After leaving the tomb, the results of
The content was mostly the same as the previous loops. Emilia had failed to pass the Trial, yet she declared she had no intention of giving up.
Each person reflected on the evening's events as they filed out. Once the room was left to only Emilia, Subaru, and Ram— "Now then, Ram would like to help Emilia-sama get ready for bed, but would Barusu not notice on his own if he weren't summoned?"
"Thanks for that roundabout way of saying something that isn't roundabout at all. Thinking about Emilia's condition, I definitely want you to do your job… but I need a little time. Just a little—could you leave Emilia and me alone for a bit?"
"You're being indecent."
"The fact that your mind jumps to that conclusion immediately makes you the indecent one!"
Subaru snapped at Ram, whose eyes filled with disgust, but the pink-haired maid plugged her ears and feigned ignorance. Then Ram cast a sidelong glance toward Emilia, who had settled onto the bed— "What would Emilia-sama like to do? If you don't even wish to speak with Barusu, Ram will send him away."
"What are you? Our gentle, love-filled Emilia-tan would never reject me. Right?"
"I'm really, really tired tonight, so if it's going to be our usual long chat, I might have to pass…"
"You don't even say 'long chat' like a normal person. …Besides, that's not what I had in mind. Wooing Emilia-tan is for another occasion. I just want to talk a little about the tomb."
Even after their usual banter, Emilia's expression didn't improve. Still, when Subaru made it clear he wanted to discuss the Trial, Emilia closed her eyes briefly, then turned her violet gaze to Ram and mouthed "Sorry," asking Ram to leave.
Ram obeyed silently, giving a small bow before heading for the door. Passing by Subaru's side, she muttered under her breath— "Make sure you don't burden her with anything too heavy."
—and made sure to issue that stern warning before going.
The bedroom door closed with a click, leaving Subaru and Emilia alone.
Subaru could see the earnestness in Emilia's eyes as she gazed up at him from the bed. Meeting that look, he gave a slight shrug— "I could only check briefly when we were inside the tomb, but there really isn't anything wrong with your body, right? Given how bizarre that place is, I'm still worried."
"That… I'm fine. Yeah, thank you. Really—nothing weird happened to my body or my head. But if you're going to worry about that, shouldn't you be more worried about yourself than me?"
"Meaning?"
"Not 'meaning.' Subaru, I'm glad you came into the tomb to find me, but something must have happened to you too, right? Ram said there were nearly thirty minutes between when you went in and when we came out together."
Emilia's gaze took on an accusatory quality, and Subaru mentally stuck his tongue out.
He had managed to bluff his way through it at the tomb, but thanks to Ram's unnecessary comment, Emilia had noticed the discrepancy. The time spent inside, the gap between entering and bringing her out—Emilia's expression began to stiffen as she imagined what must have happened in between.
Naturally, the contents of the Trial were surfacing in her mind.
The First Trial—being confronted with the past. In the very first loop, Emilia had been terribly distressed at the thought that Subaru might have learned its contents.
She was calm this time, but if she reached the same conclusion as before, it would be hard to imagine that calm lasting. That was why— "Subaru, could it be… that you also went through the Trial inside…?"
"No, that's not it. No matter what, they wouldn't just toss anyone in on sight without any regard. The reason I spent time in there was because it took a while to wake you up."
"Wake me up?"
"Yeah. You were having a nightmare, and I tried desperately to wake you, but you were locked in so deep it was like your dreams had nailed you shut. I thought about just dragging you out as-is, but I had a really bad feeling about that."
He accompanied his explanation with exaggerated gestures, embellishing the facts with fabrication.
There were no words of denial from Emilia. Naturally, she had no way to verify it. If Subaru said that's how it was, there was no proof to the contrary.
"…I see. Sorry for doubting you in a weird way."
"It's fine. If I'd been able to take the Trial too, maybe I could've coordinated with Emilia-tan and we'd have cleared it together."
"…I don't know. I'm not sure you and I would see the same thing…"
Her voice trailed off, but Emilia showed no sign of pressing Subaru on his lie.
For Emilia, it was something she didn't want known—that she had seen her past and been unable to overcome it. If Subaru insisted he didn't know the contents of the Trial, she would want nothing more than to believe him.
Once again, Subaru was playing Emilia's thoughts like a toy on the palm of his hand.
"More importantly—what was the thing you wanted to talk about? That wasn't the main point, was it?"
"Right. The main thing is something else. There's something I wanted to ask about."
"Something you wanted to ask?"
Emilia tilted her head.
Watching the waterfall of silver hair cascade over her shoulders, Subaru continued—"Yeah, something I wanted to ask."
