Without the faintest shred of understanding of what had just happened to him, Subaru looked around the room.
He wouldn't call it familiar, but it was a room he'd seen before.
The walls, the floor, even the ceiling were all draped in green ivy, and Subaru himself was sitting up on a bed woven from that same ivy.
Before him, two girls—a beautiful young woman and a beautiful little girl—had their heads tilted to one side, and right beside the bed, a massive lizard sat with its legs folded beneath it. On the other bed in the room, a girl with blue hair lay with her eyes closed.
There was absolutely nothing unusual about the scene. This was the Green Room of the
"But... wait, why am I here again?"
He wasn't sure if he'd truly woken up.
Running a hand through his head, Subaru tried to recall what had happened just before this.
Right—he'd been discussing an attempt to challenge the second floor of the tower, and before that, they'd been checking whether he possessed any special abilities. The conclusion had been that he had none, and after that Subaru had tried to regroup with
His memory of the moments that followed was frustratingly hazy.
He had the distinct impression that the next thing he knew, he'd just been lying in this bed again.
As he groped through the fog of his uncertain recollection, "Hey, Subaru—are you okay?"
"Whoa! Emilia, you're way too close!"
Emilia's beautiful face was right there—so close he could feel her breath on his skin. Her dark purple irises, framed by long lashes, were so near that he could see his own reflection in them, and Subaru scrambled off the far side of the ivy bed to put some distance between them.
At his exaggerated reaction, Emilia's eyes went wide.
"You didn't have to be so startled. Besides, you're the one who scared me."
"The one who scared you...?"
"Obviously! I went looking for you when you disappeared and found you collapsed on the floor. It'd be weird if I weren't worried."
"Seriously? I collapsed again?"
That said, he couldn't feel anything wrong with himself. Granted, someone who'd lost their memory probably wasn't the best judge of whether something was off, but at least there were no visible injuries.
"Still, flipping out twice in such a short time is pretty bad, isn't it? Even if it was only a few hours, should I count myself lucky that I didn't lose those memories too?"
"What are you muttering about... Subaru, there's something you need to tell Betty and Emilia, is there not?"
"Something I need to tell..."
Staring at his own open hands, Subaru heard Beatrice's words and tilted his head in confusion, looking back and forth between Emilia and Beatrice.
What was it that he needed to tell them? He puzzled over it for a moment.
"Oh... right. I'm sorry. I worried you. Thanks for saving me again."
"That's all you need to say."
"Hehe, you're welcome! But I'm really glad you're okay. I was so relieved."
"Yeah, sorry for putting you through all this at such a hectic pace, Emilia."
Subaru raised a hand to express his gratitude toward Emilia. However, at his words, Emilia furrowed her perfectly shaped brows.
Then, her dark purple eyes flickering with unease, she said: "Um, well, about that... Subaru, what's been going on with you since just now?"
"'What's been going on' is a pretty vague question. What specifically are you asking?"
"Because ever since you woke up, you've been calling me 'Emilia.' It just feels really weird when you call me that."
As she spoke, Emilia twined her fingers through her long silver hair, looking at Subaru with tentative eyes. That lonely, vulnerable gaze—the kind that clawed at his heart—made Subaru swallow involuntarily.
An unguarded, familiar girl whose appearance hit every one of Subaru's preferences—but there was clearly a deep disconnect between that and her current attitude.
"Subaru's pranks are nothing new, are they? More importantly..."
Beatrice cut in between them with a disgruntled tone. She gave her magnificent ringlets a sharp shake and pointed a finger right at Subaru.
Then, puffing out her rosy cheeks: "We need you to tell us something soon, is what Betty thinks. Why did you enter the 'Taylor' library again in the middle of the night? What was the cause of your collapse?"
"W-wait, wait, wait! What? I collapsed in the library too?"
"Again?"
"No way—the Taylor library is seriously scary... Wait, what was I even doing going there in the first place? It's already a creepy enough place, so that's just suicidal."
Blindsided by a series of events he had no recollection of, Subaru clutched his head at the disturbing revelation.
His memories before and after losing consciousness were admittedly hazy, but there should have been no reason for him to go to Taylor again.
The idea that someone had actually dumped his unconscious body there after he collapsed in the tower was more plausible—leaving aside the fact that there was absolutely no motive for doing so.
"Wait a moment, Subaru."
