Viewing His Trials

by DestinyTheWriter

Nobody deserves to be alone. To change the fate of the world, and to forever change Natsuki Subaru's fate, everyone will see just what he has suffered. They will finally see his trials, and many will finally learn just what the true essence of their hero is. What will happen? What will change? Let's find those answers for ourselves. Spoilers for EVERYTHING ahead.

5. Director's Cut Episode 3

A/N: Spoilers for LN, Webnovel and Anime content ahead. Actually, this entire story is spoilers. If you aren't sure how far, I'd say that this spoiler warning extends up to Arc 6 of the Web Novel. This is far past the current end of the anime, for anime-only watchers. Now then, let us continue on, dear guests.

Symbol Explanation:

[[ Example ]] - Words encased in the [[ ]] symbols implies information added from the light novels or web novels that have been mixed into the anime, along with me fine-tuning some details, to make added content flow properly.

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Episode 3: The True Suffering Begins

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Nothing but darkness...a void which had no boundaries, no sense of direction, one absolutely devoid of any life, color, and sensation. Rather than darkness, it simply held a complete and utter absence of anything.

Into this darkness, a light began to form, blipping into existence among the nothingness. Yet, even as it began to glow, emitting light and sound, the void remained formless and silent. This orb was nothing but a speck in the darkness, something like a single molecule that made up this entire dimension.

The circular orb of the Host took its' full form in the void.

Yet, as soon as it appeared, its' shape began to distort and waver even further. The orb twisted and shifted, expanding outwards into a shape that spanned upwards and downwards, creating, a vaguely humanoid silhouette.

One devoid of eyes, ears, a nose, a mouth, any features that would seemed to indicate its' human-like nature besides from the shape of its' body, itself. It floated in the formless nothingness, head craned downward as it scanned its' body.

"It has been a while since I've taken this power-gathering form." The Host's voice echoed through the once-silent chamber, as it closed a fist, seemingly testing its' motor skills. "I suppose it still works well enough. Now then."

The being moved into a meditative position, crossing its' legs over one another, and resting its' hands along its' knees. There were a few moments of silence, before a whirring sound began to fill the dimension. Wispy white strands of energy began to appear from the darkness, drawing and curling around the Host in the form of thin strings, each joining together into a large aura that whipped about the Host's form.

Suddenly, the once dark void began to slowly turn white again, as if this white energy being drawn from it was bringing the dimension back to life. Light slowly expanded through the room, as the Host continued this odd energy-gathering meditation.

'I have used up quite a bit of the power that had been allotted to me. Perhaps you foresaw this? To think you'd leave this here for me, Flugel...your wisdom never ceases to amaze me.' Despite being focused on its' mediation, the Host allowed its' thoughts to wander, allowing its' form to efficiently soak up every bit of energy.

The situation outside of the "Theater" was honestly rather worrying. While the Host had the power to temporarily stop time to interfere and draw in his guests, and to alter minds, to some extent, he did not have the ability to alter the minds of those in the world at large, and he was quite definitely not capable of keeping time stopped indefinitely.

Yet, the Host did have the power of bending one's perception of time to near infinity within the Theater. While it hadn't even been a day in the outside world, it had been almost a full day and then some for those inside of the Theater. Such was his ability.

That wasn't to say that all the problems had magically been resolved due to this. The Watergate city of Priestella was currently under-guarded. It was unprepared for the attack which was to come. And not a single candidate was currently there, moreso, they had currently disappeared off the face of the world.

However, there was time. The journey to Priestella was one that would take 12 days for Emilia and her group. That meant that the Host had 12 days of real-world time to prepare and educate his guests on everything. However, he was not so naive as to believe that nothing would change.

Many figures of importance would likely sense what had disappeared from this world. Volcanica was thankfully on the Host's side, but those such as Envy would not be too pleased...and Od Laguna itself seemed to be in a slight disarray from Reinhard's sudden departure from this world.

Even the Witch of Vainglory, the enigma that she was, seemed to be making moves in preparation for this sudden shift in the world. Not to mention, she held members who had multiple Authorities, powers that even the Host would have issues fighting against.

Bit by bit, things were beginning to become unstable. The longer the Host kept his guests, the more he could show them, but the larger the risk he ran of having to deal with these untenable issues. He was strong, very powerful, but not omnipotent, and quite certainly not omniscient.

Now that the future had been altered, if even by this minuscule amount, any information he'd gleaned from the old timeline was practically useless. He was now a pioneer in uncharted territory.

Every second, the Host's job required more attention, more caution, more prediction, more risk, and more power. This power-generating abyss was quite literal Odsend to him, but it wouldn't be enough.

'To leave me such a troublesome job...to leave Shaula behind...to leave me this rather convenient floor, something which should be, by all means, impossible to produce...just how many years in the future were you looking, Flugel? Who were you, truly?'

Of course, there was no answer to the Host's question, as much as he wished for it. Inside of its' consciousness, the Host felt a sparking, as he remembered the Sage's last words to him.

On the true evil that would arrive to this world, an evil capable of washing it away, and not just reshaping it, as the Witch of Envy had, but utterly destroying and massacring every portion of it.

'Regardless, my job remains the same. I shall act according to our contract, and follow my beliefs. This world shall not be destroyed, and the guests which I return, along with the allies they receive, will make them the most formidable, unified fighting force that I can possibly muster.'

Determination filled the usually impassive Host's voice, as the energy around it began to whip around even more passionately, nearly frantically.

The Host now knew that he would soon need more help...and his mind turned to that clone wandering the world, possessing the soul of the Witch of Greed. Omega, if he remembered correctly.

It seemed as if it was time to request some assistance from yet another old friend.

---

This time, as the episode began to fade in, there truly were no interruptions.

"Finally we get t'start th's shit without any 'ntteruptions." Garfiel exhaled in relief, being chief among those who would be ticked off by said interruptions.

"I wouldn't relax just yet…" Otto shook his head at the relaxed nature of his impulsive friend. "Remember what that orb told us? This 'arc' shall be much longer than the last…"

These ominous words that had been recalled from the being left not just Garfiel, but nearly everyone else cautious of just what was coming.

"Now that we know that the Host's promises are usually to be trusted...that was a worrying set of words, indeed." Reinhard looked towards the screen, piercing blue eyes focusing directly on what they'd see next.

"Whatever it is, we are gonna brave right through it. Big bro is counting on us, and knowing what he's been through, I'm not wimping out. Ain't that right, sisters?!" Felt grinned confidently, looking to Mimi and Petra.

"Yeah!" Mimi replied excitedly.

"Of course!" Petra nodded diligently.

Frederica looked to Petra with worry, letting out a sigh. She wanted to continue protecting the girl's innocence, knowing that for sure, whatever else would come from this show would not be anything positive…

Yet, seeing Petra surrounded by her newly made friends, it made Frederica's motherly instinct ease up somewhat. She would be there to comfort the girl if need be, but she would not keep her naive and coddled from the truth.

Besides, she believed in Petra's responsibility.

Beyond the general cast, however, there were two that felt the most apprehensive for what they were about to see.

There was Beatrice, who felt a lump of pure dread form in her small stomach from the title of the arc alone. Too many questions were circling around in her mind...questions that left her apprehensive about even looking at the screen in front of her.

How did her contractor know to check for a curse on that exact spot on his hand? He had not an ounce of magical prowess, so he had to have gained that information from somewhere….

Somewhere...beyond what he should've normally known…

Her hands clenched tightly, as she tried desperately to fight off the demons swirling around in her head.

The next one to look hesitant was...Rem. Yet, not for the same reasons as Beatrice. Instead, the Oni remembered how she had felt about the boy back when he first arrived in the mansion.

She had loathed his mere presence, all because he carried around that foul scent of the Witch.

It had taken much too many factors for her to just trust him on the level of a normal person.

The blue-haired Oni was hoping...praying to whatever forces that were that she had not acted on any of her violent impulses towards him…

Ram turned her head to look at her younger sister, who had her eyes shut tightly, as if she was trying to keep her mind off of something.

"Are you alright, Rem?" She asked softly, making Rem quickly open her eyes. The girl put on the best smile she could, trying to quickly wipe away any of the dark emotions that were left on her face.

"Yes, sister."

Of course...Ram was nowhere near convinced by this half-baked response. She narrowed her eyes to her sister...before turning her eyes to the screen. As much as she wished to press her sister for more details, she would leave it alone.

Even she had some worries and doubts on her mind, after all.

We fade in from darkness to see Subaru lying on a bed, staring at a ceiling with blank eyes.

"I don't know that ceiling."

"I'm sure he must be relieved." Julius nodded to this observation of his friend's, the purple-haired knight understanding all too well why this detail was so important to him.

"Of course he had to be, nyan~. He had to deal with coming face to face with that cranky appa-seller each and every time he returned." Felix spoke lightheartedly, but his eyes still held a serious look.

"To feel privileged by just being blessed to wake up to something different…" Wilhelm muttered, shaking his head in disdain at the idea.

He could tell, just through his own unfailing wit. The boy must've been all to happy to be somewhere he didn't recognize, for once.

Out of that hellish, unending loop of death.

He slowly got up, looking around the room he was now in. It was an ornate-looking guestroom of some sort, with grand beds, chairs, and windows.

Next he inspected his chest, opening the gray robe he now had on.

"The wound on my stomach is gone. Considering all this, it must've been her...Emilia's healing power, huh?"

"To think he'd attribute Betty's dutiful healing to the half-elf…hmph!" Beatrice let out an adorable huff, her dread going away for momentary annoyance at her efforts being unrewarded.

"I-I'm sure that Subaru only said that because he didn't know about you yet, Beatrice…" Emilia rushed to try and reassure the spirit, though she couldn't help but smile upon knowing just how much her knight seemed to trust her to take care of him.

Rem huffed, wishing that she had been the one to use her meager healing magic to fully heal Subaru...even if this version of her wasn't that close to him yet.

Felix stared at the Great Spirit, intrigued. It was one thing to just close up a wound like Emilia did, but he figured she must have some serious skill to fully heal the boy's damaged insides.

The effeminate knight made a note to possibly talk to her about it, later.

After closing the robe back, the boy exited the room, walking out into a large hallway. He began to walk forward aimlessly, stopping only to look at a painting which showed an unknown forest at night, the moon shining down on it.

"What an ominous painting…" Crusch knew not why, but she felt this image throw her instincts for a whirl.

"Definitely ain't givin' off tha' most comfortable o'vibes." Ricardo agreed, his own keen senses as a warrior telling him there was just something...off about that location.

Rem, Ram, and Beatrice remained silent, as they all remembered just what had happened in said forest.

Rem remembered somewhat fondly about how Subaru had saved her life, earned her trust, and truly started to become her hero, with a smitten smile on her face.

Ram let out a large sigh, as she remembered how she had fought side-by-side with her newly-made coworker to save her sister's life...though she couldn't resist the smallest of smiles from showing on her face.

Beatrice brought a hand to her forehead and frowned. That reckless, determined boy she had managed to bring back from the brink of death twice...she would've never imagined, at that time, that he would become her contractor.

Roswaal chuckled weakly, bringing a hand to support his chin. "Truly nostalgic." It was a reminder of yet another one of his sins that the boy needed to conquer – the curse-user within the village.

The magician had not called this one in directly, but he had turned a blind eye to it when he was easily capable of stopping it...just like he had with the attack on Ram and Rem's village.

All for the sake of his own plans...

"Well, at any rate, it seems I got out of using Return by Death this time…"

"He really is so casual 'bout his death." Anastasia noted, tilting her head to the side. "Can't blame him, though. M'sure he's more focused on bein' outta' tha' loop than his mental health."

"Can't blame him. The last thing I'd be thinking about is how I feel after finally getting out of a death loop alive." Al sighed, still remembering just what the kid had gone through.

"I reeeeeeeally doubt that Subaru can even begin to process all of that right now." Emilia murmured, gently holding Subaru's hand in hers.

He began to narrate his thoughts as he walked, passing a lamp lit by a glowing blue crystal.

"Still, isn't it normal to wake up and see a beautiful girl by your bed asking, 'Are you awake?' after she'd cared for you the whole time? Feels kinda flawed, for a story about being summoned into another world." Subaru murmured in disappointment, while continuing to walk.

"Back at it again with the ridiculous tropes, I suppose." Beatrice shook her head, with Al shaking his head from the back row, too.

"Subaru-kyun can really act entitled from time to time." Felix murmured to the boy's behavior.

"Indeed. To want Emilia-sama to serve him hand and knee just after meeting her? As I thought, Barusu is a true pervert." Ram rolled her eyes, much too used to his antics, herself.

Of course, she wouldn't see Rem who was looking at the screen with slightly glazed over eyes...the maid was imagining just what it would be like had she gotten to be that 'beautiful girl' for her hero.

He looked to the wall, noticing the exact same painting from before.

"S'loopin'?" Garfiel was clearly confused by just what the hell was going on in front of them.

"Maybe he didn't actually wake up, and he's still dreaming?!" Mimi theorized with widened eyes...only for this theory to be immediately broken by a certain spirit's factual words.

"This was one of Betty's spells, I suppose. A Yin spell that allows Betty to trap whoever she wishes to within a looping structure, until they find the correct path to leave through."

"Hmm...that sounds even cooler, so it's alright!"

"A looping hallway...Is this one of those things where I can't get out until I find the right room? The typical pattern dictates that the first door is likely the goal!"

Turning to the door besides him, Subaru opened it with gusto, stepping in to see...a little girl with cream-blonde twintails, dyed pink at the ends. She had sky blue irises with pink butterflies in them, and was wearing a pink frilly ornate dress.

"It's surprisin' jus' how mucha' tha' boy's otherworldly knowledge comes in handy at times like this…" Anastasia mused with surprise to his instant correct choice of the right door. Still, she couldn't keep her eyes off the screen for other reasons...the rumored Forbidden Library...she was amazed to get a look inside for herself.

"Mmm...perhaps it is simply yet another show of that rat's unpredictable luck?" Priscilla threw her own hat in the ring, with a surprisingly calm suggestion. Rather than angered, she was now simply amused, with most of her stress vented out on her poor knight.

"It could simply be his high spirit affinity, as well." Julius added, thinking back to the boy's ease of interaction with Puck and ability to easily view the lesser spirits.

"It must be luck…" Frederica was resisting the urge to let her jaw open in disbelief. She had heard of it from Ram...but it was another thing to see just how easily the young man broke through Beatrice's Door Crossing.

"Betty just believes he was a profoundly aggravatingly and lucky man, herself…" Beatrice spoke as if she were refuting the idea...but inside, she felt it was much more than that.

Without her knowing it, that boy stepping in there was almost like an orchestrated event. Perhaps it was his knowledge, some luck, or his high spirit affinity that allowed him to break her Door Crossing so easily...but whatever it was, she didn't mind. Not anymore.

The girl was sat on a chair, reading from a large book. It seemed the place was a library of some sort. Looking up to meet Subaru's eyes, the girl immediately began to speak in annoyance.

"What a profoundly aggravating man you are, I suppose."

"Sounds like history repeats itself, eh?!" Ricardo slapped his knee, laughing at how the butterfly-eyed spirit had unknowingly repeated her exact words.

"First NPC found!" Subaru exclaimed excitedly, pointing a finger at her. "You're gonna ruin your cute face with that cold attitude." He spoke, as he walked into the room.

"Come on, smile! Smile!" He repeated, using his fingers to stretch out a wide smile on his face.

"A derisive sneer is more than enough for you." The little girl replied coldly, leaving Subaru to shrug and smile smugly.

A few in the audience shared a chuckle at this short exchange.

"My, to think I would fine mineself agreeing with one from that half-elf's camp…" Priscilla shook her head, in complete accordance with the spirit on screen. She found the boy interesting, but his actions could be quite irritating.

"Subaru was always trying to get closer to you, wasn't he, Beatrice?" Emilia smiled, turning a mirthful gaze down to the spirit.

"Yes, and Betty couldn't have done a single thing about it. Betty had to, and continues to go along with her contractor's foolish whims, out of pity, I suppose." Beatrice nodded and spoke with a haughty tone.

"Outta pity? I mighta understood th's older version of ya' bein' mean, but ain't yer usually th'one clingin' ta' Captain th'mos-"

"N-not, not a word further, I-I suppose!" As if to further prove Garfiel's point, Beatrice turned beet red, hiding her face in her contractor's shirt. The prideful spirit did not want to either to confirm or deny his words...but her actions spoke for themselves.

"Still, no matter how I think of it, it's quite an amazing thing to hear that Subaru was capable of contracting a Great Spirit." Julius admitted, a small smile on his face at the antics the Emilia camp was going through.

"Especially Beatrice-sama, of all the spirits to contract. I still remember how surprised I was when sister told me that Subaru-kun was able to get her out of the library…" Rem had a hand on her cheek, thinking back to when she and her sister had discussed all of the missed events during the break time.

Still, while she was surprised, it was more of a pleasant surprise. She remembered just how insistent Subaru always was promising to bring the little spirit out of her library...and knowing him, it was only a matter of time before he made good on that promise.

"Hehe, Beatrice-sama might have been mean back then, but it's easy to see cares about Subaru a lot now!" Petra smiled happily at this sight, with mostly everyone finding either some warmth or enjoyment at the show of this close spirit-contractor bond.

Roswaal was simply intrigued, watching the screen with interest. Beatrice's annoyance was nothing new to the man, but seeing just how well he got along with the spirit…and just how easily he broke through her Door Crossing.

It made him wonder if, despite the revelation that 'that person' did not exist for her, Subaru was in some way still destined to meet her...

"Are you mad because I guessed it right on the first try?"

The girl's eyebrows twitched slightly in annoyance.

"I've always been a pretty lucky guesser." Subaru rubbed the back of his head, speaking in pride.

The girl's mouth formed into a small pout.

"I can understand why game masters would want me in all the events, but sorry!"

Her hands tightened slightly on the large book she held, as Subaru looked back at her.

"Barusu is truly testing Beatrice-sama here, with that ever-insolent nature of his." Ram frowned at how the boy just went on and on in bragging. Her inner instincts practically screamed at her to get in there and knock him down a peg like usual.

"Really? I jus' find it interestin' t'let him talk." Anastasia admitted, her bias for the boy's otherworldly knowledge on full display. While she had been able to learn some things from the library, stuff like cultural phenomena and insider terms were something she could only really get to hear from the boy himself.

"Shouldn't ya feel th'same way?" Garfiel asked, looking at the little spirit confusedly. "Aside from my amazin' self, yer th'one who listens ta' Capn's stories th'most!"

Regretfully, Beatrice shook her head. "Betty did not see it as such at that time. She was...far from accepting of her contractor, I suppose. I regarded most of what he said at that time as irrelevant and irritating drivel."

As she spoke, it was clear that the spirit was not too happy at just how harsh her past self had treated Subaru, not knowing what he would become to her later...her expression became somewhat downcast.

Yet, she was brought out of this low point by a comforting, soft hand on her head.

"Even I was usually confused by most of the things Subaru said back then, so don't worry about it so much, Beatrice. What matters is that you properly made up with him and got along with him later, right?" Emilia reassured with a gentle, almost shining smile on her.

The blonde twin-tailed spirit pouted, shaking her head to move Emilia's hand away, leaving the half-elf to giggle.

"Betty did not need you to tell her so, I suppose!" She replied in her usual tsundere-like manner, folding her arms.

While the Great Spirit had been continuing to harbor a bit of her leftover resentment towards the spirit arts user from the first Arc's viewing...she had to admit that maybe, just maybe, she was not truly that bad.

"So, what is this place, anyway?"

"Hmph! It is Betty's multipurpose room which serves as a library and bedroom, I suppose." She replied, albeit reluctant to even answer the boy's question.

"A library and bedroom together…" Tivey murmured, eyes practically shining in desire. It was an intellectual's paradise...

"Talk about your token response. Are you one of those manual girls everyone's into now?"

As Subaru spoke, the girl known only as 'Betty' narrowed her eyes, slamming her book shut in frustration. She hopped off of her chair, walking towards the boy with closed eyes.

"Betty has had just about enough. Time to teach you a lesson, I suppose."

"He's done it nyow…" Felix snickered, having an all too clear understanding that some serious punishment was about to be doled out to the slightly disrespectful boy.

"It is a shame that Subaru was not more aware of just who he was talking to." Julius, as a knight, and a spirits arts user, found it all too regretful that the boy was about to be punished for a misunderstanding that was not even his fault.

"His lack of knowledge seems to continue getting Natsuki-sama in more and more trouble." While the Duchess was usually all about manners and etiquette, herself, she too understood just why the boy in front of her wouldn't be able to practice such a thing. He was at the level where he didn't know about the Sword Saint or even the language of their world.

Nobody in the audience could exactly blame him for whatever was coming next.

"Hey, what are you gonna do?" Subaru asked frightfully, backing his way towards the door as she approached him, opening her eyes.

"Don't you dare move." She demanded in a completely threatening tone, leaving Subaru to cower in nervousness and fear, and immediately silencing him. "Anything you'd like to add?"

The young man could only force a nervous smile. "D-Don't hurt me."

"The little butterfly lady is scary…" Mimi murmured, feeling her instincts fire off as soon as she saw the girl approach him. Hetaro nodded in quiet, timid agreement with his sister.

"I-I never knew Beatrice-sama could sound so scary…" Petra agreed, practically shaking at the harsh, almost hostile tone the little librarian had taken on.

"Wish big bro wasn't shaking so hard, though." Felt sighed, arms folded and in her lap. It hurt the little ex-thief to know just how vulnerable her big bro was to so many people.

"I doubt we have any need to worry. While Beatrice-sama may have been rather harsh back then, I doubt she would actually cause any serious, lasting harm to someone as harmless as Subaru-sama." Frederica reassured the little trio (plus Hetaro) with an easing smile.

Beatrice grasped the hem of her dress tightly, feeling guilt wash over her at her contractor's sincere pleading. Had she known all that he had suffered before, the reason why he seemed to so earnestly fear her just by her walking towards him...she would've never done what she knew she was about to do.

Without another word, the girl put a hand on his stomach, only for Subaru to look down at her oddly…

And before he knew it, pain was racing through his body, like lightning was striking every inch of his skin at once. He screamed in utter desperation and agony, tears forcing their way past his eyes, and his pupils narrowed into pinpoints.

He fell down to the ground, weakened, as the girl simply stood over him.

"Mana drain...and a rather severe one at that." Reinhard, all too familiar with such techniques, shook his head at the ruthlessness of the act.

"Yeah, that was brutal, alright. Ya really didn't hold back any of yer punches back then, now did ya, lil missy?" Ricardo looked down to the Great Spirit below, who was just looking down at her dress, remaining silent.

"...Beatrice-sama?" Rem looked to her with worry, but received no response. She lowered her gaze to look at the spirit, only to find...she had light tears dropping from her eyes. The Oni maid was absolutely taken aback by this, yet the rest of the Emilia camp was not so much surprised by it.

Inside, the little spirit felt nothing but guilt panging away at her. It wasn't like she'd killed her contractor or anything...but being reminded of the depths of the coldness and hostility she treated him with in this moment, it was something that filled her with a desire...a desire to see her contractor again and remind him just how much she really care for him and loved him.

"Betty is sorry for being such a foolish girl...but she can only apologize properly once you wake up, I suppose." She whispered under her breath, gently wiping the tears from her eyes as her back sank into the strong, supportive chest of her sleeping contractor.

Rem was utterly silent at this display. She'd believed her sister to explain it to her well, but the maid felt as if the explanation her sister had provided didn't even do the sight before her justice.

The maid had seen a smiling and happy Beatrice, on the few occasions that Puck had come...but she'd never seen the spirit shed a single tear, or show the smallest emotion of sadness.

"It's surprising, isn't it?" Ram spoke up from beside her bewildered sister with a knowing smile. "Barusu managed to work those corrupting charms of his even on Beatrice-sama."

Anastasia leaned forward in interest from her chair, eyes sparkling with a desire to get in on the conversation below. "Actually, it makes me wonder...jus' how did that seemin'ly simple kid get a hold of a contract with a Great Spirit? Especially when she ain't soundin' so keen ta' leave tha' library o'hers."

Almost everyone seemed to share this same kind of interest, with this story having been one that hadn't been told or discussed during their Break Time.

"Well…" Otto sat up with a nostalgic smile, immediately deciding to take control of the conversation. "I'm sure you have all heard of our camp's freeing of the citizens of Sanctuary, yes?"

Most nodded, aside from Crusch, whose memories of her past self and amnesiac self were still somewhat mixed up.

"I do remember hearing news of it...I do believe that it was mentioned that Subaru and Emilia-sama were two key players within the entire situation." Reinhard noted with a thoughtful expression.

"Then...was it Emilia-dono who assisted Natsuki-sama in his procuring of the Great Spirit? It is easy to believe, considering her own experience with contracting one…" Crusch mused, a hand on her chin.

Though the verdant green-haired candidate felt that was a likely answer, she somehow wanted herself disproved...to hear that Natsuki Subaru was an even greater man than even she had thought him, one deserving of her praise.

And as if to answer her wishes, the merchant shook his head, chuckling at the Duchess' words. "While Emilia-sama was the one who physically freed the Sanctuary...it was all Natsuki-san's sheer determination and will that allowed him to reach Beatrice-sama."

"Determination and will? Just what do you mean by that? Was the Great Spirit not contracted to the library? Even with Subaru's force of will, it would be impossible to break it." Julius furthered, finding it completely unthinkable that a contract, something which Spirits took more seriously than their lives, could be pushed back by nothing but force...force...wait, force?

"Unless...Unless it was broken by force!" The Finest Knight's eyes opened wide, and he looked down to the Emilia Camp's Head of Internal affairs for confirmation.

Otto was going to speak again, but Petra's eyes widened, and she turned to look at the man with realization.

"Wait...was it because of that oil we poured to get rid of that scary monster?!" Petra was quick to catch on, he realization leaving the merchant chuckling nervously.

"Yes...we had started a fire in the mansion accidentally, after Petra and I had used some oil to get rid of a demon beast. It was supposed to be just enough to kill it, but…" He turned his head to the side, scratching his cheek. "Well...I couldn't exactly afford to be stingy with it, now could I?"

"And what could Betty do when he barged into her library, asking so desperately for her help? Tears in his eyes, desperation in his voice...and with the library Betty had promised to protect burning down behind her...Betty decided it was worth helping him! It couldn't be helped if I had a little bit of pity on such a pitiful boy, I suppose." Beatrice spoke, tilting her head up and folding her arms. It was easy to see the small smile present on her face.

Yet, the entire room was silent for a few seconds, before someone spoke up.

"Y-You're telling me...that Sir Subaru simply managed to secure a contract with a Great Spirit just through virtue of determination...and utter luck?" Wilhelm spoke with disbelief. As old as he was, even he had never heard of such ridiculous stories.

And soon...everyone in the theater burst into full on laughter, finding the entire situation too funny to handle.

"A-Ahahaha! I was expectin' some serious story a' plannin' and crazy intelligence, but tha' boy really never ceases to surprise, huh?" Anastasia wiped a tear of joy from her eye, finding the entire story even better than she had hoped.

"That's Subaru-kyun for you! He's seriously an enigma, nyan~!"

"To think I was even right for thinking of such an idea…"

"Even I must show a bit of surprise."

The Royal Knight trio, Felix, Julius, and Reinhard were all mixed between various reactions. Felix was all too amused by just how silly it sounded, while Julius and Reinhard showed differing degrees of shock at the mere idea of such a seemingly fate-deigned encounter happening.

"Now that's a riot of a story!" Al, usually not taken aback by mostly anything, couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter, with his mistress giving him an annoyed sideways glare.

"Natsuki-sama truly is a man of exceptional talent...and luck, it seems." Crusch showed a satisfied, pleased smile. She would've expected no less from the man she had come to respect.

Even Priscilla showed a rare, full smirk, as she waved her fan in front of her face. "Minself will at least admit that the boy is indeed interesting…" And in a person, her interest was all that mattered.

"Must've been his lolimancer powers...seems they were in full swing even back then, huh?" Ricardo grinned, his words leaving everyone to double over in ever further laughter.

"Oh, Subaru…" Emilia managed to speak through barely contained giggles, looking at the boy besides her with a fond gaze. It made her happy to see that, despite him not being here to see it, he had all these people that were beginning to appreciate the worth he had, beyond that vicious ability of his.

She wished he could see it…

With the laughter dying down, the group slowly began to focus their attentions back on the screen, one by one.

"What the hell did you do to me, you drill loli?" The near-unconscious boy demanded.

"I only collected the mana from within your body, I suppose. It confirmed that you are not an enemy."

"Ah...I did forget that you can sense emotions and intention just like Puck, right?" Emilia asked curiously, looking down at the little spirit, who simply nodded.

"It was part of why Betty kept him in that illusion, I suppose. That clown was much too worried about him being a possible enemy. So, Betty simply erased that possibility, while achieving some satisfaction in punishing him." The spirit concluded, leaving Emilia to chuckle nervously.

"Veeeeeerry efficient…" Still, while Emilia wasn't particularly angry at Beatrice, she felt it was a little unfair for Roswaal to be thinking of Subaru that way. He was a boy who risked his life for her, and it was easy to tell that he had no magical or physical prowess.

She felt anxious...hoping that that suspicion of Roswaal's hadn't really caused any mortal harm to Subaru.

At this cold response, Subaru forced himself to look up at her, showing yet another nervous smile. "You're...not human, are you? And I don't mean it in the way of your personality..."

The little girl showed a smug smile, a satisfied blue glint in her eyes. "It took you long enough to notice, I suppose."

"It would indeed have been best to notice it later...but I can't blame Subaru for being unaware." Julius sighed, thinking of how such a situation was improbably for most citizens of their world.

"Guess big bro's unawareness can help and hurt, huh?" Felt thought back to how he had so easily interacted with Emilia's frighteningly strong spirit, a situation where his lack of awareness had actually helped him to get along with it, and it's user better.

Emilia showed a small smile at Felt's words, though felt a bit of sadness as well. She wondered what it would have been like to get along with that Subaru who had just come to their world...it was a feeling she could probably not let go of.

"I take it back. Your personality isn't human, either."

"Harsh burn." Al winced at the words from the barely-conscious boy. "Can't say she doesn't deserve it a little, though."

Nobody, not even Beatrice herself brought up any disagreement with the one-armed knight.

Seemingly unaffected, the girl turned around, heading back to her seat. "Do not measure a proud, noble being by your standards, human."

With those harsh words, Subaru fully lost the consciousness he was barely holding on to, fading into black again.

Re:ZERO - Starting Life in Another World – Opening Theme – Redo

"This weird music again, huh?" Otto scratched the back of his head, vividly remembering the disturbing opening that they had been shown earlier.

And how it had seemed to imply the true, dark mental state that their friend was slowly descending into through the chains of his abilities.

"Well, it sounds good enough, and we know that nobody within this...sequence, is truly dying. Perhaps it is meant to be an intermission of sorts between each 'episode'?" Julius reasoned, somewhat allowing himself to relax as the music played through the theater's loudspeakers.

"That is what these are for, at least I think so. We should just try to chill and relax to the tunes, instead of losing our heads, huh?" Al added, seeming all too into the singing that was going on.

"I don't exactly enjoy the imagery...but the music is really good." Emilia admitted, her eyes closing in enjoyment.

"I've gotta learn more about the instruments these are made with. Hate t'admit it, but they sound more unique than anythin' I've heard." Anastasia had mostly been looking at inventions and engineering advancements within the boy's world, but she hadn't thought to check out small sections such as instruments…

She made a note to check that out later. Instruments were probably one of the more easier things to implement, and nobles were always looking to buy such antique items…

"I wonder if it was all right for her to get access to that library so easily…" Otto sighed, bringing a hand to his head. He wondered if the Host really knew what it was doing by freely offering them such knowledge.

Regardless, the group let the time pass, as they enjoyed the interesting music of the opening, and the next scene began to properly come into view.

Once more, Subaru was shown in a bed, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling.

"I know that ceiling." He murmured, tiredly.

"Don't tell me he-" Felix began to spoke, but was near-immediately cut off.

"No. Betty would never do such a thing." Beatrice was quick to shut down any such thoughts of her contractor possibly dying by her hand, in a harsh, strict tone. She would not tolerate any such foolishness.

"Oh, he has awakened, Sister."

"Indeed, he has awakened, Rem."

"This is…"

"It can't be…"

Almost immediately, Rem and Ram let out voices filled with hesitant disbelief...they sounded as if they didn't want to believe what was happening on the screen.

Ram looked troubled, somewhat shaken...it was easy to tell that she was disturbed. Yet, Rem...she looked much worse off than her sister. Her hands were clasped tightly together, her eyes widened, and her body beginning to cover itself in a sheen of nervous sweat. A haunted, ghastly expression was on her face.

Worried, Emilia looked at the twins to see just what they were talking about...but seeing the look on their faces, it was already easy to tell why they had made that reaction. Not too long ago, she, Felt, and Reinhard had shared similar expressions on their own faces.

"...So it has diverged already." The Sword Saint was, of course, quick to pick up on this fact, a grim look on his face.

"This is cruel...big bro hasn't even gotten a full day yet without having himself marked for death. Damn it. Why him…?" Felt grit her teeth, her hands balled up into tight, trembling fists.

Mimi, Petra, and Hetaro looked at her in worry, with Mimi even putting a comforting hand on top of Felt's, which left the girl to ease up slightly.

"By those reactions, I'm guessing…?" Crusch, ever conscious of her role in leading the group forward, looked down at the two maids with an unsure gaze, awaiting their answers with a bit of inexplicable anxiety within herself.

Yet, she did not dare show such emotions on her face. She knew she had to be strong. For herself, for her camp, and in honor of Natsuki Subaru's impending fate.

Rem couldn't even compose herself to answer, but Ram was at least emotionally intact enough to speak, her eyes slightly narrowed. "Yes. As far as I and Rem remember, those were not our first words to Barusu. And he was certainly not so aware and energetic when he first woke."

"I see…" Crusch lowered her gaze, letting out a sigh filled with various complex emotions.

"But y'all were ready fer this, yeah? It ain't pleasant watchin' tha' kid go on, knowin' he's gonna die...but we can't just sit 'round and look away from it." Anastasia added, while holding her scarf close to her neck. The greedy lady was far too interested in seeing further to just stop here.

"Right...we already made good on wanting to honor Subaru-kyun's memories and actions, not to drown in grief and guilt over them. Isn't that right, Crusch-sama?" The Duchess' cat-eared knight placed a hand on her shoulder, leaving her to smile weakly and get back up, her eyes steeled with determination.

"Ferris is correct. At the very least, we are now aware that this 'loop' is a 'failed' one...even if that information is disheartening." Crusch noted.

"Guess the guy's got 'nother tough time in front of him, huh?" Al shrugged, rubbing the back of his helmet with a free hand.

Priscilla merely scoffed, rolling her eyes at the whole idea. "I, for one, would never be affected by such petty emotions…" While the boy in front of her was now a serious object of her interest, he still was not an object that was hers. Not something she quite actively cared for, such as Al or Schult.

"Subaru…" Giving one last worried look at the now softly sobbing Rem, Emilia tightly held her knight's hand in hers, and turned her gaze right back to the screen. No longer did she cry, or allow herself to fall into despondency. She would view her knight's journey and trials with not only love and care, but for respect for his efforts as the candidate he was serving.

Beatrice, meanwhile, felt a chill go through her body. To think...to think that her own prediction looked as if it were about to come true...her prediction on Subaru having had to die to reveal his curse...she wished, ah, how much she wished that she had been wrong.

Two feminine voices spoke to each other, leaving Subaru to look of to the side, to the window.

"Me, a denizen of the night, waking up in the morning? I'm getting all emotional. I'd better go to sleep a second time… No, wait, I woke up earlier, so this makes it the third."

"Subaru is used to sleeping in throughout the entire morning?" Reinhard showed visible surprise at this thought, wondering just what sort of life his friend must have lived.

"It...it sounds like Sir Subaru was never quite one to wake early." While Wilhelm was never one to join in on such discussions...he seemed to be following some sort of agenda, directly addressing his grandson's words with a little bit of hesitance.

Reinhard was clearly shocked at his grandfather following up to his words...but in the end said nothing of it.

Anastasia watched the screen with a sly smirk, thinking back to what she had read in the library. The first thing she had done was search up some of the odd terms she had heard the boy say – including that word, 'hikkikomori'.

And the results had been rather interesting...according to the definition, it seemed that it was some sort of social phenomenon, or condition, where younger people would lock themselves away in their rooms or homes, and absolutely refuse to communicate with their family.

Knowing that the boy in front of them may have had a similar condition...Anastasia was even more intrigued about what circumstances had made the boy in front of him what he once was...and what he now is.

Of course, as greedy and selfish as ever, she did not share an inkling of this information with the rest of the cast. She didn't want to set off the already volatile Great Spirit by carelessly mentioning it, either.

"My, what a deadbeat thing to say. Did you hear that, Sister?"

"Yes, truly the words of a loser. I heard him, Rem."

"My, how nostalgic it is to see these two in synchronicity once more." Roswaal chuckled slightly at the sight, allowing himself a small bit of laughter.

"That is correct..for a while, we just assumed that Ram had always been the one taking care of the mansion...so this sort of dynamic never even existed between her and anyone else." Frederica remembered back to Subaru's words when he had first met her.

On the mysterious maid named 'Rem' that had apparently covered up for Ram's work...one that she didn't remember at all. She couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt at thinking that she hadn't even been capable of remembering her own coworker.

Rem lightened up slightly at this display of true sisterhood between her and her sister on screen, with a small smile coming to her face. She didn't enjoy watching herself berate Subaru...but she at least could take solace in seeing herself in sync with her sister, something she had missed in her year-long coma.

Both voices berating him in sync made Subaru open his eyes in annoyance.

"All right! Who are these two voices that keep criticizing me in stereo?!" He asked in annoyance, looking to his left, only to see…

Two incredibly beautiful twin-maids, one with pinkish-red hair and crimson eyes, and one with light blue hair and ocean-blue eyes.

"No way…Maid costumes exist in this world, too?!" Subaru spoke in disbelief, surrounded by the pink sparkles and shines of the pure beauty the two maids exuded.

"Now that Natsuki-san mentions it...our worlds do share an oddly surprising amount of similarities, don't they?" Otto couldn't help but think on these seemingly convenient coincidences.

"That is correct...our spoken languages are the same, he seems to recognize some of our produce, if his lack of surprise at appas was any indication, and we even share some of the exact same concepts with his world." Crusch hummed, wondering why such possibilities seemed to coincide.

"I don't know 'bout things like tha' fruits, an' all that...but have y'all ever heard of Hoshin of the Wilderness?" Anastasia spoke up, with a characteristic glint in her eye as she seemed to make some sort of unknown connection.

"Of course I do. Any merchant worth their salt has heard of him!" Otto replied matter-of-factly, arms folded at even the thought of not recognizing such a figure.

"Even to us knights, people such as him are regarded as near mythical figures within the annals of history…" Reinhard, along with Julius and Felix seemed to know all too well about this name.

Almost everyone seemed to know this name...except for little Petra and Felt, who both seemed confused out of their minds.

"Uuuum...so just who is this person? Sounds like he's some big shot." Felt decided to speak for both of them, knowing Petra's slightly timid nature.

"Ta' put it short…" Anastasia leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. "He's tha' founder o'my home country, Kararagi. Plus, he's thought ta' be probably tha' most successful merchant in history. He came outta nowhere, created all kinds a'things people have never seen before, and even made a whole new dialect, tha' one that all people from Kararagi speak."

"Whoa...he sounds amazing...but wait...he came out of nowhere, created lots of cool, unseen stuff, and even came with a whole new dialect? That...that sounds like-!"

"Bingo." Anastasia showed a sly grin to the conclusion to Petra's amazed words. "Dont'cha think it might be not too far ta' think that people from Natsuki-kun's world have been transported here, aside from him? And that they've been influencin' some parts of our world, themselves?"

"That's…" Emilia's eyes went wide at such an idea. "B-but, if my studies were right, then he was around over 400 years ago, right? Wouldn't Subaru's world have changed a lot if that much time passed?"

"That is correct. In 400 years, even our world has irrevocably changed." Reinhard noted, as each and every person present remembered the reason why…

The Great Calamity the event of apocalyptic proportions that had singlehandedly changed the geography of their world just through its' happening. It was something nobody in the room dared talk on any further.

"I still think it's somethin' worth thinkin' about." Anastasia, despite the misalignment of timelines seemed much too invested in this idea – and for good reason. Reading up on Subaru's world, she was able to immediately point out Hoshin's and Subaru's likely area of origin – Japan. And according to the history books...the Japan of Subaru's time, was the exact same Japan of Hoshin's time, with the same inventions, words, and ideas.

So somehow, Hoshin and Subaru had been summoned from the same country, in the same time period, yet arrived nearly 400 years apart.

It was too interesting for the merchant princess to let go of.

And nobody else in the room could so simply shake it off either.

