"So since
"Oh, really! Wow, that's great — a total surprise! Ah, sit down, sit down. You want tea, right? Oh yeah, I stashed some premium snacks for a special occasion!"
Subaru welcomed
He dashed down the hallway, ducked into the servants' pantry-like room on the staff floor, threw together tea and snacks, and sprinted back. The whole operation took a mere two minutes.
Drawing on the skills he'd honed during his life as a servant in the manor, Subaru performed at a level he'd never even shown Roswaal himself.
"I'm back! Got the good tea leaves and emergency snacks, so let's chow down together with our mouths wide open!"
"You seem to have forgotten what we're here for… Hey, can I say something?"
Standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, Emilia posed the question. Subaru, still cradling the tray, tilted his head with a look of puzzlement.
She pointed toward the bed with a slow, deliberate motion and said: "Doesn't it look like you put way too much effort into making it?"
"No! It's not like I was plotting anything! I was just trying to get Ram-chi to fall asleep! It's not suspicious at all!"
"What were you planning to do with Ram asleep in your bed?"
"Why is the misunderstanding spiraling even harder now?!"
Subaru set the tray on the desk, then dove onto the bed under Emilia's suspicious gaze, doing his best to ruffle the sheets he'd so carefully arranged.
"See? Now it's all ruined! That's how it should be, right! A wicked woman like Ram-chi deserves nothing less than a messed-up bed!"
"So you still plan on having her sleep here."
"I can't talk my way out of this!
"It's already bedtime, so I'm not going to wake her up. …It's fine either way, though."
Clutching at the gray cat, Subaru received a gentle response from Emilia as she hugged her own arms, averting her gaze.
"Subaru, I think it's fine that you get along well with Ram and Rem, but you need to keep some proper boundaries. Besides, those two are still young…"
"I'm into the strong sense of modesty. Wait, isn't there someone in this manor way more suited for that kind of talk than me? Hint: pervert with long hair."
"Oh, him. …I've given up on reforming him."
"The light just vanished from Emilia-tan's eyes! That's giving me chills!"
Her resigned expression was like that of an abandoned puppy, clubbing his protective instincts with a blunt object. In short, no matter what face Emilia made, Subaru thought she was adorable. In the end: "E-M-T: Emilia-tan is Seriously a Total angel."
"You still have that look you always get when you're being really, really dumb. I'm starting to think I might actually be figuring you out."
"That's sweet of you to say. But don't get the wrong idea — you can't just see through me that easily. Ah, here's your tea."
"Oh, thanks."
Emilia accepted the tea he offered and gently moistened her throat. Subaru yielded the chair in front of the desk to her and sat on the bed, sipping his own tea.
They shared the secret stash of snacks, and a relaxed, peaceful time flowed between them. Moments like these, maybe this was what people called happiness.
"Something like that, I think, is how I feel, you know… Subaru."
"You're saying something completely normal, but somehow it hits me right in the heart."
"It's a trick of words. The key is pronouncing it like hiragana. It's just saying an obvious thing as if it were obvious."
Subaru was getting used to Emilia's antics, and her manner felt natural.
He was also quietly happy to know she was enjoying this peaceful time too. And so, the time passed in silence— "Wait, I didn't come here to hang out, so you shouldn't be so relaxed!"
"You came to a guy's room alone at night — what do you call that besides a night out on the town? You'll get burned!"
"As I'm sure you already know, I can use magic even without Puck around."
The air cracked with a dry snapping sound, and the temperature in the room plummeted.
Watching the steam rising from the tea grow denser and more vigorous, Subaru judged that he couldn't push this any further. With a wry smile, he turned to the desk.
"Okay, okay, I got it. Studying, let's do studying. A heart-pounding lesson with Emilia-tan alone in my room at night… That actually sounds kind of exciting!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. So anyway, what do you usually do?"
Switching places, Subaru took the chair while Emilia leaned against the bedpost and spoke to him from nearby. Feeling her breath this close, Subaru opened his notes and reference book with a touch of nervousness.
"Right now I'm working on basic script — you know, the simple writing system. This collection of fairy tales is pretty much entirely made up of simple script, so the goal for now is to get to where I can read it."
