"—So, she didn't literally create an entire separate space with yin magic after all?"
"If she could do that, then Mother could birth worlds as she pleased. Even for Mother, there wouldn't be enough mana in existence to pull that off."
"Ah, so it's a mana issue? If that were cleared, she'd be able to do god-of-creation kinds of things?"
"It wouldn't be strange if she could... that's how amazing Mother is."
As they walked through the ruined halls, Beatrice spoke with pride about her outrageous Mother's power. Thinking it was an old wound, they'd avoided digging into the past much until now, but it was as if she would never run out of things to say—Beatrice's Parent Dona bragging went on and on. It surely had a lot to do with this being her first homecoming in four hundred years, actually walking through Kugelschreiber Castle—even if what she saw was a sight of its former self mercilessly broken.
"Still, knowing Beako thinks that much of her, I can't help feeling a bit of jealousy."
"Honestly, Subaru and Mother aren't even competing in the same category. Mother is the unshakable number one on the family ranking, and Subaru is the unshakable number one on the Betty Ranking."
"Huh, what's that—I'm really happy. Does that mean I beat Puck?"
"You're tied for first with Nii-cha."
"Curses, that fluffy furball... whether it's being Emilia-tan's number one or Beako's number one, he stands in my way on both fronts...!"
A vision of the Cat Spirit stroking his whiskers with a smug “nyafufu” grin floated to mind, and Subaru ground his teeth at the height of the foe he had to surpass. He had to be careful—Subaru was a sucker for that fur, too. And while they were bantering like that—
"—Here it is."
Beatrice came to an abrupt stop, and at her "Here?" Subaru and the others tilted their heads. After all, what she turned to face was nothing more than an ordinary corridor wall—one section of the passage where they'd been picking their way over crumbled footing inside the castle. But Beatrice wagged a raised finger side to side with a “tsk, tsk, tsk,”
"The owner of this castle is a『Witch』. The idea that a『Witch』's records would just be plopped down in an ordinary room is laughable. So—"
With that, Beatrice touched the wall lightly with the finger she'd been wagging. Nothing happened. Keeping her finger pressed to the wall, she held out her other hand and called softly, "Subaru, Subaru." He hastily took it. Mana flowed into Beatrice through Subaru, and light welled up at the tip of the finger touching the wall. From there, on what had been an unremarkable wall, a door of light formed—
"I saw this once at the castle entrance."
"When you already have the optimal thing, there's no reason to make it different on purpose. Now, feast your eyes. —This is the private laboratory of the『Witch』Echidna!"
Beyond the wall they could now pass through, what greeted Subaru and the others as they strode in at last was air even heavier than when they'd first entered the castle, the scent of timbers steeped in long silence, and a chamber whose contents were all too fitting for a『Witch』.
"This is... quite something."
"Kuhahaha, His Grace the Duke is so demure and modest even in his word choice! This is creepy! Tacky! Gloomy! Saying it flat out would be for the person's own good! Oh, right, the person's already dead, isn't she—?"
"H-hey,『Black Dog』! How can you talk like that! I'm sorry,『Librarian』!"
『White Sheep』bowed her head in a fluster at『Black Dog』's abusive words as he spun around taking in the room. But Beatrice held out a hand magnanimously and said, "It's fine,"
"Being feared and held in awe is something a『Witch』needs... if anything, this reaction is exactly what Mother would expect. There's nothing to apologize for."
"Sounds like your feelings toward your folks are a real tangled mess..."
"Eh, you're the one to say that,『Long Tongue』-kun...?"
Ferris voiced a simple question to Rachins, whose lips had twisted. In truth, Rachins had left a wealthy home just to run with a pack of punks; if not with his parents, the odds were high he'd had trouble with his family. In any case—
"『Black Dog』's way of putting it is a bit much, but there's no denying it's something new."
Even Russell, too, ended up affirming『Black Dog』's choice of words—that was the kind of scene unfolding. The laboratory was a vast space that could well be called a great hall, with a high ceiling supported by numerous black pillars. Several workbench-like pedestals stood in rows, but what drew the eye were the countless crystals upon them, in all sizes and colors—
"...It really does feel exactly like a『Witch』's laboratory."
