2
Cor Leonis allowed Subaru to grasp the general gist of what was happening inside the Pleiades Watchtower.
This was possible because he could gauge the general condition of his comrades and a vague sense of how far they were from him. And on top of that, Subaru felt something odd smoldering in his chest.
“ ”
He was using the power that he had, without thinking, called Cor Leonis—or SubaNavi, like he’d joked earlier—to find his friends, but he had a feeling that wasn’t where its true strength lay.
Cor Leonis, “Lion’s Heart” in Latin. It referred to Regulus, a first-magnitude star in the constellation Leo. And Regulus was also Latin, meaning…
“Subaru!”
As they turned the corner in the passage, Emilia shouted to Subaru once she spotted what lay ahead. Thanks to the Lion’s Heart, Subaru already knew the reason for her shout.
Following the faint light and warmth, he saw his friends, who had set out on their own mission.
“Beako!” “Beatrice!”
“—?! S-Subaru and some unknown girl?!”
Beatrice was taken aback when she saw the two of them running toward her, but Subaru and Emilia ignored her confusion, and they both leaped at Beatrice, lifting her in a hug even as she cried out:
“Whah?!”
“Ohhh, Beako! Beako! You’re so light! So adorable! And such an intelligent-looking face!”
“Look, Beatrice! Subaru remembered everything! Ah, but you probably don’t remember me…but Subaru remembering me at least made me reeeeally happy!”
“W-wait one moment! Wait! My head is a mess, like a birthday she knew and one she didn’t all coming together!”
Beatrice was bewildered and rattled by their combined onslaught, but she soon held out her hands, silencing Emilia first.
“…Subaru, do you really remember everything? About Betty, and about how Betty lived…? All of it?”
“Yeah, I do. Don’t look so worried. I remember everything, and I can sprinkle a few hoaxes in for good measure, too. A historia all our own.”
“There’s no need to make up things that didn’t happen, I suppose! Argh!”
Held up in the air, Beatrice squeezed Subaru’s face between her hands. Smushing his cheeks, seeing his lips pucker, Beatrice let out a deep sigh.
“You are always tormenting Betty.”
“I thought part of our contract was to never let you get bored. Besides, you told me I wasn’t a superman, but…”
“—?”
“When you look at it objectively, I kinda am superhuman, aren’t I?”
With a wink, he smiled at Beatrice. For a moment, Beatrice’s eyes widened, but the next moment her cheeks swelled indignantly.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Let me have a little fun. I’m the kind of guy who does his best work when he gets a little carried away. And…”
As he glanced to the side, he saw a girl standing there indignantly—Ram. Her pink eyes were narrowed, shooting him through, drilling straight into him.
“B-big sis?”
“The thaw came awfully quickly. So it was all just your typical Barusu-esque fuss over nothing.”
“…Effectively, it only took about a day or so, I guess.”
When she put it that way, Subaru couldn’t really offer much more than a wry smile.
In actuality, Subaru had experienced more than twenty deaths, and thinking of the mental load it had taken to accept that as reality, he found it hard to laugh it off as just one day.
But because it was such a difficult thing, he insisted on laughing it off. That was what Natsuki Subaru was supposed to do.
“It’s my long-awaited return. Man of the spring snowmelt, Natsuki Subaru at your service.”
“Hah! All right, then. Say it all you like, but even if I, Ram, in my infinite mercy let it slide…”
“Let it slide? What is this, a water park?!”
“Ukyaaa?!”
Cocking his head at Ram’s seemingly meaningful pause, all of a sudden he was hit with a ground dragon’s air-splitting tail, sending him and Beatrice flying. Subaru was caught by something soft, and looking up, he saw that Emilia had moved to catch him.
“Patrasche seems really happy you’re back, too.” Emilia giggled.
“Hey, don’t lay into me just because you’re embarrassed…no, I guess I’m sorry for making you worry, too.”
Supported by Emilia, Subaru righted himself and faced Patrasche’s sharp gaze. Thinking back to his trusty dragon’s unfaltering devotion, even when he had lost his memory…
“You’re really always saving me. I love you.”
