——Think.
Think, think, think, think—he had to think.
"—————"
Clutching his entire body against the sensation of hard, rough scales,
About what was happening to him, about what was about to unfold inside the tower, about people trying to kill him, about people trying to kill someone other than him—about the line between enemy and ally.
"Subaru, are you done yet? Have you calmed down a little by now?"
"—————"
A voice called to him from behind, cutting through the tangle of thoughts, and Subaru slowly turned around. Sitting on the vine bed was
The irritable-looking girl was holding hands with
The faintest sensation of negativity directed his way— "Hey now, Beatrice. Don't use that tone. Subaru was probably startled waking up like that. It's not his fault he clung to
But Emilia smiled and denied Subaru's completely off-base interpretation. Hearing Emilia's remark, Beatrice turned her face away with a "hmph" and said: "I'm not angry or anything. I just… don't feel entirely settled about it. Beatrice and Emilia were both worried about Subaru, you know. It's not like that earth dragon is anything special."
"Hehe, that's right. It really did worry us."
Emilia stroked the back of Beatrice's head, who had turned away, and then lowered her brows as she looked toward Subaru. Seeing the light in her amethyst eyes, Subaru held his breath.
Her gaze, brimming with deep affection, made his chest ache.——And at the same time, a strange sense of anxiety surged within him.
He remembered. That he was wanted here as "Natsuki Subaru."
And that he was terrified he couldn't bear the weight of that.
But even so— "——Um, sorry for worrying you. Seriously, my bad. Waking up groggy and clinging to a girl—that's not really my thing either, so let's just call this me saving face."
Softening his stiff cheeks, Subaru loosened into a lopsided grin as he answered. In response, Emilia and Beatrice exchanged a look.
"But Patrasche is a girl too, you know?"
"Wha!? No, look—Patrasche is in a special category, right? She's not the same kind of bond as that—she's the wildcard entry that gets a free pass to the second round!"
"Hmm, that sounds like something I won't let slide. Just because you're giving that earth dragon special treatment—that doesn't sit well with me. I demand an explanation."
"Don't lump yourself into the same category as her! I mean, the earth dragon… and all that!"
As Beatrice's expression grew increasingly displeased, Subaru carefully gauged the reactions of both girls before responding. Their exchange didn't seem to carry any real unease.
Relieved by that, Subaru turned toward the lizard—no, Patrasche—who had been rubbing his neck.
"…You really are the only one in a special category, huh, Patrasche."
"—————"
The black earth dragon let out a small rumble from its throat and closed its eyes. Subaru pressed his forehead against its head.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "So Subaru, are you really feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, no problem. Sorry for worrying you. I think I was just exhausted. Passing out happens all the time, y'know?"
"I see… But if you're tired, tell me, okay? You mustn't push yourself."
As Subaru stretched his limbs and answered in good spirits, Emilia pressed him for reassurance. With a playful "Roger that, Captain," Subaru replied, all while his mind was spinning at full speed.
Right now, Subaru was walking through the fourth floor of the tower with Emilia and Beatrice.
Their destination was the fourth floor's hall; their purpose was a meal—in other words, the three of them walked along as if they had no urgent business whatsoever.
This time around, Subaru was deliberately making a conscious effort to act differently from how he had up until now.
Namely—he hadn't told Emilia and the others about his memory loss.
"—————"
In other words, it was tantamount to impersonating someone else.
Licking his dry lips with his tongue to moisten them under the rising tension, Subaru carefully observed Emilia and Beatrice's behavior.
He still hadn't fully grasped what kind of person "Natsuki Subaru" was in their eyes. It should have been impossible to mimic someone else in such a state—but the premise of "impersonating himself" was a different matter entirely.
No matter what, "Natsuki Subaru" was still Natsuki Subaru.
Even spending a year in another world wouldn't change the core of who that person was. So if he just paid attention to the relationships, he should be able to convincingly trace that same persona.
And while tracing "Natsuki Subaru," he would use the opportunity to figure out what was going on.
What was happening in this tower—who was killing Subaru, and who was being killed by whom.
For the time being, Subaru would test one possible trigger that could lead him to "death" by concealing the fact that he'd lost his memory. Specifically: was the culprit trying to kill him because of his memory loss, or was that irrelevant?
That said, he honestly didn't have much hope for this. It was hard to imagine a scenario where Subaru having memories would be a problem, or where losing them would be one.