Peering intently into a nearby crystal, Subaru murmured under his breath. Inside the palm-sized crystal before him, a butterfly was sealed with its wings spread. Next to it were plants preserved with not only their petals but even the roots stretching into the soil, and then a small lizard-like creature curled up. Each was a specimen preserved without losing color or form, looking as if it might start moving at any moment.
"Not just small ones—there are mabeasts here too. Take a look. That one's a large... what was it called again?"
"Remarkable. That's a Guiltylowe. To preserve a mabeast in a state like this..."
Among the group browsing the crystal specimens, Crusch and Russell, who had gone deeper in, voiced their admiration. Before them stood a crystal as big as a dragon carriage, and within it the form of a large mabeast, sealed away. Beyond that were fish, birds, and mabeasts they were seeing for the first time—the range of specimens was extensive.
"For what purpose would someone preserve so many living things... Eek!"
"Hey, hey, you nitwit! Don't touch things without permission! That's about as careless and rash as it gets!"
"S-sorry! But, um, look at this!"
Letting out a small scream and then getting scolded by Black Dog, White Sheep pointed to the crystal they seemed to have just tapped. Inside was a Red Deer with bright red fur, but it wasn't merely trapped there—light welled up within the crystal, the inside of the Red Deer's body turned translucent, and they could see its organs and bones, even countless lines of light running through it.
"Wait—are we seeing not just the inside of its body, but its Gate as well?"
Ferris murmured, unable to hide the chill that ran through him at the sight. His yellow eyes flew wide as he touched the crystal by his side to confirm the same phenomenon.
"Well, Ferris. What can you tell?"
"...The ones inside aren't alive. But this is incredible. After death, Od would slowly diffuse, but here the shape of their Od as it was while they were alive has been copied exactly."
"Copying Od... in other words, the shape of the soul is being recorded?"
"Yes. At least, I think it's something close to that."
Perhaps the shock was so great that Ferris didn't even notice Crusch speaking to him, shuddering at this glimpse of the Witch's research. Subaru, too, looked over at Beatrice at that, and—
"Seems the 'Witch's laboratory' label wasn't lying. Beako, did you ever hear what she was doing here?"
"...Mother didn't like to show her research to others. She carefully chose what knowledge to share. She probably had some unpleasant memories."
"Unpleasant memories... Well, when you're smart or strong, all sorts of things happen."
Thinking about it that way, there's a gap in mindset between the Young Dona who took pride in being asked for advice by others, and the Parent Dona Beatrice spoke of. It feels like Young Dona went through something unpleasant and, as a result, her values changed into those of Parent Dona—a passage of time you can sense, but—
"These experimental tools are intriguing, but ideally we'd find materials here that we can study. Librarian, does anywhere come to mind?"
"There's a small room in the back I was told not to enter."
"This small room—here?"
Prompted by Russell, who said they wouldn't get anywhere just looking at apparatus, Beatrice pointed toward a corner of the laboratory. Subaru put his hand on the door there and threw it open. A thick, musty smell of old books billowed out, and he reflexively waved a hand in front of his face. And—
"Whoa, this is... where do we even start? It's gonna be a grind."
Behind the muttering Subaru, the others who peeked in likewise let out low groans. The room Beatrice had called a small room might indeed be small compared to the research chamber the size of a great hall, but it was still as big as the dining hall at the Roswaal Mansion. And within that space, it was crammed to bursting with a jumble of books, bundles of paper, and scrolls.
"I told you—Mother was never very good at tidying up."
"I wish she'd realized there are limits. Think of posterity."
He picked up two books that had fallen right by the door at his feet, and sank into despair when he found both untitled and apparently lacking any relation or continuity.
"Between the Forbidden Library and the Pleiades Watchtower..."
Natsuki Subaru had few fond memories of other people's libraries, and this one, too, looked ready to slot into the same category—a truly troublesome library.
△▼△▼△▼△
In the end, organizing the Witch's library took several hours.
The job the eight of them tackled began with setting the toppled bookshelves upright, gathering the fallen books, bundling the scattered sheaves of paper, and carefully retrieving torn scrolls—one meticulous, heavy task after another. Even after all that, they were only just at the starting line of organizing; cleaning up someone else’s archive is not something one should volunteer for. The saving grace, amid the misfortune, was that at the very least Subaru and the others hadn’t let anything they needed slip through the cracks.
