——That was the morning, roughly three days after the mabeast forest incident had settled and Subaru and
"That's it. I've hit my limit. I can't take it anymore! Let me go home to my parents' house!"
He slammed his fist on the table and shot to his feet with a shout.
The sudden outburst of noise interrupted the quiet morning meal, and everyone present looked up at Subaru.
Under the collective weight of all those stares, Subaru spread his arms wide.
"Ah, seriously, I'm done for."
He whispered weakly, pressed a hand to his forehead, and collapsed limply back into his chair.
It was
"Careful, Subaru-kun. You've only just recovered from being ill, so please don't push yourself and make everyone worry."
She spoke those words of devotion while tracing her fingers along the line of his jaw from behind — a display that leaned a touch excessive on the physical affection front, but this was simply par for the course given how Rem had been treating Subaru these past few days. For the girl who had unilaterally appointed herself "the one in charge of looking after Subaru, who's still not quite feeling right," this level of doting was barely even worth mentioning.
The beautiful maid's overly intimate contact, however, did nothing to sway Subaru. He gently disentangled her fingers from his jaw and shook his head. "No, no, that's not it," he said. "The situation is way more serious than that."
He spoke in a grave tone, then slumped against the dining table — though at least he'd had the foresight to push aside the plates and make room for himself first. Emilia, now thoroughly accustomed to Subaru always sitting next to her, had already decided this wasn't urgent. Can't really blame her for that.
"You okay? If something's bothering you, just tell me. I'll do anything for you — that's the kind of thing Subaru usually says, isn't it?"
"There's no point reacting to every little thing Subaru does. If you keep that up, before long nobody's going to give you the time of day."
"Guh. Harsh. But your profile is adorable too... damn it."
Emilia delivered a clean verbal coup de grâce while casually popping something salad-like into her mouth, ignoring Subaru, who had planted his face on the table and was peeking up at her with puppy-dog eyes.
In response, Rem enthusiastically raised her hand. "I'll do anything! I'll listen, I'll do whatever you ask. And if I do a good job, you can pat my head as a reward!"
She was practically wagging her tail like an eager puppy — you could practically see the cartoonish energy radiating off her. At this maid who was practically begging to be praised, Subaru extended a trembling finger toward the table.
But then — "You really do look like you're suffering, though."
The sight of Subaru — face pale, sweat beading on his forehead — finally got to even Emilia. Or rather, it wasn't so much "even Emilia" as it was the fact that Emilia was, fundamentally and despite everything, a kindhearted person.
His fingers on the table were visibly trembling. Something was clearly off.
"Could it be... aftereffects of the curse...?"
Voicing her worst fears, Emilia and Rem exchanged glances. Then Emilia, worry swimming in her eyes, reached into her own silver hair and plucked out a small gray cat.
"Hmm, I'm not really picking up any bad vibes from him? His mana's still completely empty, so his life force is as weak as ever, but other than that, he's about the same as always."
Pack tapped Subaru's cheek with his paw as he delivered this easygoing report. Subaru's trembling hand reached out and enveloped the tiny cat, and the fluffing began in earnest.
"Au au aah," went Puck as he was mercilessly fluffed. Listening to that — and only to that — Emilia let out a sigh of relief.
But that relief only deepened the mystery of what was actually wrong with Subaru.
"Rapid breathing, trembling fingertips... Sounds an awful lot like withdrawal symptoms from a highly addictive substance, doesn't it?"
Roswaal, seated at the head of the table to Emilia's right, rested his chin on his hand and offered this observation with his characteristic drawl. He glanced at Subaru's symptoms, then gave a small, knowing nod.
"When someone becomes dependent on certain substances, those symptoms tend to appear once the effects wear off. It's strictly prohibited in the capital as well, thoooough."
"I always knew he was a shady one, but I'm honestly disappointed to hear you were dabbling in illegal drugs, Barusu. Rem, step aside — I need to kill him."
"Wow, you gave up on me immediately. But yeah, that's
Ram piled on with relish, riding Roswaal's wave of speculation. Subaru managed a wry laugh at that. So this world had narcotics too, huh? The way they were treated — as something reviled and forbidden — seemed universal.
