A blue sky, deep and pure.

That was all he could see. Echos passed through his head, though he didn't pay them any heed. There was no point.

A dark grey sky, shepherding in the cold.

He thought he heard screams, but he couldn't be sure. Why would anyone be afraid of the cold? It was comforting, in its own way.

A black sky, lit only by the stars of his home world.

Instinctively, his eyes found the spot where his namesake, the Pleiades, dwelt. They weren't there, of course. They never were, in this place, the singular flaw in this otherwise perfect recreation of his sky.

The blue sky.

"Hey kid, you alright?"

The grey sky.

"This is the only way she can be saved."

The black sky.

"I love you, I love you, I love you."

They seemed to blend together, the colours and voices blurring and fracturing into a kaleidoscope of sensations that overwhelmed his strained mind. Screams and terror. The ordinary sounds of a day at the marketplace. Being embraced, with only love shown to him. A merry-go-round of warmth and cold, coming and going with the blue and grey skies.

Each cycle was clearer, letting him see more, remember longer, spot more stars among the sky.

"I love you."

He tried to look at the person speaking to him, but he wasn't able to move. He wanted to share his own love with the voice, but couldn't do a single thing to show it. That was how it always turned out, wasn't it? It was all his fault. He could never do anything. He could never be anything. Once more, he drifted away from that place.

"I don't blame anyone, least of all you. You are a hero, and a hero is all you can be."

He felt cold, and then he saw the dark sky again. But this time it was different.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Can you hear me? I'm so, so sorry."

This time, he could hear the voices of two girls, similar, but they felt slightly different. One was repeating the same phrase over and over again, while the other other cried pitifully, begging for forgiveness.

Or maybe it was just one girl, trying to say two different things with one voice.

Subaru tried to respond, but his mouth wouldn't move. Did he even have a mouth? He felt like he should, but it wasn't responding to his instructions.

He strained himself beyond anything he had done before, trying to turn to see her. The girl had never been distraught like this before. He needed to do something to comfort her. He needed to.

"I'm sorry. I love you. I didn't know… I love you. I didn't know it would turn out like this! I love you."

Finally, he could see her, the figure of the voice that always appeared in this place of darkness. She was a shadow, merely another silhouette in the black world, but Subaru could feel his heart light up with his love for her. He wanted to go to her, to reach out and hold her, but his form was indistinct, and blurry, little more than a cloud of will.

"I love you. If I had known, I wouldn't have… I love you. This isn't what she promised! I didn't mean to! I love you. I love you. I love you."

He wanted to comfort her, to tell her that it wasn't her fault, to make all her worries go away, but he lacked a mouth with which to speak. He felt regret at leaving her to cry alone, and he tried to pull his form into something, anything, that would comfort her.

But the world began to lighten, and his mind began to drift away from the private garden the two of them shared.

"Please…" her voice started growing indistinct, but he strained to hear every word. "Please don't hate me. This is all I can do for you. I'm so very sorry. I love you."

As he faded away to nothing, straining to watch her every move, she turned her face to the northern sky.

Her gaze was filled with an indescribable hatred, and Subaru shifted to try and glare at whatever she saw, whatever was causing her such pain, but he could only glimpse the stars.

And then the girl was alone in the world.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Huh? Wha—?" Subaru bolted upright, and looked around wildly, trying to place where he was.

People walked the streets without a care in the world. He could spy dragon carriages trudging through the streets, between the market stalls. The ground was firm beneath his hand, the stone of the pavement warm from the sunlight. The sky was a cheery blue, and the only chill came from the slight breeze. Subaru hardly even felt that, dressed up in his tracksuit.

"You just fell over in the middle of the street."

Subaru turned to see a lean man with light blue hair looking down at him from behind his stall. Subaru was laying between it and another stall on scraps of discarded cloth.

Subaru opened and closed his mouth, his memories all jumbled up. He wasn't able to tell what had happened. Was he supposed to be at the Astrea manor? Was he out on a walk, and had fallen over? No, it didn't feel like that. He knew, deep in his heart, that something was wrong.

"How… how long was I out?" he asked, trying to make sense of his situation.

The man shrugged. "Not long. Can't have been more than an hour," he said, reaching underneath his stall, and pulling out a plastic bag, filled with groceries. "You were carrying this. It's pretty unusual, so I hid it away for you. I've never seen anything like it. Are you new to Lugnica?"