However, Beatrice halted Subaru's spiraling confusion.
"Hm?"
"Something about this conversation seems to be going in circles, I think. Subaru, could you explain clearly?"
"Explain clearly..."
"Tell Betty and Emilia about the situation you're in right now."
Slowly and deliberately, as though mouthing each word, Beatrice conveyed this to Subaru. Overwhelmed by the weight of her tone and the force of her bearing, Subaru nodded.
And then, with Emilia watching him with concern, Subaru thought for a moment before speaking: "First of all, I think I told you... When I woke up, I had no memory. Not completely empty, but my memories since being summoned to this other world are—"
"W-w-wait a moment! Memory? What do you mean by memory?"
"Huh?"
Beatrice's composed expression and dignified bearing crumbled apart the moment he began his explanation.
Startled by her unexpected reaction, Subaru froze. From behind, Emilia gently steadied Beatrice's trembling shoulders. But Emilia wasn't calm either—she too was staring at Subaru with wide, startled eyes.
"Subaru, I'm sorry, but I don't really understand what you're saying..."
"No, but if you stop me here, that's a problem, because you two are the ones who—"
—you already know, he was about to say. But the words wouldn't come.
The look in both Emilia's and Beatrice's eyes was clouded with genuine confusion. Subaru could tell, at the very least, that it wasn't an act.
And simultaneously, the fact that their reactions weren't acting was, for Subaru, absolutely terrifying.
Why had both of them forgotten the fact of his memory loss?
Could this tower have a nature that drains memories—and that Subaru wasn't the only one losing them? Was everyone having their memories siphoned away at just the right intervals, until conversations and interactions became impossible? That horrifying image arose unbidden— And then Subaru noticed something.
"The conversation with the two of them right after waking up..."
There was something familiar about it. No—not "something familiar." He distinctly remembered it.
The first time Emilia and Beatrice met Subaru—in this case, the first meeting from the perspective of a Subaru who had lost his memory—the conversation they'd exchanged was nearly identical to this one.
Moreover, the situation itself—waking up in the Green Room, having been laid in the ivy bed—was a recreation of the scene from when a memory-lost Subaru had opened his eyes.
At that realization, Subaru swallowed hard with an audible gulp.
He glanced at Emilia and Beatrice. Their expressions hadn't changed. But what filled their unsteady eyes wasn't suspicion—it was heartfelt worry directed at Subaru.
The sincerity of that concern only made Subaru's mind sharper.
Honestly, his thoughts were churning in a storm of confusion.
But if he had to piece it together— "We're seeing the same situation. In other words—a premonition dream."
Judging by the moment he'd woken up, that was the only reasonable conclusion.
If that was the case, the haziness of his memories around the moment of unconsciousness—or rather, awakening—made sense too. Dreams, for some reason, have a way of slipping through your fingers the moment you try to grasp them.
Or perhaps this premonition dream was the special ability Subaru had been granted upon being summoned to this other world— "A pretty tricky, demanding ability to have..."
Still, there was no denying that if he could master it, it would be a powerful tool.
A premonition dream was, in essence, precognition. The higher the accuracy, the more invaluable a key it would be for breaking through difficult situations.
Unfortunately, the information he'd gleaned from this particular dream didn't seem immediately useful— "I'd like the two of you to hear me out calmly."
Straightening his posture, Subaru—now aware of his own ability—said this to the two of them. Emilia and Beatrice exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement.
Facing them both with complete seriousness, Subaru paused with the slightest hesitation before speaking: "I don't know if you'll believe me, but it seems I've lost my memories."
——Subaru had woken up in the Taylor library with total amnesia.
It took Emilia and Beatrice a great deal of time—and a catalyst—to fully digest what Subaru had just told them. As much time, in fact, as it had taken in the premonition dream.
With a sharp slap— The sound of air splitting rang out as Emilia struck her own pale cheeks with both hands, giving it everything she had. The pain and the shock made her widen her anxious eyes, and she let out a determined "Alright!"
It was brave, almost manly—the same decisive gesture Subaru had seen in the premonition dream.
"Okay, I've psych'd myself up! I can't keep looking like this. Subaru's the one in the most trouble, so we can't just stand around looking lost forever. Come on, you too, Beatrice!"
