His life spanned seventeen years, and to recount it all in its entirety would require a full seventeen years to do so.
Skipping over all that, if one were to summarize his current situation in brief, it would be: "A high school third-year and shut-in."
To elaborate further: "A hopeless waste of a human being who, despite having college entrance exams looming, threw away his parents' expectations and everything else, retreating into his own shell."
There was no particular reason for shutting himself away.
It started on an ordinary weekday, when he casually thought, "I don't feel like getting up today," and acted on that impulse to skip school.
From there, his unexcused absences piled up one after another, and before he knew it, he'd become a full-fledged shut-in who made his parents cry.
He spent entire days wallowing in idleness, sinking endlessly into the internet with zero human contact—and then— "And the result of all that is being summoned to another world, apparently."
"Subaru?"
"Mmn, mmn," he groaned, muttering to himself as he tried to sort out the situation, when a pair of white hands suddenly grabbed his cheeks. Looking up, it was the silver-haired beauty right in front of him.
—Honestly, she was devastatingly beautiful.
Long silver hair that shimmered like moonlight, deep violet eyes set like gemstones.
Her stunning face, peering at him with concern as her long lashes trembled, was so far beyond the realm of normal that it could almost be mistaken for a divine work of art—one so extraordinary that every artist in the world would snap their brushes in defeat.
And this impossibly beautiful girl was, of all things, gripping Subaru's face from an almost breathlessly close distance, peering in with a curious "Hmm?"
She smelled amazing. Incredibly so.
"Subaru?"
"Y-yes, Natsuki Subaru!"
When she called his name again in that silver-bell voice, Subaru answered with a strained smile.
Not just his face—his voice might have been trembling too. And the smile was probably creepy. For some reason, this beautiful girl was remarkably familiar with him. Otherwise, she wouldn't be staring at him from this absurdly close distance, or chatting with him like this.
"Mm, Subaru... right. Sorry. You just looked a little weird for a moment."
"W-weird? Like... my expression, or something like that?"
"No, that's not it. Your expression is always terrible, but I wanted to make sure you hadn't hit your head."
"My expression is always terrible!?"
He'd tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but the unexpected comment landed like a punch. Subaru's voice cracked, and the beauty stuck out her tongue slightly and said, "Sorry," with a small, apologetic smile.
Cute. What was the deal with this beautiful girl? She wasn't just friendly—she was overwhelmingly warm toward him.
Granted, the phrase "always" in her comment was a bit concerning— "—
"Hmm? But Subaru's expression looks the same as always to me."
"We're not talking about how bad Subaru's expression is right now! How terrible his eyes look is beside the point!"
"Don't rag on my terrible eyes! Pointing out a person's weak points isn't a nice hobby! Who even are you two... ah, well, since you're both kinda cute..."
Subaru shot to his feet, raising his voice at the beautiful girl in front of him and at the other person who had spoken to her—a gorgeous child in a lavish dress, with ringlet curls as striking as her outfit, looking like a fairy-tale princess.
But his bravado quickly fizzled.
He'd intended to barrel in with his usual thick-skinned confidence, but these were, after all, a beautiful girl and a beautiful child he'd just met for the first time. Even when going on the offensive, he was severely short on ammunition.
—And besides, this situation was strange.
If this was what he imagined, then these two were key figures for Subaru. Not just the first villagers he'd encounter—they were likely in an even more important position than that.
So Subaru straightened his posture and decided to prioritize making a good first impression.
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat, reset, and faced the two of them.
He took a step back so that both the two suspicious-looking girls and the large black lizard curled up behind them were all in his field of vision.
"—Allow me to re-introduce myself! My name is Natsuki Subaru!"
He thrust a finger toward the ceiling and placed the other hand on his hip in a dramatic pose.
There was no spotlight or disco music, which was a pity, but undeterred, Subaru flashed his teeth and gave it everything he had.
"The utterly ignorant, heaven-defying, wandering vagabond! I'm a rough sort, but please treat me well!"
"—"
The grand self-introduction left the two girls and one beast utterly dumbfounded.
Facing their stunned expressions, Subaru held his pose, waiting for a reaction. He'd arbitrarily decided that whoever moved first lost this standoff.
After a silence of several seconds, the beauty and the beautiful child exchanged glances.
"Um... you do know us, right?"
"That self-introduction was about three centuries too late."
"Oh come on!?"