"—This one, and this. And put these materials in a box as well. Let’s take them back and review them."
Saying so, Russell stared intently at the recovered items, sorted as far as possible, and—using the 『Blessing of Evaluation』 to pick out what held value—decided which materials to take out. The selected documents shared no common format; the scripts, diagrams, and such recorded in them had nothing in common at all.
"The last volume is basically one long flower observation diary... is that really worth anything?"
"I don’t know. But unless I start by believing it is, I can’t work with these eyes. In fact, there was meaning in not writing you all off, wasn’t there?"
"Hah, you talk big. If I hadn’t said anything, you were just gonna toss it."
"Yes. I lent an ear to your words precisely because you have value."
"This guy seriously pisses me off...!"
The one who’d made the snide remark ended up feeling worse for it, and Rachins ground his teeth with a creak. For all that he’s been made to indulge Russell’s precious talk, the more time passed, the more it looked like, far from warming up to each other, the friction between them was only growing. However—,
"Aaah, ugh! It’s done, cleaned up! What a day of exhausting trouble! I’ve decided! From now on, anyone who looks like they’ll read a lot of books, I’ll kill them before they buy a lot of books!"
"It is not as though one always has the opportunity to inspect the archive of someone who possesses many books, however."
"It’s no use telling him that, 『Jade Beauty』-sama. It’s just 『Black Dog』-kun’s usual flippant talk."
"I see, that’s true. I spoke out of turn. Continue."
"Do it, don’t do it—whatever! I’m wiped out, exhausted!"
Throwing himself across the workbench, 『Black Dog』 howled like an oversized child. The gesture was childish, but with his bulk it wasn’t cute; still, it was easy to sympathize with his complaint of fatigue.
"We’re still stuck with the one-night time limit, and just because this is a separate space doesn’t mean time flows more slowly here than outside, right? There’s no perk like that, is there?"
"Not as far as Betty knows. If there were such a perk, this castle would have remained in a slightly better state... though thanks to 『Melancholy』, even that’s doubtful, perhaps."
Neglect and the passage of years no doubt played a part, but most of the castle’s ruin was due to the power of the 『Warlock of Melancholy』, who was said to have run rampant here. Most likely there had been a clash between the 『Witch』 and the 『Warlock』, something far beyond what could be called a simple parent–child quarrel.
"Let’s take our findings back and check them. 『Librarian』, are there any materials beyond what’s in this room?"
"There shouldn’t be. For the same reason we didn’t place that kind of book in the 『Forbidden Library』, they shouldn’t have been placed anywhere outside this room, I suppose."
Answering Russell, Beatrice glanced this way, and Subaru returned a nod. If the theory that they hadn’t wanted to show Beatrice any books related to the 『soul』 was accepted, then the very archive she’d been forbidden to enter would be the hiding place of those forbidden texts, without a doubt. If that was certain, then all that remained was to take their haul back—,
"—Hey, 『Librarian』-chan, is that all?"
"Ferris?"
At Ferris’s suddenly tilted-head question, Subaru knit his brows. He understood his sense of urgency, but Beatrice’s cooperative stance up to now was obvious. Having her doubted was something Subaru couldn’t let slide. But before Subaru could say anything, Ferris bent at the waist to meet Beatrice’s eyes and,
"This is a place you haven’t been to in ages, right? And even while the current 『Silver Fox』 was comparing the materials, you kept sneaking glances outside the room."
"Eh. W-was that so, Beako?"
"Mm... i-it’s nothing like that. Subaru, Ferris, you’re overthinking it, maybe."
As Subaru and Ferris peered into her face, Beatrice waved her hands in a panic. It was a cute bit of resistance, but even so—,
"—A wind of lies is blowing."
Narrowing the eye not covered by her eyepatch, Crusch, who could see through lies, exposed her at once. At that remark, Beatrice tried for a while to endure with a “gnunu, it is,” but eventually, as if resigning herself, she let out a sigh and said,
"It’s nothing much, maybe. I just remembered. When we were being chased by 『Melancholy』 and leaving the castle, there wasn’t time to pack at our leisure, maybe. Things we couldn’t take with us then might still be in this castle, in Betty’s room... maybe."