"Hmm, a fairy tale collection, huh…"
Emilia picked up the book with its faded reddish-brown cover and flipped through it. Suddenly, her fingers stopped turning pages, and Subaru looked up with a "Hm?"
"Find a story that caught your eye?"
"Mmm, not exactly, but sort of. Well, you'll probably understand once you can read it."
She shut the book with a snap and sat down on the bed. Seeing Emilia sitting on the bed he'd just ruffled sent a faint thrill through Subaru, making him restless.
But she seemed entirely oblivious to the beast stirring inside him as she stretched out.
"Honestly, I was planning to have a chat with those girls you can only meet during Moon Period, but Ram and Rem asked me to do this. So tonight, I'm prioritizing you, Subaru. Be grateful."
"I'm already incredibly grateful! Seriously, it's like a divine blessing!"
"H-having someone thank me that much is a little embarrassing…"
"Thank you! Ram-chi! Rem-rin! I will absolutely not let your kindness go to waste! I,
"Huh — that way? What about me?!"
Shouting his gratitude toward the twins who had orchestrated this situation, Subaru turned back to the slightly put-out Emilia and thrust both hands toward her.
"Naturally, Emilia-tan gets the highest order of gratitude and appreciation. Once we're done with studying, how about a massage? With all the thanks in my heart, I'll work out every last bit of your daily fatigue with my own two hands — hands, feet, the whole deal. Heheh."
"Your hand gestures are weird, so no."
"Damn, you're too honest! But I don't hate that part of you either!"
As Subaru slumped against the desk in mock despair, Emilia let out a sigh. With that one familiar gesture, she drew a line under the conversation, then clapped her hands.
"Come on, stop goofing around. You've got work tomorrow too, so let's finish up before it affects your performance. Now, back to it."
"Aye, aye, captain! Oh, Emilia-tan, you can eat the rest of the snacks."
"Okay, thanks. …Snacking, though…"
It seemed that even in another world, maidens watched their snack intake for ladylike reasons.
Picking up this useless bit of knowledge, Subaru began copying today's characters with Emilia watching from behind.
Once he got into the groove, Subaru could actually focus on his studies. Emilia's presence was certainly distracting, but given that he was in a position where he could clear the crucial prerequisite of 'exchanging promises,' there was no real reason to rush.
From that sense of ease, Subaru wrote out his characters calmly. After a period of silence, Emilia suddenly spoke from behind him.
"Huh, you're actually not getting sidetracked as much as I expected."
"I'm concentrating. I'm the type who loses sight of everything once I get into something. That's why I go straight for the girl I like!"
"I hope so. But as long as you're making eyes at me, I'm not so sure."
Teasing Emilia's manner left Subaru cowed. It was highly probable that his previous approaches had never been taken seriously by her.
He'd been so direct — couldn't she at least believe him a little?
"But trying to flirt without any teasing atmosphere isn't exactly in my skill set. Seriously, I'd die of embarrassment halfway through. Falling in love with love itself and wasting away — a Heian-era aristocrat, that's me!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't joke around, don't play games. …Honestly, if only you were this serious all the time. Ram and Rem are going to give up on you, you know?"
As Subaru buried his head in his hands, Emilia sat on the bed with one knee drawn up and murmured. Her skirt was short, giving her a rather daring look, but the thoroughly defenseless girl was oblivious to such subtleties.
Leaning slightly, Subaru focused every ounce of his visual acuity on the corner of his eyes. If he looked directly, she'd catch on — so he employed the classic technique of pretending not to look while actually looking.
"This is the stealth of one who walks the Yin lineage! Gate wide open!"
Subaru's sense of purpose flared with a bizarre conviction. Unaware of his machinations, Emilia's sultry pose and lowered gaze remained forlorn. Then, quietly: "Hey, Subaru. I don't want to ask this, but… why aren't you taking things seriously?"
"That's not really the kind of question you ask when you want me to say 'being serious about not being serious is my policy'… Hmm?"
"No, this is serious. — Ram mentioned it too, actually. She said it seems like you're cutting corners at your job, sort of here and there."
Maybe because it felt a bit like tattling, Emilia's tone was halting. But hearing this, Subaru could only grimace inwardly at the sting of a bullseye.
Being evaluated as cutting corners between tasks — if that was the assessment of his work performance, it was, without question, perfectly accurate.