Still, there were exceptions.
"Like if the culprit is someone who'd be in trouble if my memory came back."
He remembered seeing something like that in a movie once.
A witness to a murder scene loses their memory from some kind of shock. The perpetrator who was seen at the scene can't afford to have the witness's memory return. So they try to kill the witness. Something like that.
A similar situation could easily apply to what Subaru was dealing with. After all, the circumstances of how he'd lost his memory were murky— "Emilia, I was found collapsed in the archive on the third floor, right?"
"Mm, that's right. You were collapsed on the archive floor… Beatrice and I rushed you into the green room in a panic."
"Well, Emilia was the one who hoisted Subaru up. Betty was just cheering from behind, with a sigh."
Beatrice's补充 carried a note of exasperation, and Subaru glanced at Emilia's slender arms.
Thinking calmly, it was a mystery how the two of them had transported him from the archive to the green room. Beatrice showed not a shred of aptitude for physical labor, and taking her words at face value—that this Emilia had carried Subaru with ease—was a stretch even for credulity.
"——? Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing. Anyway, thanks. Sorry, I've said it a bunch of times already, but I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't what I want to hear. 'Thank you' would make me happier."
As Subaru bowed in apology, Emilia pressed her palm against his forehead to stop him. His eyes went wide at the sensation of her smooth fingers, and he managed a "Yeah, maybe so" in response.
He'd thought this before, but Emilia's sense of personal distance was a bit overwhelming for Subaru. She'd come close without hesitation, or touch him, without much thought.
Come to think of it, the moment he'd woken up, he'd even put both hands around her neck. And even then, she'd just stared at him with a perfectly calm, blank expression.
"What kind of life does someone have to live to end up with this kind of personal distance with a girl…?"
Or maybe, despite her terrifyingly well-ordered appearance, Emilia was just abnormally casual with people. She was probably kind to everyone, raised surrounded by love, so she didn't feel the need for walls.
A sheltered, pampered princess who'd never known hardship—if that was the right impression, then the personal distance made sense.
If you'd never suffered or carried a single regret, you could believe only in the goodwill of others and keep those beautiful eyes unchanged.——Or perhaps even that was just a pose.
"—————"
Gazing at Emilia and Beatrice beside him, Subaru sank deep into thought.
Simply speaking—if you considered it this simply—the most suspicious candidates in the tower's previous massacre and in Subaru's death were these two: Emilia and Beatrice.
He'd seen
After being rescued by Patrasche and taken outside the crumbling tower, Subaru had been beheaded from behind by someone unknown, and had lost his life.——He hadn't seen the deaths of the two of them.
Of course, even if they'd conspired together, he wasn't sure whether the remaining five could have been killed. But even so, it seemed unlikely—or so Subaru judged.
But what if there were one more person—a third party—added to the equation? Wouldn't things change?
"——Next time, try to guess right, hero."
He remembered an unfamiliar voice telling him that at the end.
Amid the upheaval, in the throes of chaos, as he despaired and wanted it all to just end—that was the voice he'd heard.
Could that voice belong to a third party working with Emilia and Beatrice—the unseen person who'd helped carry him from the archive to the green room?
That was why those two were spouting such ridiculous lies— "Oh, Subaru, you've gone too far!"
"Wha—?"
Thinking while walking, he must have passed the room they were heading for. Emilia, who'd stopped in front of the door, grabbed Subaru's shoulder to halt him as he walked ahead.
In that instant, Subaru felt a strange sense of dissonance and looked at Emilia's hand gripping his shoulder. Then he took her hand and shook it.
"Subaru? What exactly are you doing?"
"Just a little experiment… Emilia, want to do a strength contest?"
"Eh, I think you should stop—it could be dangerous…"
Emilia showed no resistance to the handshake itself, but was reluctant about the strength contest. Seeing her attitude, Subaru grew even more convinced and said firmly, "Please."
If Emilia's slender arms didn't have the strength to carry Subaru, then his earlier deduction would be solidly supported. And right now, Emilia had no idea she was being suspected.
This was his one chance to seize the advantage.
"Please. It's something I need to do."
"…If Subaru is this serious about it, it must be important, right?"
Accepting Subaru's plea, Emilia pursed her lips, deliberating, then nodded with a resolved expression.