It was the very same bag Subaru was always holding when he returned by death. He shuddered as the realisation came over him, with memories of cold and snow. He pushed them back down. He shouldn't… he wouldn't break down there. At the very least, he needed to get to a calmer area before he started trying to piece together what had happened to him.

"Eh? Am I…?" Subaru blinked up at the man, then his words registered, and he shook his head. "No, I've been here for a while. Longer than you'd think."

He waited, expecting for his words to trigger some kind of reaction from his mind, but no surge of emotion overcame him. He had returned by death once more, but this time, he didn't feel like his emotions were running out of control. He wasn't particularly upset that everything had been taken from him once more, or particularly relieved that everyone he called friend would be alive again. He just felt hollow, like nothing in the world mattered anymore.

He got to his feet, and took the bag from the man, stepping out onto the street.

"Thank you for looking after me," he said, bowing his head slightly, "and I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"Ah, don't mind all of that," the man said with a wave of his hand. "I only used a few scraps of cloth I'd never be able to sell anyway for some cushioning. You don't need to worry about it."

Subaru nodded and turned away. Perhaps it was rude to just leave at that, but Subaru had far more important things to worry about.

He walked through the city, his eyes flicking between the stalls and buildings. He had spent a great deal of time in the capital, but he had never properly taken the time to simply take in the scenery. He always had something he needed to do urgently, be it saving Emilia from Elsa, getting a new company off the ground, or preparing for the Witch Cult's attack.

On the surface, the city looked like one from just another simple fantasy world, promising adventure and excitement. Indeed, it had fooled Subaru into thinking such during his first trip through the city, all those months ago. But now he knew better. He could see the cracks in the facade. Many of the buildings passed were unmaintained, and the marketplaces were almost deserted.

But, I shouldn't be wasting time right now. I can't put this off any longer.

He grit his teeth, and braced himself. Then, he turned his mind back to the events that had occurred right before he loops, letting them wash over him like a tide; the attack of the great mabeasts, Marcos's last stand, Velia's death, and their desperate escape though the palace. He sank into the memories and wallowed in them, letting them fill him with anguish, but…

He still felt hollow. They weren't enough to tip him over the edge of despair, not this time.

It was surprising. The events at the end of the last loop were the worst he had ever experienced, but he was much calmer than he could have imagined.

Was it the influence of the fear spell? Now that I can't feel it anymore, I'm not as afraid? He shook his head. No that can't be it. I saw Velia die before that, and it was so horrifying I thought about resetting. Yet now, it doesn't hurt at all, like a distant memory.

It couldn't just be because all those deaths—all that pain—had been undone, could it? He remembered further, splitting off from the group with Alexander, the guard's death, and his meeting with Petelgeuse. Then, right after that…

He frowned, trying to recall. The memories were fuzzy, but he was sure he felt the freezing cold of the ice weapon, but he also had heard a voice, one that felt eerily familiar to him, yet different enough that he couldn't place it.

Then, he had woken up on the groun— no. That wasn't his next memory, was it?

He recalled a blend of blue and grey, of cold and warmth, and, for some odd reason, the stars of his home.

Did I… did I die again? The thought came to him unbidden, but now that he had it, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was correct. What could possibly have killed me? I was safe with that cloth merchant, there's no way I would have just been left to die. If nothing else, the guards have healers, who would have tried to look after me, even if I was insane.

When Otto had a head injury, the guards hadn't been able to do anything to help, so maybe a mental breakdown was similar. But if that was the case, then…

If I can't remember, then there's no way of knowing how long I was looping, or how long those loops went for.

All he could remember was the colours and the cold. Could he have been killed by the ice weapon again?

He shook his head. No, that's impossible. There's no reason the cult would have used it. They only attacked because Emilia was a candidate, and without my help, she would have—

He was interrupted by another memory, of words he had heard just before he perished.

"Sleep, along with my daughter."

A chill ran up his spine. The ice weapon, hadn't been some spell or artifact. It had been a monster, covered in fur and larger than any living creature Subaru had ever seen. It had risen from underneath the ground, and its appearance had coincided with the words of that strangely familiar voice.

"It can't have been…" he whispered, searching his memory for some forgotten detail, one that would disprove the theory bubbling to the top of his mind.

The cult would never have attacked without Emilia, so the only way the ice weapon could have killed him after this day in the capital, where Emilia would have died to Elsa, was if it wasn't connected to the cult in the first place.

