Staring down the young sheep-man, Abel directed an unforgiving question at him, and Subaru's eyes went wide.
The name that left his lips was far too unexpected.
"
Confusion swirled in Subaru's mind as the image of a kimono-clad deer-girl surfaced.
She was Yorna's attendant—the girl who had shown up at the watchtower yesterday and again at the inn today. Still a child, yet remarkably composed. Her aloof demeanor had left a lasting impression.
And yet, Abel was claiming that very girl was the mastermind pulling the strings.
"I-I don't understand! Why would she—*glrk!*"
The moment Subaru raised his voice to question Abel's reasoning, he was tackled by a force that sent him sprawling. Looking up, he found Louis sitting atop him with a grin.
This was the same Louis who had single-handedly knocked out nearly ten enemies in the blink of an eye. Her innocent demeanor made Subaru catch his breath involuntarily.
—The power Louis had unleashed while rampaging. It was unmistakably the same thing he had seen in the sand tower.
Not power native to Louis, but power stolen from someone who had worked hard to cultivate it. In other words, what she had used was the ability of 'Gluttony'— "...G-get off me."
"Huh?"
"I said get off!"
Shoving at the girl's shoulders on his chest, Subaru forced himself upright. The momentum sent Louis tumbling onto her rear, and in the process, her stomach came into view—white fabric stained red.
Seeing that, he remembered she had been hurt.
"You're wounded!? I need to bandage—!"
"Ah! Aaah!"
He hurriedly tried to roll up her clothes to check the wound, but Louis wriggled and resisted, pushing at his face and neck as if she were being tickled.
Ignoring her struggle, he managed to roll up the fabric and inspect the injury. There were traces of blood seeping through, but no visible wound.
"It's... healed?"
Indeed, there were signs of bleeding, but the wound itself was gone.
Standing there, bewildered—as though he'd been tricked by a fox—Subaru suddenly felt Louis's small fists shove his chest. Of course, what would happen if Louis shoved someone in earnest was demonstrated by the several bodies sprawled motionless on the street.
But in any case— "—Answer me. Where is Tanza?"
While Subaru was confirming Louis was unharmed, Abel's interrogation continued.
The terror of his pressure-cooker questioning was aided not only by his piercing gaze but by Medium's blade standing behind him. Even if Medium harbored no ill intent, her sheer presence behind Abel was menacing enough.
The young man's eyes darted between Abel and Medium, and his thin throat let out a gulp.
"Ah..."
"This is the third time I've asked. Answer. Don't fool yourself into thinking there will be a fourth."
His voice dripped with bone-chilling cruelty. Hearing it, the boy opened and closed his mouth several times, then the faint flame returned to his eyes.
"H-how should I know!? If you want to know where Tanza is, you should be the ones—!"
"————"
"You're the ones who did something to Tanza... That's why! That's why we're all doing this!"
The words shot out like a bite, and the boy's arm lunged toward Abel's throat.
A reckless attack, heedless of his own safety—his fingertips were about to seize Abel's windpipe and crush it. But before they could land, a small palm pressed down on the boy's forehead— "Ungh!"
—and slammed the back of his head into the ground, knocking him out cold.
The pitiful boy rolled his eyes back, let out a moan, and collapsed sideways, losing consciousness.
"L-Louis..."
In the blink of an eye, Louis had vanished and reappeared elsewhere.
The short-range warp used by 'Gluttony'—something she had demonstrated countless times in the sand tower. Seeing her wield it so effortlessly, Subaru felt his chest tighten.
If that power still remained, then she really was Louis—Louis Arneb.
The white-haired girl from that white world who had tried to tear Subaru's heart apart and steal his soul completely.
The girl who had mistaken 'Return by Death' for a blessing and called Subaru a monster.
"We need to locate Olbart immediately."
Abel rose slowly to his feet, acting as though the life-threatening exchange moments ago and the fact that his life had just been saved were of no consequence whatsoever.
—Find Olbart.
Subaru agreed with that objective, of course.
But he didn't understand why Abel had felt the need to restate it now, of all times—right after they'd heard Tanza's name come up in a bewildering exchange with the boy.
"Al-chan, can you stand?"
"...Yeah, yeah."
Medium sheathed her sword and offered a hand to Al, who was crouching low.
