A surge of uncountable conflicting emotions arose inside Subaru's mind. The events that played out in front of him had no context at all, so he was thoroughly dazed. If he were to put his current experience into words, it would be a mumbo jumbo of occurrences that probably would've appeared to be written by a child who was too eager to write something for a school play.

He stood stock-still, just like a statue, in front of them. Subaru quickly realized that he was positioned in such a way that he was standing between the two parties, specifically the platinum-haired woman and the nice little family. Could anything get more awkward than this? First they treated him like he was some dangerous, abhorrent being, then he was mistaken for another person named Regulus Corneas.

It didn't make any sense. If he was summoned here by a mysterious entity, they should've explained things to Subaru first and foremost. Well, he couldn't even say a single damn word when he was being harassed by that darkness. His mouth wasn't shut, yet he was unable to utter anything. Could he blame them, then?

Anyway, the explanation he needed was the background of the environment he was in, his connections to those people—clearly, they knew him, but he didn't know them—and what his purpose was for being here. Subaru had no idea why the four of them acted like they knew him, even though he had no prior understanding with them. He had not formed any relationships with those people, but would that only apply to himself?

Perhaps he'd lost his memories or something similar. That would explain the gist of his concern one way or another. But that assumption further aggravated him because it pretty much increased the amount of problems he had. Memory loss was not an issue that you could just simply ignore in Subaru's opinion. Whether that was the case or not, his hands were still full with unexplained phenomena.

From his point of view, he can obviously deduce that the elf woman and the green-haired man didn't like him a single bit, judging from their actions earlier. At least, to his own relief, the adorable little girl did not portray any expressions nor movements that would suggest disapproval of him; she merely just stood behind her mother's back whilst clutching the hem of her purple-and-white dress.

"— —Bishop Corneas, is something the matter?"

Lost in his train of thought, he only just noticed the woman a few feet away from behind him call out in a silky voice. Normally, such as in a typical setting in Subaru's school, he would be flustered and embarrassed to be mentioned in an intimate-like way by a girl. In this case, though, everything was already as confusing as it can be so he wasn't all that surprised.

He had not realized that he was standing like a scarecrow, with his hand on his chin and his eyes closed in thought. Subaru hoped that they didn't think too rudely of that carefree gesture, despite the fact that they seem to already have a bad opinion of him.

Snapping back to reality, he wondered if his nasty-looking eyes were emphasized even more as he continued to stare at them. He knew that his outfit was different since he'd taken a quick look at it a while ago, but did that mean his personal features like his visage, eyes, mouth and possibly ears, too, looked different as well? Now that he gave attention to the complexion of his skin, he could tell that it was pale white. It was as white as the snow in Japan.

Was his voice also different? He hadn't checked. He didn't even hear his own voice as he spoke earlier. He was too focused on putting up a good introduction and warming up to their hard hearts. It was like he could hear nothing else but the sounds of the forest and the voices of the others.

Hang on a minute. Was he brought to this parallel world with clothing such as the one he was wearing to be mistaken for an evil person? If so, then the person—if they were even a person—who summoned him here was a detestable being. Who would do that to someone? In all probabilities, this may possibly be his punishment or whatever for being the person he is.

If that was actually the case here, then he desperately needed to explain his situation to everyone. It wouldn't do good to him to keep dragging this matter out for so long. Explaining his current situation might diminish their hostility to him. But first things first.

He answered back in a tense voice, carefully enunciating each word. "Ah? I'm sorry, but I have no idea what the hell is going on. Who are you people anyway? Does anyone know what is going on here?"

It was a way to check the sound and tone of his own vocals while responding to the petite platinum-haired girl in the process. With his reply, the platinum woman lowered her brows and the smile on her face lightened, as if it wasn't the answer she was expecting.

