4
“Buddy, you gotta work on those wrinkles.”
“…”
Right in front of him, Flop started massaging his own brow, emphasizing his point.
Subaru instinctively raised his hands to his neck, feeling for the warmth of life spilling out of him. The feeling of blood escaping with each heartbeat. The terrifying pulse of his life escaping and his death approaching.
“In which case, get rid of those wrinkles… What is it, buddy? You’re deathly pale.”
Seeing Subaru silent, Flop seemed shocked and concerned.
That earnest look made Subaru remember the moment his throat had been slit moments ago.
Right, my throat was cut.
He remembered it clearly—blood spurting out, the primal desperation and wanting to escape, and then…nothing. Now he was back here, standing with Flop, his instincts eerily silent again.
I died. I died and came back. But this time, there’s a clearer sense of an enemy.
“…Bhwah…”
Still clutching his neck, Subaru let out a ragged breath, the sensation of survival washing over him like a wave.
“Are you all right?” Flop asked, his voice filled with concern as he touched Subaru’s shoulder.
Subaru couldn’t answer immediately. His thoughts were a chaotic swirl of confusion and fear.
“F-Flop, t-today is a bad day according to feng shui! Let’s go back for the day…!” Subaru stammered, his panic spilling out.
“‘Feng shui’? Well, judging by how you look, maybe you should rest…,” Flop said, his tone skeptical but still good-natured.
“No, resting won’t work! It’s…it’s a spasm that only holding Rem’s hand can cure!” Subaru blurted out, grasping for any excuse to retreat.
“R-really? That sounds…troublesome!” Flop replied, his expression caught between genuine concern and disbelief.
Despite the nonsensical explanation, Flop didn’t press further. Subaru grabbed his arm and urged him to move. He didn’t care if they went forward or back; all he wanted was to escape the danger.
They quickly navigated a side street, emerging onto a busier main road. The relative safety of a crowd was preferable to the isolation of an alley.
“Buddy! Your hand is freezing! We should hurry up and get to your wife!” Flop said, trying to keep things light.
“Yeah, I want to see her, too…but…no.”
Even if it means getting an earful about coming back without doing what I left to do, I need to get back…
“…No.”
Was it really right to go back? If he returned to the inn now, still clueless about who or what was after him, he might just lead the danger straight to Rem. That thought was unbearable.
Just stumbling on back to the inn in this situation when he didn’t even know who was out to get him? Would that not just be inviting the enemy back to their base, back to Rem?
Cursing his lack of foresight, Subaru bit his lip right as they emerged from the alley. He and Flop had reached the main street of the city. The number of people passing on either side were fewer than in a major city, but it was at least better than the sort of back alley with a hole-in-the-wall bar where they had been headed.
Nonetheless, it still took courage to go out into a crowd. Subaru needed to decide his next course of action.
“From here, the inn should be that way. So, we should go—”
“No, Flop! We can’t go back to the inn. Going to Rem is out of the question!”
“Didn’t you just say that’s where we should go?!” Flop asked, baffled.
Subaru’s erratic behavior was becoming harder to explain. He couldn’t keep dragging Flop along without an explanation.
But what do I say to get him to understand?
“Damn it…!” Subaru muttered, his nerves fraying as he scanned the street. He was far away from Rem and being attacked in a town he did not know. The only person with him was the good-natured Flop, but he could not be counted on in a fight. And Subaru himself did not have any strength he could wield, either.
He did not know who was after him or whom to be wary of.
“Buddy? Are you all right? What’s bothering you? If there’s anything I can help with, try talking it over,” Flop offered, placing a reassuring hand on Subaru’s shoulder.
“Flop…”
The merchant’s earnestness struck a chord. Subaru hesitated, wondering if he should gamble on Flop’s kindness. Maybe he would understand and offer his help once more.
“Sorry for being so pathetic and relying on you so much, but…would you mind hearing me out?”
“Of course! Even if I can’t help, maybe my sister can. We cover for each other’s weaknesses.”
Subaru felt a flicker of hope. If the situation called for strength, Medium was undoubtedly the best option.
Subaru started to explain the situation. He didn’t mention the Return by Death part, of course, but said that someone was hunting him.
“The truth is, someone’s been following me—”
“…What’s that?”
“Huh?”
Making up his mind, and careful to avoid triggering the penalty for talking about his ability, he tried to explain the situation to Flop. But before Subaru could finish, Flop’s gaze shifted down the street. Subaru followed his line of sight and froze.
Screams erupted as a massive shadow barreled toward them—a large, out-of-control vehicle was hurtling down the road, heading straight for Subaru and Flop.
“Wh—?!”
“Buddy, watch—!” Flop shouted, but it was too late.
Something slammed into Subaru with brutal force, sending him flying. His body bounced off the hard ground before crashing into a wall.
The collision left Subaru dazed, but before he could recover, a second impact struck him. He was launched through the air again, tumbling and rolling across the ground.
“…Aakh…”
Somersaulting, Subaru came to a stop, his body broken and battered. His vision blurred, darkness creeping in at the edges.
It wasn’t as if the sky had suddenly darkened with clouds. What obscured Subaru’s vision was something far more visceral, far more immediate. He didn’t know the exact cause, and instinct told him there was no point in trying to figure it out.
But what he could say was…
“D-d…”
Dying. Every cell in his body screamed the truth.
Subaru Natsuki, having experienced more than forty deaths, had developed a keen sense of where the threshold lay between life and death. This time, his body was far beyond that line.
An overwhelming, all-encompassing pain radiated through him.
It wasn’t isolated to one specific part of his body; it was everywhere, all at once. Every fiber of his being screamed in agony, his entire existence reduced to raw, searing torment.
He was in pain, so of course it hurt. Everything hurt. The pain refused to go away.
Somewhere in the distance, a sound reached him—a whistle, like that of a steam engine. It echoed faintly, reverberating in the chaos of his mind.
What he could faintly hear was the shouts of joy and sorrow—No, not joy. It’s pandemonium. Pandemonium. What a joke. What is that, even?
In contrast to the sound of it, what actually happened was heavy, unyielding.
“—ande…oni…m…”
He tried to speak, but his lips wouldn’t form the words. They were in tatters. His teeth were missing, and his mouth gaped, making an unintended way for air to escape.
His body was torn open. Blood mixed with air, pain with sound. It was impossible to separate one sensation from another.
Something…something had…something had…
“…ats…”
Something had killed Subaru Natsuki.
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