6
—The white void fell away, and the vibrant world on the other side reconstructed itself.
It was a mysterious feeling, like being in a colorless space, watching from the inside as the world was progressively painted in color.
The Odo Ragna cradle. The corridors of memory.
Subaru Natsuki’s existence had been torn from that space outside the world. His fragmentary consciousness was bound back up, and gradually his self was reconstructed…
“—Subaru.”
The first thing he felt was a badly parched throat.
Then something cold and hard against his back and bottom. He had apparently been sitting against a wall. Opening his eyes, he blinked several times until the world came into focus, and then he saw the blue eyes peering into his.
The eyes with a butterfly-like pattern, and the adorable face that went with them…
“Beatrice…?”
“…You seem conscious again. You saying Betty’s name first would seem to indicate you didn’t lose your memory somewhere along the way.”
“…Yeah. I remember. You’re a cutie.”
Subaru responded as relief flooded Beatrice’s eyes, and then she started touching his face and chest. Her little palms felt ticklish. He also inspected himself.
He had given Beatrice a confident reply without knowing how Louis—how Gluttony—ate memories and names. It was hard to prove the existence of memories.
But he stifled that fear and told himself that Subaru Natsuki was right where he should be.
“It…should be okay. The promises and the love are all there in my heart.”
His heart raced when he thought about Emilia, and because he cared about Beatrice, he wanted to pat her head. And he prayed from the bottom of his heart for his comrades’ safety. That was the proof that he was Subaru.
“…How long was I out? It doesn’t feel like it’s only been a moment.”
Using Beatrice’s warmth to steady and center himself, he realized he was in a different position from when he had gotten pulled into the corridors of memory. He should have been in front of the shelf, but he had been pushed off to the wall, and more than anything…
“Emilia-chan and Ram, and Julius and Shaula aren’t here…?” Subaru furrowed his brow.
“Looks like you woke up, Natsuki.”
Echidna touched her light purple hair as she walked over to him. Meili was beside her, looking bored. Noticing he was awake, she pursed her lips.
“Finally? You’re such a sleepyhead. I was so tired of waiting.”
“Sleepyhead? That’s a cute turn of phrase… As it happens, I finally made it back from an unexpected life-or-death struggle. Show a little sympathy.”
“An unexpected life-or-death struggle… I would love to know more about that, but while you were sleeping, things started moving here, too. That’s why Julius and the others aren’t here.”
Beatrice, Echidna, and Meili were with Subaru in Taygeta. From the look on Echidna’s face, it was clear she was concerned about the safety of everyone else who wasn’t present.
“You were asleep for almost an hour, I suppose. The other books only took a few seconds, so we were worried that something might have happened to you.”
“An hour…that…seems to match up with what it felt like to me. What happened out here?”
“Shaula noticed something strange. She said something was approaching the tower from outside. She raced away before we could stop her.”
“Something…approaching…”
Prioritizing explaining the situation over double-checking Subaru’s condition, Echidna pointed toward the stairs down to the next floor.
“The cool knight chased after her. And then Silver-Hair and the maid went to check on the sleeping girl,” Meili added.
“So that’s why the four of them aren’t here. But it was the right choice to go to Rem.” Subaru nodded.
Seeing his reaction, Echidna furrowed her brow.
“Natsuki? From that reaction…is there something you know?”
“Ye…ah. There’s no point in hiding it. I’ll skip right to the end.”
He had not fully digested everything that had happened in the corridors of memory. But he also knew that Echidna didn’t fully trust him after his losing his memory and having the bond between them reset. That unnecessary suspicion would only be a barrier to them banding together to overcome the unprecedented disaster coming for them.
So…?
“Well, here it is, no holding back. The plan to read Reid’s book and make a strategy using his past failed. I couldn’t see his past, and this isn’t the time for that anymore.”
“You couldn’t see his past…? What happened, then?”
“Something got in the way. The Archbishop of Gluttony.”
“—?!”
Everyone’s expression tensed in shock.
Archbishop and Gluttony both probably mean something to them. Considering Rem’s and Julius’s situations, that much is obvious.
And in the first place, the reason they set out for the Pleiades Watchtower was…
“So, while you were unconscious, you were facing off with the Archbishop of Gluttony? Is that the unexpected life-or-death struggle you were talking about?”
“That’s right. Just as I slid into the book of the dead, I was taken to an empty, white space instead of exploring Reid’s memories…and I ran into a girl calling herself Louis. From what she said, it was some place called the cradle of Odo Ragna or corridors of memory or something.”
“Odo Ragna…”
Beatrice murmured as Subaru tried to cover everything he had heard that seemed important.
“You know what it is?” Subaru asked. “Louis said it was a mechanism to make sure the world isn’t destroyed. Well, she said a lot of things…”
“Betty does not know the specifics. But what is called Odo Ragna is known as the center of the world…the place where all mana returns.”
“The place where all mana returns…”
It was a grandiose description, but having been there, Subaru couldn’t bring himself to laugh it off. That white space had definitely felt like a world apart from the normal world. Whether it was some place far removed or at the heart of the world, it was a distinction without much difference. That place was filled with contradictions.
“So you ran into Gluttony there, but you’re okay?” Meili chimed in.
She squatted so that her eyes matched Subaru’s where he was sitting, peering into his black pupils.
“Gluttony eats people’s memories and names, right? Are you sure you didn’t forget a bunch of stuff again, mister?”
“Yeah, I’m definitely fine. I can say with confidence I didn’t lose anything there.”
“How can you—?”
“Because when Gluttony had me cornered, Rem saved me.”
All of their eyes widened when he said that name so emphatically. Beatrice in particular had a very large reaction.
“Subaru, that name…”
“She gave me a good kick in the butt. So I’m fine.”
Subaru nodded as he looked into Beatrice’s big, trembling eyes. Seeing that, she started to say something a few times and then gently pushed her forehead against his chest.
He gently rubbed her back.
“—? There’s a strange tremor coming from below…”
“Echidna! Is everyone safe?!”
Someone sprinted up the stairs, rushing into Taygeta with a shout. Echidna spun, stunned at seeing who it was.
“Julius? You look pretty rushed.”
“Something unexpected has happened. We must all gather as soon as…mrgh.”
As Julius answered Echidna, his gaze turned to Subaru sitting on the floor. His face tensed from nerves and vigilance, and his yellow eyes widened slightly.
“So you are awake, Subaru. That is good news. Do you remember me?”
“Ummm, who are…?”
“…As expected.”
“I’m kidding! You’re Julius Juukulius! Don’t take a joke so seriously!”
“Ha. I was joking, too. Since I am going to have to say something not the least bit amusing.”
Subaru grimaced when he realized he’d been had. Smiling briefly at that reaction, Julius took on a solemn expression for the serious talk.
“I would like to hear more from Subaru now that he has returned, but there is urgent news. The disturbance that Ms. Shaula sensed outside has been confirmed.”
“Is that what’s causing this rumbling?”
Subaru pointed down at the floor—at the tower beneath him.
He had noticed the rumbling faintly just before Julius rushed in.
“Yes.” Julius nodded. “This rumbling we’ve been hearing for a little while is coming from footsteps.”
“Footsteps?”
Subaru and Beatrice both cocked their heads at that unexpected answer.
Echidna and Meili also looked dubious as Julius gestured to the outside of the tower.
“—The demon beasts throughout the Auguria Dunes are converging on this tower as one. Ms. Shaula is engaging them in combat, but it is only a matter of time until they press inside.”
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