"I haven't seen
"Huh… yeah. Puck still hasn't responded. I've been calling out to him, but he seems to be sleeping inside the crystal."
Hearing the name come up suddenly, Emilia looked downcast as she answered.
Her white fingertips searched at her chest and closed around a beautiful, green-glowing crystal. The crystal that the Great Spirit Puck used as his vessel—and its light appeared to have gone out.
"No idea what the cause is?"
"Sometimes this happens, where he can't hear me. Normally he comes back in two or three days. But this time it's been about a week… I'm starting to get a little worried."
The grey kitten who boasted he would protect Emilia.
In Subaru's mind, he pictured that small shadow—and what flashed through his thoughts was the great catastrophe that struck the
When the Sanctuary was attacked by the
Among those victims would have been Garfiel, Ram, Roswaal, and others. And naturally, Emilia as well.
Torn apart, chewed up, reduced to a scrap of flesh stored in some other creature's stomach—the thought that Emilia and the rest had endured that sensation made Subaru's insides seethe with fury and grief.
Setting that violent emotion aside for the moment, he thought about how that useless spirit still hadn't shown his face, even when Emilia was in danger.
It had been the same when Emilia's body was seized by the
Emilia, who had overflowed with shadow enough to cover the world and was draped in an ominous aura. Her body was being used however the Witch pleased, and yet that Great Spirit who only dealt in big words still hadn't come to help here either.
All talk and no substance. Lip service, lip service—culminating in this.
"At this rate, his big moments are only the Elsa fight and that time with me in the Sambreeze Festival. Not exactly someone you can count on… maybe I should plan on that."
Resting his chin in his hand, Subaru grumbled as he spun his thoughts.
The disaster that would befall the Sanctuary was synonymous with the danger closing in on Emilia. In that case, he'd thought to supplement Garfiel and Roswaal's strength with additional fighting power—but Puck didn't seem like he'd fit the bill.
"Is there anything you can think of to call Puck back? Ideally, if he were here, things would move along a lot faster."
"……I'm not sure I can think of anything, really."
As expected, Emilia's response to the thinly-veiled question was deflating. But there had been a moment's hesitation in her answer, which caught Subaru's attention. Before he could press the matter— "What was it you wanted to ask Puck about?"
"Hm? Oh, well—if that place really is the Witch's tomb, then it's been around for four hundred years, right? So I figured if we could talk to someone who knew about that time, it might give us a breakthrough."
Subaru rattled off the prepared answer he'd had ready, and Emilia nodded in understanding. Then she considered Subaru's proposal seriously.
"You're right. Puck might know something… yeah, okay. I'll try calling out to him more than usual."
"Alright. I'll count on you for that, Emilia-tan."
Emilia was motivated when it came to the Trial. And she didn't believe Subaru had undergone one himself. There should be no drop in motivation.
Puck, who had retreated into his crystal, still hadn't shown his face—expecting him to play a role in this loop seemed to be a lost cause. He wasn't helping at all with the difficulty adjustment on Subaru's end, and combined with the sour impression from their last exchange, Subaru's opinion of the spirit only continued to worsen.
"Well, I shouldn't overstay my welcome, and hanging around any longer would just give Ram more reasons to needle me, so I'll take off. Unless Emilia-tan wants me to sleep beside her, in which case…"
"I don't need you to sleep beside me."
"To get rejected so flat-out like that, I can only say… whoa."
Subaru smiled wryly at Emilia's puzzled expression and headed for the door.
For tonight, this was probably all he needed to say to Emilia. When it came to her personal issues, there was very little Subaru could do to help in the current situation.
What Subaru could do was create an environment where Emilia could focus on the Trial, and then break through the hostile circumstances surrounding it with his own hands.
Emilia would take on the tomb. Subaru would take on the Sanctuary.
And Subaru's hardships must not be discovered by Emilia. That would only mean adding to her burden.
"Well then, goodnight, Emilia-tan. If you have a scary dream, you can always come running to me, you know."
"If I ran all the way to you, I'd surprise everyone in the village. …Right, Subaru?"
"Hm?"
Just before they parted with their usual light banter, Emilia called his name.
Subaru turned back with his hand on the door. Emilia's lips trembled, and a moment of hesitation flickered in her eyes— "No, it's nothing. Goodnight. Be careful out there."
"That last part wasn't really a joke, actually. Goodnight."
With a wave, Subaru committed Emilia's smile to memory and stepped out of the bedroom. He closed the door behind him and looked up to find Ram sitting in the adjoining living room, sipping steaming tea.