Even though his face was hidden behind his mask, Al's expression was so clearly stricken that one could easily imagine it—and he answered in a terribly dejected voice.
"Sorry, bro. Worried you for nothing. ...Well, the situation ain't gettin' any better though."
"You still haven't recovered? Must be the effect of Olbart's technique."
"...Can't argue with that. Wanted to talk about it too, but better to finish what we started. So—the Tanza situation."
Al waved his now-smaller hand, deliberately suppressing the emotion in his voice.
His condition was worrisome, but what he said was true—they were in the middle of a conversation. Specifically, about how Tanza had gathered people outside the inn beforehand.
"So wait—Tanza rounded up her horned friends around the inn ahead of time and had them attack us? But if that's the case..."
"Where did Tanza-chan go?"
Medium's question followed Subaru's, and it was the very answer Subaru couldn't find.
Tanza, who had shown up at the inn to relay Yorna's message and then departed. Subaru could accept that she had orchestrated all of this, but the reactions of her companions outside had been strange.
At the very least, the young sheep-man had genuinely believed that Subaru and the others had harmed Tanza.
"So her friends never saw her after she was safe... No wait, they probably never even saw her leave the inn in the first place."
"That stands to reason. And therefore, while we were still inside the inn, they considered the possibility that Tanza was speaking with us—and refrained from resorting to force."
"But! Then where did Tanza-chan—"
Medium cried out, her head spinning from the confusion.
But when things were explained this methodically, even Subaru could grasp Abel's reasoning. Abel was probably thinking this— "If that girl... if Tanza didn't leave the inn, then she's hidden somewhere. And Olbart is helping her hide!"
△▼△▼△▼△ —The horned people who had attacked Subaru and the others to retrieve Tanza.
But if they had been lying in wait outside the inn from the very start, then they could only have discussed in advance what to do in case something happened to Tanza.
And the only person inside the inn who could have been in cahoots with her was— "—Olbart Danklouken. It has to be him."
"...Could be the inn staff helping to hide her, y'know?"
"Naturally, that possibility isn't being dismissed. But I'm certain."
"Certain?"
At Al's skeptical voice, Abel nodded deeply.
His conviction that Olbart and Tanza were working together stemmed from— "He specifically chose to initiate a game of hide-and-seek. That's precisely the sort of underhanded amusement that old man would relish."
"'Find me if you can,' sort of thing?"
"Precisely."
Abel confirmed with a nod, and Subaru grimaced involuntarily.
Abel's speculation, based on Olbart's terrible personality, was spot-on. And the reason Subaru grimaced was that he himself had intuitively reached the same conclusion.
That the proposal of 'hide-and-seek' itself had been a metaphor for hiding Tanza.
"But if that got us attacked, isn't that breaking the rules?"
"The agreement was not to harm each other? That old man would surely argue that 'I didn't lay a hand on anyone.' All the more so if Tanza is in league with him."
"Guh... what a dirty trick..."
"Therefore, our priority is to locate Olbart. Once we find him, we'll find Tanza as well. Though if our plans are exposed, he may no longer have reason to insist on the 'game.'"
Subaru now understood that Olbart and Tanza might be together. But why the 'hide-and-seek' would end because of that was still unclear.
Frowning with a sour expression, Subaru watched as Abel turned and roughly snatched the demon mask from his hand.
In front of the startled Subaru, Abel put the mask back on.
"Olbart's objective is to determine whether we're worth negotiating with. The game is secondary—his real interest lies with us. So once we unravel his true intentions, there'll be no need to go through tedious steps like this."
"Ah... I think I get it..."
"—Your mental faculties are declining faster than I expected."
With a sigh, Abel murmured as Subaru struggled to keep up.
Subaru couldn't deny the observation. He was acutely aware that his mental state was deteriorating. He just didn't know by how much.
His thoughts felt sluggish, his words wouldn't come out right, and he felt himself getting dumber.
"I wasn't exactly a genius to begin with..."
"In your case, the problem is that even your comprehension and creativity are declining. The details of Olbart's technique are unknown, but one theory holds that the body reflects the rise and fall of one's Od."
"My... Od?"
"It means there is a correlation between Od and the body—between their growth and deterioration. In other words, it can be inferred that Olbart interfered with your... no, with all of your Od."
