Subaru was left behind in the darkness.
His entire field of vision was consumed by the black. He couldn't hear a sound, couldn't see a single soul. When he reached out and touched something, he couldn't even tell whether it was ground or wall — a suffocating, enforced ignorance permeated everything.
Before he knew it, his throat was trembling and he was screaming.
Far, far away — he wished his voice could reach the very edge of nothingness. He just kept screaming with everything he had.
"…Ru—"
Suddenly, a voice reached him from beyond the dark.
A change born within the emptiness of "nothing." He clung to it, grasping, desperate.
He clawed with his hands, drove his legs, and surged toward the voice.
"Subaru—"
Forward, forward —!!
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "To cut right to the chase, Subaru's gate is the uncontrolled type, so you really shouldn't push yourself."
"The first thing you say after seeing me in this state is that? Seriously?"
"Hehe."
"That's not cute at all!"
Subaru shot back at
Lying face-down on the grass, Subaru could barely breathe. His whole body felt abnormally heavy — the kind of exhaustion that comes with a high fever. There wasn't the slightest spark of fighting spirit in his limbs.
This sensation was familiar.
The day he was summoned, when Puck had drained his mana. Or every time
In short, Subaru was running on completely empty.
"Good or bad, Subaru's gate is rough-edged. So it ignored the user's intent and the contents just came flooding out."
"That's why… you don't… have to compare people… to a screen door…"
He was out of breath. Just managing those few defiant words cost an astonishing amount of energy.
He tried to push himself upright, but his body refused to cooperate — the best he managed was rolling onto his side with a groan.
"That's a problem!"
The words slipped out in a sharp, almost involuntary cry — like a mother scolding a misbehaving son, and Subaru recoiled at her tone.
Wide-eyed with surprise, Emilia stared at him as Subaru was struck by a genuine, gut-wrenching regret over his own carelessness.
If he really burned through an entire day here, that would mean throwing away the single day of grace he'd gained through his loop.
That was absurd. Fatal, even.
Tripping over rust of his own making — that was the one thing he could not allow.
"Grrrrgh…!"
He turned his self-loathing into fuel and fought to stand. If he could at least get his upper body up, things would improve from there. He could gradually regain control and get back on his feet.
"I told you, don't force it!"
"Now's exactly the time to force it. If I don't do this now, I'll never forgive myself, no matter how many times I try…"
Getting screwed over by his own actions was nothing new, but the timing and circumstances couldn't possibly be worse.
Subaru's bloodshot desperation as he thrashed on the ground, sweat beading on his forehead, made Emilia shrug her shoulders slightly.
"You really are hopeless, you know that?"
She crouched down once more and spoke, her voice softer now.
Not understanding what she was getting at, Subaru looked up at her from the ground.
"…Emilia-tan? What are you—"
Her hand, meeting his gaze, suddenly pressed against his face — and into his mouth went something round, something with a soft texture.
Confused, Subaru looked at her. Emilia kept her palm over his mouth and nodded.
"Bite down."
"…?"
"Bite it, then swallow. Three, two, one — go."
Overpowered by her commanding tone, Subaru bit down on the thing in his mouth and crushed it.
A sweet-sour taste spread gradually through his mouth. Fruit, probably. The moment the flavor registered — it hit him.
"WHOOOOAAAAAA—?!"
Heat surged through his entire body as though he'd been set on fire. Subaru sprang to his feet as if launched from the ground.
His blood roared through his veins like it was boiling. His limbs — from his fingertips to his very nails — felt like they'd be burned away by sheer passion. His breathing grew ragged, as though he wanted to vent all this pent-up heat. His legs started doing high knees of their own accord, unable to contain the impulse.
But in the midst of all that, Subaru finally realized he'd regained the will to stand.
He stared at his hands in disbelief, opening and closing his fists to confirm the feeling.
The heat hadn't fully receded, and dull aches still throbbed through his joints. But he was no longer incapacitated.
"What… what was that just now?"
"A fruit called Bokko. When you eat it, it activates the mana inside your body. It's only a stopgap measure, but it helps the gate recover some strength."
The fruit matched the one Subaru had received from the old woman in the slums during his very first loop.
He was pretty sure eating that one had caused him a similar level of suffering — but back then, Puck's mana drain had followed right after, fixing things. This time, the order of events was essentially reversed.
Either way— "Haah, crisis averted. If I'd gone straight into the BAD route from here, I'd never have been able to forgive myself. Thanks, Emilia-tan."
"I didn't really want to use it since they're rare and not great for your body, but… the way you were before, that wasn't bluffing, was it?"