So much for that enthusiastic self-introduction—it fell completely flat, and those were their comments.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * —The full gravity of the situation only became clear a little while later.
Subaru's self-introduction, which he'd thought was rather solid, had been met with lukewarm reception, and he scratched his head in confusion. But after listening to the two of them explain the circumstances again, something astonishing came to light.
A gap in memories between Subaru and the two girls—despite being total strangers to him, they claimed to know him.
Naturally, Subaru had no such memories. And because of that— "So, Subaru... you don't remember anything? Not about this tower, not about what happened in
"Um... yes. I'm afraid that appears to be the case. Yes."
"—"
Subaru answered while shrinking into himself, kneeling with his hands clasped. The beauty stared at him with wide eyes. The intense distress swimming in her gaze hit Subaru hard, and he felt a fierce stab of guilt.
And it wasn't just the beauty who was shocked by his answer.
"Memories... gone? No, that's impossible..."
The one who murmured was the beautiful child, her face drained of color.
Perhaps even more shaken than the beauty, the child seemed unable to process the blow.
Sitting on a bed woven from vines, Subaru noticed the child beside him gently tugging at his sleeve. Her slender fingertips trembled ever so slightly, and Subaru's heart ached.
"—"
He wanted to say something comforting to these two stunned girls, but unfortunately, Subaru was in no position to offer much himself. Honestly, the volume of information flooding in was so overwhelming he felt like he was drowning.
—At first, Subaru had assumed what happened to him was "just a standard otherworld summoning."
Even having the word "just" attached to otherworld summoning already put things outside the realm of common sense, but that assumption wasn't far off the mark—in fact, it was nearly correct.
This was not the world Subaru knew. Not the world he'd lived in for the past seventeen years.
That much was evident from the two girls with their outlandish outfits and otherworldly beauty. If that wasn't enough evidence, the defense could also submit the black lizard, which was as big as a horse.
Even the giant Komodo dragons Subaru had heard about couldn't match this black lizard's size. And when you added in the sentient vine life-forms that had autonomously woven beds and chairs, the verdict was clear.
—Therefore, this was a world with different common sense—a different world.
It belonged to what one might call the fantasy genre, a world entirely unknown to Subaru. That much was certain.
The remaining questions were why Subaru had been summoned here, and who the caster was.
Subaru had assumed it was the two girls in front of him—particularly the one who would, by all conventions of stories like this, be the heroine in the heroine's role. But that was where the conversation took a turn.
The crux of it was the discrepancy between these two, who claimed to already know him, and Subaru, who had no memory of them.
"So you two have already met me, but I'm the only one who's forgotten... is that it?"
Subaru frowned, wrestling with the additional information he'd just learned.
At the very least, the mere fact that otherworld summoning was real had already maxed out Subaru's mental capacity. And now he was being told that he'd actually been active in this world after the summoning—which crammed Subaru's already overflowing plate into an impossibly tight space.
Honestly, from Subaru's perspective, "no way that's possible" was a perfectly valid response he could dismiss with a laugh.
But the beauty and the beautiful child were dead serious, and they didn't look like they were lying at all. Of course, Subaru had no trace of the memories they described, so he could have stubbornly refused to believe them—but facing their expressions, his conscience wouldn't let him.
Besides, if it came down to choosing between his own word and the beauty's, he was self-aware enough to think the beauty was probably telling the truth.
That wasn't the only basis, either. —The stronger evidence lay in the changes to his body.
"...This definitely isn't the body I had right after leaving the convenience store."
Muttering this, Subaru lifted his right arm and opened and closed his fist.
The arm was noticeably more muscular than before. His palm had calluses he didn't recognize—not from swinging a bokken, and besides, he hadn't practiced with one in over a year.
But the changes didn't stop there.
"Gross..."
He turned the raised arm over, looked at the back of his hand, and grimaced.
The arm was more muscular, yes, but its appearance had become quite grotesque. From the right elbow down to the wrist, black mottled markings—like raised veins—covered his skin like a tasteless tattoo.
If the biological aspect were less pronounced, he might have passed it off as a tattoo. But no matter how he looked at it, it was undeniably part of his arm, and the grotesqueness was undeniable.
"—"
He dug his nails into the black markings with some force.
Even when tracing them with a finger, the texture was no different from normal skin. There was no pain, no strange tingling. When he pressed his nails in, he felt only the expected sharp sting.