Their hostess Ryuzu had generously left the house, yet this maid continued her insolent behavior as always. Subaru gave a wry laugh.
"I was about to say sorry for keeping you waiting so long, but seeing how comfortable you look, I don't even want to give you the satisfaction."
"I'd appreciate it if you'd acknowledge my restraint in not having touched the snacks. —You weren't rude to Emilia-sama, I trust?"
"What kind of question is that, coming from me who always puts Emilia first? You're the one—don't give a tired Emilia any unnecessary grief. …On that point, at least, I trust you."
Subaru's behavior toward Ram didn't equate to his attitude toward Emilia.
She drew lines and played to her audience. Her methods might be called underhanded, but it was precisely that clean, unapologetic boundary-setting that made her trustworthy.
Ram scoffed at Subaru's muttering, emptied her cup, and stood from her chair. As she brushed past him toward the bedroom, Subaru called after her— "By the way—can I ask you something too?"
"You're being indecent."
"How much of a mindless beast do you think I am in your head?"
Ram hugged herself and pulled away from Subaru. She obviously wasn't serious, but getting that kind of reaction from a woman was a genuine blow to the ego.
"I hate to say it, but I'm pretty sure I've never looked at you with indecent eyes."
"'Pretty sure'—that qualifier just oozes bestiality and kills all trust. Besides, I've noticed something strange about your gaze ever since we came to the Sanctuary."
"What's that supposed to mean? That sounds like an unfounded accusation if I've ever heard one—you sure it's not just you overthinking things?"
"If that's the case, then it's unconscious. Sometimes you look past me with this strangely distant expression. I don't know who you're seeing through me, but—"
—that truly hit Subaru from a blind spot he hadn't even been aware of.
Feeling as though he'd been punched, Subaru realized his thoughts had frozen. His expression stiffened, his eyes darted. Regretting that he'd reacted that way, he tried to recover quickly with a shrug— "Wh-whatever could you possibly be talking about?"
"To only realize it after being told—that's a genuinely serious problem. I never said anything before because the look in your eyes wasn't unpleasant, but—"
Ram let out a small sigh at Subaru's agitation.
The absence of her usual mocking demeanor was what actually hurt Subaru most.
They looked nothing alike on the outside but were completely different on the inside—yet when the Ram before him showed him kindness, she overlapped with the other girl sleeping inside.
Ram's observation was a fact, and her eye was sharp. Subaru was looking through Ram at the image of the girl who was her spitting image. He couldn't help it.
And Ram had made him aware of it.
"…Wasn't there something you wanted to ask Ram?"
"Huh?"
"I'm not trying to make you feel bad. Or rather, making you feel bad is barely a bonus—the priority is very low. Right now, Ram wants to help Emilia-sama and return to Roswaal-sama's side. If you just want to stand there, I'm fine ignoring you."
"That's a problem. …Ugh, alright. I wanted to ask about Garfiel."
Leaning on Ram's rare display of consideration, Subaru managed to squeeze out the question he'd been wanting to ask.
Upon hearing the topic, Ram raised her eyebrows in surprise, breaking her composed expression— "You had something happen with Garf?"
"Not yet—but that doesn't mean nothing will. Right now, he's someone we'll be running into a lot in this Sanctuary, and it seems like you've known him a long time, so I figured I'd ask."
"I see. …Well, I suppose I can humor you."
Ram said something that seemed to see right through Subaru's intentions, then lightly touched her own chin.
"So, what do you want to know about Garf?"
"I already know he's insanely strong, so that's not it. Let me think… if Garfiel were to leave the Sanctuary, what kind of condition do you think it would take?"
"…That's quite an odd thing to worry about."
"I figured beating around the bush wouldn't help. At this point, I've already accepted that you'll think I'm strange."
Unlike Emilia, whose secrets Subaru wanted to protect, there was some tolerance for Ram knowing about his covert dealings. In fact, considering future events—like the evacuation of
"I don't know what you're scheming and I'm not particularly interested, but getting Garf to leave the Sanctuary… well, if Ram asked, it wouldn't be impossible."
"The power of a crush, huh? I've got my own reasons for relating to that."
In truth, it was undeniable that Ram could move Garfiel more easily than Subaru could. But Subaru remembered how Garfiel had transformed into his tiger form and chased after them to prevent Subaru from leaving.
In that moment, Garfiel had been willing to brandish his claws against Ram—the very person he supposedly loved—to keep Subaru from escaping. If it came down to it, for Garfiel, protecting something in the Sanctuary took priority over Ram.
"But that's the thing, Ram. That's probably…"
"You're right. It probably won't work."