A look of suspicion replaced the calm, calculated demeanor of the woman with enchanting hair that was like a platinum cascade. Added to that is the subsequent expression of befuddlement on the face of the green-haired man, his eyebrows slightly raised at Subaru. Plain to the eye of everyone taking part in this stiff engagement, the manners of Natsuki Subaru were truly a circumstance that struck them as odd. However, none of them decided to say a word due to the clash of emotions that they were all probably experiencing right now.

Ignoring the change in her attitude, Subaru gulped as he grasped the answer he was waiting for, but not exactly the answer he wanted to receive. Yes, he sounded entirely different. It definitely wasn't his voice. This voice that he presently wore was slightly higher pitched than his own. It had that tinge or feeling of "self-entitlement" to it, or that whiny, frequently complaining voice. Still, this voice certainly belonged to a man. The question was: Why had his outfit, his appearance, and his voice changed?

Going back to his previous judgment, he assumed that he was simply dressed and made to appear as another person—with that person possibly being a foe to these people—to bring forth absolute stupefaction between everyone involved. A way to punish him for his sins, maybe? Would the resolution to this problem be fixing his way through this dilemma?

Actually, the platinum woman hadn't shown hatred or bitterness to him upon her arrival here. Was she possibly his ally in this unfortunate incident? It would be helpful to have someone defending him or something. The idea that Subaru wasn't alone sort of lifted off a heavy weight from his shoulder. How scary would it be—to be alone in a new world that you have zero knowledge of?

In any case, he should explain his problem to them right now. They would definitely hold off on whatever prior ideas they were planning to do against him if he did that. Whatever issues he may have, the opposite parties must also be in deep thought about this ongoing predicament. If the matter is resolved in a civil and organized manner, then there is probably no need to fret about it too much.

"Hm, just as I thought," the platinum-haired woman said, "you are acting strangely, Bishop Corneas. Is there something amiss with the effects of my Authority on your behavior, I wonder?"

It was as if everyone was frozen in time in shock of the scenario that was playing out in front of their eyes. Subaru was only thinking desperately on what was even happening. Wondering if one wrong move could be an irreversible mistake, he wanted to choose his words carefully.

Even the riposte of the woman irritated him. Nothing was making sense anymore. Everything was confusing. What authority shenanigan was she talking about? Bishop Corneas? Isn't a bishop a high-ranking member of a church or whatever? Was he actually some sort of priest, then? Not that he would even know of anything, since he pretty much acquired this kind of knowledge from reading random articles when he was bored.

However, the green-haired man, who now has gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows even further as the standstill of the conversation continued, chose to sound out his own concerns. To simply sound out his concerns would be an understatement.

"Regulus Corneas! Why have you brought her here? Unfortunately, I would have to agree with Pandora-sama on your behavior. There is something strange about you, even if it's just a mere facade. Nonetheless, tell me your business here!" he cried out in frustration. Although he requested for an exposition from the two people, they wouldn't able to respond anyway because—

"PANDORAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

In a sudden, unexpected move, the silver-haired elf raised both of her arms in a wild manner. Proceeding her ferocious yell were multiple blue icicles—which seemed to have materialized out of nowhere from Subaru's perspective—that floated around her head, pointed toward the platinum woman. Every single one of the cold, blue icicles were hovering menacingly above her frame.

"W—Woah?! What is this? Is this… could it be! Magic?!" Subaru exclaimed, his mouth agape and his eyes widened both in awe and shock.

He could've sworn that he witnessed his own reflection as he stared at the deadly icicles. This was the first time he'd seen powers or magic being used in his entire life. That profound statement would be implying that magic existed in his original world, which wouldn't be the case. This, indeed, was proof of this world being a fantasy one, and magic wasn't the only thing that made such a world remarkable.

The platinum woman, whose name was stated to be Pandora, took a glance at Subaru before she returned her gaze back to the enraged elf woman. It didn't appear like she was bothered by the sharp blue crystals which possibly numbered to be around twenty or more.

"Oh my," Pandora said softly, as if she just saw a normal occurrence in her daily life.

"Hey! Guys, wait a minute! Are you seriously going to be fighting at this time?!" Subaru shouted, pointing a pale finger at the countless azure shards above the silver-haired woman.

