CHAPTER 1
BAPTISM
1
At around the same time that Emilia offered up her prayer to the skies above the dry desert…
“ ”
On a windswept meadow in a distant land, a boy hugged a girl close.
The boy had black hair and an unfriendly demeanor. With his beady eyes and generally unpleasant countenance, some might have gone as far as to say he had the face of a killer.
However, right now, the boy had a tender look in his eyes, and there was the faintest trace of a smile on his lips. He looked like he was on the verge of tears, and it was all he could do to keep his vision from growing fuzzy.
That much was only natural.
How long had he waited for this moment? After all those heartache-filled days, how could he look away from the girl in front of him for even an instant?
As he carefully propped her up, their faces were close, and the girl with bright-blue hair stared right into his eyes.
She slowly blinked, her adorable face and big, round eyes showing faint signs of consciousness. She almost looked like she was half asleep, which wasn’t far from the truth.
She had only just woken from a long, long slumber. Her mind was still stirring, and it made perfect sense that she wasn’t fully aware of her surroundings yet.
“…He…ro…”
With a trembling voice, she repeated what the boy in front of her had said.
The boy—Subaru Natsuki—nodded over and over.
“Yeah, that’s right, Rem. I’m your hero. I’ll always…”
“ ”
“Rem?”
While trying to control the quivering in his own voice, Subaru strained to hear Rem’s.
Perhaps because her throat was dry, she struggled to speak. Even so, her lips kept moving, so he leaned in close, listening carefully so as not to miss a word.
That Rem was trying to say something—that she was moving like this at all—made him so happy he trembled all over.
“—m.”
“What? Take as long as you need, Rem. What are…”
He was about to continue asking her what she wanted to say but trailed off partway through as he brought his ear close to Rem’s lips. But while he was focused on making out her faint words, his head and jaw were caught in two outstretched hands.
Subaru fell backward with an awkward shout, his voice cracking.
But even that…
“…R-Rem?”
Their positions were flipped. Now Rem was straddling him.
Bewildered by the sudden change, Subaru was slow to react. Rem stared straight down at him, her blue eyes looking him up and down.
And then she spoke quietly.
“Who is Rem?”
“ ”
“And what is this random talk of heroes all of a sudden? It makes absolutely no sense! Who are you?!”
Pinning Subaru’s shoulders with her knees, Rem put her hands around Subaru’s throat. Subaru struggled to breathe as she held him down with her body weight. He flailed his legs, but Rem was a master of restraint techniques. There was no way for him to regain control.
“Ghk! Aaah, gah…”
“If you won’t speak, then I will simply wait until you do. It does not matter how long it takes. Now answer me. What is your goal? What are you after?!”
Whether it was intentional or not, though, she was using too much force, and her grip around Subaru’s neck kept him from answering.
Subaru desperately kicked his legs. He was about to be strangled to death.
This was their long-awaited reunion, even though he was the only one of them who knew it. He refused to let things end like this.
Even if she didn’t remember anything about him.
“Aaauuh!”
“Aaah?!”
Suddenly, someone leaped in and slammed into Rem from the side. That said, it would have been more accurate to say that whoever it was got tangled up and fell onto the grass along with Rem.
Freed from the weight pinning him down, Subaru rolled onto his side and started coughing. It was for an entirely different reason now that his eyes were watering as he looked over at Rem, who had fallen over.
That was when he noticed the young girl clinging to Rem.
“Uuuh! Uuuh!”
“Wh-what are you…? Please, stop! This is not the time for this…”
The moment he saw the blond girl clinging to Rem, red-faced and with teeth bared, Subaru’s mind went blank.
Before he realized it, he was rushing over to them.
“Get away from Rem, you asshole!”
“Aaah, uuuh!!!”
He knocked away the hand, which was grabbing at Rem’s hair, then immediately put the Archbishop, Louis Arneb, in a full nelson, and dragged her away from Rem.
Gluttony struggled, but flailing around with her arms and legs seemed to be all she could do to resist. While he found this incredibly suspect, Subaru continued to move the danger away from Rem.
“Auuuh! Uuh, uuuuh!”
“What’s with you…? C’mon, behave! Rem, are you all right?! Nothing happened, right?!”
“N-nothing happened. If anything, I should be asking you…”
Rem’s lovely eyebrows arched in confusion as she replied. She was still watching Subaru with suspicion as she slowly started to rise…
“…Huh?”
Her knees buckled without warning, and she fell right onto her bottom.
Subaru’s eyes shot open at the unnatural way Rem had fallen, but she didn’t notice. She was too preoccupied with checking her knees and trying to stand up again.