The fact that he'd pushed her to use a precious resource meant just how dead-serious he'd been.
Meeting her probing gaze, Subaru raised his head.
"Of course not."
He said it with absolute conviction. Then, wiping his forehead, he added: "Still, I was pretty dumb. If it had ended right there, I'd have died of self-loathing — and that's saying something, given my track record."
He took a certain pride in the fact that he'd experienced more kinds of death than almost anyone else. But— "Death by humiliation? Yeah, hard pass on that one."
Ideally, the last death he'd ever experience would be that rooftop jump from the previous loop. Even that had been unbearably painful because it wasn't instant.
Death once was more than enough. If at all possible, he wanted it to come in his sleep on a futon, having lived out his natural lifespan. Or better yet — some spectacular, heroic flag fulfilled, dying in Emilia's arms— "…Nah. The fact that I can't even fully commit to that fantasy is exactly what makes me such a petty guy."
Even in jest, he couldn't bring himself to toss the word "death" around lightly anymore.
Only someone who'd shared Subaru's exact experience could laugh at that and call it cowardice.
He rolled his shoulders and took stock of his condition again.
Far from peak form. If anything, there were aches and worries left and right.
But he didn't have the luxury of sitting the day out.
"Are you okay? You think you can actually work?"
"I'll work, and I'll finish everything else too. Just board the Unsinkable Subaru Mark II and brace yourself, Emilia-tan."
"It's unsinkable but you've already had to renovate it once…"
She noticed. There went his one reassurance.
In truth, it had sunk not once but seven times — but pointing that out to ruin the morning mood was completely unnecessary. Lesson learned.
Ignoring Emilia's observation, Subaru did a few squats on the spot to shake off the stiffness, then straightened up.
"Alright then — time to face the seniors with a fresh attitude!"
"That's right. I don't think either of them has heard anything about you since yesterday, either…"
"…Ah."
Midway through straightening his posture, those words hit him, and his lower back let out a dull crack.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "Sister, sister. A heartless wretch by the name of Subaru-kun has arrived."
"
"Yesterday I was truly, sincerely sorry! Please, forgive me!"
He hung his head and groveled without a shred of dignity.
Somehow, over the past half day, he felt like all he'd been doing was bowing his head. Every single person in the mansion — minus Roswaal — had gotten an apology, and he'd hit every last woman on the list.
"The route of getting looked down on by girls — cleared. Man, the sins just keep piling up…"
"Sister, sister. Subaru-kun is an absolute pervert."
"Rem, Rem. Barusu is a self-degrading masochist."
"Say what you want, but take that back, especially you, big sis!"
He shouted the accusation while holding his signature Japanese DOGEZA. From that position, he planted his hands and transitioned into a handstand, spun his body, and flowed into a standing position with practiced grace.
"Look — yesterday I was a mess and the day before that I was a pain. …I was going through a lot, but starting today, I'm a brand-new Subaru."
"Knee pillow, huh."
"Knee pillow indeed."
"Wait, does everyone already know about that?! How embarrassing!"
He covered his face in exaggerated shame. As Subaru crumpled, the twin maids exchanged glances.
"Shall we get to the morning work, Sister?"
"Time to begin our morning duties, Rem."
"No comment? That stings too, you know!"
The two of them waved off his commentary without missing a beat.
Sticking out his tongue, Subaru went "Aww man—" but the twins were already turning to head off to their tasks — when: "Hey, hey, wait up. I've got a favor to ask before the morning work starts."
Both twins stopped at Subaru's call and turned in unison.
"A favor?"
"More trouble?"
"It's been so nice talking in a calm, pleasant mood, and yet this bubbling feeling in my chest — what is it? Humans are so strange."
Subaru was glad this kind of banter was possible again, but he couldn't help the wry smile that pulled at him at the older sister's expression — she was scowling quite openly, unlike her younger counterpart.
He let out a breath and let that small surge of indignation dissipate.
"Actually, I want to go to the village. It's nearby, right? Do you have any shopping plans coming up?"
He wanted to reach the village today to verify his theory from last night in the forbidden library. At Subaru's request, Rem pressed a finger to her chin.
"I believe the spices were running low, so I was planning to go to the village within the next day or two…"
"Then why not shift that to today? If they're about to run out, the sooner the better. You can't exactly borrow some soy sauce from a neighbor when you run out of spice — the mansion doesn't exactly have neighbors."
Even if they wanted neighborly relations, there wasn't another house close enough.
Subaru's proposal gave Rem pause.
