——When the pillar of smoke had cleared,
"——"
Her pale crimson eyes went wide, straining to pierce the space still thick with lingering smoke.
But even as she searched the emptiness for something, she couldn't find a single thing she was looking for.
She searched for movement, for something black, for that adorable blue presence, searching for them in the gaping void—yet they were nowhere to be found, when— "Ram!"
A step forward, and her shoulder was grabbed from behind, pulling her consciousness back. Looking down, she saw that her foot had been mere inches from stepping through the cracked floor—had she not been stopped, she might have fallen.
Literally not watching where she was going. What a foolish blunder.
"Ram, I'm so glad you're okay...
"
Ram bit her lip. The hand gripping her shoulder belonged to Emilia, who should have been on the upper floor.
Breathing slightly hard, Emilia checked that Ram was safe, then turned to confirm the condition of the black earth dragon crouching behind her—Patrasche.
Seeing her do so, Ram finally regained enough composure to take in her surroundings.
The fourth floor of the
The stone tower, which should have been sturdy, had its corridors collapsed, and both ceiling and floor were shattered spectacularly. Through the holes in the walls, the sand-sea sky and sand were visible, and a parched wind was blowing in.
But the area that had suffered the worst of that devastating damage was the room Ram and Patrasche had been in just moments before—the one colloquially known as the "Green Room."
"——"
The chamber, its walls, floor, and ceiling once blanketed in thick layers of grass and ivy, had been stripped of every last trace of that years-long natural intrusion. Nothing remained of its original form.
The bed woven from grass and vines, the faint gentle luminescence born from the presence of spirits—all of it, gone.
And the biggest problem of all was— "Ram... where did Subaru and
Peering into the place that had once been the Green Room from beside Ram, Emilia asked. Ram couldn't answer immediately.
She knew full well that that painful silence was, in itself, the answer.
△▼△▼△▼△ "First things first, let's sort out what happened. Otherwise, we won't be able to talk about anything."
Saying this, Anastasia surveyed the assembled group and took charge of the proceedings.
With the white fox stole—
"That black shadow that attacked the tower earlier..."
"It appears to have vanished. Likely the doing of the Divine Dragon,
"Both the shadow and the dragon's movements were so sudden—it was hard to know what to make of it, wasn't it."
As the survivors inside the tower began sharing what had happened, Julius and Echidna followed up on Anastasia's lead.
Like Anastasia and Echidna, Julius's white knight's attire was badly soiled, but that wasn't solely from the fierce battle within the tower—the aftermath of the preceding event had contributed significantly.
Still, none of the three had suffered any additional injuries, and that much was a relief.
That was thanks to the Divine Dragon, Volcanica, who had been on the tower's highest floor.
"That shadow was bearing down on us, but Volcanica swept it away with a single breath. If it hadn't been there,
Crossing her short arms, Beatrice spoke, and Anastasia nodded in agreement.
Honestly, when Volcanica had suddenly released that breath, Anastasia had braced herself for death in a way completely unlike her. The situation had been that sudden, with no time to react.
Of course, that didn't mean everything was completely safe now.
"His response to the approaching crisis was impressive, but the Divine Dragon's condition remains unchanged... It seems he's following Emilia-sama's instructions and behaving himself for the time being."
"To be considerate of Julius, I'll try not to say anything about him losing his marbles... but the Divine Dragon being scary is nothing new. Still, what happened is just as Beatrice-chan said."
"Indeed."
Volcanica was the only one who could have responded to that sudden crisis. If his dragon hadn't blown that approaching shadow away, who knew what would have become of them now.
But they couldn't be entirely relieved— "It was an insane amount of material, wasn't it. But all of it hit the big brother and the others at once..."
"Meili-chan."
"—Ah, I'm sorry."
"——"
Perhaps flustered, Meili had spoken without thinking, and Anastasia reprimanded her. Meili apologized sincerely, her gaze drifting toward Emilia and Ram, who remained silent.
It was a matter of hindsight, but those who had been hit by the shadow's damage were Emilia's two—Subaru and Rem—meaning Anastasia's camp had suffered virtually no harm.
"But I can't say that for certain, since we're all traveling together."
Muttering under her breath, Anastasia glanced at Julius and Echidna.
While she had been dormant in the depths of her consciousness, swapped out with Echidna, the two of them had been acting alongside Emilia's group.
It was no surprise that Echidna, whom she'd known for ten years, was visibly shaken, but the fact that Julius—whose memories of them were practically fresh—was just as affected was plain as day.
On that note, what surprised Anastasia was that Beatrice, who should have been the closest to them, was actually keeping up with the conversation.
"Beatrice-chan, are you okay? No, that's not the right way to put it. But you don't seem flustered."
"...Even if Beatrice were to panic, that wouldn't bring Subaru and the others back, would it? Right now, the real problem would be panicking and botching our first move. That's the one thing we must avoid."
"First move? You mean..."
"To bring Subaru and Rem back home. That's the action we need to take, isn't it?"
Furrowing her brows in suspicion, Anastasia was about to press Beatrice further when Emilia—who was supporting Ram's shoulder—cut in.