Abel looked over the three of them—Subaru, Al, and Medium—all reduced to children.
The words didn't quite land for Subaru. It had been the same when his Gate was broken and he could no longer use magic—since he had never been consciously aware of mana or Od to begin with, it was hard to grasp.
But if it didn't resonate with Subaru— "—So that old bastard tampered with our bodies, huh."
Al's voice was dripping with venom. Startled, Subaru looked over.
Al was touching his own forehead beneath his mask, fingers trembling. His repeated inability to control his irritation was evidence that he, too, was being psychologically affected.
The mental composure he'd possessed as an adult was gradually being lost as a child.
"That senile old bastard... I'll make him pay for this!"
"And to do that, we need to find the 'Cliff Overlook' or whatever it's called."
"Yeah... come to think of it, we were on our way to a shop when all this happened."
Subaru trailed off, glancing at Al, whose anger was simmering.
Though they'd been stopped on the street, the original reason for splitting off—leaving Taritta as a decoy—had been exactly that. However, the full explanation had never been given.
Specifically, why Abel had been so intent on heading to the tavern.
"At its core, a search is a numbers game. Ideally, you'd want someone familiar with the area. But every resident of this city could potentially side with Tanza. Therefore, using outsiders would be the most appropriate approach."
"And outsiders are most likely to gather in a tavern. Sounds like something you'd think up, bro."
"Eh, that's not really..."
Subaru was about to say "not really true" but then remembered how he'd sought out bodyguards in
The man who gave him shivers just thinking about him—Todd—when he'd been targeted. Among all the desperate ideas he'd come up with to survive, hiring strong guards from a tavern had been one of them.
Unfortunately, the drunken swordsman he'd hired that time had been defeated almost immediately.
"But wouldn't we need money to hire help? We don't have any."
"That concern is unnecessary. Compensation has already been prepared."
So saying, Abel gave the bag he was carrying a little shake.
It was something he'd taken from the inn when they departed—the very contents Subaru had been curious about.
Receiving Subaru's gaze, Abel didn't open the bag, but— "When we left Guaral, I had Zikr open the city treasury. It's the most efficient means of securing cooperation. There's no reason not to use it."
"...Sneaky bastard."
"But isn't it dangerous to walk around with a fortune while wearing that demon mask? Oh, wait—"
Mid-sentence, Abel tapped the demon mask with his finger, and Subaru realized the flaw in his own concern.
The demon mask had a 'perception obstruction' effect—the very notion of "standing out" was fundamentally wrong. It didn't affect his allies, so the contrast between the mask's true nature and others' reactions was jarring.
"So nothing's changed? We all head to the tavern and look for people who'll help us find the old man?"
"—That *was* the original plan. But circumstances have changed somewhat."
"How have they changed?"
"If Olbart and Tanza orchestrated this from the start, they would have quickly arrived at the strategy of increasing their numbers. Olbart alone would have no influence over Chaos Frame, but with Tanza involved, it's a different story. She holds the position of attendant to
Yorna held the most powerful position in Chaos Frame—and Tanza was her attendant, essentially a secretary. That meant Tanza was arguably the second most important person in this city.
Or at least, the one with the most authority to act.
"If they're genuinely trying to keep us cornered, they'll have people stationed around the tavern too."
"There's no need to fall for such an obvious trap. Though there does appear to be a more forceful approach we could take..."
Abel's gaze shifted to the side as he murmured. Following his line of sight, Subaru felt his cheeks stiffen.
"Huh?"
Louis was standing there, tilting her head with a confused look.
Louis—the one who had single-handedly turned back their attackers and then knocked the young sheep-man unconscious without hesitation—was standing beside Medium, absentmindedly combing through her own blonde hair.
Despite her overwhelming combat power, her innocent demeanor hadn't changed one bit.
And that, paradoxically, sent a chill down Subaru's spine.
"Oh, Louis-chan was amazing just now! I can't believe she was hiding all that!"
"Huh huh."
"Hehe, thanks for saving us."
Oblivious to Subaru's inner turmoil, Medium was patting Louis's head without any guard at all. Louis accepted the petting matter-of-factly, but Subaru's heart was hammering.