He stopped in his tracks. "Was it…?" He could hardly bring himself to think the words, let alone voice them. "Could it have been you, Puck?"

The cute little cat spirit, who treasured Emilia like a daughter, who had taught Subaru magic, who had remained in his crystal for the final hours of the loop… could it really have been him who destroyed the entire city both those times?

No, if I really have been looping longer, then wouldn't that be because Puck destroyed the city again after Elsa killed Emilia? Then wouldn't Puck be responsible for destroying the city more than twice? I don't even know how many.

Thinking about it, more pieces of evidence came to the forefront of Subaru's mind. The escape tunnel Otto was guiding them too led out of the palace, it wasn't inconceivable that it led underneath the entrance. If that was the case, the monster would have come up from right about where Emilia would have reached.

He remembered a title Miklotov had used when Puck appeared, the first time Subaru had seen the Royal Selection, 'The Beast of the End'.

Lastly, and most damning of all, Roswaal had known about the ice weapon. When he had heard about it in the meeting, he had dismissed it as something that wouldn't pose a threat. If he had known it's true identity, and didn't think it would be an issue because he thought Emilia would survive…

Subaru could hardly bear thinking about it, but all the evidence added up.

"I'll need to confirm it," he whispered, his heart hardening. Could he really sacrifice Emilia for the sake of a hunch? Did it even matter, since she had died so many times already?

But most importantly…

"I can't waste more loops," he hissed through clenched teeth, hands curling into fists. "I can't keep living my life and having it stolen from me!"

He looked up at the buildings, examining the road that led further into the city. Reinhard would be right up there, possibly just a few streets away. If Subaru went to him, he'd save Emilia once more, like the perfect hero he was.

He turned on the spot, and started walking toward the slums.

It didn't take him long to find a good vantage point. Not far off the main road, nestled between the houses of the lower strata, stood the remains of an old castle. Once upon a time, it had probably been used as a defensive fortification, but now it was crumbling, the stones cracked and weathered.

Subaru slowly climbed the steps to a raised platform, and strode over to the low wall lining the edge. The platform was higher than the surrounding buildings, so Subaru could see all the way to the wall. He scanned the distant fortification, trying to make out the loot house, but it was too far away to tell for certain which building it was.

Well, it doesn't matter anyway. If Puck really does appear, he'll be hard to miss.

The sun was getting low in the sky, but there was a fair amount of time until nightfall. Subaru sat down on the wall—perhaps a little too comfortable with the sheet drop to the street below—and looked over the platform. A couple of benches had been set up by the side of the ruin's main tower, but the place was currently empty. It looked like a fairly beautiful spot, so Subaru figured it would be popular for families.

And probably lovers too. I'd probably want to show this place to Emilia, if it weren't for…

He winced. He had hardened his heart, but he couldn't maintain his resolve completely. Even if Emilia had died before, this was the first time it would be because of Subaru's choice.

But I can't let important details escape me anymore. He took a deep breath to steel his nerves, and then swung his legs around, dangling them over the edge of the wall. Gripping the edge carefully, he poked his head over to look down at the street below.

He regretted that decision almost instantly. He was hit by a wave of vertigo and carefully pulled himself up, fingers white from clenching onto the stone wall.

Maybe… I could wait over by the benches.

But he didn't move. He was afraid of many things, but this particular fear was one he could overcome. And what was the worst that would happen? He'd fall and die, and reset after just a handful of hours? That was hardly a penalty, compared to the months he had lost already.

Over the next few minutes, his heart rate slowed, and his breathing became more even. His attention was drawn to the landscape, and the layout of the city. Now that he had a chance to properly view it, he could see his first impression was accurate. It was a beautiful sight of the city in all its glory.

Luna would love it.

He absently reached out with his mind, trying to brush up against his contracts, but he found nothing. The comforting pressure of his connections with his spirits had vanished.

Subaru's head fell. He had expected it, but that didn't make the anguish any more bearable. He felt a keen longing, he wanted to reach out and talk to them, to try and bounce his ideas off them like he usually did, with Luna's supportive demeanour guiding him through the process of fixing his problems.

He looked over the capital, examining the buildings. All things considered, he wasn't that far from his reset point. If he strained himself to call out, he might be able to attract Luna's attention. He almost did, but then he glanced back to the city wall, and felt his will drain away.

He couldn't. Not when he was preparing to sacrifice a friend just to learn whether her spirit really was a monster. Luna would understand, would try and reason that Subaru was correct, would forgive his every move. But at that moment, Subaru didn't want to be forgiven.

