Its morning!
Today's the day of the date with Emilia-tan!
"Yes! Natsuki Subaru, welcomes the start of a new day!"
Ah, Rem and Ram are here!
"Wait! You guys were here! Its embarrassing! Totally embarrassing! Greet me or something! Waah!"
Eh? They didn't give me a reaction. They're not showing me an expression either.
"No, wait... You all, that reaction's seriously hateful... Or rather a lack of one."
Weird...
"When you see someone's delicate moments, shouldn't you be a bit more... You know!? Or rather could you abuse me, like you always do, at least!"
"Nee-sama, Nee-sama, I've used a considerably intimate greeting without thinking."
"Rem, Rem, I've used an overly familiar greeting without thinking."
Certainly that's similar to the way they normally are, but something is weird.
"That seems a little weird! Or was that a joke?"
The sense of uneasiness coming from them...
"Nee-sama, Nee-sama, it seems like he's a bit confused, our guest."
"Rem, Rem, for some reason, he seems to be going insane, our guest."
Guest, you say...
Both of them.
Haha.
"Its a joke. Unintentional. Yeah."
DON'T LOOK AT ME WITH EYES LIKE THAT
That's right! My hand...!? The wounds are!
No way... No way! It can't...
I bite my lip in frustration and cover my face with the blanket.
Right now-
There's no way-
No way-
No way-
I can show anyone this expression.
Not to the person I love,
Nor to the people I grew to like,
Nor to the people that are kind of okay,
Nor to the people I definitely grew to love, while I'm being looked at like an outsider.
There's no way I can let my tears flow!
Why... Did I return!?
"Honoured guest, Honoured guest, you don't look so well, are you alright?"
"Honoured guest, honoured guest, you seem to be having a stomach ache, have you also wet your pants?
While four days is a short time, I had grown used to their voices.
At times annoying.
At times relieving.
Voices which I could depend on.
But now...
In the eyes of the two, there are no emotions at all.
All of the memories we have accumulated inte four days we have spent together, have disappeared. Like a mist, to somewhere.
The events which have occurred since I came to the mansion 4 days ago have been erased from existence.
RESPAWNING
In other words I-
"Honoured guest?"
"Ah, ah ha... Sorry for making you worry. Its just a bit of my stupidity from waking up."
I just have to calm down and- e-eh what? For some reason i- I can't see their faces.
"Honoured guest, you should not move so suddenly, you should rest a bit more."
"Honoured guest, it'll be dangerous if you move so abruptly, you still need to take it easy and rest."
She reaches towards me. Was it Ram or maybe Rem, I- I can't seem to tell. Wait.. Wait... No!
I don't let her touch me and desperately get away from her touch, hitting the door.
"My bad."
I rush out of the room.
"For the moment, that's impossible."
Running...
What am I running from?
Right now it doesn't matter, the one thing I absolutely can't do is to continue and remain there in this state.
That's right, that room. I enter a random door and I find it. That library.
"Hah..hah.."
"To come in here without even knocking is quite rude of you. I wonder how you managed to breach the 'Gate of Crossing.' Both earlier and now."
"Sorry. Even if for just a short while, could you leave me be. Please."
I have no choice but to face reality.
What is my name? Where am I? Who are the twins from earlier? What is the name and nature of the maiden in front of my eyes? This mysterious room?
The 4 days I spent in this mansion. The promises we made. Tomorrow, with whom, I was supposed to go?
"That's right... Emilia."
The promise I made with Emilia.
"You said I breached the 'Gate of Crossing,' both earlier and now, right? Beatrice."
"Addressing me without an honorific, I suppose? Offhand, I'd say it was probably 3 to 4 hours ago. I was merely making fun of you since you seemed so insensitive."
3 to 4 hours, eh?
"Where I am in this moment... Is the second time I woke up at this mansion... In other words, from five days ahead, I returned 4 days back in time...? Frankly, those days I spent at the Rosewall mansion had been extremely peaceful with no major incidents."
"What are you muttering about, I suppose?"
To suddenly come back in time to now, considering the conditions for its trigger so far, the h of my return has to be that...
I died.
"And if it indeed is the case that I died, why did I die? Up until I fell asleep, everything was normal. Even after I fell asleep there was no indication at all that I was going to die. If I died while sleeping, without knowing I was going to die, could it have been that I was gassed or poisoned to death...? In other words, assassinated? My body doesn't the cause of death..."
"To think of life and death using human terms using human terms is meaningless and boring. All you will get out of it in the end of it are reckless remarks, lies, and such. This topic is not worth discussing."
A-heh. It seems all she heard was me rambling about death. Though, that's true.
"You're going, I suppose?"
I stand and face the door.
"Yeah. But there's something I want to say to you first. Thank you for your help."
"Its not like I did anything. Hurry up and leave, I suppose. I have to move and restore the 'Gate'."