"I see. Is it something important?"
「I guess I could get by without it... but it was a present from Mother.」
Lowering her eyes, Beatrice said it in a way that tugged at the heart. Moved by Beatrice’s demeanor, Subaru also felt a stab of frustration—at his own uselessness for letting Ferris notice Beatrice’s lingering regret before he did. Still, moping about it would be stupid.
「Mr. Russell, mind if I go pick up something I forgot four hundred years ago? I know full well it’s got nothing to do with the operation, but…」
「If you understand that, I’d like you to restrain yourself. Have you forgotten our mission?」
「I’ve got no comeback to that, but…」
「But we only made it this far thanks to 『Librarian』-chan, right? And yet not even a single reward for 『Librarian』-chan—doesn’t that seem wrong?」
Once again, it was Ferris who came to Subaru’s aid as he was being pushed back by sound logic. At him voicing an opinion that sided with Beatrice, Russell turned a slightly severe gaze on him and—
「—Surely you don’t mean this as payback, 『Blue Snake』?」
「Of course not. But could you not forget this? 『Gray Star』-kun and 『Librarian』-chan aren’t your subordinates. Even so, despite having people they want to see, the two of them have gone along with you for two whole months. Maybe it’s time you showed a little something—sincerity.」
「You…」
Subaru felt both moved and bewildered at how reassuring that ever-sharp tongue could be when its tip was aimed not at him but at someone else. He didn’t understand why Ferris was being so solicitous toward them. Of course, no matter how foul his mouth gets, he trusted the fundamental goodness of the man who had mastered the healing arts.
「Don’t give me that look. If it’s something you can get back, you’re better off getting it back, right?」
「I mean… yeah. Sorry. You really are a good guy.」
「—I hate that part of you, Subaru-kun.」
Ferris turned away with a huff, and Subaru scratched his cheek with a wry smile. Meanwhile, at Ferris’s request, Russell touched his beard with a troubled expression for a moment, but—
「Um, 『Silver Fox』, a request from me as well. We don’t know when we’ll be able to come back here again, do we? That would be unfair to 『Librarian』-san.」
「『White Sheep』, you too?」
「People like me and 『Black Dog』 are in a different situation from 『Gray Star』-san and the others. Even you can’t force them. You should already understand that, shouldn’t you?」
Setting her jaw, even 『White Sheep』 fired a covering shot in support of Subaru and the others. Compassionate as she is, speaking her mind to her superior Russell must have taken considerable courage. Not that he thought that stance had particularly moved him, but—
「—Do not linger. Retrieve the target item and rejoin us promptly.」
After a brief closing of his eyes, they succeeded in extracting a concession from Russell.
△▼△▼△▼△
「I’ll prioritize packing the documents. Rendezvous at the entrance.」
「For the record, I’m not tagging along either. Like hell I’m gonna babysit a brat on a trip down memory lane.」
Leaving behind Russell, who prioritized work, and the unaccommodating Rachins, the rest of the party departed Kugelschreiber Castle for Beatrice’s private room. Unexpectedly, many volunteered to come along with Subaru and the others, and Rachins, left alone with Russell, ended up seeing them off with a look that said this hadn’t been part of his plan.
「But you too? You’re coming with us?」
「Kuhahaha, it’s just that this is waaay better than helping haul luggage, thaaat’s aall. Besides, if the clumsy, dim-witted 『White Sheep』 were to trip and accidentally fall into a hole, that’d be a real problem, huh?」
「Y-you don’t have to worry that much! I’m not that clum— eek!」
「See? Laugh, scold! No sooner do I say it than this happens!」
Laughing loudly, 『Black Dog』 grabbed 『White Sheep』 by the collar as she started to fall and set her back on her feet. One couldn’t help but wryly smile at how faithfully 『White Sheep』 played to type, but for all his lip, 『Black Dog』 was pretty overprotective of her. Usually, 『White Sheep』 feels more like the guardian, but right now it looked reversed.
「You two have been together since before joining 『Six Tongues』… you were 『Beloved Children』, right?」
「…I was. 『Black Dog』 too, probably.」
「Probably? That’s… vague.」
At 『White Sheep』’s uncertain answer, Subaru knit his brows in puzzlement. He’d just assumed 『White Sheep』 and 『Black Dog』 were in 『Six Tongues』 under the same circumstances.