Those deep purple-blue eyes locked onto her with an intensity that made Anastasia raise her eyebrows and wet her lips with her tongue.
"Oh? Here I thought you were falling apart, but look at you with those intense eyes. What's going on?"
"It's not a complicated story. Subaru and Rem were swallowed by that shadow and taken away... Volcanica managed to drive it off, but it was just a little too late. But..."
"They're not dead. That much is certain."
Still propped up by Emilia's support, Ram opened her eyes and responded.
She let out a tired sigh, then gently touched her own forehead—the spot where an oni's horn would have been. That was the basis for her confident words.
"Your oni... no, the synesthesia shared between sisters? You're connected to Rem that way?"
"Yes. Rem is alive. ...As for Barusu, leaving that aside—"
"Subaru is safe too, I guarantee it!"
Overly calm as Ram's statement had been, Beatrice blushed and shouted. But she was a spirit contracted to Subaru, so her words carried weight.
In other words, the two who had disappeared had each been confirmed alive from different angles.
"Subaru's connection through his contract with Beatrice-sama, and Rem-san through Ram-san's synesthesia—both are worth believing. And I, too, want to hold on to hope."
"How honest of you. ...Well, I'd prefer it if Natsuki-kun and the others were safe too."
Noting that Julius's willingness to grow too friendly was itself a problem, Anastasia stroked her stole.
They were only in a temporary alliance with Emilia's group—their rivalry over the royal selection remained unchanged. She didn't want to lose sight of that and make things more complicated.
But precisely because they were rivals, debts and favors should be settled properly.
"So then? It's wonderful that the big brother and the others are alive, but where exactly did they end up?"
As if to cut through the atmosphere, Meili asked idly while playing with the small red scorpion on her head.
Julius opened his mouth to respond, saying "As for that—"
"We couldn't determine the specifics, but that shadow was composed of shadow magic... or at least, something of a shadow attribute. It was likely the same type of energy used by the dragon carriage
"...Beatrice, I think? My assessment doesn't differ much from Julius's. That was a mass of shadow attribute energy. And more specifically, something close to a directional Shamak."
"Shamak? That's a basic shadow spell, isn't it? That much power from it?"
"...I always thought there were many humans who misunderstood it simply because few people use it. But it's troubling when even a fellow spirit shares that perception."
Glared at with those deadpan eyes, Echidna—the white fox—shrugged her shoulders. Sighing at that reaction, Beatrice raised a finger and said, "Shall I explain?"
"The defining characteristic of Shamak lies in its power to separate. A low-level Shamak can sever body from consciousness, and a high-level one can separate space from space. My 'Door Crossing' is an application of that principle—linking room to room to achieve something close to teleportation."
"The trick you used in the mansion before, Beatrice-sama. It was quite the ordeal to call you for mealtime, so honestly, I grew tired of it."
"Having it pointed out so honestly right now makes Beatrice quite flustered. I do feel bad about it, but apologies can wait... In any case, Shamak, if the caster is so inclined, can separate space from space and thus cut through even the most durable of objects. It's the Witch of Envy's signature technique."
"With that explanation, doesn't it mean Natsuki-kun and the others could have been cut to pieces?"
The way Anastasia heard it, that statement could only mean the survival of Subaru and the others—having been swallowed by that shadow—was hopeless.
But Beatrice shook her head at Anastasia's question.
"That was merely an analogy. At the very least, that shadow wasn't meant to cut Subaru and the others to pieces. But it did intend to absorb them and transport them somewhere."
"Separating space to take them somewhere... in this case, probably to its own location?"
"Because of the miasma surrounding Barusu."
Echidna distilled Beatrice's lecture, and Ram delivered the conclusion.
Subaru's miasma—the stuff that had attracted hordes of magical beasts on their way to the watchtower—was already common knowledge among the royal selection candidates.
Though the source and precise nature of that miasma remained entirely unknown.
"What we do know is that miasma attracts magical beasts, and that those connected to the
"Um, Subaru gets chased by magical beasts a lot, but he's not connected to the Witch Cult. I mean, I know it looks super suspicious, but..."
"It's fine, it's fine—we're not suspicious of that anymore, Emilia-san."
"Oh? That's good then. Subaru is a good boy, after..."
Relieved, Emilia placed a hand over her chest. But that relief itself revealed a deep-rooted problem.
As she'd said, Anastasia no longer harbored any suspicion of Subaru being connected to the Witch Cult. However, his unknown origins still bred doubt in her mind.
She didn't think of Subaru as a malicious being. But unconscious malice existed too.
—There was even the possibility that Subaru's very existence was a ticking bomb ticking away behind good intentions.
"Well well, let's put that extra worry aside... I understand the preamble. The shadow that swallowed Natsuki-kun and Rem-san took them somewhere. The question is—where?"
"And what happened as a result of Volcanica's breath interfering."
Both Beatrice and Ram, connected to Subaru and Rem respectively, likely had some idea of their approximate destination.
If all they could determine was that the two were alive but had absolutely no clue where they'd been sent, the search would be grueling. —After all, not searching was not an option anyone here would accept.
