——Search for Reid's book in the "Taigeta" library.
That was what Subaru proposed as the most immediately useful step in conquering the tower's second floor.
The moment those words left his mouth, the expressions of everyone seated in a circle turned skeptical.
"A book? …Are you serious?"
"Oh,
"Geez, Subaru!"
Emilia flushed her cute cheeks red in annoyance at Subaru's remark. Savoring the幸福感 that washed over him at the sight, Subaru looked around at everyone's faces. "Listen up, okay?"
"I'm saying we search for Reid's book. That's, in my opinion, the quickest way to crack the second floor. Don't you all agree?"
"I heard you before, but why? I'm not against searching for a book. I just don't understand why we'd search for Reid's book specifically. Besides…"
"—To begin with, is
When Emilia tilted her head after hearing Subaru's proposal, Julius picked up the latter half of her question.
Drawing all eyes to him, Julius raised his gaze skyward beneath lashes that framed those long-lidded eyes—as if trying to peek through the ceiling to the second floor beyond.
"As incredible as it may sound, the hero whose name echoes through history, Reid Astrea, awaits our challenge on the second floor in something called a 'trial.' He was a man who lived four hundred years ago, and there is no doubt he is the same person—but his death is now, to my mind, open to question."
"Once you've seen him bouncing around like that, you start thinking maybe he was never really dead? I hadn't considered that possibility much, but it's not entirely impossible…"
In truth, Subaru only knew Reid as a man who had died centuries ago because that was what Emilia and the others had told him.
If you met him without knowing those circumstances, you'd never believe Reid was dead. He was far too brimming with vitality—a corpse who was positively overflowing with energy.
"That said, that line of thinking is practically negligible, right? Living for centuries doesn't seem possible, and he should be dead by any normal standard. Right,
"Betty has been alive for four hundred years, for your information."
"I've been alive for about a hundred years, I think?"
"If we're counting from the year of my birth, I'm also around four hundred years. Though I was awake for only a fraction of that."
"Me too! Me too, Master! I've been stuck waiting here for four hundred years! It was lonely! I demand four hundred years' worth of hugs!"
"There are way too many long-lived characters here!? Emilia-tan too!?"
When Subaru had sought agreement, he hadn't expected outright pushback.
He never imagined that half his traveling companions were long-lived. The party's average age was skyrocketing at a terrifying rate.
Emilia's and Beatrice's ages in particular left his jaw hanging open with no prospect of it closing anytime soon.
Still, he could see the logic.
"R-Right. Emilia-tan is a half-elf… so her being impossibly beautiful makes sense. Half-elves are promised to be both gorgeous and long-lived, that's practically written in stone."
"Um, yes, that's right. …Subaru, even without your memories, you're not afraid of half-elves?"
"If you're asking whether I'm scared or not—what's scary is how cute you are. Seriously, that's a lethal weapon. If I caught sight of you first thing in the morning with my guard down, I think my eyes would burst. Even now, honestly, it happens sometimes."
"…You dummy."
Emilia's cheeks flushed faintly as she scolded him. Subaru felt like that exchange had been a nice moment and reminded himself not to be such a clueless idiot about it.
Emilia was incredibly kind—leave her be, and she might start thinking Subaru had feelings for her. Don't waver, my heart. Don't flutter, my heartbeat. No, fluttering is fine.
"Hah… You, on the other hand, give off the vibe of someone who just walked back through the front door of their childhood home, Beatrice."
"Somehow I don't find that very convincing. …But I suppose I'll let it slide since you're scratching my head."
The heart he'd set racing by Emilia settled as he stroked Beatrice's head. Beatrice seemed to be in a better mood too—killing two birds with one stone.
And then, amid this tangential back-and-forth,
"I understand Julius's concern, but I'd honestly like to support the theory that Reid is a corpse. Just a gut feeling from having met the man himself."
"What makes you think so?"
"First, as Natsuki-kun said, I don't believe Reid Astrea could be a long-lived species. He's certainly an extraordinary individual in many ways, but he is still human. Second—his personality."
"Personality? Like the, uh, super-energetic thing?"
"That energy tips over into sheer wildness, I'd say. I simply cannot imagine someone with that boisterous a temperament cooped up inside a tower for four hundred years. The fact that he didn't even meet
"Aaah."
At Echidna's shrugging opinion, Subaru let out a voice that mingled understanding with resignation.