If he were to break the dark skin with his fingernails right now, would blood flow?
—And if it did, would that blood truly be red?
"Subaru..."
"Ah! No, no, it's nothing! I was just thinking I might've gotten a seriously overdone tan, that's all. Just that, just that."
It was a somewhat shocking change, but he deflected with a light joke in response to the beauty's worried voice.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Subaru wasn't the type to fuss over injuries to his body. He didn't feel especially guilty about damaging a body his parents had given him, though the guilt he owed his parents in general had already piled up beyond measure, so what was one more?
Still, this was quite extensive. Long sleeves would help, and gloves if possible—he vaguely thought that would spare other people's sensibilities.
"Always wearing long sleeves, and legally equipped with fingerless gloves. Then, when danger strikes, he removes the gloves, revealing the dark arm beneath... Could it be, that man is 'Black Arm'...! ...Wouldn't a setup like that be kind of cool?"
"—"
While waving his right arm in a casual, joking manner, Subaru licked his dry lips.
The changes to his arm, including their strangeness, made the beauty's explanation highly credible.
After all, for Subaru, the most recent memory he had was "right after leaving the convenience store."
He'd finished shopping in his tracksuit, but his current outfit was nothing like his well-worn joggers—it was a travel-worn, dirty set of clothes. His feet were no longer in sneakers, and his sun-browned arms held no convenience store bag.
He had truly jumped not just worlds, but time itself.
Stepping out of the convenience store and blinking—that was the moment of his awakening, as far as he was concerned. If that was the case, when exactly had he lost consciousness? He'd found himself asleep and been called here. Then what about the gap before that?
—Summoned to another world at the convenience store, lived through some span of time, and then lost his memories.
Otherworld summoning—what he'd dreamed of so many times—and to receive it in this way, unable to feel any pure joy about it... what a twisted gift.
Subaru had spent time in an unknown other world, and during that time, he'd deepened his relationship with these girls in ways he didn't know about.
Should he trust that? Trust their goodwill? Allow himself to rely on them?
"—"
"Ah, hey! I-I get that it's disheartening, but let's try to pull ourselves together, yeah?!"
Subaru, who'd been turning things over in his mind, suddenly blurted out in forced high spirits.
The two girls beside and in front of him wore somber expressions, and seeing that made his heart boil.
They were clearly distressed by this situation, clearly struggling.
If the cause of that was Subaru, that was uncomfortable in its own way—but he was probably the only one who could do something about it.
So Subaru held up both hands toward the surprised girls, making a show of being goofy.
"As far as I know, this kind of temporary amnesia tends to come back with the right trigger, so there's no need to worry so much. In movies, it's all wrapped up in two hours, and everything goes back to normal. Tragedies are just spice for a happy ending, right?"
"Sorry, I don't really understand what you're saying."
"Huh, really...?"
"But..."
The beauty's response cut through his bravado. Subaru deflated at her words, but the beauty quickly shook her head.
Then she lightly rubbed the corner of her eye and smiled softly.
"Subaru is still Subaru, so... yeah. That's a relief."
"R-really? Hearing that puts my mind at ease a little too..."
"Take that!"
"Whoa—what was that for?!"
With a spirited shout, the beauty slapped Subaru's cheeks with both hands—a clap that rang out with a dry crack. Her own cheeks turned bright red from the force.
Subaru panicked at the sight, but the beauty just shook her head lightly and said: "Alright, that should perk you up. We can't keep looking so glum like this. You're the one who should be most worried, Subaru, so we can't just keep moping around."
"Her face says one thing, but she's crazy brave..."
"Come on, Beatrice! You too!"
Subaru was taken aback by the beauty's unexpectedly fiery pep talk, her cheeks still flushed. Without missing a beat, she turned to the small child frozen beside Subaru.
The child in the dress shrank a little under the beauty's intensity, but— "I know you're surprised, and I know it hurts. But right now, we need to think about who's having the hardest time of all. We have to be the ones to help him, don't we?"
"B-Beatrice is..."
"—"
The beautiful child faltered, struggling to find words.
The beauty said nothing to press her. She simply watched, quietly waiting for an answer.
She could have piled on more words, forced a reaction. But she didn't. Probably because she trusted this child—because there was a bond between them that Subaru, with no shared memories, couldn't understand.
"Subaru must be... struggling right now, I suppose?"
"...Yeah, I guess you could say that."
