--The first thing that caught my attention was the sound of dripping water.
The drops of water falling at even intervals set a steady rhythm, and with each heartbeat they sent into the quiet room, little by little the sinking consciousness was brought back to awakening.
His sleeping brain started to work again, and his newly activated nerves sensed the blood pumping throughout his body. He twisted and groaned, trying to sit up but couldn't.
His limbs tried to reach the ground but they wouldn't listen, and he could only rub his face against the cold ground. At the same time, when he tried to rely on his five senses, which had just returned, he found that everything he could see was completely covered in darkness.
--Both of his eyes were gouged out?!
He quickly gives a hasty answer given his own condition, but before he can shudder at the conclusion he feels a pressure tightly binding his face and eyes, and abandons the conclusion. He quickly determines that he must be blindfolded, and belatedly realizes how abnormal his situation is.
Instead of having both his eyes gouged out, they were covered. In addition, he couldn't move for the same reason, as his hands and feet were tightly bound.
I could feel what felt like thin ropes around my wrists and ankles, and with my hands tied behind my back it was difficult to even struggle to free myself.
"Wh, what's going on...?!"
Fortunately, he wasn't gagged, so he was able to make normal sounds. But when you're literally helpless, all you can do is talk. And it's also true that the person who must have driven Subaru into this state doesn't seem friendly enough to be satisfied with just talking.
The incomprehensibility of the situation he found himself in and the fear of being unable to obtain any information about his surroundings. With these mixed feelings in his mind, Subaru held his breath and let his thoughts race.
I take stock of my current situation. Both of my eyes are blocked. My hands and feet are tied and it doesn't look like I'll be able to get them free. I can make a sound. Should I shout for help? The best I can hope for is for the person who tied me to come. Is there anything around me that might help me free myself from the restraints? I try to look around but it's difficult to crawl around. There's a pain in my right temple, a throbbing pain that starts to assert its presence as soon as I become aware of it.
"My head hurts..."
Becoming aware of the pain in his side, Subaru remembered what had happened to him just before he lost consciousness.
After "Returning by Death," he left the Tomb to go and confront Roswaal about the newly discovered facts and speculations, and when he was enraged by one unforgivable remark made by Roswaal, he attacked him, only to be beaten down by Garfiel, who had been watching over Subaru.
No, even the word "beaten down" is an insufficient description as he was overpowered by such overwhelming force. His head was crushed by a single defensive blow, and I thought he would sink to his death.
"If I die, then my state will be "Return by Death"..."
If that was the case, then Subaru's restart point should have been the tomb immediately after the Trial. Just before heading to Roswaal's bedroom, his soul should have been drawn back to the room he had left only a short hour earlier when the previous rules of Return by Death applied.
At the very least, the only time Subaru could remember being kidnapped and held captive like this was when he'd flipped the table in imitation of a TV anime, his father had gotten mad at him and thrown him into the storeroom as punishment.
Since the memories were from when he was about to enter elementary school, there was no way he could have gone that far in "Return by Death." And if there had been no change to the restart point, the conclusion would be that Subaru had been tied up like this immediately after "Return by Death," but that couldn't have been the case, so there was only one conclusion that could be reached.
"I narrowly escaped death..."
The pain that lingered in his head and the current situation were what brought his thoughts to a head.
He had been extremely violent towards Roswaal. Even taking that into account, it was morally right to treat him like this. However, his emotions didn't agree with it.
"--The best thing about it is that you were able to quickly grasp the situation you found yourself in."
And then, as if Subaru had just finished grasping at his own situation, he heard a voice come down from above. He raised his head, and even though he couldn't see, he turned in the direction he thought the voice had come from. Then, from the tone of the voice, he realized who it was,
"Garfiel, huh?"
"That's also correct. I'm relieved that your mind seems to be in good condition. I think I hit you a bit too hard, sorry."
Hearing his name being called, Garfiel apologized to Subaru, whose vision had been blocked. However, the tone of his voice did not carry the same sorrowfulness that the words conveyed, and he continued, "Could that be,"
Subaru: "I only intended to stroke him lightly, but I didn't think he'd come close to death so quickly. I'd heard he was Lady Emilia's knight, so I overestimated him, thinking he could do a bit more."