Of course, Subaru had never lived the kind of underworld lifestyle where he'd touch that stuff in his original world. His life back home had been that of a lonely underdog, plain and simple. The substances had nothing to do with his current physical condition.
Nothing to do with it — and yet Roswaal's mention of "withdrawal symptoms" had hit remarkably close to the mark.
Because the truth was, this really was withdrawal. His body, his very soul, was desperate for it.
"...I'm... running... low..."
With every pair of eyes in the dining room trained on him, Subaru kept his face pressed against the table, still cradling Puck and luxuriating in the fluffing, and whispered in a voice so faint it could have been swallowed by silence.
"...Eh?"
Only Emilia, who had leaned in close enough to catch even the faintest sound, heard it. Rem, on Subaru's other side, couldn't make it out due to the angle of his head and was pouting her lips in dissatisfaction.
Unaware of Rem's displeasure, Emilia pressed her ear even closer to Subaru's mouth, determined not to let a single word of his whispered confession escape.
But just as her devotion was about to be rewarded, Subaru's eyes snapped wide open. He shot upright with a sudden, violent motion.
Startled faces all around. Dozens of upturned gazes locked onto him. And Subaru — Subaru Natsuki — bellowed at the top of his lungs: "THE MAYONNAISE IS RUNNING LOW!"
A word none of them had ever heard before. Everyone present tilted their head in universal, profound confusion.
*** * * * * * * * * * * ——
A mayolite was the name given to those who harbored a deep, abiding love for the condiment known as mayonnaise — a legion of heretics who held it perfectly acceptable to top literally any food with the stuff.
Whether the verb "to mayo" — the act of slathering mayonnaise on something — gave rise to the term "mayolite," or whether it was the other way around, remained uncertain. But if you went by that understanding, then Natsuki Subaru was undeniably a mayolite.
His relationship with mayonnaise stretched all the way back to his nursing days.
The Natsuki household, you see, was a family of mayolites to a person — a clan collectively entranced by the charms of mayonnaise, a family for whom a dining table without a bottle of the stuff was simply unthinkable.
The refrigerator always had a spare bottle of mayonnaise on standby, naturally. Each family member possessed their own labeled personal mayo bottle, and the post-bath ritual of sucking mayonnaise straight from the tube — known as "mayo-chuuchuu" — was as routine as brushing one's teeth.
Mayonnaise on karaage. Mayonnaise on salad, of course. Mayonnaise on gyoza, on fried food, on dessert. Mayonnaise when in a bind. Mayonnaise whenever there was a spare moment.
——That was the lifestyle of Natsuki Subaru: a born mayolite who took genuine pride in the title.
And that life-sustaining, soul-bonding substance that was mayonnaise — Subaru had gone without it for roughly one week in real time since his arrival in this other world. By his own subjective experience, it had already been nearly a month.
His soul was fraying. His fingertips trembled. His tongue wandered, craving fats and calories. His vision began to lose focus. The conditions for a mayolite's withdrawal had begun their inevitable assault on his body, dragging him down into an ocean of agony.
"So that's who the 'white lover' really is — mayonnaise."
Subaru finished recounting the long, long love story of his relationship with his "lover." He bowed once to each person who had listened in silence, then collapsed back into his chair.
Stunned by his sheer passion but doing their best to digest what they'd just heard, each person processed the information in their own way. Emilia was the first to recover her composure. She crossed her arms.
"So let me get this straight. You're throwing this massive tantrum because you don't have a condiment you're used to?"
"You just don't get it, Emilia-tan!!"
At her exasperated tone, Subaru exploded in outrage and slammed the table. In the process, Puck, still clutched in his hand, let out a muffled "Mmnyaa!" of protest, but Subaru was too far gone in his emotional maelstrom to notice.
"Do you have any idea how agonizing it is for a mayolite to go days without tasting mayonnaise?! It's been twenty — no, a whole week now! Any normal person would have gone completely insane by now! The only reason I'm still holding it together is my unbreakable mental fortitude... but I've hit my limit!"
"B-but aren't you exaggerating a little? Going insane just over—"
"Do you think trembling like this comes from some kind of hobby or affectation?! Believe me, Emilia-tan. My body literally cannot survive without mayonnaise."