A small bit of pride and his old habit of deflecting made Subaru say it. But the child wasn't satisfied with that answer. So Subaru scratched his head and said: "Honestly... yeah. I'd like your help."
"—"
When Subaru frankly admitted he was at the end of his rope, the child's eyes widened in surprise. The strange pupils floating in those faintly blue eyes—for some reason, they looked to Subaru like the fluttering of butterfly wings.
"Oh, honestly! You really are the most helpless contractor there is!"
In the next instant, as if those butterfly wings had triggered a tornado, the child's attitude underwent a dramatic shift. She crossed her short arms and shouted with an exasperated air.
"Always bringing trouble to Betty, always causing problems! If this is going to be a one-time thing, Betty is going to lose all patience!"
"O-okay... so what does that mean exactly?"
"Since you were honest enough to ask for help, I suppose Betty will turn a blind eye just this once. —Besides, without Betty, Subaru is a crybaby who couldn't bear to live without her."
"You're going that far?!"
Subaru was floored by the child's suddenly buoyant attitude. To say he couldn't live without her—what an exaggeration.
"Hmph, if you've really forgotten, I'll just have to make you remember right away. —That Subaru's contractor is a shameless, noisy man who will never fade into sepia tones in her memories, no matter what happens."
"I don't really get it, but if that's about me, that's one heck of a way to put it!"
Something about "contractor" and other words he shouldn't ignore kept popping up, but the child who'd been looking so down had finally raised her head. He suppressed his urge to press her on the details.
Honestly, Subaru still hadn't fully accepted this situation calmly.
The confusion hadn't subsided; he couldn't face reality head-on; accepting their explanation as fact was difficult.
But even so, he could feel the strength of their intentions.
"My name is Natsuki Subaru. I don't know left from right, but I'm pretty sure I'm your friend. I know this is brazen, but I have one thing to ask of you."
He stood up again, thrust a finger toward the ceiling, and declared his name.
Then he extended a hand to each of them and tilted his head.
"—Could you tell me your names?"
"—"
For some reason, the beauty choked up, and the beautiful child blinked.
But that only lasted a moment.
The two paused, then slowly smiled.
"My name is Emilia. Just Emilia. Nice to meet you again, Subaru."
"I'm Beatrice, the Great Spirit. Subaru is Beatrice's contractor, you know."
And just like that, they told him their names.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * And so, Subaru had managed to get through what could be called a second "first meeting" with Emilia and Beatrice— "—"
But at the breakfast table—dubbed the "briefing session"—he found himself sitting on pins and needles.
Present at the table were, naturally, Emilia and Beatrice. Beyond them, five other people—slightly skewed in gender ratio, but men and women both.
According to Emilia's explanation, they were companions who had traveled with Subaru to this tower—something that was impossible to understand from the inside but was apparently a place they'd all been conquering together.
Going around the table from one end, the impressive lineup consisted of: an overly sexy, voluptuous beauty in a revealing outfit; a girl whose age didn't match her bewitchingly seductive aura; a peach-haired beauty with a delicate face but a sharp, charming gaze; a young-looking girl with a soft, gentle presence; and finally, a young man with an impeccably refined face who radiated noble air.
They were all gorgeous. At this point, Subaru already had a visceral understanding of how extraordinary this other world was.
"Though personally, I'd give a slight edge to the silver-haired beauty, Emilia."
"—"
He mumbled loud enough to be heard, but the response was arctic.
Understandable, of course—they had all just learned that Subaru had lost his memory, that he'd forgotten them. The same shock Emilia and Beatrice had felt was inevitable for everyone.
"So, I know everyone's probably surprised too... but Subaru is in a really tough spot right now. In a situation like this... no, precisely because of a situation like this, we should lend him our help."
That was Emilia, who had assisted with Subaru's explanation.
Though Subaru had only known her briefly, she wasn't much of a talker. It was Beatrice who had deftly controlled the conversation and provided clear explanations, keeping Emilia from going off on tangents.
Thanks to that, everyone should have received a full picture of Subaru's situation—but— "—Emilia-sama, is this acceptable?"
The peach-haired girl raised her hand and addressed Emilia. Being called "-sama," Emilia accepted it as a matter of course and nodded.
"That's Ram. She's a maid at my mansion... Do you understand the word 'maid'?"
"That much I can follow... A maid at a mansion, huh. Got it."