However…
“…Don’t tell me you can’t stand?” Subaru asked woodenly.
“N-no, of course I… This…this is…”
Rem immediately responded, still trying to get her legs to work. However, the harder she tried, the worse the situation became.
It was almost like her thoughts couldn’t reach her legs.
“Is it possible your legs got weaker because you were asleep for so long? But your arms didn’t feel any weaker.”
Subaru seemed even more panicked about Rem’s condition than she was, and his eyes spun as he watched her struggle to stand.
It was a common-enough story. Many who had long hospital stays lost a great deal of muscle mass due to a lack of exercise. It wasn’t rare to hear that it had caused weakness in the legs, or to need a few weeks of rehabilitation to be able to stand and walk again. But it seemed odd that it would only affect the lower body.
Rem had been bedridden for over a year. Any resulting weakness should have affected her whole body. This sort of imbalanced condition was most likely due to…
“…The feedback from Bis Sis fighting earlier?”
As he tried to figure out what could possibly be wrong, that thought crossed his mind.
Ram had fought hard against Lye Batenkaitos, another Archbishop of Gluttony. Because of Subaru’s weakness, Ram had been forced to use her trump card—sharing the burden of her power with her sister.
Ram had been a prodigy since childhood and would have gone on to become one of the strongest beings alive had she kept her horn. That was the level of power she had unleashed in that fight, and Rem had endured the strain of it while still unconscious.
After getting a small taste of the burden Ram carried, Subaru knew just how terrible that must have been for Rem.
What Subaru had taken on was just a fragment of the burden Ram always carried. Even that had been enough to make Subaru feel like he’d pulled several all-nighters in a row. In addition to incredible exhaustion, he’d been hit with a fever and nausea.
Meanwhile, Rem had taken on a far greater load than him, but without any way of bracing herself for it. He remembered back in the green room what Ram had said about not knowing what might happen when she shared the weight of her full power with Rem.
If that was the reason why Rem couldn’t stand up now, then…
“…It’s all my fault.”
Ram would have immediately berated him if she’d heard those words coming out of his mouth. But Subaru had failed to finish what he had started, and as a result, Ram had pushed herself to the limit. Assuming that was the cause of Rem’s current condition, he fully considered it his fault.
Now that their comrades were nowhere to be found, and with Louis hanging around in a strange state for some reason, that responsibility weighed on him even more heavily.
“Your fault…? What did you do to me?!”
“Wait, that’s not what I meant…”
“Also, I must ask again! Who are you, and who am I?!”
Rem glared at Subaru as she pounded at the legs that refused to move. Rage swirled wildly in her eyes.
Her pained demand that almost verged on a tantrum confirmed Subaru’s unpleasant hunch. A bitter taste filled his mouth.
Rem had asked who she was.
It was painful that she didn’t recognize him. But for her to not even know herself was almost too much for Subaru to bear, given how long he had wished for this reunion.
Of course, he had already suspected as much because of how she had been talking.
“…These are the same symptoms that Crusch had.”
Ever since her name and memories were stolen from her, Rem had been sleeping.
There were two more ways Gluttony’s victims could end up. Those who had their names stolen were forgotten by the people around them, like Julius. And those who had their memories stolen forgot themselves. That was what had happened to Crusch.
Rem had woken up with no memories and no idea what was happening.
The first people she’d seen were a guy with the face of a thug, and a little girl who could only make strange noises. And to top it all off, she couldn’t move her own legs. It was perfectly understandable that she would be confused.
“Uuaauh!”
Apparently exhausted from struggling, Louis had stopped fighting, and at some point managed to slip out of Subaru’s arms, which had gone loose. She landed on the ground and let out a shout. After rubbing her bottom, Louis rolled over.
Paying her no attention, Subaru slowly walked over to Rem instead.
As he approached, Rem remained on guard. The look in her eyes reminded Subaru of the first time they’d met.
Once they’d started getting along, she had stuck so close to him that it was easy to forget how shy and careful Rem was around strangers. Overcoming that initial hurdle had been surprisingly difficult.
With Ram, on the other hand, he got the same treatment from her both before and after he’d gotten to know her better, which was easier to deal with, in a sense.
Though that invited the scary thought that Subaru had simply not become friends with Ram at all.
“Well, never mind Big Sis for now… Hey there.”
“Wh-what? I should warn you, if you intend to do something to me, I… ”
“…You’re Rem.”
“Huh?”
Her face had been incredibly tense, but suddenly she looked almost dumbfounded.
Subaru came to a stop just outside her reach.
“Rem. That’s your name.”