"Sorry for disappointing you. I'm not a physical type, I'm more of a brainy type of character. ...Where am I?"
He responded to Garfiel's mocking remark with a flippant remark, then got to the point. Hearing this, Garfiel let out a short sigh through his nose, and
"Don't worry, it's definitely within the 'Sanctuary'. However, it's not in the cathedral, the tomb, or any of the houses we rent out to guests."
"So they've prepared a confinement room. It's better to be safe than sorry, but to be honest, they're preparing a facility like this... it's a bit creepy."
"Complain to the person who made it that it's in bad taste. Can't you actually complain to him directly?"
Garfiel seemed dissatisfied and expressed his displeasure in earnest. Subaru grimaced, feeling something was off about his words, and,
"What do you mean, directly...?"
"You're reeking of that witch smell, so don't act all innocent. I'm sure we met in the tomb. Otherwise, why would the smell have suddenly gotten worse?"
"We met at the cemetery...?"
Something about Garfiel's words bothers me.
The graveyard. The Trial. The people he met there. There was a void. In the Trial, he parted ways with his parents, and finally went to an empty school building, and there...
"witch...!"
--He encountered Echidna, the ``Witch of Greed.''
When Subaru traced the discomfort and regained his sense of loss, Echidna's presence returned to his mind once again. The sensation was something he had felt in the previous loop as well, and now that he remembered it, it seemed odd that he had forgotten about it again.
It was probably the result of some "condition" that had been given to him during their first encounter, but he was surprised that he had not been able to overcome it even after undergoing "Return by Death."
Even though "Return by Death" allowed him to bring back his memories, it was ineffective against the kind of tactics that directly interfered with those memories. This meant that every time Subaru used "Return by Death," he had to forget about Echidna and start from the beginning, remembering everything.
"Could that be what Roswaal was talking about forgetting...?"
The thought of the witch's existence has come back to his mind, and he is aware of it, but he can't help but feel that it's a little premature to draw such a conclusion. After all, even though he remembered Echidna, he couldn't find any information in his conversation with her that could help him break through the current situation.
Judging from the way Roswaal speaks, the "something" he wants Subaru to remember must be something that will reveal even Roswaal's unreadable true intentions.
Of course, that's only if the gospel he has of the complete version is correct.
"You fell silent, that must mean you have something to feel guilty about."
"I'm not a high school girl who'll die if I don't talk all the time, so I'll just be quiet and think about one or two things. Right now, though, one or two things isn't enough."
There were so many things that Subaru had to deal with that he didn't have enough brain cells to handle it all on his own.
About Emilia. About Rem. About Beatrice. - As the list of women's names began to line up, he felt like he wanted to make a comment about the situation surrounding him, but he also thought about the "Sanctuary", Elsa, Roswaal's true intentions, the "Gospel". And,
"You mean Garfiel?"
His persuasion and cooperation are essential elements of Subaru's blueprint for saving the mansion. Subaru probably couldn't prepare a stronger force than him to defeat Elsa. He had seen with his own eyes and in his own mind that he could rely on him in the fight against Elsa.
"...I remember you either punching or kicking me and crushing my head, but what happened around there?"
"Hah. We've been talking for a while now and the subject has finally come up. It hasn't gone to the point of being crushed, it's just dented. I didn't want it to die if I left it like that, so I fixed it up a bit."
"Who will heal him?"
"Was there anyone else besides me who could have done something like that in that moment?"
There was a hint of pride in the tone of her voice, leaving Subaru speechless.
He had never imagined that Garfiel, who stood out for his rough and violent nature, had mastered healing magic. Subaru squirmed in his restraints,
"Isn't my head square and pointy, different from its original shape?"
"Next time you crush it, I'll support it with my hand so it heals like that."
Hearing the reply, which was likely accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders, Subaru was certain that his body was at least past the brink of death.
If that were to happen, the next question would be what Garfiel's intentions were behind it,
"You were the one who crushed it, so it feels a bit strange to thank you for healing me… but what are you thinking in doing this?"