Seeing that, Subaru clenched his fist in his mind with a "got her." Now he just had to prove her lack of strength, and his theory would leap forward.
"Then we'll make it a pull-match so nobody gets hurt, okay? Is that all right?"
"Yeah, OK."
"Mm, got it."
Following Beatrice's instructions, Subaru and Emilia remained in their handshake and created distance between them. Gripping each other's right hands, the two stared straight into each other's eyes.
And then— "Ladies, start!"
At Beatrice's signal, Subaru pulled Emilia's arm with all his might.
"Ooooohh—!!"
His grip strength from crushing apples, the strength from endlessly swinging a wooden sword without aim, the arm strength from never quite skipping push-ups, the physical gap between man and woman—he poured all of it into this contest.
——Emilia's arm didn't budge an inch.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Subaru's deduction about suspecting Emilia and Beatrice was back to square one.
However, this only confirmed that Emilia and the others could carry him to the green room without needing a third party's help. It didn't mean they were cleared of suspicion. As always, Subaru still hadn't seen their corpses.
The one who committed the tower's mass slaughter—there was no guarantee that culprit was someone else entirely.
"In the end, does that just mean the guy who showed up at the very end is the culprit?"
That person had unquestionably killed Subaru.
But was that same person responsible for the shadow that swallowed the tower, and the massacre of everyone that preceded it? Every victim had died differently. How did that explanation hold up?
At a glance, the straightforward deaths were Echidna, who'd been cut cleanly by something sharp, Julius, whose wounds had accumulated, and Meili, who'd bled to death.
Everyone had clearly been fighting someone before they died—or so it should have been undeniable.
"So what exactly was that little stunt?"
A voice, tinged with exasperation, called out to the pondering Subaru.
It was Ram, who was preparing breakfast. Having regrouped with them, she was distributing preserved food and water while asking Subaru to explain the experiment he'd conducted—the strength contest with Emilia.
The contest meant to prove his theory had ended with Subaru suffering a narrow defeat against Emilia. The catalyst for its conclusion was Ram, who'd met up with them in front of the hall.
When she'd seen Subaru's desperate struggle, she'd finished it off with a single line: "Are you stupid?"
"That was Subaru's request. I don't really get it, but it must have had a really important meaning, right? Right, Subaru?"
"Is that so? To Ram, it just looked like you wanted an excuse to hold Emilia-sama's hand."
"That's reading way too much into it! If you're so confident, why don't you have a strength contest with me next!?"
"How nasty."
"Why!?"
As Emilia tried to defend Subaru, Ram made a remark that came across as terribly vulgar. To shake off that impression, Subaru snapped back—which only worsened his position. A true vicious cycle.
"Hah!"
With a derisive snort, Ram returned her attention to setting out the meal. Watching her back, Subaru quietly breathed a sigh of relief that his current attitude hadn't caused any friction.
It seemed he hadn't strayed too far from the "Natsuki Subaru" they knew. He was relieved by that, but also exasperated.
If he didn't keep his attention tilted slightly in another direction— "Urgh—"
Suppressing a wave of nausea that surged up for an instant, Subaru covered his mouth with his hand.
The cause was Ram, who was busily working with her back to him.——Her silhouette from behind overlapped with the image seared into his eyelids—her death.
Ram, who had been struck from behind by a blow that blew away half her torso, and had died on the spot.
The expression of fury and bitterness that had been painted solid onto her face had twisted her delicate features like a curse, and the shriek that would tear apart everything that witnessed it had been carved into her soul.
The owner of that death mask was now alive and breathing right before his eyes.
Honestly, when he'd first encountered her in the hall, he'd been desperate to accept the dissonance and reconcile it with reality.
It had actually been a relief that, having just exerted himself in the strength contest with Emilia, he could attribute his dizziness and collapse to that.
But he'd made a mistake—he'd overlooked reading Ram's expression.
"—————"
Clenching his back teeth, Subaru forced a strong wave of self-discipline into his consciousness.
From here on, the relevant parties inside the tower would continue streaming into the hall. He couldn't miss a single person's expression.——Because that could very well be the key to breaking through the situation.
"Whoa, smells great~! A luxurious breakfast on a refreshing morning! This is what I live for~!"
Loudly declaring this, the first person appeared in the hall.
A beauty who shook long black braids and exposed her voluptuous body without a shred of modesty—her upper half seamlessly connected to her lower body—Shaula entered the hall.