「Oho, truth or lie, lie or truth! This do-gooder-faced woman—truth is, she’s a nasty liar who just looooves deceiving you aaall!」
「A wind of lies is blowing. Thy words are ill; 『White Sheep』’s words are sound.」
「Tch! Boring, tedious, total buzzkill!」
『Black Dog』's attempt to butt in was cut down by Crusch's divine protection. Even that, though, felt like cover to keep attention from drifting away from 『White Sheep』's statement. In fact, Crusch herself was guaranteeing that 『White Sheep』's words were true.
「To tell the truth, I don't really understand my relationship with 『Black Dog』, either. I'm sure it's someone close to me... but I don't know what that means, exactly.」
「By the way, I don't get it at all! By the time I noticed, I was already there—that's me, and as for this one, it's like they just happened to be there.」
「What is that even supposed to mean? That makes zero sense.」
「Yes, it makes absolutely no sense.――I think that's my reason.」
Clenching her white fist, 『White Sheep』 said that with a look of resolve. Having been the one to bring it up, Subaru felt a little abashed about whether he'd been right to ask; once again, he'd rudely tromped into someone else's heart with his shoes on.
「Even if barging into people's hearts with your shoes on is a family motto at my house, there are still manners for the one doing the shoe-wearing, so when it happens when I'm not in that headspace, I panic.」
「What are you mumbling about? Come on, this way—you don't want to get lost.」
Beatrice tugged on his pensive arm, and he followed her as she led the party. At first, Beatrice had been a little embarrassed about making everyone come along to help look for something she'd left behind, but as she walked through her well-known family home, she gradually relaxed. Now her eyes sparkled with the expectation of soon being reunited with the forgotten item she was about to reclaim.
「By the way, Echidna's... Mother’s present—what was it?」
「Mm, that's for you to enjoy when you see the real thing. That impatience to know everything right away is a bad habit not just of Subaru but of all humans.」
「Well yeah, if you compare everybody to Beako, who has a proven record of waiting four hundred years, that's how it's gonna look.」
Subaru gave a wry smile at Beatrice, who was strutting at the front with her chest puffed out and tiny strides. Watching her swaying drill twin-tails, her buoyant steps were nothing but endearing. Maybe everyone else felt the same, because no one tried to rain on the parade of Beatrice, who brimmed with anticipation of finally taking in hand a present four hundred years in the making.
「And yet it keeps throwing these piddly obstacles in our way...」
What Subaru was grumbling about was a complaint aimed at the 『Warlock of Melancholy』, whose destructive influence lingered starkly no matter where in the castle they headed. Every time they found that 『Melancholy』's rampage had dropped ceilings, snapped pillars, and cracked floors, they had to detour around the blocked routes and make the long way toward Beatrice's room. Even now, after cutting across a half-collapsed room and a crushed corridor as a shortcut—beyond that, they came upon a place where a thick pillar had toppled over to block the passage.
「Hey, hey, another detour?」
「――. No, look. It seems we can slip past alongside the pillar.」
It was a pillar so thick an adult couldn't get their arms around it, but just as Beatrice pointed, there was a gap between it and the right-hand wall that a person could squeeze through one at a time.
「Even so, not being able to see the other side makes me uneasy. I'll go first. Beako, wait your turn for a bit.」
「Betty is more compact and cute, so I should be able to get through safely.」
「I'm not exactly lacking in flexibility myself. I do Pigeon Pose every night.」
With the spirit of yoga in the air, Beatrice ceded the first penguin role to Subaru. He ducked his head, twisted his body into the gap by the pillar, and slipped through to the other side. Fortunately, the snag he feared or a pitfall trap immediately upon exiting didn't await him; the passage seemed to continue on ahead and didn't dead-end.
「All good. We can move forward. Watch your hair and dress—try not to snag them.」
Brushing off the knees of his track pants where they'd touched the floor, Subaru called out to Beatrice on the other side of the pillar. He stayed crouched, waiting for Beatrice to slip through the gap――
「――Beako?」
Beatrice is small. She should have been able to pass through the gap more easily than Subaru, and yet no matter how long he waited, she didn't come through to his side. Even when he impatiently peered into the gap by the pillar, Beatrice wasn't there――no, that wasn't it.