"Well, what do you think he's planning?"
"Looking at the situation, from your point of view, I think punching me down on the spot was the right decision, so I won't complain. I lost my temper and ran ahead, but I'm not saying I'm not glad that you stopped me, because there are a lot of things I can't say."
"You must have very complicated feelings. I understand wanting to crush that grinning face, but it's those old ladies who will suffer if you do that."
Garfiel also seems to have the same lofty feelings towards Roswaal, but for both Subaru and him, there is not a small degree of reliance on Roswaal that would allow them to abandon him based on those feelings.
For Subaru, it was a necessity as his backing in this world, and for Garfiel and the others, it was a necessity as the caretaker of the "Sanctuary."
However, it is rather odd that the first thing Garfiel mentions when he speaks is Lewes - and by extension, the lives of the inhabitants of the Sanctuary.
At the same time, I can agree with Frederica's opinion of Garfiel from his relatives' perspective in the previous loop: in fact, he chose not to go out with his sister, and instead remained in the Sanctuary out of consideration for the feelings of the residents he would be leaving behind.
"Because Lewes and the others are important to us, Roswaal's presence is essential to protecting their way of life. Without that guy who is even said to have a 'demi-human fetish', life in the 'Sanctuary', where the residents can't even go outside, wouldn't be able to continue."
Subaru: "Don't come up with all these embarrassing fantasies with a know-it-all look on your face. Who the hell is having such sentimental reasons? I'm only here because I can't go outside…"
"Your blood relative Frederica was able to go outside, but you can't, Garf?"
Information he had just acquired in the previous loop. Subaru played this card to see what Garfiel would do. However, his reaction was far more severe than Subaru had imagined.
"--!"
The wind howled, and in the next moment there was an incredible popping sound next to Subaru's head as he was thrown overboard. The sound of air exploding echoed throughout the room, and before his brain could process that it was Garfiel who had stepped on it with lightning speed, the ground beneath him shattered and the shape of the room changed.
The earth shook as it bent, and Subaru let out a small shriek as he was blown away by the shockwave. Unable to even defend himself, he rolled across the hard ground, and before he could lose his momentum he crashed into a wall, forcing him to stop.
His brain was shaking, the impact from his back squeezed the contents of his lungs out, and the back of his head cried out in intense pain. Subaru coughed, drool spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Subaru: "Who the hell did you ask to hear something like that, you bastard. You said something unnecessary, Frederica… No, there's no way she'd say something like that. When we parted ways, we completely severed ties as siblings, after all."
"That's just a figure of speech that can actually cut off the blood in your body..."
Subaru: "I'm just saying that it feels weird to bring that up now in this situation. If you're going to use it, then use it, there are plenty of other situations where you could bring it up."
As Subaru groaned and retorted, Garfiel's sharp intuition was activated, as if he had learned something Subaru didn't know while he was looking.
Although that assumption was not far off and was in fact a spot-on guess, the thought process leading up to it was too linear.
It was as if he had an extraordinary intuition, or perhaps even a hunch.
"Could that be...you too?"
—The moment that possibility occurred to him, Subaru could no longer hide the trembling in his voice.
"――――"
Subaru's question had no subject, and all that was answered was an eerie silence.
The silence lasted only a few seconds, but to Subaru right now it felt like an eternity.
There was no reply. Why didn't he speak? Subaru's question just now lacked specificity. If he didn't know, he'd be better off just saying so clearly and getting kicked in the face. If there was such a short-sighted response, Subaru could still cling to it.
And yet,
"Me too... right?"
High-pitched footsteps. Garfiel's footsteps tapping on the cobblestone floor drew closer, and Subaru could hear him crouching down close to him. Subaru was lifting just his head above the floor, and he had probably put his face close to him, baring his sharp fangs,
"What made you think that, uh, hey?"
"Stop saying things that will give me a bad feeling. I'm saying things that don't make sense, right? Just deny it right away… is that okay?"
"Even if you say it in a crying voice like that."
Garfiel replied in a playful voice, ignoring Subaru's pleading request. Subaru was impatient with his vague answer, and inside his heart was already a mess.
