CHAPTER 1
CASUALLY COMPARING ANSWERS
1
—First came the unstoppable impact that rocked his brain to its core.
“ ”
His heart pounded like it was pumping confusion through his entire body. He wheezed painfully, forgetting how to even breathe. Convulsions racked his chest, and a heavy sheen of sweat coated his back.
The urge to throw up wouldn’t go away. All he could hear was an incessant ringing and the cacophony of his own racing pulse. His vision flickered between black and red, as if his fragmented mind was sea-foam rocking on the surface of the water.
He had no idea where he was or what he was doing—
“—ru.”
For a moment, he heard an unknown sound pierce the veil of hazy oblivion clouding his senses.
He blindly searched for the source like someone swimming in the ocean at night, groping around in the murk. Ever so slowly, his thoughts broke the surface of his consciousness, and—
“—Subaru!”
The voice sounded like a silver bell. It called out to him again and pulled the loose pieces of his being back to reality.
“—Ah.”
After his consciousness returned, Subaru Natsuki rebooted.
As he gradually recovered from his blue screen and his eyes turned back on, the first thing he noticed was two dazzling violet jewels—or rather, violet eyes—staring at him. He saw the concern in Emilia’s face as she gazed at him.
She gently stroked his cheek with her hand.
“ ”
The light touch of her slender fingers urged Subaru’s senses to recall their purpose.
He could see the garden overflowing with green, smell the hint of flowers on the soft breeze, and hear the playful babbling of the nearby fountain. With these details coloring in the blanks, he finally regained a firm grip on reality.
This was the moment that Subaru noticed he had been holding on to someone’s hand the whole time.
It was small, warm, and familiar. When he turned to his side, he was met with a pair of round eyes.
“Bea…trice…”
“Have you managed to calm down, I wonder? You were worrying me.”
Beatrice let out a soft breath of relief as she continued holding Subaru’s hand. Seeing that she was sitting on the grass, Subaru belatedly realized he was on the ground as well.
This was also the moment that he realized there were two others present besides Emilia and Beatrice.
“Pheeew, you gave us a real scare, Master Subaru. For a moment there, I was worried I wouldn’t make it. Your humble Liliana still has not learned many funeral hymns, you see…”
Liliana the Songstress was expressing her delight at Subaru’s apparent recovery with a rather peculiar choice of words. With one hand, she braced her beloved lyulyre against her hip as if to visibly illustrate her incredibly unique concern.
Standing beside her was Priscilla, who was wearing an expression that didn’t show a single shred of acknowledgment regarding Subaru’s poor state. She casually fanned herself with the idle composure of someone who was wholly unconcerned. That was so in character for her that it ironically set him at ease.
“ ”
After taking stock of everyone around him, Subaru slowly rose to his feet.
His head felt leaden. It was almost like his eyes, ears, nose, and skin were trying to keep up with someone suddenly changing the channel while only his soul stayed behind, still tuned to the old one.
That sensation lingered as Subaru took in a deep breath. There was something he had to confirm for himself.
“Subaru, are you sure you don’t want to rest a bit more? You really don’t look well…”
“I’m all right. Just a little dizzy from standing up. More importantly, Emilia-tan…weren’t you going to have Liliana sing another song right about now?”
“Wha?! Why is that the first thing you want to know?! Not only did you have no reaction to what I said, but now I’m also being utterly ignored! You wound me, sir! I demand restitution! Restitution for my heart!!”
When Liliana grasped his sleeve with the force of someone determined to drag him off to court, Subaru immediately brushed her aside. The Songstress cried with a “Gaaah!” as she was flung away, but Subaru paid her no heed and looked straight at Emilia.
Picking up on the intensity of Subaru’s gaze, Emilia nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. Just now, we were talking about asking Liliana to sing the song we haven’t had a chance to hear yet. That’s when you and Liliana started whispering about something, and…”
“Which brings us to the present. Got it. Tha…”
Thank you, and sorry.
Right as he was about to thank Emilia for her explanation, something echoed in the back of Subaru’s mind.
“ ”
It was the verbal tic of the bandaged maniac who appeared at the time tower—Sirius Romanée-Conti.
In most cases, those magic words were used to convey gratitude and show consideration for others. But for the moment, Subaru couldn’t think of them as anything other than the sinister incantation of some dark sorcery.
When he recalled what that basket case had done while reciting those magic words, all he could think of was—
“…Oh. That’s right; I…”
Subaru stumbled upon a sudden realization.
One moment, he was trapped in Wrath’s crazed delusions, and in the next, he was back with Emilia and the others. It wasn’t because he had miraculously managed to escape in one piece. No, quite the opposite.
At some point in the madness and the chaos, Subaru Natsuki had shuffled off this mortal coil. He had died again.
And in death, Subaru Natsuki had returned, so that he might challenge fate once more.
“Shit…”
Coming to terms with that fact, Subaru’s breast burned with relief—and nigh-unendurable anger.