The peach-haired girl—Ram, as Emilia's follow-up clarified—looked the part. The fact that there was a maid implied Emilia held a considerable status, but before Subaru could dwell on that, Ram pinned him with a pale pink gaze.
"Is this some kind of joke, Barusu?"
"I don't blame you for being suspicious, but I'm being serious. Also, my name sounds like some kind of blinding spell. ...You're the big sister of the girl who was sleeping in that bed, aren't you?"
"—"
Subaru winced at the blunt form of address, and Ram's eyes narrowed.
The girl he'd mentioned was the one found in the green room—so named because it was, well, green—where Subaru had woken up. With bright blue hair and a face identical to Ram's, this girl who slept through all the commotion with complete indifference was the first person Subaru had asked Emilia about after getting past the "second" first meeting.
Apparently, one of the purposes of venturing into this tower was to find a way to wake her up.
"I feel bad about causing trouble just when you're trying to wake up your sister. But honestly, I'm completely overwhelmed right now. You can lodge your complaints with the me who gets his memories back."
"...That way of speaking—are you really serious about having forgotten? Your attitude and tone are no different from the usual Barusu."
"Heh, I'll take that as a compliment that my core personality stays the same. Well, a person's nature doesn't change that easily, so get to know the new me the same way you knew the old me."
Part of it was his usual forced cheerfulness, but Subaru's unguarded manner left Ram visibly puzzled.
That he hadn't changed at all—at least enough for her to question it like that—was, separate from the memory loss, not a bad thing.
At the very least, it meant she wouldn't have to tiptoe around him.
"Anyway, let me just—whooooa?!"
"Master~?"
As Subaru wrapped up his exchange with Ram and was about to catch his breath, a sweet whisper tickled his ear, nearly sending him skyward. He scrambled sideways and found a voluptuous black-haired beauty standing close enough to lick his ear.
She wore a black bikini top, hot pants, and a cloak—an outfit that felt like it was trying too hard to hit every fetish at once. But what surprised Subaru wasn't her clothes—it was her movement.
A moment ago, she'd been sitting cross-legged on the floor. When had she stood up and closed the distance?
"Ah, um..."
"I'm
"Star guardian...? And 'Master'—that's me...?"
"Yes, sir!"
The beauty—Shaula—nodded at Subaru, who was pointing at himself, with a smile as bright as the sun. Her completely carefree expression totally flipped Subaru's impression of her.
In terms of appearance alone, she seemed the most mature of anyone here, and her outfit added an air of sophisticated allure. Yet her attitude was completely childlike—or perhaps more like an overjoyed puppy desperate for attention.
True to that impression, Shaula wagged her long black hair, tied behind her head like a tail, and said: "Speaking of which, Master, you really never learn, do you~? Just how many times are you going to forget about me before you're satisfied?"
"This isn't a matter of learning or not! Seriously, how many times have my memories just up and vanished?! Is it because crossing dimensions makes them easier to lose?!"
Shaula's breezy comment made Subaru's eyes bulge. He looked around at the others.
He'd been reluctantly accepting the fact of his memory loss, but if it was happening frequently, that was a whole different problem. It wasn't a体质—it was a disease. If this was some kind of local condition in this other world, life here would be unlivable.
"Is it true? Have I been losing my memory that often?"
"Of course not. Calm down, will you? Shaula, stop confusing Subaru any further. He's only just gotten his emotions settled..."
Beatrice, who'd been holding Subaru's left hand the whole time, sighed. When she shot Shaula a sharp glare, Shaula stuck out her tongue and said: "I wasn't trying to mess with Master or anything~. Ah, but if it makes Master think about me all day, that might not be so bad. I'll become a femme fatale. Master, do you like femme fatales?"
"At the moment, femme fatales only add to the confusion, so no thanks. Right now I could use an angel, a goddess, or a fairy's help, so the half-naked older sister is a bit much."
"Tch~ So mean! Even with all this going on, Master is so mean~!"
Subaru declined her offer with a wry smile as Shaula pressed in with undiminished enthusiasm. Honestly, it didn't feel bad, but the affection she was directing at him wasn't for the Subaru of this moment—it was for the "Master" she admired.
He could say the same about Emilia and Beatrice's warmth, but— "You really are a handful, big brother, aren't you~?"
A young girl's sweet voice cut through Subaru's thoughts.