Subaru wanted Garfiel, who was too perceptive, to deny it, but instead, all he got back were a number of meaningful words that confirmed the hunch in Subaru's heart.
Subaru had come across scenes in which Beatrice, Roswaal, and those he had previously considered his allies, were holding the Gospel in their hands. The arrival of a third person was no surprise to him at the time.
"But...! I thought you knew too...!"
"--Ah, I see. I wonder how it happened."
"--!?"
Shocked, Subaru's throat tightens, and in his blocked field of vision he pictures Garfiel.
The tone of his voice, his listless sigh. Everything about him was far removed from the image Subaru had known until now. However, he left behind suggestive words and continued to keep his distance.
"You seem surprised, but it's not that strange. I've been a resident of the Sanctuary for a long time, and I've been with you for a long time. I'm sure the opportunity has come more than once or twice."
"But... you hate witches, don't you? You overreacted like that..."
"Ah, that's true. I don't like "Witches", I'm suspicious of you because you smell like a witch, and I don't take kindly to the half-demon Emilia-sama either. But, I don't think that what she said is wrong. At the very least, it's true that I've learned what I wanted to know."
"What I wanted to know was..."
"--There's no reason for me to tell you that. Why don't you ask about it yourself? You may never get another chance to do so."
Garfiel spat these words out as he seemed to stand up. He then left Subaru's side and appeared to be reaching for the exit from the confinement room - the door.
The wooden gate creaks and Subaru calls out to Garfiel as he walks away. "Hey!"
「Wait a second! …Wh, what will happen to me? I mean, what is happening?」
"That bastard Roswaal almost got killed and yet you're still so soft on him. For now, you're under house arrest until we get the results."
House arrest was a word he had only heard the other day, and from Roswaal himself. It was ironic that his assault on Subaru should have resulted in him being placed in the same situation.
Subaru couldn't say a word, so Garfiel snorted and said,
"I'll have meals delivered morning and night. Don't do anything strange. I'll be sure to accompany the caretaker."
"Don't worry about that... not right now! More importantly, what about the result? You said result, right? What is the result? What are we waiting for...?"
"Call it the result, it's obvious."
Garfiel responded to Subaru's question with a mocking tone this time,
"--It's the result of Emilia-sama's Trial. When she heard what you did, she became overly enthusiastic as a way to make amends or something."
※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※
--Garfiel leaves the room, and Subaru is left alone in the confinement room, lost in a sea of thoughts.
The words Garfiel left as he left the room won't leave my mind.
It seems that Emilia is determined to take on the Trials in order to clear Subaru's name, thinking that if the Sanctuary is liberated, then her success will be enough to erase the scandals that Subaru has committed.
It was typical of Emilia, not doubting Subaru at all.
"But at that moment..."
Even though he was enraged, Subaru was at least serious when he strangled Roswaal.
With both hands, he firmly grasped the human's neck, closing the throat with his trained grip, exerting force to either break the neck or kill the victim.
My arms are tied behind my back and I can't move them free, but I can feel my fingers trembling.
If I forget the rage I felt at that moment, all that remains in my hands is the dark heat of having tried to threaten someone else's life. A feeling of nausea rises from my empty stomach.
This is especially true if the target of that murderous intent is someone close to the perpetrator.
"I don't understand anything anymore..."
I no longer know who to trust, what to think, or how to act.
What is Beatrice's position? What is the Gospel she holds in her hands? What are her days like?
What is Roswaal thinking? What is the completed Gospel he possesses? What does he want Subaru to remember? What is the true meaning behind his mysterious position?
How can he help Emilia overcome the Trials? No, was it right to send her through the Trials in the first place? He no longer knew if the answer was right, even to begin with.
What is Garfiel thinking? Does he have the Gospel in his hands? Without his cooperation, they will not be able to defeat Elsa. With their relationship getting worse every time they "Return by Death," how can they bring him back to the mansion?
What to do about Elsa's attack, repel or escape? Why was there a difference between the first and second attack on the day of the attack? Why did the murderer know an escape route that he shouldn't have known? Who is Elsa's employer? What is needed to repel the attack? I can never forgive that woman.
