I swallow the words I'm told, chew them over, and masticate them.
It took only a few seconds for it to go down my throat, enter my stomach, become flesh and blood, and travel to my brain. I closed my eyes, slowly pondering its meaning.
"You're less upset than I thought. I thought you'd be whining and crying a lot more."
Perhaps because Subaru's reaction was unexpectedly quiet, Beatrice muttered this in a surprising tone.
In response to her words, Subaru nodded slightly and said, "Yeah," then,
"I can think of three possibilities."
As he spoke, he held up three fingers and pointed them at Beatrice, who was standing in front of him.
As if to show off to the silent girl, he first broke one of her fingers.
"First, black jokes, bad jokes. To be honest, they're not funny… but I'd be happy to laugh if a placard saying the prank was a huge success came out. Now's the time to do that, you know?"
Beatrice made this request with one eye closed, but her expression didn't change.
Accepting that the mildest possibility had been dashed, Subaru sighed and broke his second finger.
"Second, the wounds were too severe. I actually saw the contents of his stomach spill out. Even if you say it's just the life-prolonging treatment that's working, I don't really get it... but I can understand it."
"There's no way there was anything wrong with Nicha and Betty's treatment. There will be scars, and even if the wound hasn't healed completely yet, I think it will return to normal over time. I won't let someone die needlessly when I can get to the scene in time."
"That's right. It's been proven that he was able to save someone even when the contents of his stomach were exposed... but that was only three or four days ago, right?"
It's hard to tell due to the repetitive nature of the day, but in the correct timeline, the incident where Subaru was injured by Elsa's sword should have happened four days ago.
--Four days later, he was once again in a situation where his stomach felt like it had been ripped open. It might be quite rare to find someone who could have their intestines ripped out in such a short period of time.
"I'm not happy about it at all... anyway, that's how it is."
Waving his remaining third finger back and forth, Subaru brought up the last possibility he could think of.
"There's only one possible cause of death that I can think of."
As the days of repetition at the Roswaal Manor passed, there were many possibilities that could have led to Subaru's death. Among them, the only one that could match the current situation was:
"Revenge for the curse?"
"It seems they were planted there when we were attacked by the Ulgarm pack."
Beatrice replied with her arms crossed, confirming Subaru's guess.
White scars remained on various parts of his body - marks from the fangs and claws of multiple Ulgarms - and after examining them with disgust, Subaru,
"Just to be sure, can you remove the curse or something? You're not trying to act all high and mighty, are you?"
If I make a mistake, there is a danger that she might say something like, "I didn't do it because I wasn't asked to," so I try to point out this concern.
However, she shook her head at Subaru's question, which was laced with wishful thinking,
"If it's something that can break the curse, then maybe I've done you a favour you can never repay."
"Hey, give me a break. It's already piled up so much that it's going to be difficult to pay it back."
I've always received things and never been able to give anything back. Not last time, not the time before, and not this time either.
Beatrice gave Subaru a questioning look as he reminisced, but Subaru evaded the question with a gesture,
"May I ask why there's a curse that can't be broken?"
"...It's okay to know how you'll die. It's a simple matter, isn't it? But there are so many curses that have been placed on us, and it's all too complicated."
"The curses are piling up...?"
As Subaru tilted his head, unable to come up with an image, Beatrice spread her hands out wide.
And then, as Subaru blinked,
"I guess the curse is the thread."
As she spoke, a red thread suddenly appeared between her palms. Gesturing to the taut thread, Beatrice tied a knot in it.
"Let's say this knot is the formula for a curse. To break the curse, simply put, would be to untie this knot. However..."
Beatrice's fingers moved deftly, and the number of threads crossing her palm increased. Blue, yellow, green, pink, black, and white threads increased one after another. She similarly tied knots in them, and then intricately entangled each thread――,
"If it was just one curse, we could unravel it by unraveling the threads. But when multiple threads get tangled up like this..."
Beatrice holds out her hand, gesturing for Subaru to take the tangled threads. The thread is placed around his outstretched hand, and as Subaru looks at the complex and mysterious pattern,
Subaru: "No matter how much I pull or pull, there's no way to untie it… Ah, damn, this is certainly difficult."
I want to untie them one by one, but I don't know where to start.
Of course, I think it's possible to unravel this given the time.
"You set the condition that it must be within half a day. What is your expectation?"
"That's simply because Urgarm will get hungry after half a day."
Beatrice raised her finger, pointed it at Subaru and continued.
"The most prominent feature of Urgarm's curse is that it steals mana from targets at a distance. And magical beasts mainly eat mana... so it should be easy to imagine why he would cast a curse."