"Please, both of you. Where are Subaru and Rem? Tell me."
Emilia's earnest plea made Beatrice and Ram exchange a glance.
Then, after a few seconds of silence— "South. They went south."
"Ram senses the same direction. I don't know the exact location, but it's quite far."
"South? If it's south from here..."
When both Beatrice and Ram said "south," Emilia furrowed her well-shaped brows. She was likely trying to visualize the world map in her head, but Anastasia raised a hand instead.
Their current position was the
Seemingly arriving at the same thought, Julius voiced what was in Anastasia's mind.
Impressed by how quickly they were on the same page—proof he was an excellent knight—Anastasia closed one eye and said: "There's some distance involved, but if they were caught around there, I'd say the damage is minimal. Yet the look on their faces suggests... it's even further south, isn't it?"
"Even further south... you don't mean..."
"—All the way to the Volachia Empire in the south?!"
Where Emilia was stricken with shock, Meili's was far more subdued.
But that was only because she didn't grasp the magnitude of the situation. If that was the truth, then Beatrice and the others' reactions made sense.
If Subaru and the others had crossed the border—and into the southern empire, no less—that was a serious problem.
"The Volachia Empire and the
"Yes. You may not know this, but I accompanied the delegation that proposed the pact. Along with Reinhardt and
"I heard things were really bad between us and the Empire, but if there's a pact, couldn't we go search for Subaru and the others now?"
"—Well, it's not quite that simple."
Julius lowered his brows and shook his head at Emilia's hesitant question.
Behind his refined features, he lowered his gemstone-like yellow eyes and continued: "The Empire has temporarily banned all travel to and from the Kingdom since several months ago. The same thing happened with the Holy Kingdom of
"But the Empire's ban hasn't been lifted. Because of the trip to the watchtower, this isn't exactly up-to-date intelligence... but if nothing has changed..."
"Does that mean it'll be really difficult to go save Subaru and the others?"
"I'm afraid so."
After turning over every possible option, Julius's conclusion was a single word of regret.
Anastasia could only reach the same verdict. If they wanted to enter the Volachia Empire, a frontal approach was impossible.
They'd have to find a back route, but that would take time and connections.
No immediate solution existed. Thinking of the two whose safety was unknown, Emilia must be desperate—but— "——Then we need to move as fast as possible. Collect blood from Volcanica, bring it back to
"Emilia...?"
"I know, Beatrice. My heart is racing like crazy, super crazy. But if I just flail around here in a panic, it won't help Subaru at all. ...I need to stay calm."
Rather than being the one to reassure Emilia, Anastasia found herself surprised by the girl's composure. Beatrice, who had shared in that surprise, received Emilia's steadying nod in return.
Those violet-blue eyes wavered slightly, and her voice trembled faintly, but she was exercising every ounce of self-control.
With the clear intent that she wouldn't waste a single second before bringing them back.
"Both of you—Subaru and Rem are definitely together, right?"
"...Cross-referencing with Beatrice-sama's information, that appears to be the case."
"Right. ...Then Subaru will do absolutely anything to protect Rem. So there's no need to worry about Rem. Subaru is a little scary that way."
Emilia's trust in Subaru was immense, but Anastasia shared an equal measure of concern.
The last time they'd left him to his own devices, Subaru had lost his memories right here in this tower. That self-punishing boy had a bad habit of neglecting himself in order to protect the people he cared about.
That could inspire courage in others, but it was just as much a source of anxiety.
"That said, we'll have to put our faith in Natsuki-kun's quick thinking. Like Emilia-san says, what we can do right now isn't standing around groaning in the tower. It's to take action."
"Understood. ...Beatrice-sama, if there is one concern..."
"It's Subaru's body, isn't it? Subaru's gate is broken, so he can't expel mana on his own. If he's left alone for too long, the mana buildup could cause an explosion."
"I see. Being in a similar situation, I do feel a certain kinship with Natsuki-kun."
Anastasia was born with a defect in her gate. It prevented her from drawing in mana properly—a potentially fatal flaw for a mage. Of course, it had nothing to do with the business acumen and luck needed for a merchant, so it had never been a major problem.
"Ana..."
"I know, I know. We'll talk about the issue between me and Echidna separately later. —More importantly, it seems we don't have time to rest."
Clapping her hands, Anastasia signaled, and Emilia's group nodded in acknowledgment.
Their goal was to find the missing Subaru and Rem. To prepare a search party, they needed to leave the Pleiades Watchtower as soon as possible.
On top of that, they had to fulfill at least part of the original purpose that had brought them to the tower in the first place.
"My head's spinning with how busy we're about to be..."
"Yeah, really. But Subaru and the others must have it way harder."
Clenching her fist, Emilia thought of Subaru, who had been flung to some distant land. At her side, Meili narrowed her eyes at Emilia's profile and shrugged with a halfhearted "Yep yep."
With that, the group was about to begin taking action to prepare— "Oh wait, by the way—Ram-nee, did you tell them about that yet?"
"—Not yet."
"—? About what?"