She'd been eyeing the food Ram was preparing, but once she spotted Subaru at the far end of the room— "Master! Good morning~! Did you sleep well last night~?"
Her expression brightened in an instant, and she bounded over with the energy of a puppy. Then she grabbed Subaru's arm and squeezed it tightly against her chest.
"Urgh…"
"By the way, I slept amazingly~! For the first time in ages, I had dreams about the old days~. Me and Master, and Kaka-san, and then and then~…"
"Yeah, yeah, got it, hold on. I'll hear the dream story properly later. …Tell me—when you looked at me this morning, did you notice anything off?"
"Ooh, that's an awfully vague question~. It's so you, Master!"
Prying his arm free as best he could, Subaru retreated from Shaula while posing the question. Hearing it, Shaula gave a guileless smile.
"Honestly, I didn't notice anything different about you, Master~! Same as always, same as always—as far as I'm concerned, you're the sexiest man alive~! Four hundred years and counting on that proposal~!"
"That's quite the long game. …Jokes aside, if you didn't notice anything, that's fine."
"——? Really~? Then I won't worry about it either~."
Getting none of the response he'd hoped for, Subaru shelved his suspicion of Shaula with a measure of disappointment and a greater measure of relief.
Just then, the next suspect, Meili, came into the room.
"Yaaawn… Good morning. Still sleepy today…"
The girl who came through the entrance was yawning adorably with her hand over her mouth. But the fact that she'd still managed to take care of her morning grooming was admirable—Subaru had to tip his hat to the girl's aesthetic sense.
All he had to do was wash his face and muss his hair, so the gap between them was enormous.
But that aside— "Good morning, Meili. You overslept again today, huh?"
"When you think about it calmly, I don't really see why I should wake up early to match you guys. It's not like this tower has anything to do with me anyway."
"That's the kind of rude thing she'd say. Honestly, until Beatrice and the others finish their test to leave the tower, you won't be able to leave either, you know?"
"Well, sure, but— oh."
As Meili pouted in response to having her yawning excuse called out by Beatrice's retort, she noticed Subaru and Shaula by the wall midway and waved with a smile.
Seeing that, Subaru raised an eyebrow, then waved back.
"…Suspecting a kid who's already dead is going too far, maybe…"
"Master, when you're stuck, go back to basics~. Start with how to throw a jab~."
"…Where did you learn that?"
"From Master~."
"That explains why it's useless."
Overhearing his mutter, Subaru dodged Shaula's quip while inwardly sweating.
In any case, he'd gotten none of the responses he wanted from Meili either. That left only two people he could test this strategy on— "—Good morning."
Right then, the last two of the group entered the hall together.
Echidna and Julius. Echidna, wearing her white fox fur stole, strode boldly into the hall with Julius in tow.
One after another, Emilia and Ram greeted her, exchanging morning pleasantries.
And then.
"—————"
Julius, who had followed behind Echidna, spotted Subaru standing at the far end of the room, and his cheeks hardened. Then he averted his gaze, casting Subaru out of his awareness.
"—It's you."
That reaction was quite close to what Subaru had been seeking.
And since no one else had shown anything remotely similar, the one most likely to be involved had to be the person who'd shown such a blatant reaction.
"…Shaula, I need a small favor."
Quietly, almost imperceptibly, Subaru murmured.
There was in his voice an unquenchable flame of anger, and the lingering residue of a hatred that had been boiled down to its essence.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ——The breakfast in the hall turned into a lecture from Echidna Anastasia from start to finish.
Watching the surprised reactions of Emilia and the others from the corner of his eye, Subaru listened with an expression of hearing it all for the first time, marveling at how the world would proceed if the story of his "memory loss" had never come up.
Up to this point, the stacking of unreality and misconceptions had left Subaru with almost no grasp of his own trait—"Return by Death." But just like the time loops commonly seen in stories, he understood that problems he hadn't been involved in progressed the same way, while problems he'd touched changed.
In other words, up until now he'd been involved in the story at its core as the "amnesiac," which meant he'd never been able to dig deep into the fact that a being called Echidna was inhabiting the body of a girl named Anastasia.
Of course, this time too, nothing would come of finding a solution to that problem or uncovering new facts. The only changes that could occur were ones driven by Subaru's own actions.