Emilia and the others exchanged glances, recalling Reid's restless demeanor. They seemed to find Echidna's reasoning persuasive.
Seeing their reactions, Echidna turned her pale blue gaze on Julius.
"So that's my take on it. Can you accept that, Julius?"
"I have no choice but to be convinced, I suppose. Indeed, if you consider what the real Reid Astrea was actually like, he's not the type to stay put in one place. The only reason he can't leave is because his current self is bound to the tower's 'trial'… I suppose that's what we should conclude."
"Bound to the tower… his very existence is tied to it, you say."
Listening to Echidna and Julius's exchange, Subaru recalled how the previous loop had ended.
In the chaos that erupted inside the tower, Reid had roamed freely—boasting that he could even leave the building entirely. He'd dropped from the second floor down to the fourth without a care in the world and even flicked Subaru on the back of the head.
To Subaru, that hadn't looked remotely like a man bound by constraints.
In fact, if not for that one last regret, he would have marched right out of the tower with a spring in his step. —The reason he hadn't done so…
"—? Is something wrong? Is there something on my face?"
"No…"
"Hmph. My face has eyes, a nose, ears, and a mouth, just like the next person's. You see something abnormal there?"
"Yeah—it's not as cute as Emilia-tan's, so you didn't make the cut. Anyway…"
The conversation had drifted way too far off topic, and Subaru averted his eyes from Julius.
Then, steering things back to where they'd started—back to "Reid's book."
"Right, so we've settled on the idea that Reid is an energetic dead man. The 'Taigeta' library has a 'Book of the Dead'—that much is confirmed, right?"
"That's our understanding for now. The memories of the deceased flow into the mind of whoever reads it… Barusu and Julius have verified that much. Unfortunately, those memories seem to have been lost too."
"Sorry about that—don't hold it against me. —Anyway, that's the crux of this whole thing."
Snapping his fingers, Subaru pointed their tip at
Beside this exchange, Beatrice let out a small "Oh."
"So that's how it is!"
"Beatrice, you figured out what Subaru's getting at?"
"I did. So that's how it is—meaning, we use Reid's 'Book of the Dead' as a strategy guide to conquer Reid himself."
"That's the one."
Waving his twisted finger, Subaru grinned wickedly and nodded in confirmation.
Hearing this explanation, Emilia's purple eyes went wide and she murmured, "I see."
—Using the 'Book of the Dead' to defeat the dead man himself.
In short, the 'Book of the Dead' was both a record of a person's life and, in a manner of speaking, a detailed 'strategy guide' documenting how and why they died.
And from the perspective of Subaru—a veteran 'death' player who had already died four times over—the cause of one's death was rarely something easily avoided.
"So if you read the 'Book of the Dead,' you learn how the guy died. That's a perfectly valid strategy. Maybe the 'Book of the Dead' exists precisely for this purpose in the first place?"
"That's… a blind spot. But now that you mention it, it does make sense. They went out of their way to place the deceased as an examiner. It wouldn't be strange if that was their intent all along."
"You don't have to take it that seriously…"
Subaru smiled wryly at Echidna, whose eyes had gone round with more admiration than he expected.
That said, it wasn't something easily put into practice, so whether it counted as a breakthrough strategy or simply a shortcut was hard to say.
"One thing I can say with absolute confidence, though—even if I still had my memories, not just the me standing here without them—I'd have tried this approach."
"…That does sound like Subaru. He'd never pass up a shortcut like this."
"Not the honorable path, but the crooked one. That's what Barusu would do. Ram agrees."
"Mm, that's right. Subaru is terribly good at these little tricks."
"'Little tricks' is a bit harsh, isn't it…"
"—!"
At the unwavering assessment of '
"Emilia-sama, I understand how you feel, but your cheeks are turning red."
Ram took hold of the suddenly self-punishing Emilia's hand and chided her for it.
There had been a number of hypersensitive reactions from Emilia and Beatrice since earlier. Presumably, that was where the lingering residue of 'Natsuki Subaru' they sensed resided.
Honestly, it made him feel guilty. He wanted to give them back 'Natsuki Subaru' as soon as possible.
In any case, given Emilia and the others' impressions, there was a high probability that the Subaru of yesterday would have arrived at the same 'Book of the Dead' strategy.
Hearing Subaru's thoughts, Mei covered her mouth with her hand and said "Oh"— "…Now that you mention it, last night I saw Onii-chan spreading out lots of books in the 'Taigeta' library. Was that what it was about, perhaps?"