So rather than calling her name, he called out another.

Minutes passed, and Subaru began to think the spirit was out of range, but then, he felt it.

A cautious curiosity, hovering in the sky, well out of reach.

Despite himself, Subaru felt a smile touch his lips as he turned his head to the little fire spirit.

"Huginn. You came."

Huginn descended down to eye level, swinging himself around so he hovered in place directly in front of Subaru, examining him closely.

Then he shared the confused spluttering of a flame that had been thrown a log of fire-proofed wood. The name that Subaru had used was so packed with impressions, so filled with meaning, that it couldn't possibly refer to anyone but Huginn, but the spirit had never heard it before.

In addition to that, there was an undercurrent to the spirit's emotions, an icy hostility that the spirit could barely contain. The name Huginn was inexorably linked to Muninn's in Subaru's mind, which meant he couldn't call for the older fire spirit without revealing his knowledge of the younger one.

Now Huginn was bristled up in case Subaru meant harm to Muninn, like the tsundere older brother he was.

"Don't worry, I consider Muninn a friend as well," he said, lips slightly upturned at the spirit's antics. "But don't worry, I just want to talk for a bit."

The fire spirit examined the feelings he sent across with the younger spirit's name. He remained still for a moment, and then relaxed, coming closer to Subaru.

"Well, I don't have anything better to do, so I might as well."

"Man, you are really good at conveying messages," Subaru said, now smiling properly, his guilt and worries temporarily warded away. "Luna never could use as many complicated concepts as you. Hmm, but actually, it could just be that I can interpret you better, since you're basically just a tsundere."

Denial!

"That's just what a tsundere would say!"

He laughed, but Huginn didn't send anything further, merely waiting expectantly in the air.

Subaru felt his smile fade, and then he sighed. "Ah, I should get on with it, shouldn't I?"

He leaned back to look into the sky, and began to talk. "I have… a problem. There's something I need to do, but nothing I do has been able to help. I had the strongest people possible on my side, and I still failed."

His voice began to tremble as he went on, "I think… I think that I could try over and over again, but still fail every time. Even if I do it all again, I don't know what other tricks they have, what else they can do."

Huginn slowly drifted around in a circle, watching him carefully the entire time. For whatever reason, Subaru held his entire focus, more than the fire spirit usually showed him.

"There's just nothing I can do! How can one person possibly fight against all of that? The cult, the White Whale, the Black Serpent, at least two Sin Archbishops, and maybe even more! I haven't even seen the Sin Archbishop of Greed yet, who's supposed to be a walking calamity! And to top it all off, one of my so-called 'allies' might be an apocalyptic monster! What can I possibly do except run away?"

Huginn pulsed, and conveyed feelings, forceful and harsh, but honest.

Then run.

Subaru started, and looked up at the fire spirit.

"Run?" he whispered, hardly able to believe it. "How can you say that!? I need to protect everyone! If I don't…"

Faces flashed before his eyes. Emilia, dying beside him in the loot house; Otto, head bloodied and unconscious; Velia, torn to shreds by an invisible force; and Alexander, his throat slit with a shocked expression on his face.

"I can't," he insisted. "I want to save everyone! I need to save everyone!"

He picked up Huginn's disappointment easily. And of course he would be disappointed. The spirit cared little for what was just or moral. He only cared about resolve and determination. Subaru was struggling to make up his mind, unable to choose between the paths before him, so it was easy to glimpse the spirit's opinions.

Huginn saw him as little more than a fool, shivering at a crossroads. Each path forwards required a toll, but the fool couldn't bring himself to pay it, nor could he bring himself to turn back to warmth and safety. Such a person deserved to freeze forever in Huginn's view of the world.

"Wait, what two paths forward!?" Subaru cried out. "I either fight and fight until I eke out a victory, or I run away! There's no third path!"

Confusion.

Huginn twisted in the air as if tilting his head.

Reflection.

"You only said what I said back to me?" Subaru shook his head. "No, that's impossible, I don't see any other options. I don't know enough about the cult to…" he trailed off, eyes widening, as another plan, one he had been unconsciously repressing, could no longer be contained, and bubbled up to the surface of his mind.

If he needed knowledge about the cult's plans and capabilities, then there was one place he could learn it. A place he was uniquely qualified to go.

"Would you, perhaps, be Pride?"