There was even a popular theory that the fats in mayonnaise triggered the brain to release endorphins — pleasure chemicals — and that this was what created mayolites in the first place.
In other words, Roswaal's earlier remark had been closer to the mark than anyone realized. For Subaru, running out of mayonnaise was synonymous with falling into withdrawal.
For the first time, even Emilia was rendered speechless by the intensity of Subaru's appeal. He was always the lighthearted joker in front of her — never dropping that carefree act. But here he was now, making his case with a desperate, grim expression. His passion, his obsession... Emilia felt a twinge of shame for having been ready to laugh it all off as an exaggeration. She was completely in the palm of his hand.
"Look — meals without mayonnaise are still tasty. Sure, they're great, even. This bread-like stuff, the soup-ish liquid, the salad-esque spread paired with whatever that questionable drink is that might even be water — all of it's amazing. But it's not mayonnaise."
He gestured at the lavish spread on the table, then clutched his head in anguish. Puck, still lodged in his right hand, had gotten his short hair sticking into the cat's belly and was squirming, complaining "Ow, that tickles!" — but Subaru was too deep in his despair to hear even that.
Human desire knew no bounds.
What Subaru had wished for in this world was simply peaceful days. Beside Emilia, surrounded by her smiling companions, living an ordinary, even boring daily life — that was enough, or so he'd told himself, clinging to that wish with his innate neet disposition as fuel to survive even the most harrowing moments.
But now that he'd clawed his way through those ordeals and finally reached the days he'd been longing for, the only thing that assailed him was an insatiable hunger — the feeling that "this isn't enough."
It couldn't be saved. Human greed was simply too far gone to save.
Hadn't he been content with just these days? Hadn't he obtained everything he wanted, everything he'd craved — and from that point, wasn't sinking into indolence while basking in what he'd been given supposed to be enough?
——No. Absolutely not.
A voice rang out — loud and clear — to halt Subaru as he sank into the sea of lethargy.
Whoever it was... it was his own voice. Inside his chest, hot and fierce and burning with desire, the voice of want echoed, pushing him forward with a single word of affirmation.
Go forward, go forward, go forward — down the path of insatiable desire.
Onward, onward, onward — and if the day came when he reached what he sought, then he would simply aim for the summit beyond it.
That was why Natsuki Subaru would not stop wanting.
He'd broken free from the death loops, gotten himself and the twins — and Roswaal's faction too, for good measure — safely through their crisis, and secured his date with Emilia.
So now, it was time to dream the next dream.
"I'm a guy with no purpose and no reason to keep going — but this is the dream I see next. To bring mayonnaise to this other world. And if there's something wrong with that—"
He placed the white fairy on the table. That was his next goal.
And it was Rem who clapped her hands to her chest and declared, having listened to his quiet resolve in full: "Understood. Please leave Subaru-kun's request entirely to me!"
Her blue hair swayed as her eyes sparkled with determination.
Lately, she had become an unconditional supporter of whatever Subaru asked. Gratitude, loyalty, a dozen reasons — but for Rem, the option of abandoning Subaru when he hit a wall simply did not exist.
"After all, managing the kitchen in the mansion is Rem's responsibility. If my cooking doesn't satisfy your palate, then it's my duty to take appropriate measures. Isn't that right?"
"You understand... no — you'll actually do it, Rem?!"
Subaru looked up at her, eyes glistening with emotion. Rem thumped her chest once more to signal her enthusiasm. Then she spread her arms wide.
"Allow me to prove it. Now then, Subaru-kun — the recipe for that condiment, please..."
"...Eh?"
"...Eh?"
Facing each other, Rem and Subaru froze solid.
Jaws hanging open, they stared blankly at each other like a pair of idiots.
Beneath Subaru's hands on the dining table, Puck — being slowly crushed under the weight — let out only a single, plaintive complaint: "You're heavy..."
...and that was the only sound that fell upon the silent dining room.
*** * * * * * * * * * * "So you make grand claims about not being able to live without it, and yet you don't even know how to make it. That's rich, Barusu."
"You can talk, but do you actually know the recipes for everything you love eating? Don't spit and try to swallow it back."