At Meili's sudden question, Ram's expression soured. Her reaction drew the gazes of Anastasia and the others—who had heard nothing about any of this—onto her.
Accepting those stares, Ram hesitated for a moment, then: "Emilia-sama, this is not yet confirmed, but... the shadow that swallowed them and sent them to the Empire—it may not have been only Barusu and Rem."
"Not just the two of them? But Ram and Patrasche-chan are here, Meili's here, and everyone who was in the Green Room should be accounted for, right?"
"Just before the shadow surged in, a girl suddenly appeared. And the big brother called her the third 'Gluttony' or something like that."
"The third... 'Gluttony'?!"
The bombshell silenced the room.
A heated discussion broke out as Anastasia's group demanded the full details Ram had been withholding, while debating whether they needed to adjust their plans going forward.
As the Pleiades Watchtower buzzed with renewed urgency, Emilia gazed out through the gaping hole where the Green Room's entirety had once been, clasping her hands before her chest as if in prayer.
"Please, Subaru. —Please, be safe with Rem."
△▼△▼△▼△ ——At the very moment Emilia's prayer was swallowed by the parched sky above the sand sea, in a distant land.
"——"
On a windswept grassland, a young man was lifting a young girl into his arms.
The young man had black hair and sharp features. His sanpaku eyes—white visible on three sides—always gave him a perpetually displeased look, and in normal times people would say he looked like someone who'd kill you.
But right now, the corners of those eyes were soft and gentle, his lips curved into a small arc. There was a faint hint of tears welling in those sanpaku eyes, and the young man fought desperately to keep his vision from blurring.
Because, of course.
How long had he waited for this very moment? Thinking back on all those days that had ached in his chest—how could he possibly look away from the girl before him, even for an instant?
Lifted into the young man's arms and gazing at each other from up close was a girl with bright blue hair.
Her large, round eyes blinked, and her lovely face held the faintest glimmer of willpower. "Sleepy-eyed" was the most apt description, and it wasn't wrong.
In fact, she had just awoken from an impossibly long slumber. That her mind wasn't working properly and she was slow to recognize reality was entirely natural.
"...Ei... yu..."
Trembling lips repeated the words the young man had spoken just moments before.
Hearing that, the young man—
"That's right. That's right, Rem. I'm your hero. All this time, I've been... for you..."
"——"
"Rem?"
Struggling to keep his own voice from shaking, Subaru tried to catch Rem's words.
Perhaps her mouth was dry—Rem's tongue and lips wouldn't form sounds properly. But even so, she was trying to say something, and Subaru pressed his ear to her lips, straining to catch every single word.
The mere fact that Rem was trying to communicate, that she was making the effort, filled him with trembling joy.
"—u"
"What is it? Take your time. Rem, what are you trying to..."
To tell me? He tried to continue, but his words were cut short.
The moment he focused his hearing on Rem's lips to catch her words, Subaru's head and jaw were seized by a hand reaching toward him.
Before he knew it, his body had been flipped—not just his voice, but his entire person was sent tumbling right there on the spot.
And it was— "...R-Rem?"
—by Rem herself, who had straddled him on the ground.
Subaru's eyes spun at the sudden turn of events, unable to react in time. Rem gazed down at him from directly above, her blue eyes scanning his entire body.
Then, she exhaled softly and said: "Just what is your objective? What do you intend to do to me?!"
"——"
"You just start talking about being a hero, and besides—Who is this 'Rem'? Answer me!"
Rem's knees pressed down on both of Subaru's shoulders, pinning him in place, her hands closing around his neck. The pressure of her weight bore down on him, and Subaru gasped in pain, legs flailing.
But Rem's grappling skill was extraordinary. It was as though he'd never regain his freedom.
"Guh, ga, bwa..."
"If you won't talk, I'll simply keep going until you feel like talking. Dragging this out serves no purpose. Now, answer me. Your objective is..."
"—kaa"
Whether she was doing it on purpose or simply oblivious to her own strength, Rem's arms were constricting Subaru's neck so tightly that there was no opportunity to answer her questions.
Oxygen deprivation was clouding his consciousness, and Subaru knew that if this continued, Rem would strangle him to death. He kicked his legs desperately.
Their long-awaited reunion—and it had turned out to be entirely one-sided—but he refused to let it end like this. He wouldn't allow it.
Even if she truly didn't remember a single thing about him.
"Ooe, aa..."
"What? If you're willing to talk, show some sincerity—"
Rem furrowed her brows at the sight of Subaru struggling.
"Aa-uu!"
"—Kyaa?!"
Suddenly, a figure lunged in from the side and slammed into Rem's straddling body, sending her flying. —No, it was more accurate to say the figure tangled with Rem, and the two rolled across the grass together.
With the weight gone, Subaru rolled to his side and coughed violently, tears born not from the emotion of their reunion but from something else entirely filling his eyes. He looked toward where Rem had rolled.
There, he saw Rem entangled with a young girl.
"Uu! Uuuu!"
"What—Who are you?! Stop it! This is not the time for—"
The blonde girl had pounced on Rem on the grassland, baring her teeth and flushing red as she growled. Subaru's mind went blank at the sight.