With a spirited rally, Emilia shook Beatrice by the shoulders. Beatrice wore an expression of barely concealed bewilderment at Emilia's forcefulness, but— "I know you're surprised, and I know it's painful... but we need to think about who's suffering the most right now. We have to do something to help him, don't we?"
"B-Betty is..."
Beatrice faltered, and Subaru watched her while fighting the ache deep in his chest.
He knew what Beatrice was going to say next, what expression she was going to make.
But knowing that in advance brought Subaru no comfort whatsoever.
Betraying someone's feelings, someone's expectations—it's painful and terrifying.
No matter how many times it happens, no matter if it's the same problem, no matter if it's the second time around— it never gets easier.
And right now, Subaru knew Beatrice better than he had the first time. Which meant he hurt far more now than he had then.
"...Aaargh, honestly! Subaru is such an impossible contractor!"
And with that, Beatrice broke through her shell of anxiety and confusion, bursting free like the butterfly pattern floating in her eyes shattering through the chrysalis of stagnation.
Relieved by that, Subaru simultaneously felt a powerful wave of self-loathing.
Is this fine? Is this good enough? Yes,
Am I just building my own sandcastle atop the bonds and trust you've forged?
Watching the gentle yet heart-rending resolve of both Emilia and Beatrice, Subaru gritted his back teeth.
He had not told either of them about the premonition dream.
When it came to the exchange right after waking up and the fact that he'd remembered their names, he'd brushed it off by claiming not every single memory had been lost.
In truth, the extent of his memory loss—and which memories had specifically vanished—rested entirely on Subaru's own report. The two of them had no reason to doubt him, and Subaru himself had no desire for a fruitless back-and-forth.
Most of all, he wanted to determine just how accurate his premonition dream really was.
To that end, he probably shouldn't create any major deviations from the premonition dream's scenario. Minor changes had surely already occurred from the outset, but nothing substantial yet.
However, the reason Subaru hadn't revealed the premonition dream wasn't solely that.
Neither Emilia nor Beatrice—not
It was unlikely that any of them had been deliberately hiding it from Subaru. Coordinating that level of unified silence under those circumstances would have been implausible, and more fundamentally, there would have been no point.
That meant there was only one possible reason why none of them knew about the "premonition dream"—Natsuki Subaru himself had never once disclosed that ability.
"...What were you thinking, Natsuki Subaru?"
Subaru called his own name with a sense of detachment, as though referring to a stranger.
No—that phrasing was wrong. It wasn't a stranger's feeling. He literally was talking about a stranger.
To Subaru, "Natsuki Subaru" was a completely unknown person. He couldn't fathom their thoughts, couldn't hold a conversation with them, had no point of entry for understanding.
Why hadn't "Subaru" told Emilia and the others about his power?
As Subaru had considered—was it to change the premonition dream's scenario as little as possible? Even so, once the situation had been resolved, there should have been an opportunity to come clean.
If not, was there a reason he couldn't tell them? A reason he didn't want to?
That distrust toward "Subaru" was sprouting, seething, inside him.
"You..."
What were you thinking, "Natsuki Subaru"?
——The subsequent events unfolded, just as in the premonition dream, almost exactly as expected.
"So, I know everyone's probably shocked by this... but Subaru is in a really tough spot right now. Even though it's like this—no, precisely because it's like this, I need you to lend him your support."
Emilia explained Subaru's memory-loss situation to the others.
Her explanation was clumsy, but she couldn't afford to make any careless slip-ups that might drastically alter the situation. As a result, it was Beatrice who took over and compensated for Emilia's lack of eloquence.
And so— "This isn't some kind of prank, is it, Barusu?"
Ram questioned whether Subaru's situation was nothing more than a bad joke— "And yet, Master, you really never learn, do you~? How many times do you have to forget about me before you're satisfied~?"
Shaula cheerfully accepted Subaru's amnesiac behavior with a carefree air— "My, our dear brother really is in quite the pickle, isn't he~?"
Meili watched the bewildering situation unfold with an amused, mischievous smile— "Let's give him a little time to compose himself. Would that be all right?"
Echidna, concerned about Julius's composure in the face of the revelation about Subaru's memory loss, proposed a brief rest period.
Accepting that, Subaru took Ram up on her offer and left the room to fetch water.
Once they were alone, Ram seized Subaru by the front of his collar and pinned him against the wall— "...Please, tell me everything."
Her dignity hadn't wavered. But her core wasn't unshaken, either.