She appeared to be about the same age as Beatrice, but unlike Beatrice—who could easily be mistaken for a fairy—this girl was still firmly within human range, with a charming face. Her dark blue hair was braided in three plaits, and she cast a sultry sidelong glance that didn't match her young appearance at all.
"If I met whoever raised you, I'd have some things to say about the result, baby."
"—I wouldn't recommend that. Big brother would definitely not get along with Mama. Anyway, shouldn't we be focused on your memory right now?"
"Even so, there's no telling when it'll come back... For now, your name is what matters. Tell me, and it'll be the first step toward us getting along again."
Pfft... "Getting along," she echoed.
The girl covered her mouth and let out a light laugh at Subaru. It was a smile that hovered between mockery and exasperation, but wasn't quite either.
Subaru had no idea why she was laughing at him, but— "My name is Meili, big brother. If you haven't forgotten your special sewing skills along with your memory, I'd like you to make me another stuffed animal."
"Oh, so one of my hidden talents has been exposed. If that's the case, I must have doted on you quite a bit. Like Beatrice—maybe you're like a little sister to me?"
"That girl is an assassin who came to kill Subaru and Betty, I suppose."
"What kind of joke is that?!"
Beatrice's joke was pretty heavy, but for some reason, nobody denied it. Surely not—Subaru glanced at Meili, but she simply smiled faintly and gave a little wave.
Whether it was true or not, an "assassin child" sounded very fantasy-esque, so he filed it away and left it at that.
"So, introductions continued with Ram, Shaula, and Meili..."
Setting Meili's various issues aside, Subaru turned his gaze to the remaining two—the beautiful girl with light purple hair and a scarf, and the refined young man.
In this group, these were the only two who hadn't said a single word regarding Subaru's situation. Subaru would have liked to put his hopes in the young man—the only other male in this heavily female group—but— "—"
The young man, with trembling golden eyes, sat in oppressive silence. There was something almost ghostly about his demeanor—an atmosphere that made it difficult to approach, and Subaru hesitated to speak to him.
Subaru was famously good at breaking awkward silences, but even he found this man's state deeply intimidating.
If anything, he seemed to be the most shocked of everyone in the room.
"A little..."
"Hm?"
"I'd like to give him a little time to collect himself. Would that be all right?"
Speaking in the young man's stead, the beautiful girl with the scarf lightly raised her hand. More warmly dressed than the others, she had a tomboyish manner of speaking that didn't match her cute appearance—giving off a distinctly "boku-girl" vibe.
Either way, her words were a relief. Subaru and Emilia had been wondering what to do.
"Yeah, you're right. I definitely caught him off guard..."
"As I see it, it's not just that..."
"Oh, so you really are a boku-girl."
The boku-girl was indeed a boku-girl.
She appeared thoughtful as she fiddled with her scarf, smiling wryly at Subaru's remark.
"For now, let's say my name is Anastasia. Honestly, if not for your shocking confession, I was planning to make a shocking confession of my own, but the order got swapped."
"A shocking confession, huh."
Subaru was genuinely curious about what kind of confession she'd planned, but Anastasia merely smiled faintly without answering. He also noticed that Emilia and Beatrice looked somewhat puzzled by the exchange—not quite the same as being unaware of Anastasia's confession, but close.
"Regardless, if Knight Julius needs time to compose himself... perhaps we should use that time to prepare breakfast. Emilia-sama, may I borrow Barusu for some water-fetching?"
"Huh?"
Ram rose, smoothing her skirt, and said this with brisk efficiency.
Her attitude of disliking stagnation and wanting to put time to good use was reassuring. On the other hand, wasn't it a little too clinical? Emilia looked surprised by the unexpected offer.
More importantly, the decision to have the memory-impaired Subaru accompany someone for water-fetching— "Subaru's memory is still hazy, so maybe he should rest..."
"Resting won't restore his memory. Barusu himself said as much. And regardless of memory or lack thereof, Barusu has a role to fill as Roswaal-sama's servant. I can't have people thinking he can slack off just because he's gotten a bit forgetful."
"That's pretty harsh, Ram-chan... or Ram-san?"
"—"
Ram glared at him, and Subaru shrank back.
Still, there might be some logic to Ram's point. Subaru was aware he was in a difficult position, and being overly coddled was uncomfortable.
And besides— "—"
Looking at the young man, still hanging his head as Anastasia supported him, Subaru had the sense that he shouldn't be here while the man recovered.