Before Subaru could find a way to phrase his thought without sounding too cocksure, Ram bluntly confirmed exactly what he'd been thinking.
In front of Subaru's wide eyes, Ram swept back her pink hair— "It's true that Garf is enchanted by Ram. But inside him, there's a firm priority list. Just as Roswaal-sama is, for Ram."
"Garfiel has something else ranked above everything…? You already knew that?"
"I did. But I won't tell you."
Ram turned her gaze away sharply, refusing to answer Subaru's follow-up. He glared at her pointedly, demanding she continue, but Ram simply let out a breath— "To unilaterally try and measure someone else's heart—what arrogance. Garfiel's heart belongs to Garfiel. If you want to know, ask him directly."
"Look who's talking, the poster child for arrogance. Hey—do you know about those books Roswaal has?"
"…Where did you hear about that?"
Words exchanged like blows.
Despite being cornered by Ram's sound logic, Subaru's rebelliousness wouldn't let him drop it. Ram's response to this was fierce—she narrowed her eyes and fixed Subaru with a piercing stare— "You might end up regretting it, depending on how things go."
"If you did that, wouldn't it go against Roswaal's plans? Don't bother, Ram. You know you can't do that."
At the very least, within the Sanctuary, Ram had never caused Subaru harm. On the contrary—there had been times she'd lent him a hand of her own volition, not on Roswaal's orders.
It was with that experience in mind that he prodded her. He'd anticipated that Ram wouldn't resort to physical measures. Hearing his words, Ram's expression grew somewhat harder— "You've started looking at people with unpleasant eyes, Barusu."
"Huh?"
"I don't know what you saw in that tomb, but it certainly wasn't anything good. I wouldn't want to continue a conversation with the Barusu who came back from it."
"…What I saw in the tomb was, for me, a kind of hope. Stop putting a label on it like it was something bad."
The memory of his encounter with the white-haired Witch—
The conversation with Echidna had brought about the previous tragedy, but the returns it had yielded for Subaru were at least equal to the losses. Just the sheer value of having someone he could confide in about Return by Death—someone he could talk to about it—was worth almost anything.
"……"
For a moment, Subaru's dark eyes and Ram's pale pink eyes held each other.
Ram's gaze wavered faintly. Subaru reached out with his senses, trying to peer into what lay behind it, but the image scattered before taking shape as she looked away.
"Now go. I can't stand keeping Emilia-sama waiting any longer."
"…Sorry for trying to hold you back. You know, even I can tell you're not wrong."
In the end, he apologized for the barb that had slipped out. Ram didn't engage, turning her back to him and heading toward the bedroom.
Subaru watched the hem of her maid uniform disappear through the door, then let out a deep sigh before leaving Ryuzu's home.
Once outside, the wind sweeping through the Sanctuary brushed his bangs and tickled his forehead. Bathed in the night breeze and breathing in the scent of grass, Subaru set off through the now-quiet Sanctuary, making his way toward the Cathedral—his sleeping quarters.
Treading through the grass and following the moonlit path, Subaru's mind was occupied with figuring out how to spend his time in this loop.
Now that he'd been assured there was effectively no limit to the number of times he could use Return by Death, Subaru had a tool at his disposal that he hadn't been able to use before—throwaway loops for gathering information.
Purely from an efficiency standpoint, as long as he could make the decision to throw his life away, there was no more effective way to exploit the ability of Return by Death.
"If I could launch a different approach each time, I'd start finding solutions for each of the obstacles I need to overcome…"
All that remained was to chain those solutions together and execute them all in a single loop.
Overwhelm every obstacle in his path and seize the future together with everyone—a complete victory.
Who he would include in that vision of complete victory was yet another thing weighing on Subaru's mind.
"……"
Subaru's feet stopped abruptly.
His nose, which had been catching the scent of the wind, had picked up something other than the grass beneath his feet.
He raised his head. At the end of his line of sight, standing on the moonlit path, was a young man standing rigid like a Nio guardian statue.
Arms crossed, spiky blond hair whipping in the wind, teeth bared—it was Garfiel.
"You've got pretty good timing, you know that."
"Wh—don't act all unsurprised when that's exactly what you are. Well, I guess it's easier to talk when the other guy isn't fidgeting around. But still—"
Subaru scratched his cheek at the sudden appearance of the very person he'd just been discussing with Ram, his voice tinged with admiration.
Garfiel jerked his chin in Subaru's direction—a signal of some kind.
His compact little back turned and started walking. He veered off the path and trudged heavily toward the forest.
Subaru watched the retreating figure leap over the knee-high grass and disappear into the trees, then stretched lightly before heading toward the Cathedral—.