'Maids were always the very personification of elegance in my mind…' He thought, his eyes moving from their long, pretty legs, their gentle-looking hands, and the delicate gazes that both of them seemed to share…

Rem felt some heat come to her cheeks as a small blush showed, her gaze turning to the side in demure embarrassment. "To think Subaru-kun would be looking at me with such eyes…"

"He truly is an incorrigible pervert." Ram shook her head in disappointment, having the complete opposite reaction of her sister.

"Can't exactly blame the guy. The two of them are pretty good eye candy, after all." Al hummed...leaving his mistress to look at him with an especially pissed look in her eyes. "...Sorry, princess."

"This ain't so bad, either!" Subaru pumped a fist in excitement.

"How terrible. You are being violated in the mind of our guest, Sister." The blue-haired one spoke.

"It is terrible. You're experiencing the ultimate shame in the mind of our guest, Rem." And as usual, the red-haired maid followed.

"Don't underestimate my capacity. You're both fair prey in my fantasies!" Subaru put on his best evil tone, wiggling his fingers at the two maids.

"They really don't let him off the hook easily, do they?" Julius could not help but chuckle at how the two maids were quite literally putting him through the verbal wringer. It was somewhat refreshing, as he was only used to having the servants in his home be extremely loyal and professional – while it was a 'correct' attitude, it was indeed sometimes tiring.

"But Subaru-kyun has earned that kind of treatment. He does like looking at girls with indecent eyes after all, nyan~!" Felix wrapped his arms around himself, putting on the best silky smooth voice he could. The effeminate knight remembered fondly just how surprised Subaru had been when he himself had been revealed as a boy.

Reinhard laughed at his cat-eared friend's antics. "Now I understand why Subaru was so surprised when he learned of your true gender, Ferris."

"I'm quite sure nearly everyone has that same reaction…" Crusch added, remembering just how much odd situations and misunderstandings her loyal knight's crossdressing habits would get them into from day to day.

"You two are so mean! But I don't mind a little bit of that from Crusch-sama." Felix snickered happily, pressing against his mistress' side.

Speaking of crossdressing, Felix felt he had an interesting idea for the boy down below, once he woke up. A perfect way to bond better with him...oh, yes...the knight had plans for Subaru.

Plans that involved lots of pretty clothing and a little bit of makeup. Perhaps with that, he could teach the indecent boy a little lesson about how it truly felt to be leered at.

As if sensing what was to come, Subaru's body shuddered slightly in his sleep.

Before any more could be said, however, there was a knock at the door, as a certain half-elf walked into the room.

"Can't you wake up more peacefully, Subaru?" The half elf asked, with a hand on her hips.

"As if Barusu could ever do something such as wake up peacefully. That loudness of his is one of his points of pride, after all." Ram managed to get a joke out, lightening up her inner turmoil a bit with her usual words of insult.

She got a lot of nods at this, including Beatrice, who knew all too well about just how much noise her contractor loved to make, even from the early hours of the morning.

Still, both had to admit, even if a little hesitantly, that loudness of his was part of what made the atmosphere around him so lively and energetic.

Subaru stared at Emilia, his expression being one of relief to see her...and then immediately changing to one of shock. He stared up from Emilia's knee-high covered thighs, all the way up to the loosely fitting pink nightrobe she had on.

"Whoever picked that outfit totally gets it!" The boy shouted, clearly thrilled at the sight of the stunningly beautiful girl in front of him.

"Subaru…" Emilia blushed, now slightly more aware of just why the boy would look at her like that...and just what those words meant. Almost subconsciously, she brought her hands to cover her face in embarrassment.

"Tha' kid really doesn't hide just how much he's into tha' lil' missy, huh?" Ricardo had a wide grin on his face, teeth showing.

"He's jus' like a kid with a crush," Anastasia giggled, a sly smile coming to her face. "Ahhhhh, wait, that's jus' what he is."

Reinhard chuckled at his friend's obvious inner thoughts being exposed, a light smile finding its' way onto the Sword Saint's face. "Still, it is somewhat refreshing to have such lighthearted moments. I must also admit...it is a bit endearing to see just how Subaru develops his familiar closeness with Emilia-sama."

The half-elf felt much the same way. While some portion of her felt slight sadness that yet again, it was a version of her that would never be able to carry over these interactions with her knight...Subaru himself would never forget those interactions.

"His perverted gaze knows no bounds." Emilia was broken out of her reverie by Rem's silent whisper, a notion which Beatrice agreed to with a nod.

"To see Betty's contractor fawning over that girl...it is truly irritating, I suppose!" She scoffed, an irritated pout forming on her face.

"I sense some jealousy, nyan~," Felix purred in a teasing tone, leaving the little spirit to turn a death glare towards him. The cat-eared knight snickered. "So feisty, nyan~!"

Otto and Garfiel just gave each other exasperated, yet knowing glances. Both were all too aware of just how deep their sworn brother's love went for the half-elf, even now.

Emilia tilted her head, staring at the boy in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about, but the fact that I know it's something stupid is reeeeeally disappointing."

"The stupidity in his words can indeed leave one, such as mineself rather let down," Priscilla conferred with the half-witch on screen, a nod of agreement accompanying her curt words.

"Listen to this, Emilia-sama." The blue-haired maid. Rem, spoke up, pointing a finger at Subaru. "My dear sister was just violated by that man."

"Listen to this, Emilia-sama. Ram was held prisoner and shamed by that man." The other maid followed up to her sister's actions, pointing an accusatory finger at Subaru.

"I'm quite surprised to see two maids to show such...personality," Crusch admitted with surprise, finding the way the Oni sisters comedically bounced off of each other rather unique.

"Earlier, I had much the same thought. Yet, their nature is almost somewhat...welcome. The ever professional, distanced nature of most housekeepers can sometimes be rather tiring."

"Indeed. The way many maids and butlers treat you within noble estates can be quite stifling." Reinhard had to agree with his proper-spoken friend. Having been from an extremely prestigious noble family himself, just like Julius, he knew how much a break in that atmosphere could mean to a person.

Rem showed a small smile at the trio's set of words. "Nee-sama is the one who is always prepared with her witty remarks. I simply follow along."

Ram shook her head, a small frown on her face. "No, you're just as capable of properly expressing what needs to be said as well, Rem."

"It's like watching what's playing out on screen happening in real time…" Al murmured, his words leaving everyone in the theater to share a quick chuckle.

"-And you two, don't tease him too much." Emilia, immediately catching on to the inflated and untruthful claims just walked past the two maids to the bed.

"Yes, Emilia-sama. My sister is very sorry." Rem relinquished her accusation, moving her hands behind her back.

"Yes, Emilia-sama. Rem's sorry, as well." Ram completed her sister's apology, once again mimicking her moves.

Now at the side of his bed, Emilia looked to the just-awoken boy with a questioning gaze. "Subaru, are you feeling all right? Does anything feel off?"

"He looks pretty fine to me," Felix hummed. With the eyes of a doctor, it was all to easy to again confirm just how well of a job Beatrice had done in healing him.

Subaru hummed thoughtfully, bringing his hand up to rub behind the back of his head. "Huh? Oh, I'm just a bit groggy from oversleeping. It was you who saved me, wasn't it, Emilia-tan?"

"Huh? Tan? What does tan mean?" The half-elf cutely tilted her head to the side at this unknown honorific.

"I am a little curious...just what the heck does tan mean?" Felt questioned, leaning back in her chair with a lackadaisical movement.

Both Beatrice and Al opened their mouths to answer...but they were both interrupted by the smooth voice of a certain purple-haired merchant princess.

"I think I read up on this one, a bit. Natsuki-kun's country uses honorifics, jus' like ours...but there's some that ain't really carried over," She explained, a finger raised and her eyes glinting in pride. "Tha' tan he mentioned s'usually used for lil' kids, but apparently y'can use it jus' ta' show that ya' wanna call someone really cute, but it's usually saved fer private, an' only fer close relationships. Perfect fer tha' crushin' boy, huh?"

"Leave it to Natsuki-san to come up with the most ridiculous nicknames…" Otto sighed, wondering just how Emilia would have truly reacted if she knew the meaning and context behind the usage of that honorific.

"Ooooh…! Big bro's really bold to be using that kinda name, ain't he?" Felt snickered mischievously, eyes closed in poorly contained amusement.

"It is somewhat disrespectful to be referring to a royal candidate he has just met with such a familiar tone of voice." While somewhat permissive of most actions, Julius found a bit of an issue with his friend's actions, here.

"Well, Subaru was quite unaware of Emilia-sama's true stature, at this point. I believe it is possible to cut him slack, yes?" Roswaal smiled thinly, knowing all too well that their dinner, where Subaru would be informed of such knowledge had not even occurred yet.

"I concur with Mathers-dono. While I would usually find such conduct improper, myself...I believe it can be permitted for the man responsible for saving one's life," Crusch assented, with a solemn nod of her head.

"I see...I suppose I was thinking with a somewhat rigid, narrow mindset." The Finest Knight could not help but let out a chuckle at the irony, when he had just spoke on how much he disliked such stiff formalities controlling his life. It seemed he could just not escape his proper upbringing.

He felt somewhat more reassured, however, seeing his two fellow knights giving him comforting smiles, even despite his slip-up.

In their own seats, Beatrice and Al were mixed between anger and disappointment, respectively. Neither of them had expected to have the wind of otherworldly explanation utterly stolen out of their sails...and neither were they too happy about it, reading their expressions.

Blushing, Subaru turned away from the girl, seemingly regretting what he had said now that it had been questioned. "Uh, you can just ignore that one."

"It looks as if Subaru-sama himself was not even capable of admitting to his words." Frederica let out a delighted light chuckle at the boy's somewhat endearing nervous response.

"He's truly like a hormone-filled prepubescent child," Anastasia snorted, finding his restlessness amusing more than anything. If he was that way, she doubted he could handle a body as perfect and well-endowed as hers, not that he would ever be allowed to lay hands, or eyes upon such a sight.

"Guess ev'n th' Cap'n can get embarrassed, huh? Kinda interestin' t'see 'im when he's still like this, though!" Garfiel grinned toothily, wondering to himself just how many times he had really seen his tracksuit wearing boss thrown off by anyone other than Ram.

After getting over this short moment of embarrassment, he turned back to the young woman, giving a deep and earnest bow of his head. "Seriously, though, thanks. You saved me."

"In more ways than one," Priscilla murmured to herself at this thought. It was something not everyone else seemed to easily get on, but for the fiery-haired princess, it was all too easy to tell that the boy's weakened mind would likely had shattered, had he not had the constant of Emilia to cling to. Her red eyes narrowed at the screen.

If he was so reliant and unhealthily infatuated with her now, she could already see some sort of fault in their newly-formed relationship coming up later.

The arrogant princess had no idea just how correct she would soon be.

"No, I'm the one who should thank you." She refused, shaking her head at his gratitude. "You barely know me, but you risked your life to save me. It's only natural I'd heal your wounds after that."

"And he did so much more for me than just that," Emilia whimpered in a soft tone, gently squeezing her sleeping knight's hand into hers. She did not tear up, but the words from her other self brought back a flash of those horrible memories...seeing how Subaru had quite literally died for her, not just saved her life.

By no means did she enjoy seeing him sacrifice himself for her, throw his life away for her so many times just to save the life of an ungrateful girl like her who couldn't even trust him enough to give him any name other than that of the Jealous Witch.

However...she felt as if she would be some sort of monster if those actions of hers did not move her heart even a little...and feeling his warmth besides her only made that feeling even more tangible.

"Don't allow yourself to be mislead, Emilia," Rem spoke, giving her newly forged friend a bright smile. "While Subaru-kun truly went through a lot to save you, at the end of the day, it was his choice. I also think that Subaru-kun's mental state and actions are a little worrying, but, he wouldn't want us to lose ourselves over this. Right?" She tilted her head to the side.

Emilia was stunned into silence by Rem's words for a few seconds...but eventually found herself smiling back in return to the girl.

"That's right, Rem. I am still worried about Subaru...but nothing good will come of letting myself get beat up over all of that. We can't let ourselves get all befuddled!" She remarked, leaving Rem to giggle as the half-elf brought a proud smile to her face.

Somehow, she could faintly imagine Subaru warmly calling her out on her dated language.

"I wish I'd at least gotten the chance to give any thanks at all. I didn't even see him 'till the Royal Selection, and even then, he got beat up by mister noble-knight over there," Felt groaned in annoyance, once again wishing that Reinhard had properly stepped forward and snatched Subaru up to be with them.

She owed him not only for saving her life, but for saving Old Man Rom's life. Even though they were now in an alliance, she still had to admit a little bit of jealousy for Emilia even getting to properly portray her gratitude.

While the blonde ex-slum-dweller had only left it in as a passing comment, Julius felt a stinging in his heart. In some way, he felt that he wasn't wrong for ridding Subaru of some of his arrogance at that moment...yet, he had done so without any consideration of the boy's past, or anything he might have suffered through.

Never would he have guessed that the boy in front of him had been forced through death multiple times. And he knew, for sure, that if he had such knowledge, that he would have treated things much differently. Primarily, Julius Juukulius was a knight. Yet, even before that, he was a proper human being.

"I apologize, my friend." He lowered his head in a solemn show of remorse, eyes closing for a few seconds of silence.

The black-haired man was shocked into silence by this answer for a second, before showing her a sincere smile, turning forward and stretching his arms up into the air.

"Then, again, I guess it's time to start a new day!"

We now change our scenery to show a beautiful outside view of an extremely large mansion – presumably the one that Subaru was resting in. There was a huge, well-kept garden on both sides of the property's entrance, along with an extremely wide smooth brick walkway leading up to the entrance.

"This place really is huge…" Subaru's voice cut in with amazement, revealing that this scene had indeed been his own view of the mansion.

Once more the scene would change, showing a panning shot of a well-kept large yard, the size of a big park. "The yard isn't so much a yard as it is a field."

"With how advanced Subaru's world is, wouldn't they have a lot of places like this?" Petra asked, being surprised at just how impressed Subaru seemed to be at the largeness of the Mathers mansion.

"He must just be taken aback by the sight. I mean, even if they're around, you probably don't exactly go mansion sight-seeing, right?" Al muttered, although he really had no idea if such mansions were common or not back in his home.

"It is just as Betty's contractor said, I suppose. No matter where you go, there are always those who will have, and those who will not."

Nobody could exactly refute the Great Spirit's words, as they were all reminded of the horrible states of their own slums, despite the problem having been recognized for years.

Returning to our protagonist, we see him once more donning his usual tracksuit, practically on the ground as he stretched his right leg out to the side.

"Oh! Those are Subaru's radio calisthenics exercises!" Petra let out a sound of awe, as she remembered the days of doing those exercises along the tracksuit wearing boy.

"Heh, Capn's moves are lookin' s'fresh s'usual!" Garfiel rose a fist to the air, deciding on having his captain teach him even more of those exercises whenever he could get the chance.

"Mimi thinks those moves look really cool, too!" The chibi-demihuman exclaimed, with a bright smile.

Emilia was watching him with interest, a hand up to her chin. "Those are unusual movements. What are you doing?"

At this question, he got back up to stand, leaning over and placing some pressure on his knees. "My homeland's ancient practice of warm-up exercises." He briefly explained, only to suddenly stand at attention.

"Warm up movements?" Julius spoke, with some interest. "It may be of prudence to take note of these exercises. I imagine that for a civilian like Subaru to have such a well-built form, they must work rather well."

"I will admit, that is something to give Subaru-kyun. He may be weak, but I can tell that it's not by any lack of effort, nyan~." Felix nodded to his friend's accurate assessment of the boy's physical state.

"Indeed. I do believe I have even seen these exercises performed by a surprising amount of people in many different areas, likely inspired by Subaru. Perhaps even I might try to pick some of them up, myself-"

"Does a guy as powerful as you even need warmups, Rein?" Felt gave her knight a blank stare, who could do nothing but give his mistress an apologetic smile in return.

"Regardless of one's power, it never does to become lax in training the body that it resides in." Wilhelm advised from up above, leaving Felt to look up at him with a raised eyebrow, and Reinhard looking at him with surprise, once again taken aback by his grandfather casually joining into his conversations.

Felt gave Reinhard an impish grin, bopping him on the shoulder and then turning her gaze forward, leaving the young swordmaster to reply stiffly.

"That...that is correct, grandfather. Even I do not neglect my daily training. So, indeed, having such exercises could prove greatly beneficial. Would you...like to join me sometime?" The young man asked, with an almost innocent hope in his voice.

Wilhelm hesitated for a bit...before giving him a small smile. "...Yes. I would very much like to some day."

"Now, Emilia-tan, join me! Radio calisthenics, number 2!" The boy began to lightly bounce up and down on his feet. "Bounce on both feet to loosen up your body!"

Despite the simple exercise, Emilia was startled, her eyes filled with astonishment. "Huh? You're kidding! What is that?"

Watching her wonder-filled eyes, Emilia couldn't help but tighten her fists slightly. It wasn't even about her continually seeing these moments she could never share with Subaru...but seeing just how well she was getting along with him, she felt incompetent.

How could she let him die? What threat was it that would get to him? Could she really not even stop the boy who had saved her life from horribly dying?

As much as these desperate questions raced around in her head, no answer would come to her.

Unaffected, Subaru continued on with his exercises, raising his arms up to the air and bringing them down, only to cross them over one another and then out to the side.

"Just do what I do! I'll drill the essence of radio calisthenics into you!"

With the words of a true instructor, the two set about going through Subaru's radio calisthenics routine.

"I will admit, these do look pretty darn interestin'. Might give 'em a try, m'self!" Ricardo, ever the battle-hardened-warrior was never one to turn down a chance to train his body even further.

"Too bad he just started spreadin' them exercises 'round fer free. I'm sure he coulda' turned a tidy profit teachin' people those routines!" Anastasia's eyes practically shined at the thought, and the fact that they had gotten so popular among the people already was proof enough that there would definitely be willing customers.

"...Your boss really does monetize everything, doesn't she?" Felt looked at Mimi and Hetaro for consideration. While the little thief was once a bit greedy herself, she never truly tried to turn everything into a profit.

"That's mum for you!"

"That's just Miss Anastasia…"

Both twins replied, seeming absolutely used to the antics of their money-loving, overall greedy boss. The boss that they both loved and would happily serve.

From a window, Beatrice could be seen staring outside with an unreadable expression.

Roswaal rose an eyebrow at this forlorn gaze that the Great Spirit had in her eyes. 'It truly must have been some sort of preordained destiny. Beatrice never left the library for anything but emergencies, yet she emerged simply to watch Subaru. Even if this is a failed loop...' The lord couldn't help but feel amazed at these early signs.

"You must've wanted to join in, huh, Beatrice?" Emilia looked down to the spirit beside her, with a small smile.

"Hmph! Betty doesn't have the slightest idea of what this version of her was thinking, I suppose! Betty refuses to answer this question!" The little spirit reverted right back into tsundere-mode, leaving Emilia to just giggle at her silliness.

It was small moments like that which keep the dark thoughts encroaching on both of their minds about Subaru's impending demise at bay, even if only by a small amount.

The thoughts about both of their weakness and inability to protect that single boy...both of them kept it away from their minds the best they could. Their pain was just barely hidden behind their smiles and laughter, but it was necessary to keep it hidden, for the sake of their own minds.

"Now, raise both of your arms and shout, 'Victory!'" Subaru proclaimed, hoisting both his arms up in the air with a wide smile on his face. As the screen panned out, it could be shown that he was holding Emilia's right hand up too, with the silver-haired girl still looking unsure.

"V-Victory!" She exclaimed, raising her next fist as she followed the motions of her tracksuit-wearing instructor.

"Victory! Victory! Victory!" A cute voice could be heard as a certain gray ball of fuzz jumped up from Emilia's hair. It was Puck, happily joining in on the conclusion of the routine, as well.

"Victory!" The sisterhood of Petra, Felt, and Mimi exclaimed together, letting out happy laughter after they had let out their cry of victory.

"No matter what the Cap'n does, s'always fun s'hell! Makes me wanna get back into joinin' him in his mornin' exercises, m'self!" Garfiel was practically itching for action, fired up by the climax of the calisthenics exercises.

"If there's one thing that cat spirit knows how to do, it's to lighten up the mood." Al grinned, clearly entertained by the sudden and bombastic appearance of Puck on screen.

"I do wish I was around when Emilia-sama still possessed her spirit, myself." Otto couldn't stop a small smile from showing on his face, finding it quite amazing how their camp seemed to possess connections to not just one, but two Great Spirits.

"Hey, Subaru! Great morning, isn't it?" The cat spirit winked at the boy, who just looked back to him with an exasperated smile.

"Well, for me, it's been nothing but chaos since the wee hours of the morning." He folded his arms and sighed. "Looping hallways and a mean little girl on a rampage...And then, shedding the sweat of passion with Emilia-tan!" As he mentioned the last part, he looked up with a noticeable blush on his face, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Wording!" Emilia yelled desperately, leaving everyone to share a laugh at the expense of the silver-haired elf's embarrassment.

"Barusu has not a single ounce of shame." Ram shook her head, with a slight smile making its' way onto her face. "Well, I suppose that is what makes him entertaining to watch, at times such as this."

"Don't make it sound so scandalous!" Said Emilia-tan chided, before looking up to her beloved spirit with a smile. "Good morning, Puck. Sorry I put you through so much yesterday." She apologized, holding out her hand for the spirit to slowly lower down into.

Julius nodded in approval, finding a warm smile coming to his features upon seeing the interactions between the half elf and her spirit. As a fellow user of the spirit arts, he could appreciate seeing one bond with their spirits all too well.

"Morning, Lia. I almost lost you yesterday. I can never thank Subaru enough. I must do something to thank him." The cat spirit offered, folding his arms.

"Another big favor owed ta' Natsuki-kun, huh? He's gotta make somethin' outta this one," Anastasia spoke with an almost confidence, looking forward to a show of the boy's ambition now that his mind was not currently clouded by any specific desire.

"I would not hold my breath," Crusch stated, seemingly entirely confident, herself, that the boy would not ask for anything quite that ridiculous.

"Okay, then…" Subaru winked, slowly walking up to Puck. "Let me...pet you whenever I want!"

"Seriously?!" Anastasia stared to the screen in disbelief. "It's a favor from a Great Spirit! And all he's gonna ask for is ta' pet its' fur?" Deep down, the merchant was entirely shaken by this seeming...this seeming…

"Lack of ambition," Priscilla concluded, her expression hidden behind her fan. "The commoner wishes for nothing extravagant in reward for his efforts. He seems rather content with simply being thanked...a mindset truly lacking in ambition...yet somewhat interesting." She lowered her fan to reveal a smirk.

"Indeed. Natsuki-sama may be a man lacking in ambition...yet he is one able to accomplish feats beyond us that hold it in spades. A great man, with an entirely humble mindset." Crusch had long since gained a grasp of Subaru's attitude towards such things, seeing how he hadn't even asked her for any credit or rewards for his assistance in the White Whale battle.

His strategies and tactics had saved thousands of men's lives, fulfilled Wilhelm's vengeance, and kept both her and her knight alive, yet he had not asked for a single thing in return, aside from her help in dealing with Witch Cultists, a request which only served to fully help those aside from him.

It was at that moment that Crusch Karsten had truly become respectful of the man, Natsuki Subaru, as a person...and she was never one to believe in him mixing in corrupted ambition, even if he was not yet the Natsuki Subaru that she knew.

Felix rubbed his arms, remembering how hastily he had attempted to dissolve the alliance between them after Crusch had lost her memories. At the time, the knight had believed it right to cut their losses and disavow the alliance...yet, while he cared for Crusch above all else, he felt it unbefitting of him as a knight, and a healer, to leave aside a man who had saved his life, just as he saved many others, without a second thought.

While the knight didn't consider himself an arrogant person by any means...he at least recognized, through this thought process, that he could be rather rash to action, especially when it involved Crusch. It was something the knight decided to work on, from that moment forward.

Emilia leaned forward in surprise, staring at him in disbelief. "Huh? That's all?"

"For a first-rate fur master such as myself, being able to love on the object of your petting affections at any time is worth just as much as a multimillionaire's riches!" Subaru explained, now holding the fluffy cat spirit and gently scritching along his soft fur with his fingers.

"And oh, man, these ears!" The boy doted, now tenderly rubbing the floating spirit's fluff filled ears with his thumbs. He rubbed his cheek against the spirit, smiling in clear satisfaction at this reward. "I'm in love with how soft you are!"

"How envious...Betty wishes to pet Bubby's fur for herself, I suppose!" Beatrice shook her head indignantly at this scene, her drills swaying to and fro. She pouted, speaking once more in a lower voice. "Or at least, Betty wishes to receive pats from her contractor…" The spirit huffed, leaning her head.

"You're reeeeeally so adorable, Beatrice~." Emilia whispered, having heard the spirit's frustrated words...including the last ones she hadn't intended for anyone to hear. She brought a hand to softly pat the little spirit's head, and surprisingly...she allowed it!

"Betty doesn't want to hear such words from you," The Great Spirit scoffed, her butterfly irises narrowing on the screen. "But from one lover of Bubby to another, I can let it go, just this once, I suppose!"

"I know you feel that way since I can somewhat read your mind, but I'm amazed you can actually say it!" Puck admitted.

"Ha! I'm more amazed that the Great Spirit-sama believed that Barusu would honestly be ashamed to say such things." Ram shook her head, a smirk making its way onto her face.

Emilia was off to the side, looking at the two of them with a worried expression. Seemingly sensing this, Puck spoke to reassure her. "It's okay, Lia. I can't find any malice, hostility, or ill-intent in Subaru."

"Two vouches of Natsuki-sama's lack of hostility...with two Great Spirits vouching for him, it is hard to doubt that any attack would come from within the mansion. If not from around him, then where must the attack come from?" Crusch pondered, her eyes narrowed at the screen.

"Wait, wait...what do you mean from 'around him'? I know big bro musta' seemed suspicious, but you ain't implying that nobody woulda' killed him, right?" Felt interrupted the woman's casual words, giving her a glance filled with disbelief.

Disturbingly...Crusch remained silent to the woman's words. And so did everyone else.

Rem wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a chill run through her body...and Ram looked down with a slight guilt in her own usual fiery glare.

"It is not thaaaaaat surprising~." Roswaal was the one to break the silence. Despite not wearing his makeup, he had gone back to his usual way of speech. Felt glared at the sneaky-eyed man.

"And what do you mean by that? You admittin' somethin'?"

"Perhaaaaaps I am...perhaps not. It does not matter. What does matter, is that none of these candidates can well and truuuully say they would not have committed such actions, to someone with Subaru-kun's...timing~." A sly grin made its' way to the mans face.

Felt was taken aback by all of these words, looking around at all of the candidates with a nervous expression on her face.

Anastasia was a woman who obviously would've realized Subaru's worth...but at the same time, her senses as a merchant would have likely told her he was probably some glory-seeking hound, or a spy cashing in on a conveniently opportunistic moment. Most of all, her knight, Julius, would never have trusted someone like Subaru from day one.

Crusch was all too familiar with people's lies and masking of their emotions. Likely, she would have even sensed for herself that Subaru held no ill-intent, and that he told no lies. Yet, that alone did not leave reasons for blind trust. And looking at her impulsive knight's guilt-ridden face, and remembering just how poorly he and Subaru once got along...it was easy to believe that Subaru may have not exactly been "welcomed" as anything other than suspicious.

Priscilla...let out a scoff, a pleased grin showing on her face. "Mineself would never do something as wasteful as simply throw the boy away. While he is weak, inept, much too suspicious, and ignorant...he is somewhat interesting. That interest is enough not to immediately perform such a foolish action as ending his life. Mineself needs not worry about the possibility of him being a spy, regardless. The world always turns in mine favor, and I would personally dispose of him should he attempt anything foolish."

While Felt was not on the greatest of terms with the woman...she felt like she could at least trust her blunt honesty. Yet, the little blonde felt somewhat jaded by the silence that Anastasia and Crusch seemed to have. It was one thing to not want to be a sucker, but to just kill a kid based off of suspicion…?

"Something is really wrong with you guys, after all. Can't believe you'd prioritize your own asses over killing someone as innocent as big bro." She spat, turning her gaze forward.

Emilia held her knight closer, her eyes closing as she reflected on her own, more mature mind. She understood now just how suspicious it was for someone like Subaru to show up with his exact timing...but still, even with her newly developing mindset, she could never kill anyone who had saved her life.

Not just because he was cleared for innocence...but a small part of her just had to show her appreciation to a savior of hers.

Seemingly unaffected by how the spirit was judging him, the boy held him out to look at him again. "It's so cute how you call her 'Lia', too."

"Not as cute as your 'Emilia-tan!'" Puck fired right back at him.

"Such morbid matters aside…" Feeling the palpable tension in the air, Julius spoke up, a forced smile on him. "Subaru's affinity with spirits is rather amazing. Even I would have trouble so casually getting along with such powerful spirits."

"Is it truly just his affinity for spirits?" Reinhard questioned, a hand on his chin. "While I feel that may be a part of it, I believe it's also due to Subaru's unique nature and circumstances."

Emilia nodded in agreement to Reinhard's words, holding both palms out in front of her. "That's right. Usually anyone who recognizes Puck's true identity as a Great Spirit, or even realizes that I am a spirit arts user fears him too much to ever treat him casually...but Subaru's lack of knowledge about that let him interact so regularly with him."

Rem giggled at that remark, gently moving her hand up to her forehead to brush over the spot where her horn would usually protrude from in her Oni form. "Regardless of who they are, Subaru-kun never treats them with discrimination. He simply judges you for who you are."

These words resonated with Emilia of course, but Garfiel was the one to speak up in agreement. "Th'ts th'Capn fer ya, he'll look ya straight in th'eyes n'see ya not as yer appearance, but who ya really are. Race n'all that crap don't mean shit t'him!" He exclaimed confidently, with Otto giving a short, agreeing nod from beside him.

"And to think he can remain that way after undoubtedly going through so much tragedy, and likely seeing some of the worst sides of many of us" Crusch shook her head. "Natsuki-sama is truly an enigma of a man."

"You really are mysterious, Subaru." Emilia whispered in an oddly serious tone.

"Huh?"

Yet, by the time Subaru looked to her for an answer, all he saw was a beautiful, bewitching smile present on those lovely light pink lips of hers...one which left him blushing, hard.

"The places that he focuses on suuuuuure are telling~!" Felix snickered at the sudden upping of the quality of the images on screen.

The knight's teasing words left Emilia blushing, hands up to her cheeks. "Ooooh…" The half elf was practically overheating in embarrassment as she thought to the kiss the two of them had just recently shared. Seeing Subaru stare so intently at her lips...it made her feel heated, wondering just what was going through his head.

Seemingly noticing someone behind the boy, Emilia again spoke up. "Oh? What brings you two here?"

Turning to look behind him, Subaru noticed the two stunning maids from earlier, who bowed as they spoke their message politely and in-sync. "Emilia-sama. Our lord, Roswaal-sama, has returned. Please join us inside of the mansion."

Roswaal's eyes widened, as he brought a hand up to his chin. Besides the boy's interaction with his maids and Emilia, so far, everything was mostly the same. He wondered just where the major true differences would begin to show themselves.

Moving from the yard of the mansion, we are treated to a rather simple dining room, adorned with only a table with a white tablecloth atop it, and chairs on each side.

Subaru walked into the room, only to be stopped by a familiar childish voice from behind him.

"I was watching you from upstairs, and you know what? It would seem you are quite dumb, I suppose." Turning his head to the side, Subaru would notice these annoyed words coming from the drill loli from earlier.

"Sheesh, not so keen on admittin' that y'got a lil' bit o'interest in the kid?" Ricardo chuckled at Beatrice's tsundere behavior.

"Betty was never one to be honest to her feelings, I suppose. I am not to keen to admit it, but likely...Betty just wanted to find out more about her contractor in this timeline." Surprisingly, Beatrice admitted her faults with honesty, letting out a short breath as she leaned into her contractor's chest.

Thankfully, she didn't have to think about such what-ifs so deeply...not when her contractor was right there, his warmth reassuring her that he was not going anywhere. Yet, if she only had one worry in her head...it was hoping that her fears on what might kill him were wrong.

"Where do you get off saying that, you loli?!" He demanded in outrage.

She turned to him with furrowed eyebrows, clearly still ticked off by him. "What does that word even mean? I've never even heard it before, and it irritates me."

"If only she knew…" Al shook his head, causing everyone else in the room to let out some boisterous laughter.

"F'she knew, maybe she coulda' avoided tha' grasps of that 'lolimancer' technique, eh?" Anastasia, having long since picked up on the inside joke left everyone to let out another bout of laughter, much to Beatrice's annoyance.

Emilia entered right behind Subaru, with the gray cat spirit on her shoulder waving to the little girl.

"Hey, Betty. Haven't seen you in four days. Have you been doing well and staying ladylike?"

To Puck's words, her entire demeanor changed, with her usual uncaring expression changing to one of deep happiness and endearment to the spirit. "Bubby!" She cooed, clasping her hands together. "I've been waiting for you to come home! Will you stay with me today, do you suppose?"

"Sure, no problem!" Puck happily jumped right into her outstretched palms, looking up at her with a small smile. "Let's finally relax together today."

"Yaaay~!" The girl twirled with him in her hands, as she headed towards the table.

"W-Woah! I never knew that Beatrice-sama was that close to Emilia-sama's spirit!" Petra seemed completely taken aback by this show of behavior, her eyes widened in surprise.

Emilia chuckled to herself, thinking back fondly to those old days. "That's right, Beatrice was always so close to Puck. Back then, that was the only sort of 'interaction' that I had with her." She looked down at the spirit with a knowing smile.

"Truly? While you do seem somewhat tough on Emilia-dono, I never quite expected the two of you to have barely had any prior relationship," Crusch admitted with surprise, raising her eyes.

"Yes…" Beatrice folded her arms, lowering her head. "before Subaru convinced Betty to talk to the half-elf more, I treated her mostly as a go-between to Bubby. I did not quite dislike her, but I was not quite close to her either, in fact."

"Yeesh. Big sis really didn't seem to be too close to anyone in that mansion, huh?" Felt noted, an analysis which left both Rem and Ram to look off to the side with guilt in their hearts.

Both had known that she was a kind, somewhat naive girl at heart...but Ram was rather dissatisfied with her lack of self-sufficiency and willpower, while Rem was simply prejudiced towards her due to her association with the Witch.

"Emilia-sama being treated as a simple means to an end...truly, something that one would expect from interactions between two Great Spirits." Julius seemed to take this information with almost a hint of admiration, his respect for spirits utterly blinding him.

"I think you're looking at those words with rose-tinted lenses, Julius-kyun," Felix spoke, an exasperated expression on his face.

Subaru was left in absolute bewilderment at this turn of events, leaving Emilia to giggle and look up to him with a knowing smile.

"Bewildered, aren't you? Beatrice is so taken with Puck."

Subaru looked off to the side, deciding to crack a joke to ease his confusion. "Who even says 'bewildered' nowadays?"

While Emilia would usually giggle at those characteristic words from Subaru, she found the tinge of concern pressing away at her chest stopping her from such lighthearted reactions. Yet again...yet again her knight was saying these things to a version of her that would never get to properly hear them.

Her fists tightened as she held it against her chest, trying to calm down her anxiously beating heart. She needed to keep watching while attempting to keep her mind clear. For Subaru.

And into the room stepped a man, a man with wearing clown makeup and a ridiculous looking set of frilly clothing. "My, how surprising to see you here, Beatrice! I'm so happy you've decided to dine with me."

"And so I maaaake my debut~." Roswaal grinned, a grin which left Petra to stick out her tongue at the clown lord, though Frederica's stern glare stopped her from saying anything further.

"Psh, you barely talked and I've already got enough of you, you sleazy clown!" Felt voiced her sister's thoughts with a more adamant tone in her voice.

Despite Ram's distancing from the man, she opened her mouth to defend her master, but was stopped by a tug on her sleeve from her sister, who gave her a knowing look and shook her head, as if to discourage Ram from saying anything further.

"My, so rough towards me...I suppose having the Sword Saint behind one's back must embolden your behavior somewhat, hmm~?" The man was seemingly unbothered by Felt's words, calmly firing back a retort that made the girl fume.

"Now listen here-!" The crimson-eyed girl was about to say more, but was stopped by her knight's ever-cautious grasp on her shoulder. She didn't even have to turn around to know the expression of disagreement he was making. "Tch. Lucky bastard," She muttered, begrudgingly leaning back into her seat.

Watching the conflict between the two, Priscilla hummed, giving the little thief an approving look. It seemed she was the only of the candidates to so far realize that something was indeed...off, about that clown.

While she had no idea just what was eating away at her so, the fiery Countess simply knew that something was wrong with the man down below them. Her instincts told her so, and she trusted her instincts and feelings more than nearly anything else.

Beatrice turned her head to address the man with a clear frown on her face. "That boy is more than enough addle-brained fool for me, I suppose. Betty was only waiting for Bubby!"

Beatrice sighed at the words from her other self. She felt regret over having referred to her contractor as anywhere near the level of the pathetic man that was Roswaal...yet she at least had to smirk at calling the fool a fool.

Subaru casually pat the man on the back, a carefree smile on his face. "You guys hired a clown to entertain you before each meal? I'll never understand how rich folks think."

Anastasia burst out into laughter, hands over her stomach as she grinned in amusement at Subaru's utter lack of understanding of just who he was talking too. "Ah man, ah man! This boy s'a riot, ain't he?" The girl couldn't find it anything but amusing at just how clueless Subaru was.

"This ignorance of Natsuki-sama's is truly becoming almost harmful to his relations…" Crusch brought a hand to her forehead, almost feeling a headache coming on at the way the boy was treating such an important figure in the kingdom.

"It's almost painful…" Tivey murmured, his own mind unable to handle seeing the way the kid was just blundering into his interactions.

"Truly? I believe that he deserves such words. Constantly dressing like a clown, one should expect to be referred to as such, correct?" Priscilla seemed confused at their delicate handling of the man, leaving the three, alongside Julius, Wilhelm, and Reinhard to look at her with bewildered expressions.

"Come on, Princess…" Al muttered, finding it tiring just how the woman's blunt words sometimes but them in quite dark places, diplomatically.

Felix just snickered at Al's predicament, finding it a little bit cathartic to see another knight in trouble after he had just gotten over a particularly strong rough patch with his mistress.

Of course, there were those like Garfiel, Beatrice, Petra, and Felt that smiled in satisfaction at just how the man was being treated as nothing but a lesser jester.

Even Otto slightly pumped a fist, having known himself just how much trouble and pain that Roswaal had caused the group.

Rem was the only one who seemed confused, as she looked among those in the theater. She didn't understand at all why Roswaal was receiving such mean, alienating treatment from everyone else.

While she wasn't particularly close to her lord, she still considered him the man who had saved her and her sister's lives from the Witch Cultists, but she remembered what her sister had told her during the break...the group had had some sort of conflict with him, but beyond that, she wasn't able to tell.

The blue-haired Oni decided on saving any judgment for later, simply grasping her hero's hands to get rid of any of these odd feelings that were still overwhelming her.

Emilia looked at Subaru with a nervous expression on her face. "Um, Subaru, that man is…"

"Oh no, it's quite all right, Emilia-sama."

Subaru looked oddly at the man as he spoke. "What do you mean?"

"Only that I am the lord of this manor, Roswaal L. Mathers, Natsuki Subaru-kun." He suddenly got in the face of the boy, who had no choice but to back up with a nervous gasp.

"Close!"

"Too close!"

"Way too damn close!"

Mimi, Petra and Felt exclaimed in unison, sharing varying looks of disgust at just how unnecessarily close Roswaal had come to Subaru's face.

"I woulda' socked him a good one f'he tried th't shit with me…" Garfiel grumbled, holding up a shaking fist as he narrowed his eyes at Roswaal.

"Garf!" His sister chided, but the boy just ignored her, firm in his thoughts.

"I would agree, but…" Otto gulped, as he looked to the ever-smiling man. Without his usual makeup on, he looked even more intimidating to the ex-merchant than usual...not to mention, there was an even more protective red-haired Oni off to the side, glaring at both him and Garfiel. "...I'd rather leave the situation alive."

We change to look at the entirety of the mansion now in attendance at the dining room table, Subaru taking a spoonful of some soup in front of him.

"This is way better than normal food!" He exclaimed in surprise.

Roswaal let out a pleased hum. "Despite her appearance, Rem's cooking is quite impressive.

"So this was cooked by the one with blue hair...um...Rem-chan, right?" Subaru guessed, scratching a finger to his cheek. "You made this?"

Rem smiled proudly, happy not to hear Roswaal's barely-convincing compliment, but instead delighted at having her hero praise her cooking and call her by her name for the first time...she would prefer to hear him simply call her 'Rem', however.

Meanwhile, Reinhard narrowed his eyes at her, feeling a competitive instinct rising from within. The Sword Saint was not one to care about such things, usually...but he couldn't help but wonder how his Divine Protections of the Taste King and Frying, Steaming, and Boiling would fare against such a masterful chef?