"They attack humans because they're hungry, huh? I see, that's just how wild animals are. It's simple. I guess we should be thankful that they haven't been hungry yet."
He wanted to vent his frustration somewhere, but unfortunately his hands were filled with thread. Subaru was struggling to untie the knots, directing his inexpressible emotions towards the tight knots. Beatrice looked at him with a puzzled expression,
"Aren't you scared?"
"teeth?"
"What Betty said is a prognosis for you. And even though Betty and Nicha have the means to help you, they won't do it because they don't have the time."
Subaru only had about half a day left - depending on how hungry the beast was, it wouldn't be strange if it was activated at this very moment.
And the curse that was eating away at Subaru's body must not be so simple that it could be attempted with such little time and produce results.
That's why Beatrice won't challenge him to a bet, and the same goes for Puck.
While I agree with the rationality of their decision, I cannot understand her intention in going out of her way to say it out loud.
Beatrice looked straight at Subaru. As she played with the thread in her hand, Subaru suddenly felt like he understood what she wanted.
"What is it, you -- do you want me to blame you?"
"――――"
Beatrice was silent. Normally she would have spoken out quickly, but her choice of silence left me unable to guess what was going on inside her mind.
She didn't deny it, but she didn't confirm it either. Subaru gave a wry smile at her attitude,
"You and Puck's decisions seem cold-hearted from a humane point of view, but from a rational point of view, it's the natural decision. Doing your best against someone who you know is going to die -- it may make a beautiful story, but it's only superficial."
I devote all my energy to a life that I know I can't reach.
This may be a beautiful way of dealing with life. However, from a realistic perspective, we cannot deny the fact that it is a futile effort. Of course, it is precisely because of the emotional involvement that people are driven to do such things.
"I don't think you guys are cold-hearted. You guys are right. —There's something else I want to ask you, so can I ask it?"
"...I wonder."
"Emilia-tan, do you know about the curse that was placed on me?"
Even now, the girl was sleeping in the same room as Subaru, exhausted from nursing him.
The only thing that worried me was how she was dealing with the situation that Puck and Beatrice had given up on.
Beatrice shook her head in response to Subaru's question,
"That girl of the miscellany doesn't know. The reason why Nicha doesn't touch your curse is so that the girl doesn't find out about it."
"...Ah, I see. Puck can't leave Emilia-tan even while I'm removing the curse, so it seems inevitable that he'll realize that I'm cursed, and that the means to remove the curse is far away."
If he had remained silent until the curse was activated, the psychological damage he would inflict on her would only be done once. It was an understandable way of thinking if Puck had prioritized Emilia above all else and judged that tragedy was unavoidable.
Subaru read Puck's intentions, and, contrary to his appearance,
"So."
Subaru pointed his finger at Beatrice, indicating that he was about to finish the conversation. Seeing her frown slightly at his gesture,
"I see you as someone who isn't so mean as to come all the way to declare you dead, right?"
"...I wonder what you know about Betty."
"At the very least, it feels like we've been friends for four times as long as you think."
As he watched the girl's brow furrow and doubt deepen, Subaru thought back to the two weeks that had flown by so quickly.
His relationship with Ram and Rem has been good since the first episode. His relationship with Emilia is also good, except for the extent to which her crying on his lap affects his rating. He discovered the true identity of the sorcerer who had been tormenting Subaru, and was able to save the lives of the children in the village.
Looking back at this repeated loop, this time the score is close to perfect.
What if Subaru's own life, the all-important one, was taken into account?
"When those dogs ate my whole body, I honestly thought I was going to die. How pathetic."
Subaru had succumbed to the sensation of his life slipping away, a sensation he had experienced countless times.
I've gotten so used to death. I've gotten used to giving up. I've come this far, I've done this much.
Above all,
"You, Rem, and Emilia treated his wounds, right? If you were planning to abandon him because of a curse or something, you wouldn't have treated him so properly."
It was an insult to the girls who had desperately held on to Subaru, who had selfishly given up his life.
Including the kitten that had used its short limbs to patch up Subaru's body with thread.
"You guys are so bad at lying."
"...It's true that the chances of her being saved are slim. And Nicha is trying to keep that girl from being involved in that method."
"And then you act like the bad guy and take the brunt of my anger? That little girl is being too thoughtful. Tell me, what an infinitesimal possibility."
He makes a small circle with his thumb and index finger and shows it to Beatrice, inviting her to answer.
After a moment of hesitation, she sighed in resignation,
"Since it was Ulgarm who put the curse on you, the curse must be something that will steal all of your mana."