"Last night? Subaru went to the 'Taigeta'? Hmm…"
"By the way, could you tell what kind of books I was looking at?"
"Umm… I couldn't tell that far, I'm afraid. Sorry about that."
Mei, perched on Shaula's lap and having her head rubbed, lowered her eyes.
Subaru waved his hand at her, saying "Don't worry about it," and carefully cross-referenced the memories of the 'self' that wasn't his own, arriving at the same conclusion.
In the memories Mei had confirmed through the 'Book of the Dead,' Subaru had been spread out among multiple books—but the details beyond that point were lost.
Since the question had been a long shot to begin with, his disappointment wasn't all that great. Still, the fact that 'Natsuki Subaru' had been in the 'Taigeta' library meant something unusual had definitely happened to him.
Whether before spreading the books out, or just after— "Or could the act itself be connected to losing his memories?"
"He was spreading lots of them out, you say. …Don't tell me he read too many 'Books of the Dead,' exceeded his capacity, and the memories overflowed because there was no more room to store them?"
"I'd like to think that's not it, but I can't say for certain. After all—amnesia!"
Subaru puffed out his chest and pointed at himself, prompting simultaneous sighs from Julius and Echidna.
He was getting better at owning the whole amnesia thing, but Subaru himself didn't doubt much that the cause of his memory loss lay in those books.
That was why, even if he found Reid's 'Book of the Dead,' he wanted to avoid having anyone else read it.
If anyone was going to read it, it should be someone whose memories would vanish anyway with minimal consequences—Subaru. No—by now, even Subaru had too many memories he couldn't afford to lose.
"————"
Events from the previous loop. Events from the loops before that.
And then there were the things he'd resolved in this cycle—the promise with Ram, the vow to Mei.
Good grief—after only repeating a few short days four times over, his arms were already full of things he couldn't afford to forget.
Memories were precious and hard to let go of. —They must not be forgotten.
"Subaru?"
"A-Ah, I'm fine, I'm fine, totally fine. Ahem."
Emilia spoke to him as he fell silent, and Subaru hastily pulled himself together.
He cleared his throat, looked around at everyone's faces, and said: "So that's the plan—I'm proposing we head to the 'Taigeta.' Heroes from the past, legendary figures, that kind of crowd—their great deeds get passed down through the ages. But that means their failures and weaknesses get recorded too. Let's consider that the celebrity tax and let them have at us."
"You sure talk big for someone who just learned such a technique might actually be usable."
"Heheh, I never thought I'd get a chance to actually apply this kind of strategy in the field. Once you know a person's true name, you can pin down their cause of death and their Noble Phantasms too. Now this is what you call a modern-knowledge cheat…!"
"True name?"
"What's a Noble Phantasm, I wonder…"
Emilia and Beatrice tilted their heads simultaneously at Subaru's clenched-fist declaration.
He decided not to go into detail on that front, but one thing was certain—Reid Astrea was so famous in this world that his name was etched into history.
"So his defeat is basically the celebrity tax—doesn't that make for a pretty fresh weakness?"
"…I understand what Barusu is after. I'm convinced too. I can't say I'm without reservations, but…"
"There's definitely enough merit to try. Good grief. Just thinking about how hard it'll be to find one specific book buried in that mountain of texts is already making my head hurt."
Ram and Echidna stood, brushing off Subaru's quip. Pulled along by them, Emilia, Beatrice, Mei, and Shaula followed suit.
"Alright." Subaru clapped his knees and stood, then caught sight of Julius lagging behind.
"What's the matter? You against this?"
"No—there's no other breakthrough strategy available. Given that it's your idea, and that it's likely to be effective, I concede the point."
"But you have your doubts?"
"…This is a personal matter of mine. I'd appreciate it if you didn't worry about it."
Julius shook his head slowly, then rose from his spot in one fluid motion.
Being told not to worry about it and actually not worrying about it were two different things, so Subaru was more concerned than Julius would probably like—but— "I'll let it go for now. —By the way, outside of the 'Book of the Dead,' just how famous is Reid? He seems like pretty dangerous company."
"His impression must have been that strong. For someone whose memories are supposedly fragmented, you remember quite a lot. —Reid Astrea was one of the three heroes who defeated the '
"The 'Sage' Shaula, the 'Divine Dragon'
"Not me—the 'Sage' was Master."