If he wanted to push things forward dramatically, there was no way to do it without actively taking action and getting involved.
So— "—Julius, I need to talk to you."
When breakfast ended and everyone was about to leave the hall, Subaru called out to Julius. Julius stopped and turned toward Subaru.
Being somewhat taller, Julius loomed over Subaru when they faced each other up close. But refusing to be intimidated, Subaru puffed out his chest and locked eyes with the knight.
Reading the intent behind that, Julius let out a weary sigh from his thin lips and said: "What is it? Emilia-sama has proposed that we rest until noon, hasn't she?"
Julius's words were based on Emilia's suggestion at breakfast.
It seemed Emilia had taken especially to heart the idea that Subaru had been exhausted and fallen asleep in the archive, and she'd grown concerned about the invisible fatigue everyone had accumulated.
In fact, though it wasn't in Subaru's memory, this group had only recently crossed a desert a few days prior.
The desert crossing that Subaru had failed at after just a few steps—achieving it would have required considerable effort. No one had raised an objection to Emilia's proposal.
This, too, could be called a change triggered by something Subaru had said. A single offhand remark could throw off the day's schedule. He had to be careful with his words and actions.
With that reflection in mind, Subaru faced Julius head-on. He tucked his chin in response to the knight's words and spoke.
"I want to talk to you about last night."
The effect of those words was dramatic.
"—————"
As Subaru's words sank in, a complex and overwhelming flood of emotions passed through Julius's yellow eyes.
Seeing that unmistakable reaction, Subaru deepened his conviction.
"Come on. Let's change locations."
"—Fine."
At Subaru's beckoning chin gesture, Julius followed with an air of resignation.
Without further ado, Subaru led Julius to an empty room on the fourth floor to serve as their meeting place. Naturally, no one else would be allowed in—it was a private conversation.
"Well then, what should I start with…"
Inside the moderately sized room, Subaru turned around and faced Julius.
There was a faint sense of tension, but he didn't want to let any awkwardness show. The thought that he held a certain psychological advantage gave Subaru courage.
On the other hand, Julius's expression was complex, and it was difficult to read his inner thoughts. But the fact that he'd been in an unsettled state seemed to have carried over from the breakfast table.
"For starters—about last night."
As if prefacing with "for the time being," Subaru cut straight to the heart of the matter.
In the current situation, he held the psychological advantage, but the informational advantage was overwhelmingly on Julius's side. The events of last night were, for Subaru, far too shrouded in the unknown.
Still, something had almost certainly happened between Subaru and Julius in the archive last night.
And Subaru believed that whatever that "something" was had caused him to lose his memory.
"Last night, was it."
Julius repeated Subaru's words and closed his eyes, framed by long lashes. Facing this handsome man with his eyes shut, Subaru deliberately took deep, slow breaths.
He must not be swallowed up. At least, he couldn't afford to lose the mental battle.
"I believe that matter was settled then and there—at least, that's my position. Do you disagree?"
"—Yeah, I disagree. Not at all, not even a little. I'm nowhere near satisfied."
Julius picked up the thread of the conversation, and Subaru matched him beat for beat.
Julius's voice was flat, carefully restrained from letting emotion show beyond what was necessary. Naturally, as the one receiving it, Subaru chose to bite back.
"Not satisfied, huh. How very you. In other words, you'd like to put your own feelings aside and resolve your own issues first? Doesn't that seem a bit… self-serving?"
"We're slightly at cross-purposes—I'm not saying that at all. I know I'm not satisfied, but are you walking around here looking perfectly content? We're both holding onto this anger bubbling inside us, and you want me to just smile and say 'nothing's wrong'? Like hell I can do that."
"—Then what other choice is there?"
Julius, quiet and restrained. But little by little, emotion was beginning to overflow in his voice.
On Subaru's end too, though he didn't know the specifics, the expression and tone of Julius's voice carried an irrepressible passion directed at Subaru—and the aftershock of it set his own stomach ablaze.
What other choice was there? Subaru wanted to hear that too.
What choice had Julius made toward Subaru, while harboring that passion? And how had Subaru made Julius choose that path?
"My feelings are the same as what I told you last night. And I have no intention of saying anything more. I was entirely unaware of your… affair with Echidna."
"My affair… with Echidna?"
An unexpected revelation blindsided Subaru, and this time he was the one caught off guard.