Gasping, he scrambled to his feet immediately and rushed over to Rem and the girl.
Then— "You! Get away from Rem, you bastard!"
"Aa, uu!!"
Subaru batted aside the hand reaching for Rem's hair and seized the girl—the Archbishop of Gluttony, Louis Arneb—in a full nelson, wrenching her away from Rem.
The light-bodied 'Gluttony' thrashed in his grip, but the best she could manage was flailing her legs. Beyond that, she merely squirmed and growled—she didn't attempt any further resistance against Subaru.
"Auu! Uu, uuuu!"
"Damn it, what the hell is this...! Stop squirming—just hold still! Rem, are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"
"I—No, I'm fine. If anything, you're the one who's been through it just now..."
Subaru pinned down the thrashing Louis as Rem, furrowing her sharp brows, responded. Keeping her wary eyes on him, she slowly tried to stand— "—Eh?"
With a soft thud, Rem's legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground.
The awkwardness of her fall caught Subaru's attention, making his eyes go wide. But she didn't notice his gaze. Confused, she pressed her hands to her knees and tried once more to stand.
But— "...My legs... won't cooperate."
"Don't tell me you can't walk?"
"N-No, that can't be... This... this..."
Rem's voice hardened at Subaru's question, and she answered in rapid succession, straining to put strength into her legs. But the harder she tried, the more it highlighted the severity of the situation.
It wasn't just a loss of footing—her legs simply weren't receiving signals properly.
"Your legs got weak from being asleep for so long? No, but the arm strength you used to drag me down just now wasn't like someone who'd been bedridden."
When a hospital stay dragged on, muscle mass declined from lack of exercise—that was well-known. That it could weaken the legs to the point of requiring rehabilitation to walk again was equally famous. But would such effects be limited to the legs?
It was different from someone who had moved their upper body during their stay. In Rem's case, she had been asleep for over a year. If she'd gone weak, it should have been her entire body.
Yet Rem's body was exhibiting this malfunction in an odd way— "—Could this be feedback from the fight my sister waged?"
As Subaru tried to identify the cause of the abnormality in Rem's body, this thought flashed through his mind.
The death match against the Archbishop of Gluttony that he'd heard about in the Green Room. Cornered because of Subaru's inadequacy, Ram had chosen to share the burden with Rem as her trump card.
As a result, Ram's burden—which had been extraordinary even among the oni—had flowed into Rem, and Ram herself had said she had no idea what kind of effect it might have.
If that was true— "...It's my fault."
Had Ram heard him say that, she would have scolded him again for being full of himself.
But if Subaru had failed to carry out his assigned task, which in turn forced Ram to overexert herself, and that burden had then fallen on Rem—then yes, it was Subaru's responsibility.
With no reliable allies around, and only Rem and Louis—whose strange behavior continued—left, that responsibility weighed all the heavier.
"My fault...? Did you do something to me?!"
"No, that was just a figure of speech..."
"More importantly! Who are you, and who am I?! Answer me!"
"——"
Rem pounded her unresponsive legs in frustration, her eyes blazing with fury as she glared at Subaru.
Hearing that desperate, anguished plea from Rem—as though she were throwing a tantrum—Subaru was struck with the bitter realization that his worst fears had come true.
—Who am I? That was what Rem had said.
Who are you would have been one thing. But the question of who she herself was—that pierced deep into Subaru's heart, the one who had been longing for this reunion with Rem.
The warning signs had been there from the moment she'd referred to herself not as "Rem" but as "I."
"...The same state as Crusch-san."
Rem, who had been stripped of her "name" and her "memories" and left to sleep.
The victims of 'Gluttony' fell into three patterns. There was Julius, who had his "name" taken and forgotten by everyone around him. There was Crusch, who had her "memories" taken and lost herself. And then there was Rem.
The Rem who had awakened had done so without her "memories"—a case of amnesia.
Under these bewildering circumstances, facing a sharp-eyed boy, a growling girl, and her own useless legs, it was no wonder she was confused.
"Auu!"
Perhaps exhausted from her struggles, Louis—who had been quiet for some time—slipped from Subaru's slackened grip and fell to the ground with a whimper, rubbing her bottom as she rolled away.
Subaru didn't spare her a glance. Slowly, he began to walk toward Rem.
Rem watched his approach with fierce wariness in her eyes.
That gaze reminded Subaru of the first time Rem had regarded him with hostility.
He often forgot because the distance between them after they'd grown close had been so short, but Rem had originally been shy around strangers—a girl who was difficult to get close to.
In that respect, Ram—who hadn't changed at all before and after they'd grown close—was far easier to deal with.
Though one theory held that the terrifying possibility was that she'd never actually warmed up to him at all.
"...Never mind my sister... What?"
"What—What is it? I'm warning you, if you intend to do something to me..."
"—Rem."
"What?"
The tension drained from Rem's face, replaced by utter bewilderment.
Stopping his advance, Subaru maintained a distance just beyond arm's reach, and said: "It's Rem. That's your name."