"By your logic, that'd make me several hundred years old too, wouldn't it? I'd have had to live through way too much between stepping out of a convenience store and waking up this morning…"
Subaru filed Shaula's statements at roughly one-tenth their literal value and dove deeper into the legends of Reid, one of the celebrated Three Heroes.
When this topic came up, all eyes turned to Julius.
Receiving those gazes, Julius touched his bangs with one finger.
"Indeed, the legends Reid Astrea left behind across the land are too numerous to count. Notable examples include the battle where he slew a hundred dragons, his undefeated record of six thousand fights in the gladiatorial arena of the Sword Slave Island, and—more unusually—the time he drank a drinking contest against a being called a 'demon god' and won."
"They all sounded like ridiculous tall tales, but after seeing the man himself…"
"You'd feel there was no exaggeration whatsoever. Knowing his strength, he was without doubt… no."
"—?"
"As far as I know, the vast majority of anecdotes about Reid concern his extraordinary accomplishments. His humanity, his human-like blunders and records of defeat—I have no memory of any such things."
Flicking his bangs aside, Julius concluded his display of knowledge.
Having listened to this, Subaru shuddered ever so slightly at the fact that no records of defeat existed. If they simply hadn't survived the ages, that would be one thing—but what if the man had simply never lost?
Undefeated for his entire life—Subaru shivered at how entirely plausible that sounded.
"Oh, we've arrived."
At a lull in conversation, they reached the room containing the staircase up to the 'Taigeta.' One flight up and they'd be in the third floor—'Taigeta'—the library packed with 'Books of the Dead' that would greet them—however— "—Ram, could you lead everyone ahead for me? I have something I want to talk to Julius about."
"With Julius?"
Ram furrowed her brows at Subaru's request.
Julius was equally surprised, but he offered no objection and said nothing. Narrowing her pink eyes, Ram looked into Subaru's dark ones, then exhaled.
An exhalation that seemed to carry either a sigh or resignation— "Don't take too long. If we come back up to find Ram and the others have lost their memories the same way you did, there'll be no fixing that."
"Don't say such scary things. If a memory-wiped Ram turned out all docile and ladylike, that'd be something to see, though…"
"Ram has no intention of forgetting anything else."
"…Right. If you find any weird books, promise me you won't go near them."
With that, Ram gave a small shrug and climbed the stairs first, each step deliberate.
Leaving things in her hands meant little risk of bad judgment. In that sense, among this group, Subaru's trust in Ram was the highest.
From that vantage point— "Mei, behave yourself like a proper lady. Hold Emilia-tan's hand or something."
"That's terribly rude, you know. I'm perfectly fine without being treated like a nuisance. Besides, I've already got bare-onii-chan's right hand, so even though I'm not being held, it feels like I am."
Pouting with puffed cheeks, Mei was escorted to the 'Taigeta' with Shaula gripping her right hand and Emilia her left. Beatrice followed behind her, and last to go, Echidna stepped lightly onto the staircase before glancing back.
"Natsuki-kun."
"Hm?"
"Go easy on him, will you?"
With that parting remark, Echidna promptly ascended to the upper floor.
Watching them go, Subaru scratched his head. He had a feeling Echidna had seen right through the reason he'd kept Julius behind.
Once the women had all disappeared from the scene, only Subaru and Julius remained in front of the staircase.
"So—what's this about? You went out of your way to send Emilia-sama and the others away. It must be something serious?"
"Something serious… Yeah, I guess so. Probably."
"That's a vague way to put it."
"The thing is, it's hard to be precise about what I'm about to say."
With the staircase behind him, Subaru faced Julius and scratched at his dark hair.
He'd called Julius aside because there were things he needed to confirm. They tied back to the sticking points in their earlier conversation, but— "————"
"Subaru?"
"Hold on. I'm just organizing my thoughts."
Unraveling the tangle of issues, more knotted than he'd expected, Subaru deliberated.
He'd left the book search to Emilia's group and kept Julius here. The central focus of that decision was, naturally, still 'Reid Astrea'—that hadn't changed.
At the same time, what flashed through Subaru's mind was a scene from the previous loop—from that massive free-for-all.
—The duel Reid chose as his final regret, once he'd gained his freedom: a one-on-one with Julius.
It had been interrupted by numerous intrusions, but it was undeniably a true duel. Yet the gap in their abilities was absolute—compounded, no doubt, by psychological factors.
Furthermore, from what Subaru had heard, Julius had already fought Reid once before and lost. And despite that, Reid had harbored some kind of fixation on Julius.