The person casting the magic ignored him. "— —Enjoy being skewered! And apologize to my brother and the rest!"

She threw her arms back and brought them forward in quick succession, signaling the icicles to throw themselves in surprising speed at the astonished platinum girl. They launched at the woman in a straight line, taking turns as they shot one after another.

Pandora wasn't taken aback, nor did she move from her spot to briskly avoid the charging crystals which would surely kill her if they hit. But Subaru was in the line of fire of the icicles, so he threw himself back immediately upon witnessing the barrage of azure crystals toward the platinum-haired woman. He backed up in such a rapid way that he tripped over some rocks on the ground and fell on his buttocks.

"Oi, watch where you're shooting those! I almost got hit! Shit! What are you people doing?!" Subaru demanded as he attempted to pick himself up from his unfortunate position while he dusted off the dirt from his bottom.

The answer he was returned was not an explanation to their sudden destructive behavior, but an explosion of blood that expanded through the space near him, since he was not that far away from Pandora. As he focused his eyes on the vapor of blood, his eyes shook in fear and his expression tightened as he witnessed the platinum girl get impaled thoroughly by the continuous attack of icicles. A few more blue crystals made their way through the woman's body as she got utterly skewered—just as the silver-haired woman had said.

"—What… What just happened? Hey, you're kidding, right?" Subaru whispered as he shakily stood up. He slowly walked backwards, still keeping his eyes on the site where Pandora was attacked. He couldn't believe what had just happened. She was just there. Standing there. Doing nothing to deserve being killed in such a devastating way. "W—Why?"

He took his eyes away from the red cloud of blood and white vapor that formed at the spot where she was impaled. Instead, he looked at the silver-haired elf with fear and disbelief in his eyes. Even so, with that assault, she appeared to be casting something else in addition to her prior attack.

"Now, begone forever!" she yelled. Raising her arms with her palms wide open, a sparkling blue light appeared on her hand which gradually increased in size and brightness. Another crystal took shape in a similar way to the previous small icicles, but this one was distinctly bigger; it was a hundred times larger than the preceding blue crystals that plummeted themselves into Pandora. It was a gigantic ball of crystal that would possibly eliminate anyone it lands on, Subaru thought.

"—Aaaand now!" she bellowed, thrusting her fragile-looking arms in a downward motion. With that action, the ball of ice followed through her movements so that it directed itself toward the spot where Pandora had been shredded to pieces.

Surely she's dead already, he thought. It would be overkill to carry out a dual attack on a frail girl. Subaru could hear his own heart beating from his chest. He was frightened beyond comparison. Did he just witness the death of a person? If they were a human being, he wouldn't know for sure. There were a lot of different races in a world like this. This wasn't what he was expecting upon being summoned here. Where was his group of girls who would fight over themselves for him? What about his insane, overpowered ability to instantly slay those who dare oppose him? Will he die, too?

The huge crystalline ball fell on the spot where Pandora had been bombarded with an arm's length of icicles. He couldn't exactly see her body due to the amount of white smoke that gathered in the surroundings. Was she lying in tattered, bloodied pieces of rags on the forest ground? A thud could be loudly heard as the gigantic ice sphere settled onto the dirt, kicking up dust and sending tiny shards of ice everywhere.

He would have been squashed by the vast ice ball as well if he hadn't moved away earlier. Though, he was still hit by the small dust storm and the slight torrent of shards that came in his direction. They were in no way harmful, so he brushed them away while shielding his face in case of any more debris. Subaru was still obviously disconcerted and felt like he was going to throw up. She's dead, isn't she? She's dead. And I didn't do anything to save her, he cursed internally. This short succession of events threw him for a loop.

"—I would truly appreciate it if you would assist me, Bishop Corneas," a voice said, appearing from behind the cracked, gigantic ball of ice, seemingly unhurt and unfazed. "The desire of a mother to keep her child safe from danger. Lovely, is it not?"