He called her by her name once more, clearly and deliberately.
"——"
As if the words had been gently placed over her, Rem fell silent, unable to conceal her confusion. But then, behind her lips, the tip of her tongue moved slightly, and she repeated "Rem" softly—as if confirming it, making herself accustomed to it once more.
"Honestly, I don't fully understand what happened either. But we've been separated from our companions, and we're in an unknown location. That's bad—I'm sure you can understand that much, right?"
"..."
Still troubled, Rem's eyes left Subaru and surveyed the surrounding grassland.
A grassland stirred by the breeze, the sun hanging high in the sky, the humid climate pressing against skin. It was a sensation quite different from the parched air of the Augria Sand Dunes—laden with moisture.
The very taste of the air was different. They were in another place entirely.
In other words— "There's no help coming anytime soon. We have to find a way to get out of here on our own. So..."
"So, what? What do you want me to do? I can barely even walk."
"...I know you'll probably think this is suspicious, but just being here is enough. As long as you're breathing, talking, and looking around with those eyes—that's all I need."
"—? You want me to keep watch for danger with my eyes and report back?"
"Something like that. But that's fine too."
Just the fact that Rem had awakened, was breathing, and was talking to him—that was all he wished for.
It wasn't much to ask, but given that the only thing Subaru wanted for Rem was for her to be healthy and well, this was his unvarnished, honest truth.
Of course, they still needed to solve the problem of her lost memories, and Emilia, Beatrice, Ram, and the others back at the tower must be worried sick about the two of them.
He wanted to reunite with them as soon as possible. —He wanted to bring Rem and Ram together.
For Ram, who had missed her forgotten sister so terribly.
"Trust me—for now, can you just trust me? I'll protect you even if it costs me my life... No, dying to protect you defeats the purpose. But I will protect you with my life. I swear it. So..."
"—If I were to accept your offer, what would you do?"
"Right... I can't just act without a plan, so as for strategy..."
Taking in Rem's cautious question, Subaru gathered the information he needed to decide on a course of action.
As mentioned, Subaru and the others were in a vast grassland, but they could see large trees growing around it in a complete ring. The treetops blocked the horizon at 360 degrees, suggesting they were in a clearing within a forest.
Honestly, being in a forest in an unknown land was nothing but dangerous— "Step one when you're lost in the forest would normally be to use GPS to let your companions know where you are..."
"Gee... pee... ess?"
"I know. Something like that doesn't exist here. ...But Beako has a connection with me, so there's a possibility she could pinpoint our location using something similar. In a sense, my very existence serves as a GPS."
Depending on the circumstances, Ram might be able to use her synesthesia to locate Rem. In that sense, both Subaru and Rem served as beacons for their companions.
"After that, securing a water source—making sure we have water is the top priority. We'll set up a base camp and then expand our search radius from there. Edible grass or fruit... Ah, I'm glad I learned from Crusch-san. Kudos to my teacher..."
Kinz—the all-purpose butler at the Roswaal mansion—had drilled all manner of skills and knowledge into Subaru during his training in parkour and whip handling. There had been many times Subaru had been pushed to his limits, but thanks to that training, he could navigate this situation without losing his way.
In any case— "There are other things too, but it's not like I'm flying completely blind. Do you get it?"
"...More or less. Even if I wanted to resist, I'm in no position to with my legs like this."
"...That was a suspiciously honest statement."
Subaru tried a reassuring smile, but Rem's reaction was lukewarm.
Without her "memories," she had no basis on which to trust Subaru. If her legs worked, she might have already run away.
And yet, he refused to call the misfortune that had befallen her a blessing.
"I hope you'll be able to use your legs again soon."
"—! What's the point of saying that? What are you going to do?"
"I told you. First, we're looking for water. Given your legs, I'd really appreciate it if you'd cooperate without resisting..."
Saying this, Subaru closed the final distance between them, crouched, and turned his back.
One look at that posture, and Rem would have understood what he intended.
"You're going to carry me on your back?"
"Well, I could go with the princess carry option, but I wouldn't last long that way. Having you piggyback me would honestly help a lot."
"——"
After a brief silence, Rem stared at the undignified figure before her. Then, slowly letting out a sigh, she hesitantly reached her arms toward Subaru's back.
Rem's slender arms passed over his shoulders and clasped in front of his chest. Feeling her soft weight against his back, Subaru rose slowly, careful not to jostle her.
He felt Rem's weight. But what struck him as he carried her was how light she was.
Over this past year, there had been countless occasions where he'd had to transport the sleeping Rem, and each time he'd experienced the sheer difficulty of moving an unconscious person.
But this Rem—who was clinging to him of her own will—he didn't feel that at all.
"—? Is something wrong?"
"No, just a weird wave of emotion. Anyway, let's find water."
"Before that... what about that girl?"
"...Ah."
Glancing back over his shoulder, Rem indicated with her chin, and Subaru remembered the problem.
Rolling on the grassland, rubbing her bruised bottom, was Louis—her own long golden hair tangled around her. —What were they supposed to do with this Archbishop of Gluttony in her current state?