Where exactly that fixation came from—Subaru had a feeling that was the key to understanding Reid. But how to bring it up…
"Ah—hey, what do you think of Reid? You like him?"
"—What meaning could that question possibly hold?"
"Just trying to lighten the mood a little. The real question's worded slightly differently. —The real question is: do you intend to beat Reid?"
"—!"
Closing one eye as he said it, Subaru watched Julius's golden eyes fly open. Seeing the violent trembling in that gaze, Subaru let out a short breath.
Just as he'd suspected. But at the same time—he needed Julius to wait.
"Whether you're aware of it or not doesn't matter—being scared is perfectly understandable in this situation. Apparently, once you develop a losing habit, it's hard to shake."
"Subaru, you…"
"Sorry. Honestly, I think I should take as much time as possible, ease into things, and properly rebuild your battered heart. I think that. But we don't have that time. You understand, right?"
"————"
At Subaru's question, Julius's cheeks hardened and he held his breath.
Subaru and Julius probably had different understandings of what 'not having time' meant, but the same sense of urgency burned in Julius too.
And this was probably something yesterday's Subaru couldn't have done—couldn't have been bothered to do. This man, wounded and oblivious to the burning anxiety in his own heart—Subaru couldn't bring himself to look past that.
What 'Natsuki Subaru' couldn't do, Natsuki Subaru would do.
Believing that this was the solid blow that would crack open their current deadlock— "I'll tell you straight, Julius. The reason is simple: right now, I'm invincible."
"Invincible… that's quite the bold claim."
"With no attachments holding me back, I can take bold steps. I can see you flinching when you look at me, when you look at Echidna, when you hear about Reid—shrinking back. I'm the same kind of person who drags things around, so I can't exactly talk, but I'm going to close my eyes to all that and say it straight."
"—Let me hear it."
Julius straightened his posture and fixed Subaru with a steady gaze.
Receiving that unwavering stare, Subaru continued.
"That's that, and this is this."
"—Huh?"
Standing tall as he declared that, Subaru was met with a look of blank astonishment from Julius.
Facing him squarely, Subaru spread both arms wide.
"I get why looking at me makes you uncomfortable. The Subaru of yesterday probably did something to you. What yesterday's Subaru did to you won't vanish from the world—but it has vanished from my head."
"…That's right. That's exactly so. But I…"
"Hear me out. Because that's how things stand, you and I need to build our relationship from scratch. At least, that's how it is with the current me. Yesterday's Subaru—set him aside for now."
"————"
Julius was so overwhelmed by the sheer force of Subaru's logic that he couldn't recover from the waves of agitation that had been buffeting him.
It was an incredibly high-handed argument. He hadn't conveyed even a fraction of what he actually wanted to say.
In truth, Subaru was borrowing heavily from the 'achievements' of 'Natsuki Subaru' thus far—the impact he'd had on Emilia, Beatrice, Julius, and others. That much was undeniable.
But right now, he was borrowing only the good parts of that influence and throwing the rest away.
Because— "In our party, you're the strongest. So if it comes to a fight with Reid, that falls to you. Even if we find a good strategy guide, the actual battle is going to be on your shoulders."
Of course, there was also the matter of Reid's fixation—his desire for a one-on-one with Julius.
But Subaru wasn't willing to yield on this. Even setting aside the fact that Emilia had already broken through, none of them—not Ram, not Shaula, not Echidna, not Mei, not Beatrice, not even Subaru—could give up that scene.
"I get that you're scared. I get that you're confused. Yesterday's Subaru owes you a massive apology for that. —With all of that taken into account, I need you to switch gears and fight."
"…I have already lost to him. Twice."
"I know. But win the next one."
"————"
He actually knew the count was one loss more than that.
But that was a superfluous detail—one that no longer mattered.
"If you can't win, the whole plan falls apart. I'm running through all sorts of matchups in my head, but before we can ask the girls to step up, us guys have to do our part. Otherwise, it's a disgrace to the name of knight."
"—A disgrace to the name of knight. Is that what I am right now? A disgrace to knighthood?"
Julius looked down, lowering his eyes as Subaru thrust his fist forward.
Startled, bewildered, hurt, struck—and finally cornered by such brutally forceful reasoning, Julius was tossed about by Subaru's words.