The truth was, Subaru wasn't genuinely committed to his work. Or rather, it was fair to say he was deliberately adjusting to produce results similar to his previous loop.
Compared to his last run, when he barely understood the job at all, the current Subaru had at least learned the basics. His servant skills, which had been graded ALL "C" before, could now perhaps be called ALL "C+."
In reality, he'd only just started climbing the long, long slope of servant work. But even that slight difference hadn't been enough to fool the eyes of his seniors.
Naturally, guilt made Subaru's lips heavy.
Watching Subaru who couldn't even muster a rebuttal, let alone a second word, Emilia murmured "I knew it" under her breath, then: "You don't feel zero guilt about it, huh? Subaru, you're oddly honorable in some ways. And you're not slacking off on studying either."
"Well, there are certain circumstances, and studying is for my own benefit too… Actually, now that I say it, I realize everything I do is driven by my own interests."
Looking back, that was the worst possible thing to say.
He'd caused trouble for the twins for his own reasons, taken the parts that benefited him and cultivated those, while cutting corners on everything else. The worst kind of triple crown.
"Oh, starting tomorrow I'll approach everything with renewed spirit, so please forgive me, my queen."
"Hmm, that's adequate. …Or is it something slightly different?"
Sensing the oddness in her own words, Emilia tilted her head.
Subaru felt relieved at her softening attitude, and firmly resolved to make tomorrow's promise the real deal.
At the very least, tonight marked a turning point. Beyond this, he wouldn't need to follow the same path as last time, and he wouldn't need to deliberately slack off at work.
The kindness he'd received over these four days — he'd be able to pay it back to Ram and Rem.
Of course, just because he stopped cutting corners didn't mean his abilities would improve overnight.
"Something like that — the feeling is what matters. My earnestness right now, that has a value no amount of money can buy. Truly priceless."
"You always find the perfect moment to deflect. …Are you done studying?"
"For today! Oh yeah, I have a favor to ask Emilia-tan — will you hear me out?"
Rubbing his hands together fidgetingly, he looked up at her with a puppy-dog plea. A direct assault on her maternal instincts, but Emilia pulled back slightly.
"Nope, I have a really bad feeling about this."
"My reputation is taking a catastrophic hit!? That's totally not what this is! I just want a reward, that's all — so I can keep working hard starting tomorrow!"
"A reward? Just so you know, I don't have any money I can spend freely."
"Once I get my pay, I'll be just as broke — a penniless orphan! H-h-just hear me out. Okay, since I'm going to start working seriously tomorrow… let's go on a date!"
Thumbs up, teeth gleaming — in his mind, the ultimate pose.
Emilia rolled her eyes at Subaru's stock gesture.
"A date… what do you do on one?"
"Heh, when a man and a woman go out alone together, that's no longer just 'going out' — it's a date. What happens between them is known only to the Goddess of Love."
"Then today Subaru went on a date with Rem."
"My date virginity's been stolen!? I've been defiled!"
As Subaru hugged his shoulders and whimpered, Emilia gave a wry smile and waved him off.
"I get that you want to go out somewhere, but where?"
"Heheh, actually there's this super adorable dog thing living in the village right near the manor. And there's a flower field too — seriously gorgeous. I'd love to capture the spectacular sight of Emilia-tan amid a blaze of flowers using my Magic Tool, and keep it forever."
In the corner of the room sat the equipment from his initial loadout — recovered alongside Subaru after surviving the Loot House showdown.
He'd left everything inside the plastic bag untouched. The cell phone, along with the snacks and cup ramen, were all intact.
"If I had a charger and an outlet, I'd fill the entire memory with Emilia-tan photos… And I'd switch the wallpaper daily. Ugh, I want this so bad — so, so bad! Why wasn't I summoned to an Otherworld Summoning, Thomas?!"
He called out the inventor's name in vain, lamenting the gap in civilization between his old world and this one. The phone's battery indicator had already dropped by one bar. It was only a matter of time.
Eventually, he'd just have to gamble on charging it with lightning magic or something.