But— "Sounds fine to me. Might as well."
"Sister?"
It was
She looked toward her sister's questioning voice.
"The shopping has to be done regardless, and there are no urgent matters. Plus, you have Barusu here to carry things. We might as well put him to good use."
"And maybe take into account that I've been flat on my back with stomach pains for three days straight!"
Subaru shot back with a pointed retort at Ram's refreshingly blunt reasoning — though, internally, he couldn't help but feel puzzled by her cover fire.
It was a detail that struck him: the twins' opinions didn't seem to be in sync.
Given the circumstances of the previous loops and the one before that, both twins were supposed to be the type who would take on the role of eliminating Subaru, given the right conditions.
The fact that their opinions diverged — for someone who'd actually experienced being killed by them — was an irregularity Subaru couldn't overlook.
Still, cover fire was cover fire. He was genuinely grateful.
He'd been racking his brain over how to convince the two of them — this had been a serious concern.
"…If Sister says so."
After a moment of quiet thought, Rem also voiced her approval.
Rem was usually the one who took the lead, but she always deferred to her sister's opinion — that much was clear from their past interactions.
The fact that Ram had managed to sway her — even by coincidence — essentially decided the outcome of this negotiation.
Subaru quietly pumped his fist as Rem's expression shifted from pensive to composed.
"However, we won't be going to the village until after lunch. After two o'clock in the afternoon — until then, we'll finish our regular duties."
"Don't worry. The initiator, Barusu, will work himself to the bone. Won't you?"
"It'd be nice if the sister who agreed to this also pitched in to help, but… sure. I'll give it everything I got."
"Both: 'crush your body'."
"Yeah, that's the spirit."
Corrected in stereo by their matching admonition, Subaru scratched his head and accepted it. Thus, the negotiation was a resounding success.
The shopping trip was settled, and the servant time could officially begin. Rem was already reorganizing her schedule to account for the added errand, her mind clearly racing as she scurried off.
Watching the blue-haired girl go, Subaru turned to the pink-haired girl beside him. Appointed once again to keep an eye on him today, she'd be tagging along during this stint of servant life.
Yesterday — or rather, the day before — he'd be better off avoiding whatever weird energy had permeated that interaction. More accurately, now that he'd circled back to a place where he could reflect on himself, the whole thing was too painful to even attempt.
"It's terrifying how fast I can recognize my own dark history. That was basically a pseudo-wise-man's moment just now. …Not that it matters — let's get to work, senpai."
"Before that."
As he was about to walk off, this time it was Ram who stopped him. He stepped out sideways, turning to face her in a wide-legged stance.
Ram crossed her arms and looked up at him.
"About that magic you used in the garden earlier…"
"Yeah, it was a pathetic display. Completely useless. I'm sealing that away for the foreseeable future. Apparently it takes about twenty years to actually master it."
"Being pathetic aside, try not to provoke Rem too much."
"…?"
Not understanding what she meant, Subaru's face scrunched in confusion.
Ram let out a quiet "Hah" through her nose at his befuddled expression — something she rarely did.
"In one corner of the garden, using Shamak to disrupt the surroundings — including Emilia-sama — you practically gave Rem a reason to stop her, to say nothing of giving the Ram who stopped her a reason to do a dance of gratitude."
"Oh… ohhh, right. Yeah, that tracks."
He'd been too shaken by his own magical failure to notice, but from an outside perspective, the situation had very much looked like *that kind of situation*.
He was genuinely — genuinely — thankful that Ram hadn't lost her cool. Conversely, the thought of Rem's instant-kill instinct kicked into gear made his skin crawl.
"I really can't afford to screw around… Four continues and this is where I end up. Rough road ahead, I tell ya."
"What are you muttering about? If you don't get to work soon, you'll be late for both breakfast and lunch."
"Yes, yes. Hey, so — about that afternoon shopping trip. I was wondering which one of you would be coming with me."
Given how drained he was, Rem's company was a little daunting. But thinking about the village errand, Rem was actually the more fitting choice. He'd asked partly as a probe, since he wasn't sure which twin would end up accompanying him— "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Huh?"
Ram's rare smile surfaced as she tilted her head at Subaru — a smile that was sharp, mean, and absolutely bone-chilling.
"Both Ram and Rem will be going. Both hands full of flowers, as they say. Isn't that lovely, Barusu?"
*Please, let those flowers not be the poisonous kind.* Having failed to anticipate how well the negotiation would go, Subaru covered his face with both hands and stared at the ceiling, silently voicing that prayer in his heart.