Other topics include the origins of the Sanctuary and its purpose; an overview of the remaining Trials and why they exist; the purpose of Echidna, who rests in the tomb, and what they must do to meet her again; and what happened to the deserted Sanctuary at the end of the previous loop.
What on earth was it that killed and devoured Subaru in his final moments?
"Nothing... I can't find an answer."
Round and round, unanswered questions keep going around in my head.
With painfully tight eyelids, people are unable to see, and as long as they are unable to perceive the world, the only place to ask questions is within themselves.
Since all that is inside of you is mystery and doubt, you are basically at a dead end.
And it wasn't just the unanswered doubts that tormented Subaru; even as he was lost in these unanswered thoughts, he felt impatient with the time passing by.
With his eyes covered it was impossible to say for sure, but from Subaru's point of view it was likely that a day had already passed since the night he strangled Roswaal.
It was dark, and I had guessed that they were being held captive in a hideaway building deep in the forest, but even taking into account the lack of any light source, it was still noticeably chilly.
Compared to the daytime temperatures up until now, it is inevitable that the temperature has dropped sharply. Rather than thinking that way, it would be more constructive to assume that it is night after sunset. If we continue by assuming that it is night, it becomes clear that at least a full day has passed.
Since being summoned to another world, Natsuki Subaru has suffered numerous injuries, lacerations and serious wounds. He has also experienced and learned how to treat these injuries with this body, bringing them to a level where they are all equal.
And in Subaru's experience, having half his head crushed or split open would be a fatal blow, so it was a miracle he'd survived without Ferris. Garfiel's skill must have been outstanding.
Basically, if the person isn't dead, most wounds can be healed depending on the skill of the healer. However, the more serious the injury, the greater the burden of treatment.
Taking into account physical fatigue and the energy used for recovery, Subaru's injuries this time were not enough for him to feel any recovery until a few hours after treatment began, in other words, the same night.
In all likelihood, a night had passed. What supports this hypothesis is that
"I'm hungry..."
This was because my empty stomach, which had been asleep for a long time and had nothing in it, was making its presence known by growling so loudly it hurt.
※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※
The passage of time, the unclear passage of time, was wearing down Subaru's mind.
It was unclear how much time had passed since then, but Subaru's restraints remained unchanged, and time continued to pass as he was left alone in the confinement room.
"――――"
Due to the large number of blank spaces, he tries to count the seconds to gauge the time, but after counting for an hour, his sense of time begins to go haywire, and he eventually gives up and gives up.
What good is it now to know the time?
"That's impossible now..."
Meals had already been brought to Subaru six times. If they were being served twice a day, morning and evening, on schedule, that meant that three days had already passed. Three days since Subaru had woken up - which meant that it had been at least five days since he had arrived at Sanctuary.
This morning, they left the Sanctuary and reached the mansion, just before the expected time of Elsa's attack. Once they passed that point, they missed the deadline.
In this case, Subaru got the button buttoned wrong from the very beginning.
He regretted not being able to resist and jumping on Roswaal. If Subaru hadn't let his emotions get the better of him, he might have been able to get more of the truth out of Roswaal, and most importantly, he wouldn't have ended up trapped like this and worsening his relationship with Garfiel.
The result of giving in to the heat of boiling emotions is the caterpillar's current state.
He is terrified that the time is approaching and he has made a fool of himself, having been unable to accomplish any of the things he was supposed to do, and unable to even look at the faces of the people he wanted to protect.
So Subaru had already given up on this "lap".
"---You've really gotten good, hey."
Because of Subaru's mistake, there was no way to stop the tragedy that was about to occur at the mansion, which meant that the survival of the four people there was now in despair.
Subaru knew about Rem, Petra, Frederica, Beatrice, and yet he left them to die. Despite loudly denouncing Roswaal for doing so.
"...Shit, I'm shit. I should just die."
He wanted to die. If the restart point hadn't changed and he could start over, Subaru could return to that night and try again. Of course, it wouldn't change the fact that he was still groping around, not knowing where to begin, but it would be far better than this humiliating disgrace. He could do it far better. He had to do it.
"Otherwise, why..."