Or, perhaps, would using them be cheating? Could he truly taint the act of cooking by cheating with his Divine Protections?

Felt looked up at her knight with blank eyes, letting out a disappointed sigh. "I just know you're thinking something stupid right now, Rein."

His lack of a reply was all that she needed as an answer.

The maid nodded her head in response. "Yes, Sir. I do the cooking in this house. My sister is not very good at cooking."

"Ah, twins who are good at different things! Is your sister good at cleaning, then?"

"Yes, that is correct. My sister excels at housework, especially cleaning and laundry." She answered, with Subaru raising his spoon to her in expectation.

"So, Rem-rin, you're good at cooking, but bad at cleaning and laundry?"

"No, I am generally good at all household tasks. I am also better at cleaning and laundry than my sister." She answered, completely shattering the boy's idea of the 'twin sisters' trope.

"Does your sister even have a purpose?!" He yelled in exasperation, looking to the other quiet sister.

"Subaru…" Reinhard sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. Though not usually a harsh or stern person by any regard, he had to admit that the joke was in bad taste.

"I would invite him to come over here and find out…" Ram said with a shaking fist, knowing that the only reason she hadn't lashed out at the boy was because he was a valued guest of Roswaal and Emilia.

"That was somewhat out of line." Julius agreed with a stern nod, finding it highly disconcerting that his friend would have such an impolite showing to the maids. He supposed that this was the beginning of showing the boy's intact somewhat arrogant nature.

Even Rem frowned somewhat. Now that she knew her hero, she understood it was simply a part of that bombastic, joking nature of hers, but if she knew herself, hearing Subaru say such words about her sister...she doubted it helped his likely already strained relationship with her.

"I do hope that Natsuki-sama corrects this part of his behavior sooner than later, myself." Crusch frowned, leaving her knight to let out a small victorious chuckle.

"You are truly a strange young man. You come to the mansion of Margrave Mathers, in the Kingdom of Lugnica, and you say you don't understand a thing." Roswaal spoke curiously, his fingers folded together.

Roswaal chuckled at his words, wondering just how much of what he said here were acting or truth. After all, the Subaru that he had met was quite familiar with Emilia's stance, how to write, and the truth of his situation…

The man ignored the guilt that was constantly churning around in his stomach and focused on the screen, an even larger part of him eager to find out just what had produced the Subaru that he had met.

"Is something bad happening in this country?" Subaru questioned, not entirely sure why this topic was suddenly being brought up.

"Well, it is not in an agreeable state. After all, Lugunica's king is currently not present."

The man's ominous words made Subaru pause eating, looking at the man with nervous eyes.

"Subaru-dono must have felt as if he was being let in on some extremely concealed secret…" Wilhelm was easily able to pick apart the boy's emotions.

"Fer a person from another world, it must sound pretty wild t'just come out n'admit that tha' king is missin' from his post. That sorta information, it would usually be somethin' ya'd wanna hide, 'fter all," Anastasia reasoned, blue-green eyes shining with a knowing glint.

"That is correct. It would have been preferable if the country were capable of keeping it a secret, however...it's quite impossible to host an entire Royal Selection without having an aware public to vote." Reinhard let out a sigh, remembering just how frenzied the entire kingdom had become at such news.

"As much as I don't like those old men on the council, I guess it's thanks to them that the kingdom is staying in one piece, nyan." Felix shrugged, looking off to the side as Crusch gave him a stern look for his slight badmouthing of the council. The Duchess couldn't exactly refute her knight in his woes, however.

"Now, now, there's no need to be concerned. Everyone is quite aware of the reality already."

"Really?" Subaru was still in disbelief, as he swallowed some of his food. "I expected a 'Now that you know my secret, I can't let you leave here alive' thing."

"Around the same time the king went into hiding, an epidemic spread around the castle. The king and his children are the last of his line. The nation is currently being managed by a council of wise men, and they are now in the process of selecting a new king."

"It might be true that all o'them are gone...but if tha' Sword Saint was right bout his 'lil guess…" Anastasia's eyes slid over to Felt in intrigue.

Everyone there remembered the display that the swordmaster had put on in front of the council, pointing out the fact that the blonde-haired, crimson-eyed girl shared physical characteristics with the Royal Family...and her supposed age matched up in years to the kidnapping, as well.

"To think that a simple slum rat such as her could ever have a regal background," Priscilla spat, finding the idea an absolutely revolting one. She did not like the little runt already, and the idea of her being anything close to royalty just sickening.

"It was quite the serious claim, even coming from you, Reinhard-dono." Crusch, a vested member of noble class had quite the time believing such a claim, herself. Yet she had sensed not a single lie or bit of disbelief from the Sword Saint when he spoke.

"I was just surprised to learn that Felt-chan was possibly a little princess! She does have this reeeeeeeally lovely, cute aura about her when she dresses up, though…" Emilia gave a bright smile to Felt, who blushed and turned away, scratching her cheek.

"D-Don't say stupid stuff like that, big sis! I ain't even sure about all that crap Rein was spewing, the only family I know is Old Man Rom! And you coulda' just stopped at 'lovely', you didn't have to call me cute!"

The half-elf giggled at Felt's desperate retort of her almost motherly compliments. "I'm just telling the truth, though! Subaru would agree, too!"

"D-Don't bring big bro into this!"

As the rest of the theater shared a laugh, Otto was watching with analytical eyes, assessing the situation with his sharp wit. Felt's possible standing as a member of the Royal Candidate was by no means small. If she was revealed to truly be a direct descendant of the King, the entire Royal Selection could possibly be called off in favor of handing the throne to its' rightful surviving successor.

By permanently allying with Felt, their camp had made a large move forward. Not only were they now a large, 2 person conglomerate...but the Emilia camp's achievements, Felt's possibility of royal succession, the power of the Sword Saint, and the power of Roswaal L. Mathers would all be concentrated into one place.

They were in a precarious position of unimaginable political and literal power – and Otto could tell by the unsettled expressions on some of the candidates, that they understood this.

The head of internal affairs gave a dry smile, realizing that the coming days outside of the theater would leave him with much work to accomplish.

Roswaal's explanation left Subaru to hum, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. "I see. I'm starting to get the picture. On top of the king's absence, the royal selection is causing confusion in the kingdom. Then suddenly, I appear from an unknown nation-"

"WAIT, I'M TOTALLY SUSPECT HERE!" He yelled, nervous sweat running down his face as he realized just why he was considered odd by so many of the mansion's residents.

"The boy only just realizes?" Priscilla rose an eyebrow, noting that the group had collectively come to that conclusion much earlier.

"I'm just hoping that these guys don't do any of that stupid crap the clown was talking 'bout." Felt groaned, dreading the idea that any of these people in the room aside from Beatrice and Emilia could be a possible murderer to her big bro.

"And on top of all that, you made contact with Emilia-sama, thus becoming connected to my household." Roswaal added, leaving the tracksuit-wearing boy to look at the magician in even further confusion.

"Wait, why would the lord of the mansion call her Emilia-sama?"

"It's only natural to address someone of higher status with due respect." He answered right away, holding his arms out.

"U-Um, so Emilia-tan would be…" Subaru practically cringed with realization, as he looked to the silver-haired beauty. She turned to him with a small, somewhat nervous smile on her as she answered.

"My current position is that of a candidate to become the Kingdom of Lugunica's forty-second ruler, with the backing of Margrave Roswaal."

"What?!" Subaru practically jumped out of his seat in surprise at this revelation.

"It's reeeeeeeally refreshing to see this sort of surprised reaction from Subaru. Even if, in these circumstances…" Despite that usual malaise and guilt coming over her thinking of her knight's doom, she still managed to giggle, keeping her spirits somewhat high.

She held his hand in hers, letting out a shaky breath.

"Sorry to surprise you. I wasn't trying to keep it a secret." She said, with some guilt on her face. Her hand moved to the table, where she dropped a familiar looking black insignia, with the red jewel on the front.

"Hey, it's that insignia." Subaru murmured with recognition.

"This qualifies one to be a candidate for king. It's a touchstone for determining if one is worthy of the throne." Emilia explained calmly.

"Then that means, Emilia-tan, you lost an insignia that qualifies you to rule the kingdom?!" The nasty-eyed boy's shock at just how deep the loss of her insignia ran showed clearly on his face.

"I still can't believe that truly happened…" Julius let out a deep sigh, looking down at the half-elf candidate with disbelief. While he couldn't say anything now, as she and her group had more than proved themselves, such a revelation would have ended her chances to win the selection near-permanently.

"Admittedly, I feel partly responsible. To think that I would allow the future thief to get away…" Wilhelm shook his head, feeling as if he should have exercised a bit more of his diligence that day.

Reinhard, on the inside, was honestly a bit happy that the insignia had been stolen, as guilty as it made him feel. He wished that it had not been under the threat of death, but at the same time, he recognized that had such a fate not come to pass, he never wound have found Felt. Nobody would have, not with her trapped in those hopeless slums…

It was somewhat striking for Reinhard to imagine that had he not been led to Felt on that night, he may have been more likely to seen her locked up in some jail cell for her theft, rather than living the life she deserved to live, by right.

"Don't put it like that! I didn't lose it! It was stolen from me by a bad person!" She pouted, clearly unwilling to admit any fault in it.

"Hehe, looks like I really did end up puttin' you in a sour spot, huh? Again, sorry 'bout that, big sis," Felt apologized, bashfully rubbing the back of her head. Emilia shook her head at this apology, a serene smile on her face.

"It was neither of us at fault, but that bad assassin, and whoever hired her. The only thing I blame you for, Felt-chan, is for being a bad girl that used to steal!" Said ex-thief let out a huff, only for Emilia to continue her words. "But, well, I understand why you used to do it. I think everyone does, a little more."

Felt's eyes widened ever so subtly in astonishment to Emilia's sincere words, before she let out a short laugh. "Haha, well...I don't care too much about anyone else, but I'm happy that you can understand me a little more, big sis."

Reinhard looked at her with big, wide hurt eyes, leaving Felt to let out an annoyed groan.

"Aaaagh...and you too, Rein!"

"That's the same thing!" Subaru nearly fell of his chair as he delivered his perfect comeback. "And what happens if you lose that thing, anyway? Will a government office issue another one?"

"Now that would truly be conveeeenient~. Yet, such an option is not even a consideration for ooooooone aiming for the throne. Still too naive, Subaru-kun." Roswaal folded his arms, shaking his head in disappointment.

His onscreen self voiced much the same thoughts.

"Oh my, lost it?! If you'd lost it, then there would be no doubt. If it's believed that one who can't even protect a tiny insignia can't be entrusted with the nation's rule, that would be the end of it." The lord explained, hand on his chest.

Subaru looked down with a small proud smile at this information, arms folded. "Now that I think about it, I did a damn good job." He looked to Emilia with a lecherous look in his eyes and wiggling hands. "This raises my expectation for a reward even more…"

"Pervert."

"Lecherous eyes."

"Urge-driven pig."

"Womanizer!"

Otto broke into a nervous sweat as Ram, Beatrice, Priscilla, and...Felix spoke out against Subaru's behavior one after the other. The merchant looked to the knight with a questioning gaze. "I feel like that last one was not quite on the same level as the others…"

"I just had to get my own cut in, nyan~! It's too fun having all these chances to make some teasing passes at Subaru-kyun, after all!" Felix snickered, unashamed of admitting the fun that he was having in joining in on the girl's accusations.

"I almost feel sorry for tha' Cap'n at moments like these bein' revealed. It ain't on the same level s'that dark shit we saw before...but he's gonna have t'face a nightmare of another kind when he wakes up…" Garfiel wanted to fume at the deceptively feminine knight, though he was much too focused on the fact of his words.

"Indeed…"

Otto followed up, leaving both brothers-in-arms to hold a moment of silence for Subaru's utter verbal massacre.

"Y-yeah, that's right. You're a biiiig savior to me. So ask for anything." The royal candidate was hesitant at first, but seemed to lighten up as she remembered the debt owed to this strange boy.

"You may have any reward you request. Just name your desire." Roswaal backed up, arms held out to the air.

"Least he's got another request t'jump on, this time. Knowin' how he's used th'rest f'his wishes, I ain't got my hopes up, but I'm lookin' forward t'seein what ridiculous thing he's gonna ask for this time, at least." Anastasia, arms folded, watched the screen in barely hidden interest. She knew now that the boy did not hold the greed to ask for selfish requests – but she at least knew

"I have no idea for what Subaru-sama might request, quite frankly. With this being yet another timeline of events that does not align with ours, it is quite possible that he could ask for something beyond our capacities to imagine." Frederica commented, raising a valid point that nearly nobody had quite considered.

"Whatever he's gonna wish for, I doubt it's gonna be anything crazy. Brother's only goal seems to be sticking by that half-elf chick's side, after all," Al pointed out blankly, a point which, contrary to the previous point, nearly everyone had thought of.

"Bets on that love-addled fool choosing some wish regarding working or staying at the mansion?" Beatrice rose her hand, knowing her contractor's obsession with Emilia all too well.

Nearly everyone raised their hands, except for Emilia, who looked around in surprise.

"W-Wha-Wait...but I-!"

The worst, or perhaps, maybe the best part was that Emilia herself couldn't even refute what everyone else was thinking of. She just melted back into her seat, cheeks flushing as she frowned, turning her head to look at her sleeping knight's face.

'I probably would've sent you away if you had asked for a real reward like that, Subaru...but knowing what I know now, I sort of wish for you to really think of yourself.'

While Emilia didn't want her knight to leave her, not by any means, she was not some clingy girl mistress that didn't understand that looking out for her knight was a part of her duty, as well. And knowing what she knew, she at least wished Subaru would receive just one wish and use it for himself...

Subaru bent over in muffled laughter, before standing up, hands pressed on the table. "In that case, I have but one request."

The camera changed to show all those present, as they looked on while awaiting his answer – Beatrice excluded.

"Hire me...to work in this mansion!" He demanded.

There was a collective facepalm shared within the theater, with almost nobody blurting out any sounds of surprise. No, just about everyone had expected him to say such words.

"It's a good thing we weren't betting any money there big sis, otherwise you would've become a beggar real quick!" Felt was the first to burst out into laughter, shaking her head at the all too obvious outcome.

"Yeah, if this was a betting ring, you woulda' been all cashed out." Al followed right behind her, barely containing chuckles. Even his mistress besides him seemed amused.

"As ever, that boy's nature remains in a place between stupidity, and uniqueness," The arrogant woman remarked, a stance which Anastasia shared all to much.

"M'just glad that I kept my expectations down…" Anastasia let out a sigh of relief, though despite her managing of her expectations, it was still something else to have everyone's exact thoughts to come to fruition. In a way, Natsuki Subaru was an unpredictable enigma, but in some ways, he was more predictable than the sunrise and sunset.

"We did expect it, however. And I was never of the belief that Natsuki-sama would indeed be the type to selfishly go for his own desires, even while lacking the development that made him into the man he is today." While as exasperated as the others, Crusch felt some sort of satisfaction in knowing that certain parts of the young man's nature remained unchanged.

"Subaru will be Subaru. That consistency he holds is something that I personally find refreshing." Reinhard smiled, eyes closing in contentment at his friend's strong nature. While the Sword Saint knew he was somewhat still chasing his desires by working at the mansion...it was quite the honorable option to choose to work his hardest as a servant simply to fulfill that desire.

"Even if it is quite overwhelming how truly unchanging his nature can remain…" Julius was just being reminded of why he'd come to conflict with the boy at first, shaking his head in exasperation.

"I just think it makes him interesting, nyan~!" Felix was the most uncaring of the trio, just seeming satisfied at being able to see all these unknown antics of Subaru.

"I simply think that Subaru-kun is cute because he's so honest." Rem admitted, having likely the most skewed view of the boy within the entire theater.

"I still cannot believe just how deep Barusu has his hands into my dear sister. If I didn't know it would hurt Rem, then I would...no, never-mind, that might perhaps be too much, even for Barusu." Ram let out a sigh, looking off to the side.

"Then what?! What would you do?!" Mimi yelled, wanting nothing more than to hear just what sort of evil plans the red-haired Oni would have. But the desperate girl got no response.

Emilia and Beatrice both let out sighs filled with equal measures of disappointment. Each girl had hoped for him to use his wish for something to ever-so-slightly help himself, but both had known that he'd inevitably just choose something like that. Yet, they both shared a knowing smile afterwards, each realizing that they preferred Subaru that way, it was the Subaru they'd both come to care about, after all.

…

"Achoo."

Ram's silent sneeze was the only response in the whole room.

We change to a large clothing closet full of all types of clothing, ranging from fancy dress-wear to maid outfits, alongside many suits.

"Amazing…" Petra's eyes were wide as she caught sight of the large collection of clothing, absolutely taken with just how varied the articles of clothing all were from one another. It slightly reminded her of her old wish to become a tailor.

Emilia is there, looking at Subaru try on some clothes, which seem extremely baggy and unfitting on him.

"It seems this part is at least quite accurate," Ram murmured, a smug smile on her face as she attempted holding back a laugh as best as she could at how ridiculous the boy looked in those baggy clothes.

"That's not quite right...Wasn't there anything else that fit, Subaru?"

"Oddly, some of the girl's stuff fit me, but…" Even the boy himself didn't look too pleased by this situation.

Otto and Garfiel shared a bout of laughter together at their friend's misfortune. As ever, the band of bros was all too happy to have a good laugh to their fellow brother's antics.

Rem and her sister were there too, with Rem taking the precedence to apologize.

"Our deepest apologies, sir...I mean, Subaru-kun."

Rem intertwined her fingers together as she stared at the screen attentively. Somehow, she still couldn't shake the idea that she wasn't exactly 'warming up' to Subaru...no, she knew, even if she refuted the idea. All she could do was hope she'd never made the horrible mistake of hurting him.

And of course, her sister was quick to move into the insults.

"You look ridiculous, sir...I mean, Barusu."

"Uh, Nee-sama, you just turned my name into a blinding curse." Subaru complained.

"T-Too mucha a' riot!" Garfiel exclaimed, with the rest of the guys laughing alongside him. Even the more serious of the cast, like Wilhelm, Julius and Reinhard let out short chuckles.

"A curse! Hmph, if such a stupid-sounding curse existed, Betty would be more than happy to extinguish it from existence, I suppose." Beatrice shook her head in displeasure, narrowing her eyes on the screen. Just the sheer mention of the word 'curse' was putting her on edge.

"Rem, do you notice anything when looking at Barusu's ridiculous appearance?" Ram ignored him, instead turning to her sister. The blue-haired maid but a hand up to her chin.

"His shoulders are shaped funny, his legs are short, and his eyes are scary?"

"P-Pfff-!" Felix was practically shuddering in held back laughter, only managing to straighten up and clear his throat after his mistress, Crusch, turned to give him a sharp, questioning look.

"But I find his eyes quite charming…" Emilia muttered in displeasure, among the few that were actually more interested by Subaru's unique looks rather than put off by it.

Rem wanted to interrupt and say that she felt the same, but no words left the Oni's lips. It was as if that feeling from earlier had a stranglehold over her, completely silencing any possible sense of an addition. She looked down in despondency.

Near-immediately, Ram turned her gaze to her sister, her eyes filling with an ever so barely perceptible sense of worry. Even Roswaal seemed curious, though he had a more than proper idea of just why she was feeling such a way.

The clown lord couldn't help but grin. He had his own sins...but he even then, he could see what was likely coming to them.

'I wonder how many other sinners-to-be are currently within this room?'

Sensing the dangerous aura surrounding Rem, Ram, and Roswaal, Reinhard eyed them cautiously from above, easily picking up on their anxious emotions. Crusch, ever-prepared, seemed to have caught on to it as well. Reinhard turned up to look Crusch in her steely eyes, with both sharing a determined look.

The sword saint, the most powerful group, and Crusch, who was somewhat of the unspoken leader of the group, both decided that they would have to be the ones to keep the cast in check were something to happen. With the Host gone, it was unknown just whether or not the rule on harming one another would be enforced, as well.

'And even if I did make sure to correct any thoughts of these 'failed' timelines being the same as ourselves…'

'It is naive to think that people will so easily let go of such feelings when faced with them.'

Reinhard and Crusch's thoughts flashed through both of their heads, each pillar of the group instinctively preparing themselves for just what was to come. The coming times would be turbulent indeed, but for the moment, they could somewhat relax themselves.

"Two of those are things I can't do anything about!" He retorted, pointing a finger at the two insulting maids, a scowl on his face.

"We can't allow you to work here in such shady-looking attire. People would question Roswaal-sama's dignity. Let us alter the jacket, at least. Rem, if you please." The red-haired sister was quick to think of her master's reputation.

"Always so loyal to that loser…he does have really cool clothes, at least," Petra murmured under her breath, earning her a stern glare from Frederica. "What?! Don't tell me that you don't agree!"

The blonde demihuman let out an exhaustive sigh. "It's not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing with you, Petra...a proper maid must always respect and represent her master well, regardless of her personal feelings. You do understand, correct?" Reluctantly, Petra seemed to take in Frederica's chiding words, looking off to the side with a frustrated frown.

"Yes…"

"Good girl!" Frederica said with a pleased smile, gently rubbing her hand along the little girl's head, balancing out her lecturing with some praise.

"All right, I have to study for the royal selection. Good luck with your work, too, Subaru." Emilia raised a hand in parting to the boy, heading out of the room.

"Yep! Leave it to me, Emilia-tan!" He reassured, giving a thumbs up. Rem approached him, holding out a tape measure in her hands.

"I will take your measurements. Stand still, with your back straight."

Following her orders, Subaru removed his jacket, holding his arms out to either side. Rem came up from behind him, tying the tape around his chest. Unable to resist this odd feeling, Subaru let out a somewhat girlish yelp, leaving Rem to look up at him, clearly displeased.

"Haha, tha' kid sure has a knack fer making lots of funny noises!" Ricardo pointed out with an amused smirk, Al giving a nod from above at the man's conclusion.

"Kinda funny just how fast he gets shaken up by just gettin' measured, though!" With the one-armed knight's words, the two men would share a short laugh, finding joy in the inexperienced, yet entertaining boy's antics.

Priscilla just gave her knight a sideways glance, hiding her expression behind her fan. She turned her gaze ahead at the screen, the small smile forming on her face being thankfully hidden. She had to admit, in some ways other than his irritating character, she did find him rather amusing.

Perhaps if nothing else, she may have taken him on as a jester.

"Please don't make strange noises. It's unpleasant."

"That was beyond my control! This is awkward for a guy in various ways!" He pleaded, resisting the barrage of abuse.

Rem still managed to show a small pout at her treatment of Subaru, shifting somewhat uncomfortably in her seat as she reassuringly pressed herself closer to her hero's arm. If it were the her from this moment, she would've done anything to share such a moment with her hero. Especially if it meant somewhat settling these feelings rampaging around in her heart and mind.

We are shown some quick-cut scenes of Ram showing Subaru around the mansion, before ending at the lavatory of the building.

"In a mansion like this, the restroom must be huge." Subaru mused, opening the door, only to find…

Beatrice laying on a bed, holding Puck closely to her chest.

"A-Again?!" Frederica, usually the ever-so-calm maid seemed taken aback by this instant correct choice of the door to the Great Library. "It truly does not become easier even after seeing it once...for all the time I worked at the mansion, I never saw Beatrice-sama so frequently, let alone viewing her Library more than a handful of times."

"It truly iiiiis a treeeeat for the eyes~." Roswaal agreed, with a keen smile. All he had heard were reports from his maids on such matters, so it was a rather interesting diversion to continue to see such feats for himself.

"You're so great, Bubby! Your fur is the best!" She rolled around on the bed, cuddling with him...only to take a sharp gasp as she noticed Subaru inside, holding the door open.

"...Man, he really caught her lacking." Al shook his head at the utterly embarrassing display, his blunt words leaving nearly everyone to erupt into laughter.

Beatrice meanwhile looked a lot less satisfied with just how thoroughly her personality was prone to change when she was around her brother, pouting and folding her arms close to her chest. She could feel the half-elf's annoying, warm gaze on her back, so she just kept her mouth shut to avoid getting dragged into another stupid exchange of words.

"It's really fun getting to see this side of Beatrice-sama, though. She's not even this honest with her feelings when Subaru is around!" Petra noted, with a certain purple-haired knight nodding in response to her words.

"Just as humans can have different relationships between family and friends, Spirits can also hold many different types of relationships between other spirits and humans. They can vary, of course, but usually they are much more dynamic relationships than what even a contractor and a spirit can achieve alone, whether for better or worse." Julius explained, with Petra nodding as she made sure to diligently store every bit of information away in her head.

"I see...I was not quite familiar with the spiritual arts, myself, but I do suppose that makes quite a large amount of sense. Spirits do operate on quite a different wavelength than what we are familiar to, after all." Frederica's words seemed calm, however, just one look at her even further shocked eyes was showing that the maid had no idea on how to properly reconcile the image in front of her.

She had been too focused on the tense situation earlier to really let it sink in, but the maid was just completely bewildered by the sight of such a happy Beatrice, no matter what way she sliced it. His spirit affinity, his ability to move past her door crossing, and his ability to easily break in to see sights such as this…

"That Natsuki-kun s'more interestin' than even I coulda' guessed. The curious things 'bout him jus' keep piling up and up." Anastasia grinned, holding at her scarf. For a moment, the blonde maid, who had turned to look back at her thought she saw the scarf moving under the merchant princess' hand...but decided to ignore it.

Instead, she just nodded in agreement. The young lady had summed up her thoughts perfectly. She had thought she'd come to know Natsuki Subaru in the year she'd spent around the Miload mansion with him, but clearly, she was entirely incorrect.

"Don't worry. I won't tell a soul. The feel of that fur would make anyone – GAH!"

Subaru was sent flying before he could even say anything further, the door shutting behind him.

"Oi! Least let th'captain finish speakin'!" Garfiel demanded, raising a fist towards the sitting Great Spirit.

"It was a bit rude to suddenly send Natsuki-san flying, rather than simply asking him to leave…" Otto agreed, scratching his cheek with a nervous finger. To talk back to a Great Spirit made him feel like his already gray hair was just going to become grayer.

"Betty cannot even control this version of herself, I suppose!" The blonde drill loli retaliated, her eyebrows furrowing and twitching in annoyance at the two ganging up on her. "Besides, what would you two do if some strange fellow were to walk into your rooms and begin spouting gibberish?"

The two brothers shared a look, before suddenly quieting down, taking on blank faces and nodding.

"Fair enough."

Beatrice did a double take at their easy acceptance of their words, wondering if the two had some other smart words to add as always...but the two bros just remained empty-faced in silent solidarity.

"Well...I suppose it's fine, if you understand." Beatrice murmured, deciding to just look back at the screen. She didn't even notice when the two were barely restraining their laughter once more as soon as she turned away.

"Hey! Let me finish!" The boy got up off his butt, rushing towards the door. He opened it, only to find...the regular lavatory.

"That was Beatrice-sama's Door Crossing." Ram explained briefly, having been there the whole time.

"So it's a spell that can connect any door in the mansion to her own room?" Experienced with such tropes, the boy could essentially guess that much.

"Once Beatrice-sama has eliminated her presence, there's no way to find her without trying every door in the mansion."

"Quite tha' amusin' spell...s'that s'how tha' library was kept safe through all those generations, eh?" Anastasia's eyes narrowed at this information, finding it particularly interesting. "S'that n'original spell?" Yin specialists were very rare, so information on their spells were even more rare...and more valuable. And valuable information was almost all Anastasia needed to get moving.

"Betty can already see the greed in those irritating eyes of yours running miles rampant...but asking such a question is fruitless, I suppose. Betty's spell can only be activated between short ranges, and only works on a single building, in fact." The spirit somewhat answered the merchant's question with a matter-of-fact tone.

There was, of course, a condition in which the spell could be activated over long distances. That was, it could connect to places which the caster had close emotional or historical ties to. However, Beatrice deemed it proper to keep this information away from the hands of the greedy woman.

"Hmm? Well, I can't use it for m'self, but tha' info alone s'at least gotta be worth a pretty coin." Despite the spell not being something she could repurpose for her own use, she was still all too pleased by the information itself. She leaned back into her chair, with a satisfied smile.

Even to these hopeless-sounding words from the maid, Subaru turned around, feeling his instincts guiding him to one specific door in the hallway.

"She's in here!" He said with confidence, opening the door and immediately coming upon Beatrice's library.

The girl let out an adorable squeal of surprise, shaking in uncontrollable anger.

"That was impressive, Subaru!" Puck complimented, sticking out from the girl's grasp.

"Impressive indeed! Rather than simple luck, it truly seems as if Natsuki-sama has some sort of extra sense that allows him to reliably choose the correct door…" Crusch hummed at the boy's impressive feat.

"I still don't quite understand. Would spirit affinity truly allow someone to so easily break such a powerful spell as Beatrice-sama's Door Crossing?" Frederica brought a hand to her forehead, still miles behind any possible explanation for Subaru's easy trespassing.

"I have always found it odd, myself. For how much of a peculiar man Barusu is, I have never found him quite aware enough of magic or spirits to be capable of such a feat." Ram, despite remaining mostly quiet, spoke up to agree with her fellow maid. She needed some sort of answer to satisfy her slight curiosity...and she wanted to draw her mind from the intense, pointed feelings of guilt she was receiving from her link with her sister.

Julius nodded from above, holding a palm out as he supplied his own hypothesis to the group. "I have seen it before, albeit in rare cases. Most of my wisdom has come from my own experiences with spirits, after all. Those with high enough spirit affinity are capable of not only calling spirits to themselves, but even capable of understanding and guiding their intent, to the point where some can even accurately locate spirits."

Emilia, a spirit arts user herself, widened her eyes, as the shocking realization set in. "So, you're saying that Subaru is…" She turned her gaze down to her sleeping knight, resting a palm on his cheek.

Sensing the rest of her sentence, Julius gave a nod, a small smile appearing on him. "Subaru is equipped with a rather interesting level of spirit affinity. I had noticed it once before, of course, but never had I believed it to be so high. It seems as if he is somehow capable of sensing the Great Spirit Beatrice's location within her library, through those means." It was all too easy to hear just how amazed the Finest Knight was at Subaru's natural affinity.

"It is somewhat impressive, for a weakling such as him." Priscilla narrowed her eyes, her slight words of praise betraying the expression of annoyance that soon took over her face. "However, mineself fails to understand – why does he foolishly limit himself to but a single spirit if he can possibly be capable of much more?"

The fiery-eyed woman felt that the young man was much too arrogant to simply be using a single spirit.

Beatrice narrowed her eyes in anger at the woman's presumptuous words, her fists shaking in her lap. "Betty's Subaru only requires h-"

Though, before she could fire off any response, a realization metaphorically shot her through the skull. She had assumed that she was the only spirit that Subaru needed...but was that really the only reason that she had made her contract with him so needlessly rigid? Beatrice wasn't capable of everything...and in more ways than one, her nature as an Artificial Spirit incapable of drawing mana from the atmosphere left Subaru much more vulnerable in battles.

Her literal nature as a Yin spirit meant that she was only even more incompatible with her contractor, who had an utterly collapsed gate which was not even capable of holding that much mana or growing any further.

Rather than being the only spirit Subaru would ever need, Beatrice had just wanted to be the only spirit he needed. She wanted to hold him all to herself, to have him only rely on her whenever he needed to fight...yet she wasn't even the best suited for such a job.

What was her possessiveness in the face of all of these countless, painful deaths that Subaru was facing? Did her want to be his one and only spirit even matter if he was suffering and dying so much because of her stubbornness?

Any reply that she could've made died in her throat, as Beatrice fell into a conflicted, dark silence.

"You picked the right door again?" The drill loli grumbled, leaving Subaru to proudly smile and point a thumb to himself.

"What did I tell you? I'm a flag crusher who makes game masters cry."

"I don't even understand what you're saying!" Beatrice complained, now sitting on her bed.

"W-Well," Al coughed out, trying to lighten up the mood after his fiery-haired mistress' ruining of it. "Kid sure loves to spit out those jokes, huh? Didn't think he'd be pullin' out game references!"

"Ooooh! Mimi remembers those games, they were super fun! The scary-eyed mister must be really good at them to make the masters of them cry!" Ever the bright ball of energy, Mimi joined in on Al's efforts, though her words came more from a place of actual excitement than attempting to lighten the mood.

"H-Haha, yeah! Those things were damn fun! I'd love ta' face off 'gainst him f'he s'really that good!" Ricardo lightheartedly followed up his vice captain's words, managing a small smile.

"Heh! Th'lot a you weaklings ain't got th'right t'challenge m'captain! You'll have t'get through me, first!" Garfiel exclaimed, holding up both hands in defense. At the sharp-toothed boy's words, Petra, Mimi, and Felt shared smug, mischievous grins.

"Oh? Did you forget how bad we whooped your butt earlier, Garfiel-chan~? Maybe you need to be reminded of who's really good, hmm?" Felt spoke with a teasing, condescending edge in her voice. The young demihuman growled, as Mimi and Petra giggled at his frustration.

"Damn it! Y-You three j'st watch! I'll never lose th't bad 'gain!" He promised in retaliation, with the fiery burning passion of 1,000 suns.

Everyone, of course, had to share a laugh at this exchange, with even Beatrice's dark expression lightening up somewhat.

"I don't know who you are, either. Ros-chi's little sister?" He guessed, leaving the girl to immediately turn away in disgust at the thought.

"Ew! Betty would never hope for such a world, not even within her worst nightmares, I suppose!" Beatrice immediately recoiled at the idea, fully brought out of her dark thoughts by the suddenness of such an absolutely disgusting thought.

"So haaaarsh as alwaaaays, Beatrice." Roswaal replied with a smug smile, one that the Great Spirit wanted to crystallize and shatter...but she barely managed to hold back on the idea.

"I'd never want to be his sister, I suppose! Hmph!"

"Betty is the librarian who oversees the Roswaal mansion's forbidden library." Puck explained, as Ram walked into the room behind her new fellow employee.

"Roswaal-sama is the greatest magic user in the kingdom. He has many books that mustn't be seen by others. Beatrice-sama is contracted to protect them." Ram furthered the cat spirit's explanation.

Anastasia frowned, remembering that this library was now burned down, according to the gray-haired Head of Internal Affair's previous account. It was almost a little bit of a shame, as she knew for sure that such a place was far too valuable to simply disappear off of the face of the world.

It was certain that practically every little piece of information in those books could either be used in greatly aiding a person, whether that be through the direct usage of the forbidden knowledge contained within, or the careful exchange of that information on a black market or through any other such channels.

There was also the option of directly selling the books or renting them, but of course, Anastasia Hoshin would never, under any circumstances loan away or sell such valuable assets, when there was not even a need to. Why do that when she could monopolize all of it without giving a single thing away?

Otto gave a sigh of relief upon noticing the greed-filled gaze of the woman above him. There was a small bit of relief in him at knowing that that library was burned down and gone forever. Though…

Brushing his hand over a certain thin hidden, sewn closed pocket in his clothing, Otto frowned as he felt the familiar sensation of burnt ash against his fingertips. The remains of the book that sat in there...he knew that he could not let a single person in this theater get their hands or it, or even become aware that he held it in his possession.

He still fully intended on repairing it, but once it was gone...he planned to burn it away. The only remaining doubt in his mind was just one worry, one extra complication that had sprung it to the forefront of his mind.

'I wonder if...if I could use this book to ease Natsuki-san's suffering.'

While his instincts practically screamed at him to leave the book burnt, have it burnt even further so that not even the ashes remained – he now had to know, beyond a doubt, not just whether Roswaal could be trusted or not, but whether, if there was some way, he could free his friend from his endless loops of suffering and lonely demises.

He had to know.

And so, the door closed on them, with Beatrice giving nothing but a passing backwards glance. "If you get it now, then go away."

Subaru and Ram are now standing directly outside the entrance staircase to the mansion.

"This concludes our tour of the mansion. Any questions?"

"I know there's no use saying this after it's over...but shouldn't Emilia-tan be the one with me for the tour event?"

"M'almost tired of mentionin' just how hooked he is on interactin' with miss Emilia down there," Anastasia sighed, finding herself long nonplussed now by Subaru's near-obsession with the admittedly beautiful half-elf.

"We should just leave it alone. Subaru-kyun's thinking about Emilia-sama every moment of the day, I think that's just a fact we'll have to accept, nyan~!" Felix joked with a smirk, his words allowing everyone yet another short pause to laugh.

Emilia frowned slightly, as she remembered back to the version of Subaru that she had interacted with during these days at the mansion. Back then, even she had found it slightly off-putting how clingy Subaru had been towards her. That had been just another reason for their inevitable, sad first split…

He had put that clingy, unhealthy idolization of her over the promise that she had faithfully expected him to keep. And at that time, she'd had no idea how broken or hurt he really was. She had just felt that for the both of them, it had been best to split ways at that time.

While she still couldn't deny her feelings at that moment, Emilia felt as if she somewhat understood Subaru's feelings somewhat more...but she still had some sort of inner frustration towards her knight. Even then, he'd never made an effort to tell her a single thing. Did he really not trust her? Even after idolizing her so much, was he really not capable of telling her a single thing?

The silver-haired lady had no idea anymore.

"-If you have no questions, let's get to your actual job. You'll help me with my work, Barusu." Ram skipped right past the boy's mundane questions, leaving him looking at her with his mouth wide open.

"Ignored, as such an idiotic question should be." Priscilla rolled her eyes in disdain at Subaru's query was immediately steamrolled over by the maid's direct words.

"Knowing big bro, he's just gonna hop right on to some other source of excitement, though!" Felt said all too knowingly, a big grin on her face as Subaru on screen seemed to follow her direct words.

"This must be where my hidden skill as a butler reveals itself!" The boy raised two fists in the air, deciding to hype himself up for the job that was coming.

"His skill as a butler?" Ram let out a scoff. "While I admit that Barusu was rather decent when he first arrived, he was by no means...skilled…" Her words slowed down to a near halt, as her eyes widened in realization.

Nobody even wanted to further discuss where such skill would come from, especially not Ram herself. Rem only shifted further into her seat, silently holding Subaru's warm hands in the grasp of both of hers.

"My work today is caring for the front yard and garden, helping to prepare lunch, polishing the silver, airing out the futons, laundry, bathroom cleaning, and the mansion's monthly soot cleaning."

Time itself seemed to comically speed up as the maid went on and on about her duties, with Subaru's eyebrows twitching in disbelief at the utter volume of work placed on the two of them.

"So boriiiing...they've got so much chores to do! Mimi could never do all of that work!" The little cat-lady stuck out her tongue, a sentiment which Felt nodded to in agreement.

"Yeah, there's no way I could do all of that crap! Right, Petr-" Before saying anything else, the little ex-thief paused in her words, a look of apology coming over her face as she remembered her newly made sister-in-arm's current profession. "...Sorry, sis."

Petra just showed a smile, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. It can actually be a little fun, especially when I know I'm working to help Subaru and everyone else!"

Frederica showed a small smile to her junior charge, a smile which Wilhelm, Ram, and Rem shared, all used to being in positions of serving, and all too understanding of the pleasure of being able to help and serve the people around them.

"She shall grow up into a fine young employee." Wilhelm complimented, a sentiment to which Frederica giggled, replying in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Of course she shall. Petra is my young apprentice, after all. And more than anything else, she is a lovely young lady." With those affectionate words, she lavished a bit of attention on the reddish brown-haired girl, gently running her fingers through the strands of her hair.

Immediately the time changes to evening, with the beautiful orange sun setting behind the mansion.

We see Subaru let out a large sigh, as he falls backwards onto his bed. "I'm exhausted…"

Garfiel nodded his head in understanding to Subaru's words. "I'd be exhausted as hell, too. Trainin' s'one thing, but doing a ton o'chores?! I'd be fallin' asleep before th'sun even sets! Out of boredom!" He exclaimed, having huge feelings of pity towards his captain.

Otto stared at his sworn brother with a blank look in his eyes. "...It's a wonder how you can say that so shamelessly when you're able to go training for hours straight without taking a single break…"

"Like I said, I'd be bored s'all hell, Otto-bro!" The young demihuman reiterated, leaving Frederica and Rem to join in with looks of disappointment.

He barely turns his head to the side as a knock is heard at his room door.

"This is Rem. Do you have a moment, Subaru-kun?"

At the sound of her own voice to the door, Rem involuntarily stiffened up. It was only a knock...a visit from herself, she had nothing to worry about...but for some reason, even despite telling herself such words, she could not stop shaking. Never before had Rem been so afraid just to hear herself speak. She practically held Subaru's hand in a near stranglehold, holding her breath as she awaited her entry into the room.

"Sure, I'm good." He replied, forcing himself to sit up. "I won't do anything weird, so come on in."

"He really likes saying things that only make him sound more and more suspicious, doesn't he?" Tivey noted in annoyance, a sentiment which the entire cast couldn't help but agree with.

There was a moment of silence at the door.

"Your permission makes you sound less credible. Pardon me, then."

Despite these hesitant words, the blue-haired Oni entered, with Subaru's modified jacket folded over her right arm.

