—Seeing Subaru emerge alone from the graveyard, Garfiel’s hostility rose to a level that felt like it was stabbing into his skin.

The chill inside and outside the graveyard was distinctly different.

Compared to the somewhat insulated graveyard, the extreme cold of the “Sanctuary” stripped away body heat and stamina at a rapid pace.

The blizzard that never ceased and the continued veil of white obstructing visibility made Subaru feel like his breath might freeze in midair, as he could not shake the shivering that came from deep within his core.

Wrapping his arms around his shoulders, Subaru trembled as Garfiel glared at him.

Snapping his exposed fangs, Garfiel focused his awareness on Subaru’s back, but—

“Doesn’t seem like you’ll show your face from behind him, huh?”

“Oh, she ain’t coming out. Emilia’s sleeping inside right now.”

“Sleeping, huh?”

“She’s exhausted. For two days, she’s been waking up for ‘Trials.’ Waking up, then going back for ‘Trials’ again. Her mind and body are pretty drained. She hasn’t eaten either. That girl’s overdoing it.”

Thinking of Emilia, who continued to tackle the “Trials” stubbornly only to fail, Subaru could imagine her feeling frustration and disappointment with herself.

It was undoubtedly equal to the helplessness Subaru had chewed on so many times before.

“———”

Inside the graveyard, Emilia was sleeping peacefully in the “Trial” chamber.

Whispering blind love for Subaru and embracing him with her warm body, the memory of Emilia’s warmth filled Subaru with boiling affection and sorrow that felt like it could kill him.

He remembered how her cheeks flushed, her voice trembled with passion, and how she tried to drown Subaru in all the words he wanted to hear, pouring her feelings into every bit of it.

How many times had Subaru thought about simply succumbing to the soft allure and sinking down into that bliss together with Emilia? That was something no one would ever understand.

Cutting off the temptation that even gods would struggle against, Subaru emerged into the outside.

He had no intention of informing Emilia about the danger lurking outside. And he had no intention of letting Garfiel’s hostility reach Emilia.

Despite Subaru’s quiet determination, Garfiel’s fiery anger showed no sign of weakening.

Kicking up the snow at his feet, Garfiel continued to snarl with his white fangs bared.

“You ain’t dragging that half-demon out. The snow isn’t letting up either. You come back with that gloomy face, no gifts, and what kind of payback are you gonna give me, huh?”

“—Emilia says she loves me.”

“……What?”

Garfiel’s response, interrupted by Subaru’s comment, was so out of place that he momentarily wore a look of confusion. However, he quickly assessed that he had been mocked and his expression turned more severe.

“You clearly don’t see the situation, do you? It seems not just the half-demon inside but you too are out of touch! How can you talk about love when all this is going on?!”

The tension brewing with anger turned heated, the snow touched by Garfiel evaporated into a white mist. It wasn’t an illusion that Garfiel seemed to grow larger; he was beginning to shift from human to great tiger.

Watching this, Subaru’s expression did not waver.

“I’m telling you, Emilia said she loves me. That all she needs is me.”

“—You’ve got some nerve.”

“With a cute face, in a sweet voice, trembling gestures, all up close, breathing close enough to touch… she told me.”

“And what does that even mean?! I knew from the moment I walked in that the half-demon was all over you! If you think something’s being blessed, I’ll break it down for you—”

Garfiel’s growls began to mix with shouts, his hostility pushing him toward physical transformation. It felt as if Garfiel’s words were piercing deep into Subaru.

—It was now or never.

“……No way that’s true.”

“Huh? I can’t hear you, speak clearer…”

“—There’s no way Emilia would say she loves me!!!”

“———”

Lifting his head, Subaru shouted.

The flood of emotions even silenced Garfiel. As he glared at the quaking Garfiel, Subaru’s heart exploded with pain.

He cast aside the words exchanged in the graveyard, the warmth they shared, the love confirmed.

It hurt. It hurt like hell. Yet, that which was hard to let go of wouldn’t shine for him in any real sense.

How wonderful it would have been if he could continue to be fooled by that fake luster.

Failing to fully immerse himself in such foolishness was the misfortune of Natsuki Subaru.

“Why would she tell me she loves me? That she can rely on me, and that if I’m with her, she doesn’t need anything else… Absolutely not.”

“W-What the hell are you saying?!”

“Never would she depend on me like that, saying her feelings for me are everything. —If Pack were here, she wouldn’t be so fully drowning in me…”

Subaru had no idea how much he longed to be Emilia’s first.

Yet he wasn’t foolish enough to think he was her first as it stood, nor did he underestimate Emilia’s worth.

The one she trusted the most and clung to desperately was Pack.

Right now, since Pack wasn’t present before her, she merely chose Subaru as her next candidate for support.

He didn’t want to believe that confession of love, those warm fingers, those trembling breathes were all lies.

He didn’t want to believe, but—those were not genuine.

Looking up, Subaru glared at Garfiel.

With Garfiel’s earlier rage still evident, now it was Subaru who bared his fangs.

“Who pushed that girl to the point where she had to cling to someone useless like me? Being broken over and over again, yet she can’t stop thinking about it—who did that?!”

“That’s necessary! She chose that! You blame me or the others in the ‘Sanctuary’ for it, huh?!”

Garfiel countered Subaru’s fervor with his own.

As Garfiel yelled back, Subaru slowly shook his head.

He knew without needing to be told who was the cause of Emilia’s distress.

“It’s obvious, it’s my fault…”

“—What?!”

“It’s my fault. Emilia being pushed to her limit is undoubtedly my fault. Because of me, and because of you, and because of all of you.”

“…You’re kidding, right? If she crumbles under pressure, then that’s her own inadequacy! It’s only natural to be mocked for aiming too high with such a weak mindset!”