Subaru understands that, and has experienced its power firsthand.
Therefore, the moment the cursed Ulgarm tried to start eating, Subaru's fate was sealed. After all, there was no way to prevent the curse once it had been activated――
"Wait. So how did you break the curse on those brats?"
The children they found deep in the forest were emaciated. Their condition must have been similar to the curse Subaru had received. At the time, they hadn't thought that far ahead, but
"If the curse had been activated and the children's mana had been sucked out, the normal pattern would have been for it to be sucked out until it was completely empty. And yet, those children are safe―― that wasn't a lie to make things easier for me, was it?"
If that was the case, it seemed unlikely that even Subaru would be able to tolerate such a thing.
However, Beatrice stopped Subaru's hasty decision by extending her palm,
"You're jumping the gun. I need to hear the whole story. But I think we're getting close to the crux of the matter. — I was able to lift the curse on the village children. And that method coincides with the slight possibility that it might save your life."
"What's the difference between me and those brats...?"
Beatrice's explanation sent Subaru's thoughts racing.
The difference between Subaru's curse and the children's. They each had one curse, but Subaru had multiple. An activated curse. An unactivated curse. A curse that steals mana. Weakness caused by the loss of mana. Stolen mana. Stolen mana is food for the magical beasts. --If that's the case,
A possibility suddenly occurred to Subaru, and he raised his head and turned to face Beatrice,
"If the caster dies, what happens to the stolen mana?"
Beatrice's expression didn't change when asked, she simply nodded once,
"If the curse loses its effectiveness if it has nowhere to go, it loses its effectiveness. And that's because this spell is a curse whose purpose is not to kill the target, but to steal their mana."
Beatrice's affirmation convinced Subaru in his mind.
The children's curse - its progression stopped when the demonic beast that had cast the curse died. And once the curser dies, all that remains in the children's bodies is a simple spell, which Puck and Beatrice can easily remove.
There must have been a great number of magical beasts killed in that forest last night.
Starting with the one Subaru had taken down during their first encounter, Rem had taken down quite a few during their escape.
If there was a magical beast among them that had placed a curse on the children, there was currently no evidence to deny this speculation.
And at the same time, that certainty wasーー,
"Ah, I see, that's what it means."
After acknowledging that his reasoning was solid, Subaru realized something.
The meaning behind why Beatrice was still standing before Subaru in what could be interpreted as a pathetic posture.
Since it is impossible to break the curse through normal means, the only way to break it on Subaru is to kill the curser.
However,
"There are so many people who have placed curses on my body, I can't narrow it down."
Subaru turns around and looks towards the forest where the magical beasts live.
A barrier was put up around the village and the forest, isolating it from the outside world. Deep in the forest, a swarm of magical beasts, likely scattered, lay.
It's impossible to find them and eliminate them within half a day.
"Ugh, shit..."
Feeling like he was about to burst out laughing, Subaru put his hand to his forehead and looked down.
I was finally able to accept it. I was faced with a reality that I could no longer turn my eyes away from.
Subaru's life cannot be saved unless all the Urgarm are killed.
The difficulty of accomplishing it within half a day. And above all, the danger of stepping into that forest and coming face to face with a horde of magic beasts - these were the reasons that made Puck hesitate, the reasons that made him refuse to tell Emilia the truth.
"Niicha is..."
Subaru: "I know that even without you saying it. If Emilia-tan finds out, knowing her, she'll probably push herself too hard. That would make me really happy, but… it's really frightening."
She is the type who will not hesitate to take losses for the sake of others, so even though Subaru sees the potential to do so, he cannot ask her to do so.
If, by any chance, he were to lose her right in front of his eyes, Subaru would surely experience pain so great it would be unbearable even if his body was torn a hundred times.
「The difficulty level is seriously insane. There's no way I can do it. I'll give up――」
"So, you're giving up?"
As Subaru was about to speak, that voice came back to his mind.
The voice was far away, lost in the noise, and it was a thin voice that seemed to resonate deep in the depths of the unconscious.
I raised my head and looked around.
There was no one else here except for Subaru and Beatrice. And yet, the voice that had just come was――,
"There are other ways to help."
A pleading voice, but somehow, there was a tragic determination in that voice.
"Maybe your head hurts? That's understandable."
"That's it. The rest is up to you to do as you like."
The voice of Beatrice in front of me overlapped with different words from the same Beatrice.
I don't know where, but I have a flashback to a conversation I'm sure I heard somewhere.
With the lights flashing before his eyes, alarm bells ringing out and a headache in his hands, Subaru nearly collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily.