"——"
Even Subaru recognized that Louis's condition was unnatural.
She had never been what anyone would call "normal," but that referred to her being malicious—not because of this infantile regression she was displaying.
If anything, for her age she had possessed considerable intellect and the kind of demonic cunning that let her exploit every emotional crack in those around her.
But look at her now.
"Aa, aa-uu"
She had been licking Subaru's face the moment she woke up, growling like an infant who didn't know language, throwing tantrums like a baby.
Something bottomless had clearly happened within Louis's mind.
However— "That doesn't change the fact that I have no reason to feel sorry for her."
She was irredeemable evil. That truth would never change.
In their final encounter in the "Memory Corridor," Louis had been so shattered by experiencing the Return by Death that she had come to fear not just Subaru, but everything in the world.
By that point, she had already become a pitiful girl.
But Subaru hadn't saved her. He hadn't wanted to.
Despite having many options, she had consistently chosen the path most contrary to humanity, eventually losing the chance to set things right and cutting off her own escape. That was the Archbishop of Gluttony.
Her two brothers, and she herself, were no exception.
Having committed unforgivable sins, Louis Arneb had become a beast worthy of the abyss of hell.
—Why should Subaru have to save someone like that?
"You're not going to help her?"
"...It's complicated. I was in the same place as her, but she's not exactly a companion. More like the polar opposite. Leaving her behind won't make my conscience hurt."
"——"
Behind him, Subaru felt Rem catch her breath.
From Rem's perspective—knowing nothing of the truth—Louis probably looked exactly like what she appeared: a young, helpless girl. Even if the reality was that she was one of the depraved who had toyed with countless lives.
So Subaru's choice was one.
"I'm leaving her behind. ...She's not just dead weight—she's a genuine danger. I can't take her with us."
Back in the tower, picking up Louis from that surging shadow had been a snap judgment made in crisis. If he'd left her behind, Subaru and Rem might have avoided this outcome.
Truly, a situation where there was nothing but disadvantage with not a single upside.
"I see."
"Yeah. I know I'm not exactly in the best condition either, but..."
The priority had to be Rem and Subaru himself. He couldn't lose sight of that.
With that resolve, Subaru ignored the recumbent Louis and turned toward the forest in the opposite direction— "—It seems my faith in myself was justified, even if I am hollow."
It was a terribly cold, parched voice.
Whispered right beside him—close enough to be in his ear—those words made Subaru exhale a stunned "Eh." But before he could react further, a slender arm coiled around his neck from behind.
—It was Rem, still piggybacking on him, who was now strangling Subaru from behind.
"—guh"
"Saying all those nice-sounding things to lure me in, only to discard a girl in the end. How am I supposed to trust someone like you? Don't make me laugh."
The arm around his neck was the full, unimpaired strength of an oni—nothing like the useless legs she'd been struggling with moments before.
He couldn't pry it off. Subaru's airway was completely sealed. His body arched backward involuntarily—and though it wasn't intentional, he toppled backward onto the grass.
But even as he fell with Rem on top of him, she didn't release her grip. Because her arms were around him from behind, he couldn't swing them free to shake her off.
Why? His mind was consumed by the question.
Why? There was no "why." Rem was right. In front of her—someone who knew nothing, who understood nothing—Subaru had been too hasty, too eager.
And now he was reaping the consequences— "Oozing that sort of evil stench while claiming you have no ulterior motives—the nerve!"
"——"
Evil stench. Those words jolted Subaru's memory.
When he had first met Rem, the biggest reason she had been suspicious of him and perceived him as dangerous had never been his poor first impression or his naturally sharp eyes.
—The lingering scent of the Witch.
Even Rem, who had lost all her "memories" and possessed nothing beyond herself, could still sense it.
That was the primary source of Rem's distrust.
Remembering it now, realizing it far, far too late— "—Ah"
He tried desperately to twist free and offer some kind of excuse, but it was no use.
And so, Subaru's consciousness slowly, slowly sank toward the edge of darkness.
He screamed with all his might, not wanting to die—be killed by Rem—like this.
The scream never became words.
△▼△▼△▼△ "—! Rem?!"
The sudden return to consciousness jolted Subaru upright.
A burst of pain in his throat made him cough violently. Gagging on the phlegm that came up, he managed to pull himself together and looked around.
He was on the grassland. He'd been thrown.
The familiar sensation of awakening told him this was real, and he quickly knew it wasn't the déjà vu that Return by Death brought— —Because neither Rem nor Louis was anywhere in sight.
"This place... It's the spot where we landed. No mistake."
Thinking back to what had just happened, the moment his hand touched his neck, the pain rekindled horrible memories.
Rem had strangled him from behind on his back, and that had been the end of it. —No, that wasn't quite right.
"My neck... hurts. Which means Rem didn't actually kill me."
He'd been choked to the point of passing out, but she hadn't gone through with it.
Surprised by the cold-voiced Rem's decision, Subaru let out a sigh of relief—then immediately chastised himself. Now was not the time for relief.
He hadn't died. Which meant the world was still continuing from that worst-case scenario.