Listening to Ram's quiet anguish, Subaru returned to the group with absolute certainty.
The premonition dream was accurate. Annoyingly, impeccably precise—it was replicating the situation with perfect fidelity.
Subaru hadn't memorized every single word and gesture from every person, but even so, there was no change in the parts that had stuck with him.
If there was a problem— "Natsuki-kun, you seem remarkably calm considering the situation."
After exchanging re-introductions and divulging the mutual bombshell of Anastasia's consciousness being overwritten by Echidna, Echidna made this observation about Subaru.
At Echidna's words, Subaru felt his mouth go dry.
Honestly, her assessment wasn't unreasonable. Subaru himself knew he couldn't convincingly play the part.
Everyone was surprised, everyone was panicking, and yet they were somehow steeling themselves against this absurd situation—he watched all of that unfold, and yet he couldn't genuinely empathize with any of it.
It was like watching a movie he'd already seen and being unable to feel as though he were experiencing it for the first time.
What grew inside him was a toxic cocktail: sympathy for them for putting on brave faces, guilt for knowing that and leaving it unchecked, and revulsion toward the "Subaru" who must have kept doing the same thing all along.
If Subaru's terse, dark demeanor—his unnaturally composed state—came across as strange, that was hardly surprising.
In any case— "I'm grateful for being called 'calm.' I was the type of kid whose report card always said 'does not sit still.'"
"'Report card'...? Is that another term from the other world?"
"Yeah."
Subaru narrowed his eyes and nodded at Echidna's question.
Once again, the topic of the "other world" came up, and Subaru's response was the same—that he had been summoned from another world and brought to this place.
And once again, the understanding Emilia and Echidna reached was that he must have come from beyond the so-called "Great Waterfall."
Probably, even if the premonition dream's scenario couldn't be reproduced exactly, any actions carried by strong will and determination would manifest regardless, taking different forms.
It was a standard trope in the manga and games Subaru knew—the tried-and-true setup for a precognition ability.
Even if reactions to突发 events might differ, the things a person had decided to do didn't simply vanish. A person who'd decided to ask someone on a date would find another way to extend the invitation, even if obstacles arose—that sort of thing.
In other words, even without the memory loss, Echidna would have asked about the other world.
"I said I'd never explained it before, but I was carelessly tossing around the word 'other world' anyway... I'm even less sure what he was thinking now."
Given the nature of the premonition dream, keeping that ability secret was understandable—but not telling them about the other world was truly baffling. It was almost as though he'd resigned himself to the fact that there was no point in telling them.
As though he'd been afraid to tell them.
"It is strange that you're the least confused of all of us. We're the ones getting increasingly anxious about needing to do something, though."
"Maybe when everyone around you is panicking, the person involved ends up calmer by comparison. I'm still scared too, you know. You can rest easy on that."
"I'm really not sure that's reassuring at all..."
Subaru shrugged with a wry grin, mirroring Emilia's gesture. She'd been watching their banter with a somewhat deflated expression, but the atmosphere remained heavy regardless.
Subaru's demeanor was probably the biggest factor. He was trying his best to trace the behavior of his dream-self, but honestly, he wasn't entirely sure how his own demeanor was supposed to read.
It really was difficult to convincingly fake the reactions of someone who was genuinely bewildered.
So, before he made any more missteps— "Anyway, we've each got a handle on each other's situations for now. I know it's chaotic, but let's pool our efforts and get through this. To that end, it's about time we moved the situation forward."
Clapping his hands together, Subaru forcibly tried to change the atmosphere.
The last time the conversation had stalled like this, what had they done next? As if reminding the others of that—or as if following the premonition dream—Beatrice nodded.
"Shall we investigate what happened in the 'Taylor' library?"
——"Hehehehehe~"
It was the voluptuous beauty who leaked that listless, dissolute sound, her face slack with absolutely no composure.
With good posture and a dignified expression, she would be the kind of beauty who could captivate legions of men with ease—but she had completely abandoned all of that, draping herself against Subaru with a completely limp expression.
"Master, Masterrr. I'm so happy~. I'll definitely make you happy~."
"This has nothing to do with anything. Let go of my arm. It's soft and it's scaring me."
"Aaahn, I wish you'd just break apart that mean side of yours~."
Subaru forcibly pushed Shaula away as she tried to press her forehead against him and cling to his arm.