"That's a kid's manga solution…"
"Hmm, the village, huh…"
Muttering to himself, Emilia placed a hand on her cheek and pondered. Come to think of it, she'd hesitated like this last time too. Subaru recalled that it hadn't been outright refusal — she simply hadn't wanted to. Trying to recreate how he'd pushed her, he said: "The dog is super cute — let's go!"
"But I might cause trouble for you, and the village people…"
"The kids are all innocent little angels — let's go!"
"…Sigh. Fine, I understand. I'll come with you."
" The flower fields are seriously colorful and wonderful — let's go… Wait, really?"
He'd felt less resistance than last time, which actually threw him off.
Caught off guard, Subaru blurted out his honest surprise, and Emilia pouted.
"If this will make you motivated starting tomorrow, then I'll go with you. Seriously though, you can't keep being so aimless."
"I won't, I won't! I absolutely won't. If anything, I'd ditch the dog, the kids, and the flower field just to be alone with you!"
"The whole point of the date just flew out the window!"
Subaru's quip was met with a perfectly timed retort from Emilia.
The two of them bickered playfully for a while before noticing that the night had grown late. Emilia rose from the bed.
"If you want, you could sleep in that bed, you know."
"I don't know why your breathing is so heavy, and the sheets are all messed up, so I'll pass."
"Damn! Why is it so messy… Ram-chi, even when you're not here, you're still sabotaging me."
He imagined Ram's face floating in the night sky like a departed soul, looking down at him with contempt.
While Subaru was conjuring this dramatic scene with a sky full of stars, Emilia wandered to the window and gazed up at the sky herself.
"Yeah, the stars are beautiful tonight too. …Tomorrow will be nice weather, I'm sure."
"— Yeah, and it'll be a day I'll never forget."
"You're doing that thing again…"
Leaning against the window frame, Emilia turned around, ready to reprimand Subaru for his wisecracks. But her lips stopped moving when she saw his face.
His expression was more serious than she'd ever seen it.
She'd probably noticed something had shifted. Emilia fell silent, and Subaru blinked.
"Huh, what's wrong? If you keep this up, I might just grab you as a body pillow — sleepy me is dangerous, you know!"
"Subaru really is a weird kid."
"Out of nowhere — a devastating evaluation!? What did I do?!"
Taken aback by the blindside, Subaru floundered. Emilia stepped away from the window, crossed the room, and passed by his side with a cheerful "It's nothing~."
She placed her hand on the doorknob, turned back to him.
"Well then, Butler Subaru-kun. Make sure you work hard starting tomorrow. Rewards are only given to those who earn them, so it's a reward for you."
She gave a light salute-like gesture with her upraised hand, leaving a smile behind as her silver hair swirled. Without waiting for his reply, the girl's shadow vanished beyond the door.
Even if he reached out, he couldn't catch her now. The door closed with a click, and Subaru was left alone in the room.
But— "Wait, wait, wait — seriously? Geez, now I'm getting fired up. For real this time."
The promise he'd wanted to make had been made again.
And Subaru could once more face this night.
Whether he could survive the fourth night and reach the fifth day's promised morning.
The clock was ticking — roughly six hours remained.
"All right, bring it on, fate—"
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Instead of sitting on the bed, Subaru sat on the floor with the bed as his backrest, waiting for night to yield to morning.
The cold touch of the floor, which had long since been warmed by two hours of sitting, was no longer useful for keeping him alert.
But Subaru's body was at the peak of wakefulness — not a trace of drowsiness could reach him.
The reason was simple.
"With my heart pounding this hard, who could possibly fall asleep?"
His heartbeat was fast and loud, each beat sharp and resonant as if echoing right beside his ears. He could feel blood coursing through his entire body, and a faint tingling numbness was creeping into his fingertips.
"Just this excited for a promise with Emilia-tan? Geez, am I a grade-schooler who can't sleep before a field trip? Don't remind me of the time I overslept for the class trip."
It had truly been a family-wide disaster. The whole family had been looking forward to it, and yet he was the only one who'd been sent off with a convenience store bento. The sorrow of that day still quietly slumbered deep in his chest.
Reflecting on that old wound and letting it distract him, Subaru continued to gaze at the night sky.
The stars' brilliance was unchanged; only the moon's position had shifted, ever so slightly, toward the west.
Before the sun rose from the eastern sky, there should be about four hours left.