"Everything Rem makes is what I love. If Rem knows the recipes, there's no need for me to know them. That's not the same as someone like you demanding some unknown substance nobody's ever heard of."
It was after breakfast. The scene was the same dining room, only with fewer people present.
As they tidied up the dishes from the finished meal, Subaru and Ram bickered half-heartedly at each other, exchanging barbs with more weariness than bite.
Subaru collected plates from the table and handed them to Ram, who pushed a cart behind him. Ram transferred the dishes to the cart with practiced ease, patiently accompanying Subaru's sluggish pace without a single complaint about his lack of speed.
From an objective standpoint, the arrangement was extraordinarily inefficient — but this was part of Subaru's rehabilitation, and Ram had volunteered for the role of assisting him with his duties.
As Subaru's body recovered, he was scheduled to eventually resume his position as a Roswaal mansion servant. The task assigned to him these past few days was to participate in simple daily chores, reinforcing the nature of the work while monitoring his physical recovery.
Incidentally, Rem had enthusiastically volunteered for this role as well — but that proposal had been rejected on the grounds that it would severely disrupt the mansion's overall workflow. Removing one Ram from duty was one thing, but removing Rem was on an entirely different scale of damage. With Rem handling roughly ninety percent of the mansion's work, pulling her away was effectively equivalent to leaving ninety percent of operations incomplete.
The swift rejection was entirely understandable.
"If she could internalize her own worth a bit better, she'd be way more confident," Subaru mused, collecting plates and wiping down the table with a cloth, letting out a light sigh.
The mansion's workload depended overwhelmingly on Rem. Ram wasn't slacking either, naturally, but the gap in capability between them was undeniable.
And yet Rem's tendency to undervalue herself hadn't changed much. To whatever small extent she'd begun seeking validation externally — primarily from Subaru — rather than burying it all inside, that could perhaps be counted as growth.
"Even so, having her come at me all day with 'How is it?' 'Am I doing well?' 'Is something wrong?' 'Is it delicious?' 'If it's okay, please praise me' 'Praise me, praise me, praise me!' — it's mentally exhausting."
Subaru himself had said it, so he couldn't take it back, but the weight Rem placed on him as she clung to him was no joke. He wanted to believe that the overflow was simply due to everything she'd bottled up finally exploding, and that it would settle down eventually — but if this pace continued, his still-recovering body wouldn't be able to handle it.
And yet... he couldn't bring himself to push her away. His feelings for her had grown far too tender for that.
"That stubborn self-deprecation of hers is deeply ingrained. It started when she was little, because Ram was just a little too brilliant for her own good."
"Don't you cringe, talking about your past self like you were a genius? What kind of rarefied air were you breathing to produce a statement like that?"
"If you were dealing with the old Ram, you'd have lost everything above the neck just now. Honestly... why is it that I have to put my expectations in a man like Barusu?"
Ram let out an exasperated sigh. Subaru tilted his head, wanting to hear more. Ram shot him a deliberately withering sideways glance, then continued.
"Until now, Rem's entire world consisted of nothing but Ram, Roswaal-sama, and this mansion. Emilia-sama and
"Yeah, I can see that tunnel vision being a thing for Rem," Subaru nodded. "That's probably why she jumps to conclusions and acts impulsively."
The pattern was unmistakable. Someone who turned inward ended up completing their thought process entirely within themselves. As someone who'd been on the receiving end of that particular flaw, Subaru could attest to its sting.
Then again, with that understanding, he kind of wished she'd handle things a bit more gracefully...
"What's that look supposed to mean?"
"My intense, penetrating gaze? Interpret it however you like, sis."
"Stop looking at me with those creepy eyes. Since we look the same, you might as well direct them at Rem instead."
"Your sisterly affection is anything but beautiful!"
"That's beside the point."
Ram deflected his outburst with ease, then deftly snatched the cloth from Subaru's hand as he wiped the table and smoothly took over the cleaning duties entirely.
She'd noticed he was flagging — that he'd been using their conversation to disguise his exhaustion. Feeling a pang of embarrassment, Subaru turned his face away from Ram as she worked.
"So — the rest of what you were saying earlier. Spill it."