Perhaps Ram had sensed that, and her true aim was to get Subaru out of the room.
"If that's the case, she's not to be underestimated, Ram..."
"...Regardless, let's go, Barusu. Don't expect much from you in any other capacity, so at the very least, learn to carry water properly."
"Ah, we should come too—"
"Coddling him won't help Barusu."
Whether dropping the honorific was the right call, Ram didn't argue with Subaru's words. Instead, she stopped Emilia, who had tried to accompany them.
Emilia looked like she wanted to retort, but Subaru cut in with a "Hey, hey—"
"Ram has a point. My brain might be scrambled, but there's nothing wrong with my body. From what I've heard, I'm a servant? A personal attendant? Something like that. So let me at least earn my keep by hauling some water."
"...Subaru isn't a servant. He's my—"
"Your what? —! Could it be that, um, a l-lover, maybe...?"
"No, nothing like that at all."
"Oh, nothing like that! Well, yeah, I figured..."
Subaru's breath quickened with hope, but Emilia shot him down without hesitation.
His one-track preferences were undeniable, but she was so far out of his league it wasn't even funny. Memory or no memory, there was no way he could reach a flower that beautiful.
"Anyway, I'll be fine—go take care of over there. It'd be nice if he's feeling a bit better by the time I get back..."
"...Yeah, okay. I'll try talking to him."
Setting the joke aside, Subaru lowered his voice and gestured toward the young man while speaking to Emilia. The young man seemed to be exchanging words with Anastasia, but he hadn't recovered yet.
It would be a relief if Emilia and Beatrice could get through to him.
For what it was worth, he had a feeling Shaula and Meili weren't the best candidates for this particular task.
"Well then, Beatrice, you're the one I'm counting on. Leave it to you, contract-kid."
"—. Please stop calling me that."
"—? Oh, sorry. Then... Beatrice?"
"...That's acceptable for now. I've accepted Subaru's request."
Beatrice, who'd been holding his hand, offered a small protest at the form of address. Subaru felt he'd somehow picked the wrong option, but couldn't figure out what the right one was.
Beatrice released his hand as he headed out with Ram, then glanced toward Ram.
"I'm entrusting Subaru to you, sister of my sister."
"Yes. Though it's not exactly far, and I'm not sure how dangerous it could be."
"The place that supposedly wasn't dangerous is exactly where Subaru lost his memory."
"True."
"Urgh, can't argue with that..."
Subaru felt the sting of defeat in the exchange between Beatrice and Ram. Just then, Emilia returned from the far side of the room carrying a bucket.
She handed it to Subaru.
"Take your time with Ram. By the time you get back, I'll have worked something out. I'll try my best."
"Yeah, I'm counting on you too, Emilia."
"—. Yeah."
For a moment, there seemed to be a slight pause in her response, but he couldn't press it.
"Barusu," Ram urged, and Subaru headed for the door with the bucket. He glanced back at the young man, but the man still wasn't in any state for conversation.
"...Is it okay to ask what that was all about?"
"About Knight Julius? That's rather cruel, Barusu."
"Cruel..."
Walking down the corridor with Ram, Subaru brought up the people he'd left behind in the room—especially the young man who had been so stunned he couldn't even speak.
Ram's response was that it was "cruel." What he'd gathered was that the young man's name was Julius—which, even his name gave off a sharp, refined impression.
"If you're going to leave his situation to Emilia and Beatrice, then you didn't bring me out here just for water-fetching, did you? There's another reason, right?"
A short distance from the room, Subaru went straight at Ram with the question.
"—"
"Silence, huh? I mean, I don't have any proof. Maybe I'm completely off base and I'll just embarrass myself, but..."
"—"
"...Could it really just be water-fetching? If so, I take back what I just said. You know, throwing out a bold 'there's something else, right?' and being wrong is pretty embarrassing."
"—"
"Hm?"
No response came, and Subaru braced himself for the possibility that he'd been way off. But as he scrambled to smooth things over, Ram suddenly stopped.
Subaru, who'd walked a couple of steps ahead, stopped and turned back.
Ram lightly pushed her pink hair aside and said: "—Enough with the pointless act, Barusu."
A faint trace of anger simmered in her pale eyes.
"Huh? Act...?"
"Obviously, if you went through the trouble of changing location, you have something to hide. Don't make a woman look foolish—it's unsavory."