Such a long time, he thought with fresh conviction.
There was not a hint of drowsiness, but because he didn't know what might happen, he had to remain vigilant. The possibility of an attack made killing time absolutely out of the question. All he could do now was let his body's racing pulse thrum against his eardrums and keep thinking.
Reflecting on these four days — or rather, the second four-day cycle — he took stock of everything.
The early disruptions, the various differences from the first loop. The impact those had on the path to tonight was probably significant.
But on the other hand, Subaru judged that several key events from his memory had been cleared. The second loop had added fine sub-events to that framework.
If the reason for his return was a flag he'd failed to trigger, could tonight's study session be one such event?
"I can't rule it out…"
If some entity was steering Subaru through these loops, it was hard to say whether it would consider that study session important.
And yet, beyond that, he couldn't detect any major changes. His relationship with Emilia was unchanged, and his relationship with Ram and Rem felt better than before, if anything.
"If there's anything still weighing on me…"
It was the fact that he hadn't encountered
In the previous world, right after his promise with Emilia, Subaru had infiltrated Beatrice's room through Door Breaking.
He didn't recall having a particularly meaningful conversation, so the flag probability was extremely low — but this time, his relationship with her was even worse than before.
Having been kept busy with strict time management, Subaru had barely seen her face during these four days.
"Though even last time, all we did was meet face-to-face and trade insults."
Even as he murmured that, Subaru couldn't ignore the weight in his chest.
He had no memory of a deep conversation with Beatrice, but in this second repetition, the first thing that had saved his mind was undeniably her attitude.
It was precisely because she made no effort to hide her wariness of him that Subaru had been able to find relief and recover.
"Should I have at least said thank you?"
This version of her in this world would have no idea what he was talking about, and even if he said it, he could already guess the kind of response he'd get.
And yet, despite their relationship being one of constant verbal sparring, Subaru's lips loosened whenever he thought of Beatrice.
Even that unchanging dynamic, once recalled, brought a smile to his face.
If he could meet tomorrow's dawn, there would be so much more he could do.
Not just Beatrice — he had things he wanted to say to Ram, to Rem, to Roswaal.
Of course, he hoped he'd be allowed to say everything to Emilia last.
"Hmm, actually, even ten thousand words might not be enough to express what I feel. And for the remainder I can't put into words, I'll show it through actions…"
In his daydream, he imagined scooping up the blushing Emilia, her flushed cheeks turned upward as their lips met. He was going all out on imaginary CG scenes.
Looking back, it would all be laughable — eight days, spanning both the previous loop and this one.
Perhaps the relaxation inside him was starting to show, because despite there still being over three hours until dawn, his eyelids had grown somewhat heavy.
"If I fall asleep after all this, it would be absolutely no joke. This isn't like gaming…"
Rubbing his eyes and trying to shake off the sudden drowsiness, Subaru realized the sleepiness had brought along a strange chill with it. He shivered involuntarily and gave a bitter laugh.
He hugged his shoulders and rubbed his body to warm up. But no matter how much he tried, the chill wouldn't fade — and what was worse, the drowsiness showed no sign of lifting either.
— Something was wrong.
The situation he'd been taking lightly — Subaru noticed the shift.
— It wasn't just cold. It was painful.
Looking down at his tracksuit sleeves, he could see goosebumps rising on his skin and a visible shivering running through his core.
This was abnormal. The climate in this other world was mild, and the temperature was usually just right for rolled-up tracksuit sleeves.
So why was it so cold now that his teeth were chattering?
"This is bad — no way, this is—!"
A tremor ran through him, and it wasn't the cold — it was fear. Subaru hurriedly planted his hands on the floor.
But the shaking had already spread throughout his body, and the arms he'd tried to use for support couldn't bear his weight.
It took nearly thirty seconds to finally stand. But even his two legs trembled at the knees, and if he relaxed, he'd collapse on the spot.
A sensation of blood draining away. A lethargy as though strength was leaving his limbs. The heartbeat that had been so insistent was now weakening, and his thoughts were growing sluggish.
His entire body refused to cooperate, and if he didn't consciously focus on it, he'd forget to breathe entirely.
Gasping, lips trembling, Subaru dragged his shaking legs out of the room — crawling toward the hallway, searching for help.