"Knowing what I'm about to say and still asking — that's just being cruel, even for Ram."
"I don't want to get it wrong by not hearing it directly. Anyway, I'm practically famous for being incapable of reading people's feelings. Round-table-collapse level of clueless."
The metaphor probably went completely over Ram's head, but she responded to his words with a sigh and continued in a quiet voice.
"Rem's world was a narrow place. And into that narrow world came a foreign body — you, Barusu. A foreign body that rampaged around in the most chaotic way possible, and might just have widened those cramped walls of hers. That's the fragile hope Rem holds — that she's a beautiful maiden clinging to such a sentiment."
"Your schtick is starting to overlap with mine, and that's a red flag. — And hey, don't pin too much on me. I only do what I can, and honestly, I'm the type who doesn't even do that most of the time."
Subaru's guiding principle was: "When in doubt, don't do it."
He'd lived by that creed his entire life, and the number of events he'd missed out on — opportunities he could have seized but didn't — was staggering.
Subaru wore a proud expression, entirely too pleased with his own uselessness. Ram snorted contemptuously.
"You couldn't even abandon the village children, let alone leave Rem alone. You even played decoy to let Ram and Rem escape. And now you're trying to act tough? That's enough to make my skin crawl."
"Stop listing my accomplishments! Looking back at them makes me blush to the roots of my hair! Seriously, what was I on back then? I must've been running on pure adrenaline — this isn't my character at all..."
He crouched and clutched his reddening face, shaking his head in shame as he reflected on his own actions. He'd thrown himself into breaking through that second loop with everything he had, but looking back at what he'd actually done in each scene — who did he think he was? Some hot-blooded shonen hero? He was practically begging for a cringe compilation.
"The cool, exasperated, 'oh well' type of guy that Natsuki Subaru is supposed to be — none of that was on display. If I'd been the one who effortlessly cleaned everything up, sure, fine. But all I did was blow black smoke from every pore and then ride Roswaal's coattails, didn't I?"
"Well, if you take it to its logical extreme, perhaps."
"See, even I know it was pathetic! I feel like I did something meaningful but it turns out I was totally useless!"
At the end of all that self-recrimination lay a conclusion he couldn't escape: from the perspective of anyone who hadn't witnessed the journey itself, his actions could be summarized as "a bystander who happened to be caught in the middle of things at just the right time."
And even that hadn't come with any decisive, hero-worthy contributions. His role in the whole affair was, at best, "Bystander A who happened to be present."
But — "Just being there in those moments — that, too, can be what saves someone. I think you should recognize that about yourself."
Softly, gently, with words as warm and tranquil as a still lake, Ram spoke. There was no trace of her usual barbed wit, no casual dismissiveness — nothing but pure, genuine goodwill.
However — "Now that I think about it, I didn't do anything when I was with Reinhard either! Standing in front of Emilia-tan at the very end — that was my only real achievement! And even that could've been done by anyone — even Old
The lament of Subaru reflecting on the actual substance of his accomplishments reached Ram's ears about as well as wind through a screen door.
As Subaru clutched his head and mourned the meaninglessness of existence, Ram — brow furrowed with displeasure — drove a low kick into his side. Subaru's knees buckled and he crumpled to the dining room floor.
Looking down at him, Ram twisted her expression into something so contemptuous it was practically spitting.
"As I thought — placing any expectations in a backward simpleton like you is nothing but a waste."
"Ouch! But honestly, I think you're right! I'm not saying don't expect anything at all from me, but—"
Subaru snapped his fingers at her contemptuous stare and shaped both hands into guns, pointing them at Ram. He blew away the imaginary gun smoke from his fingertips.
"Expanding your world and all that — you don't need to rely on some stranger for that. Get moving on your own. You're shut up in this mansion just as much as I am. You don't even know the names of the kids in the village right next door, and you want to laugh at someone for talking about clairvoyance? Give me a break."
"...What are you—"
"Both you and Rem are the same. Both of you have tunnel vision. You're always facing each other and staring at each other's faces for signs. If you're going to be together anyway, instead of facing each other, stand side by side and look at everything else. That's way more constructive and meaningful."
At Ram's stunned silence, Subaru snapped his fingers and flashed a grin.