Over a year ago, Subaru refused to willfully hurl himself into the jaws of death, instead resolving to challenge whatever hardship or ordeal that barred his path with every iota of strength he could muster. That was the answer he had reached during the Witch’s Trial in the Sanctuary.
Despite his big talk, he had failed spectacularly. Never mind resisting death; he’d actually run straight into its waiting embrace without even realizing what he was doing.
“—Ah.”
And now another revelation dawned on him. He didn’t even have time to feel self-loathing as an eruption of shame consumed him.
It had taken him this long to notice. His grasp on the flow of events, his situational awareness, his thoughts—all of them had been lacking and superficial.
Liliana’s second song, the tension that hung over Emilia and Priscilla, Subaru running off to buy them snacks—all those things immediately preceded his encounter with the cryptic stranger, at which point he lost his life and promptly Returned by Death.
Coming back to this moment in time could only mean one thing.
Barely fifteen minutes remained until that eccentric’s nightmarish speech would begin again.
“This can’t be real…”
Still in shock, Subaru didn’t know how to even begin dealing with his new reality.
As soon as he realized what situation he’d landed in, he was so overwhelmed by sheer urgency that it felt like his eyes were swimming. His reaction was completely understandable. Never before had his return point been so close to his demise.
To date, Subaru had been given loop times ranging from several hours to several days. It had been Subaru Natsuki’s fight to make the most of that time limit and change any dead-end futures.
For this go-around, that time limit was short—extremely, painfully short.
What in the world could Subaru accomplish with a mere fifteen minutes?
“…Am I an idiot? No, of course I am. There’s no time to screw around. I gotta be the one to put a stop to it.”
As he bemoaned the incredibly harsh limitations he’d been saddled with, Subaru reprimanded himself to force his thoughts back on track.
This was an opportunity that no one except Subaru was granted more than once to begin with. It was too much to ask for his second chances to be tailored for his convenience.
He had to do his best according to the conditions granted to him. He could complain all he wanted after his life was snuffed out if it came to that point.
“Beatrice! Come with me and…”
“…And what, I wonder?”
Subaru impetuously turned around, ready to charge ahead when his words caught in his throat. Beatrice cocked her head in confusion.
The enemy was an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins. Asking Beatrice for help and fighting together with her was the right choice—without her, Subaru’s options dwindled, and his combat strength wouldn’t even amount to half of what it could be.
Even though he knew this full well, Subaru hesitated to seek Beatrice’s cooperation.
It wasn’t because he was afraid of exposing Beatrice to danger or because of other sentimental reasons. His relationship with Beatrice had crossed that line of resolve long ago.
Then what was causing Subaru to waver?
It was Emilia. She was there.
“ ”
That eccentric had called herself Sirius Romanée-Conti, the Witch Cult’s Archbishop of Wrath.
Petelgeuse, also an Archbishop, had doggedly targeted Emilia. Wasn’t it safer to assume that Emilia would also be in Sirius’s sights as well? That worry had a stranglehold on Subaru’s heart.
He was afraid of leaving Emilia by herself.
It terrified him to even think about letting someone precious to him out of his sight. The tragedy of never-ending sleep that had befallen Rem had struck Subaru with a strain of cowardice that he could not shake off.
That’s why—
“Beatrice, are you…”
“Am I…?”
“…fine with getting the same sweets as everyone else?”
Subaru was still wearing a deadly serious expression when he posed that trivial question. Of course, that didn’t sit well with Beatrice as Subaru drew closer to her suspicious face.
“—Could you stay with Emilia? I’ll rest easier if I know you’re with her.”
“…I suppose there is yet another thing you cannot share even with Betty.”
“Sorry, but when something comes up, you’re the first person I count on.”
Though he knew it was low of him, Subaru was relying on Beatrice while withholding details about what was going on. She sighed at his reply as Subaru turned toward Emilia.
“I’m gonna go for a little run and buy some drinks while getting some air. You can just chill here and listen to the dangerous Songstress’s song while looking graceful as always, all right?”
Somehow managing to flash a smile, Subaru spoke in a laid-back tone as he tried to take his leave.
But then—
“Wait.”
—right before he was about to break into a run, he felt someone tugging at his clothes and stopped. When he checked to see who it was, Subaru found Emilia grasping the sleeve of his jacket, gazing at Subaru as if she wanted to say something.
He’d been incredibly sloppy. Of course Emilia was suspicious.
Therefore—
“Subaru, please, please be careful. Don’t do anything rash.”
Emilia swallowed her doubts and only asked that he keep his wits about him. Her thoughtfulness made him happy.
“Yeah, of course. Just sit tight and trust me. I’ll protect you?”
“Okay. Take care.”
With that final comment, she let go of his sleeve, blushing a little.
“I have it. Please listen: Show me your mettle.”
“All right, I’m off! I’ll be right back…or at least, it’ll feel like I’ll be right back!”
Ignoring the Songstress taking inspiration from the scene to fuel her creative juices, Subaru properly broke into a run.
Approximately ten minutes remained until the nightmarish speech began—a time limit short enough to make him cry.
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