That impact—the impression Subaru gave by this very act—went far beyond what Julius had expected, dramatically altering his refined expression— "Just as Lady Ram said, I'm beginning to doubt whether you've truly lost your memories. Or perhaps you're pretending to have lost them in order to stop me—me, who is terrified enough to throw down my sword and run."
"Would I cloud Emilia-tan's smile over something like that? Idiot—I wouldn't pull some roundabout stunt like that! Besides, you wouldn't abandon your sword even without all that, and you'd fight for everyone's sake, wouldn't you?"
"That's… contradictory. You're trying to steel my faltering heart this very moment."
"Nope. That's not it. What you're lacking isn't courage. Courage is packed in there tight. —What you're lacking is the will to win. The refusal to lose."
Stepping closer, Subaru jabbed Julius's chest with his fist.
Julius drew a sharp breath at the words and the blow.
"————"
There was no lie in Subaru's words.
In the previous loop, even facing the dire straits of both the cursed beasts and Reid, Julius had not abandoned his sword, had not turned his back on despair, and had told Subaru—"Leave it to me."
Read the other way, that was the only way to interpret it: "Leave this to me."
In that situation, Julius had said it.
—Leave Reid Astrea to him.
And that was the last Subaru had seen of him.
That was why— "…I didn't see how it ended. I don't have the memories from yesterday. Which means I have never, not even once, seen you lose to Reid."
Julius—Julius Euclius had not lost.
In front of Natsuki Subaru, not a single time had this knight, this man, been defeated.
That was why Natsuki Subaru, no matter what anyone said, refused to surrender the settling of things.
He would continue to believe— Julius Euclius would defeat Reid Astrea.
"I'm entrusting Reid Astrea to you. Take down the single most troublesome enemy we have. In return, I'll… reach out toward everything else—my own way."
"————"
"Can't hear you, Julius. Answer your buddy's expectations."
This time, instead of placing expectations like a burden, Subaru drove hope into him with force.
His fist struck Julius's chest once more.
At that impact, Julius pressed his own hand to his chest.
Then, keeping his hand there, he stepped back and let out a long breath.
A long, long, deep, deep breath— "…How can you believe in me like that, when you've lost all memories of yesterday?"
"That's… well, it's an image. An impression—the way you come across. Your face, your way of speaking, your gestures, your possessions, your clothes, your eating habits, your gait—it's the composite art of all those things."
Unable to reference the events of the previous loop, Subaru clutched his own chest and gave an awkward answer.
As it happened, both Subaru and Julius stood facing each other with hands pressed to their chests. Julius then straightened his spine—still with his hand over his heart—and slowly bowed.
Beautifully, naturally—just as a knight in a story would.
"An impression, is it?"
"Y-Yeah. The way I see you. Everything about you—that's what makes me believe in you like that."
"I see. …My pride gave you that impression, then."
Still with his head lowered, Julius's voice changed.
The tone that had felt untouchable moments ago regained a sliver of strength, softened, and seemed to bloom with warmth—even if only faintly.
With that impression still lingering, Julius raised his head and faced forward.
And then— "Forsaken by the world, forgotten even by the sole person who remembered me, unable to confirm my master's existence, my own whereabouts rendered uncertain. And yet, even in that state—that everything I've cultivated until now has not been lost. That is what you're trying to say."
"I wasn't putting it nearly that eloquently, but yeah—basically."
Julius received Subaru's clumsy, jumbled words and distilled them into something wise and refined.
Just moments ago, Subaru had been convinced that not even a fraction of what he wanted to say would get through. But now it felt as if the receiver's side had chosen to accept nearly all of it.
"It was kind of abstract and head-in-the-clouds, all just talk about mental fortitude or whatever—but since it felt like the mental side was the biggest issue, did I hit the mark?"
"Hm. Why the sudden loss of confidence? Weren't you supposed to be invincible?"
"Well, even Mario with a star dies if he falls in a pit…"
Julius frowned at the incomprehensible analogy but didn't push the matter further.
It seemed he'd learned from his dealings with the 'Natsuki Subaru' of yesterday that it was best to let meaningless quips slide—a strange sort of understanding, all things considered.
In any case— "Feeling a bit more positive?"
"I'm not sure. Ultimately, your words were mostly abstract rhetoric lacking in substance, and the numerous events that have befallen me haven't dramatically changed."
"You're something else…"
"However."
Julius paused there, then narrowed his eyes as he looked at Subaru.
And then, letting a small smile grace his lips— "—That's that, and this is this."
With those uncharacteristic words, he brought their exchange to a close.