The young man looked up at her in surprise. "You finished that already?"

"When it is Roswaal-sama's clothing, my priority is to be careful, but since this is yours…"

"Aaaaah, it dooes warm my heart to know that my maids do take suuuuch care of my belongings~." Roswaal noted with an incredibly fake smile on his face, a smile which made Felt, who had long since had a falling out with the man roll her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. The blatant favoritism on display there honestly just makes me disgusted!" She said shamelessly, with Mimi and Petra's nodding indicating that there were entirely on her side and sharing of her opinion.

"My lady…" Reinhard sighed at Felt's constant antagonistic behavior towards the Kingdom's greatest magician, yet, he held his tongue as he was about to give the man an apology. He noticed a certain glint in his eyes, a glint which made the Sword Saint hesitate in adding anything to the conversation. It seemed Roswaal had some way of resolving the small argument.

"Good grief...I suppose I will have to fix that then, will I nooooot~?"

"You need not do such a thing, Roswaal-sama. Rem would never cut corners on Subaru-kun's clothing anymore! In fact, Rem would happily make new clothes from scratch for Subaru-kun if he so wished!" The blue-haired Oni excitedly spoke, Roswaal's words activating her Subaru fangirl meter, drawing her right out of her dark despair.

The greatest magician motioned to Rem with a smug smile, as if silently saying to the girls, 'What were you saying?'

Defeated, Petra and the rest of the sisterhood turned away, all sharing adorable pouts on their faces, to which Roswaal just lightly chuckled at.

"Did you just imply that you cut corners?" He fired right back at the maid, who was now holding the outfit in both hands.

He slid the jacket on over his tracksuit, looking down at the now closely fitting outfit.

"I hate to admit it, but it's perfect. Well? Does it look good?"

"That is a surprise...Natsuki-sama does look rather good in the clothing of a servant." Crusch admitted, bringing a hand to her chin. A small part of her did like seeing the man in some more formal clothing, as she was mostly used to seeing him in his classic tracksuit, which could sometimes be...not so flattering.

"I agree. While his odd clothing somewhat symbolizes him, it is my duty as a friend to admit that he cleans up much better when wearing proper vestments." Julius agreed with a nod, thinking back to the first time he had met Subaru. At that time, he was wearing his servant clothing, but at their second meeting, he had already been donning his tracksuit. Naturally, the knight found the first outfit much better.

Priscilla rolled her eyes, leaning her chin against her palm as she watched the boy's outfit change with disinterest. "Wearing decent clothing won't change the other parts of the boy that are much less desirable, however. That hairstyle of his, especially."

Al looked at his mistress in surprise, taking the moment to speak up. "That's all, princess? Nothing about his eyes or the weird way he talks?"

While annoyed at his speaking out of turn, the fiery princess just seemed unfazed by the characteristics Al had listed off. "I'm quite used to hearing such slang from you, Al. And as for his eyes...they are fine, because they are interesting."

The one-armed knight let out a sigh that encompassed his lack of surprise to Priscilla's whimsical nature. Still, he was just satisfied to see the woman being a little more honest about her genuine curiosity in Subaru.

"Combined with the rarity of gray clothes, no one in any kind of strange garment could rival you."

"Okay! Not a compliment at all!" He concluded to the maid's monotone underhanded insult-compliment.

"So mean! Subaru looks perfectly fine!" Petra protested, folding her arms close to her chest as she pouted at the blue-haired Oni's cold words.

Rem frowned, feeling a pang of guilt at the sour reminder at just how off her treatment of Subaru was. Her sister's words were never truly harmful, but for her, it was all too easy to see that these insults she was throwing at him were just thinly veiled ways for her to express her true dislike of the boy.

"What shall we do with that?" She questioned, referring to the matching suit pants which were laid on the nightstand.

"This one's easy. Got a needle and thread?" He asked, as he picked the pants up.

"I have brought them. Shall I repair it now?"

"Nah, I'll do it."

We see Subaru delicately threading the needle with somewhat shaky hands. "Don't underestimate my sewing skills."

He sat down on his bed, humming as he gets to work in hemming the pants. All the while Rem would watch curiously at the boy's surprisingly proficient work.

"Huh...I never would have guessed Subaru-kyun, of all people, would have pretty decent sewing skills!" Felix murmured with surprise, wondering just how properly skilled the boy was.

Petra looked on with admiration, feeling a spark of competition inside herself. "Subaru never told me either...now I want to compete with him and see just which of us can sew better!" While the little girl no longer wanted to be a seamstress, her sewing skills was something that she was rather confident in too – and was all too eager to pit them against Subaru in an attempt to see just who was better.

"Maybe I should get Subaru to make something for me one of these days?" Emilia murmured, looking down at her clothing, which practically almost never changed. She had to admit, she was already a little curious about Subaru's odd clothing, so she wondered just what sort of interesting outfit he could make for her…

"Maybe I could bribe that Natsuki-san ta' make me some of those designs from his world…" Anastasia was on a much different thought pattern than the silver-haired half-elf, already curious on just how she could get access to that boy's otherworldly knowledge. Just by reading some of the books in the library, she could tell how advanced the other world's fashion was...but just as before, she knew that she couldn't recreate anything just by her shallow understanding of what she'd seen in the books.

In the end, Natsuki Subaru was still just too useful thanks to his possibilities of pulling forth all of those new and interesting ideas he had shelved away in his mind.

"I'm surprised." She admitted bluntly. "I must give you full marks for your sewing. Like you, however, it does not seem very useful."

"Rem…" Frederica looked at her fellow maid with worry. She had once worked alongside the blue-haired Oni as well, so she was aware of just how unusually harsh she was being here.

Rem was unable to say anything, looking down with disappointment in herself and the way she was treating Subaru. She quite frankly had no excuse for herself, or her behavior. For how nice and genuine Subaru was being towards her, she couldn't believe she'd looked past all of that just for his smell.

As if to backup her words, the scene changes to Subaru peeling a potato with horrid skills, skills so horrid that the knife he was holding would slide to the left, cutting right into his finger.

"Ow!" He exclaimed in pain, holding his pinkie as it bled out into the air.

"You may still get full marks for sewing, but you're still useless with a knife, Barusu." Ram, as always, was fast on the uptake to ridicule the boy, with her sister turning around and showing a rare smile.

"Riiight back at being hopeless, nyan~!" Felix snickered as Subaru was called out on his horrible abilities with the knife, a cheshire grin on his face.

"It's still so off-putting…" Ram, who would usually be right there to join in alongside Felix's teases at Subaru, was simply staring at the screen with a lost expression. Without even having to ask anything, it was like the unwanted answer to her question had been provided – unlike the boy she knew, this Subaru was horrible at cooking, not even average...

"As always, you make such a lovely image when peeling vegetables, Sister."

"Your bias is so blatant, it's almost comforting! I'd like a comment on my work, too!" He demanded, leaving the camera to show the cut up, chunky, unevenly cut potatoes in Subaru's bowl.

"I pity the farmer who grew those vegetables."

"Stop! You're breaking my heart!" Subaru bemoaned, the girl's cold words practically making him shudder.

Everyone shared a long laugh at Rem's backhanded insults towards Subaru, with Reinhard shaking his head at the thought.

"While Subaru may have not exactly been skilled in the culinary arts, I'm sure that any farmer now would be honored to know that their crops are going towards a meal that he would make. His name, especially among the more rural communities of the Kingdom is rather talked about, after all." The Sword Saint noted with a pleased smile.

"And it is rightly deserved. Natsuki-sama, to them, must be like an extension of themselves. A common man who has achieved feats that most could only dream of in their lifetimes. Not to mention, he's avenged many people and saved even more by the destruction of those mabeasts." Crusch noted, knowing all too well just how fast the boy's reputation had spread, even among her own supporters.

"When ya' consider all o'that, s'a little funny that he's strugglin' on cuttin' some potatoes, eh?" Ricardo barely managed to contain another bout of laughter, though everyone else was not so fortunate.

"You don't know how to handle a knife, Barusu. You should hold the knife still and turn the vegetables." Ram explained, holding up a perfectly peeled potato, so perfect it was almost shining. A proud smile was on her face. "Frankly speaking, my best dish is steamed tatoes."

"How can you say that with such a triumphant look?!" The insulted boy rubbed his hair in frustration. "Damn it, just watch. My favorite blade, Shooting Star, will show you a thing or two!" He threatened, holding his paring knife in an epic pose and preparing to cut the tatoe again...only to just as epicly cut right into his finger once more.

"It sliced right through me!" He yelled in pain, his finger once more bleeding.

"Truly, it seems as if his calling is supposed to be that of a jester, rather than a servant," Priscilla noted, her voice filled with an all-too-telling note of enjoyment upon seeing Subaru's struggle.

"Or maybe big bro just needs to stay away from the kitchen?" Felt interjected, her uncertain words leaving near-everybody to nod in agreement.

Rem, Ram, and Emilia especially shuddered, as they remembered the 'mayonnaise' that Subaru was used to making in such large degrees, and putting on near everything...truly, Subaru's calling was not to be a chef within the kitchen, at the very least.

We are shown Subaru going through a variety of household tasks, wiping off dust, cleaning the dishes, cleaning the bath, doing the laundry, alongside trimming the hedges...which he all fails at in some degree.

Everyone shared a good clean laugh at the boy's unfortunate, yet rather comical misadventures in his work as a servant.

"Good grief, it looks as if misfortune follows Natsuki-san hand in hand with some luck," Otto murmured, wiping away a tear that had formed in his eyes due to just how hard he had been laughing. While the man thought his own luck was thoroughly rotten, he had to admit that Subaru had a rather large mix of both.

"You really were right about him not being cut out for the job, princess," Al admitted, looking to the side at his mistress, who was showing a knowing smirk.

"But of course. It is just too easy to read everything about this boy, as if he is an open book right in front of mineself's eyes. His worth lies elsewhere, and it is quite obviously not in working as a lowly servant, despite how lowly the boy himself is." Priscilla was moreso looking forward to another aspect of the boy clouded in mystery…

His motivations. While many parts of him were mostly readable, there were times when her predictions were utterly off. The self-centered princess was completely bewildered by just how his mind seemed to function when making certain decisions...and she had to learn more about it.

It is now nighttime, and we make our way into a dark office.

"And how has Subaru-kun been since then? It's been five days since his arrival. We should be seeing something by now."

"That voice is…" Otto trailed off, eyes widening in alarm as he looked to the empty-eyed lord sitting at the end of the Emilia camp's row of seats.

It is Roswaal, leaning casually against a chair...with a certain red-haired maid demurely sitting in his lap.

"Tch." Garfiel resisted the urge to vomit at this sight, gripping his fists closed tightly. "Fuckin' disgustin'." He murmured, forcing himself to continue looking at the screen with a glare.

The boy was already not fond of Roswaal to say the least, after his attempted massacre of everyone at Sanctuary, alongside the assassination attempt put out on his sister and the little maid that was working there...but seeing Ram cuddled up close to him like that was just another reason for him to feel completely repulsed.

"Profanities aside, this scene does seem, well…somewhat uncomfortable." Reinhard scratched his cheek with a finger, wondering if they should even be present for such a clearly private moment between the two people. Felt scoffed, rolling her eyes at her knight's almost demure nature.

"You're too easy with it, Rein. Just say that you wanna' skip this weird scene like the rest of us clearly want to! But...knowing that annoying orb, this thing has got some sort of purpose. Otherwise we wouldn't be seein' it." The blonde-haired anarchist was not interested in the little tryst between the untrustworthy clown and his maid, but moreso about just what the two of them were planning in secret.

"Cooking, laundry, cleaning...He is useless at all of them."

The lord's hand gently rubbed along Ram's hair, as he listened to her report. "How striiiiict of you~. And?" His eyes narrowed, with a serious glint in them. "What of his potential as a spy?"

"A...spy?" Felt turned an intense gaze to Roswaal, her clear crimson eyes filled with an all-too-visible hatred. "For all of your damn posturing, you were right on the same train of suspecting big bro of being some spy for no reason. Can't believe that you had the gall to play the good guy, despite all that!"

Emilia nodded to Felt's words, giving her benefactor a pointed gaze. "It is one thing to be cautious, but, to think you were planning on treating Subaru like some kind of foreign enemy without even consulting me...that's extremely disrespectful not just to Subaru, but to me, Roswaal." Her usually lighthearted voice took on a strict tone, as she narrowed her eyes in distrust not only to Roswaal, but to Ram as well, and Rem, who was undoubtedly also aware of these discussions.

Neither Ram or Roswaal had any excuses. Back then, neither had been respectful of Emilia. Ram was simply not fond of her, while Roswaal quite literally treated her as a useless doll, incapable of anything by herself. Both kept her entirely out of the loop of information, treating her not as an ally, but as an object they were just planning around.

Rem, guilt overwhelming her core, bowed to her newly-made friend, desperately not wishing to lose the new, genuine connection that she had just made. "Emilia...Rem is so sorry for keeping such information away from you and Subaru." All she could do was hand out a serious, sincere apology.

Yet, even in that apology, Rem felt as if she couldn't just come out and say her other suspicion of what she'd have to apologize for. The other possibility that was haunting her, eating away at her with a possibility that she felt like would completely and utterly destroy her were she to vocally acknowledge it in front of her new friend, the girl who also admitted that she felt Subaru was special towards her.

Emilia let out a short sigh, shaking her head and looking down to Subaru. "I can accept your apology...but Subaru is the one that you all need to apologize to when he wakes up. He's the one who remembers and has to deal with all of this…" She frowned, slowly turning her gaze back to the screen. "For now...let's continue to watch.

"I cannot deny it exists, but I believe the possibility is slim. For better or worse...no, for worse. In particular, he's too conspicuous."

"And if he stands out too much…" The man made a threatening chopping motion at his neck, then turned to look out of the window.

"What the hell?" Felt chuckled darkly, a hand to her forehead. "So despite all that bullshit...again, you were just a part of the damn bandwagon, even tryin' to think about killin' big bro?" She shook her head, fists closing tightly. "You're a real sack of shit. He got cleared by two spirits, saved the life of your benefactor, works his hardest to become a servant, and you repay him by talking about killing him behind his back."

Roswaal looked away from the girl, his eyes closed as he simply allowed her words to flow through him. He was already well aware of his sins – but hearing them from the words of an entirely unrelated bystander made him realize the sorts of lengths he would go through just to test Natsuki Subaru for an ability that, as he found out, wouldn't even be usable for his plans.

The other candidates alongside their camps also held varying looks of disgust and disappointment.

Such behavior was unheard of for everyone there. To the kingdom, and the world at large, Roswaal L. Mathers was a hero, and his family line was renowned for being almost as great as the Astrea bloodline itself.

Yet, here this great man was, this hero of the kingdom, threatening to kill an innocent child for simply acting the way his personality permitted him to.

Nobody in the theater, save those in the Emilia camp and the Felt camp, knew exactly how to feel about this situation. After all...none of them, save Priscilla, who just seemed as disinterested as usual, could confidently claim that they wouldn't share such thoughts about the boy.

"Despite that possibility, he certainly is carefree."

We see what he is looking at, with Subaru standing outside and watching Emilia with hundreds of those light blue orbs surrounding her – lesser spirits.

"As I personally see it, it would be wise to interfere."

"Interfere...sometimes I wish we didn't keep yer ass around." Garfiel grumbled, resisting the urge to get up and sock the magician a good one right across the face. It wasn't like he could harm them anymore, and he deserved another good beating to learn from his fucked-up mistakes.

Frederica let out a short sigh, looking to the side as she remembered just how conniving her master was behind his mask of Roswaal L. Mathers. She would have never believed herself, that when accepting his letter requesting her to return, that it was part of a plan to kill her and Petra, alongside all of those within the Sanctuary.

She, herself felt a bit of rage...as her master, that man, had almost killed her brother, all of the people she had grown up in the sanctuary, and her newly made junior maid.

Ram was even more conflicted, though her steely gaze betrayed the storm of emotions that was raging on inside of her. The girl was more than willing to do anything for Roswaal – even to the point of offering up her own life. But, feeling these overwhelming emotions of guilt from her sister, now knowing that she would've even killed Subaru, the boy who would save her sister from being abandoned by her...could she really so confidently say she could do anything?

Could she really just turn a blind eye to her extreme devoutness and ignore the fact that she would've just killed a boy like that, a mere child? She knew she would've tried to object to Roswaal's extremism, as she always would, but in the end, she wouldn't have hesitated if Roswaal were to tell her to kill a suspicious stranger. At the very least, she would not have hesitated with Subaru.

"They're both only children. Even if we let them be, nothing will happen." Ram concluded, in a gentle voice.

Almost everyone let out simultaneous sighs of relief at these words that left Ram and Roswaal off of the hook. While the mood in the room certainly was good, nobody really wanted to get into the mudslinging fight that would begin if either were revealed to be unjust murderers, even if it was versions of themselves that lived in different timelines.

Slowly, we pan down to Emilia bathed in a bright blue glow, with hundreds of the tiny blue orbs representing lesser spirits surrounding her, Subaru looking on in awe.

"At the very least, we can enjoy these calmer scenes, allow them to soothe our souls for but a moment." Wilhelm suggested with a certain serenity and wisdom to his voice, words that everyone couldn't help but want to take.

"It's not that fun to watch, is it?"

"Nothing is ever boring when I'm with you, Emilia-tan." Subaru refuted with a big smile.

"That makes me happy, even if you're only flattering me." The girl slowly opened her eyes, with the spirits around her fading away. She turned to look at Subaru with a smile.

"Y'know, fer how blunt tha' boy is, you're really blind to every bit o'his feelings that he throws at ya." Anastasia pointed out with a delighted smirk, finding it almost cute just how clueless and naive this version of her opposing candidate was.

"I know, I know. Geez, I'm such a dense dummy…" Emilia let out a disappointed huff at how invisible Subaru's true feelings had seemed to her at that moment, despite how straightforward he was about them from day one. She gave herself a light bonk upside her head for punishment.

"Besides, hey, we haven't had a chance to just talk for the past few days."

"That's right. It must have been difficult for you to learn your work here."

"Yes, it is! It's killing me! I wish I could be comforted in your arms, your chest, and your lap, in rotation." He shamelessly admitted, rubbing his cheeks against his freshly bandaged fingers.

"Big bro's never gonna miss a chance to try and get lucky with big sis, huh? That must be the only thing he's overly ambitious for out of everything!" Felt snickered at how ridiculously pervy the young man sounded, asking for all that 'comfort'.

Said big sis could only help but blush, holding her free hand to her red cheeks. While Emilia was unafraid of confronting herself about her feelings on Subaru, it was always incredibly embarrassing for her to hear others speak about it so casually. She wondered if she would ever get used to such feelings...

"Putting Subaru-kyun's lewd nature aside…" Felix squinted at the boy's hand on screen. "He does seem a little damaged, doesn't he? On his hands, especially."

"Now that you mention it…" Julius nodded to his friend's assessment. "You do indeed have the eyes of a doctor, Ferris. I would have ignored such a minute detail, due to focusing on this wonderful scene." The man's face took on a hint of worry, as he wondered if any of those wounds could be the cause for his...his untimely demise.

Everyone seemed to be in varying degrees of worry from the sight of the bandages, but nobody seemed especially alarmed. At first glance, they seemed like nothing but shallow marks, after all. Ones light enough to simply be bandaged and then allowed to naturally heal.

That was mostly everyone's reaction – one of light worry, though simultaneously filled with a sort of nonchalance. Nobody saw anything too off about the seemingly shallow cuts and bruises.

Beatrice, on the other hand, felt a deep, dark dread begin to set in, crawling and curling around in her stomach like some sort of foreign entity. She leaned back into her contractor's back, trying to assure herself that he was there, that he was fine once more...but his warmth did not bring the little spirit any comfort. Tears threatened to whip away at her eyes, as the sight of Subaru's bandaged hand all but confirmed her worst fears.

He had a wound on his hand, a bite wound, in the exact same spot where the cursed dog had previously bitten him. And unlike before, he was blissfully unaware of the slow death that was encroaching in on him.

Natsuki Subaru would die, and it would be too late for this Beatrice to even do anything about it.

"Yeah, yeah. If you can joke around like that, you must be fine." She spoke, playfully poking at his temple.

The boy leaned back, allowing himself to fall onto his back and stare up at the clear, beautiful night sky.

"The moon sure is pretty." He said softly, looking up with a serene expression.

Emilia was now sat down next to him, holding her knees to her chest. "Yes, it's far beyond our reach."

"I got a really touching response without even trying!"

Emilia giggled at Subaru's silly, although slightly sentimental conversation with her. Of course, as always, she felt a sort of jealousy at the ease at which this version of herself had gotten to interact with Subaru. In the timeline she knew, she'd had to painfully watch him break down as he overexerted himself, faking a smile and throwing on fake energy as he collapsed on the inside and the outside.

Her hands gripped, as the realization of just why he'd been so frantic set in. He'd probably Returned by Death, and she had no idea how many times it even had been. Whatever he'd experienced had utterly thrown his mind and his body out of sync, as Puck had noted while observing him.

'Why? Why does Subaru have to get ripped from these moments that he deserves? Why does he have to be denied just having a peaceful life?' The more these thoughts set in, the more Emilia felt herself becoming irrationally angry at herself...and disappointed. 'Now I understand why Subaru must not have told me anything...if I can't even keep his life safe from the people I'm working with...how can he trust me with such a large secret?'

She felt crushed. Rather than feeling betrayed, she'd come to a conclusion of her own volition that made her out to be weak, incapable. Unlike with Elsa, where Subaru had chosen to save her of his own volition – Emilia had been the one to bring him into this death trap of a mansion, without even taking proper precautions.

All she could do was feel sorry...so, so sorry, that she couldn't do anything for the boy who had saved her life, and would eventually become her knight.

The royal candidate chuckled, though her expression quickly changed to one of concern. "Still, don't you think you're a bit lacking in ambition? Like that time with Puck, and in the capital, when you asked for my name."

"Th'Great Spirit is puttin' it lightly. What I'd kill t'give that boy a lesson in properly demandin' things when he's given a chance." Anastasia huffed, her consistently greedy words lightening up the mood of those inside the theater. "I woulda' asked fer a lot more than a single job f'I was given such a golden chance…"

Julius placed a hand on his sword, nodding in agreement with his lady's words. He, too, wished that his friend would think of himself a bit more, considering the fact that he'd been offered a wish not only by Roswaal L. Mathers, but one from the Beast of the End, itself. It was absolutely foolish to simply turn it down for...pats.

He turned his head to the side, eyes closed. "You just don't get it, Emilia-tan. I want what I want at that exact moment, and I want it from the bottom of my heart."

Some were surprised by these words at first...but some were all too knowing of just how deeply rooted this aspect of Subaru was in his core.

"I see...it's quite surprising to hear it from his own lips...but as I should've known, Subaru truly is a person who holds no ulterior thoughts." Reinhard had never suspected his friend of any such behavior, but it was in a way reassuring to hear him confirm his own inner thoughts.

"That foolish aspect of Barusu's never fails." Ram muttered, remembering just how he exuded that attitude nearly every time he pulled off something great. By all means, he should've been hailed as a proper hero, but he never took a single ounce of credit for his achievements, not even among his own camp.

While she was always quick to tease him and get at him with a few small insults, Ram had long since accepted his capabilities. Alongside his seeming complete lack of ambition, though it irritated her that he never seemed to truly step up and accept his place as a proper, capable person.

"Natsuki-sama is truly not a man of materialistic wants or needs, but one who simply focuses on his own feelings. It can indeed be dangerous, but…" A certain verdant green-haired Duchess gave a smile, as she fondly spoke of the man she had fought alongside. "In the hands of a man like Natsuki-sama, that motivation is what enables him to pursue such great goals."

Felt hummed at the woman's assessment of Subaru, leaning back in her chair. "So that's the essence of big bro, huh? He's pretty simple, but 'cause he's so simple, it drives him to be really focused, without spreading his thoughts all over the place. I can definitely get it."

For the blonde ex-thief, she had very little things she wished to protect and care about. Her circle of cherished, valued people were small, and her only current goal was to keep everyone she cared about safe, and get rid of the crappy systems the kingdom of Lugunica had in place. Her determination never wavered from achieving those goals, and it made her all the more stronger for it.

It was easy to see that Subaru, probably more subconsciously than consciously followed that same stream of thoughts. For one reason or another, he only cared about what he wanted that was right in front of him – he didn't have such complicated thoughts...at least, not from what she could understand.

In a way, it made her slightly respect the boy who she regarded as her big brother just that little bit more.

"When he puts it that way...I s'pose I can understand his motivations a little more," Anastasia breathed, almost letting yet another sigh slip past her lips. The merchant girl understood somewhat – it wasn't as if he completely lacked greed or ambition...it was just that he never truly thought of what he could fully gain from a situation.

He had a sort of blind greed – a greed that led him to desperately, fanatically seek out whatever it was that he wished for at that exact moment. Rather than Anastasia's all-consuming greed, the boy on screen had a greed that was focused, directed at certain things that he desired.

'Guess he ain't as selfless as I thought, after all,' She thought, with a relieved smirk on her face.

Priscilla just rolled her eyes, all too used to this aspect of the foolish young man by now. "At the very least, he holds the wisdom to keep his wishes small and within his reach. Mineself holds the power to grab anything I desire, while that boy is nearly powerless...to hold such a wish is somewhat...fitting of one of his station."

"Huh?" She seemed just even more confused from his words.

"At that time, I wanted to know your name. I had no expectations for tomorrow, and I was in a new land, nervous and uncertain of my future."

We would begin seeing scenes of all that Subaru had suffered through in those loops, all just to get through to the present, to the moment he was now sharing with the girl in front of him.

Garfiel gripped his fists tightly upon seeing the images flash past on the screen, his usually vibrant jade eyes holding an uncharacteristic seriousness to them as he stared forward. "Cap'n really went through a lot o'shit, didn't he?"

"That's underselling it. It's easy to forget about it through all the jokes and jabs, but the kid's experienced more shit than anyone should in their lifetime," Al agreed, shaking his head with slight sympathy towards the kid who'd gone through all those agonizing deaths. No...the knight took those thoughts back. He completely understood what it felt like to die more than once.

He would occasionally get himself trapped in such a hell no thanks to his ability, after all.

"It's too much for one person," Reinhard voiced his concerns, looking down to his friend with worry clouding his usually clear and resilient blue eyes. "Nobody, let alone someone like Subaru deserved to have such a day in our world. As a knight, I almost feel ashamed that the only way he managed to escape it was through the thugs who killed him hinting him to the existence of guards..."

"It's unnatural. Nobody should have to experience something like death more than once. The mind isn't built for it." Felix felt the most put off by all of this, thanks to his own oaths and perspectives as a doctor. He wasn't on the best, most friendly terms with Subaru, but Crusch's stern reminders brought him back to the reality that he was once an ally he'd fought alongside...and from the perspective of an ally, Felix felt more disturbed than anything else to know what Subaru was going through behind close doors.

The feline-eared knight almost couldn't believe that he had once presumptuously hated Subaru because of his own assumption that he was weak. In reality, Subaru was much stronger than nearly anyone in that theater.

"I just can't believe that Subaru had to be the one to experience all of that...he didn't deserve it, neither did Felt-chan or Emilia-sama…they both would've just died if Subaru didn't keep putting himself in harms way." Petra looked down, feeling a few tears run down her face.

"It's all the fault of that supposed 'impostor'." Otto seethed, narrowing his eyes. "Without them, Natsuki-san would've had nothing but a simple meeting with Emilia-sama, and I'm quite sure that Felt-sama would have eventually been found. After all, someone with her characteristics would stand out to somebody, in due time."

Ram let out a shaky breath, looking more nervous than she ever had throughout the entirety of the viewing. While she had chosen to follow Roswaal, she wasn't sure how she felt listening to the details of the crimes he'd committed. More and more, she couldn't believe she'd just blindly watched him go down the path of evil, while making the excuse that she couldn't do anything herself.

If she'd really wanted it, she could have easily drawn him out herself – but she'd instead chosen to bide her time, telling herself that she was just 'waiting for the best chance'. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, her compliance in Roswaal's crimes made her a near-accessory to them.

Beatrice, the only other that knew of his likely extremely possible identity as the traitor gave him a look filled with utter hatred. Whereas before she had just been seething in anger, she truly wished to send a Minya crystal directly through his heart.

What he had attempted to pull at Sanctuary was bad enough – but with her current frame of mind combined with the fact that he had schemed to kill her contractor...the Great Spirit wanted to kill that man more than she ever had.

He was once her friend – but Beatrice's memory with the old Roswaal was nothing compared to the deep bond she now shared with her contractor.

The man himself could only look down silently, unable to respond to either of their gazes, or even look back. All of his planning had been made under the assumption that he'd win – that nobody's opinion would matter when he eventually came out on top in the end thanks to his Teacher's guidance.

But in the end, had he simply lost himself? He'd alienated himself from Beatrice, the one and only living reminder of his Teacher's legacy, Ram was questioning him, and his entire reputation would soon be destroyed in front of every single Royal Candidate, once this viewing reached the true telling of events at Sanctuary.

Roswaal L. Mathers could feel it. He was being ruined, bit by pit. It was as if he was being punished by some sort of invisible justice that refused to lessen its' grasp on his soul for his sins. And he understood that he deserved every single bit of it.

"When I think about it calmly, there were probably other things I should have wanted. But I'm a guy that can't lie to himself."

The girl looked at him silently, with her expression of confusion slowly changing to one of intrigue.

"The same with the request from Ros-chi. I'm flat broke right now. I could cheat him out of a fortune and live it up, but I can just as easily obtain an ongoing source of livelihood, right?"

…

Anastasia gave the screen a blank stare, completely not buying the boy's excuse. "Nice try...but he coulda' easily jus' thought o'askin' to be a permanent guest instead of workin' at the place if a livelihood was all he wanted. He coulda' been livin' comfy in tha' place fer his whole life if that was the goal!"

"Let's not put too much faith in big bro, now...I'm sure that he probably just forgot it." Felt waved off Anastasia's overthinking with a dismissive gesture, with her words almost coming prophetically true on screen.

"In that case, couldn't you have just become a permanent guest, rather than an employee?"

"I never thought of that!" Subaru jolted up, holding onto his head in frustration that he hadn't thought of such an idea.

"I swear…" Anastasia grumbled, almost wanting to explode in frustration in just how really clueless the boy was. Even if she understood just how single-minded his desires were, it didn't mean that it didn't get on her nerves just as much as it was, previously. Somewhere from in front of her, Felt was snickering, clearly pleased at the merchant princess' disbelief.

Emilia's mouth opened silently, as she finally noticed the bandages littering the boy's hand and fingers.

Subaru followed her line of sight, only to see just what she was looking at. He jumped up, backing away from the half-elf. "Oh! Man, talk about pathetic…" Desperately, he hid his hands behind his back. "You should keep your efforts a secret, huh?"

"A secret? Knowing how much he likes the pretty big sister, wouldn't he just want to show her that he's working hard?" Mimi asked, clearly confused by Subaru's seemingly contradictory mindset.

"That's where yer wrong, runt! Cap'n s'tryin to improve behind the princess' back...not because he doesn't want her t'know he's workin' hard, but s'that he c'n surprise her by showing her how much he improved 't th'end!" Garfiel grinned a wide, toothy grin, all too happy to spread the gospel of his Captain's coolness. "He's a real man!"

Wilhelm smiled fondly, knowing all too well what having such a mindset was like. Whenever he trained, he preferred keeping all of his efforts a secret, rather than announcing them loudly to others. Even his wounds were all scars of honor to him, scars that he found pride in keeping the stories of.

The old Sword Demon was a firm believer that only the results of one's efforts should seen, not their incomplete attempts spoken of.

Getting up, Emilia offered him help without a second thought. "Do you want me to use my healing magic?"

"Nah, I'm fine like this."

"Why?" As usual, the girl was confused by the actions of the boy in front of her.

"It's kind of hard to explain, but…" He brought up his hands to his eyes. "Well, this is proof of the effort I've put in. I don't actually dislike exerting myself, you know."

He turned his hand over, left and right. "Learning to do something I couldn't before...Well, it's not so bad."

Beatrice was brought out of her stupor of emotions by these words from her contractor, her small hands closing tightly on her dress. Knowing his past, how he told her of how he lived his life before arriving to their world...she understood just why he was so desperate to keep those wounds.

"You fool...Betty would heal you at a moment's notice, I suppose." She murmured, knowing that he was really only pushing himself to feel as if he was doing something – hiding the insecurity that Beatrice knew tortured him.

"At least he was willing to learn. I suppose this is why I tolerated him in this timeline," Ram assessed with an analytical tone, watching the screen with a mix of guilt. Though, despite the overwhelming guilt hitting her, she had to watch, out of respect for the boy named Natsuki Subaru, and to know just what she had done, herself.

Rem was quiet just as before, as she had managed to calm down somewhat. Still, knowing just how she had treated him, she couldn't help but feel some inevitable dissonance between herself in this time and her current self. "Rem should've been able to tell just how hard Subaru-kun was working, too…" She murmured, clutching her hands to her chest.

"That's right...Yes, I think you're right." Emilia agreed, letting out a short sigh. "Really, Subaru, you idiot."

"Oi, what's with that reaction? This is where you fall for me all over again."

"I never fell for you to begin with." The half-elf turned away, pouting to his presumptuous words. "Honestly, you're so silly."

She showed a true, sincere, bright smile to the boy, as pink flower petals seemed to fly around them. Subaru was left speechless.

"EMT…"

"Huh?"

"It's short for 'Emilia-tan, major angel'." He explained with a blush on his face.

"So this is where that nickname came from?" Emilia's eyes widened with the smallest bit of surprise. She never would've imagined that Subaru would call her an angel on nothing but the spur of the moment...yet at the same time, such an impulsive nickname was truly fitting of Subaru, when she stopped to think about it. "I just wish I could've been the one he first said it to…"

There was no getting past the fact that, again, this was yet another experience that Emilia would never be able to properly share with her knight. Another experience that would elude her grasp, as her knight was cruelly forced into the past again. Finding herself hyperventilating, Emilia wrapped her arm around Subaru's, letting the increased touch remind her that he was truly there and fine – all in one piece.

"I'm thanking you, and you're joking around again!" She chided with a pout, holding her hair out of the way of her face.

"Anyway, I know you're working hard, but how did your hands get so torn up?"

"I cut this one with knives in the kitchen...And this is from when I went to town in the evening to shop, and a little animal some kids were playing with bit me." He admitted, counting the cuts on both hands.

"A little...animal?" Both Rem and Petra murmured these words fearfully, with Ram and Emilia's eyes widening in a fearful, almost maddening realization.

"The curse...Meili's cursed dog!" Petra squealed, the tears that she had been holding back falling down her eyes in full force. She couldn't even say any more, with her little mind being too swamped by intense emotions to let her say anything further. Frederica gently wrapped her arms around her junior maid, holding her close against her chest.

"A...A cursed dog? Just what is the young lady implying?" Crusch could see that nobody who seemed to be involved with the situation was exactly in the state to give a proper answer, but she had to ask, regardless...even if she could tell that she would not like the answer.

"They speak of an attack made on my domain," Roswaal answered. Without his makeup on, he had no need to preserve appearances, so he spoke bluntly, and got straight to the point. "A child with a cursed mabeast disguised as a dog infiltrated, and staged an attack on the village children. She was dealt with, but it was only upon identifying the curse that we discovered it was capable of killing a person."

"T-That's too much...he hasn't even made it past a week yet, has he? Why the heck does big bro have to...have to face death again, just for being in the damn estate? He, he hasn't even done anything..." Felt murmured, looking down at her sobbing friend with concern. She wanted to deny it herself, but, the tears that were flowing freely down Petra's face spoke volumes.

Reinhard and Julius both lowered their heads, realizing now what fate was coming to their friend. Felix held a hand close to his chest, knowing all-too-deadly how curses were, and just what darkness was awaiting the poor, clueless young boy.

Not even the best efforts of a top-class doctor such as himself would be capable of getting rid of one. The only forceful solution was removing the limb afflicted with the curse, but he was sure Subaru would not do or want such a thing.

Priscilla just clicked her tongue, while Al shook his head despondently, letting out an annoyed sigh at the increasing amount of bullshit the kid in front of the had thrown at him for seemingly no reason.

Tivey and Ricardo gave the screen solemn gazes, neither exchanging any smart back and forth jabs to one another as they usually did. Neither had the energy, nor the mood to do so at that moment.

Anastasia felt disappointment from the bottom of her heart, but she had known that this outcome was coming, regardless. She wasn't as shaken as the others, but she was quite certainly not looking forward to seeing the innocent, potential-filled young man die again, and fall deeper into that insanity they'd witnessed in the 'Opening'.

"S-Subaru-kun took the curse, but...but, it doesn't mean that he's going to die! He, he could go to Beatrice-sama and have it removed!" Rem desperately argued, though her words were utterly unconvincing. They sounded more like ramblings of the Oni trying to convince herself – trying to ignore a crime when the crime scene was already right in front of her.

Despite her desperate pleas...nobody would answer her.

Everybody had to accept what was coming.

"It wasn't the result of your effort?'

"Those kids were ruthless, hitting and kicking me, and wiping their runny noses on me...It sucked, damn it."

Petra tried desperately to stop the tears from falling down her face, as the memories of those fun days with Subaru flashed through her mind. Her body shook as she thought of just how many deaths he must've been forced through, just to come and hang out with them...she brought a hand over her heart, thrown into a panic thinking about just what sort of pain Meili had to have put Subaru through.

"All of those times...Rem can't believe she would've been so careless as to have not even noticed such a thing…" Rem felt utterly hopeless, eyes near-empty as she looked to the screen. Not only was she being discriminatory to Subaru in these lost loops, but she couldn't even protect him from being cursed to death, when she was accompanying him.

"It's nobody's fault, Rem...you...you couldn't have possibly known that something like that was waiting for Subaru." Emilia reassured in a low voice, her gaze trailing down to the floor. Yes, she felt that it was nobody's fault, except for her own. As the one who brought Subaru there, she should at least have properly looked after him.

"You do seem like you'd be good with small children, Subaru."

Ricardo wanted to make a 'lolimancer' joke like usual to lighten up the mood, but, after taking a precursory look over the rest of the crowd, the usually jovial man decided against it, turning a serious gaze back to the screen. While he was a lighthearted person, seeing those fallen faces among the crowd, the tears flowing from the faces of some, the muted sobbing that could be heard, the grim, solemn expressions…

He could tell that now was not exactly the time to make that sort of jab.

As if something came to his mind, Subaru looked up in excitement, taking a few steps towards Emilia. "I know! Wanna come with me tomorrow to get revenge...I mean, to watch the kids and that small animal?"

"That fool…" Priscilla murmured under her breath, narrowing her eyes at the boy on screen. She did not magically expect him to detect the curse that would soon sap away at his life, but something just annoyed her at knowing how happily the boy was marching into the territory of his death.

Before, it had just annoyed her because he had made the completely alien-seeming choice to help the half-devil and slum rat even at the cost of his own life and sanity – but knowing that he was quite literally forced into a situation which surrounded him with death regardless of his own choice – it gave her quite the annoying, nagging feeling within her.

"To think that he's so excited right now, without even knowing what will soon happen to him...these lighthearted moments become almost cruel to watch with our prior knowledge." Frederica murmured, her hands continuing to hold the wailing Petra close to her chest, comforting her the best that she could.

At this, she looked to the side reluctantly, speaking with a voice that held much less energy. "It's not that I don't want to go with you…"

"Mimi doesn't understand…" Though the little girl was still heavily affected by just how everyone's spirits had suddenly sank so low, she was still curious about just why Emilia's mood had changed so seriously. "If the pretty big sis is interested in hanging out with big bro, why does she look so sad?"

Not many people in the Emilia camp were in the condition to answer, so Otto took it upon himself as the Head of Internal Affairs to speak up, composing himself to answer the girl's curiosity-filled question.

"It's because of Emilia-sama's unique appearance...while the villagers of Arlam aren't quite the most biased crowd, just as most people are, they're afraid of her appearance, reminiscent of the Witch," Otto explained, eyes looking down to the ground apologetically. "It is a bias that Emilia-sama has often been subjected to throughout the entirety of her run in the Royal Selection."

"A bias that does not deserve to exist…" Reinhard muttered, slowly shaking his head as he was reminded of yet another failure of their kingdom – or perhaps, their world. Though the Sword Saint's strong emotions on it came not from such a broad thought, but instead, from his own personal experience. He knew what it was like to be referred to and feared as a monster for factors entirely out of one's control.

Mimi's ears lowered at this, as she remembered some of the discrimination that she and her siblings had faced, going through trials even up to almost being enslaved...and she looked down with a frown, at the silent Emilia. While her curiosity was sated, she just felt like she ended up feeling even worse after knowing the answer.

"Then let's go!"

"But if I'm with you, it might cause trouble for you." She continued trying to refuse his enthusiasm, but the boy just kept his fired up nature.

"Okay, got it! Let's go!"