"…S-someone…"
He tried to call out, but his voice came out hoarse, as if his throat were blocked.
His parched throat stung with every breath of air, and the lethargy had seized even the expansion of his lungs, slowing his breathing.
This is bad. That single thought dominated Subaru's mind.
He couldn't think of a single concrete solution, and he didn't even understand what was being done to him.
All he knew for certain was that his life was in danger.
Groaning, he stumbled toward the staircase. A path he'd walked countless times, and not a great distance either. And yet, his destination felt impossibly far.
Reaching the staircase left him gasping for breath, and ascending to the upper floor was an ordeal that seemed to chip away at his soul with every step.
"Pant… pant…"
Using all four limbs to climb one step at a time, he finally reached the upper floor. His goal was deeper down the dim corridor — that was where the person he needed was.
His insides felt as though they'd been melted, stirred together into one horrible mess. Holding back rising nausea and tears, his crawling body pushed forward, forward.
He had to get to Emilia. He had to reach Emilia.
A sense of mission, a sense of obligation, an indescribable emotion — something was propelling Subaru forward.
There was no longer any self-pity or clinging to his own wretched desire to survive. There was only the overwhelming, compulsion-like certainty that he had to reach that place.
When he reached the same floor, Subaru was already near death's door. Had there been an objective observer, they might have turned away from the sight.
Leaking filth, face smeared with tears and vomit, leaning against the wall — he had lost even the bare minimum of human dignity.
His whole body was sluggish, every muscle in revolt. His destination, only steps away, seemed farther than the heavens.
His breathing was ragged, and a high-pitched ringing pierced his ears.
It was by pure, meaningless chance that Subaru noticed the strange sound.
It sounded like chains.
A sense of unease — that was what made Subaru stop. The moment he paused, his body slid down the wall, unable to support itself. He braced himself. But he couldn't hold on. He crumpled to the floor.
"—Uk?"
The next instant, an impact struck Subaru.
His entire body lurched violently, and the body that should have fallen to the ground was flung away.
It took multiple bounces off the floor and a face-first slide across the ground before Subaru understood that something had hit him with tremendous force.
There was no pain.
Just a sluggish, unpleasant numbness from the tips of his limbs all the way to the contents of his abdomen. A lethargy like the deadening of blood flow, except worse — it consumed his entire body.
"What…"
Happened? he tried to say as he pushed himself up, attempting to lift his prone body. But his trembling arms couldn't grip the ground. No — something was wrong. Even putting aside the lack of strength, he couldn't balance. And why, when his right arm was doing all the work, was his left arm nowhere to be seen?
The already dim corridor seemed to recede, as though even the faint light refused to help him. In his blurred, distorted vision, Subaru stared at his struggling right arm and then turned to look at the left arm that had abandoned its post— He realized that his entire left side, from the shoulder down, was gone.
"—Ah?"
He rolled his body sideways, turning his left side upward, and stared in blank disbelief.
Both arms needed to stand — and the left half simply didn't exist. His left arm had been blown away from the shoulder, and from the jagged wound, torn flesh and bone were visible.
Even in the night air, the interior was a vivid pink, and from it gushed an unending torrent of brilliant red.
The wound wasn't limited to his left shoulder — his left flank had been ripped open too, with a portion of his intestines spilling out from a similarly ragged gash. How many times now had he been forced to look at his own guts?
Half-dazed, he thought this, and then the pain from his wounds pierced through his entire body.
What could no longer be called pain or heat tore through him, stuffing his throat like a fish flopping on a hill, robbing him of even the ability to scream, and writhing.
"Ahhhhhhh—"
His vision flickered, and streaks of red and yellow light raced across his field of view.
They painted over the familiar scenery of the manor and dragged his consciousness to some other place that was not of this world.
I want to die.
I want to die, I want to die, I want to die, I want to die.
I don't understand the meaning of living.
I can't even call this living.
I'm just not dead yet. I'll die soon. I'm about to die right now.
Nothing makes sense. Everything is far away.
I can't remember what I was trying to do. I can't remember who I am. Nothing matters. Nothing matters, so I want to die.
And Subaru's whole soul wished for— "The sound… of chains…"
That was the last thing he heard before his skull shattered, granting his wish.