Honestly, being smothered by a beauty in such an eye-catching outfit was pushing the limits of Subaru's human constitution—and his constitution as a young man.
Right now, Subaru and the others were on the third floor of the Pleiades Watchtower, headed for the "Taylor" library.
As in the dream—or was it the premonition dream—they were searching for the cause of Subaru's memory loss and, if possible, to restore his memories.
However, Subaru already knew the search would yield nothing.
The fact that he was forbidden from participating in the search made it an even more frustrating time.
The person being far more familiar and forward than even in the dream was Shaula— "But you know, Master. You chose me over that little brat, didn't you~?"
"I didn't choose you. It just happened that way—circumstances conspired."
It was the slack-faced Shaula who was saying this, recounting the journey to the "Taylor" library.
It hadn't been a long distance, but the last time, the environment had forced Subaru to walk hand-in-hand with Emilia and Beatrice—a situation he had firmly refused this time.
His true feelings were a matter of conscience toward Emilia and Beatrice.
Knowing what would happen from the premonition dream, and yet not disclosing the fruitless facts they were about to uncover—he was observing them from a bird's-eye view, so to speak.
That awareness made it painful to get close to people who cared about him.
That was precisely why he'd deliberately stayed next to Shaula—whose empty head meant she was thinking about nothing—and was keeping her company during the search.
"At last, Master recognizes my charm~! You kept me waiting for four hundred years, you big meanie! I'm so happy I could give you a deep kiss~!"
"That's not what this is about! Scary! Seriously, stop!"
Shaula lunged at him with terrifying physical strength, and Subaru, cornered against the wall, fought back desperately. It wasn't a wall slam—it was more like a wall crush!
Just before Subaru's lips—those of someone who had never known love—were about to be forcibly taken— "Hey, hey, big brother doesn't want that, you know~. Don't be so rowdy~."
"Owwwwww!"
Meili had circled around behind Shaula and grabbed her long braid, yanking it. The arm strength of a young girl was one thing, but with that much body weight behind it, the pain was considerable.
However, Shaula twisted her neck to reclaim her braid, then clutched her long black hair protectively against her chest.
"How dare you touch my hair~! My precious hair—you terrifying little girl~!"
"Because if I don't keep an eye on you, the half-naked lady might do something bad to big brother, just like I'd ask animals to help me with bad people~."
"Mmph! How infuriating~! Master, say something to her~!"
"Shaula, don't come within two meters of me. You're scary."
"Master, you big baaaka~!"
Shaula collapsed into a theatrical display of tears, turning her back on Subaru.
Her flawless, exposed back glistened white, and Subaru scratched his cheek, averting his gaze. He then turned to Meili, whose hands were clasped behind her back.
"Ah, thanks for the save. It's weird saying this to an assassin and all..."
"Don't worry about it~. Being an assassin is practically retired at this point, and right now I just do what big brother and the sisters tell me to~. Just like I use helpful animal friends, you should use me well too~."
Meili's words, utterly devoid of malice or ulterior motive, hit Subaru hard precisely because of that.
She said it without a shred of guilt—as a perfectly natural thought. It was a difference between Subaru's values and this world's values, sure, but— Without a word, wearing an expression that revealed nothing about what she was thinking, Meili turned her idle gaze toward Emilia and the others searching the library.
The girl was short, with age-appropriate childish features, an unfinished frame, and curves that were still far from feminine. In other words—she was a child.
And the fact that she took those parched values as a given was, somehow, unbearable.
"I'm sure I'll still need to rely on you for a lot of things down the line, so... thanks in advance."
"...? That's what I already said, isn't it~? Use me well."
"I said rely, not use. This isn't about tools—it's about human relationships, you know?"
"...Hmm."
For an instant, Meili stared blankly at Subaru's words, then turned away with an ambiguous smile. But Subaru was relieved to see that it wasn't a look of distaste—more an expression of mild discomfort.
Even if those dried-out values were truly at her core, not everything about her was beyond the scope of what Subaru understood.
The fact that they could still reach toward each other across the gulf of mutual unknowns—that, for the Subaru of right now, was salvation.
"...You really don't remember anything, do you, big brother~?"
"Hm? Yeah, unfortunately. Do you... have some kind of hint?"
Surprised that Meili had brought up his memory, Subaru asked. Meili pressed a finger to her lips and smiled radiantly.
