2
—Breakfast was all about explaining Echidna and Anastasia’s situation.
While watching the others’ surprised reactions, Subaru pretended it was his first time hearing it while feeling a bit intrigued at how things developed when there was no discussion about his memories being lost.
Even though he’d experienced this morning for the fourth time, he still didn’t have a solid grasp on the unique characteristics of his ability. He had constantly been buffeted by everything going on around him, and this was the first time he could experience a new start after having finally reobtaining a modicum of calm.
Most likely, my return by death is the same as the standard time leap setting where the events in the world flow the same every time other than whatever I happen to influence.
It made sense that unlike the other times where his memory loss had been a topic, this time the focus was entirely on Echidna.
What he learned from that was that a dramatic difference would require him to act. Fate wasn’t going to change unless he took a proactive approach.
So…
“I’d like to talk to you about last night. Face-to-face, just the two of us.”
“ ”
When Subaru said that, Julius’s reaction was bigger than expected.
With the breakfast discussion over, everyone was left to their own devices for a short break before taking on the next floor when Subaru called Julius out.
Julius’s yellow eyes were filled with a swirl of heavy emotions when he heard Subaru, which made Subaru all the more confident in his deduction.
“Come on, let’s go somewhere else.”
“…Understood.”
Nodding at Subaru’s invitation, Julius looked resolute as he followed. The two of them left the base camp and picked another room on the fourth floor for their secret discussion.
Anywhere works, as long as no one gets in the way. A place for a duel.
“Let’s talk about last night.”
The room was not very large, and Subaru was facing off against Julius with just a few feet between them.
He was a little bit nervous, but he didn’t want to let on to that. At present, he had more advantages on his side, but that was something that could get flipped easily depending on how things developed.
And more than anything, the crux of what he’d called Julius out on, what happened last night, was something Subaru couldn’t remember.
—But most likely, something happened between us in the archive last night. And that something is what led to my memories being stolen.
That was why he looked so tense when he saw me this morning.
“About last night, huh… I thought we already finished our conversation at the time. Did you have more?”
“…Yeah, I did. I’m not satisfied one little bit with it.”
Subaru aligned his story with Julius’s, who had averted his eyes while answering.
Julius’s voice was monotone, careful not to be more emotional than necessary. But that wasn’t going to work for Subaru. He needed him to get emotional. So in order to provoke that, he latched on hard.
Julius quietly sighed at Subaru’s tenacious grip.
“Satisfaction, eh? I see. That complaint is certainly like you. My feelings are secondary so that you may resolve your own problem as soon as possible? Is that not just a little bit too selfish?”
“That’s not what I want to talk about. Yeah, I’m not satisfied, but you sure as hell don’t look okay, either. If the both of us are both holding onto something pissing us off, you expect me to just pretend there’s nothing going on? Screw that!”
“What other choice is there?”
Responding tit for tat, hiding that he had no receipts to back up what he was saying, Subaru continued to aggressively push Julius, and his emotions were gradually starting to show.
Subaru wanted to know what choice there was, too.
What did we argue about last night, and what came of it? And if there was a choice not to do that, what would that have led to?
“My feelings are the same as I stated last night, and I have nothing further to say. Because I wasn’t even able to notice your secret dealings with Lady Anastasia…with Echidna.”
“My…secret with Echidna…”
That revelation came out of nowhere. This time it was Subaru who was caught off-guard.
It was a strange story. To the best of his knowledge, he was a member of the group centered around Emilia, while Julius and Echidna—or rather Anastasia, the rightful owner of the body Echidna was inhabiting—were part of a rival faction.
For Echidna to be in secret communication with Subaru of all people was…
“I understand that you didn’t do it out of malice. And I won’t say it was enough, but I spoke quite a bit with Echidna as well. She can be trusted…or rather, there is no choice but to trust her.”
“ ”
“In order to save Lady Anastasia, there is nothing to be done but to gamble on that possibility… Even if she still does not remember me after we recover her.”
Julius lowered his gaze, an awful, hoarse loneliness in his voice.
Subaru had heard the situation that Julius was dealing with. How just like Ram’s sister who was sleeping and the large number of people waiting for them to get back, he’d been hit with a curse that made him forgotten by everyone else.
Even if Echidna managed to return to Anastasia control of her body, it was likely she wouldn’t remember her own knight Julius.
“But even so, what I must do remains the same. I do not know what you want to hear from me, so allow me to make that clear now.”
“…What…?”
“I implore you…do not make me more miserable in your presence.”
Subaru couldn’t immediately respond to that frail voice.
But he could feel his heart growing terribly disordered and he fell silent. Seeing that reaction from Subaru, Julius shook his head, as if giving up.
“It seems that to continue any further would be of no value.”
Julius turned away and started to leave the room. But just before he stepped through the door, he stopped for a moment without turning back.
“I was a little scared when you brought up last night. I wondered what I should do if you were to apologize.”