While she treats me as irrelevant noise and is not gentle at all. Just her knowledge of who I am makes me immeasurably grateful...
There she is. In the same place as last time.
"As expected, she's sparkling."
She took notice of me.
"Subaru!"
Only... I remember. That of which Emilia does not. That unfillable chasm of four days' worth of experiences.
"Ill take it all back. The next four times the sun rises. I just have to face them again. Dont underestimate the implacable depths of love, which I fell into, because of her smile that night. I don't know whose interference caused this but ill take all of it back in one go and make you regret causing all of this."
The time of day was finally night. I'm tired and I'm taking a bath.
"Still I seemed to have screwed up."
I was more or less able to retrace the overall flow of events and I became an apprentice servant in the same way as before but there's a huge problem.
One of the residents, someone I grew to care for, is gone. He was not at dining room when I got there. Why?
"Alter."
Did the stress of almost dying to Elsa again cause me to imagine him. But others could also interact with him. Did I imagine that too? I dont understand.
"I'm even more tired than before, Alter's help was super great."
While the type of chores are the same as before, both the quality and quantity of work I have been entrusted with has increased. If the contents are this different, even on the first day, the from the second day on, it will be increasingly difficult to reconcile the two timelines... If I even overlook small differences, eventually it might become a large problem. Isn't that what's known as the Butterfly Effect? It gets even more confusing since I don't understand why I returned this time and there's also Alter, who is missing for no reason. If things were to change this much, I wonder if it might be impossible to lead events so they occur in the way that I remember...?
"Yo"
Rose- geh. Ew.
"Shall we use the bath together? Subaru-kun?"
"I refuse."
In the end I ended up bathing with him. However, I learned that I have magic affinity with 'Yin.' Though right now there is something more important at the moment. Ram is coming to my room.
"Huh!? Why am I so motivated to making the bed!?"
Its not because I'm expecting anything to happen. Really!?
"There's no deeper meaning... There's no deeper meaning... Clear my mind... I am devoted to Emilia-tan... One Emilia-tan. Two Emilia-tan. Three Emilia-tan.
"THIS IS HEAVEN!"
"You're noisy Barrusu; since its already nighttime, please be quiet."
No, she heard me!
"What are you spacing out for, Barrusu? Come here. Ill teach you how to read and write."
"Eh? Its the first time I heard about this."
A few seconds later everything was prepared and on the notepad I write my japanese characters. To reminisce of that of which I will no longer return to.
"That being said, we don't have the time to play around, drawing pictures like that. We have an early start tomorrow and our time is limited. Im sleepy too."
Pictures huh? That's my home language though.
"At last, while intermittent, your true feelings are coming through. Doesn't this bother you at all, eh, senpai?"
She yawns.
"I believe even my honest side has merit. From now on, either my sister or I will be accompanying your studies every night. If you're unable to read or write, you can't be entrusted with shopping, and you won't be able to read any important notes. Lets start with getting you to the level whereby you are able to read some simple fairytales meant for children."
That's strange.
"...Why are you treating me so kindly?"
She sits on my bed without any embarrasment or hesitation.
"It was decided. I...no, for the sake of skiving."
Why does she look so proud of saying that!?
"Rephrasing it like that is as good as good as not rephrasing it at all! You're really firm with your thoughts..."
"Naturally, as of what you are able to do, your workload increases whereas my workload decreases. As my workload decreases, Rem's workload inevitably decreases, its nothing but good things."
"But in exchange I end up being saddled with a super large amount of work!?"
She tilts her head as if confused and gives off a vibe that says, is there a problem with that?
A few hours later, I yawn from drowsiness. Now that I think about it, this is the first time I spent so much time with Ram. Usually she'd rather be with Alter. ...Alter. I can't help but worry about him. Was he really part of my imagination?
-"Geez~ Ram you don't have to follow me. I know what I'm doing."
"No, someone as incompetent as you cannot be trusted to complete such tasks."
"But, I do things much better than you."
"I must make sure you are not slacking off. You offered to work for free so, be prepared to be worked to the bone."
"Is that so? Yay... I'm so happy... Hah, this is gonna be a long day. Wait a minute? If you're gonna be following me the whole day, then why do you look so happy?"-
No, Alter was not part of my imagination. There's no way he was. He got that Ram to smile so easily, from what I saw it looked like she was attached to him. That settles it, I need to find him, this mansion just wouldn't feel the same without every resident being present. Ah, I feel my eyes getting heavy.
Unacceptable, unacceptable. I cant fall asleep earlier that Ram, who's here with me. I know, ill start a conversation to keep me awake. But, even though she said this is for the sake of skiving, even so I'm still happy. To be able to work hard at a job, honestly I wouldn't have expected to like it this much.
"While from here on, I might cause you all some inconveniences, I would like to become your strength as fast as possible. Please look after me."
I turn to face her to find, SHE'S SLEEPING ON MY BED!? What's more is that she's completely defenseless. I said all that to not be heard. Now that I think about it, how did Alter deal with this type of girl. Alter... I'm sorry for not helping you with this person.