Did he accept giving up and decide to see it through to the end while biting his lip?
Judging that it was impossible to rescue the mansion and that this "death" was unavoidable, Subaru immediately committed suicide and "Returned by Death" - but he never showed it.
Certainly, the situation was dire, and if Subaru continued to live, a meaningless and empty future would be waiting for him. He should bet on "Return by Death" to rewind the world and try to win the best possible future. However,
"If we go back without knowing anything, we'll just end up back where we were."
At the very least, what happened in the Sanctuary after Subaru left?
What would happen in Sanctuary after the sixth day had passed? That was the one thing he had to find out. For that reason, Subaru had shouted until his throat was hoarse, gritted his molars so hard they cracked, swallowed his attachment to the mansion that was still out of reach, and given up this time.
If now is the fifth day, something must happen tomorrow.
Over the past three days, the only people who had visited this confinement room were Garfiel and his caretaker. The caretaker was taciturn, and only silently followed Garfiel's instructions, so his personality is unknown. However, from the way she wiped the immobile Subaru's body and fed him, he suspected that she was a woman.
In an environment where their every move was being watched, there was no time to pry further. Therefore, the identity of the person who was thought to be Garfiel's accomplice is unknown.
However, it is a place where Emilia, eager to help Subaru, cannot find him.
It was probably a secret place for Garfiel and the others, and it would be difficult for Subaru to even send out a distress signal, let alone find it.
In the first place, since Garfiel and Roswaal had already agreed to keep Subaru under house arrest, there would be no point in him escaping.
"It would be great if Emilia could overcome the Trials to save me, but..."
If the situation were reversed, Subaru could confidently say that he would overcome the Trials for Emilia. However, he could not imagine Emilia overcoming the Trials for Subaru's sake. Subaru, who was underestimating himself too much, thought that he could not imagine that his presence would be that much of a motivation for her.
In fact, the fact that no good news has come in the past three days suggests that, just like in the previous loops, Emilia is unable to overcome her "past" no matter how hard she tries.
In other words, the situation was a dead end for the mansion, the Sanctuary, Subaru and Emilia. It was exactly what Garfiel had once told Subaru in an angry voice.
"As expected, it was me..."
--We have to do something.
Emilia, the mansion, the Sanctuary, and all the problems that arise, with these hands, with the one weapon that this body had been given, he would overcome them all.
A quiet determination. An unwillingness to give up. That's what keeps Subaru alive.
Subaru thought for a long time, and came to this conclusion over and over again. Nodding to his own heart, which he had looked into so many times it was impossible to count them on the fingers of both hands, he simply waited for time to pass.
--The situation suddenly began to change when I felt something shaking my sleeping body.
"--yeah"
Someone grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him awake, bringing Subaru back from his light sleep to reality.
I can feel drool running down my mouth. I can't use my hands so I have to wipe it with my shoulder, which puts a lot of strain on my upper body, but I'm starting to get used to it. As I wipe my wet mouth,
"Who is it?"
The reason why his voice was hoarse was because he had just woken up and had hurt his throat from screaming too much.
At this point, it's common for me to scream so hard that I end up hurting my throat, and I'm not happy about being able to get through it while mostly ignoring the pain that makes me vomit blood.
In response to Subaru's call, the person who had woken him up let out a short sigh. And then,
"Excuse me for interrupting you in the middle of a nap, but can you move, Natsuki-san?"
"Huh?"
The voice he heard was from someone so unexpected that Subaru couldn't help but let out a stupid voice.
Perhaps mistaking Subaru's surprise for sleepiness, the other person slapped him lightly across the cheek and said in a quiet voice, "That's a problem,"
"We've come to help you, risking our lives, so please put your all into it. I'm sorry for both of us if it ends like this."
As he spoke, he used a blade to cut the handcuffs and shackles that were binding Subaru. After a long time, his limbs were free. Feeling them, Subaru roughly removed the blindfold,
"Wow, your hands, feet, and even your eyes must hurt."
In my blurry, distorted vision, I could see a man making an unclear displeased expression.
There was an unexpected appearance by Otto Suen, a man whose reason for being there was a mystery.