Rem had suspected his humanity because of the lingering scent of the Witch, thought the worst of him, and disappeared. —The reason they weren't here was likely because Rem had fled from him.
In the end, Rem had been repulsed by Subaru's decision to abandon Louis.
Leaving an infant alone on an unfamiliar grassland—he must have looked like a truly heartless man.
"It was a misunderstanding—! Even if saying that might not convince you..."
Cursing his string of judgment errors, Subaru slapped his own cheeks and stood.
Looking at the sky, the angle of the sun told him not much time had passed. That was another small mercy—Rem's legs were still immobile.
With those legs, she couldn't have gotten far. Proof of that— "There are drag marks on the grass...! I can follow these!"
Pursuing two people who had fled into a 360-degree forest without any clues would have been an impossibly difficult chase.
But following the trail they'd left on the grass would at least tell him where they'd entered the woods. Whether he could continue the pursuit from there was anyone's guess, but— "I've made worse bets than this!"
Shouting words that were anything but praiseworthy, Subaru charged after the drag marks through the grass. With his legs, he quickly pinpointed where the two had entered the forest.
The dense growth of trees and foliage had an almost tropical rainforest feel to it.
For a moment, a piece of television trivia flashed through his mind—something about the Amazon rainforest being a death trap for humans—but— "If Rem went in there, I can't afford to ignore this."
Neither Subaru nor Rem had any preparation for entering a forest.
Thinking of Rem struggling through the undergrowth with her useless legs, he couldn't help but curse every last one of his hasty decisions.
"—Rem! Come out! Please! I was wrong!"
Pushing through the soft ground and overgrown plants, Subaru shouted at the top of his lungs. Of course, his voice might only further alarm Rem and drive her deeper into the forest.
But it was still better than wandering aimlessly without any leads.
More than anything, as long as he was doing something—anything—to find Rem, he could keep moving. Otherwise, the guilt and self-loathing would tear his heart apart.
So many people had worked so hard for Rem's sake. If something happened to her, how could he possibly apologize?
He couldn't even die to make amends.
"Rem—! Where are you?! Answer me! Please, don't stray from me!!"
His voice hoarse, Subaru called out into the dense forest, where the trees swallowed his words.
His limbs were heavy, his exhaustion enormous. Come to think of it, Subaru's body had just endured the brutal battle in the Pleiades Watchtower and then slept for only a few hours.
Even with the healing from the Green Room's spirits boosting his recovery, it was a drop in the bucket.
If he found Rem, the relief might make him collapse on the spot.
Alert to that absurd possibility, Subaru pressed deeper into the forest— "Rem—! Answer me! Please, I was wrong!"
He cupped a hand around his mouth and kept shouting.
It was a plea from the bottom of his heart, but no answer came. His spirit wore away with every passing second.
Continuing to pursue Rem's vanished form, straining his eyes against the trees— "——"
The instant he opened his mouth wide to call her name again, something caught his eye.
At the edge of his vision, through a gap in the trees, past the dense canopy of leaves—a faint disturbance, moving differently from the wind-swayed grass— "R—"
The instant hope surged in his chest and he turned— A shock struck him dead center in the chest with terrifying speed.
"—!?"
He couldn't even scream. His feet left the ground, and his body was launched backward. He slammed into a tree trunk with tremendous force, the wind driven from his lungs.
"Guh... What... was that...?"
The blow from the gap in the trees had shattered his thoughts, his vision spinning.
But the force of the impact told him instantly that it was an attack. And so, before his mind had time to organize, he tried instinctively to leap away.
But he couldn't leap. Because— "—Ah?"
Because a thick arrow had pierced his chest clean through and continued out his back, pinning him to the massive tree behind him like a specimen on a board.
"Guh, bu...gh"
The moment he realized it, blood surged from his throat.
It poured out—gushing, gushing—from his pierced, ruptured organs and everything else. Gurgling, coughing up blood instead of breath, Subaru struggled to breathe once more.
In agony, he grabbed the arrow in his chest and tried to pull it out.
It didn't budge. The arrow had driven firmly through him and into the tree, locking him in place.
What was this arrow?
It was an impossibly powerful, unnaturally thick and strong shot. His pierced body was pinned like an insect specimen, reduced to nothing but ugly, pathetic twitching— "Agh, buh, aeh, mgh..."
Through the gap in the blood pouring from his mouth, he still tried to call her name—her name, the girl who should still be somewhere in this forest. The meaningless cry was a warning about the threat lurking in the woods.
Something hidden in the forest had targeted him with a bow and arrow.
And Subaru, wretchedly, failed to reach Rem. Instead, he was left here, unable to do a thing— "—Mgh"
What was happening? Where was he? What should he do?
A rising heat, and a pain belatedly spreading across his entire body—blood streamed from his eyes, his nose, his ears.
Feeling himself dissolving into nothingness, feeling the cold approach of Death, Subaru strained his eyes, shook his throat, and called her name until the very end.
—Calling her name, all the way to the last.
Gurgling, gurgling, drenched in blood.
Until the final, bitter end—calling her name, calling, calling, and calling still.
Calling still—