『--- I will definitely help you.』
The voice of determination and resolve resonated, and I regained my surrendered knees.
The voice that spoke to him sounded familiar to Subaru.
And then I realized I had to ask.
"--Where is Rem?"
That morning, Subaru had not yet seen the blue-haired girl even once.
They should have returned from the forest together. After all, it was she who brought back Subaru and the children, who were completely injured. Puck had also made that clear.
However, this only covers what is available at the time of return.
Is his injury so severe that he's probably still resting somewhere?
--I don't know if it was the effect of turning into a demon or what, but I heard there were no visible injuries.
So, are you going around the village with Ram and taking care of the villagers?
--If Rem were allowed into the kitchen, she wouldn't be able to make Ram's speciality dish, steamed sweet potatoes.
So where is she now, without a scratch and unable to enter the kitchen?
"Beako... Beatrice, where is Rem?"
In response to Subaru's hesitant question, Beatrice stroked a strand of her curls,
"What would you do if you were in the same position?"
"That's not an answer!"
Subaru stepped forward to attack her, hearing her pompous words, but perhaps due to the sudden movement of his body, his blood-starved body tilted to one side and prevented him from moving forward.
Subaru staggers and falls on the spot.
He knew it was just Beatrice taking out her anger on him, and he understood that she was doing this in order to receive it.
Even though I understood his consideration, I couldn't help but feel infuriated by my own shallowness in relying so easily on his kindness.
There,
"--Ah, you two are here. Sorry, but do you know Rem?"
Perhaps hearing the angry shouts just now, a pink-haired girl appeared from a corner of the square. She looked at the two people facing each other curiously, then tilted her head as if to recall the question just now.
Beatrice maintained her familiar expression of indifference in response to her gestures.
But Subaru couldn't pull such a trick. Unable to bear the sight of his sister, who looked exactly like the girl in his mind, he quickly looked away.
Subaru's obvious reaction and the location where the two of them were having a conversation.
As if she had noticed some kind of sign, Ram's expression suddenly clouded over and she said, "No way."
"-Clairvoyance, eyes opened."
Ram muttered as she inserted her hand into her hair and covered one of her eyes.
Immediately afterwards, Subaru let out a groan in shock as he witnessed the transformation that had taken place in her.
With her left eye covered and her right eye wide open, her veins were clearly visible. The sight of blue-green veins against a white surface was grotesque, and the fact that Ram's right eye was more like a pool of blood than bloodshot only made it even more horrifying.
Ram, who had undergone such a transformation, ignored Subaru's amazement and her lips trembled,
"--I can't see it. That can't be, Rem, you're on the other side of the barrier!?"
Ram turned around with bloodshot eyes and headed towards the forest where the barrier had been re-established.
Subaru instinctively put his hand on her shoulder,
"Wait, do you know where it is?"
Subaru: "As long as we enter the barrier… don't stop me, Barusu!"
Ram furiously tried to shake off Subaru's hand on her shoulder. However, Subaru was also desperately trying not to be pulled away. He turned around while restraining her movements,
"Beatrice!"
"---I presented the possibility, that's all. Not only would I not want to put the daughter of a miscellaneous being in danger, but Betty, who is now so far away from the Forbidden Library, is also out of the running. Even if you went yourself, it wouldn't be of any use. Our options were limited."
"That's not what I meant... Then it's Rem after all."
--He went alone into the forest where the magical beasts lived, intending to wipe out the swarm.
In this situation, if you were to name someone who could be counted on as a fighting force, it may have been the right decision. In fact, Rem's power overwhelmed the monsters in the forest at night.
However,
"How many of them can use magic? And in the first place, how can I be sure that I've been able to break the curse? It's not like I can just blindly kill them one by one!"
"What do you mean? I thought Barusu's curse had been lifted..."
Subaru's bloodshot scream made Ram's eyes cloud over as well. Then she turned to Beatrice and ran over to her side.
"What is this, Lady Beatrice? What are you doing, Rem――?"
"I entered the forest to exterminate the swarm of Ulgarm, the curse caster, in order to break the intricately entangled curse of the magical beasts. I think this may be a way to save both you and your sister. However, your eyes are extremely small."
Ram was momentarily lost for words at Beatrice's succinct words.
However, his expression quickly changed from grief to determination, and he began to run after his sister, ready to dash off into the forest without hesitation.
"--Wait!"
Subaru leapt forward in front of her with his arms outstretched, blocking Ram's path. The pink-haired girl gave him a sharp look, noticing Subaru's attitude.