Some chuckled at Subaru's continual insistence, with the boy's ignorance of their world and its' history – or perhaps, his rather simple inner nature – left him from caring about anything regarding Emilia's race or heritage being a refreshing breath of air.

"Even as he comes close to his death...Subaru never really changes, does he?" Julius, despite the situation, managed to show a smile on his face.

"That's right. No matter who shows up in front of him, he'd never judge them based on something such as race, history, or appearances. He's the type that might even walk up to the Witch herself and have a casual conversation with her." Wilhelm shook his head at the boy's earnestness, but found it quite funny.

Unlike himself, who was much more dishonest with his feelings and stubborn when he was younger, Subaru seemed the type of young man to wear his heart on his sleeve. It was a way of feeling that was rare to see. Other than Emilia and the yet-inexperienced children, the wise man could tell that nobody else in the room expressed themselves in such a free way.

"It's a shame...seein' how hard tha' kid's tryin' t'setup a nice time, only t'be walkin' right into his death." Anastasia let out a sigh, her words surprisingly sympathetic. She was a greedy gal, but she wasn't a heartless bastard. Watching a person die, it wasn't as if she wouldn't feel absolutely anything.

She looked at him with surprise, with her eyebrows narrowing down in annoyance. "Are you properly listening to me?"

"I am! I hang on every word you say, Emilia-tan!" He grinned happily, hands still held up in expectancy.

"Hangin' on every word a 'hers, huh?" Ricardo shook his head at the boy's blissful ignorance at what was about to happen to him, a grim frown on his face.

"I wish I had just a little more knowledge about curses…" Emilia murmured, cursing her lack of ability and knowledge, all in this one moment. She never would've been able to expect this sort of situation, of course, but at the same time, it wasn't like she could entirely let herself off the hook just for the situation being out of her control.

"Sheesh…" She let out a sigh, then looked back to him with a small smile on her. "Only when I can take a break from studying and your work is done, all right?"

Her words left Subaru grinning like a fool, even wider than he even had been before. He raised an excited fist to the air in victory. "All right! Roger that!"

The two shared happy laughter, as the camera panned up to the moon.

"The moon…" Reinhard shook his head at the sight, eyes downcast as he remembered the earlier excitement that Subaru had shown to the prospect of being able to spend time with Emilia. "It seems...my words were all too correct when I spoke of the tumultuous nature of what was to come."

The Sword Saint, despite acknowledging his prediction, deeply wished that he had been completely and utterly wrong.

"Life is never fair...but to Natsuki-san, this is simply too cruel..." Otto bowed his head, an unreadable expression coming over his usually calm face. He tilted his head down to hide his expression, but the faint sniffling from his holding back of his tears was all too audible.

"We were naive to think that we were prepared for this," Crusch grunted, her fists balled up in her lap. Her gaze remained ever-unwavering, yet the slight shaking of her hands showed just how rattled the usually unshakable Duchess was. "Is it ever truly possible to get used to the cruel death of an innocent person? No, even more than that...the death of a friend?"

Nobody could give an answer to that question – but the grim silence that filled the room indicated the answer, even if nobody said it directly. They would not turn away from the viewing, but they would likely never be 'ready' to see these bouts of suffering that plagued the unconscious young man down below.

"...Let us just continue to watch." Wilhelm's wise old countenance was a blessing to those who weren't so experienced with such thoughts of constant death. The warmth and understanding in his voice pushed everyone forward just that little bit more, to force themselves to continue watching Subaru's march to his next end.

Subaru walked along with a happy pep in his step through the hallway of the mansion, immediately opening a door and reaching Beatrice's library on the first try.

Beatrice's eyes opened wide, her hands pressing even further against her chest, as if she was trying to bury her hands into her core. Just seeing him open that door was unbearable – seeing the familiar sight of her library through his eyes, knowing that she would be there…

"M-Maybe it's not too late?" Emilia said hopefully, though the mark of tears flowing down her face betrayed any true sense of hope she had. "I-It was nighttime when Subaru got his curse removed, for us. If Beatrice can see that he has the curse mark, then maybe-"

"T-that's what Rem was saying!" The blue-haired Oni interrupted, giving a frantic look to the spirit. "I-If Subaru-kun can get there in time, then-!"

Their gazes filled with extremely thin hope were only like knives to the little spirit, stabbing her through the heart as a reminder of just how she could have saved him. Despite their hopes, despite the last bit of trust they were pinning on her to be able to do something – Beatrice remained silent.

She knew it.

They knew it.

Everyone in the theater knew it.

The fact that they were even seeing this world – a world which diverged from theirs, a world which was absolutely unrelated to anything they had ever experienced from themselves.

It meant that Beatrice did not save him.

Tears streamed out of the Great Spirit's eyes, her eyes closing themselves shut as pain wracked her body. A pain not physical, but mental. An emotional anguish that threatened up to swallow her entire being. "W-Why...why must Betty be so...so useless…? Why?! WHY?!"

Her tormented cries silenced anyone from speaking any further – though any words that could be said had long died in their throats, already. Emilia and Rem, their hopes shattered, could only retreat back into tears of their own.

The three girls held close to Subaru for dear life. His presence was the only thing anchoring them – keeping their minds and feelings somewhat stable. Yet, his presence there was also a haunting reminder of just what was going on on screen.

He was alive – each and every one of them could feel his warmth, see his chest rise with each little breath that he took in...and that life, meant that the truth they were seeing on screen had truly happened to him. They would never experience these horrible events, but he was the only one to suffer through them, and be forced to return.

Subaru alone bore the burden of every single death, and still came back through every ounce of his suffering. All they could do was continue to watch, while taking comfort in the smallest constant that these deaths would not be the true end for him.

"Hey, loli girl! You're still up?"

"So now you can break through my Door Crossing like it's natural, I suppose." She was clearly infuriated, pulling on the ends of her hair.

"Well, I just wanted to say hey before going to bed." Seeing her twirling her fingers around the ends of her hair, he began to reach a hand out to her. "Can I try that too?"

The little librarian's eyes narrowed in warning. "Only Bubby may touch me, I suppose."

Beatrice's hands moved to hold onto her contractor's clothing, turning around to bury her face into his clothing. "As much...Betty will let you play with her hair as much as you want...it is all that Betty can do for you, I suppose…"

Roswaal looked at the sorrow-ridden spirit from the corner of his vision, just as silent as he usually was throughout the events of the viewing. The magician's mind was not empty, however, despite what his lifeless eyes may have indicated. He understood all too well that Beatrice was entirely capable of removing the curse from Natsuki Subaru.

With the reaching of his hand to her hair, she must have detected the curse on his palm, as well. So why…

'Why would you not save this boy that you seemed to gravitate so much towards, Beatrice…?' The man had to know the answer. Though in part, he already knew the answer.

"No fair that only you get to have fun. Well, I'm in a good mood, so I can let it go-" Subaru didn't even notice the raised palm in front of him, as Beatrice overrode his words with hers.

"Enough! Just get out of here!"

And with that, he was sent flying right out of the library, back hitting against a wall roughly.

"W-What?!" Petra, Felt, and Mimi all let out exclamations of surprise, with the rest of the cast showing similar surprise, albeit through their expressions rather than their words.

"I get that you were on bad terms with Subaru-sama, but...I did not expect you to simply push him away, Beatrice-sama," Frederica confessed, looking to the weeping girl with doubtful eyes.

"That's right. I ain't getting all up in your personal business, but why the hell would you just push the kid out if you could save him? Doesn't make any sense to me," Al furthered the sharp-toothed maid's words, his ever-carefree tone holding a slight edge to it.

"I...I-I…" Lacking any of her usual confidence, the girl was reduced to nothing but stuttering, unable to form a sentence, or even proper words to answer to the gazes and accusations that were beginning to rise up against her. Emilia and Rem, whose eyes had once been filled with pleading towards the Great Spirit, felt only even more sorrow hit their hearts.

"Please...say it isn't true, Beatrice...say that you wouldn't have abandoned Subaru if he needed your help to save his life. I-I know that you reeeeally care about him, I know, I know...so just deny them, please!" The half-elf besides her was practically begging for their words to be wrong – for Beatrice to speak up and show just how she would never have simply left someone to die.

Emilia wasn't keen on jumping on people with trains of guilt and hatred, of distrust and disbelief – so the last thing she wanted was to have to find herself viewing some side of Beatrice, Subaru's dear spirit, that would simply abandon an innocent life and leave them to their deaths.

Yet, the weight of the burden on her heart only doubled as Beatrice said not a single thing, a dark shadow cast over her face. The only things left were the sounds of Beatrice's simple sobbing. Rem grit her teeth, an impulsive rage coursing through her body – a horrible feeling pouncing out from her core like an unfurled snake lunging for its' prey.

"Oi, Rem!" Garfiel, immediately noting the change in mood the girl was going through spoke up, but Rem utterly ignored his words, single-mindedly focusing on the ugly feeling that was cultivating itself within her chest.

"Beatrice-sama, how could yo-!"

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Crusch's tenacious tone cut through the rising tensions within the room, interrupting Rem's vicious words that were about to be spewed forth from her mouth. "Have we forgotten so easily what Reinhard-dono said? Once we begin this cycle of finger-pointing, of accusation levying and declarations of hatred and contempt, there is no going back. It is a dangerous road that we will go down, one that is inescapable."

"Hate ta' admit it, but tha' ladies, right." Anastasia chuckled darkly, tugging at the scarf on her neck. "How'd that sayin' go, again? Don't throw stones at somebody else, if yer house is one that's made out of glass. If I'm right, none of y'all have the leeway to be blamin' others."

"That's right...none of us here bear any sort of freedom from sin." Reinhard shook his head, looking down at his gloved hands with a contemplative gaze. "I could have been more diligent. Rather than taking his words at full value – it was my responsibility as a guard to press Subaru for much more details. No, perhaps you could say that it was my responsibility to present myself in a way for him to trust me enough to have divulged more information. Instead, he mistakenly perceived me as a person incapable of handling such a task. That is my shortcoming in the matter."

"Rein…" Felt gave her knight a look, a look that showed that she wasn't handling any of that self-hatred that he usually showed. He could only return her a small, nervous smile, one that she could tell his heart was not in. "You dumbass...don't start with that crap." She frowned. "I could've dodged all that crap by not being so greedy, and avoiding a job that sounded too good to be true."

"No," Wilhelm interrupted, his grave voice leaving Reinhard and Felt to pause. "If I were not so lenient with my assessments on the young lady, I would have been able to end this situation before it had even been allowed to escalate."

"Even I unknowingly interrupted Old Man Wilhelm from overseeing the situation properly…" Felix admitted, scratching his cheek with a slight hint of embarrassment on his face.`

"That's silly…" Emilia, whose voice had previously been filled with such desperation and fear, seemed remarkably calmer as she interrupted the cat-eared knight. Softly, she continued on. "I still have a lot that I did wrong, too...like giving Subaru the name of the Jealous Witch, when he didn't know any better."

The five of them all felt varying levels of guilt towards what had happened to Subaru – their various mistakes and choices playing out in a domino effect, pushing Subaru towards his struggles in the capital city with varying levels of strength.

"What point are you trying to make, exactly?" Rem had calmed somewhat, but she was still giving Beatrice a wary look. "Rather than making an unknowing mistake...Beatrice-sama simply looked at Subaru, knew he was going to die, and forced him out. Nobody in this room has done something of that magnitude, yet."

"That's right. Not 'yet'." Priscilla cut off Crusch, who was opening her mouth to answer the Oni's question. "None of you commoners has yet to directly put the boy's life in danger, until now. However...mineself seems to recall there being quite a large number of you fidgeting when that possibility was previously mentioned."

Her words cut into the hearts of those people who had been affected. Garfiel, Ram, Roswaal...but most strongly of all, Rem. Rem, who had been just ready to hurl insult after insult at Beatrice, knew it the most…

After all, she had been this close to simply strangling Subaru in his sleep – this close to killing him the moment she got a chance to. Yet, in the world she knew, she'd come to trust him after he saved her life alongside the lives of the villagers.

In the world she knew…

In the world...she...knew…

At the look of horror that set in on Rem's face, Priscilla showed a smug smirk, her eyes piercing right through the inner being of the Oni, like she was seeing into her very soul.

"It is quite pathetic that you attempt to carelessly throw words when you cannot even properly gather your own resolve and belief, is it not? Can you confidently say you would never kill the boy? To mineself...you seem rather doubtful. In fact...I believed I was able to see the killing intent dripping from you earlier…"

"Now that's a little too far, Princess." Al interrupted, his words earning him a sharp glare from the woman. She began to bicker with him, but Rem could no longer hear whatever they were saying.

Each and every single word was like poison to her, a poison that she had momentarily forgotten was already coursing through her due to her anger towards Beatrice. Yet, it was forced right back into her mind and body by the arrogant woman's dreadfully truthful words.

"Don't worry, Rem." She was broken from her stupor by a silvery smooth voice from beside her, forcing her gaze to the side, where Emilia was looking to her with an unsure smile. "I...I may not be sure how to feel about all of this...but I know one thing. You would never do something like kill Subaru. I know that for sure."

While these words may have been reassuring in any other scenario...to Rem, they were like stakes, further piercing through her already shattered heart. Seeing Emilia's trusting eyes – her words that showed just how badly she wanted to retain faith in her newly made friend, the sadness in her eyes at having to confront Beatrice on her inaction…all of them stacked atop each other, presenting an insurmountable wall of emotion that Rem could not get past.

Tears flowed freely from her eyes. "Of course, Emilia."

But they were not tears of joy.

Ram was alarmed by her sister's conflicting emotions, but for once, she had no idea what do to. Were this the her in the show, her priority would've simply been to support her sister, regardless of what her intentions or decisions would be. Yet, things were much more complicated.

Now, Ram actually deeply cared about these people. She'd formed connections with them, and the boy whom she always referred to as an idiot was the one she'd come to trust third only to her sister and her master.

She looked down, at a loss on what to say. Nothing came to her mind.

Everyone in the theater was left lost, as the scene uncaringly trudged onward.

She slowly lowered her hand, looking suddenly forlorn, her tone much lower. "That has nothing to do with Betty, I suppose."

The feeling that Beatrice's own words gave her was indescribable. She felt as if she was back in that burning library, about to be melted down into nothingness by those intense flames. Yet, this time, the flames were of her own making, a punishment her alternate self was now inflicting upon her current self.

"Betty...Betty was truly such a slothful girl," She murmured in a broken, pitiful voice. Her butterfly irises stared blankly at her lap. There was no reason for her to have simply ignored him. Sure, she may have not known the nature of the curse without carefully observing it...yet, she had let an innocent boy walk in and then forced him out to his death.

Roswaal stared over at the girl who was lost in her own collapsing castle of thoughts, his eyes all to clearly boring right through her, the man's insight like a window into her soul.

'To a pitiful girl who had been waiting 400 years, things such as morality and emotion likely didn't exist, not in their usual form. At that time, all Beatrice's motivations for helping someone about to die, was simply that she didn't wish to see them experience death in front of her. A selfish wish, devoid of such human virtues as kindness or empathy. Whether through helping them…' A nasty, understanding grin spread across his face for but a second. '...or letting them die, away from her sight.'

Only he and Subaru could've possibly understood why Beatrice had made such a seemingly irrational decision. Even Beatrice herself could not properly decipher these actions she hadn't, in her mind, even taken, her mind a mess, and any sort of self-introspection utterly ruined by this cold image of herself that was being painted on the screen.

Subaru is now in his room, laying down in his bed excitedly while staring up to the ceiling.

"For our date tomorrow, I'll have to come up with an excuse to ditch the kids in the village. Oh! First, I've gotta find out where all the good views and flower fields and stuff are…"

"He's so excited…" Emilia, despite her attempts to remain calm and collected just couldn't hold back the floodgate of tears that began to force their way down her face. "S-So excited, to just spend some time with me in the village...and we won't even get to have that moment together…! Subaru...Subaru is gonna die again!"

Everyone lowered their heads as the half-elf let her cries out into the air, her voice echoing throughout the unmoving walls of the theater.

Some, like Rem, Beatrice, and Petra joined her in crying, all of their sorrow flowing from them through the tears that ran down their cheeks.

The three knights, Julius, Reinhard, and Felix looked on with mixed, solemn expressions. Julius and Reinhard were simply saddened for the fate that would befall their friend – how he would be ripped from simply enjoying his life after being forced to experience the horrors of death multiple times. Felix just felt helpless, as a doctor, and as a person who was slowly coming to value the connection he had with Subaru.

Crusch and Wilhelm shared serious expressions, a grave look in their eyes as they unflinchingly watched the screen. Despite how steadfast the both of them seemed, the tight grips they had on themselves or their clothing betrayed the true storm of emotions that was raging on within them.

Anastasia and Priscilla looked on with mostly neutral expressions, though Anastasia did have a very noticeable inclination of sympathy towards Subaru, a slight glint in her eyes as she watched him. While she could only sympathize with him on a certain level, the merchant princess found his suffering to be such a waste…

Evident by his eventual actions, the praise he received from others, and the worth his unique origins and skills gave him, Natsuki Subaru was a true diamond in the rough for someone with an eye for talent like her. Yet, here he was, being put through endless suffering, trials he did not even ask for, just to earn the right not to be forced into the grips of death. And, as that 'opening' showed...it was only breaking him more and more, dulling him on the inside, rather than sharpening him.

'He's goin' to waste.' She concluded, within her thoughts. Anastasia Hoshin was by no means a bleeding heart good Samaritan who felt or did things purely out of the kindness of her heart...and that was why, even more so, when looking at extremely valuable Natsuki Subaru, she felt even more distress than her unbothered expression would indicate.

The majority just looked on with forlorn expressions. Mimi and her brothers shared dejected looks, their ears folded downwards over their faces. Ricardo and Al looked on in pity, each man's gaze unbreakable from the screen. Otto had taken his hat off, holding it over his head in a gesture of respect towards his soon-to-be dead friend, and Frederica just held Petra close to her, keeping her from spilling her tears onto her uniform.

A rare few...were simply seething with rage. Garfiel, whose teeth were grit to the point where it seemed as if he was grinding them together...Ram, who held a quiet, cold fury deep within herself, her eyes staring to the screen as if they'd burn a hole through it, and Felt, her hands balled up so tightly to the point where her fingernails could draw blood from her at any moment.

Only one man was absolutely uncaring about it all – Roswaal L. Mathers, who just observed the screen with complete partiality. His mind was an enigma – his expression completely unreadable even as he looked at the boy who was about to die. Nobody could assess just what he was thinking at that moment.

He sat up with a nervous sweat on his body. "Crap! I can't sleep while I'm thinking about this! Oh, I know!"

"One Puck...Two Pucks...A hundred and one Pucks…"

Counting Pucks, he slowly began to drift off into sleep…

Only for his eyes to open to the morning light. "A new dawn has come! A dawn of hope!"

Even without the reveal which was to come next, everybody knew just what this 'dawn of hope' truly was.

"That ceiling…" Frederica murmured, taking in a deep, shaky breath as she realized the boy's travel to the past had long since occurred.

"In his sleep...at least it happened in his sleep." Otto shook his head, remembering all too well the suffering Subaru had been forced through in his first three loops against the Bowel Hunter.

"No...it should not have happened at all," Crusch stated with finality, leaving nobody able to say yet another word as they all beheld the true hopelessness of his situation.

He shifted off his covers, revealing that...he was wearing the same blue robe from five days ago…?

Emilia's breath hitched in her throat, with those blue robes almost staring back at her like a living being, confirmation of the horrible truth that she, and everyone else was seeing on screen.

"Why is Betty so useless?! Always, at the worst times, all she will ever do is sit and watch...and keep watching…! Unable to help anyone, not even herself!" The little spirit practically screamed into Subaru's chest, her heart and mind steeped in utter misery.

Nobody could spare any words to reprimand or agree with her self-deprecatory utterances Whatever punishment she needed, the hell that her actions put her through was punishment enough. And as for trying to bring her out of her anguish, it was obvious that the only thing capable of doing so was the unconscious boy she currently laid on.

"Natsuki Subaru is going to make giant strides today!"

Indeed, as the camera panned out, it revealed that he was not even in his new room, but in the old, incredibly large guest room...with the two maids standing on either side of his bed.

"What?! You were in here?! I'm so embarrassed! You should've said something!" He cringed, his skin practically beet red as he rushed to cover himself in embarrassment.

Both maids looked over him...with Rem being the first to speak, her sister following in sync.

"Sister, Sister...Our guest appears to be a bit confused."

"Rem, Rem...It looks as though our guest has gone crazy."

"Why are you calling me a guest?" Subaru questioned, laughing to himself as he held up his hands. "You two and your jokes…"

Only to notice one thing…

His previously bandaged, banged up, cut hands…

Were absolutely spotless.

Sweat began to drip down his body, his pupils shrinking down to pinpoints as a look of absolute, unremitting horror covered his face.

'The wounds...are gone.'

The Happy Roswaal Mansion Family

With the showing of the title card, everyone took a collective breather. Once more, they had been emotionally destroyed by what had come before it. The cast was nowhere near the level of high spirits that they had been at when beginning the viewing. Especially one little spirit, who sat there, broken over the sin of the inaction that she had chosen.

"These viewings...now I understand why we are afforded such leniency with being able to pause these scenes whenever we wish." Reinhard, the unofficial vice-leader of the group was the first to break the silence, his eyes cast down to the floor. "It is as if each of these 'episodes' are always to contain some events that will horrify us…"

"I understand that feeling," Felix agreed, letting out a deep exhale. "It's not like I'm unused to death or brutality, as a doctor...but Subaru-kyun isn't just any simple patient. There's just, something really odd about knowing him, knowing him personally, and just, seeing him suffer through all of these deaths."

"It's a waste. At least that's how I see it." Anastasia huffed out, her words drawing the attention of Priscilla, who admittedly had much similar thoughts. "Tha' kid's got so much potential, but with each an' every one o'these deaths, it gets duller an' duller. A person ain't just gonna get that look in their eyes from simple stuff. He's already gettin' traumatized, f'he wasn't already."

"Indeed." Wilhelm looked down at the sleeping form of the boy with concern clear in his tired, old eyes. He had long experienced hardship throughout his life – experienced situations of coming close to death, watching people around him die, and even now, the older he got, the closer he courted it...yet even he did not have the wisdom of how it felt to die. And atop that, dying multiple times.

His will was undoubtedly strong, and he was always a headstrong man that followed his own beliefs, yet, he wondered if even he would be able to properly gather his resolve after that many deaths? At the very least, he was afforded the ability to better himself with the sword...Subaru was currently a boy on the level of a civilian without access to any such routes of bettering himself.

Even his best skills – his wit, the intelligence and creativity he carried – it was as if fate had set up the poor lad in a way so that they would only ever be useful after he had already experienced death multiple times.

"If Fate is a driving force in this world, it certainly has some plans for Natsuki-san that are much too heavy a burden for him to bear like this." Otto brought his hat back to its position atop his head, staring at the screen with a serious, focused gaze. "This only strengthens my will. We have to continue watching. Every time Natsuki-san dies, we have to reaffirm it."

"Yer right on th'money, Otto-bro." Garfiel growled, punching his fist into an open palm. "I don't give a shit 'bout fate or any of th'other random crap that comes with it, but, we jus' gotta beat th'hell outta it n'keep goin'. If cap'n could do t'all this time, then th'least we could do is return th'favor."

Frederica and Ram looked at the boy with measures of surprise in their eyes, having not expected such mature-sounding words to come out of his mouth. Yet, both women understood, to some degree, just why he was acting in such a way. Garfiel was being affected by the viewings, in a way that was beginning to make him rapidly change.

What they were watching was beginning to affect them on a much more deeper level than a simply emotional one.

"These viewings aren't just showing us Subaru-sama's struggles…they're here to show us our shortcomings as well. To inform us of misdeeds we would otherwise have never known." Frederica affirmed, with a short nod of her head.

"In other words, that extremely suspicious orb-being wishes to show us Barusu's struggles, while forcing us to grow beyond our current selves...a rather disgusting plan. He is pressuring us to change, for some reason we aren't even allowed to know. While I am grateful to be allowed to see what goes on that mind of Barusu's...that aspect alone is despicable."

At Ram's harsh words, Emilia managed to slowly raise her head, looking to the maid who had fury in her eyes. "I, I don't think that's the reason we'd all be gathered here like that. I mean, if it was like that, then the Host could have just told us about Subaru's ability. Right?"

The red-haired Oni was given pause by the half-elf's soft words, logical words which she could not refute.

"It's just like he said. He didn't bring any of us here to suffer, or to hurt us. Neither did he force us into anything. I don't know what his real goal is, but," Emilia took hold of Subaru's left hand, gently cradling it in her hands. "He's letting me come to understand my knight more. To know more about him, to be there with him through all of these horrible things he's experienced...and to know what's really going on in his mind. For all of you, Subaru must at least mean something, right? Can you really all say that these viewings are just here to force you to change against your will?"

Emilia's camp, obviously, cared for the young man on many levels. Some saw him as a friend, others, a savior, and to some, he was simply a very capable, headstrong boy. For many there, he was something between all three.

Felt's camp unanimously cared for Subaru on the level of close friendship. The blonde candidate herself was indebted to him, and her knight wanted nothing more than to be a close friend with Subaru.

To Anastasia's camp, he was a valuable ally who had fought alongside them once before, and one who seemed to be nothing but a goldmine of interesting circumstances and information. This last part, of course, mostly applied to Anastasia herself, while the rest saw him as a genuine ex-ally and more than capable hero, as his reputation had begun to proceed him.

Crusch's camp was the most mixed in opinions. For Crusch, she saw him as a brave, intelligent, strong-minded man, who had saved not only her life, but the life of her camp members, alongside the lives of the men who had fought with them. To Wilhelm, he was a boy who had miraculously come out of nowhere, allowing him to exact the revenge he had so desperately desired upon that infamous, disgusting creature known as the White Whale. For Felix, he hadn't respected the boy at first. In reality, he'd hated him...but come to let go of that hatred once he'd seen just what he was capable of.

Priscilla just found him interesting, while Al related to him slightly, considering that both were not of this world, and held looping abilities that tested the limits of their minds.

For different reasons, everybody in the theater had come to find the viewing in front of them incredibly important, as the boy who it pertained was incredibly important to all of them for differing reasons.

"Hate ta' admit it, but tha' girl is right. Jus' like before, we ain't gonna resolve anythin' if we just cower back an' give up over a lil' bit of things like this. I'm sorry fer Natsuki-kun, but I'd be even more sorry f'we jus' sat 'round an' let all o'the information and value in his story go ta' waste. F'it means my view on things are gonna change a lil', so be it. I ain't an inflexible girl, after all." Anastasia was the first of the candidates to speak up, her camp firmly agreeing with her.

"The only thing that interests mineself about being in this location is learning more of the commoner resting below us, primarily. Mineself holds no fear about what I shall view, after all, the world remains in my favor. There is no reason or need for me to change, unless I will it so." Priscilla's words came from a place of confidence, an ever-knowing grin on her face.

"Arrogant wannabe princess aside," Felt spoke up, ignoring the gnashing of teeth she heard from the back row, likely from a certain fiery-haired princess. "I'm already on board with this thought. If I'm gonna be supportin' big sis and big bro in the future as their ally, I can't just cower back 'cause I'm afraid of a little bit of change. Big bro put his life on the line for me and big sis. The only thing I don't want to change is the gratitude I feel towards him for that. A real slum dweller never forgets what they owe."

"I don't believe I even need to give my answer." Crusch closed her eyes, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. "My camp and I owe Natsuki-sama a debt too great to pay. Even if we are not quite that close any more, I wish to pay that back in kind. I have already experienced the loss of my memories – a simple change in my mindset is nothing but child's play."

Each of the candidates besides Emilia immediately expressed their desire to continue, with each and every one of them turning their gaze down to the half-elf, who had well and truly ceased her crying, a shadow over her face. Next to her, Beatrice's face was still buried in her contractor's chest out of guilt, though she had stopped wailing. Rem was looking rather nervous, almost despondent, at some truth only she knew.

Slowly, the half-elf lifted up her head, giving a confident smile. "It's reeeeeally reassuring to know that I've got such strong allies...and to know that so many of you care about Subaru! Well, even if some of your intentions are a little impure." She scratched her cheek with a finger, leaving Priscilla to scoff, and Anastasia to simply smirk. "Then...we're continuing, alright? Everybody, prepare yourselves. Because I am, as well."

With a final squeeze of her knight's hand, Emilia bravely turned her attention back to the screen. If Beatrice wasn't able to do it out of guilt, and Rem seemed to be hiding something, then it was up to her to fully witness and take in Subaru's story with the clearest mind she could.

'I don't know why you weren't able to tell me about all of this, Subaru. But whatever your reason was, I'll see this through to the end. No matter what happens, I'll learn and understand everything that ever happened to you. The good...and the bad.'

With these determined thoughts in mind, the half-elf took a final deep inhale, steeled herself, and kept her gaze steady, her purple-blue eyes leveled right on Subaru's haunted expression.

That same ominous choir from before began to sing, as the boy looked to his shaking hands in barely restrained terror.

'Why…'

He looked to the two of the maids, suddenly finding himself absolutely mortified by their presence. It was like he could see the killer glint in their eyes.

He could already imagine one of them having been the person to kill him.

"To think he would look at me like that…" Ram muttered, her expression remaining ever-calm. Yet on the inside, she felt some irritation...and frustration at her own abilities as a maid. It made the maid uneasy to think of herself being seen as a possible murderer towards that idiotic, yet reliable boy that she had come to trust.

She didn't even bother looking over at her sister, who seemed utterly mortified to the way Subaru was looking at her. "Please...Please don't let me have done anything to Subaru-kun…" The blue-haired Oni was desperately muttering these words under her breath, continually, over and over, as if she were in a trance.

"Bro must be pretty shaken up, huh?" Ricardo was the first of the wider cast to speak, letting out a sigh at the kid's flaring paranoia. "Ta' the point his minds' playin' tricks on 'im. Seein' those two maids as killers."

"I mean, can you blame him? It's pretty screwed up what he's going through, already. Finally manages to escape one death loop, and he can't even go a week without gettin' caught in another one." Al follow in the wolf demihuman's footsteps, letting a sigh of his own escape from his helmet.

"Jus' hope that th'captain doesn' let all a'that paranoia an' crap take 'im over. Right now, he needs guts! T'pump himself up!" Garfiel growled, holding up a fist towards the screen. He badly wished he could send some energy to his frightened Captain, but even he was understanding that it wasn't that simple.

"We can only hope that Natsuki-san manages to work that belief into himself, Garfiel. After all, even I would be surprised to see him recover so easily." Otto admitted, his blunt words leaving the sharp-toothed demihuman to falter. Neither wanted to see the man they considered something close to a brother in this state, but at the same time, they understood that all they could do, currently, was watch and hope.

He brought a hand up to his face, now practically gasping out his breaths.

'Why have I gone back?'

"We have tha' advantage o'knowin', but he ain't even got tha' slightest clue, huh? In that case, he's jus' as bad off as last time." Anastasia shook her head, already long aware of the disadvantage that the boy had. "Fer a kid like him, information s'his biggest n'only advantage he's gonna have. Dying without gleanin' anythin' from it is kinda-"

"Please, don't, Anastasia-sama." Julius near-pleaded from behind his mistress, causing her to look back at him, her eyes widened in surprise. He was never the type to interrupt her, so it was truly unexpected. Rather than adding anything else to his words, he simply returned her gaze,

If it were anyone else, Anastasia would purposefully ask the person to further their statement, even if she implicitly understood the meaning. However, considering it was Julius...she had no reason to wring any information from him. She knew what the rest of his words would've been regardless.

'Please don't call Subaru's death useless,' Or something like that. Her knight knew well his lady just as much as she knew him, of course.

She let out a defeated sigh, turning her gaze forward and suppressing her previous words. "Alright, Julius-kun. I can't turn down them words of yours when yer askin' so diligently, 'fter all." The man let out a grateful sigh to that reassurance, his hand moving to hold over his heart. Despite everything, the knight considered Natsuki Subaru his friend...and hearing one of his many deaths declared useless, even if by his own mistress, whom he knew was quite frank with her assessment of others and details, he was not sure if he could fully handle it.

Even the Finest Knight had a limit for such things.

Both of the maids set their hands on the bed, looking to their guest in worry.

"Sir, sir, you don't seem to be feeling well. Are you all right?"

"Sir, sir, you seem to have a stomachache. You didn't soil yourself, did you?

"So...what of this...loop?" Reinhard was the one to ask this question, his clear blue eyes looking down towards the two maids. A bit of hope was clear in his voice, but he didn't dare presume anything.

"It's...it's good, right?" Petra asked with a quivering voice, having only barely managed to stop the torrential fall of tears from her eyes to ask that single question. Mimi and Felt looked at her, clearly concerned, but kept their mouths closed. After all, Frederica was the one currently supporting the junior maid, said woman's hand gently resting on her back.

The entire theater held their breath as Ram, the currently most capable sister spoke up to their questions. "I-" As usual, she seemed to be preparing something smart to say...but with a certain dimming in her eyes, decided against it. The grim answer to their question came in a simple, yet devastating shaking of her head.

This was not the 'loop' which they were hoping for.

Emilia tried to stop her heart from jumping out of her chest once more, her chest heaving as she barely succeeded at controlling her breathing. Deep down, she'd known...she'd known, but, getting 'used' to hearing that Subaru was doomed to die again was something that she would never entirely be able to accomplish.

The rest of the cast had much the same reaction to her.

"Curses…" Wilhelm's voice trailed off, as he considered the checkered fate that Subaru was once more fighting against. It made the man consider, in his mind, just how many deaths those eyes he'd seen at the manor truly experienced.

"...Let us simply prepare ourselves the best we can." The Sword Saint's dejection was clear in his voice, despite how clearly he tried to hide it. In a rare moment of synchronicity, he felt much the same as his grandfather.

How many times had he failed his friend in allowing him to die? The Sword Saint wasn't even sure if he wished for the answer to such a consideration.

Felt frowned, looking at her knight's forlorn expression. She wanted badly to say something to cheer him up, throw him out of his slump like usual. But, remembering the reaction he'd shown when she'd last tried such tactics, she hesitated, eventually deciding on just looking back to the screen.

Subaru looked up with frighteningly empty eyes at Rem and Ram's usual monotone words...but shuddered, as life forced its way back into them.

"You don't...remember me? So it's like none of it ever happened?" He asked, in a shaky voice.

"He's so alone…" Emilia murmured, her voice and body trembling in unspoken sorrow. "With nobody to talk to, nobody to share what he's going through with, afraid that any of them might have been the one to kill him…"

"And each time, he just has to keep making the same relationships, over and over again." Tivey noted, an ever-so-slight hint of sympathy in his voice.

"It's a nightmarish experience. A world where you conceivably have time to do everything you wish, yet at the same time, you're stuck in a world where you're the only one that truly exists…the only person who will ever truly remember anything." Wilhelm gripped his armchair with surprising strength.

Roswaal stared at the screen with an ever-blank expression, taking in just what such thoughts truly meant.

'Subaru-kun cannot control his ability. It can only be activated from death, and he cannot take any progress back with him, only his memories and the information pertaining to those memories. And even then, if he acts in any different way, or carries out events with any modicum of difference between one another, the information he holds may even become useless. On top of all of that...the point of looping changes.'

The man grimaced, the first real expression that had crossed his face in the first time, that actually pertained to what the Lord was feeling.

'Just what is this, teacher? Did you truly wish for me to somehow make use of such an ability? Natsuki Subaru is quite certainly a peerless looper, yet...what are these conditions? This was not what the Gospel foretold.' For the second time since the beginning of the viewing, Roswaal felt extremely disgusted towards not only himself, but at the nature of Subaru's ability.

"An ability that can make your deaths meaningless...one that can make you start losing your sense of self, and even give up on self-worth…" Felix muttered, a hateful edge to his tone. The ability itself was like a mockery to life. A forbidden-seeming skill that forced one to return from death, with absolutely nothing to show but their mind, which would slowly crack away with each usage.

After all, the human mind was not built to withstand death more than a single time.

"Forget Greed. The boy ain't even allowed ta' keep anythin' he wants. An ability that gives ya' everythin', but can take everythin' away from ya at the same time…" While Anastasia was still keenly interested in Natsuki Subaru, his ability was something not even she was sure she wanted. The merchant princess was a lot of things, but she was not someone that would exploit the death of some random kid just for her own gain. At least, she wouldn't do it directly.

"Based on this new point of origin from his death, it seems he cannot even control his own 'checkpoints', as he calls them." Priscilla noted, narrowing her eyes at the clown down below as she absentmindedly spoke. While the woman was thoroughly disgusted at the boy's ability, she was even more disgusted by the man below, who seemed to be planning something without even speaking a single word.

"That's right, it has changed, has it not? From the stand of the fruit vendor, to the first day of the week within the mansion." The woman's words had surprised Crusch, who was too busy considering just how Subaru's looping must have been affecting him to think of such issues. "Based on his own surprise, it's very doubtful that he was even able to suggest a place for his ability to stop off."

"What is this dangerous, risky game?!" Otto asked, eyes shaking with utter madness. "Not only is Natsuki-san forced to die, but he cannot even control where he returns back to! One mistake, one slip-up that he cannot take back...and suddenly, he is stuck in a world that he can't even reverse, feeling fully responsible for it…"

As his friend, the merchant realized just what sort of line of thinking such a cruel aspect of his ability could lead Natsuki Subaru down.

"Return by Death, huh...lets you reset everything...but you could get completely fucked over in the middle of it." Al grumbled, a succinct summary of just what Subaru's ability really was.

Felix and Tivey felt guilt in their hearts at realizing their previous doubts and concerns on Subaru's use on his ability. Unable to control his ability, and with such a harsh activation condition, neither could believe they had preemptively believed Subaru to be some monster who was just using it for his own benefit.

Both realized it was a stupid thing to consider, let alone let out of their mouths. Inside, both promised to apologize to the boy whenever they could next get the chance to.

The twins looked at each other in confusion, before looking back at Subaru with confusion in their tones.

"Sir?"

With gritted teeth, Subaru slowly got out of his bed, and to his feet.

"He's not going to stay." Frederica shook her head, her eyes narrowing at the twins on screen. "Were I to take a guess, he would have rather run out of the mansion at that moment, than stay in that room." Her intuition as a maid, after serving hundreds of people, told her so. There was no way to stop him from fleeing them short of tying him down on the bed or something similar.

"I can't blame big bro. I already ain't able to trust people so easy, why the hell would I stay around when either of them coulda' killed me? They weren't exactly bein' nice, anyways." Felt grumbled, her words striking at Ram and Rem.

Ram had no retort as usual, unable to refute that she had indeed treated Subaru as more of an annoyance than a proper guest. And as for Rem...Rem was already too deep in her own despair to even say anything back to the little girl's words.

"Sir, you shouldn't try to move so suddenly." Ram warned, but Subaru was having none of it. He dashed from the room and down the hallway, hands over his eyes.

"What happened, damn it?! Everything reset again! Including my promise with Emilia!" Tears flowed freely from his eyes, as the pain of the time that had just been forever lost, forever wasted, flowed through his head.

"Subaru…" Emilia's breath choked in her throat upon seeing Subaru's tears. She could feel the pain just through his voice alone. He was mourning time with a version of her he would never even get to see again – an Emilia that was now far out of his reach. "I'll happily do it...I'll happily go on as many of those 'dates' as you want, as soon as you wake up."

Her words, though they were lighthearted in nature, were said seriously. Despite maturing, Emilia took her promises just as seriously as death itself. And, knowing that a version of her had made such a promise to Subaru, she would make up for it. Every experience he'd lost out on, she would make up for.

The half-elf decided this without a single ounce of hesitation within her soul.

He opened a door right into Beatrice's library, panting as he leaned against the entrance. He slid down, his body heavy against the two wooden doors.

The boy had a moment of silence, as he allowed his mind to reset.

"You come in here without even knocking? What a rude one you are." Beatrice murmured in contempt. But all she got in reply was a lifeless, low,

"Sorry. Just let me stay here for a bit, please." He pleaded to the librarian.

Beatrice slowly, reluctantly turned her head as she heard her voice on the screen once more. Her eyes were clouded over with tears, tears that she wiped away with her sleeves to clear her vision, staring with a vacant gaze.

"To even be able to choose the right door in such a situation of stress…" Roswaal's eyes were widened as he murmured those words, finding that his previous assumption must've been right. It seemed that Subaru was truly, in some way, tied to Beatrice from the start.

Petra let out a relieved sigh, a slow smile coming to her face. "Thank goodness it's Beatrice-sama. I'm...not too sure about everyone else, but, I know that Beatrice-sama is a really kind girl at heart, when it comes down to it!"

"Kind-?!" Mimi and Felt protested, both raising their hands in anger.

"But she was super mean and kicked the scary-eyed mister out when she could've helped him!"

"Yeah, she didn't even help big bro, and just left him to die! You don't remember that, sis?"