So much so that he instinctively grabbed Medium's wrist.
"Wh-what, Subaru-chan?"
"L-Medium, you really shouldn't get close to her..."
"—? Why not? She helped us, right? Even saved Subaru-chan."
"That's... true, I guess... but still..."
Unable to articulate a proper response to Medium's innocent question, Subaru floundered.
In truth, her perspective was straightforward and correct. Louis *had* saved Subaru. She'd risked her own body to protect him with everything she had.
And Subaru himself had desperately pleaded with her not to die.
"Why don't you just explain what the deal is already?"
Seeing Subaru hem and haw, Al spoke up in a low voice.
Caught beneath his mask's dark gaze, Subaru swallowed and looked down. A few days ago, on the way to Chaos Frame, he had concealed the truth about Louis from Al.
Back then, too, Subaru had been unable to decide how to handle Louis, leaving the answer in limbo.
But— "This ain't a situation where you can laugh it off anymore. It ain't just me—this is everyone's problem."
"————"
"What are you hiding about that girl?"
The weight of Al's questioning gaze converged on Subaru, and he instinctively shielded Louis with his body.
It wasn't to protect her—he did it because he didn't know how Louis would react to those stares. Or maybe even that wasn't entirely honest. Subaru himself wasn't sure.
But one thing was certain: he could no longer conceal it.
And with his mind reduced to that of a child, he couldn't conjure up a convincing lie.
So— "She... Louis is... the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony."
All he could do was lay the truth bare.
△▼△▼△▼△ —The true identity of Louis Arneb.
It was the secret Subaru had kept from everyone since being transported to the
The trouble that would arise from learning Louis's true identity was expected to affect both Subaru's inner circle and the outside world in countless ways. No—what was expected was that things would go *beyond* expectations.
That was why, until this very moment, Subaru had hidden the fact— "—Sin... Archbishop."
Those words, the revelation Subaru had offered, were repeated in a halting voice.
If Al and Abel had been shocked by this, that would be entirely natural. To be wary, to verify the facts, to raise their voices at how absurd it all was—that would be the expected response.
But the first person whose voice had trembled wasn't Al or Abel.
"Louis-chan is... a Sin Archbishop..."
"Huh?"
The voice that let out those stunned words was none other than Medium's.
Her blue eyes went wide as she stared, transfixed, at Louis. And toward Medium's gaze, Louis tilted her head with a vacant, clueless sound—seemingly having no idea what was going on.
And *that* was the reaction Subaru had feared most.
There had been a sliver of optimism—perhaps Medium—no, that the Okoneru siblings—might simply accept it with nonchalance, laugh it off as nothing.
But he was quickly reminded that this was no mere optimism, but an idealistic fantasy.
"————"
There it was, unmistakable in Medium's eyes—a genuine, unmistakable *fear*.
"Bro, that ain't a joke you can laugh off."
"I-it's not a joke..."
"If it ain't a joke, that makes it even less funny!"
Shocked by Medium's reaction, Subaru couldn't even respond properly to Al's following words.
Al's voice rose in fury as he violently drew the Blue Dragon Blade strapped to his back. Of course, it was too large for a child's slender arm to wield, so the drawn sword buried its tip into the ground.
Still, if he leaned his weight into it, it wasn't unusable. With that sharp resolve, Al directed his gaze at Subaru and at Louis behind him.
"Dragging around a Sin Archbishop ain't something a sane person does. Don't tell me you forgot what happened in
"That's..."
"Me and Priscilla... the princess weren't harmed. But that was pure coincidence. People you knew, people your acquaintances knew—they got hurt. And one of the reasons was *her*."
Leaning on the Blue Dragon Blade stuck in the ground, Al spoke with barely contained rage. Subaru couldn't argue back.
Al was right, completely and utterly. It was Subaru who was in the wrong. Louis should never have been allowed to walk free like this.
He should have revealed her identity, bound her, and stripped her of her freedom.
But he hadn't done that. And worse— "Ab-Abel too...?"
Subaru turned a pleading look toward Abel, who remained silent.
Medium was afraid, Al was furious—and Abel's attitude was the last fortress. Whose fortress, exactly, Subaru couldn't even say.