And so, one day at a time, the days pass. For the second time at the Rosewall mansion. The fourth day. Abram Village. I've learned that Alter was here from one of the kids who asked me why haven't I left yet. Turns out he's no longer in this area, if only I was able to come here a day earlier, I could've reunited with him. But, he's alive and real, that's all that matters to me now. I know we'll cross paths again eventually. Right now, I'm having a pleasant conversation with Rem about Ram as we head back to the mansion with some groceries.
"-her ability to fall asleep while teaching me does weaken my motivation considerably, however, I'd like to forgive her for that."
"She probably did that on purpose to use reverse-psychology to motivate you."
"What's with this absolute adoration for your sister! This isn't normal! Its seriously as if you're possessed by a demon!"
"Possessed...by a demon?"
"Its the demonic version of 'being possessed by a god'. Demon possession, sounds good doesn't it?"
"Demons...do you like them or something."
"I probably like them more than gods. After all, gods fundamentally do nothing. Wheras with demons, when we speak of our views of the future, they will laugh together at you, right?"
Rem smiled. I think this is the first time I've seen her smile and it looks so...pure.
"...You're smile matches the beauty of a million watt cityscape at night!"
She realized she was smiling and ended it.
"Ill report you to Emilia-sama."
"I'm not hitting on you or anything all right!?"
"What's with your hand?"
"Hmm?"
Ah, i forgot about that.
"Ah, the dog that the children brought along bit me really hard."
"An injury, shall I heal it?"
"Eh, you have healing magic too?"
"While I am able to use simple spells, it is enough for simple treatments like this. Or would you prefer Emilia-sama to do it?"
"Hmm, that's a very attractive proposition."
This scar is an indicator. Based on its presence I can determine if I 'respawned' or not.
"However, ill refrain from both because its a badge of honor."
"Since your saying a mans scars are their medals, that's fine. Even though its one you got due to incompetence on the battlefield."
"Even if that's partially true can you not make fun of me with a straight face!"
This world, for the second time, has now reached the fourth day. Whether or not I can see tomorrow's dawn safely will be my battle. But before that, it depends on whether or not I can arrange that date with Emilia tonight. However, I'm about to face my greatest danger ever since coming here.
"And so, if neither Ram or Rem are going to show up tonight. Ill be responsible for substituting for them to supervise your studies."
Another unforeseeable situation again!? Well its not that I'm not happy, its just surprising and very lucky.
And so, as she watched over me I studied extra hard. I mean I have to show my good points while she's here. Before I knew it an hour had passed and I have just suggested that we go out on a date.
"What do you mean by 'date'?"
"Heh, when a man and woman go out together, that's a date."
"In that case, didnt you go on a date Rem today."
"Noooo, an unforseen riposte! Just to be clear, that doesnt count, alright!"
When she asks where we are going, I reply that we would go to the village nearby. Just as say village she looks troubled, like she's had recalled a bad experience. It feels as though she might decline. However, I bring up the cute dog they have and push her to think that she has to see him. After I keep talking about the wonderful peaceful village she gives in and accepts my invitation.
"Seriously, you'll go with me!?"
"If doing this will motivate you from today onwards, ill accompany you. After all, we cant have you wandering around anywhere and everywhere."
I flinch as I hear her say those words. I then realize a cruel mistake I have made. After hearing those words, wandering, anywhere and everywhere. He's searching for me. There's no way that we will cross paths in such a short amount of time, he will, undoubtedly, wander everywhere and anywhere for me. I made a mistake a bad mistake, a mistake I could've prevented from happening. He couldn't have gone too far in a day and despite knowing that I ignored him.
"What's wrong, Subaru? You're making a strange face."
Ah... I'm a bad brother.
"I-uh.. was entranced by how pretty the stars look tonight."
"The stars?"
She looks out the window.
"Yes. The stars are indeed beautiful tonight. I'm sure the weather will be good tomorrow."
"Yeah, and I'm sure it'll be an unforgettable day."
I hear a light giggle.
"You're doing that again."
I won't let go on a pointless journey for much longer. You shouldn't have gone too far, ill come find you soon. So for now, continue wandering, your big brother has to protect our home first.
"What's the matter, Emilia-tan?"
"Just now- again, you... No, its nothing."
"If a girl interrupts herself like that, a mans hear will become uneasy, ya know?"
She's walking towards the door.
"Its nothing~. So~, Subaru, work properly from tomorrow onwards. The reward will only be given to the one who works hard."
She exits my room after waving me goodbye.
"Hey, hey. Hey, hey, seriously. I am super motivated now. Seriously."
I'm about to attempt this night once again. To overcome the fourth night, for the sake of greeting the promised fifth dawn. To the sake of ending his search. To protect our home. Six hours remain until morning.
"Well, its time to head to battle, Destiny-sama."