentiment— "I'll do just that. —And I hope... we can get along, you know?"
Roswaal replied immediately, but the emotions behind those mismatched eyes were completely impossible to read.
--- Incidentally, Subaru had made that confession-like statement in the heat of the moment and was inwardly blushing about it. But when he timidly checked Emilia's expression afterward— "You really are incorrigible, Subaru. ...What's wrong?"
—her completely unbothered response left him somewhat confused.
As expected of a girl this beautiful—she was clearly used to being hit on, including light jokes and flirtatious behavior. The realization made him feel like a seasoned veteran staring down a battle he couldn't win.
"I wonder if I could keep hitting on Emilia-tan with my current momentum..."
A sigh escaped him at the thought of the difficulties ahead.
As Subaru fretted about his uncertain life in this other world from a decidedly sideways angle, Emilia murmured in a small voice: "A guy who wants a workplace with girls is so impure. ...I wonder which one Subaru preferred—Ram or Rem?"
She pressed a finger to her lips, her heart swelling with a completely off-base imagination.