"If Petra heard about this, she'd probably cry~."
"Ugh... another name I don't know..."
"Petra is a girl who adores big brother~. She was really worried about him being sent here, so I bet I can hear her voice now saying 'I knew it'~."
"Curse you, yesterday-me, for being so careless..."
Tormented by the feelings of the as-yet-unseen Petra, Subaru made a bitter face.
How much more of "Subaru's" footsteps—ones Subaru himself couldn't recall—would he need to pick up?
"I also think yesterday's big brother was pretty careless~."
Unconcerned with Subaru's inner turmoil, Meili said this while stretching on her tiptoes.
Had that carried a strange, almost genuine weight? Or was it Subaru's imagination?
Before he could dwell on it, Emilia and the others returned.
They had nothing—bringing back only the fact itself and proof of the premonition dream's accuracy.
——With the Taylor search ending in failure, the remaining time was spent preparing to ascend to the second floor.
In other words, this was the extent of what Subaru's premonition dream covered. Beyond this point lay unknown territory—though at this point, Subaru had no doubt about the premonition dream's power.
The situation had progressed exactly as he knew it.
If there was a problem, it was that even knowing the future, none of those developments had offered any real traction.
"The fact that precognition has been confirmed—that's the big takeaway, huh?"
Even so, it was a strange thing.
For starters, Subaru had absolutely no idea what triggered the premonition dreams. Did they activate simply whenever he fell asleep? Was some kind of key required? Were they completely random?
If the situation were dire enough that he needed to rely on precognition, it was hard to imagine having the luxury of peacefully drifting off to sleep. He wanted to pin down the conditions more precisely.
If he dug deep enough, he could figure out what this premonition was actually capable of.
"For now, I did the same thing as in the dream—pushed Beatrice to leave me alone..."
Wondering if he might have the ability to transform, Subaru had pushed through a great deal of resistance to get Beatrice to step out.
Beatrice's persistence had actually felt stronger than in the dream—though that might have been because she'd spent less time with him on the way to Taylor than in the dream version.
Regardless, there was a reason he'd pushed to be alone.
"I need to figure out the reason I woke from the dream, and what happened right before that."
It might have simply been a case of being called in reality just as he would have woken naturally. But the conditions for waking from the dream probably also included encountering situations during the dream that warranted awakening.
Something terrifying, something painful—that sort of thing.
"Though I just got a creepy feeling thinking about it—a premonition dream of a premonition dream sounds like something out of the Butterfly Dream."
The Butterfly Dream: when a man dreams he's a butterfly, is he a man who dreamt he was a butterfly, or is the butterfly dreaming it's a man?
It was an endless loop of thought—a question with no answer that could shake the very ground beneath one's sense of self, threatening to send one spiraling into uncertainty.
Applied to Subaru's situation: was this the reality that had woken from the premonition dream, or was it a premonition dream that believed itself to be reality?
He didn't want to think that he'd wake up again in that Green Room, being shaken awake by Emilia and Beatrice, all over again— "—To prevent that, I just need to push past where the dream ended. If I can do that, there shouldn't be a problem telling Emilia and the others about the premonition dream."
The "Subaru" who hadn't lost his memories had, for whatever reason, avoided sharing information with Emilia and the others. But the Subaru who had lost his memories was ravenously hungry to change the situation.
He didn't want to cower before the fear of the unknown and let himself fall behind, scrambling desperately.
"—My policy is decided."
After staring down his own position for a while, Subaru resolved to tell them about the premonition dream.
Even so, this was uncharted territory for Subaru too. Strangely, his memories after parting with Beatrice and trying a few transformation poses were faint.
So if asked to prove the premonition dream, it would be difficult—but in that case, he should ask them to help him figure it out, conditions and all.
Mastered, it could be a powerful weapon. Or perhaps it would become the most essential weapon for breaking through the Pleiades Watchtower.
With that thought burning in his chest— "—Regarding Natsuki-kun, wouldn't it be dangerous to bring someone in a state of mental derangement along with us?"
Subaru froze.
The measured, intellectual voice that drifted from the room was unmistakably Echidna's.
For some reason, Subaru instinctively pressed himself against the wall, hesitating to call out. The conversation inside continued, unaware of his presence.
"Echidna, what do you mean by dangerous?"