"No!" Subaru recoiled, losing his balance and almost toppling backwards. He gripped the wall tightly, and brought himself back to a sitting position. But now he was hunched over, face pale, as the full scope of the third path washed over him.

"I can't! That's… that's evil! They're evil! I can't!" He repeated his words like a mantra, trying to ward off the dark thoughts they brought. Every word he spoke caused Huginn to grow colder, until he looked down at Subaru with nothing but pity.

Fool.

And indeed, what was Subaru, if not a fool? The choices were clear, yet Subaru could not bring himself to start walking down any of them.

He could sacrifice his friends, and run away.

He could sacrifice his sanity, and try again and again for an eternity.

Or, he could sacrifice his morals, and… and learn what he needed to learn.

The sun reached the horizon, dyeing the buildings as red as blood, casting great shadows across the city.

"I can't," he said one last time.

Toll.

Huginn offered his last piece of advice, and then turned away, flying out over the ledge, done with their conversation.

"Wait!" Subaru called out, hand reaching out.

Huginn stopped, and turned his attention back to Subaru.

"Can you… can you find Luna and Muninn? Take them to the palace, deep into the centre? Just in case?"

Huginn paused, then bobbed.

Subaru sighed with relief. He didn't know whether the spirits could even be hurt by the freezing cold, but that time the monster had destroyed the palace, they had been terrified of it, and Emilia had to contact her spirits when Puck wasn't around, because he scared them away.

If they truly were one and the same, Subaru wouldn't put it past him to be able to harm the spirits. Even if the timeline would reset, even if they wouldn't even remember the pain, Subaru didn't want them to suffer. At least inside the palace, they might be safe.

When he looked up, Huginn was gone.

The sun finished setting, and twilight descended. Slowly, the stars started poking out, one by one, but Subaru didn't recognise any of them. They bore no resemblance to the stars he knew.

He sat and waited, his stomach churning with guilt for abandoning Emilia, with fear of his impending death, and most of all, with dread for the choice he would soon have to make.

Finally, the last traces of light faded, and the night sky stretched out before him.

"Emilia…" he murmured, his mouth dry. "She would have reached the loot house by now, even with Felt hiring people to slow her down."

And once there, Elsa would have struck her down.

He waited with baited breath, but nothing happened. No wave of cold can, no monster rose from the slums.

"Ha. Ha!" Subaru laughed, his relief coming out, unable to be contained. He's not the monster! Puck isn't the monster!

It wasn't much, but it was something. One single strand of despair had been banished, lifting a small weight from his shoulders.

"Hahaha!"

He continued laughing, gripping the wall, looking down, seeing the droplets fall.

Droplets…?

He lifted a hand, and felt his cheek. He was crying. But this was good, right? He confirmed that Puck wasn't an enemy. So now he was in a better position! Then why…? Why did he feel so terrible?

Ah, that's right. I left Emilia to die. She's dead. Elsa killed her, and Felt, and Old Man Rom, and I did nothing to stop it.

The tears flowed freely, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

No, but I needed to! It was important! And now, I can go back, and save them! They won't remember it, so it doesn't matter!

But it did matter. Even if it wasn't logical, he cared about what happened to everyone during his loops. Was that not why he sent Huginn to bring his other spirits to safety?

He opened his eyes, and looked down. Down at the pavement far below, down at the chance to save those who had passed, down at his death.

He took a deep breath, and got to his feet, standing on top of the wall, one step away from oblivion.

I can go back. I can save them. I can make everything right again!

He hesitated on the brink, then lifted a foot, and took a step…

…backwards, stumbling back onto the platform behind him.

"I can't!" he cried, falling to his knees. "Why do I have to have this power!? Why was this given to me, why were everyone's lives placed in my hands!?"

He leaned over, his fists hitting the stone floor. He grazed his hands and drew blood, but he didn't care.

"Well this is the result! I can't hold everyone! I tried and tried, but they just slipped out of my grasp!"

He bawled his eyes out, unable to hold back the tears. His emptiness was filled with a great and terrible sadness. His subdued emotions broke out like water from a collapsing dam.

After a few minutes, the tears stopped flowing, and he just lay there.

He got to his feet. The lights of the city spread out before him, but the people of the slums had no money to spend on the magic crystals that banished the darkness. Their section of the city was still cloaked by darkness.

He shuddered in the night air, then straightened up, and addressed the blackness. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. But… I'll be back," he promised, not entirely sure whether to believe his own words. "One day, when I'm better prepared. When I can actually help you."