Subaru: "Get out of the way, Barusu. Ram is in a tight spot right now, so I can't be gentle with her."
"I'm not saying you shouldn't go without thinking things through! I have a few questions for you, so answer them honestly."
"The time to do something like that is..."
"If you want to save Rem, and if you even think of me as a friend, then listen to me. I want to increase the possibility, even if just a little."
Ram's stubborn attitude wavered slightly upon hearing that this was a way to help her younger sister, Rem, who was likely in a difficult situation at the moment.
Subaru, seeing her advances slow down, reiterated,
"I only have two questions. First, with your power of clairvoyance, will you be able to find Rem's location in the forest?"
"…Yes, I understand. Ram's clairvoyance is an eye that shares the field of vision with 'beings who are on the same wavelength as Ram' within its range, so if she moves through the scenes she can see in order, she will definitely reach them."
"Rather than eyes that see through, they are eyes that see from multiple perspectives. I'm not really sure what it's like, but if it means I can meet up with Rem, then that's great."
Nodding that the first condition was met, Subaru then raised a second finger,
「Then, the second question. Ram, are you the type of maid who can fight?」
"What do you mean by that question?"
Ram narrowed her eyes as she asked, and Subaru prefaced her question with a "Well, yeah,"
"Until we meet up with Rem, there's no telling where we might clash with a demonic beast. There's no point in talking to us if we can't defend ourselves. I'm telling you, if we get into a fight, I'll be a huge hindrance."
"Wait a moment. In the first place, is Barusu planning on coming with us?"
Subaru confidently spoke of his lack of ability, and Ram spoke in an unusually flustered tone.
"I know you're upset, but it's a necessary condition, you know? Honestly, if the only goal was to bring Rem back alive, then I wouldn't be necessary…"
The second half of the line trails off, and Ram, who appears not to have heard it, has a suspicious look on her face.
Seeing that expression, Subaru hurriedly waved his hands,
「Well, now that it's come to this, we want everyone to get through the fifth day. If we can do that, then it will be worth challenging so many times. So please, I have one request for you.」
Subaru bowed with his hands together, and Ram's lips trembled, as if unsure of what to say.
But in the end, he sighed, still containing all of that.
"---If you expect me to be able to fight on the same level as the demonized Rem, that's impossible."
"What do you mean?"
"Unlike Rem, Ram is a Hornless being, so she can't become a complete demon. Unlike Rem, she's not good at hand-to-hand combat, and she can only use wind magic a little more aggressively."
Ram replied, waving her fingers lightly, causing a strong wind to ruffle Subaru's hair.
If the current spell that interfered with nature became more vicious, it would surely have the same power as the one that dug into Subaru's right leg and neck.
However, if you count them as an allied fighting force, they are extremely reliable.
「Beatrice! I'm going into the forest with Ram now. If Emilia-tan wakes up before we return, please come up with an appropriate solution.」
"...Bringing back the blue-haired girl means giving up your own life. Do you understand that?"
"That's a bit wrong, I'll correct it."
Beatrice asked him in a low voice if he was ready, to which Subaru shook his finger from side to side, "Tsk tsk tsk."
"Getting used to death and having a habit of giving up is pointless. Life is precious, we only have one. I learned that because you guys tried so hard to hold on to it. So, I'm going to struggle like a fool."
They had once saved my life, which I had selfishly given up.
So the fact that Subaru can still pulsate with life is thanks to the help and encouragement of so many people.
Because this was the extra time that had been given to us,
"Let's make a comeback. They've managed to bounce back from such a terrible situation. Being greedy, I can't wait to see the sequel, including me."
A ridiculous and illogical explanation.
Beatrice's reply was not even remotely in keeping with what she had intended, but Subaru puffed out his chest with the utmost smugness.
"I don't know what you're thinking. But you can do whatever you want. I've presented you with options. It's up to you to decide what you want to choose from them."
"And that's how I sent Rem off. Well, I'm grateful, Bearko."
I look back at the forest and think of the girl who must still be fighting in that deep darkness.
--That nosy person who jumps to conclusions. He always assumes what other people are thinking, jumps to premature conclusions, and does whatever he wants. What a joke.
"As much as you want to do something for me, I want to do something for you."
He cracked his fist to further his resolve and declared towards the forest of magical beasts.
Towards the herd of black beasts that dwell within, and towards the supernatural being that had dragged Subaru to this fate - a declaration of war that he had made long ago, and had almost forgotten.
"Now, let's have our final big challenge. --Fate, you're welcome!"
Stage 2: "Roswaal Mansion" The fourth day, the fifth challenge begins.