“ ”
“…Not going to knock me upside the head this time?”
Unlike every other time he made a lighthearted confession, he wasn’t met with Patrasche’s ladylike scolding.
“This ground dragon understands when you are joking and when you are serious.”
Apparently, they had started getting along at some point, because Beatrice was translating for Patrasche. With the birth of Beatrice the translator, Otto was about to be relieved of duty.
“ ”
Rem was riding Patrasche’s back, held in place by the reins.
Of course, Subaru couldn’t hear a joyous reunion from the sleeping girl’s lips. Just seeing her face there made the fiery, roiling emotions in his breast swell.
Were it not for that voice, kicking him in the spine and forcing him to stand tall, he would have been taken in by Louis’s sweet nothings in that white space, caught in Gluttony’s sinister trick.
She wouldn’t let him run away, even if he forgot himself. Which is why he made it back again, through forty deaths.
“But I’ll save the wallowing in sentiment for later. Long story short, I’ve got my memory back. I appreciate everyone wanting to celebrate, but let’s settle everything else first.”
“That’s quite the high evaluation of yourself. I have quibbles regarding that, but there’s something else I want to know.”
“…Ah, you mean me?”
Snorting at Subaru, Ram looked instead at Emilia. In her eyes was the usual insolence, and an equal measure of discomfort.
It was clear from Beatrice’s reaction, too, but Gluttony had inflicted the same injury on Emilia as Julius had suffered. If it turned into a festering, open wound that made her shrink back…
“Right! I’m Emilia. Just Emilia. There’s a lot I want to say, but I’m family and heading the same way as you and Beatrice!”
“ ”
“If you can understand that much, then I’m fine for now. Now that I know Subaru remembers me, I’m in reeeally good spirits.”
Emilia flexed her almost pearlescent arms and smiled bravely. In her case, it didn’t seem to be a front, either. She really wasn’t the least bit worried.
It wasn’t just Subaru who thought that. Even Beatrice was taken aback by that bold display. Surprisingly, Ram’s eyes widened a bit as well.
“Huh? Did I say something strange?”
“…Nah, not really strange so much as awesomely cool.”
Subaru scratched his cheek, and a beat slower, Ram also responded.
“Indeed. Emilia, you said. It is a strange thing. Looking at you, there is an uneasy feeling in the corner of my mind… The same thing happened with Rem…”
“That’s…”
“I assume that’s because filling the gap left when you disappeared from my mind is just that difficult. It is hard to imagine there being another person like that for me other than Rem, though.”
When he saw Ram’s eyes narrow, Subaru felt an emotion that was a little out of step with the moment.
Despite what Ram said, it was clear to Subaru just how much she had cared about Emilia, having watched the two of them this past year. But after all that they had built together had been robbed, it was natural for Ram to be suspicious.
“The unease I feel in my head looking at you is the answer to how we are related. So don’t worry—I don’t like letting debts linger.”
“…I’m the same. I will absolutely pay it back.”
“Indeed. A billion times over.”
“A billion?!”
It was reassuring to see Emilia and Ram share a fearless smile.
When her name was stolen, she should have been isolated after losing all her connections. But she didn’t give in to that isolation, holding on tight to the core of her heart. And thanks to that, what should have destroyed her bonds with Subaru and Ram and the others had been neutralized.
And on top of that…
“Barusu, share your plan. Don’t think you can undo you blunders just by picking up something you left lying around.”
“I know without you telling me, but what a way to put it.”
They didn’t need any persuading. He appreciated her willingness to cooperate, since their current predicament was too urgent for them to build up trust, re-form their bonds, and explain the situation in detail for each and every problem they faced.
So…
“We’re going to tear down the big buffet that terrible trio started.”
“Yeah!” “Of course.” “Hah!”
Subaru nodded deeply at the three different responses.
And…
“We got a little scattered along the way, but it’s finally starting to feel like a real homecoming!”
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