The slums only answered him with silence.

Then they exploded, releasing a wave of cold, and two enormous glowing yellow eyes rose high into the air.

The monster roared, sending shockwaves across the city, covering the surroundings with ice, snow, and the freezing cold.

"No… No!" Subaru took a step backwards, but he slipped, and fell on his back. His hands hit the ground, and he felt ice. The monster spoke, with his voice, but Subaru couldn't make out the words.

"It can't be… you can't be…" he tried to deny it, but he could not.

His celebration, his life or death decision, and his last farewell had been…

Premature.

The monster… no. Puck had arisen, just as Subaru had feared he would.

"You weren't supposed to be here!" The tears froze as soon as they left his eyes. His skin was cold, and he had lost all feeling in his limbs.

"I struggled! I agonised so hard, and I finally made my decision! And now you're going to drag me back into this anyway!?"

He heard a crack, and he fell flat on his back. For whatever reason, his arms were no longer propping him up. Above him, he could see a sky of pure grey. The white of the airborne snow was reflecting what little light was left under the night.

He started laughing. There was little else he could do. The absurdity of his situation had him laughing and laughing, until his laughs finally petered out, and he could faintly hear Puck's words over the din of the storm.

"…a hero is all you can be."

There was a flash of white light, and the world ended.

Subaru stumbled, but regained his footing. The cold had vanished, and his limbs had been returned to him. His arm was weighed down by his groceries, and he felt the plastic bag slip from his fingers.

He took a deep breath, and bent down to retrieve it. A few of the passersby gave him odd looks, but other than that, no one paid him any significant attention.

He got to his feet, and looked around at the vibrant colours of the capital.

Once more, I'm back here. How many more times am I going to return here?

He stepped out of the way of the road traffic, and made his way over to one of the side alleys. He stopped just inside the shadow of the building, and collapsed onto the ground.

What should I do? What can I do? I need to send Reinhard to save Emilia, or Puck will catch me in his area of effect, but what do I do after that?

He put his head in his hands, and took deep breaths. Then, he tentatively extended his spiritual senses, and called out for Huginn. While he hadn't parted with the fire on the best of terms last loop, those events had been erased. He had another chance to make a good first impression. And it was easy to guess what would impress him the most.

I have three choices. I need to pick one. It's as simple as that.

He lifted his head to look up at the citizens of the capital. Velia would be somewhere in the city, and Otto would be arriving in a few weeks. Nearly everyone he had come to call friends would be in the city for the cult's attack.

So I can't run away. Even if I could persuade Otto to join me, and earn enough to hire Velia, I couldn't convince Alexander or anyone else to come with us.

Other faces streamed through his thoughts, the merchants and workers he had come into contact with while selling mayo, and the servants in the Astrea manor.

I can't bring them all. So I can't run. Then the next option, I could just keep trying and trying until I somehow succeed.

He shuddered. There's no telling how long that will take though. I could be stuck going through these two months again and again for years before I figure it out. It would mean accepting that I'm going to die before this is resolved.

And if he was going to die anyway…

"Then nothing that happens in this loop matters," he said, his voice carrying a conviction that he did not feel. "This time—just this once—I'll leave everyone to their fates, so I can save them properly next time."

He clenched his fist, and looked up into the sky, where a red dot of light hovered, curious, and approving.

"Velia always says—er, said—to avoid using incantations," Subaru told Huginn as they walked through the city streets. He was mostly talking to try and put off thinking about what he would have to do when he reached his destination. Every time his thoughts neared it, his heart would freeze up, and he could hardly breath.

He had informed Reinhard on schedule, and this time, the Sword Saint had not tried to talk with him for long. Subaru had grown familiar with him, and knew roughly what to say to keep Reinhard from growing too interested. That included calling him by his title rather than his name, and remaining calm, while conveying the urgency of the situation. It also helped to keep his sentences curt and to the point, to give the red-haired hero the impression that he did not want to talk to him.

I probably don't need to take so many precautions about it, considering that Reinhard didn't find me again during the loop I spent as a merchant, he thought, but I can't afford to let him take an interest in me now. It would ruin everything I'm trying to achieve.

"She thinks spells take too long to use, and are too obvious. Everything she taught me was a technique, which is why it took me so long to start learning it," he said. Huginn bobbed by his side, not quite understanding, but paying rapt attention. He had latched onto Subaru surprisingly quickly, allowing a contract almost as soon as they had met.