"Is that not self-evident? That he lost his memory—judging by his behavior thus far, that appears to be a fact. But his subsequent responses are clearly detached from sanity. His explanation involving the word 'isekai' is proof of that."
"Isekai..."
"You don't actually believe he came from beyond the Great Waterfall, do you?"
Julius and Emilia seemed to hold their breath at Echidna's words.
At the same time, Subaru's heart pounded. What did Echidna's statement mean? He wanted to burst in and find out—and he forced down that impulse.
Even if he didn't, someone else would— "Indeed, the explanation was rather far-fetched."
"Does even Ram doubt what Subaru says?"
Emilia's surprise was palpable at Ram's cold, flat observation. To that question, Ram said simply: "Emilia-sama," and continued: "Ram does not doubt Barusu's account outright. In truth, the knowledge, behaviors, and strange customs Barusu brings with him are largely things no one here has ever encountered. It may well be credible that he came from a place no one knows."
"If that's the case..."
"But that would only apply to somewhere on this same landmass. The Great Waterfall—or, following Barusu's word, the other world—its very existence is something I cannot believe. ...There is no longer any basis for believing Barusu's words."
"Ram..."
Emilia called out to her with concern, hearing the bitterness in Ram's voice. But there was no reply, and Emilia swallowed before speaking: "I believe in Subaru. Beatrice does too. So please, everyone—I'm asking you to believe him."
"...Emilia-sama, Echidna is not saying that Subaru is deliberately deceiving us of his own volition. She is only saying that he is not currently in his right mind."
"Are you siding with that spirit, then?"
Emilia's plea was met with a rational counter from Julius. But this only irritated Beatrice, who was determined to stand fully in Subaru's corner.
An uneasy tension flooded the room, and sweat trickled down Subaru's forehead.
"Now, now, there's no need to fight—let's all calm down~. If you start brawling in here, Master isn't around to enjoy it anyway~."
"I don't think that's really the right framework for this discussion~. ...But yeah, you're right~."
Shaula and Meili's voices came from their positions as ever-present bystanders. After laughing mysteriously for a moment, Meili continued: "Why not ask big brother directly~? Like, 'big brother, has your head gone funny'~?"
"—!"
The venom in those words made Subaru bite down hard on his molars. Then, with a calm he himself found surprising, he pulled away from the wall and silently made his way from the room.
He kept his distance, his cautious steps quickening until he was running.
At a dead end in the empty corridor, he slammed his forehead against the wall.
"Damn it...!"
Not knowing what to say, or to whom, Subaru struck the wall amid the smoldering of his emotions.
Hearing that conversation without his presence had been more shocking than he'd expected.
He hadn't been arrogant enough to believe he'd earned their full trust. In fact, that thought had never even crossed his mind.
Trust was supposed to be a given, Subaru had assumed.
Because Emilia and Beatrice were so warm, so caring toward him.
He'd grumbled about how uncomfortable that made him while simultaneously taking for granted that of course they believed in him—of course they'd trust him, a stranger from some other place who would surely be useful for conquering the tower.
A burden who'd lost his memory. A useless person who'd lost his rational thinking.
For the first time, Subaru felt he truly understood just how shameless his position actually was.
What was it he'd said? Trust is a castle built on sand?
He was the one who'd failed to grasp that.
Could Natsuki Subaru even handle what "Natsuki Subaru" had built?
"At this rate, telling them about the premonition dream would be pointless too."
The fact that they'd believed his memory loss was the strongest evidence of their goodness.
But at the same time, the fact that they hadn't believed his story about the other world was proof that they were people of good sense.
And which way the premonition dream's revelation would tip that balance—there was no need to even think about it.
"I got it wrong from the very start..."
He'd failed. He had failed.
Now, of all times, how could Subaru salvage anything by showing competence he didn't have?
What they needed right now was "Natsuki Subaru." Not just Subaru.
Should he go back to them with an oblivious expression? Should he brazenly join the push to conquer the second floor, pretending he knew nothing of their conversation?
Or would Emilia and Beatrice be overruled, leaving him behind? And if he was left behind, who would be his minder?
He'd at least hope for Shaula or Meili—someone he could talk to without difficulty.
"...Damn it. How stupid."
As he muttered this, Subaru's vision suddenly opened up—he'd been wandering the corridor without thinking.
Before him stretched the massive spiral staircase connecting the fourth floor to the lower levels—the enormous hollow core of the terrifyingly vast Watchtower, its upper half and lower half linked by a void, a gigantic— "A spiral... staircase..."