The junior maid was bombarded by their passionate words, unable to come up with an immediate response to them. "Um, well..hm…"

The Great Spirit lowered her head, as she overheard both of their words. She hadn't spoken coherently since the title had shown, but it was clear that she was not even in the state to fight against them. She didn't care for anyone's opinion of her outside of her contractor, yet, their words stung her in a different way.

They reminded her just how she was failing the boy who would soon come to save her. That was why they cut so deeply into her.

"That may have happened in that past loop, but all I know is the Beatrice-sama we have now. She may have made a big mistake back there, but...even though she can be mean sometimes, she can be really softhearted and nice. Every time Subaru is around with me, she'll always play along! She knows a lot, she's smart, and she's someone you can usually always count on!"

Said Great Spirit's eyes widened, as she heard the junior maid's praise for her. Those words...she surely didn't expect those words to come out of the mouth of anyone in the theater. Even Mimi and Felt seemed petrified at just how kind and caring Petra was sounding.

"The point is...she may have abandoned him once, but...she'll never do it again! Beatrice-sama isn't that kind of person!" The little maid said with confidence, her words inspiring...something, in Beatrice's eyes, a small spark that seemed to bring life back to her body as it coursed throughout the rest of her.

"There was last time, and again now...How are you breaking through my Door Crossing?"

There was no response from him...until he looked up with realization.

"Beatrice…"

"Addressing me with no title, I suppose?"

Ignoring her usual petty anger, he continued forward. "You said I broke through your Door Crossing 'last time' and 'now', right?"

"I just teased you about it three or four hours ago for being so insensitive." She clarified, flipping the page in her large book.

He looked down in thought. "If this is the second time I've woken up in the mansion...Then you remember me, right?" His gaze was filled with a very slight hope as he set his eyes on her.

"If I could, I'd rather erase you from my memory, I suppose."

Beatrice couldn't help but let out another annoyed sigh at the behavior she was showing to Subaru. Knowing that he would become the one to take her from that library – exceeding the capacity of the 'that person' that she had been waiting for, she still couldn't believe that she was treating him with such crass behavior.

"Beatrice…" Emilia's voice broke the spirit out from her stupor. Hesitantly, Beatrice turned her gaze to look up at the half-elf's expression, expecting nothing but a look of hate and disgust, only to see…a small smile on her. "It looks like you were there for Subaru, when nobody else could be, huh? I have to thank you."

Those were words that she was definitely not expecting to hear – and it showed clear on her face. The usual impassive-looking spirit's eyes were widened in utter shock, her lips practically trembling.

First Petra, and now Emilia...their kind, faithful words were things she couldn't get out of her head.

Subaru leaned back against the door once more. "So the conditions are different from last time…The save point's changed from near the guy with the appas, to the two angelic girls in maid uniforms."

He was now sitting on his legs, playing over his thumbs with one another. "How did I die? Everything was normal before I fell asleep. Even after I fell asleep, I didn't get into any situations where I felt like I would die."

"It hurts to see Subaru-kyun think about a matter as serious as his own death like this…" Felix let out a sigh, ears drooping downwards. Seeing people accept their death was one thing, but the doctor had no idea how his morals would apply to a man contemplating a death he had already experienced.

"He has to think about it from such an observational perspective." Ram spoke up, her hands gripping fistfuls of her maid's dress. "Barusu's feeble mind likely couldn't handle taking his deaths at face value – I assume thinking back on them like some sort of puzzle likely allows him to cope with it."

"To...cope with it." Otto repeated the woman's words, speaking them as if they were foreign on his tongue.

"Man. He really is messed up, huh? Not that I expected him not to be, with the kind of shit he's got going on." Al muttered under his breath, low enough for nobody but Priscilla to hear. She didn't say anything to retort to him, but the knight knew that for someone like Priscilla, her silence could practically be taken as a response.

Beatrice closed her eyes, along with her book, frowning at the boy's words. "I wondered what you were muttering about, and I hear all this about living and dying. How boring to discuss such things by human standards, I suppose. In the end, you'll only come up with lies and abusive speech."

"Human standards...I would argue that Natsuki-sama has far surpassed the standards of death of any being within our world, beyond some cursed beings." Crusch let out a sigh, shaking her head at such a thought. She brought her gloved hands to her forehead, steadying herself and her thoughts.

"Indeed. While spirits are indeed beings with incredibly long, if not eternal lifespans, I am sure that none have had the unfortunate experience of going through death multiple times…" Julius, as a Spirit Knight, understood the most where the Great Spirit on screen was coming from. Yet, having experienced his friend's trials through this screen, even the impossible nature of the great beings known as spirits seemed to pale in comparison.

"Betty is sure she would not have said such words had she known Subaru's true suffering, I suppose." For the first time in a long time, Beatrice spoke, her voice coming out slightly hoarse and low. At that moment, only Emilia heard her, with Rem still being lost in her incredibly damning thoughts.

"I know, Beatrice. I know." The girl slightly chuckled, bringing a hand to cover her lips. "But, I don't think Subaru is taking those words especially harshly, you know? He never did take any of what you said too close-to-heart, did he?"

Subaru looked up at her in surprise, before showing a forlorn smile...then slowly getting to his feet. "Thanks. You were a big help."

"I didn't do anything."

"Somehow, seeing that never-changing attitude of yours calmed me down." He admitted, stretching his arms upwards.

"Only an ultimate pervert would be calmed by verbal abuse, I suppose."

With that short exchange between the two of them, Beatrice felt something in her heart snap back into place. Those words of thanks from her contractor, the fact that she had been able to somehow bring a smile back to his face even straight from the brink of death...knowing she could provide him with even the smallest amount of help after she had failed him so greatly in the previous world he'd left behind -

Somehow, it saved her.

"It must be reassuring…" Reinhard smiled, hands laid comfortably on his lap. "Despite the entire world changing around him, and losing every bit of progress he had made throughout the week, he still was granted the small grace of remaining acquainted with the Great Spirit-sama."

"It's jus' like he said, what calmed him down was her never-changin' attitude. She's like a point of reference fer him to base around, yknow? No matter what changes, he can always go back n'his interactions with her are goin' ta' be tha' same." Anastasia was able to easily reason such a fact. After all, just being in someone's mere presence doesn't calm you down so easily, not unless they truly meant just that much to you.

The Great Spirit was nothing but a stranger to Subaru at that point, but the fact that he was the only one in the mansion who would actually remember him properly...that alone made her someone incredibly significant to the boy. With a smirk, the merchant considered her analysis of the situation. That sort of setup, it made it all too easy to imagine just why the boy was so determined to bring the spirit from her library, regardless of the cost.

And to Beatrice, it almost sent her reeling back into tears again. She had assumed that she was the only one who was so dependent on him, that Subaru didn't really need a spirit like her, if he could do so much great things even without her help...yet, knowing that she had that sort of deep importance to him even before contracting with him, she couldn't believe that he had those thoughts in his head, and that she would have never known without this viewing.

"See? I told you Beatrice-sama would never abandon Subaru!" Petra said smugly, leaving both Mimi and Petra to groan. They could practically feel the 'I told you so' aura rolling off of the mini-maid.

And so, Subaru started to open the door to leave, only for Beatrice to raise her head in surprise. "You're...leaving, I suppose?"

Only Roswaal and Beatrice herself were able to catch up on the faint hint of longing in her voice, how it lightened only slightly as she seemed to question whether he was truly leaving her behind or not.

'It seems that Beatrice had truly been considering Subaru-kun to be 'that person' for her since back then. Allowing him to enter the library, casually conversing with him, playing tricks on him for her own amusement, showing interest in being around him…' Roswaal was able to deduce all of these behaviors of hers, a small, knowing smile on his face. 'I suppose that she had likely had her eyes on him from then.'

"Yeah. There's something I want to make sure of. I'll wait until afterward to get depressed." He opened the door and exited...right out into the bright, colorful entrance to the mansion.

"S'it, Cap'n! Fight back, show that damn little mabeast tamer that you ain't gonna just keel over n'die! Fight it!" Garfiel exclaimed. He needed some way to let out all of the emotion that was bubbling up inside him, and shouting was the only way he knew how. It wasn't like he could suddenly burst into training or sparring in the small, cramped theater.

...Well, he could if he wanted to, but he didn't want the Host, Ram, or goddamn Reinhard van Astrea to come down on him for doing so. He was brave, but he didn't have a death wish.

"Just what do you think big bro is gonna look for, anyways?" Felt asked, scratching her head in confusion. She didn't have the slightest idea what this one thing was that he wanted to check.

"The commoner is searching for his next reference point, of course," Priscilla said without a hint of doubt, leaving Felt to groan upon hearing the woman's voice. Despite her clear annoyance with Priscilla, she didn't interrupt, letting the woman explain further, a displeased frown on her face. "The half-witch down there. He's going to find her, to attempt to console himself further. Truly aggravating."

The Countess was clearly not happy with the way the boy was so dependent on those around him just to draw out his own strength. It was surely a weakness slowly being born – she could see how he was failing to truly value himself and his own abilities, and simply focusing on the others around him.

'I simply do not understand this child.' Priscilla thought, her blood red eyes glaring at the boy's face. He simply irritated her to no end.

"M-Me?" Emilia questioned, pointing to her chest. She seemed almost as bewildered as Felt, shaking her head. "I...I suppose...but would he really have seen me as so important? I can't even remember him here…"

"That may be so, but please think back to Natsuki-sama's words when he was at the stand of that salesman, Emilia-dono. He is not just concerned with whether or not you treat him in a way that he deems proper, or even if you remember him...the one thing that he focused on, was that regardless of the circumstances, your kindness never changed." The Duchess spoke these words with a small smile on her face.

Despite Crusch's kind words and reassurances, Emilia still felt anything but sure. Never would she have thought that the reason for him sticking to her so closely was not simply due to his budding feelings for her – but out of a desperate desire to have a single constant within his hell of ever-changing loops.

'But if you thought so much of me and Beatrice...why did you never tell us a single thing? Was there something stopping you? Or did you really just not trust us to share in what you were going through, Subaru?' Knowing that she really meant so much to him only confused her even further. There was no way she could believe he'd hold her in such high regard, but at the same time withhold such important information from her.

With a forlorn sigh and a squeeze of his hand, she stared back at the screen.

Stepping out into the disorientatingly bright sunlight, Subaru covered his gaze with his arm, noticing a certain worried looking half-elf that was wandering outside, as if she was looking for something. He waved a hand to her.

'Yeah, I knew it.'

On the dime, she noticed him and turned around, jogging towards the boy. "Subaru!"

'You're absolutely shining.' His thoughts were filled with relief.

"Shining...do we really have to be reminded just how much this guy idolizes the half-elf miss down there?" Al grunted, a part of the audience that now understood all too well the importance and care that Subaru placed in this one girl.

"Betty wishes that he could have held such thoughts for her, I suppose." The little spirit murmured, finally managing to show a pout on her face. It was a slight relief to the rest of Emilia's camp, seeing the spirit finally make a face other than a horrified grimace or a guilt-filled frown.

"It honestly surprises me, I mean, I knew big bro was heads over heels for big sis, but I mean, come on! This was what he wanted to check out so bad before letting his mood fall?" A certain blonde ex-thief groaned in exasperation, though her eyes lacked true surprise. Deep down, she should've guessed that this was what Subaru's true goal was.

"Ah well, let's give 'im a break. A lil' bit o'somethin t'carry him through all th'rough shit he's gnna go through." Ricardo reasoned, dismissively waving off the temperamental girl's clear annoyance.

Even though she knew well just how Subaru would speak of her and how much he cared for her, seeing others acknowledge the clear feelings he had for her still made her blush, and it awakened some odd warm feelings inside of her that she couldn't name...

"I was worried about you! Ram and Rem were running around in a frenzy, saying you disappeared right after you woke up!" She folded her arms, glaring at the boy who gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that...I got held up by Beatrice for a bit."

"Held up? Betty swears, if she were there, she would have thrashed him soundly for sullying her name in such a way, I suppose!" The Great Spirit huffed, folding her arms and holding them close to her chest. Bit by bit, she seemed to be regaining more of her usual energy.

"As expected of Barusu, to be making my dearest sister and I scurry around in worry for his sorry state." Ram let out a sigh, finding herself agreeing with the Great Spirit's idea of a thrashing, albeit, for much different reasons. "Is that not right, sister?"

As the red-haired personification of frankness turned to address her sister, she was once again met with silence, for a few seconds. However, seemingly realizing that someone was addressing her, Rem's face cleared up slightly, the haunted look disappearing from her eyes.

"Y-yes, sister. Rem would have been worried for Subaru-kun as well, I am sure. Especially as Emilia-sama's valued guest, it would be worrying to simply have him disappear." The blue-haired Oni's words weren't so natural sounding, almost robotic in nature as she replied to her sister. To put it another way, she sounded much too formal and polite to simply be answering a joking question from Ram.

Frederica and Roswaal immediately picked up on this, both giving the maid curious looks. For Roswaal, he knew well just what sort of thoughts Rem could possibly be having, but chose not to explicitly comment on it. Frederica was simply concerned, only knowing Rem to be a mostly quiet, dedicated girl. She had no idea what could have truly terrified her this much about simply watching Subaru, in no obvious danger.

But of course, the one most affected by this odd behavior was Ram, herself. She had been sensing odd emotions from the link between the two of them, but she had no idea it was so bad to the point where she could not even answer in a manner befitting of her usual self.

'Just what are you afraid of having done, Rem…?' The maid held a hand to her chest, clasping it tightly to her. Whatever it was, Ram determined that no matter what, she would protect her sister...

"Again? I heard she played a trick on you before you woke up, too…" It was clear to see the happiness and energy that Subaru's eyes regained just looking at the beautiful, shining girl in front of him. She tilted her head towards him, noticing his gaze. "What is it?"

"Is there something on my face?" She questioned worriedly, her hands moving along the pale skin of her face.

"Yeah. Your adorable eyes, ears, nose and mouth." Subaru shamelessly answered, blushing and hesitating only as Emilia looked to him in confusion. "Uh, I mean...I'm glad you're okay."

"Heh, y'can tell by them words. Kid's managed ta' charge himself right back up jus' through talkin' with the miss!" Ricardo pointed out with a wide grin.

"That's Cap'n fer ya! S'long as th'princess s'around, he's got boundless energy t'do anythin'! No, even without her, he always finds a way t'pick 'imself right back up, that's just one a' th'reasons I chose t'follow him!" Garfiel boasted pridefully, clearly pleased that the greatness of his Captains quick recovery time was being shown properly.

"I do hope that's actual recovery, and not just a temporary stopgap…" Frederica muttered ominously, her words sending an unwanted shiver up her younger brother's spine. He wanted to refute her words like usual, but he understood the graveness of just what she meant, thanks to what they were watching.

'Based on that 'opening' thing, the Capn's mind s'in pretty bad shape. F'he s'just puttin' on a show t'keep himself pushin' forward, he's gonna collapse sooner or later. Fake determination ain't gonna get you anywhere except stuck flat on th'ground.'

This lesson was instinctively nestled somewhere down in Garfiel. After all, it had been his false bravado that had gotten him utterly excluded from everyone else in the Sanctuary, especially those who wished nothing more to leave. The fake confidence that he'd put on, a show to try and convince himself that he was strong, that he could keep going without anybody's help, that he could protect everybody from everything all on his own – that same fake confidence had led him to nothing but getting his ass beat by his Captain, Rem, and Otto.

If the man he admired was heading down the same path that he had helped Garfiel to conquer...then Garfiel was just fine with giving his Captain the same lesson. He probably wouldn't really beat him up, but he still knew that just leaving it be was not the right choice, either.

"Mm, yeah, I'm fine. You protected me, after all." Hands held behind her back, Emilia twirled around to look at the boy in front of her. "What about you? How are you feeling?"

"I feel great!" He reassured her, pumping both fists in the air.

"I'm a little low on blood, all my mana was stolen, the shock of waking up sapped my strength, and I feel like my mind's been beaten to death with a bat, but I'm good!" He counted off each of his current ailments, leaving Emilia to look down with relief.

"What the heck?! What part of that is 'feeling great'?!" Felt yelled, pointing at the screen in indignance in reaction to Subaru's heavily contrary words.

"Guess he's just trying to go the route of ignoring how shitty he feels just to keep movin' on with things? Doubt he has the leeway to just chill in bed 'till he feels better, anyway." Al shrugged, much too used to having such mornings himself to really care too much about it. Such days were not rare when you were working for someone like Priscilla Barielle. He let out an involuntary sigh, remembering all the hardships he had, and would most likely continue to face under her.

"I feel as if you thought something rather interesting just now, Al…" Priscilla's icy voice came from beside the one-armed knight, making him shiver. It was almost frightening just how emotionally perceptive she was – no, scratch that – it was frightening.

"Nah, princess. Just was thinking about how I had similar experiences to the brother on screen, that's all." He quickly explained away any of her suspicions, rubbing the back of his helmet. Thankfully, she let him off with a simple scoff and wave of her fan. Something else seemed to be preoccupying her attention, so the man just counted his blessings.

"Still, the fact that he's able to make such a valid assessment of all of the things currently ailing him is quite amazing, nyan~!" Felix acknowledged with a slightly impressed tone, his tail swishing behind him.

"I don't think that's something to be impressed over, Ferris...it quite honestly amazes me that Subaru is standing with all of those things continuing to affect him." The Sword Saint scratched his cheek, wondering just what the boy was truly holding back about his condition.

"I see...That's g-Huh?" She only just seemed to realize the implication of his words. "Wouldn't that mean you're hurt all over?!"

Before she could protest anymore, a certain little gray cat spirit chuckled, prowling out from behind Emilia's long silver hair, yawning and resting his head cutely on her shoulder. "Hi, Subaru. Great morning, isn't it? I can't thank you enough for yesterday. I have to thank you somehow."

"Seems things are followin' a similar line o'events to tha' previous day, already." A certain merchant princess noted, keeping a keen eye on the spirit that had just prowled out from behind Emilia's hair.

"Puck always wakes up at about the same time, after all. I'm sure that he just looks so sleepy because I met Subaru so early in the morning, right after he got up!" Emilia explained with a small smile on her, happy to have a chance to fondly remember her adoptive father-spirit.

"It sounds like quite the complicated contract," Julius murmured, thinking on his own conditions with his spirits. It was rather less restrictive, and he could manifest them at practically any time, given they had mana to do so. "Such must be the sacrifice needed in order to freely borrow the power of a Great Spirit."

Beatrice inclined her head, finding herself curious as well. She knew her brother was an artificial spirit like her, created by Echidna, and sent to contract with Emilia for some reason...but her mother had never told her the full story behind Puck's creation, or just why his contract came with such complicated stipulations.

The Great Spirit simply shook her head. It was nothing but yet another secret that her mother had concealed from her for some reason she would likely never come to understand.

"Then let me pet your fur whenever I want!"

"I almost wish that his request was tha' one thing that didn't repeat here…" Anastasia murmured in frustration, clearly disappointed at just how eagerly Subaru jumped into wasting a wish from a Great Spirit...on petting its' fur.

"Natsuki-sama will be Natsuki-sama. While a great man, he would not quite be himself without that aspect of comical sincerity within him," Crusch argued with a fond smile, remembering how, at first, she had simply seen that nature of his as a bother.

In the midst of their life-or-death battle against the White Whale, however, his sharp words and brilliant quips were just one of the many things that had kept morale high. She had quite come to appreciate that aspect of him during that fight.

"He doesn't have ta' be straight up greedy, I jus' expect 'im to ask fer somethin' he couldn't jus' get by regularly askin' anyway!" The merchant princess retorted, pouting to herself as her inner greed spilled out into her words in a rather comical manner.

Everyone was able to get a good chuckle out of this exchange between the two candidates, even Rem and Beatrice, who allowed themselves a short bout of laughter to raise their spirits that had previously been ruthlessly crushed beforehand.

'I swear, he needs ta' be taught tha' basics o'negotiation…' Anastasia practically seethed in her mind, a dark aura emanating off of the businesswoman. Her knight gave her a worried, yet understanding gaze...and he had to hold back yet another bout of laughter, at seeing how much such a simple situation bothered his lady.

Loud, belching laughter was not knight-like, after all...but he would definitely have to let all of this out once they were allowed breaktime, hopefully in the privacy of his room.

"Geez, some parts of Subaru will just never change, huh?" Emilia wiped a short tear of joy from her eyes, though, she felt it was a tear that came not only from her genuine laughter, but one born from the feelings that were running around inside of her mind and heart at that moment.

Still, regardless of those conflicting feelings...she knew only one thing for sure – that she was honestly happy to see Subaru unchanging, just as he saw her as some sort of unchanging beacon for himself. It was horrifying seeing all these things that her knight had suffered through because of her, fate itself, and his own poor circumstances...but seeing him still act himself, despite that.

Deep down, it gave her a small reassurance – that even though Subaru was bearing with all of these painful events, he was still, at the end of the day, the Subaru that she was beginning to love, and the knight that she would always care about.

"That's all?" Emilia asked in disbelief, only for Subaru to grab the half-woken Puck, cuddling his cheek to the cat spirit's.

"Mnnngh...Betty still wishes to be able to hold Bubby like that once more…" The Great Spirit pouted, leaning back into her contractor's arms as she thought to how she had felt only moments ago, seeing the way she had treated him…

'Betty would much rather have her contractor reassure her and take care of her in this instance, I suppose.' While she of course wished to happily play with and spend time with her big brother again, she wanted to wake up her contractor and spend even more time with him, just to make up for everything she'd done.

"Me too…" Emilia spoke up suddenly, leaving the Great Spirit to shudder in surprise, looking to Emilia with wide eyes, her cheeks red in embarrassment. "Spending time with Puck, I mean. He was always reeeeeally relaxing to just hold." The half-elf finished with a forlorn smile.

The girl let out a relaxed breath as Emilia finished her statement. For some reason, Beatrice had assumed that Emilia was reading her mind or something, or that she had said such thoughts aloud, but to her relief, it was simply Emilia sharing in the bond that they both had with the now asleep Great Spirit of Fire.

"I wish I had gotten to meet Puck-sama, too…" Petra said with a dejected pout of her own. Being a kid, her instincts to touch fluffy things were just as high, if not even higher than the two in front of her. She knew that he was a great spirit, but considering that Subaru trusted him, Petra figured that he must not have been a bad spirit.

"Don't be sad! Mimi well let you touch her ears whenever you want, if it's just fluffiness! Mimi's ears are way more fluffy!" The white-robed girl proudly proclaimed, leaning her head down towards Petra, who was in the seat right in front of her.

"O-oooh...don't mind if I do…" Petra timidly reached her fingers out, gently caressing the mercenary's soft feline ears.

The rest of Anastasia's camp looked on with surprise, knowing that even for someone as easygoing as Mimi, getting the privilege to touch a demihuman's ears was not something given away so lightly. Yet, they couldn't help but smile at her warm interaction with the junior maid.

"Good t'see her gettin' some real friends her age." Ricardo commented proudly, with Anastasia giving a knowing nod.

"Not that I had any worries. With a personality like Mimi's it'd be more worryin' if she wasn't rackin' up friends easy." The merchant princess followed up, her words leaving everyone to lightly chuckle at the statement.

From besides Mimi, Hetaro looked on at the display with curiosity, yet a hint of remaining caution in his eyes. He didn't make any move to say or do anything, but it was clear to see the longing present in his eyes at the interaction between the girls.

"Now, let's go! Our time is limited, and our world is grand! And Emilia-tan's and my story has only just begun!" He began to go towards the entrance of the mansion.

"That's right...wait, what did you just say? Where did the -tan come from?" She asked in bewilderment, as she followed right behind the strange boy.

'I don't know whose idea of a prank this is, but I'm gonna make you sorry for all of it. Don't underestimate how vindictive I'll be after the smile that charmed me that night! I'm going to keep my promise to Emilia! I'll get past that night!'

Subaru's thoughts were strong and filled with determination, having shed all the shock that had previously overcome him, as he thought to the past day's events.

Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice all managed to share a small smile at seeing Subaru rallying himself. Rem especially seemed to have her spirits lifted slightly, her hands clasping together in happiness at the sight of that determination in Subaru's eyes.

"That's right...that's what suits you best, Subaru-kun," The maid murmured, her eyes completely focused on the screen.

"It's about time that Barusu would pick himself back up. I was tired of seeing him flounder around so uselessly." Ram let out a sigh, holding a hand forward.

'Because I know that he's capable of so much more than that.' This thought crossed her head, but she didn't bother to say it. She wouldn't be caught dead saying such bluntly kind words about Subaru, after all.

"The moment of rally…" Wilhelm stroked his beard, his experience allowing him to see past any shows the boy could possibly be putting on. That determination that he was showing was real – a real will to live, one that surpassed any hopelessness his current situation held.

"That's more like it. Subaru-kyun has to have at least that level of determination for Ferris to take him seriously!" The healer seemed to be thinking much the same thing, a smirk on his face. He could respect nothing more than somebody staring certain death in the face, yet still refusing to simply fall into it with a large fight.

"I just hope that he doesn't exhaust himself with such endless levels of willpower. I honestly think that the best course of action would be for him to ask for help, rather than attempt to face the threat head on-"

"Screw that, Rein!" Felt interrupted her knight's words with a huge grin on her. "I can respect big bro's determination to win against whatever the hell's taking him on, even if it's gonna kill him. You can't tell me that you're just gonna look at that and say he should give up and cower in front of whatever's coming for him! Right, Garfiel-chan?!"

"Hell yeah! Now that's what I like t'hear, runt! No way tha' Capn's just gonna keel over n'give up here!" If Garfiel was hyped previously, he was only even further shocked into fanboying by Subaru's clear display of his grit and determination to get through the night.

Even if he knew it was still for naught, even if he knew this loop was not real – it was not a reason for him to just sulk and give up hope. His eyes widened as he realized something. "Oi! Did you just call me a runt-!"

"Natsuki-san...now that is more like it." Otto gave a proud smile at the way his friend's demeanor subtly changed, noticing that steeled look in his eyes. Before, the merchant had wished he could be there in person to help his friend, but seeing those eyes, he knew that his help would not be needed.

"He needs only keep focused. Even if this is a loop he may not be capable of conquering on his own, I strongly believe that Subaru's wits and strategic thinking, if properly applied, can at the very least, give him enough information to the point where he never needs to repeat this horrific chain of events again." Julius had nothing but the utmost faith in his friend, eyes filled with a determined glint that mirrored that of the boy on screen.

"Heh, I have ta' admit, I am becomin' a lil' fond o'Natsuki-kun's efforts. It'd be interestin' ta' see him workin' at it hard, ta' see jus' how far that willpower o'his can take 'im," Anastasia said with a sly smile on her face, a glint in her eyes of a much different nature than that of her knight.

"There's nothing that

"Is this the turning point, then?" Priscilla hummed to herself curiously, remembering back to the previous structure of the first 'Arc'. It had been similar to this, with the commoner experiencing some loss, breaking down, then steeling his mind. That would be the assumption, but…"No, mineself believes there is much more to this than to have such a simple and easy ending…"

That irritating being known as the Host's words echoed within her ears - she remembered all too well the words he had left them with before allowing them to rest and to spend their free time.

'The next arc will be much longer than the first.'

She looked on with an amused smile, wondering just what waited in store for those within the Theater, and for that interesting boy on screen.

"Nooooow, name your desire, whatever it maaaaay be!" Roswaal's voice cut through, leaving to a similar dining room scene from the last loop.

"In that case, I have but one request. Hire me to work in this mansion!" Subaru demanded, getting to his feet.

…

"Hic."

Again, an adorable noise from Ram was the only thing to break the silence.

"Pahahah!" Ricardo and Al both busted into uncontrollable laughter, each man practically doubled over at the hiccup.

"First the sneeze, and now the hiccup?! What a weird thing to change!" Felt joined the men in snickering, alongside Petra giggling and Mimi following in the footsteps of Ricardo and letting out her own hearty, adorable laughter.

Otto and Garfiel looked just about ready to join in as well, only to be stopped mid-laugh by an ominous aura taking over the entire room. It was like when those shadow hands had come in to kill Emilia and Subaru...no, perhaps even worse. Both men slowly turned to look to the right, where the origin of this incredibly disturbing miasma was coming from...only to see the face of a true demon, itself.

Ram let out a slight giggle, her eyes practically glowing in the darkness of the room. "I'm so pleased that you all find it so funny. Would you mind going into detail about just what is so amusing? Please, I would love to know." Her words came out with a fake, cold politeness that made shivers run up the spines of everyone that had been laughing.

Frederica just let out a sigh like she knew this was going to happen, while Rem just watched her ever-assertive sister with pride in her eyes. The 'as expected of big sister' aura was practically rolling off of her in waves.

"You know...n-nevermind. I just felt a slight tickling in my throat, is all." Otto discreetly lied, looking off to the side. Much of the rest of the laughing group followed that same example, averting their gazes from the Oni and mumbling out excuses that could barely be heard.

"...That's what I thought. Well then, let us continue watching," Ram spoke curtly, looking to the screen with a satisfied, smug smirk.

And once again, we move to the clothing room.

'It's how these looping plots work. Follow the same path, and you'll end up in the same place.' Subaru entered with a pep in his step, moving straight to one of the jackets.

"Again with the trope talk. Did he base his entire time in these loops off of tropes from his world, or what?" Tivey grumbled, clearly displeased at how the boy seemed to be taking things much too lightly.

"Now, now, let 'im off. Kid's jus' doin' tha' best with what he's got." Ricardo placed a gentle hand on his vice captain's shoulder, leaving the monocle-wearing boy to give in with a despondent sigh.

Roswaal was staring at the screen with intense focus, a finger on his chin. 'I am not so sure things will work your way, Subaru-kun. After all, you have already deviated much from the previous day...not to mention...Reeeeem seems quite agitated...'

And Rem gave him a sideways glance...one filled with suspicion.

While she had been recovering from the weight her own suspicions had placed upon her before, Rem felt absolutely crushed as she easily spotted that look in her eyes. That look that she could tell, just by her own self-insight, was filled with nothing but an intent to kill, and hatred.

The maid's eyes squeezed shut as if she was in pain, as she held her already clasped-together hands to her chest, hard enough to make it seem as if she was almost attempting to pierce right through herself. 'No, no, no, no, no...please, please don't let Rem have hurt Subaru-kun. Please don't let Rem have been the cause of any suffering for her hero…' She pleaded in her mind, nearly on the verge of breaking.

The girl could hear the metaphorical cracks of herself about to fall into pieces. So far, there had been nobody who'd directly killed Subaru...but knowing that the killer this time could very well be her...and that she would be the first to commit such a crime – such knowledge simply being in her mind weighed more than anything else she had learned during this entire viewing.

Of course, those who knew Rem deeply were also quick to notice the odd behavior she was displaying.

'Never seen Rem show them kinda' eyes...almost reminds me of…' Garfiel grit his teeth, as he thought back to the distrust, hate-filled gaze he had previously thrown Subaru's way before being knocked down a peg. 'N-Nah, nah. I dunno how th'relationship between the Cap'n and Rem was, but, seein' how much he cared fer her, there's no way she coulda' ever killed him.'

Ram's eyes ever-so-slightly widened as she realized, quickly, why her sister was looking at Subaru with such distrust in her eyes. 'The scent of the witch,' She immediately concluded within her mind. To her sister, anyone with the Witch's Scent was a person deserving of the worst sort of death. And seeing how Subaru was a strange, suspicious boy who was already on a thin edge...she knew her sister's more impulsive tendencies could easily take over.

'Please, sister...don't do anything you regeret.' More than anything, Ram didn't want to see her sister's heart and mind come close to shattering in this theater...and she did not want to witness her very own sister brutally murdering the boy who had helped her to stop Roswaal and had saved both their lives multiple times.

"That's too large for you, Barusu." Ram said, leaving the boy to turn around and look at her in surprise.

"It appears nothing here will fit you except women's clothes."She was able to state this absolutely after just a cursory glance over the closet's inventory. "Rem, alter that one for him."

"Yes, sister."

"Take my measurements, then! A man can withstand all kinds of awkwardness!" He said, holding his arms out in preparation.

"We'll measure you later." Ram refuted, turning to walk away.

"Huh?!" Subaru was utterly put off by this sudden change in behavior.

"Follow me, Barusu."

"Are you going to show me around the mansion?" He questioned, only for the maid to once again deny this.

"That can wait, as well. You'll help me with my work first."

"Hey, wait!" He called out to the two departing maids, absolutely confused to why the timeline was going so differently.

"Looks like things are already changin'. At this rate, tha' boy's info might not even be able ta' help 'im." Anastasia was long used to dealing with situations where her information may have been outdated, or even possibly entirely unusable, but even her expertise would reach a wall were she to have to fight against fate and causality itself.

"For the situation to change this suddenly, I do wonder just what had to change within this timeline for Rem and Ram-dono to be treating Natsuki-sama so oddly?" Crusch, being the ever-perceptive leader was quick to pick up on this change. She wasn't sure why, but she could easily pick out that the maids weren't treating him with quite the same level of impartiality or favorability as they had previously.

"That is weird…" Emilia admitted, looking worriedly at her knight, and then to the two maids. "What about it? Do you know anything, Rem, Ram?"

Rem was silent, oddly so, but the half-elf couldn't see her expression. All she got from the maid was a silent shaking of her head. Ram's answer was much the same.

"I'm afraid not, Emilia-sama. The most I can speculate is that sister and I may be treating Barusu differently due to his rather disruptive episode while waking up." The pink-haired Oni smoothly covered for her sister, leaving out the details on her sister's likely murderous impulses towards the boy.

After all, if Ram told them that her behavior had likely changed as a result of Rem's behavior subtly changing, it would become all too obvious to begin pinning things on her sister – who seemed to be broken enough.

"I see...I hope that's just it, then. I reeeeeeally wouldn't want Subaru to be suspected more than he already is." The girl let out a relieved sigh, holding a hand over her heart. Those words of hers were like knives to the hearts of the twin maids, but neither uttered a single further word, instead letting the deception take hold.

Of course, what Ram had forgotten in the heat of the moment, was that there were two people in that room that could undeniably read the difference between truths and lies. Reinhard and Crusch easily picked up on the lie that Ram had told, with the two leaders looking to one another and meeting gazes.

'Crusch-sama. I am currently using a Divine Protection of Perfect Telepathy I just gained to be able to speak to you. Please do not be alarmed.' Without warning, the Sword Saint's voice suddenly popped into the Duchess' head, leaving her eyes to widen in imperceptible shock.

'...I should've expected such feats from you, Reinhard-dono. But...I can assume why you wish to speak like this. After all, Ram-dono just blatantly and consciously lied.' Crusch's eyes narrowed, as she had picked up on the fact.

'Yes...I wanted to ask you, what do you believe we should do? I do believe it could be wise to confront her about it now, to draw the truth out and take whatever consequences may follow before it is too late.' The swordmaster suggested, understanding just how important such honesty was. Naturally, Crusch did, as well.

Honesty was what would keep the group together – and if any of them had committed some sin that they knew could be coming, such upfront honesty would go a long way in keeping their name clear with the remainder of the group. However, at the same time, forcing something like truthfulness could inversely hurt the group, by making those around them afraid that they could not hold a single secret or thought to their hearts without being questioned or exposed.

A delicate balance had to be struck. Unequivocally following one policy or the other would lead to total ruin. And so, Crusch decided to make a choice to protect that balance.

'I am unsure why Ram-dono lied, and even moreso uncertain about just what sort of truth she is holding to her heart...but I will not force it out of her. Whatever may come from this, I say that we let it come. For now, this group has to grow much stronger bonds if we are ever to truly work together...facing what horrors might lie ahead is one way of doing so.'

The Sword Saint slowly nodded his head to her sage words, turning his gaze to the screen. 'Then I will leave it alone. For now, I suppose it would be good for us to continue watching...and prepare ourselves for what shall come.'

With a nod, Crusch turned her amber eyes to focus on the screen, her own mind and body steeled with determination to properly confront whatever challenge their group would soon face head-on, without faltering.

Unbeknownst to the two, the incredibly perceptive Countess Barielle had her eyes on the entire interaction. Despite not being able to hear anything, she could tell that there was some sort of covert interaction going on between the Sword Saint and Duchess.

'It seems something interesting is brewing…perhaps I should…?' Of course, for a short while, the woman found the idea of exposing whatever secretive talks the two had had for the sake of her own interest. Yet, as she considered just what sort of discussion would arise from that, she found it much more intriguing to let whatever conversation they'd had lay low.

After all, whatever they seemed to be waiting for would likely be even more interesting than any information revealing them would drag out into the light. So with a smug smile, Priscilla held her tongue. Not out of fear or for the betterment of the group, but simply to keep her own boredom at bay.

We cut to Subaru within a large bath, sitting and thinking to himself.

'Retrace the same path I took yesterday. That's what I meant to do, but…'

"This is totally different from last time. It's like when you make a cheat sheet, but when you see the answers, you realize it's the wrong subject. A total waste of effort."

"That's true…" Julius let out a dejected sigh, gripping his gloved hand tightly closed. "Even with his ability to return, it is incredibly concerning when he cannot even use it in a way that would allow him to properly progress past any threats that come his way. At this point, it is unsure whether or not he will even be the target of that Shaman."

The knight sorely did not want to admit it, but at this rate, his mistress' thoughts might come true. His friend might die yet another undeserved death, without even an opportunity to get away from it.

"All we can do is hope..." Emilia spoke softly, her eyes filled with a certain spirit that refused to die out. Call it stubbornness, naivete, or anything else, but she refused to give up on her knight and just accept his death.

Rem looked to Emilia from the corner of her vision, feeling the tears begin to well. She wanted badly to join in the half-elf's tenacious words, she wanted to proclaim to the heavens just how much faith and trust she had in her hero, even if he hadn't fully grown into the man he was destined to become yet.

But, all she could do was watch as her lips trembled, and her body shook even worse. There was no way...there was no way she could act that way, while knowing that she very well could be the cause of one, or multiple of his deaths.

"Betty believes in him, too. Betty may have no right to say this...but her contractor never lets go of that foolhardy determination of his. And I am sure...Betty wants to believe that she will not make another mistake like she ever did again." The Great Spirit proclaimed, facing her guilt head on with a determined gaze.

Compared to the both of them, Rem felt like a piece of garbage strewn on the side of the road. She had neither the courage to face the insurmountable guilt that had built up in her, and couldn't even ignore it or put it aside in favor of properly viewing her hero's trials.

'Subaru-kun...please...please forgive Rem.' Her thoughts were the only proper refuge she had, and even then, all she could focus on was begging for forgiveness.

His thinking was interrupted by the voice of a man behind him.

"Hi, there! May I join-"

"Oh myyyyyy?" Roswaal's voice droned on, an amused smirk coming to his face. "I belieeeeve we may in deed witness my current form in aaaaall of it's greatne-"

"Oh Od no. You can't be serious."

"Please no..."

"Nooooo!"

"Fuck th's gross shit!"

Felt, Petra, Mimi, and Garfiel all vocalized their disgust immediately, their gut instincts immediately drawing them to turn away. They did not even wish to see this scene, for the complete nastiness that it stirred within their hearts. None had even realized they had cut off the Lord in question from speaking as they did so.

Beatrice gagged, her eyebrows knitted downwards. It was easy to see by her expression that she was utterly repulsed by the scene in front of her. Even Hetaro, usually quiet and observant, clung to his sister, hiding his gaze from the screen in her outfit.

"Soooo harsh..." The lord drooped his shoulders over, expressing a disappointment so fake that almost anyone could see it.

Though none of the older members of the cast would admit it out of nothing but sheer politeness, they felt much the same way as the kids. Even Frederica, who would usually scold her junior maid for letting such words slip past her lips, decided not to intervene, an expression somewhere between disgust and sheer discomfort on her face at seeing the eccentric clown lord naked.

And of course, there was Ram, who was looking to the screen with a slight blush and giddy expression on her face at being graced with such a sight – even if it was not rare for her to dress her Lord, she still enjoyed receiving such blessings.

"No, you may not." Subaru immediately refuted, turning away from the naked Lord Mathers.

"This facility is part of my mansion, so it is my propertyyyyyy. I'll do with it as I please." He spoke, disgustingly shaking his legs from side to side.

"And he just had to make it even worse..." Otto brought a hand to his head, ignoring the continuing outcries of the disgusted kids around him. "Even I must say this is a little bit..."

"Technically he's right? I jus' don't know if I wanna 'gree with him bein' right when he's actin' like that." Ricardo admitted, his words drawing a nod from Al in the back row.

"Let's just erase this from our minds. Don't think about it too much." Tivey advised wisely, with everyone nodding as they equally agreed to take the vice captain's sage advice.

"Why bother asking, then?! Take a bath if you want."

"Myyyyyyy, how harsh. And you don't seem to understand. Yes, this bath is my property…" He opened his heterochromatic eyes to look to the boy below him. "But as part of my staff, are you not my property as well?"

He held Subaru's chin, sparkles surrounding them like something straight out of a BL manga.

"H-Hey!" Emilia was the first to exclaim her dissatisfaction, eyes shaking as she saw this not-so-fun scene. "W-Why are you looking to Subaru like that?! Don't tell me you're planning something weird, Roswaal!"