“If I…apologized…?”
“I wonder what I would have said. But I suppose I will never know.”
With those self-deprecating words, Julius left the room.
Watching until his back passed out of sight, Subaru let out a long breath. Suddenly, he felt tired, like he was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders, and he broke into a sweat.
He felt like he had become a loathsome person.
“—Master, was that good?”
And taking Julius’s place, Shaula showed her face, peeking into the room. Subaru relaxed his shoulders seeing her easygoing expression.
Putting his hand on his forehead, he shook his head.
“Yeah, that’s good. From that, it looks like Julius had nothing to do with the archive… But there is still something between him and yesterday’s me.”
“Doesn’t make sense to me, but was I useful at least?”
“…Yeah, you were. Thanks to you, I can face Julius without worrying.”
“Ehehehe, that’s good then. So, so, so then Master… Master…”
Her cheeks flushed and she shuddered in joy as she walked over to him. Spreading her arms nervously…
“Could you give me a big hug as a reward?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Ehhh?! How mean! You said if it didn’t go past the level of a treat, you would be willing to do what I asked?!”
“That request is too much for my pure heart…”
Though he was ignoring her request for excessive intimacy, it was still true that she’d provided an important insurance for his meeting with Julius. He’d had her hide in the next room over, in case anything happened.
He’d thought she would be likely to help him without asking too many details, and as the first corpse he had found last time, he thought she was the least likely of the suspects.
And in actual fact, she hadn’t asked for any details and didn’t seem to be bothered at all.
Either way…
“I still don’t know who stole my memories, huh…”
It wasn’t as if he knew for sure that Julius was innocent, but now there was a clear line between him and the others. It was obvious something had happened between him and Subaru the previous night, but there was no evidence to link that to the memory loss. And more than anything, the grief in Julius’s eyes was genuine.
If that’s an act, then there’s nothing I can do.
He didn’t know what motive Subaru Natsuki had for his secret with Echidna, but at the very least Subaru had more than enough reason to be suspicious of what the past him had done that night.
“What were you doing, Subaru Natsuki, and who is after you…”
“Ah, Master! Um, if a hug won’t work, then what about if you jump into my open arms instead? I can hug you with my boing-boing body.”
“That’s too much for my pure heart, too.”
“So mean, Master!”
When it comes to questions, another good one is: Why is her affection level so damn high?
Why was she so attached to Subaru? The others in the group didn’t know, either, and they simply explained that he was just using her because it was convenient, but…was that really it?
“ ”
The secret with Echidna, the suspicious actions that night, and even just the relationships with the rest of the group—even accounting for the fact that they couldn’t talk, Subaru Natsuki was the biggest unknown of them all to Subaru.
What could he possibly have been thinking? But there was no way of getting that answer.
“Looks like I’ve hit a wall here…maybe I should go see Patlash.”
“Hm? That land dragon? It glares at me, so I don’t really like it.”
“I won’t forgive anyone badmouthing Patlash. Even if this world forgives badmouthing, I won’t ever forgive talking bad about Patlash.”
“How badly does that land dragon have you by the balls?!”
Shaula squealed at Subaru’s menacing look, but on that point alone, he wasn’t going to brook any argument.
He couldn’t forget how Patlash had risked her life in order to save him in the last run. The biggest ally he had there was without a doubt Patlash.
That was why he wanted to work out his plan going forward while resting his heart at Patlash’s side.
“Anyway, you and I are splitting up now. I’ll see you later.”
“Ugh, what about my treat? I’m not going to give in. Being a convenient woman for you is my raison d’être!”
“ ”
Shaula saluted sharply as he tried to leave the room. Hearing that, he was taken aback by her volunteering for something like that.
“…What about Subaru Natsuki is worth going that far?”
“? Master?”
“—Argh, damn it!”
Unable to contain the annoyance welling up inside him, Subaru spun around, walked over to her as she stood stock-still, and wrapped his arms tightly around her slender body.
“—Ah.”
“You don’t have to think of yourself as just some convenient woman. I was wrong.”
He was on the verge of just arbitrarily using her like a tool, just like Subaru Natsuki. Not wanting to be like that, he gave Shaula a hug.
She froze up at that, and then her pale skin, her cheeks, and her ears all grew visibly redder.
“Mas…ter…”
“You being here helped… That’s all.”
With that, Subaru let her go, deciding that was enough.
It was embarrassing, but the sense of achievement won out. He didn’t want to turn into the selfish sort of guy who would just keep relying on others. He didn’t want to become like Subaru Natsuki.
“Master…”
Looking at him, Shaula’s cheeks were red as she unsteadily moved closer to him. Her eyes were damp and there was a heat on her breath as she looked at Subaru’s lips.
“You finally fell for—”
“Too close!”
“Guh!”
Pushing her chin away, Subaru brought Shaula back to reality.
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