Subaru squinted at the sight, lost in thought.
This was his second time here if you counted the dream. Whether in the dream or in reality, Emilia and the others had given him a brief tour of the tower's interior for his memory-lost sake.
So there was no mistaking his familiarity with this sight— "No, it's more than that. There's something... strange about this feeling."
A crawling sensation—the fine hairs on his spine standing on end.
All the blood in his body turned cold. The ringing in his ears grew unbearably loud. His heartbeat quickened of its own accord, his breathing grew ragged, and for some reason his knees began to shake.
His teeth chattered, roots not quite matching, and Subaru registered the abnormality.
But it wasn't caused by a drop in temperature or any external factor.
This abnormality—this disturbance—originated from Subaru's own body. Or rather, the effect on his body was being caused by something deeper—something within his psyche, or even deeper still— "—Ah."
A light impact, and Subaru had stepped forward.
No—stepped forward wasn't quite right.
Stepping forward required ground beneath your foot.
His foot swung out into empty air.
And so: "Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah —?!?"
Falling. Falling. He was falling.
His body was swallowed by a sensation of weightlessness. Heaven and earth flipped violently. The howling wind battered his eardrums.
In the grip of that situation, Subaru understood. He was plummeting.
No—he hadn't simply fallen. There had been a light impact first. He'd been pushed.
He'd been thrust— "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—!!"
Screaming, Subaru reached out desperately, clawing for anything to grab.
Nothing. There was nothing. The world was spinning so fast he couldn't tell where he was.
Every organ in his body was being dragged upward from below in an agonizing wave of nausea. Yellow bile spilled from the corners of his mouth, splattering into the void.
He knew this sensation.
Tormented by the unnatural nausea and pain, his hazy memories sharpened with terrifying clarity.
Yes. That's right. That's how it had been.
Before he'd woken up—at the end of the premonition dream—Subaru had suffered the same fate.
He had fallen, despaired at his helplessness, and then lost consciousness.
Which meant this situation too would end shortly, and he would wake from the premonition dream back in that Green room— In that instant, an impact shattered the right half of his body into pieces.
With a sound like air being torn apart and a shock like lightning, Subaru's right side was engulfed.
And then—delayed, but devastating—came agony beyond anything he had ever known.
"Hhhhiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaah!!"
A glance was enough. His right arm was bent backward at the elbow, bone jutting through. Blood-soaked, his jacket torn, pink muscle and unnervingly white bone were exposed to the open air.
He had made impact.
Falling from a terrifying height at full velocity, Subaru's body had collided with a section of the spiral staircase. The momentum of the fall and the rotation tore his body apart, and still he didn't stop.
No—worse than that.
"Gah! Guh! Guek!"
Spinning through the air in a spray of blood, his body slammed into the next step below.
The cruelest twist: it was his head that took the next blow. His forehead split open with a sickening crack, and he felt something that should never leave the skull begin to leak out.
His consciousness flickered away to the far side in an instant, nearly extinguished—only to be dragged back when yet another step crashed into him, and the agony of his broken arm losing even more of its human shape ripped him back to awareness.
"Ahhhhh!!! Gihhiiiiiiiii!!"
It hurt. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt.
Pain, agony, nausea, searing heat—they were grinding Natsuki Subaru into dust.
His arms, his legs, his face—dragged across the stone steps, scraped, shattered, crushed, reduced to something inhuman. Something that was not, something that was no longer "Natsuki Subaru."
Memories shape a person, you know.
"—Huh."
Through the vast quantities of blood spraying from his body, Subaru heard a voice.
Who had said such a ridiculous thing? Who had spoken with such knowing calm?
But it was a good line. Memories shape the person. A fine phrase.
If that was true, then what would a being who had lost their memories and had the very foundation of their existence compromised become? Whose would it be? What would it be?
"——"
He tried to scream—a scream that was, quite literally, coughing blood—but his throat was too shattered to produce it.
In the long, long time it took to reach the ground far below, Natsuki Subaru came apart.
The dream never ended. Natsuki Subaru had failed.
Those who fail are never given a second chance.
The end was coming.
Slowly, darkly, everything was being dyed in shadow.
Who... are you?
At the end of agony and scalding blood, the existence of Natsuki Subaru shattered to pieces.