Rem fell silent, unable to hide her confusion. But he could see her red tongue moving slightly as she repeated Rem to herself, as though she wanted to confirm the shape of the name with her mouth.
“If I’m being honest, I don’t really know exactly what happened, either. But we got separated from our friends and wound up in a place I don’t recognize. You should be able to understand that’s not ideal, right?”
“Well…”
Still confused, Rem’s eyes glanced around the meadow they were in.
A breeze blew across the grass, and the sun was high in the sky. The temperature was comfortable. There was a humidity in the air that was nothing like that of the arid Auguria dunes.
They had to be someplace completely different for the change in weather to be this stark.
“ ”
Subaru didn’t want to worry Rem when she already had her lost memory to deal with and had no idea what was happening. That was why he’d decided to conceal the myriad doubts and worries that were taking root in his mind.
It was clear Subaru, Rem, and Louis had been caught up in some sort of teleportation phenomenon.
The scenery and climate made it clear they had been sent someplace far from Auguria. If the cause of that was the shadow that had attacked the tower, then there was a chance Emilia and the others had been affected as well.
Subaru was totally exhausted, and Rem had originally been bedridden. They were undoubtedly the weakest members of their party, and they were currently safe, so he wanted to trust that Emilia and the others were also fine. However…
“It doesn’t look like there’s much hope of reuniting with our buddies anytime soon. We’ll have to make do by ourselves for the time being. So…”
“So…what? What would you have me do? I can barely move my own legs.”
“…I imagine this is gonna sound real suspicious, but all you need to do is stay right there. Seeing you breathing, talking, and looking around us is more than enough.”
“What? Do you mean I should keep an eye out for potential danger?”
“Not exactly, but that works, too.”
Rem was awake, alert, and active. Subaru couldn’t be happier.
It was a small wish, but what Subaru had wanted more than anything was for Rem to be well. That was the simple truth.
Of course, he still wanted to figure out a way to recover her memories, and also find a way to meet back up with Emilia, Beatrice, and the others. The sooner, the better. He wanted to reunite Rem and Ram.
For Ram’s sake. For the girl who cared so much about the sister she couldn’t remember.
“Could you just trust me here? Please? I’ll protect you even if it costs me my life… Well, I guess if it actually costs me my life, there’s not much point, but I’ll put my life on the line to keep you safe. Promise. So…”
“…Supposing I were willing to accept your request, what do you plan to do?”
“Right. I can’t just start rushing around without a plan, so we should settle on a course of action.”
They were sitting in the middle of a big, open meadow, but a tree line was visible in the distance. They seemed to be in a large clearing in a forest.
Frankly, venturing into a forest in unfamiliar lands was nothing but a massive risk, but…
“The number one rule when you are lost in a forest is letting people know where you are using GPS, but…”
“‘Jee Pee Ess’…?”
“I know, we don’t have that here… But I’m connected with Beako through our contract, so in a sense, I’m our GPS.”
And it was possible Rem and Ram’s connection could serve the same purpose.
If so, both could guide their friends in the right direction.
“The next priority is finding a source of water. Clean water is crucial. Then we pick the best campsite, and from there, we steadily explore our surroundings. As for edible plants and fruits… I was right to learn all that from Clind. Three cheers for Teach…”
While Subaru was learning how to parkour and use a whip, Clind had also taught him all sorts of techniques and other knowledge. Subaru had had plenty of complaints while studying under that butler who could apparently do everything, but thanks to that training, he knew what to do in this situation.
In any case…
“There’s other things we can try, but we can’t move without a plan. Understand?” Subaru smiled reassuringly.
“…To some extent. Even if I wanted to resist, my current condition won’t let me.”
“…I think you just said the quiet part out loud.”
Rem’s response was not exactly a vote of confidence. Having lost her memories, she had very little reason to trust Subaru. If she could walk on her own, there was a good chance she would’ve already booked it.
A small part of him considered it oddly fortunate that her body wasn’t currently in tip-top shape. Of course, he felt a bit guilty the moment that thought crossed his mind.
“Hopefully you’ll be able to move your legs soon.”
“Wha?! You can say whatever you’d like, that won’t change anything. Anyway, what are you going to do?”
“I told you, finding water comes first. There’s the problem of your legs, too, so I would appreciate it if you don’t fight me on this…”
Once he’d taken that one last step toward her, Subaru turned around and crouched. Rem could tell what he was trying to do.
“You plan to carry me on your back?”
“Carrying you in my arms is technically an option, but I won’t last long that way. It would be helpful for me if you’re willing to ride piggyback.”