「――H-hey, you gotta be kidding me?」
Not trusting his eyes, Subaru ducked his head again and this time squeezed through the gap in the opposite direction. Frustrated, scraping his head against the pillar, he came out into the corridor on the far side and looked up. And――
「――No one's here?」
Standing up in the corridor they'd all been walking together just a moment ago, Subaru looked around in a daze. Beatrice, who should have been there, Crusch, Ferris, 『White Sheep』, 『Black Dog』—none of them were there. Not a single member who should have come with him. There wasn't a trace of them left.
"No, don't be ridiculous... Beatrice! Beako! Answer me! Beako—!!"
Raising his voice, Subaru shouted Beatrice's name at the top of his lungs. His cry rang hollow through the old castle, yet no answer came. A surge of impatience drenched his back in cold sweat in an instant.
"Crusch! Ferris!! White Sheep! Black Dog! Where are you? Beako! Somebody! Anyone! Answer me!!"
Unable to stay still, Subaru called his companions' names one after another. But no one answered. Not just Beatrice—there was no response from the four with Crusch, either. —That was abnormal to an absurd degree.
"What on earth... No way—Echidna!?"
This was the Witch of Greed's castle, and the moment they found a records room rather than a hidden archive, he'd had a bad feeling there might be some sort of mechanism. But Beatrice hadn't mentioned anything about it, and up until now—whether a 'Trial' or an 'Examination'—there had always been some trigger for things to happen. So his caution had gradually faded, and—
"Am I an idiot? No, I am an idiot... To let my guard down against Echidna!"
He bit down hard on his lip, using the pain to admonish himself. There was no time to wallow in self-reproach. He had to search for the vanished Beatrice and the others at once—or regroup with Russell and the rest. And then, to unravel this Kugelschreiber Castle's mechanisms—
"—huh?"
It happened the moment after he thought he had to. To run back the way he'd come, he took his first step—and without any warning, the footing under him gave way without resistance, and his body pitched forward. The thought That's bad came too late. —An instant later, his body was flung into the air.
"—!"
The floor collapsed, and he was hurled out beyond the corridor. Realizing that in the split second it happened, Subaru yanked the Guilty Whip from the small of his back and, acting on pure instinct, slammed it against the corridor he'd slipped out of. —By luck, the tip wedged into a crack or something that had formed in the passage. "Guh!" A brutal jolt hit his right shoulder, the one holding the whip, and Subaru's body caught.
"W-w-wha...?"
He had no idea what had happened. Without sign, without omen, without forewarning, without any kind of trigger, the floor had fallen away. Thrown out beyond the corridor, Subaru glanced around—and his blood ran cold.
—Nothing at all. It was an empty sky, as if creation itself had never taken place.
——
Beatrice had said from the start that if you fell, you'd never be able to come back. In his half-plummeting state, Subaru understood exactly what she meant. Indeed, it's impossible. If you fall here, you can't return. There's no way back. No way to find one. So—
"Somehow... get back up..."
It was a flimsy lifeline, lodged only in a crack in the floor. To keep it from slipping free, he wound the whip around his turned wrist and, little by little—yet urgently—carefully hauled his own body up, up, up—
"Eh?"
The snap-like jolt came without warning. If it had a sound, it would have been "snap." But he didn't hear it. He had no room to.
"—ah"
Mercilessly, the lifeline supporting Subaru's body lost its taut tension and, as if mocking a life struggling in desperation, hurled him out into empty air.
"A—aaahhhhhh—!!"
Screaming, Subaru's body spun and spun, end over end, backwards, until he could no longer tell up from down, and he shot away from the corridor—no, from Kugelschreiber Castle—all at once. Farther and farther and farther away, he fell—into a literal, pitch-black abyss.
"I... saw..."
Lashed by a ferocious wind, pummeled by tremendous shock, words spilled out. He saw. He saw it with his own eyes. In the instant the whip came free and he was thrown out, he saw it—snap—the tip of the whip that had slipped from the corridor was showing a brand-new, razor-sharp cut.