"Now, now, Emilia-sama, I would never perform such queeeeestionable acts." The clown lied, with a smile on his face. Well, it was a half-truth. He wouldn't do so in this body, but perhaps if he was still within his Julia body...he might not have even needed Emilia as bait to keep the boy by his side.

"Betty is nearly close to hurling just by being forced to watch this scene, I suppose..." The Great Spirit was nearly doubled over, eyes closed out of a sheer desperation to avoid having to look at the sin that was occurring on that screen. She felt even worse being able to practically guess just what Roswaal's depraved mind was thinking to.

"Ferris would rather even see Subaru-kyun than this..." A certain cat-eared healer agreed, though his low-key words sparked rage in some.

"Ferris-!" Crusch shouted in outrage, unable to hide her red cheeks as the idea that she was watching Subaru, naked, finally beamed into her head via her knight's direct words.

"Oi! You sayin' the Cap'n is on th'level f'that makeup-wearin' creep?"

"Yeah, big bro is at least 10 steps above whatever the hell that guy's got going on! At least he doesn't wiggle his-"

"Felt-sama!"

Of course, as usual, Garfiel, Mimi, Petra, and Felt could be heard in the background yelling various things about just how much they disliked the weirdness that was currently happening. Reinhard had joined the fray, trying to keep his mistress' tongue in check, considering she was in a much more delicate position than her friends – that of a royal candidate.

There were some among the cast whose disgust had simply wrapped back around into complete amusement at the sheer absurdity of the situation in front of them. Among them, Anastasia, who was currently doubled over just like Beatrice, though in laughter instead of nausea.

"P-pff...haha...I mean, h-he ain't wrong, eh? N-Natsuki-kun s'technically his 'property'! S-Snrk-!" The Kararagian was practically incomprehensible in between her laughter, trying to stop the tears from coming to her eyes.

"I wanted to forget...I wanted to forget so badly, but how can you laugh at this, boss?!" Tivey demanded in false outrage, wondering just how his employer was so absolutely off-her-rockers to find this scene funny.

Ricardo placed a gentle hand on his vice captain's shoulder, putting on a serious expression while shaking his head. "Leave 't, Tivey, you gotta understand that sometimes, ya ain't gonna get th'jok-BAHAHAHA!" Only for him to promptly break down into laughter. You could almost see the vein on the young man's forehead.

"Can it! I don't want to hear it from you when you're laughing the most, Captain!"

Priscilla rose her eyes, seeming genuinely confused by the commoner's reactions to what seemed like an obvious conclusion. "I do not understand these reactions. As much as mineself may find the Margrave's appearance unsightly, are his words not correct? Naturally, the Lord of the house owns their servants."

Al shook his head, letting out a barely audible sigh as his mistress' lack of common sense – or perhaps her overwhelming arrogance – shined through once more. "I mean, you're right mistress, but...I...you know what, I'm not gonna try and explain that." He just gave up at the end, his lack of diligence irritating the princess further.

"How dare you withhold information from me, Aldebaran?! I demand you inform me of just what you are hiding at this moment - that is an order!" The woman yelled, her raising voice making the man flinch involuntarily as he remembered the punishment that had just been doled out on him the day before.

Basically, the theater had descended into chaos just from this one questionable scene.

Subaru bit right down onto the man's hand.

"No hesitation at aaaaaaaall!"

The chaos was promptly ceased as everyone was united by this one hilarious moment of the weird Lord getting his just deserves. Even those who had been disgusted previously had to let go of it with the comical culmination of the scene.

"Yeah! That's how ya' do it, big bro! Looks like you learned from my example just fine!" Felt spoke, puffing out her chest with pride.

"It is almost bewildering the amount of odd situations Subaru gets himself into..." Julius had to suppress a chuckle, as he watched his friend on screen with intrigued eyes. He wasn't a traditional knight or a noble like most of them, and neither was he a warrior – but he didn't need to be.

It was his unique nature that could lead all of them to join together in laughter and cheer like this, anyways.

And everyone there could appreciate that. Even Rem afforded herself the smallest of giggles.

"This is turning out different from what I'd expected, too." Subaru replied, still chomping the man's hand.

"I do not know what is bothering you, but life is fuuuuuuuull of things that don't go your way." Roswaal advised, with both men now taking opposite places in the bath.

"Truer words have never been spoken. Though I do admit that Subaru-dono's worries are on quite a different level than life's usual worries." The old Sword Demon shook his head at the boy's misfortune.

"By the way, do you think you'll be able to geeeeeeeet along with Ram and Rem?" The lord questioned.

"I haven't spoken to Rem much yet, but I get along fine with Ram. In fact, I think she might be getting a little too friendly. I can't believe she can work as a maid that way."

"Oh really?" Rem showed her usual scary smile, raising a slowly shaking fist. "If Barusu wished to be treated so badly, I surely could've arranged something for him, as a fellow worker...it would simply be proper courtesy, would it not?" Her frightening words drew no response from the audience, as all had learned not to prod the waking demon within the woman.

"Well, Rem covers the things she is unable to do. As sisters, they must help each other. In that sense, I think the two of them are getting by raaaaather well."

Subaru looked away, staring forward. "Ram is just the inferior version of her sister, and all Rem does is cover for her. And yet they insist Ram is superior because she's older. It's impressive how much nerve they have."

"Speaking of nerve, yours appears quuuuuuite impressive, as weeeeeell." Roswaal turned to the boy, giving him a thin smile.

"Yeesh." Ricardo shook his head, bringing a hand to his forehead as the boy had uttered his rather frank words. "That is a little too on-the-nose ta' say t'the guy that's employin' them."

"That was pretty mean of Subaru to say..." Petra murmured, looking to the side at Rem and Ram with worry.

Surprisingly enough, neither sister seemed angered at all. Rather, they understood the true purpose of Subaru's words.

"That's surprising. Why the heck can you guys look so calm when big bro went and said something stupid like that about you? Ya don't seem like the types not to get angry at insults like that, either." Felt pointed a finger at the two, clearly weirded out by their passive behavior.

"Because, though Barusu's words are as sensitive as that of a baboon swinging through the trees, I do understand just what he is trying to say." Ram shook her head, narrowing her eyes at the screen. She didn't even need to look at her sister, as she could tell by the lack of her response that they both understood just what Subaru was speaking about.

It was a problem that Rem had always had since they were born, an issue that she still had not resolved – the fact that she so heavily compared herself to the old vision of her sister that she had, perhaps even out of some invisible guilt. Neither had ever truly confronted one another about it.

Subaru wasn't exactly insulting them - but rather questioning the fact that Rem seemed to eternally defer to her older sister, for some reason that nobody, outside of the two of them, could possibly decipher. In other words, Subaru had noticed Rem's fault of practically basing her sense of self on Ram.

"Huh..." The little anarchist was interested in what that meant, but seeing the far-away look on the both of their faces, she decided to leave it be. Even she had a little bit of tact, after all.

"Damn, I'm dizzy from that bath. Stupid Roswaal…" Subaru stepped outside only to see...Ram standing right there, holding a towel and what looked like...a black and yellow speedo…?.

Looking at him.

While he was naked.

Subaru practically jumped away in embarrassment, leaving Ram to look down at his nether regions.

"Cover up that sorry thing."

Once again the entirety of the theater shared a hearty, long laughter at this, especially Ram, who seemed to be all too pleased at her accurate words. She would never have become flushed or embarrassed seeing a boy such as Subaru naked, after all. There was no reason to be.

"M-man, talk about harsh, eh?!"

"Y-Yeah, she really told 'im that right ta' 'is face!"

Ricardo and Al, especially shared a round of laughter that came from their core, both men feeling a mix of pity, embarrassment, and absolute, unrestrained enjoyment at the insult that the kid had just been put through by the ever-blunt maid.

"Sorry bout' that one, Natsuki-kun, looks like tha' gal wasn't too impressed!" Anastasia snickered, her words drawing forth even more laughter from the cast at large.

Rem, meanwhile, just seemed a little curious. 'I must forgive myself for letting my mind wonder, but...I am almost completely sure big sister's assessment of Subaru-kun's manhood was incorrect! I am sure that it was more than impressive when I last saw it! Even if Subaru-kun didn't know that Rem was there!'

Even in dark times, it seemed Yandere-Rem never quite went away. Especially when it came to things slandering her hero's magnificence.

Thinking too hard about where or when she might have gotten such information didn't seem especially productive...

Blushing, Subaru rushed to cover his manhood. "Why are you even here?!"

"I was only waiting here to help Roswaal-sama put on fresh clothes. I'm sorry to tell you that I've finished my bath, so I won't be changing."

Despite her monotone, uncaring voice, Subaru still looked away in even further embarrassment. "I wasn't thinking about that! Also, you spoil him too much! Let him dress himself!"

The maid's eyes narrowed, as she took on a surprisingly serious and dangerous tone. "I will not condone disrespect toward Roswaal-sama. Next time, I will use force."

"Damn, she takes 'er job s'a maid way too seriously!" Ricardo noted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I don't even wanna imagine wh't that sorta' thing entails." Garfiel shook his head, still unable to get that disgusting image of Ram lovingly cuddling up to Roswaal out of his mind. "Od..."

"Like I said, we should just erase these sorts of things out of our minds. Then we won't have to think about it any more, yes?" Tivey's sage advice once more struck a chord of agreement among those present.

"Don't think I'm gonna be disagreein' with ya on this one, Tivey." The wolfman shook his head, all too eager to go along with his vice captain's advice in this instance.

"Myyyy, you all truly do not hoooold back with your words, do youuuu~?" Roswaal sighed, giving up with a short shrug and smug smile. He did enjoy striking such unease into the hearts of the crowd, but even he had to admit it was surprising just how many strongly felt towards erasing any sort of ideas brought forth by the previous scenes.

"Yer lucky insultin' ya s'all we've done. I still ain't forgiven' ya fer tha' bullshit ya pulled back 't Sanctuary." Garfiel growled in a low voice, though his words got through loud and clear to the magician.

Only the Emilia camp knew just why they all felt so unanimously negative towards Roswaal – minus Ram, due to obvious reasons, and Rem, who still wasn't caught up on the entirety of the situation due to her sister's leaving out of that idea. And Roswaal himself could say nothing to those words - as he knew fully well that whatever punishment he deserved was truly too heavy to make a joke out of it.

He knew the only reason why he was still around was due to Ram's earnest pleads to forgive and trust him, and the camp's acknowledgment of his usefulness in keeping Emilia in the running for King. The man couldn't help but wonder if he could ever get any trust from those around him...

"Any more, and I'll just stir up a hornet's nest…" Subaru muttered, deciding this was a fight not worth taking on.

"By the way, Barusu. Do you have any plans after this?" The maid once more lightened up into her usual emotionless intonation.

"No, just going to sleep."

"Then please wait in your room. I'll come by later."

….

"Huh?"

"That pervert. I know without even waiting for the next scene that Barusu's mind is going to wander into desolate places only it can wander to." Ram seethed, holding up a fist at his reaction to her earnest request. One could already feel the rage centering around her.

"N-Now, now, Ram. I'm sure that Subaru is just excited to have a chance to become better friends with you! I'm sure he wouldn't think of, erm...lewd...things." Emilia was quick to rush to the defense for her knight, a blush on her has she had to think of the 'lewd' things that her knight may or may not be thinking of.

Though part of her felt jealous knowing that those thoughts might be directed towards Ram, and not herself.

"I think you're having too much faith in Subaru-kyun's innocence, Emilia-sama~!" Felix practically sang, an all-too-knowing smirk on his face.

A night sky view outside of Subaru's room is shown, as he frantically mutters to himself.

"She didn't mean anything...She didn't mean anything by it. Clear my mind, clear my mind! Emilia-tan is the only one for me!"

He was practically taking a meditative seat on the bed. "Calm down, calm down! One Emilia-tan, two Emilia-tans, three Emilia-tans…Am I in Heaven?!"

"So...you were saying?" Beatrice turned to look up at the half-elf with a blank face. Even she, despite how much faith she had in her contract, knew it was foolish to not expect him to behave like a hormonal highschooler when confronted with the idea of alone time with practically any girl.

Said half-elf couldn't say anything in reply, just pouting and looking at her sleeping knight for answers he couldn't give her. She couldn't believe that he really could be so perverted...but at the same time, she felt she could forgive him a little bit for at least thinking about her to calm himself down.

"Honestly, s'almost adorable jus' how embarrassed he is, when he ain't even sure what they're gonna be doin!" Anastasia snickered at the demeanor the boy was putting on. It was obvious to her seeing his behavior with Emilia, but without the darkness of his ability, he really was just like an impressionable, naive kid.

"Indeed. Looking at him now, you'd be hard-pressed to believe that this is the man who came up with a strategy not only to take down the White Whale, but managed to deflect a Witch Cult attack, alongside taking down the Great Rabbit, yet another of those infamous Great Mabeasts."

"Truly..." Julius couldn't help but chuckle. It was more of a sour, dry chuckle, than one borne of true mirth, however. This version of Subaru was the one he had first met, all those months ago. The one he had beat down, the one who he had seen as nothing but an arrogant disgrace...never did he imagine that that same boy would go on to achieve feats unmatched by anybody in that Theater, perhaps with the exception of Wilhelm and Roswaal.

"I'm sure none of us would have expected he had that kind of ability molding him, either." Reinhard let out a sigh, the light in his eyes dimming somewhat. "It was not too long ago that we were debating whether or not we were fine with being changed by what we are being currently forced to watch, however...Subaru was practically forced to change, or be faced with death."

The Sword Saint's disturbingly true words couldn't be met by a response from anyone. Of course, their jokes and lighthearted moments were always able to avoid it to some degree, but they could never fully run away from the truth that was ever-lingering in the shadows, waiting to strike. Natsuki Subaru was doomed to die, no matter what any of them hoped for or wished at this moment.

Ram was already inside, staring blankly at the blushing boy. "You're too noisy, Barusu. It's already nighttime. Be quiet."

"Eep!" Subaru flinched back at the sudden sound of Ram's voice, as the maid began to walk over to the only desk in the room.

"Barusu, come here."

"Wait! My heart's already set on someone, and her name is Emilia-tan!" Subaru was wiggling around in his bed like a heart-stricken schoolgirl, hands over his face.

Ram turned around to look at him, with the camera zooming in on her soft, shining lips. "What are you talking about?"

The pink-haired maid brought a finger up to delicately touch her lips, frowning as she noted the shift of the boy's focus. "To think Barusu was truly looking at me with such perverted eyes...it truly seems I had been right about him defiling my sister and I. Even if through his gaze, only."

Emilia remembered back when a similar closeup had happened with her lips, and subconsciously mimicked Ram's actions. A blush came to her cheek as she remembered the kiss they had shared at Sanctuary. All that time...she wondered if Subaru had been wanting something like that all that time, but had just never asked for it.

For her, it had been a special moment unlike any other...but even though she knew she had some special feelings for Subaru, she had no idea just whether what she felt for him was really the 'love' he described, or something else, like extreme fondness. But, she knew she'd have to find the true meaning of those feelings soon enough.

Seeing what Subaru was suffering through...she knew it wasn't right to keep him waiting over a full year just to receive an answer. Whatever it was, Emilia decided that she would make a proper, thought-out decision on what she'd say to him by the time they were due to leave this theater.

...Only for her to just hold up a notebook beside her, tapping it with a quill pen. "I'm telling you to sit over here so I can teach you to read and write."

"That's the first time I'm hearing of it!" Subaru retorted, clearly overtaken by the turn of events.

"BAHAHA – Ah man! This kid jus' keeps tha' jokes crankin' out!" Ricardo slapped his knee, his laughter bringing a certain light back to the hearts of those in the theater, a light which had been previously nearly fully snuffed out by the dark conversation that had taken place only moments prior.

"Still, readin' an' writin'? So..." Anastasia's eyes lit up, a smirk coming to her face as she realized the implication of this chain of events.

"So, this is where Subaru picked up his rudimentary knowledge of reading and writing. To think that it would be within one of his loops..." Reinhard brought a hand to his chin. It was, quite frankly, hard to not acknowledge the small utility his ability had. For all of its' horrible conditions, mental breaking, and questionable consistency, Subaru was allowed to have experiences that he would've otherwise never had the time to go through.

In this instance, he'd pick up the skill of reading and writing that would be useful in any loop going forward.

"It's just like we previously noted. While he cannot bring anything physical, or even seemingly magical back with him, any skills and knowledge he retains can properly be transferred back to himself. Included knowledge of our language, it seems." Otto stared at the screen with intrigue.

"Still, I suppose it does make sense that you were the one to teach him to read and write, Ram. As much as I am loathe to admit it, teaching was one thing I suppose I could relegate to being a skill of yours," Frederica admitted, her words bringing a smug smile to the Oni's face.

"But of course. Though I feel sorry for this version of myself for being forced to teach someone as lacking as Barusu, it only makes sense that even someone like him would be capable of grasping the basics under my tutelage." She was clearly all too pleased to flaunt her skill and confidence.

Rem, on the inside, wished that she could have been the one to teach him. At the same time, she knew that for her, even being near Subaru was a bad idea. Especially alone at night, where her urges might have just taken her over...

Emilia wished much the same, though she also knew that she wouldn't have been able to. She was often studying to make up for her lack of knowledge on the world and the kingdom, so she wouldn't have had much time to spend with Subaru properly teaching him the language when she herself had lots of nighttime studying to do.

"Where's this coming from, though?" He questioned, fiddling with the pen.

"I could tell by watching you that you can't read or write. If you can't read or write, I can't send you shopping, and you can't write down orders. We'll start with this collection of children's fairy tales." She held up a book with a dragon on it. "Starting tonight, I'll help you study every evening."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked, clearly put-off by the usually insulting woman's behavior.

"Why else? It's so that I...No, it's so that I can get off work easily."

"That wasn't even correcting yourself! Your character never wavers, does it?!"

"Of course not. No matter which timeline it is, I would never allow Barusu to get off easy - I mean, I would never allow myself to change."

"Oi! What th'hell was th't correction, Ram?!"

"The mean lady is scary!"

Ignoring Garfiel and Mimi's combined outcry, the pink-haired maid continued on with her words. "-Not to mention, as the junior, it is simply Barusu's duty to take on the largest amount of work. Such is the life of a junior," Ram stated matter of factly, a finger raised to the air.

At these grim words, Petra let out a relieved sigh, holding her hands to her chest. She was so happy that the person she was working under was Frederica, and not Ram...she couldn't imagine the nightmarish pile of work she would have been put under if Ram were the one mainly teaching her.

"I'm sure that your unwavering nature must be yet another relief to Natsuki-sama, Ram-dono." Crusch chuckled slightly at the woman's blunt words, smiling to her honesty. "After all, to someone with an ability such as his, I'm sure that the more points he doesn't have to worry about changing, the better."

"I don't know if I'd be happy about getting tons of work getting piled on me each and every time, though!" Felt complained, leaving everyone to share a good chuckle.

The camera moved to Ram, making her take on a comically evil light. "Well, isn't it obvious? The more you can do, the less I have to do. And when I have less to do, so does Rem. It's win-win."

"That leaves me with piles of work, though!"

"Looks like even Natsuki-san can realize the sadistic load of work such a cycle would leave him burdened with..." Otto sighed, looking off to the side.

"The Cap'n can survive, it, I'm sure! Even if it is Ram..." Garfiel, while he opened with sounding sure about his captain's abilities as always, faltered off a little bit as he considered just who he was dealing with.

Truly, the brotherhood trio of Subaru, Otto, and Garfiel knew just how frightening of a slave-driver the woman could be. 'Tough love' wasn't enough to describe her in some moments. Sometimes she felt more like a strict general running them through tasks meant to push them to the limits.

With this refutation, Subaru began to write down something on his notepad, with Ram holding the book out for him.

"We'll start with the basic i-glyphs. After you master them, we'll move to ro-glyphs, and ha-glyphs."

"There are three different types? Just hearing that is depressing…" He muttered, writing down something on the page.

Extra subtitles showed on the screen, showing just what they read:

'Natsuki Subaru on the scene!'

"Seriously, doodling around in his notebook like a little kid..." Ironically, Tivey was the one to speak these words, leaving his sister to look up at him with a confused tilt of his head.

"But you and me are kids too, Tivey!"

"Gh-! You know what I meant, sister!" The monocle-wearing boy refuted, clearly taken off-guard by his sister's blunt retort to his words.

Anastasia snickered at the interaction between the siblings, smiling brightly as she looked to the screen. "Honestly, I ain't o'the opinion that s'gonna be too hard for Natsuki-kun ta' learn, anyway. If'n what I read n'the library was right, his language system's got a pretty similar structure ta' ours."

Beatrice gave a knowing nod, pointing her finger at the screen. "Betty's contractor's language is similar to ours – in that it ranges in three levels of complexity, I suppose. Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji." The little spirit explained, leaving everyone in awe.

"I see...so while he may have had to learn the entire language from scratch, it probably helped that he already had a language similar to what we got, huh?" Felt hummed, rubbing the back of her head.

"But, wait..." Crusch interrupted, leaning forward with an uncharacteristic glint of interest in her eyes, one usually reserved for Anastasia's greedy moments. "You mentioned that Natsuki-sama's language is one similar to ours...yet you said that as if he held multiple languages...?"

"More than a single language? That's...that's impossible, isn't it?" Otto seemed incredulous at such an idea...yet, Anastasia and Beatrice merely smirked at knowledge they only seemed to hold. Al knew as well, but he'd long given up on throwing too much other world information the way of the rest of the group.

Last thing he wanted was to get wrapped up in all of these troublesome explanations, anyway.

"That's tha' amazin' thing 'bout it. Tha' language Natsuki-kun speaks ain't the only language his world has got. From what I was readin', there's over 6,500 languages his world speaks. That's an insane number, ain't it?"

Everyone was absolutely taken aback by this insane-sounding information. The idea of such a large amount of languages was absolutely unfathomable to them.

"That's...that's reeeeeeeally unbelievable! Almost 7,000?! Just for one world?!" The half-elf was absolutely bewildered, her brain almost frying at such an insane amount of languages.

"It's incredibly hard to believe, indeed...but I'm not picking up any lies. Reinhard-dono?" Crusch looked to the crimson-haired Sword Saint, who simply shook his head in the negative. Anastasia's claim was entirely truthful.

"That's so odd, if it's true...out of all those languages, why does our world happen to share the exact same spoken language as Subaru's? And, why is the structure the same?" Emilia asked, the question marks almost visible in her eyes.

Al hummed to himself, silently agreeing with the half-elf. The man had no idea how he had felt when he came to this world, but with his limited memories of the world before, he felt much the same way. It was odd that out of all the languages he remembered from their world, everyone across the entire known world here just spoke Japanese. There were dialects here and there, and he was sure there were probably some tribes that had their own way of speech, but unless the person you were talking to didn't know how to talk, it was unlikely they wouldn't perfectly understand your words.

Those who had been around in the older days of this world, such as Roswaal and Beatrice had found it incredibly odd, still. Their world, of course, had extinct ancient languages, but even then, it was nothing around such a huge number.

"Not ta' mention, don't you find another thing odd? Hoshin of the Wilderness, and this Natsuki-kun here...both o'them come from tha' same country, an' maybe even tha' same time period, somehow. We still ain't cleared up jus' how that woulda' been possible, but s'a hard to deny theory." Anastasia's eyes practically sparkled, as she excitedly discussed this odder and odder sounding possibility.

"Then...is whoever bringing people over purposefully choosing people from Subaru's world, from the exact same time?" Petra guessed, her little mind working hard to try and guess where the merchant lady was going with her words.

"Betty thinks it more likely that they were all summoned at the same time, but dispersed throughout time via some manner we're not aware of yet, I suppose." Beatrice interjected with her own theory, looking up at her contractor's peacefully sleeping face.

"It seems that Subaru's transportation into our world was much more than simple coincidence. Whoever or whatever has transported him here seems to have a running motive, and has the power to manipulate time itself." Reinhard spoke, though even he looked in disbelief at how utterly ridiculous his words were sounding.

"But as far as we know, does such a person even exist? To be one capable of manipulating time, and transporting people between worlds...it does not seem like a feat that could be accomplished covertly. One that would be able to successfully cause such an effect does not even exist in our time and age." Roswaal joined the conversation, eyes narrowed in serious consideration. "Even a person such as Emilia-sama, who has a higher mana capacity than I, could not pull off something like that without hundreds, perhaps thousands of years of preparation."

"Whoever or whatever it is we're dealing with, they're an existence above that of the greatest magician our world has ever known...perhaps...the witch?"

Almost everyone in the room froze at the utterance of that name, as they were all reminded of that terrifying, loathsome being – the Witch of Envy. An existence that transcended any sort of understanding itself.

"I believe we should save this matter for the next discussion." Crusch was the one to rein the group back in, returning a bit of the warmth to the room that had left at the mention of that possibility. "Agreed?"

Nobody dared to voice any disagreement with the woman's words. After all, considering the possibility that Subaru was somehow involved with the Witch...it was something that nobody there really wanted to think of, on top of the suffering that they were already being forced to witness.

"You don't have time to waste on doodles. We have an early start tomorrow, so we're short on time. I'm sleepy, too." Ram explained, leaving Subaru to give her an exasperated smile.

"I can't say I dislike how you slip your own feelings in at the end, Senpai."

"That is big sister's most charming feature," Rem said pridefully, only for her words to be completely matched up by this version of her sister on the screen.

"I do believe my honesty is my most charming feature. Now, let's get started."

With that, the two would get to writing, the camera changing to Subaru repeatedly writing down each and every character he had been instructed to.

"It's so monotonous, I feel a Gestaltzerfall phenomenon coming on…"

Anastasia would've usually asked just what that was, but she decided to keep the question to herself, for once. She had the library freely open to her for whenever the next break came, and, taking a covert look around at the crowd, the girl was smart enough to recognize that now was not really the time for trivial questions.

He looked up with a grateful smile. "But still, even if you did it to make your life easier, it made me happy. Honestly, I had the feeling you didn't like me much, and I'll probably cause more problems for you down the line. But I'll try to become useful as soon as I can…"

Subaru turned around, only to see an utterly knocked out Ram cutely sleeping on his bed. He crushed the quill pen in his hand in frustration, letting out a sharp grunt.

"He must've been frustrated to see his teacher taking the biggest break out of anyone else..." Crusch noted with a chuckle, with a certain blonde ex-thief letting out a scoff from below.

"I don't blame him! I probably would've thrown that pen right at her to wake her up! Serves her right for falling asleep!" Felt folded her arms against her chest, grinning proudly at the idea.

"Still, it's surprising. Here, Natsuki-san and Ram-san appear to be getting along much better than I could've ever possibly thought. She's taking the time to teach him to read and write, and he's working hard as a dedicated student. Quite the wholesome interaction for how much they bicker day-to-day," Otto hummed.

"That's the cruelest thing about all of this crap, isn't it?" Al sighed, catching everyone's attention with his grim words. "He goes through all of these loops, builds all of these different relationships, but then he just gets forced back to square one. with absolutely none of them in place. Like the bro said when he woke up, it's like none of it even happened...it's a screwed up cycle of death and loss he keeps getting forced through. I really ain't fond of it, it's almost like his ability is just taking a shit on each and every one of his efforts. Nobody deserves that shit."

Nobody had expected to hear such passionate words from the man. Yet Al was the one who could appreciate the boy's efforts most of all. While Subaru may have had a superior ability to him – the cost was much worse. At least Al never lost any of his progress, though he had to suffer through incredibly painful cycles of death, himself. At the end of it, the one-armed knight could at least fight to the end to stay where he belonged.

But Subaru? Subaru not only had to experience the pain and suffering of death, but didn't even get to consistently keep his progress. The kid couldn't even choose when to activate his ability.

"Subaru..." Emilia had been thinking of this the most, and so, hearing the man's words truly hit home for her. She lowered her gaze, taking in a deep, shaky breath. Here her knight was, going through all these worlds he'd suffer through, only to have it slip right through his fingers. "Why...I still can't get why you never would've said anything..." Her voice came out in an almost pitiful low tone, one that lacked any true strength.

"I guess now we can see just why that opening was structured the way it was. All of those Subaru's moving and dying, just leaving each and every one of these times behind just to reach one happy ending..." Felix shook his head, all traces of cuteness gone from his voice. "It's just like I said. The human mind isn't made to handle that. Nobody's mind is. You'd have to be something beyond regular thought to happily use that ability."

That was why the doctor had not questioned Subaru since then. He well understood people's minds – and just by watching the boy on screen, Felix could tell that Subaru was nothing more than a regular person, like the rest of them. The knight almost found it funny that only a bit ago, he'd been considering the boy as an inhuman looper...but now he could well and truly see the truth of the situation.

Ram stared quietly at the screen, an unreadable expression on her face. She wondered all the time just how the boy really felt about himself and those in the camp, but his words somewhat made the Oni uneasy. Rather than feeling put-off by the boy's words, the woman could tell there was something off about how...genuine he sounded.

He really was happy to just be useful, to be somewhere he belonged after suffering so much...to her perceptive eyes, it even seemed like he had some sort of lacking self-esteem issues. Rather than a useless man, Ram couldn't help but now think of the Subaru that they were watching as a helpless teen, forced to grow through his horrific experiences.

'I see...so this is why Barusu was always so helpless.' Ram let out a sigh, narrowing her eyes at the screen. To her, the worst part wasn't even realizing that fact. The worst part of this realization was... 'I would not even have minded truly teaching him, were he to actually listen.'

Yet, just like Emilia, this was an experience she'd never have. Just like Felt, she'd never get to have an interaction that brought her closer to the boy.

The cruel reality was that each and every one of those interactions would be forever left behind in these times that were scheduled to be erased upon Subaru's death.

The next day arrives, with Subaru and Rem alone in the clothing room. He slid on the fixed jacket and pants, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Wow...I hate to admit it, but it's perfect." He turned around to look at himself in the mirror, seeming a little disappointed. "Guess there's no need for my sewing skills this time."

"Another one of the things that changed?" Roswaal noted curiously, leaning back in his chair. He wondered just what had changed, before his eyes widened. "Ah, I see..."

Rem and Ram both regretfully knew just why Rem had not showed up with Subaru's clothing earlier. Rem's new lack of trust in the boy led to his measuring and mansion tour, meaning that his clothes were likely made much later, meaning that the boy would never get to have his previous interaction with Rem, in which he showed her his sewing skills.

"Just a single missed interaction or slight change, and he's thrown off of the path he once previously walked. Truly...what a cruel ability." Wilhelm felt like he had repeated such a phrase hundreds of times already, but knowing that they had only been at this viewing for little more than a day and a few hours, it only tired the man out even more.

"Sewing skills? Do you like sewing?"

"Kinda." He answered the blue-haired Oni's question simply, turning around to admire all of the clothing. "By the way, it looks like Ros-chi and Emilia-tan have lots of outfits, but I don't see any for you or Ram."

He peeked out the door at her, holding up a tape measure. "Want me to sew some for you? I'll take your measurements."

"That is unnecessary. These uniforms are all my sister and I need." She rejected this offer, with Subaru tying the tape measure around his shoulders.

Rem cursed herself inwardly for rejecting such a request, looking off to the side. A chance to get her hero to willingly touch her, measure every inch of her body, and lovingly make a set of clothing for her by hand...such a request would have been paradise for her.

"Now that big bro mentions it, that's true. Do servants everywhere just throw away all their clothes except for maid and butler uniforms once they get hired or something?" Felt muttered, looking clearly bothered by the impractical concept.

"I don't know about other servants, but Rem and I have been working for Roswaal-sama ever since we were children younger than Petra. Rather than throwing away our old clothing, it is simply that we have had no need for any other outfits during the entirety of our lives. We have never needed to." The Oni explained.

"That's...kinda sad. You ain't even had vacations or anything? The maid outfits are literally all you've got?"

"Yeah, even Mimi's mum says that breaks are healthy for you, and she works a whole ton! I mean, it would be so boring working all the time! Mimi might just pass out from boredom if she had to do that..."

Felt and Mimi both seemed surprised at Ram's words, finding the concept of unending work somewhat pitiful. Especially considering the fact that the two maids seem to have been doing it from childhood.

"It isn't about whether we take breaks or not, it's simply a very practical choice. Over-generous idiots such as Barusu don't always come along, being entirely willing to sew clothing for free, after all," Ram explained, her words this time making a little more sense.

"Then we have to get you and Rem some clothing when we get out of here!" Emilia exclaimed, a bright smile on her as she announced her idea. "We can spend time shopping together, and talking, and getting some reeeeeeally cute clothes for you! Or, maybe we can even get Subaru to make some clothing for you, after all!"

"I'd love to help, too!" Petra voiced, feeling her old love of sewing rekindling itself in her chest. She was especially happy to join in if it meant getting a chance to work along Subaru, too.

"Hope ya' don't mind if I join ya'll when ya' arrive at tha' city. I'd love ta' see Natsuki-kun's sewing up close fer myself. I'm sure he's got some techniques we ain't fully able ta' get, ourselves." Of course, for Anastasia, she was more interested in the opportunity of getting to see sewing techniques from a whole different world up close.

"Ferris would love to join in too~! I bet I might even be able to get Subaru-kyun to put on some cute clothes, himself..." The mischievous cat-eared knight snickered to himself, the last part of his words going thankfully unheard.

"Then it's decided! We'll all get some new clothes together once we get out of here!" The half-elf clapped her hands together, concluding the appointment with a finality that neither Rem nor Ram could refuse.

Ram let out a sigh, a rare smile coming to her lips. "...Fine. But Ram is absolutely not paying for anything, considering that this was the idea of you, Emilia-sama."

"Heeeeey~!" The girl puffed up her cheeks, leaving Ram to chuckle.

"And I'd love to have Subaru-kun make something for me. Anything that he would make would be great, I'm sure." Rem joined in with much less resistance compared to her sister. When it came to Subaru being mentioned, Rem would always be there, without any extra convincing being needed. Such was the blue-haired Oni's weakness.

"How can you have nothing but those uniforms? Are all your clothes nothing but maid outfits?"

"It causes no problems when we accompany Roswaal-sama on business, or when we're working in the mansion. It also eliminates the need to explain our place in the hierarchy, which makes it very logical."

"But it's not about being logical." Subaru shot right back. "I'm trying to say cute girls have a duty to dress up so they please the eyes of others."

"He didn't have ta' say it like that, but I agree with tha' kid. Whatever ya want ta' wear, ya should be able to. Ain't that right, boss?" The man turned to his purple-haired merchant boss, giving her a knowing smile, which she returned.

"Yer dang right. Well, at least they can rest assured they'll have a fashionable gal' like me there ta' help 'em look half-decent!" Anastasia grinned, pointing a finger to her chest.

Both knew well the pain about not just lacking different clothing, but even lacking the choice find themselves new clothing. Sometimes, they wouldn't even know where their next set of clothing was even coming from, just continually sewing and patching up whatever they had.

"My sister is one thing, but no one would be happy to see me dress up."

"Sister..." Ram looked to Rem with a stern expression on her face. The blue-haired Oni was unable to say anything back to her sister in response, simply remaining silent in response.

"Don't worry, Ram." Emilia reassured, a big smile on her face. "There's no way we're going to let Rem think like that! Especially since she's my friend." Looking more clearly, Ram could see that not only Emilia was showing this sort of smile, but Anastasia, Petra, even Felix shared the same expression on their faces.

The pink-haired Oni was taken aback by these honest and genuine words from Emilia, and the expressions on the faces of the people who'd decided to start getting along with her. More surprisingly, concerning her sister. From her memory, Rem had not had anyone she could truly call a friend – perhaps besides Garfiel, who they both only really knew due to their connection with Roswaal.

So, all she could do was chuckle. Chuckle lightly, letting a bit of the overwhelming emotion that was uncharacteristic of her out. While Ram was usually blunt and monotonous-sounding, she was still a proud big sister at her core.

"Well, I would." Subaru's frank words made the girl take pause, slowly turning to face him.

"Would any good come of making you happy, Subaru-kun?"

"For starters, I might take more pride in my work here, which could boost my productivity." Again, he was quick to fire back right at her.

"To think he would have a response prepared for such an out-of-the blue question..." Julius spoke with exasperation, wondering just what other sort of verbal battles the boy would engage in.

"I think Subaru just has a witty response prepared for nearly engagement he gets into," Reinhard mused, a fond tone in his voice.

"I have no idea what makes you say that."

"I'd also look forward to seeing the differences in the clothes that you both choose…"

"-Ah crap-" Garfiel winced at Subaru's choice of words, shaking his head at the screen. "Cap'n jus' stepped ona' big bomb without even realizin' it."

"A rather big bomb..." Frederica agreed with her little brother for once, both understanding just how well such seemingly harmless words would bother the blue-haired Oni to no end.

"That's none of your concern." At this particular sentence, Rem seemed to become peeved. "Does my looking the same as my sister inconvenience you somehow?"

Subaru looked after her with a worried face and a frown on him. "You love your sister way too much."

Priscilla rolled her eyes at the change in mood the maid seemed to have at Subaru's simple question. She was, quite frankly, of the same opinion as the boy. And Priscilla was never one to hide her honest belief in something if she found it irritating..and this situation, she found extremely irritating.

"While I am not too fond of the prospect of agreeing with the commoner, his words here are absolutely correct. It is almost disgusting just how much the blue-haired maid pitifully clings to her older sister for her own sense of identity." Priscilla spat without a care for the mood, her words as piercing and cold as ever. "Then to turn around and attempt defending such a baseless, selfless identity? It is almost as if she is defending something not even of her own self. The girl is staking her life on nothing but an illusion of what she sees her sister as, and what she so desperately wishes to be, as if deciding to eternally atone for something by wasting away her own life."

Rem couldn't say anything to the woman's words, feeling absolutely cut by every single sentence that came from the whimsical princess' lips. Ram, on the other hand, looked to be summoning her inner incarnation of a Goddess of Wrath...only to be stopped by her sister's gentle hand on her.

The blue-haired Oni shook her head, causing her sister to disengage, albeit reluctantly. Though even without Rem saying anything, Ram understood well and clear. Her sister didn't want her defense, for some reason she still couldn't entirely grasp; so Ram decided to leave it alone.

Deep down, however, the pink-haired Oni was somewhat thankful for Priscilla's harsh words. She could never possibly yell at her dear sister in such a way, and she had always wanted to get her sister to move on with her life, to let go of her guilt and become the person she truly wanted to become...she wondered if perhaps, this viewing would give them more chances like that.

"Geez princess, ya can't just..."

"I do not wish to hear a single further word from your mouth, Aldebaran. I only speak the truth, the truth that these commoners seem too cowardly to listen to." She immediately silenced him with a wave of her fan, looking down to Felt with a hum. "Well...some of them, at the very least."

Immediately, we cut back to Subaru in the kitchen, peeling appas beside Ram. He is doing a slightly better job...but still cuts himself badly.

"You don't know how to handle a knife, Barusu." Ram murmured, leaving the boy to focus right back on peeling the fruit.

"I know! You hold the knife still and turn the fruit it, right?" He questioned, now taking his time to slightly more professionally peel it.

"His skills from his separate loops are beginning to add up..." Frederica noted, her eyes being capable of much more easily tracing how much the boy was improving.

Out of the corner, Rem would turn an eye to him, looking even more displeased, for some reason…

Noticing this, Subaru blushed. "It's embarrassing when you stare at me so intently…"

The girl did not even answer, silently refocusing on stirring. This left Subaru utterly confused.

Rem felt her heart jump in her chest, as she realized that her hatred for the boy was only becoming even more pronounced in this loop, to the point where she was now staring at Subaru without any sort of excuse or real reasonable motive behind her actions. The suspicion and distrust in her gaze should've been obvious.

Ram looked to her sister worriedly, again picking up on her conflicting emotions. All she could do was try to stay calm for the sake of her sister, and watch the screen. Even if something broke out, she'd definitely defend her sister.

Emilia looked worriedly to Rem, who had been quiet despite the odd behavior she was showing on the screen. She couldn't see the girl's face, but...she could feel like there was some sort of darkness there, threatening to pull her gaze in.

Garfiel and Frederica both looked to the maid with unreadable gazes, both beginning to fear the worst. They didn't know much about Rem's past, but at the very least, they knew that both she and her sister despised the Witch Cult. And considering they both knew the fact that Subaru somehow had the ability to emit the witch's scent.

"Damnit, Rem...don't do somethin' yer gonna regret." Garfiel murmured under his breath, wanting to believe that the maid he'd known for so long wouldn't commit such a rash crime.

Frederica didn't say anything aloud, but simply affixed her fellow coworker with a worried gaze. She could tell something was off just by looking at her, but decided to hold her tongue.

Crusch seemed to be looking between the twins with her concern all over her face. "Just what is it that Rem-dono would do that would make you lie, Ram-dono...?" The Duchess was distressed by just how unaware she was, feeling like she was naked out in the middle of a storm.