As far as the current information went, Subaru was supposed to be part of a group led by Emilia. Julius and Echidna—in this case, Anastasia, the original owner of Echidna's body—were in a master-servant relationship, and from a broader perspective, they could even be considered adversaries.
And yet—Subaru had apparently been having a secret affair with Echidna?
"I know you meant no malice. I've spoken with Echidna as well—words were exchanged, if not enough. She can be trusted… no, I have no choice but to trust her."
"—————"
"To save Anastasia-sama, there's no other path than pursuing that possibility. …Even if I manage to restore her, even if she doesn't remember me."
Julius spoke those words in a tone that was somehow profoundly lonely.
Subaru had heard about Julius's circumstances as well.
Just like Ram's sister, who continued to sleep, and the many people in another town, Julius too had been cursed to be forgotten by others.
Even if Echidna were to return control of the body to its rightful owner, there was a high probability that Anastasia would not remember her own knight, Julius.
Even so— "—My duty hasn't changed. I don't know what exactly you're trying to drag out of me, but let me say this in advance."
"What?"
"I'm begging you. …Please don't make me look any more pathetic in front of you."
At that feeble voice, Subaru couldn't form words for a moment.
"—————"
All he felt was a deep, churning unease deep in his chest, and he fell silent.
Julius, seeing Subaru like that, relaxed his lips slightly as if letting out a breath.
"It seems any further exchange would be nothing but unproductive."
With that, Julius turned his back on Subaru and moved to leave the room. Just before exiting, Julius stopped once.
And without turning his face back— "You said you wanted to talk about last night, and I was a little frightened. —What I'd do if you were to apologize."
"If I… apologized…"
"Who knows what I would have answered. That too, I no longer understand."
Leaving behind a mutter tinged with self-mockery, Julius left the room.
Watching his back disappear, Subaru let out a long breath. A heavy weariness, like a stone had been placed on his shoulders, washed over him, and sweat beaded on his skin.
He felt as though he'd become a thoroughly terrible person.
"—Master, was that okay~?"
Peering into the room as Julius was leaving in the other direction, Shaula poked her head in. At her nonchalant attitude, Subaru let out a "Yeah."
Then he pressed his hand to his forehead and shook his head.
"Looks like Julius is probably not involved with the archive. …But my distrust in myself has grown a little again."
"I don't really get it, but was I of help to Master~?"
"—Yeah, you were. Thanks to you, I could face Julius with peace of mind."
"Heheheh~ then I'm glad~. Then, then, then, Master, Master…"
Shaula blushed and squirmed with delight as she approached Subaru. Then, timidly spreading both arms wide— "As a reward, I want you to hug me tight~."
"No."
"Eeeh?! So mean~! Master, you said if the reward wasn't too much, you'd do what I said~!"
"That request… exceeds the bounds of my innocence…"
Subaru flatly rejected Shaula's excessive desire for physical contact.
That said, it was true that having Shaula hold back had given him the mental composure to face Julius.
When calling Julius out, Subaru had stationed Shaula in the adjacent room as backup.
The reasons he'd chosen her were: among the female members, she seemed the most athletic; she'd likely listen to requests based on her favorable disposition toward him; and she seemed like the type who'd help without needing to hear the details.
Beyond that, as the first person to have found the corpses, she was also among the suspects with the lowest probability of being dangerous.
In any case— "So the idea that Julius took my memories in the archive was off the mark…"
Judging from this morning's reaction when he'd seen Subaru, he'd been nearly certain—but that theory had proven wrong.
Whatever happened in the archive, despite the memory loss, Julius hadn't brought up the matter at all. And for all that, his emotions had been too natural for it to be an act.
His affair with Echidna—that was apparently some scheme on "Natsuki Subaru's" part, and the specifics were unclear. But it was certainly reason enough for the current Subaru to distrust his past self.
Including the fact that there had apparently been a tense exchange between Julius and Echidna before the memory loss.
"What were you up to, and who's out to get you, 'Natsuki Subaru'…"
"Master, then how about you jump into my chest instead~? I'll give you a hug with these bouncy bouncy boobies~!"
"That request… exceeds the bounds of my innocence."
"Master, you're so cruel~!"
If he said he didn't understand—this abnormal level of affection that Shaula had for Subaru was beyond his comprehension.
Why did she like and adore him so much? Apparently even Emilia and the others didn't understand, and they just took advantage of it when convenient—but was that really true?