"That 'follow me' was obviously what you meant, wasn't it? Hey! Oi!"
Garfiel came charging back and unleashed a torrent of abuse at Subaru, who had been about to leave. Subaru raised both hands and shrugged— "It was just a stylish little joke. I didn't miss your signal, so relax."
"That's even more annoying! Just come on, will ya? I'll take your head off!"
"Most people reassure you by saying they won't take your head off, not by saying they will!"
Garfiel set off with heavy, rough strides, ignoring Subaru's protests. Though he had an uncomfortable feeling about Garfiel's refusal to deny the worst-case scenario, Subaru jogged after the broad back this time, actually following his lead.
Off the path, into the forest—they walked for a while before Garfiel stopped and snorted.
A small clearing where the trees stood just far enough apart. Enough space for four or five people to sit in a circle, and Garfiel turned to face Subaru— "Now then… what in the hell did you see in that tomb?"
"…So it's you too."
That made three people questioning him—after Emilia and Ram.
Unlike the first two, Subaru had to be more careful with his answer to Garfiel. Still, being asked again and again in succession was starting to wear on him.
Garfiel, heedless of Subaru's inner thoughts, spat with a grunt—"Yeah, me too—and I'm not just gonna let it slide, pal. 'Even your own folks can turn on ya,' as they say."
"Sorry, but all I did in that tomb was struggle to wake up Emilia. Saying I saw something in there is pure speculation."
"That's hollow AND shameless. You reek of the Witch from head to toe, puffing out that stink with every breath—you think you can fool me with that, huh?"
"……"
Garfiel's wrinkled nose and naked hostility made his stance crystal clear.
But hearing Garfiel's reasoning, Subaru felt a sense of dissonance despite being at a loss for words.
The reason Garfiel treated him as an enemy—the lingering scent of the Witch.
It had always been that way, and Garfiel's words just now confirmed it. The problem was that the timing of bringing it up this time was off.
Right after leaving the tomb, Subaru had tensed every muscle, expecting Garfiel to attack him at any moment.
Freshly returned from death—and the cause of death at that. In terms of the Witch's lingering scent, it was unlikely to ever be more potent than it was at that moment.
But contrary to Subaru's expectations, Garfiel hadn't attacked. In fact, Subaru was pretty sure Garfiel had been genuinely relieved when he and Emilia returned safely.
Yet here they were now, only minutes later, and Garfiel's attitude had completely flipped. Subaru couldn't figure out why.
Could it be that the stench had been so overpowering that it numbed Garfiel's senses, and only now—after it had thinned to merely detectable levels—was he reacting?
He sniffed his own raised arm, but all he smelled was a day's worth of accumulated fatigue. He decided to wash up later with water and a cloth, then pressed the issue with Garfiel— "That lingering scent of the Witch—I've had quite a few people point it out to me by now."
"Oh, really? Then every last one of them was damn well too easygoing about it, wasn't they, huh? When it's so bad my nose is about to twist off, what the hell were they thinking?"
"Setting aside the body odor thing, they judged me based on my actions. If you could do the same, it'd help. At the very least, you must have let me go right after I left the tomb."
"……"
"I have no intention of harming Emilia, or you, or the Sanctuary. That's all I ask—that you believe me. If possible, I'd appreciate it if you could just watch and see for yourself."
Subaru knew they were convenient words, but the fact that Garfiel hadn't immediately thrown a punch suggested he was still rational. There was room to settle this through dialogue.
Indeed, the eyes Garfiel fixed on Subaru wavered with a hint of hesitation. He wasn't so shortsighted as to try and eliminate Subaru on the Witch's scent alone. It was only when the stench around Subaru combined with some other condition that Garfiel took action.
This time, that trigger hadn't been pulled yet. And Subaru needed to figure out what that trigger was.
"…You didn't answer my first question."
"Hm?"
"What did you see in that tomb. Whether I let you off the hook or not depends on your answer."
Garfiel's tone lost some of its edge as he pressed the question, his gaze still locked on Subaru.
The answer was one of two things—tell the truth, or lie, just as he had with Emilia. He needed to figure out which was the right choice here, but— "Then let me ask you one question in return."
"You got your position wrong. I'm on top, you're on bottom. You want me to tear you apart?"
"Don't be like that. Just relax and answer casually."
Subaru gave a light shrug in response to Garfiel's bared teeth, then took a breath.
He held the question in the back of his throat, stared down the glaring Garfiel— —and now, this was the true test.
Steeled by that thought, he spoke— "I saw someone who looked exactly like Ryuzu-san. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"