Ever-watchful, Priscilla noticed the uncomfortable movements of those below, nearly finding herself entertained by their desperate movements alone. It didn't take a proper detective to be able to sight their anxious faces and almost imperceptible furrowing of their eyebrows. A nasty smirk came to her face.

'It seems that something interesting will happen this loop, after all.'

"Your unsightly appearance stands out. Especially your hair. It's very unrefined." Ram was quick to the rescue, right back at the insults…

"I thought I did a pretty good job of cutting it by myself…"

"That's a good job? That messy, unkempt, swept back bushy mess?!" Anastasia pointed out while snickering, her rather descriptive comment drawing a good amount of laughs from the rest of the group.

This distracted that portion of the audience, mostly those unaware of how odd Rem was acting, while the those who were aware, and Rem herself, found it especially hard to join in on this joke.

We change to a short montage of Ram doing some gardening being followed up by Rem, who would do it even better.

"By the way, Rem takes care of everyone's hair in this mansion. She styles my hair and dresses me every morning, too. Isn't it nice?"

"Try to contribute a little, Nee-sama!" Subaru sighed.

"Now I understand why miss Frederica was brought in when Rem-san lost her name..." Petra murmured in a low voice, letting out an exasperated sigh at Ram's messy work. Even she was at least somewhat capable...

While Frederica likely would've usually taken the chance to give a rare smug retort about her superiority over Ram...she was oddly silent, making Petra stare up at her with a worried glance.

The trio of workers were now all working together on trimming the hedges, with Rem again turning to give Subaru an unreadable glare.

Again, only those who knew the blue-haired Oni's usual behavior were freaked out by just how oddly she was staring at Subaru, though a few more were beginning to catch on to just how off she was being.

"That girl's givin' off all the wrong vibes." Al had no idea why, but he was beginning to get the chills just looking at the seemingly normal glare she was turning towards Subaru.

"Rem-chan is starting to creep me out a little bit with how intensely she's looking at Subaru-kyun, too..." Felix admitted. He had little memory of the Oni, but he had gotten to see her around enough to know that she never would give anything but an enemy such a look.

Subaru caught it again, and Ram, noticing Subaru's troubled look, planted a firm stare on her sister.

"Rem...If you like, you can tidy up Barusu's hair a bit."

"Sister?" Rem seemed confused, almost put off by this offer.

Ram once again let out a sigh she hadn't even been aware she was holding in. She was appreciative of the fact that this version of her seemed to be capable of covering well for her sister's...urges, but looking back at the faces of the crowd behind her, she could tell that even that could only last for so long.

"Whoa, whoa! Having a girl mess with my hair will get me all worked up-"

Ram's eyes were hidden as she looked at Rem, a mysterious smile on her face. "You keep looking at Barusu because his hair bothers you, right?"

The girl was silent for a while...before finally speaking with a nod. "Yes. That is correct. I think just combing it and evening out the ends would make him more presentable."

"Aw geez, so that was it? Don't scare us all like that!" Ricardo laughed, bringing a hand to his head in relief. A few others joined him in his laughter, but not everyone was buying that information straight up.

"Something about my instincts won't allow me to relax, even then..." Julius murmured under his breath, his eyes laser-focused on the screen. For some reason this maid gave him the oddest feeling – not one of a genuine servant, but that of a vengeance filled warrior, in wait... The Finest Knight felt that underestimating her capacity in this moment was far less than wise.

Roswaal just had a small grimace on his face, wondering just what his servant had done to the young boy. While he had been scheming to keep a watch on him, he, by no means, had ever ordered either Ram or Rem to kill him. In fact, he had no idea of a situation where he would perform such a rash action, not when he had still been unsure whether Subaru was the useful 'tool' he had been waiting for or not.

"You heard her. You should take her up on her offer. Her hands will take you to paradise." Ram turned to the boy besides her, her suggestive words making him back up.

"You make it sound so dirty…" He turned to Rem with an exasperated smile. "If you don't want to, you should just tell her. Not that I want to be picked on, but…"

"No, I don't think that at all." Rem denied unconvincingly, shaking her head. "The truth is that it did bother me a little...very much, a little...extremely, a little."

"Well at any rate, that did get the point across that it bothers you." Subaru murmured.

"At least we can get that out of the way..." Emilia spoke hopefully, wanting to move past the uncomfortable feelings that were beginning to rise up in the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah, she was honestly bullying big bro for no reason!" Felt huffed, clearly missing the entire point of just why Emilia had seemed so stressed by the situation.

"Mean maid lady!" Mimi roared, raising both fists up in the air.

Reinhard, listening to his lady's words, gave Crusch a meaningful glance. He seemed to be wondering whether or not they needed to have yet another telepathic discussion, but the Duchess merely shook her head. She still retained her original stance – whatever they were about to discover, it was something that the group needed to weather together.

Neither noticed Beatrice, who was again looking down at the boy from a window above.

"What's the matter, Betty?" Puck floated up to the little spirit's face, taking her by surprise.

"Nothing, Bubby. More importantly, I have delicious sweets today, I suppose. Eat them with me!"

Puck leaned down to bite into the cookie-like sweet, showing a pleased expression. "Yum!"

"It looks like Beatrice-sama wants to spend time with Subaru no matter the time, huh?" Petra giggled, her words leaving a certain twin-drill loli red in embarrassment.

"H-Hmph! Betty was likely just interested in just how such a foolish boy was getting along with those difficult maids, I suppose!" She excused, though her words were just an unconvincing as Emilia's attempts at sounding mean from before.

We are shown Subaru working diligently to clean the bath, with Rem walking into the room behind him.

"What's up? You here to help me?"

"No, this is about what we discussed at lunchtime." Rem clarified, closing the door behind her.

Rem stiffened up upon noticing that she had closed the door behind her. It was a normal gesture, but any possibly suspicious move she made right now threatened to completely shatter her mind.

"Lunchtime? Oh, about my hair? You'll really style it for me?" He asked in clear disbelief.

"No, I felt that I said some things that were uncalled for. I'm very sorry. We may be colleagues, but as Emilia-sama's savior, your rank surpasses mine." She apologized, with a short bow of her head.

Subaru looked at the girl with worry, as if he was seeing right through her.

"A proper apology...something I was expecting. It would be quite rude to simply leave that situation as it was, considering all that Subaru has done for them so far." Julius seemed the most satisfied with this outcome, finding it par for the course.

"Is that how you really feel? Sorry to put you through that."

Rem once more bowed. "No, I should apologize for saying something so pointless. Please forget it."

"I guess it's never that easy. That's what makes being human so hard."

"He's s'understandin' s'always, huh? That's gonna come back ta' bite him in tha' rear sometime. There's tons a' people out there who are more than happy ta' bite at someone that willin' ta' compromise." Anastasia shook her head, letting out a large exhale to the boy's show of naivety.

"Like you?" Felt retorted with a deadpan voice, causing the merchant to smirk.

"Heh, yer never slow ta' tha' draw, are ya, Felt-chan?" The greedy gal seemed more amused by Felt's blunt call-out than anything else, chuckling to herself.

Rem looked away, only for Subaru to bring his hand down into an open palm.

"Okay, I'll give you a condition, then! If you agree to it, I'll forget everything you just said."

"...Do we even need to be this time on what Betty's contractor will ask for, I suppose?" Beatrice spoke the words everyone was thinking, and nearly everyone shook their heads.

"That ambition-lacking commoner will undoubtedly ask for something that is utterly trivial, and a near waste of time." Priscilla fumed, already feeling her sense of disappointment flaring up.

"I don't even wanna hope fer him wishin' fer anythin' substantial anymore..." Anastasia excluded herself out of the race. She was personally disappointed by the boy's clear lack of any greedy drive a long time ago...or at least, when it came to making good of debts that people owed him.

She looked back to him and spoke with a bit of hesitation. "A condition…is it? Very well. I'll hear whatever you have to say."

Subaru grinned, putting a hand on his hips and raising his fists to the heavens. "If you comb my hair a bit and even out the ends, I'll let it slide!"

…

"It actually hurts even more when you choose to respond with silence…"

"It's just as Emilia-sama said. You have no ambition at all." Rem, now barefooted, stepped into the bath with a spare broom to assist the boy.

"She's talkin' ta' tha' choir, there!" Anastasia snickered at Rem's blunt assessment, her words leaving the rest of those within the theater to share knowing smiles and laughter.

Even Rem managed a tiny giggle, her mood somewhat lifted by the sight of herself managing to get along with Subaru, even if only by a small margin.

"It's weird...I'd think that'd make you fall for me all over again, not disgust you."

"My sister said your eyes take on an obscene look when she's alone with you, so to be honest, I was prepared to hear you suggest that."

"She's killing my reputation!" He yelled, as he began to sweep once more alongside his fellow employee.

"Reputation? I'm not sure that there was anything to destroy, to begin with." Ram shook her head, her cruel words doing nothing but eliciting even more laughter from the crowd.

"M-Man, real harsh one, 'Nee-san!'" Ricardo howled, doubled over in laughter that came from his core. Al was much the same, only trying to hold himself back and failing, uncaring for Priscilla's watchful gaze on him. He just couldn't hold back his laughter.

"I accept your condition. I will do as you wish." She turned to him, giving the boy a polite curtsy and raise of her dress.

He chuckled to himself, looking to the girl with a small smile. "Okay, if you can do it after I keep my promise to Emilia-tan, that'd be great."

"Promise?"

"Well, I haven't made the promise yet."

"Oh, Subaru..." The half elf in question couldn't stop a sad smile from coming to her face at his words.

"Even now, he's thinking about trying to make that promise, just like last time, huh?" Anastasia noted with a wry grin. "I swear, we can't talk enough an' enough about jus' how much Natsuki-kun's crushin' on ya~!"

"Honestly, in the face of death, the thing on his mind is simply spending some time together with Emilia-dono." Crusch chuckled, remembering the boy's words to her about the girls who took the largest spots in his heart. For him to hold such a powerful level of love and care towards them...the Duchess had to admit, she felt rare feelings of jealousy rising up in her.

The scenery changes to show a bright, colorful flower field, alongside a well-kept, smooth dirt road.

There are nice-looking windmills, and a small town past the rolling hills far into the distance.

"It might be a good idea to scope out or date destination before I make that promise. I've researched the places with the best views. That just leaves...this."

Subaru is shown being grabbed onto and heckled by a whole group of kids, who all seem to be vying for his attention, and some even making fun of him.

"I need to make sure these guys don't find us…"

"Ah-!" Petra raised a finger upon seeing all of her fellow friends from Arlam village. "This must've been the first time I met Subaru!" The little girl couldn't help but smile. In her eyes, the interaction was much the same.

At the very least, she was happy to have her special moment with Subaru preserved...she didn't see many major differences in the way they seemed to interact here...yes, no major interactions...though Petra felt like she was forgetting something. Something that nagged at her, yet something she couldn't remember no matter how hard she tried.

He is barraged by questions, making him shout out in frustration.

"Chill out, brats! I played with you earlier!"

Rem walks out of a shop holding two hefty-looking brown bags, seeming to look around for the newly hired butler.

"All right, listen up, guys." Subaru spoke, kneeling down in the group of kids. "Next time I come here, it'll be on a date. Try to take a hint, okay?" He then looked to a little blue haired girl in front of him, who was holding onto a tiny, adorable-looking puppy.

"M-Meilee!" The little maid exclaimed in fear, practically shaking on the spot upon seeing her old 'friend'. She had forgotten that the girl was even a part of their friend group at that moment...but her and her 'puppy' brought that memory back rudely.

"So this is the one who carried out the attack on the village of Arlam..." Reinhard hummed, narrowing his eyes at the assailant. "She's...just a child. Perhaps even younger than Felt-sama. Is she...is she truly such a heinous criminal?" The Sword Saint knew it was his knightly duties to properly punish anyone deemed as a threat to the people of the kingdom, especially the Royal Candidates, but...

Staring at the innocent-looking blue-haired girl, he just could not see her as anything other than a harmless child.

"Don't be fooled by her appearance, Sword Saint-sama." Frederica warned, looking at the screen with hate in her eyes. "She may be but a child, but she nearly killed both I and Petra, alongside her partner, who so happens to be the Bowel Hunter."

"Yeah. S'jus' a kid, but she's hella deadly. I remember her bringin' round all types a'damn mabeasts!" Garfiel grunted in annoyance, remembering the encounter not-so-fondly.

"To think that such a young child would be turned into a weapon for an organization of criminals..." Julius was reminded yet again of the failure of the knights in preventing such unfortunate occurrences. Thinking back to the Bowel Hunter, someone like her was completely irredeemable...but this was a small child slowly being turned into a copy of her.

"All types o'shit happens like this. It jus' goes on under tha' noses o'everyone." Ricardo remembered back to the assassins he had previously fought off, before. He knew very well more than most that almost anyone had the potential to fall into that darkness, man or woman, child or adult.

"I just wish I was able to detect curses...perhaps I could have brought Subaru-kun to Beatrice-sama." Rem murmured regretfully, knowing already that this version of herself would be unable to do anything.

She wondered if this version of herself even would do anything, even if she had been blessed with such information.

"We shouldn't trouble ourselves thinking of endless possible 'what ifs' right now. The result is already set in stone before us...all we can do is lay witness to it."

Crusch's concrete words silenced everyone, forcing them to turn their attention to the screen.

"I'll allow this little critter to play with Emilia-tan, though." He would pet the dog...which would immediately fire back and chomp into his hand. "Ow! Again?!" The kids laughed at him, as he jumped back in pain.

"This is where the curse was applied..." Beatrice murmured with a sorrowful tone, gently holding her contractor's left hand and brushing her fingers over the spot where he had been bitten. "Betty was sure she should have been able to notice it in that first loop..."

"We already went over that...don't beat yourself up about it, Beatrice." Emilia quickly shooed the Great Spirit's negative thoughts away with her reassuring words, giving her a small smile.

"So the dog is put down by yet another dog...quite the ironic fate." Priscilla chuckled lightly, though she felt anything but amused knowing this foolish boy would die another foolish death.

The woman just couldn't pinpoint exactly why the thought bothered her so much...

"Subaru-kun, so this is where you were." Rem approached, looking to the boy's bitten and bleeding hand. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. All done shopping, Rem-rin?"

"Yes. It went quite smoothly."

It was now evening, and the kids all waved at Subaru, wishing him and the blue-haired maid sincere, although clearly unwilling goodbyes.

"It's painful..." Reinhard gripped his glove closed tightly. "Knowing that not only will Subaru die by the end of this night, but most likely, all of those innocent children, as well..."

"A child killing other children..." Wilhelm looked to the side, absolutely disgusted by the thought.

Priscilla simply scoffed at these reactions, rolling her eyes to the melodrama. She was quite used to such things already, herself. After all, were it not for certain circumstances...she would've died at the hands of her despicable brother.

"Tch." The Countess clicked her tongue in irritation. The memory of that event brought her nothing but annoying feelings, so she found this situation all the more of a headache because of it. She just wished that the young man could just realize the danger he was in already...

"You were quite popular with them." Rem noted.

"For some reason, kids have always liked me."

"Like animals, children observe a hierarchy. They can tell it's alright to belittle someone."

"Hey-! I just liked Subaru because he was funny and had lots of cool stories to tell! And he was nice...and really attentive!" Petra listed off all of the things she liked about Subaru in retort to the maid's insult.

"Yes, yes, we hear how much you love Subaru-kyun, little lady!" Felix joked, leaving everyone to laugh at just how much trust and care the little maid invested into the boy on screen.

"H-Hey..." The girl pouted, clearly displeased.

Rem was walking beside Subaru, who was precariously balancing on the side of a stone bridge.

"Those brats...They have no respect."

"Did you show them anything about you worth respecting?"

"That's a sound argument. Still, it doesn't seem right for them to belittle me right from the start." He sighed, stopping to allow Rem to make a small skip over a stone. He would try to follow her lead...only to trip miserably.

"Pahaha! Kid's jus' provin' her right with them kinda' moves, eh?!"

"Sure is, sure is!"

Ricardo and Al, as usual, shared a duette of very hearty laughter, inspiring everyone else to burst out into laughter, themselves. The men's but-gusting chuckles were all too infectious for anyone to properly hold back.

"Barusu simply works on their level. And, of course, children won't be afraid to properly and rightly take advantage of weakness they see in others," Ram noted, holding back a snicker of her own.

"Ram seems like she'd handle that kind of thing well."

"My sister is wonderful, isn't she?" Rem murmured in agreement, leaving Subaru to look forward with an exasperated smile.

"To be honest, I'd think her personality would give rise to conflict more often than not."

"It definitely does..." Otto murmured, immediately straightening up as he noticed a particular pink-haired Oni's gaze on him, watching him like a fly about to be swatted out of the air.

Garfiel shook his head, letting out a sigh. "So naive, Otto-bro...y'gotta know how t'respect th'rules o'Ram f'ya wanna keep yer head on yer shoulders."

"T-There are rules?! Nobody told me!"

"My sister's self-assured nature is what makes her so charming. I can't be that way at all." She bowed her head, leaving Subaru to look at her in surprise. "By the way, how are your studies progressing?"

"Let's just say I'm plugging alone. Ram is actually a pretty good teacher, too. Though I wish she wouldn't fall asleep on my bed mid-lesson. It kinda kills my motivation."

"Barusu should consider himself lucky. To have the sights of a beautiful teacher while working...to as for more would be much too greedy!" Ram said confidently, leaving Felt to let out an exasperated chuckled from above.

"I don't know whether to be impressed or just taken aback by how confident you are..."

"My sister is only acting that way to stimulate your motivation."

"Why do you have such absolute faith in your sister? That's not normal. You're demonically inspired, for real." Subaru asked in confusion, clearly put off by Rem's ever confident praise.

Rem paused at this particular wording, turning to look at the boy beside her. "Demonically inspired?"

Hearing these words, Rem's eyes widened in realization...that same phrase, it was the same words that she and Subaru had shared, when she first came to recognize him as her hero. It warmed her heart...perhaps, perhaps it was fine to have a little bit of faith that the absolute worst would not happen, here?

"It's the demon version of divine inspiration. Sounds kinda cool, right?" Subaru tilted his head, smiling to Rem.

"Do you like demons?" She asked, in a soft tone.

"Well...gods generally don't do anything, but demons will laugh along when you talk about future plans. Especially for next year and stuff. They'll laugh their heads off."

"That's a sure optimistic way o'lookin' at it." Anastasia snickered at the boy's apt comparison.

"I suppose in a way, he's somewhat right. A god will simply allow you to continue moving on...but at the very least, a demon would speak to you about them, even if only to trick or deceive you." Julius almost found himself agreeing with the boy somewhat.

"Hence why demons are always such tricky creatures...they are easier to understand than those far away gods, are they not?" Wilhelm chuckled at the boy's words, bringing a hand to his chin. Once again, he was reminded of just why he was so fond of the young man. Truly, he mirrored his mindset down to a T in some ways.

Subaru was left shocked once more as he looked at Rem, noticing her usual blank expression changing to a soft, barely noticeable smile...one actually directed at him, for once.

"That smile is a million volts!" Subaru exclaimed, tossing the bags aside to point at her, a blush clear on his cheeks.

"I see, so this is where Barusu began to decide on seducing my dear sister...truly, it is a risk to leave him alone with anyone." Ram let out a sigh at the bright smile on her sister's face.

Yet, in some way, she felt a little relief. She wasn't entirely sure, but that smile from Rem – it was something genuine. Something that she wouldn't have shown a person she truly believed to be a Witch Cultist.

'Please...' Rem's thoughts were much more linear than her sister's, still sounding like something similar to desperate pleading. 'Please don't let me do anything to Subaru-kun...'

Yet, by that time, Rem was already moving forward. "I'm going to tell Emilia-sama."

"I wasn't trying to hit on you!" He pleaded desperately, as he picked the bags backed up and followed behind Rem.

Felix snickered at the boy's desperate self-defense, bringing a hand to cover his lips. "Sure, Subaru-kyun, suuuure..."

As if to immediately counteract this scene, we cut to Subaru sitting at his desk at nighttime, heart pounding audibly, and looking like he was about to explode from nervousness.

The reason was immediately clear – Emilia was behind him, lightly dressed in a nightgown.

"Man, this kid, this kid just doesn't stop giving you material, huh bro?"

"No way, no way, s'like he keeps droppin' tha' best jokes on purpose!"

Ricardo and Al once more shared in hearty laughter, a laughter that again spread to the rest of the group. They were happy to have something, anything to laugh at...especially when they could all feel the end coming so quickly.

Emilia just sighed, shaking her head at Subaru's antics. She found it absolutely silly how much of a pedestal the boy had put her on, to become so nervous like this just by being around her.

"Both Ram and Rem said they wouldn't be coming to see you tonight, so I agreed to help with your studies instead. I'm afraid I can't do much, though."

"R-Right now, I'm writing the basic i-glyphs until I memorize them…" Subaru managed to sputter out, looking even more anxious as the incredibly beautiful half-elf leaned over his shoulder.

"Wow! You're studying a lot more thoroughly than I thought!"

"Of course he is. With my skills, even a monkey would be able to study properly," Ram said proudly, pushing up invisible glasses on her nose that nobody else could see.

He nervously held up the fairytale book for Emilia to see. "Th-This fairy tale collection is aimed at kids, so it's mostly i-glyphs, or so they said...So my goal for now is...to be able...to read this...Anyway, um..."

Suddenly, Subaru got up out of his chair. "Th-The moon sure is pretty." He said, looking up at...the ceiling.

"Tryin' ta recreate tha' magic he had from before, huh?" Anastasia couldn't help but snicker at how desperate Subaru was just to get this promise with the half-elf secured.

"It's not going to work if he just clumsily rushes into it like that, though..." Otto groaned, feeling secondhand embarrassment for his friend. At the same time, he couldn't help but hold back his own laughter, just barely.

"Eh?"

"Nevermind! I mean, uh, I have a favor to ask you! Will you hear me out?" He corrected himself desperately, now looking at the half-elf.

"I'll work hard starting tomorrow, and I'll study harder, too!" He threw a thumbs up at her, putting on his smoothest voice. "Let's go on a date."

"What do you do on a 'date'?" She asked, confusedly.

"When a guy and a girl go out alone together, that's a date! Only the goddess of love knows what will happen during that time."

"So that means you went on a 'date' with Rem today, right?" Emilia smiled cheerily.

"Yeouch! Critical hit for the poor guy!" Al was almost rolling on the floor with laughter, everyone else following much the same line of response.

"I've never seen someone crash so horribly by their own efforts..." Tivey, though he was usually ever-stoic, had to join in with his captain in subdued laughter.

This sent Subaru rolling around on his bed in thinly veiled embarrassment. "Ugh! I didn't expect that response! That didn't count! Please don't count that!" He practically begged.

Emilia walked towards the boy's window. "I understand that you want us to go out together, but where?"

"Actually, there's this really cute little dog in the village near here. There's a flower field, too. I want to see you in a field of flowers, and capture the image for eternity with my metia!" He listed excitedly, holding up his phone.

"A spleeeendid plan...but there is only one issue." Roswaal waved his finger at the screen, everyone immediately reminded of the previous loop.

The discrimination against the half-elves...that alone made Emilia reconsider even going out to have fun.

"Oh, um...The village, huh?" The spirit arts user didn't seem too pleased at this idea.

"The dog is super cute! Let's go!" Subaru pushed, holding the phone forward.

"...I just realized, he suggested bringing Emilia-sama to the dog." Otto muttered, eyes nearly going blank as he considered the implications of such a meeting.

"He wasn't even aware of the true nature of it...nobody could have been." Ram, for once, seemed a bit regretful in slipping her duties as a maid. The very least she could've done was make sure her coworker and sister weren't in danger of having death curses put on them.

It was a rather unfortunate, unbelievable thing to overlook.

"But it might cause trouble for you, and for the villagers-"

"The kids are so pure and innocent, they're like angels! Let's go!" He insisted, not even hearing any of her refusal.

"Except for Meilee." Petra murmured with a quivering voice, as she remembered how coldly Meilee had treated her when given the chance to 'play' together.

"Yeah, leave the blue-haired scary girl behind!" Mimi, ever the encourage backed up her fellow sister's words, energy clear in her voice.

"Oh, all right. You leave me no choice. I'll go with you." She gave in.

"And the flower field is super colorful and wonderfu-Really?" The boy seemed almost surprised at how easily she'd accepted the invitation.

"If that will motivate you to work hard from tomorrow on, then I will."

"Nice." Garfiel and Otto shared a fist bump, both inwardly celebrating their friend's small win. Even if he would not get to be around to fully enjoy it in this timeline, the least the bros could do was be supportive of him.

"Aaaaaaaall right!" Subaru pumped his fists in the air in victory.

Emilia giggled, turning her gaze outside to the night sky. "I bet the weather will be lovely tomorrow."

"Yeah. And it'll be a day I'll never forget." Subaru said in a suddenly serious and sincere tone.

"There you go again with…" Emilia went to chide him once more...only to see that he truly had a serious expression on his face, staring out the window with something that seemed almost like determination.

The half-elf's hand tightened atop her knight's, her eyes shimmering with tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. She felt she would be overcome with emotion should she lose focus. While she had no way of sensing the emotions of herself within the screen...the girl knew that, having seen Subaru's struggles...the seriousness of those words were on a different level than anything else.

"He's got his eyes set forward...but...but..." Wilhelm grit his teeth, resisting the urge to slam his gloved fist down on his armchair. He was usually calm and impassive, but, seeing a dead man walking towards the end of his life with absolutely no knowledge of it – it was something that could break even the most stoic of men.

"But...he won't make it to the next day." Reinhard finished his grandfather's words with a glum expression, unable to even say anything further beyond that.

He looked back to her, wondering why the girl had been staring at him.

"J-Just now, you were...nevermind." She shook her head, walking off.

"You know, it makes a guy really anxious when you don't finish your sentences."

"Okay, Subaru-kun the butler, remember to work hard! Only those who work hard are rewarded, so this will be a reward!"

"Wiser words have never been said, Emilia-sama." Ram smiled at the girl's attempt to cheer Subaru up. A rare smile from the maid, but one that showed how appreciative she was for this version of her actually stepping in to encourage the young man, and keep him in line, of course.

We cut to later in the night, with Subaru sitting in the corner of his room, in a chair.

He turns over his palm, where two stab marks are clearly seen, assumedly from his writing pen.

Beatrice's eyes widened in alarm. "So this is where you developed that depressing habit, I suppose..." The girl murmured in a voice low enough only for her to her, her hands moving up to grasp his left arm's sleeve. She hesitated, her hands shaking, before they dropped back down. "Out of fear for your life...a life that Betty failed to save, when she could have."

"He's so desperate to keep awake...it's depressing watching this, knowing the outcome beforehand," Felix muttered.

[[ It was six hours to get through the fourth night. Six hours before the promised morning of the fifth day.

"Now, Fate-sama, let's do this. I'm not going to sleep tonight, no matter what."

He looked down, letting out a short sigh.

"Jeez...what am I, a grade schooler who can't sleep before a class outing? Reminds me of when I overslept for the class trip…" He reminisced, fingers traced together.

What nagged at Subaru, as time passed, was that he still didn't know how to avoid a new loop.

"I wasn't able to retrace the loop exactly, but I did get along well with Ram and Rem. In fact, I think I did better than last time."

"It's still so messed up how Cap'n has t'keep track o'all f'his relationships like that. Puttin' em together, worryin' bout who he hasn't made happy..." Garfiel grumbled, hands held in fists at his side.

"All just to stay alive for a bit longer..." Crusch murmured, her voice taking on a much lighter intonation than its' usual hardened tone.

"A hardened will borne from facing death an innumerable amount of times...to think a man of your caliber was born from such excruciating circumstances, Subaru-dono..." Wilhelm wanted to reach out and help the boy – offer the helpless young man some of his strength. He knew what it was like to feel useless, to want more strength more than anything to satisfy that loss within one's heart.

It hurt him to see such an innocent young man be forced through such a hell. A hell he believed nobody should be subjected to.

Relations with Emilia were good. Relations with Rem and Ram were getting better…but he hadn't encountered Beatrice.-

"If there's anything I feel like I missed, it's that I didn't say goodnight to Beatrice..."

He thought back to the time he'd spent with the spirit, how his conversation with her had practically saved his mind from crumbling.

"Every time I saw her, all we did was insult each other. I should've thanked her...somehow…"

He smiled as he thought back to the back to back thorny conversations they'd had, but still was able to confirm that he wanted nothing more than to share his thoughts with her.

"You...You idiot, I suppose..." Unlike Emilia, tears began to fall freely from Beatrice's eyes, staining her dress with drops of moisture that would not stop falling from her eyes. "In a moment like this, thinking of Betty...the Betty that abandoned you...the Betty that kicked you out...the Betty that could do nothing for you!" She nearly bit her tongue as she spoke, unable to hold back any of her words or feelings anymore. "And even after all that, even coming to your death...you...you think...h-hrk...of...Betty?"

Beatrice had thought she'd known just how determined and headstrong her contractor was, but, with this, she felt like she had been thrown right back into learning all about him all over again. Never did she think he'd brave death, just to stay around all of them, just to have happy moments along side them, just to keep them.

From that moment, she decided. No matter what they'd see on this screen...Beatrice would become a better spirit. The best spirit, and partner, her contractor could possibly have. If he could sacrifice his life over and over again for them...then the least she could do is put her all into defending him.

There were things he wanted to say not just to her, but to Ram, Rem, and even Roswaal. Things he could only say after making it to the next morning. ]]

Everyone watching got the same feeling – they wished that fate was somehow wrong. That they were misremembering, and that Subaru would escape out of this situation unscathed.

Seeing the bonds he'd forged, the promises he'd made, the skills he'd began to pick up...nobody wanted to see them die. They all wanted Fate proved wrong...

Sadly, Fate never answered to the prayers of those who knocked.

Subaru rubbed his feet and legs together, as a weird chill came over his body...he began to feel oddly tired, as well. He resisted sleep, shaking his head.

"...It's starting." Roswaal's grave voice echoed throughout the theater, shocking everyone into immediately focusing on the screen.

But no matter what he did, he just fell even harder into sleep…

Subaru was forced awake by some horrible feeling, getting to his feet and knocking his chair over. He fell to his legs, unable to control his body.

"N-No-!" Beatrice reached her hand out towards the screen, feeling the mana at her fingertips. So useless...so useless again! If Subaru went to see her, she'd just push him away, and now, he wasn't even in the reach of the version of herself in this time. "P-Please, no!"

Emilia and Rem both couldn't muster up any further words, their hands simply holding onto Subaru from the left and right. Regardless of their strength in silence, tears uncontrollably fell from their eyes to the ground below.

Otto and Garfiel both stared forward with nothing but respect and pain in their gazes. Nothing would make them avert their eyes from taking witness to the suffering their sworn brother had trudged through.

"W-What is this? I'm so cold...No...Could this be…" His voice was getting weak, as he vomited up the entirety of his stomach's contents.

"Someone…" Hands over his mouth, he forced himself to stand up and get out of his room, the world distortedly waving around him.

He fell over again, dry-heaving on the ground.

"Someone...help…"

"Damn it...damn it, is there nobody in that damn house that's gonna hear 'im?!" Ricardo yelled in outrage, gripping his armrest tightly.

"It's useless, Captain...once curses activate, they can't be deactivated..." Tivey spoke with a low tone of voice...his words were the last thing the Iron Fang Captain wanted to hear.

The boy's desperate cries were pushing the limits of what resilience could do.

Hearing him ask for help that would never come – knowing that he couldn't be saved even if help came...

This was the worst hell for everybody watching, only second to what Subaru was currently experiencing.

He forced himself up the stairs while holding his throat, vomiting all the while, face stained with tears.

"This is almost like watching a wounded animal slowly die out." Priscilla murmured, her eyebrows furrowing at the pathetic sight. It just did not sit right with her...something about the boy's death being such a mundane one just did not sit right with the woman.

"Death by curse...it's an ugly thing...a thing no person should ever have to experience. Especially not Subaru." Felix looked away from the screen, his face distorted into a rage-filled grimace.

[[Subaru, moving forward so pathetically, had only one thing, one person, in the back of his mind.

'Emilia. Emilia. Emilia. I have to get to Emilia.'

"M-me?! Why...why me?!" Emilia finally broke down, sobbing out her words, unable to hold anything back. "Please, Subaru, you, you need to find help for yourself, not check on me!"

"Even now, tha' boy's tryin' ta' keep ya safe..." Anastasia lowered her head, letting out a sharp sigh. The more she got attached to the idea of Natsuki Subaru through these viewings, the harder these deaths became to view from a detached standpoint.

"Truly...truly, he had the fine beginnings of a knight's mindset, even from then. Attempting to protect the one he wishes to serve, even at the cost of their life..." Julius forced himself to continue taking witness to his friend's final, pathetic breaths. There was no pity in his eyes, however. The young man had nothing but his respect.

The boy was driven by some unknown force, some unknown emotion, to find the girl. There was not an ounce of self-preservation within him.]]

"Big bro's a trooper. A damn soldier, without the title. He doesn't...he doesn't deserve this shit! Od damn it!" Felt managed to hold herself back from totally breaking, though she could feel herself hyperventilating, her heart beginning to run out of control without anything to keep it in check.

He almost vomited one more time, but managed to hold it in...and then he heard it.

The sound of ringing chains behind him.

With the sound of those chains, Rem felt her heart, and mind sink into the darkness. A darkness that she felt like she would never rise up from.

'I did it...I did it...I did it to Subaru-kun. I did it...I did i..I...I...ng-gh...ghhh...' Her mind was an unintelligible mess. Soon, her thoughts mirrored all she was able to vocalize at the moment – primitive, vocalized grunts of sheer pain and horror. She felt completely and utterly broken.

[[Before he could look, an impact blew him away. He bounced several times on the floor, and he realized something had hit him, hard.

But there was no immediate pain…

"What happ…" Subaru tried to get up, surrounded in a pool of blood, only to look for his arm.

Everything left of his shoulder had been torn off, his blood practically dying the hallway red.

"Od damn it!" Garfiel exclaimed, reeling at the vicious sight. "Fuck. Fuck, Cap'n!"

Petra had practically fainted in her seat already, unable to handle the sight of what was happening to Subaru without Frederica's covering of her vision.

"While he's dying...some bastard really decided that they couldn't even let him have a damn proper death?!" Al yelled, outraged.

"Ah?"

Huge quantities of blood gushed from this wound, and as soon as he noticed, pain like lightning coursed through his own body.

He could only flail like a stranded, dying fish. He wasn't even able to scream, the noises come out of him more like choked wails than anything that made sense.

"This...this is just too cruel, too cruel to watch anymore!" Otto wailed, waving a hand in front of him in outrage.

"How, how could I not even be aware of my friend suffering such a fate...I, I even let myself call him a friend...without even bothering to check up on his wellbeing...!" Reinhard gripped his chair tightly.

"This...this is much worse than anything we've seen before." Even for an experienced veteran of war like Wilhelm, this death was completely...sadistic. A body afflicted by a death curse, atop being violently bludgeoned and left to bleed out...whoever inflicted him with this wound had a vendetta of some sort.

'I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I wanna die. I don't wanna live. I just wanna die. I'll die soon. I'm dead. I don't know anything. Everything's far off. Can't remember anything. Don't care about anything. Just let me die already.'

"Please...please just end this already." Ram could not even watch the screen anymore, her gaze turned off to the side as Subaru's thoughts echoed through the theater.

He wasn't even thinking of the future, or of himself...he was just earnestly wishing for death after being subjected to a pain that he had likely never felt before in his entire life.

"This...this isn't what Mimi wants to see..." The little girl's voice was trembling with fear, her ears drooped as she heard every single plea for death erupt from the boy's lips.

"It's like I said...no human mind is meant to continually go through this level of suffering. It's one thing to give up on your life when you still have a chance to live...but for Subaru-kyun, it's almost like he's just being kept alive to suffer...that level of pain...he must feel like his entire body is bubbling with fire, right now."

"This is unjust. Too unjust to be left alone, as a mere viewing. At this point...this is simply torturing of a man who is already dead...why...why would one ever be so cruel to do such a thing?" Crusch felt nausea come over her, as she bore witness to this sight.

As if to answer his earnest, desperate pleas, the sound of a chain came forward...and it would be the last thing he heard before his skull was smashed in.

The only thing left of his head was a lone eyeball, that rolled out.]]

The Morning of Our Promise Is Still Distant

With a silent whir, the episode faded off of the screen, as a bit of white text appeared on the now black background.

Screen is now on auto-play.

Viewing will recommence when all guests have consented.

And so, the group was left in nothing but their own suffering after seeing such a gruesome, sadistic scene. They did not even have the comforting voice of the Host to lift them up or encourage them.

Emilia and Beatrice were left wailing alone, both holding onto Subaru with the utmost force they could muster in their hands.

Rem was even worse off. She couldn't even cry – the tears refused to come to her eyes. The Oni simply cradled back and forth in her seat, her eyes devoid of any life, and her body shivering without a stop to it. It was like watching a broken, possessed doll, showing the bare minimum signs of living.

Ram and Frederica shared forlorn gazes, gazes that seemed to speak volumes between the two women.

Otto and Garfiel held back their tears as best as they could, both sniffling to try and keep a calm composure, to try and stay strong for their sworn brother, the man who they owed more than a lifetime's worth of debt to.

Anastasia looked on with her ever-unreadable expression. The most of a hint to whatever emotions she had was a tear that wavered at the corner of her vision.

Mimi, Tivey, and Hetaro all shared similar reactions, their ears folded down, and eyes filled with nothing but sorrow for their ally – the boy they had fought alongside, and even come to consider as a friend of sorts.

Petra remained unconscious in Frederica's arms, but even then, the tears she had been crying could still be seen rolling down her cheeks.

Ricardo, Al, Julius, and Wilhelm all shared a moment of solemn silence for the boy who had just been put through an unimaginable suffering.

Priscilla just averted her eyes, wishing to no longer think on the farce that had occurred on screen.

Felix looked on with hateful eyes at the screen. Not for the boy, but for whoever had killed him. As a doctor, he could not forgive it...just how sadistic and cowardly that person had been.

Crusch and Reinhard, who was currently holding his mistress close to himself, comforting her, shared knowing, regretful glances.

Roswaal...was nothing but a blank slate. Much like Rem, he seemed like a puppet, whose strings had suddenly been cut.

'So this...is the true nature of looping.'

There was not a single word from anyone there.

Nobody dared to say anything.

Nobody wanted to continue, and neither did they want to calmly discuss the episode.

"Let us...take a break." Crusch suggested, a suggestion which passed through way of silence. They could no longer go to the break rooms, but simply recovering in silence...was more than enough.

Their weary minds needed a rest.

Episode 4 – Waiting on Participants to Confirm Continuation

0/21 – Need Full Cast Participation to Continue.

---

Destiny's Super-Duper-Cool-Hideout-Fort-Author-Corner!

Total Word Count: 68,942 words.

Hey guys, Destiny here. This chapter sure took long, huh? 18 days, I was counting.

Still, I had a lot of fun with this one. This is my biggest chapter yet, so if you're not a fast reader, you can probably enjoy this over a few days.

I don't have much to say in the personal part of this note, other than thank you all for reading, and I'm so happy for the reviews from each and every one of you.

I had one review I really wanted to address this time from: A random Guest, who asked why Priscilla got away with hitting her knight. I assume many of you want to know why Crusch hit her knight, too.

You see, for the Host, he only cares if it's intentional, malicious violent, with the actual intent of damaging that person in said malicious way. Priscilla just hits Al to get her anger out, and Al mostly willingly takes it. Crusch slapped Felix, but she did it to bring him to his senses, to pretty much 'slap' him out of that dangerous mindset he was beginning to take on. In both cases it wasn't malicious, but moreso just violence that could be overlooked.

It's like, if you were getting whipped with a belt by your mom for being disobedient, or if you were doing some fighting for stress relief (sparring matches like with boxing, etc) the Host wouldn't care. But if you were attacking someone with the sole intent of hurting them? Then the Host steps in.

There's a bit of leeway, but the Host wants the cast to see him as absolute, so he won't exactly tell them everything, you know?

I'm a slave to this story aren't I?

Anyway, I really wanted to dedicate the last section of this thank you to tons of people on the Reactionist discord server. The Lore Keepers: especially Crimson, Mobotium, and Dave. Thanks to Proph, Weedy, Roger, ThatFicWriter, and of course, Reactionist himself.

Without help from all of these guys, I wouldn't have been able to write this story with such confidence. Thanks to all of you.

And hey, you guys really got some interesting arguments going on in the reviews, eh?! It made me happy as heck to know people would even argue over my story, haha!

Oh, hold on, looks like we've got a request...let's see..

alankordel958's REQUEST- May I have a request? Can you ride off into the distance on Unseen Hand, just like Petelguese has? Like, curled up into a ball. Please.

Sure thing, Alan.

You guys know the drill.

Until next chapter, see you around, lads! DestinyTheWriter, out!

**Jumps into my ball of Unseen Hands and rides off into the distance, comically curled up in them like a ball**

Huh...this is more comfy than I thought!