His affair with Echidna, the suspicious behavior from last night, his relationship with these people from the start—the fact that he couldn't even have a conversation with some of them. Among all of it, the most unknown quantity to Subaru was "Natsuki Subaru" himself.
What kind of intentions had he been harboring as he dealt with them?
—Was "Natsuki Subaru" truly their ally?
"This is getting intense. The thoughts are all boiling up. …I think I'll go see Patrasche."
He wanted to go somewhere he could think calmly. The moment he had that thought, the greatest ally that surfaced in his mind was that jet-black earth dragon.
Once you've had someone risk their life for you like that, memory or not, you had no choice but to trust them.
"Ehhh, going to see that earth dragon~? That earth dragon glares at me, so I don't really like him…"
"Don't you dare badmouth Patrasche. Even if the rest of the world forgave everyone's insults, I'll never forgive badmouthing Patrasche."
"Master, how much has that earth dragon bewitched you~!?"
Shaula cried out as though in agony, but Subaru paid her no heed.
In any case, right now he wanted to be at Patrasche's side, indulging in peace and contemplation. After lunch, the original objective—conquering the tower—would begin.
Since he was hiding his memory loss, there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"So that's that. You and I are splitting up here too. See you later."
"Boooo, you brushed off the reward~. But I won't be discouraged~! The woman who's convenient for Master—that's my reason for existing~!"
"—————"
As they parted ways at the door, Shaula delivered a crisp salute as she said those words. Hearing her declaration, Subaru froze.
Still facing away from her, Subaru lowered his head and closed his eyes.
"…Where does Natsuki Subaru have that kind of worth…"
"——? Master?"
"——! Ah, damn it!"
Unable to contain the frustration welling up inside him, Subaru scraped at his own head with both hands, then turned toward Shaula, who was tilting her head.
Then he walked up to her and, spreading both arms, hugged her slender body tight.
"——!"
"Don't worry about being convenient or anything like that. I was wrong."
Trying to use her as nothing more than a one-sided tool—Subaru was about to become the same as "Natsuki Subaru."
His action, rejecting that, made Shaula catch her breath and stiffen.
Shaula was tall, her height not all that different from Subaru's.
Even so, the body in his arms was slender, and its suppleness and softness were on another level from his own. But he didn't have the mental composure to be aware of that.
"Ma…ster…"
"Having you here helped. …That's all."
"—————"
Subaru held Shaula for a full thirty seconds or so before releasing her.
Honestly, it was embarrassing, but the sense of accomplishment was greater. Rather than becoming the kind of person who simply received offerings while doing nothing— Rather than becoming the same as "Natsuki Subaru"— "Master…"
Seeing Subaru in that state, Shaula, her cheeks flushed, drifted closer in a daze. Her eyes glistened, her breath was somewhat feverish, and her gaze was fixed on Subaru's lips.
"Master, you're finally going to love me…"
"You've exceeded the bounds of innocence!"
"Gueh!"
Pressing his palm against her approaching chin, Subaru pushed Shaula back to her senses.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "Even after giving her a reward, she gets carried away… She's a difficult one to handle…"
Having somehow pacified the excited Shaula and escaped the situation, Subaru sighed.
In the end, Shaula had remained dreamy-eyed even after, but had bowed out saying, "Knowing when to pull back is one of the qualities of a good woman~. Secret makes a woman woman~."
Honestly, in that regard, she was nowhere close—but he couldn't be bothered to argue the point.
"Sometimes you just don't need to know."
In any case, despite that carefree little scene, Subaru's situation was far from rosy.
He'd at least hoped that pressing Julius about what happened in the archive would yield something, but now that had proven off the mark too, and he was essentially back to square one again.
Or—as originally hypothesized, was there simply no outside involvement in Subaru's memory loss? The only person whose reaction he hadn't been able to confirm was Ram— "If it turned out that her looking like she was about to cry was just crocodile tears, I'd have no idea what to think…"
It had been Ram who stubbornly refused to believe the story of Subaru's memory loss.
Of course, it was possible she was acting, or that her refusal stemmed from an inability to admit involvement—but if he started down that path, there'd be no end to it.
You had to believe in something before you could start suspecting something. That was the reality.
And for Subaru, that fundamental principle— "—Right now, that's Patrasche."