It appeared a small change in mindset had a large effect on the fire spirit's opinion of him. It probably helped that Huginn had been watching him grapple with the decision for a few minutes before Subaru had noticed him. He seemed almost proud of Subaru, despite—as far as he knew—having done nothing to actually help with Subaru's struggles. Or perhaps Subaru had unconsciously let slip that Huginn had helped him, and the fire spirit was just rolling with it.

"That's been good for illusions, but I think if I want to develop any signature magic of my own, I'm better off using spells. I don't have a hundred years to improve, after all," he said, pointedly not acknowledging the fact that if he really wanted, he could have a hundred years or more.

"Julius was developing his own magic, and while I don't know much about it, he said he used spell names based on some old language they used to speak here. I don't speak that, so I'm going to use a chuuni name. What do you think?"

Example.

"Eh!? I haven't even decided what I'm going to name it, and you already want me to cast it? You're a slave driver! You ask way too much from me!" Subaru's voice filled the surroundings, now that they had passed into the middle strata, where few people walked. He had seen a few dragon carriages, but they were far from the main roads. Apart from them, the surroundings were almost deserted.

"Fine, but don't expect much," he said, bringing his hands up. Both were free, since he had left his bag of groceries in the alley. He wouldn't need it, so it would serve as food for whoever found it first, if they could figure out what it was.

He reached out to his newly created contract with Huginn, and drew heavily upon the spirit's mana, focusing his mental image on one of Velia's daggers, picturing its shape, the weight of it in his hand, made out of a crystal harder than rock. In addition to that, he focused on the deathly cold that Puck's apocalyptic wrath had brought, an ice grip that had frozen him solid.

"Alright, let's call this… Ice Brand Arts!"

The mana came together, the air becoming frigid and misty, as a shard of ice took form. Subaru grasped it with one hand, wincing slightly at the cold that sunk through his flesh.

The spell completed, he relaxed his arms, and held it up to get a good look at it.

"It… doesn't really look like one of her daggers," Subaru said, twisting it over in his hands. The blade was riddled with cracks, and a fair portion of the tip just fell off, tinkling on the stone pavement below. But most of all, it didn't have the shape of Velia's weapons. In fact, it resembled another weapon far better, one that Subaru knew quite well, one that had been festering in his mind.

Hesitation?

Subaru shook his head. "No, I need to do this," he said, dropping the weapon.

It landed on the pavement, and Subaru walked on, leaving the cross-shaped dagger to melt in the afternoon sun.

Finally, he reached a corner, and turned right into a view of the palace. His heart leapt into his mouth. It was the same view that he had seen before, during one of his previous loops. Only that time, he had been watching it fall apart as ice exploded out of it.

He swallowed, and turned around. His destination stood there in the middle of the trees, protected and out of sight from most of the road. He slowly started walking towards it, taking deep breaths to try and calm his nerves.

"How do I look?" he asked. "How suspicious am I?"

Fine. Determination.

"Thanks," he said, not convinced, but choosing to put his faith in his spirit's words. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

None of this matters. It's not a betrayal.

He passed between the trees into the clearing in front of the residence. A single sign reading 'Kalin' stood on its own. There was no fence to seperate the manor's land from the surrounding forest.

I'm only going to learn what I need to.

He reached the door, and knocked once. It swung open, to reveal an elderly man, with wrinkled skin and kind eyes. He smiled, and stepped back with a bow, to invite Subaru in.

Subaru stepped into the darkened interior. There were several other people in the room, dressed in all different clothes. Some were dressed up as maids and butlers, others were in fine merchant clothes, and one even wore a certain dark robe that made Subaru want to vomit. All were kneeling, showing their respect for him, a nervous awe on their faces.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It won't matter.

"I'm Subaru Natsuki," he introduced himself, keeping his voice calm and even. "I'm a Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing Pride."

AN: Blegh. I'm trying to be more detailed with my descriptions (on advice from TheColourPurple123, thanks for all of it!), but I think I only succeeded in confusing myself. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

I'm a bit more tired than usual, so I might have missed some obvious plot-holes. If you notice any major ones, don't hesitate to let me know.

And on this lovely cliffhanger, I'm going to be taking a break! I'll be gone for about a month, to work on some other things, (and fix up my outline). Once I'm back, I'll probably continue with uploads every two weeks (as I have been doing these past few chapters), but we'll see.