“ ”
For a few moments, Rem stared at Subaru’s pathetic face in silence. Then, sighing, she slowly reached out for his back. Once her arms were wrapped around his chest and secure, Subaru carefully stood up. He could feel her weight—she felt terribly light.
He’d had many chances to carry her while she was sleeping over the past year, and each time, he’d realized how difficult it could be to carry someone who was unconscious.
This was different. Rem was holding on to him of her own will.
“Hmm? Did something happen?”
“No, I’m just feeling oddly moved. Now then, time to search for water.”
“Before that…what about that girl?”
“…Right.”
When Rem pointed with her chin over his shoulder, he also looked in that direction, recalling their other problem.
Louis was still rolling around and rubbing her bottom, her long, blond hair a complete mess.
What do I do with this strange Archbishop?
“ ”
Even Subaru could tell that her current state was unnatural.
She wasn’t really someone anyone would have called “normal” to begin with, but that was because of her viciousness, not this apparent mental regression to infancy.
If anything, she had been far smarter than most would have assumed based on her childlike form, and she’d been fully capable of exploiting even the finest cracks in people’s hearts.
That was before. Now…
“Aah, aauuh.”
She had licked Subaru’s face when he was waking up, and she made funny noises like a baby, and threw tantrums like one, too. Something dramatic must have happened.
However…
“Is that enough to get me to feel any sympathy?”
She was unforgivably evil. That fact was unshakable.
In the final moments of their confrontation in the corridors of memory, Louis had experienced Return by Death and suffered a terrible mental shock. It had left her terrified not just of Subaru, but of the entire world.
At that point, she’d devolved into nothing more than a pitiful girl.
But Subaru had chosen not to save her. And he’d felt no desire to save her, either.
Louis had had any number of opportunities to do things differently, but always took the most inhumane option. In the end, she’d painted herself into a corner and lost her chance to change.
Her two brothers were no different.
Louis Arneb had committed an unforgivable sin, fallen into the depths of hell, and ultimately, transformed into a simple beast.
Why should I have to save someone like that?
“Are you not going to help her?”
“…It’s complicated. She wound up here with us, but she isn’t one of our friends. If anything, she’s the exact opposite. I’m not against just leaving her behind.”
“ ”
He noticed Rem’s breath catching in her throat as he passed judgment on Louis. But it didn’t change his answer.
“Honestly, we should leave her behind… It’s not just that she would hold us back—she’s a bomb. I can’t go around carrying something like that.”
It had been an error in judgment from the moment he’d grabbed Louis while the shadow was closing in. Maybe he and Rem wouldn’t have been sent so far away if he hadn’t picked her up.
Keeping her around is all risk and no reward.
“Is that your final answer?”
“Yeah, you heard me right. I’m not going to say I won’t lose any sleep over it, but…”
Rem was his top priority. Subaru’s own well-being came next. He couldn’t lose sight of what was truly important. That was why he ignored Louis lying next to him, and headed off in the opposite direction, toward the forest—
“It seems I was right to trust my instincts, hollow as I currently am.”
The voice that spoke was awfully cold and harsh.
Subaru gasped when Rem whispered these words in his ear. But he couldn’t formulate any other response because her slender arms were pressing on his neck.
Rem was strangling Subaru from behind.
“Gah…!”
“You tried to get me to lower my guard with pretty words, and then you abandoned that girl. How can I trust someone like that? Don’t take me for a fool.”
Unlike her legs, the arms crushing his neck had the full strength of an oni.
Unable to peel them away, Subaru fell backward, struggling to breathe. But even with Subaru lying on top of her, Rem’s grip didn’t loosen. She was thoroughly choking him out.
He thrashed about with his legs and tried to roll over, but Rem was too strong. As the seconds ticked by, Subaru’s own strength flagged.
“Ga…aaa…gh.”
As he lost the ability to struggle, the question of why Rem had turned on him filled his head. And as that question mark filled his oxygen-starved brain, Rem quietly exhaled with a mix of distrust and loathing:
“It was obvious you were up to no good, with such a wicked stench coming off you.”
That was when Subaru remembered.
The first time they’d met, Rem had suspected Subaru was a threat, and the biggest reason for that was not that he’d made an awful first impression, nor was it his naturally off-putting gaze.
No—it was the scent of the Witch.
Even without her memories, even without anything to rely on but herself, Rem could still sense it.
That was the biggest reason why Rem distrusted him.
Subaru had realized that too late…
“—Ah.”
He desperately willed his body to move, trying to explain himself, but it was pointless.
Subaru’s consciousness slowly, slowly faded into the abyss.
He screamed, not wanting to just die at Rem’s hands like this.
But his screams did not make a sound.
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