Having said it out loud, he marveled at his own conclusion—the epitome of complete misanthropy.
But in truth, that side of him was strong. If he could no longer trust others, let alone himself, then his "misanthropy" ran impossibly deep.
"Maybe I'd be happier just living in a paradise where only Patrasche and earth dragons exist…"
"—Oh, I heard that~."
"Waah!?"
At the very instant those words left his mouth, a girl bounced out from around the corridor corner. Blue braids swaying, Meili covered her mouth and giggled.
Having been caught muttering something pointless, Subaru let his shoulders slump in resignation at the sight of her.
"It's a joke. Something silly. You didn't actually take that seriously, did you?"
"Well, no. But even if that were really how you felt, I wouldn't laugh at you. I mean, if there were a place where I could live with just the bad animal friends, I wouldn't mind living there either."
"…Huh."
To Subaru's awkward excuse, Meili pinched the hem of her skirt and made a gesture that could have been elegant or could have been carefree as she spoke.
Even hearing that response, Subaru wasn't sure what to say. But his noncommittal reply apparently didn't sit well with her.
"Oh, giving me a half-hearted answer. Here I am trying to have a serious conversation, and not listening properly is the mark of a bad child, you know."
"Sorry about that. …Are you alone? Where's Beatrice?"
"Geez, why would I be with Beatrice? That's more of a question I should be asking you."
He'd simply assumed girls of a similar age would hang out together, but apparently that wasn't the case.
It was true that Beatrice spent a lot of time with Emilia.——That was why their suspicions were also a package deal and couldn't be considered separately.
"Well, that's fine either way. But I don't exactly have time to hang around and chat with you. Sorry, but if you need someone to talk to, find someone else. Shaula's over there."
"Talking to the half-naked lady is fine and all, but I have business with you right now."
"With me?"
Not wanting to be interrupted from his plans to visit Patrasche—or rather, his time for contemplation—Subaru still couldn't help widening his eyes at Meili's unexpected invitation.
Come to think of it, just like Shaula, Meili was someone Subaru found comparatively easy to deal with, compared to Emilia and the others. Even at the end of the previous loop, her corpse hadn't been in the kind of condition that was unbearable to look at.
She'd died peacefully, like she was sleeping, so even facing her directly like this, the traumatic image didn't overlap too strongly. His heartbeat remained calm.
"What business? Will it be quick?"
"Yes, I won't take up much of your time."
With that reassurance, Subaru was willing to listen to what Meili had to say. And as Subaru assumed a listening posture, Meili pressed a finger to her own lips and licked the fingertip with her tongue.
A gesture far too sensual for her childlike appearance, and when Subaru furrowed his brow— "—About last night—how seriously should I be taking that?"
With that same bewitching smile, the girl spoke to Subaru.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ · "—Hm?"
Suddenly, Subaru was freed from a strange sense of mental blockage and pressed a hand to his neck.
There was a sensation of breathlessness, of something rough and scratchy in his throat, and he began to cough.
"Cough, cough…"
Touching his throat, Subaru coughed several times, tasting the pain of dryness.
And then, it suddenly struck him.
"Huh, I was…"
—What had he been doing?
Right—he'd been talking with Julius, then there'd been that exchange with Shaula, and he'd been heading to see Patrasche when he'd run into Meili on the way— "Ouch…"
Thinking while rubbing his arm, Subaru winced at a sharp pain.
Looking down, he saw his hands—both of them. On both the right and left, near his wrists, there were scratch-like marks carved into his skin, with ugly blood seeping through.
"What the… what is this?!"
The wounds were fairly deep, but the wound itself had an irregular shape.
"Scratch marks" wasn't too far off—they were clearly not from a sharp blade. They were wounds made by digging in nails with force, the kind of gouging effort that tore into flesh.
Where on earth had he gotten wounds like these— "…Huh?"
Wincing in pain, Subaru looked around for something to address the wound with. Then he noticed he was in one of the many similar stone-walled rooms on the fourth floor. And once he noticed that, he couldn't un-notice what came next.
"—————"
White feet lay sprawled on the floor.
The feet were motionless, completely limp. Slowly, he traced his gaze upward from those feet—a skirt came into view, then a torso, and then— And then— "——Huh?"
And then, there it was—a girl lay collapsed, not moving even the slightest bit.
—Meili lay dead before Subaru's eyes.