But if everyone present chose to stand against Louis— "————"
Then surely, Subaru could finally put an end to this hesitation and act.
"In foreign nations, I don't know how they'd handle someone like her—"
Before Subaru, who had held his breath, the masked man carrying the bag met his gaze head-on.
Black eyes met black eyes. The cold stare pierced Subaru's chest. As if rejecting whatever words were supposed to come next, his brain began to go numb at the edges.
And yet, slowly, that voice seeped through.
It was— "In this Empire, any who venerate the '
Even after being driven from his throne, the proclamation from the being who had once stood atop this Empire was resolute and absolute.
It was a death sentence, delivered with absolute clarity that the two could never coexist.
The instant he heard it, Subaru squeezed his eyes shut— "—Louis!!"
"Subaru-chan!?"
The moment he called Louis's name with raw emotion, a pair of small arms wrapped around his waist.
An instant later, Medium's scream rang out, and Subaru's feet left the ground, lifting into the air—no, Louis, clinging to his waist, had leaped high into the air, carrying Subaru with her.
Why had he called Louis's name? What had he meant by it? Clenching his molars tight, Subaru tried to hold back the tears welling up, not understanding where they were coming from at all.
But one thought came through clearly— "Hngh."
—that he could not abandon this girl who was clinging to his waist, whimpering.
Not because she had saved his life and he was repaying the favor. Not because his feelings had turned to affection and he mistakenly believed he had to protect her. It was simply something he felt.
If he made this decision now—when both his body and mind had shrunk down to this state, when he couldn't even fathom what this incomprehensible girl was thinking—he would regret it.
This wasn't about Rem, or the many people he'd encountered along the way. This was Subaru's problem.
A problem that
"Bro! Come back! Dammit—!"
Al looked up and shouted, but Louis's feet showed no sign of stopping as she kicked off the wall.
Louis clung to Subaru's back and bounced from wall to wall, crossing from one street to the next with effortless ease.
In Chaos Frame, a city where scaffolding and patchwork paths crisscrossed everywhere, Louis's wild, elusive mobility was in a class of its own.
"*Hah!*"
After what felt like the dozenth leap, she finally set him down. Subaru dropped to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. It wasn't just the repeated defiance of gravity—it was also the crushing grip of Louis's small but vice-like arms around his torso.
Louis peered at his face from the side, bright-eyed and chipper. The sight was almost irritating.
But now was no time for that.
"Damn it—Abel and the others..."
It was the result of his own decision. He couldn't very well claim he'd been "separated" with a straight face.
But if he'd stayed, who knows what orders Abel might have given. Judging by Al's reaction, there was no way they would have let Louis go peacefully.
Medium's ability to smooth things over couldn't be relied upon either.
But even so—the idea of being swept along and handing Louis over was something his heart refused to accept.
"Huh?"
Louis looked at Subaru with her blue eyes, her expression vacantly bright.
Her complete indifference to the hostility and fear directed at her made Subaru feel like a fool for being so torn up about it.
"I'm an idiot. No—I really am an idiot."
In truth, it was absurdly foolish.
Setting aside Abel, to run off with Louis while leaving Medium and Al behind—it was insane.
With someone whose thoughts and actions he couldn't begin to predict.
"Even so, if I make this decision now, I'll regret it. This isn't something a child should decide."
A matter of life and death—of consequence to the Empire's future, he thought.
It was wrong for a mere ten-year-old child to make such a weighty decision under the cold gaze of ruthless adults.
"Surely, the old me could've made the right call. So..."
He had to undo this 'de-aging' as quickly as possible and return from Natsuki Subaru the boy to Natsuki Subaru the teenager.
If he could do that, he'd be able to think things through properly regarding Louis, give his companions a proper answer, and reach a conclusion he could accept.
And for that— "—I'm going to find Olbart. Without asking Abel and the others. With everything I've got."
"Ah, yeah!"
In response to Subaru's steely gaze, Louis raised both hands with a look of enthusiasm.
From their high vantage point, they looked down at the demon city's landscape—two small children burning with determination, declaring they would take on the residents of Chaos Frame and the dethroned emperor himself, and find the master of shinobi.
—Inadvertently, Subaru and Louis had become the 'seekers' in the game of hide-and-seek, pursued by the one who played the role of 'chaser.'