Someone had cut Subaru's whip and severed his lifeline. Severed, he fell and fell, falling, falling, falling, falling, falling, fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall fall—
——
It doesn't come.
Clenching his teeth hard, Subaru tensed his whole body for the impact of the ground rushing up to meet him. He tried to search for a way out and immediately realized there wasn't one. Beatrice wasn't here. There was nowhere he could reach with the whip. He was already tens—hundreds—of meters away from the castle. There was no way back, no means to survive. So all that remained was to prepare for the 'death' that should be coming, and, somehow, to share this predicament with everyone—he steeled himself with all his might.
Come. Come anytime. Come. Come now. Come this instant. Come. Hurry, right away—everyone's in danger. Right now—come. Come. Come. I'm telling you to come. Come on. Come!
——
——It's not coming.
「――――」
He realized it. After steeling himself, he realized it. He should have understood it a moment ago. This is a world where the creation of heaven and earth never took place. No matter how far he falls, there is no ground anywhere to collide with and shatter Subaru's body to pieces. Even if he keeps falling like this, even if he keeps falling on and on forever, he will never arrive anywhere.
「――――」
He tried desperately to deny the terrifying possibility that had come to mind. However, the best ally of that denial—the collision with the ground—never came. Still, the wind and the fall tossed Subaru's body about, and his speed kept increasing.
Before long, his vision blacked out. The spinning of his body threw his blood circulation into disorder, sending too much blood to his head and the ends of his hands and feet. A fierce pain began to course through his entire body, and just like that, Subaru's consciousness—
△▼△▼△▼△
「――――」
It doesn't end. This fall has no end.
Subaru didn't know how much time it took him to come to terms with that fact. His endlessly falling body never ceased spinning; the resulting disturbance in his blood flow made him lose consciousness countless times, then regain it without a trigger, forcing him to realize that this nightmare situation was reality.
His stomach complained of hunger; there was no feeling in his lower body, soaked from incontinence; his eyes were long since useless.
Even so, Natsuki Subaru was alive. He was, regrettably, alive.
「――ぁぁぁぁぁ」
Groaning low like that, Subaru cursed the slowness of his judgment, his stupidity. Falling without end, being buffeted by the wind, his body had lost its freedom; his hands and feet no longer moved as he wished. If he could still move his hands, he might have been able to strangle himself. But he couldn't anymore. He had no such strength left anywhere. Likewise, he didn't even have the strength to bite through his tongue; every means of leading himself to death had been lost.
「――ぁぁぁぁぁ」
Even now—even as Subaru keeps falling for no reason—Beatrice and the others are in danger. In the castle he can no longer return to, Beatrice and the others may even now be exposed to threats. —And yet, he can't go back to them. He can't even die.
「――ぁぁぁぁぁ」
No matter how fiercely Subaru longed for an end, his lungs still craved air, his heart still pumped blood into a body with deranged circulation, and the bare minimum functions of life carried on anyway. Time in which he could do nothing—time in which he couldn't even die—was drawn out endlessly, idly, meaninglessly.
「――ぁぁぁぁぁ」
His throat was parched. He had screamed, shed tears, pissed himself, drained the fluids from his body—he was bone dry.
His body was chilled to the core. His blood flow was in chaos, he was buffeted by the wind for so long it made his mind go distant, and he did nothing that would produce heat.
His soul was screaming. It reached for Beatrice, for everyone in the castle, for Emilia, for his scattered companions.
「――ぁぁぁぁぁ」
He kept making a sound—not a scream, not a shriek, but a groan. From deep within his body, from the very deepest depths, he kept forcing the sound out.
Quickly—faster, even a second faster—squeeze it all out, so he could die.
There was nothing else he could do. —No, there was. There was something besides groaning. Decide. Set a hard vow in his heart, decide, and carry it out without fail.
He would not let go. Absolutely would not let go. He would not let go of Beatrice.
「――ぁぁぁぁぁ」
No matter what happens, he would absolutely not let go.
「――ぁぁぁぁぁ」
With that firm vow set in his heart, Natsuki Subaru kept letting it out. As if squeezing out each and every drop, down to the very last drop—
「――ぁぁぁぁぁ」
As ways to die go, this one ranks pretty high among the ones I hate.
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