Then he adjusted his angle, locked in his most dramatic pose, and asked: "Well? That line I just delivered — pretty cool, right?"
"Given that you were just screaming about mayonnaise running out, I'll grant that it's hard to believe they came from the same person."
"Harsh," Subaru laughed. He glanced around the dining room and shrugged.
"Anyway, let's take the long view and keep at it. Sooner or later, Rem will start to see it too. I've had my doubts after comparing myself to various people... but when I think about it calmly, I realize there'll come a day when I look at my 'big sister' and go, 'Wow, compared to me, she's really nothing special.'"
"...Yes. I hope that day comes soon."
What was supposed to be a teasing remark somehow came back laced with genuine aspiration. Subaru was momentarily at a loss for words.
There was no bravado or false modesty in her tone. She meant it — truly and sincerely.
"What's that, the younger sister outgrowing her big sis? What will you do when that happens?"
"Even then, the one who came first and was superior is still Ram. — That fact will never change."
At her clear-eyed declaration, Subaru realized it would be tasteless to push the subject further.
Then again, he'd been sticking his foot in tasteless situations for quite some time now, so he filed it away in the back of his mind.
Glancing over, he saw that Ram had finished the work he'd started. In the end, he'd left nearly all of it to her. A point of self-reflection, to be sure. His physical recovery was still incomplete — and his inability to hide that fact was its own kind of immaturity.
"Can't let Emilia-tan or Rem see that."
He didn't want to show his weaknesses to the former. He didn't want to burden the latter with guilt.
Both were matters of a boy's pride — and something he didn't even need to deliberate on.
"Still — the fact that Rem's workload is increasing because of this mayonnaise thing isn't exactly making me happy as her sister, you know."
"Rem doesn't have a clear direction right now. She's trying too hard in every direction and she'll burn herself out before long. Give her one concrete goal, and she'll focus on just that — at least for now. Tunnel vision, remember?"
For all her outward composure, Rem was the type to charge headlong into whatever she set her mind on. Right now, her entire consciousness would be fixated on creating the unknown condiment Subaru had described. Her immersion in other tasks would decrease, and the threshold for pushing herself too hard would, at least temporarily, be lowered.
Ram raised an eyebrow, impressed.
"I'm surprised. You thought that far ahead before spouting something so outrageous."
"If you're going to praise me, don't be half-hearted about it — praise me from the heart, that's all I ask. And what I want most right now is a white lover. This is a win-win for both me and Rem, right?"
"Win-win?"
Subaru twisted his hips and arms into a little win-win dance, and Ram — for once — looked genuinely baffled.
There was no guilt to dodge, no vulnerability to guard. Conversations with Ram were easy like this — exhausting in their own comfortable way.
Enjoying the pleasant fatigue and the exchange, Subaru finally removed his weight from the table.
"Right then — on to the next task. After that—"
The dining room door burst open at precisely that moment.
"Subaru-kun! Big sister!"
Standing in the doorway, out of breath, was Rem — her face radiant with a beaming smile.
She panted, chest heaving, and when she saw that the dining room was already clean, she nodded with satisfaction.
"Dining room cleanup is already finished too. — Then the morning shift is complete."
There had been nearly two hours left before the scheduled end of the morning work. By completing it all now, Rem had effectively announced — without saying so outright — that she'd skipped through the entire remaining schedule at a blistering pace.
Subaru and Ram both imagined the lightning speed she'd achieved and, inwardly, shuddered. Rem, still wearing that same unshaken smile, spread her arms wide.
"Then let's get started right away — time to make 'mayo-naise'! I've been working hard, so I can make as many attempts as we need before lunch!"
The blue-haired girl clapped her hands together, brimming with excitement.
And just above her radiant smile, peeking out from behind her white headdress — a horn of gleaming, pure white had begun to show.
"She's even gone oni mode... The method she's using to prevent overwork is so absurd it's almost impressive."
"Hey, don't you bear some responsibility for raising her this way?"
Facing each other, Subaru and Ram pointed out each other's faults with stubborn, petty relish.
Before this bickering pair, Rem tilted her head in puzzlement.
Atop her head, the white horn caught the light and blazed with a brilliant gleam.