"Unsavory..."
Subaru furrowed his brow, bewildered by what she was saying. But during his confusion, Ram stood with her arms folded, shaking her head in exasperation.
"Knowing you, Barusu, you've probably come up with something unsavory. The Emilia-sama who can't conceal her feelings, Anastasia-sama from the other faction, and the untrustworthy Shaula aside... At the very least, tell me what you're scheming, so I can be prepared if the need arises."
—That way, I can respond when the time comes.
Ram said this to Subaru with a measured tone, conveying that nuance.
Subaru looked away, running his black right arm weakly through his dark hair.
"So, Ram. What you're saying makes sense. I understand..."
"But?"
"But sorry—this isn't an act, or a scheme, or some kind of ploy. I've genuinely lost my memory. I can't fulfill your expectations."
"Stubborn. It's always been like this with you, Barusu—taking everything on alone. But this time, that won't work. Ram has
"I'm trying to tell you—"
Who was being stubborn here? Ram flatly denied Subaru's words, leaving him at a complete loss.
There was no denying he couldn't accept the memory loss, but when met with this level of obstinance, Subaru was helpless. Besides, what possible use would faking amnesia serve in a situation like conquering a tower?
"That, even Ram doesn't know... But you must have some kind of plan in your head, Barusu. So tell me everything. I'll keep it a secret."
"A shared secret between just the two of us does sound tempting, but..."
He didn't know the full picture, but Subaru clearly had something in mind.
Ram's assertion went beyond surprise and tipped into mild exasperation. Even when confronted with such fuzzy reasoning, Subaru had nothing to offer in return.
After all, how much was "he would, being Subaru"—how much faith were they placing in him?
But to Subaru's thoughts, Ram— "Barusu."
"Hm? ...Hey!"
Ram took a step closer, and with a flick of her arm, she knocked the bucket from Subaru's left hand. Metal clanged against the stone floor, the sharp sound echoing down the corridor.
Alarmed, Subaru started to shout—but— "Ugh—"
His collar was grabbed, and before he knew it, he'd been shoved against the wall.
The pain in his back drew a grunt, and Subaru belatedly realized that the small girl standing right in front of him had done this.
He realized it, but he didn't understand the aim.
"What are you trying to—"
"Just tell me. If you don't cut this out, Ram has her own plans."
"—! I don't know what you're talking about! I'm telling you, there's nothing! It's not a lie!"
His patience finally snapped under the low-voiced threat and the physical violence. If he said this much and she still refused to believe him— He reached for the slender wrist gripping his collar— "—Just tell me everything!!"
"—"
Her near-shouting voice, fired at point-blank range, knocked the anger right out of Subaru's ears.
It wasn't just surprise—though there was that. Startled by the sudden volume, his muscles lost their tension for a moment.
But more than that, what stopped Subaru in his tracks was something else.
"Tell me... everything..."
Her voice was shaking badly.
The fact that it was—struck Subaru like a bolt, even though he had no memories.
The shock wasn't simply because her words contradicted his impression of her. There might have been other, deeper reasons, but he couldn't have said what those were.
"...Please, tell me everything."
"Ra...m?"
"...Please."
Weakly, she pressed her forehead against his chest and whispered in a trembling voice.
All the force she'd had moments ago was gone—reduced to something purely anguished.
It wasn't a tearful voice. She wasn't that fragile.
She wasn't lamenting. She wasn't that gentle with herself.
—But the grief and rage living in that voice had nowhere to go.
—Whom was it directed at? Where was it aimed?
"If Barusu forgets, then Ram will... Rem will..."
"—"
"Rem... that girl..."
Rem—the name of her younger sister.
The "sleeping princess" lying in a bed in the green room, identical to Ram.
What kind of history had existed between that girl, this sister before him, and Subaru—he couldn't begin to imagine.
But he understood one thing: Ram was desperately clinging to something that Subaru had forgotten.
"...I'm sorry."
Subaru let his arms fall limply and whispered the apology to Ram, who kept her forehead pressed against his chest, hiding her expression.
Was he apologizing for forgetting? For being unable to give her an answer?
Probably both—and other feelings besides, ones he couldn't name.
"—"
Ram said nothing more.
Subaru couldn't speak either, only feeling the tight grip on his jacket as he closed his eyes.
—The two of them, trapped in their helplessness, were watched by nothing but the rolling bucket.