“You’re right. You’re completely right. Emilia is far too kind to face that pressure head-on. That’s why she internalized everything and couldn’t confide in anyone—she broke. —I should have been the one to carry that weight.”

Facing Garfiel’s fury, Subaru felt his own heart grow chill, as if blending in with the white surroundings.

He felt clearly that there were things he had to do.

“Exactly. That’s what I had to do. I’m here for that reason… I told you that, yet what have I been doing…?”

“What are you nattering on about?! …No, you know what? Forget it. It’s useless to entertain your nonsense. ‘Moldova’s thirst cannot be quenched,’ right? If you can’t do it….”

“You want to enter the graveyard and bring Emilia out…? Can you even do that?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

A low voice threatened him. The words from Garfiel were meant to intimidate, yet oddly enough, they prompted Subaru to voice his baseless assumptions.

“I know you’re ‘Apostle of Greed.’ You have the right to command Ryuzu’s Replica, and I know that’s the only thing you’ve got.”

“———”

“That necessarily means you’ve entered the graveyard before. …I should say you’ve taken on the ‘Trial.’”

“—You…”

“You accepted the ‘Trial.’ I don’t know why you stubbornly hide it. Is it because the inhabitants of the ’Sanctuary’ aren’t supposed to enter the graveyard, or because you went in to help Ryuzu who entered there?”

“————”

Garfiel’s expression shifted.

It seemed that family matters were a sensitive wound for him. Seeing his sorrowful expression, Subaru shaped his conjecture while it was occurring.

“I heard from Frederica that you went into the graveyard. I also know Ryuzu went inside.”

“T-that…! That chatterbox…! It’s not enough that she’s gone from here, but she’s still buttering up the people outside…!”

“Is there someone whose knowledge of that could be dangerous? Who did the residents of the ‘Sanctuary’ even make contracts with? The ‘Sanctuary’ was created by the Witch Echidna. So are the inhabitants of the ‘Sanctuary’ bound to uphold contracts with the dead?”

“More than that—!”

Not allowing him to speak, Garfiel kicked off the ground and lunged at Subaru.

His sharp claws could pierce iron, aimed straight at Subaru’s face—

“—It’s Roswaal making it snow.”

“————”

Just as the topic struck home, Garfiel’s claws halted just inches from Subaru’s face.

With a look of shock on his face, Garfiel stared at Subaru, who nodded.

“It’s not Emilia. Pack isn’t here either, so Emilia couldn’t have done this. Even if Emilia did cause this, there’s no way she wouldn’t mention it while talking with me.”

“S-So…that’s just your favorable imagination—!”

“That’s right. I’m just believing it. Even if she fell to despair, she’s not the type to lash out and ruin everything around her… I just believe that.”

If someone accused the person of being the culprit simply by process of elimination, it could be unbearable for the accused.

But it was absolutely not baseless.

“You’re the one keeping you guys trapped in the ‘Sanctuary,’ it’s Roswaal, isn’t it?”

“Did you hear that from Frederica too?”

“No way… Just sorting through the circumstantial evidence and information, and throwing in some preconceptions and bad impressions to cover it all. —Seems like I was right.”

“————”

As Garfiel fell silent, Subaru sighed white.

—The revelation that the person he thought was the mastermind was indeed the mastermind created a sense of inconceivable relief. It was clear Roswaal was plotting something, but what was his reason for maintaining the contract that kept the residents of the ‘Sanctuary’ confined here and suffering them with the snow? No matter how much he thought about it, no reasonable answer came to mind.

Then—

“Guess we have no choice but to go hit him where it hurts.”

At Subaru’s resolve, Garfiel lowered his arms.

He realized that he shared similar intense feelings with Subaru.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

“—Seems like you’re rather angry, aren’t you?”

Sitting on the bed in the assigned room, Roswaal welcomed Subaru and Garfiel with a cheerful smile, his usual clownish makeup still on.

“Yeah, pretty much. I’m feeling rather riled up right now. But you get that this is about to go off, right? So please, mind your words.”

Standing in front of the entrance with both arms spread wide, Subaru gestured beside him with his chin. Next to him was Garfiel, growling lowly.

The beastly breath he emitted was a sign that he was maintaining his human form only by sheer will. Even though they were indoors, the coldness of the stone structure leaked through. Both Subaru and Roswaal exhaled white breaths, but Garfiel’s breath heated up to nearly the point of glowing red.

“Quite an amusing pairing, huh? If I remember correctly, didn’t Garfiel boast that he’d tear you apart once you returned, Subaru-kun?”

“Things may have changed just a bit. If it truly has, I have no idea who I should turn into minced meat.”

“Don’t casually talk about scary things. Roswaal, don’t take that outrageous statement lightly.”

Subaru couldn’t help but feel some self-loathing from his interaction with Garfiel as they left the ‘Sanctuary.’ He could only imagine the insults Garfiel must have hurled at Roswaal or Emilia.

With his brow furrowed, Subaru shook his head as Roswaal counters, “No, no—” and squints his yellow eye at Subaru and Garfiel.

“If that’s the case, then okay, Subaru-kun.”

“You’ve really grown to dislike me. I’m saddened, Ros. Are you seriously not going to care if I get shredded by Garfiel?”

“Oh dear, that’s quite a pessimistic view. Just because Subaru-kun and Garfiel clash does not mean Garfiel is guaranteed to win, you know?”

“You think I can win? After hearing my battle history, even you’d be too scared to face me.”

I mean, since being summoned to this other world, Subaru had hardly any experience winning at ‘battles’, and his wounds were numerous.

The only things he could count were stomping some punks in an alleyway, barely taking down a Juggernaut, and finishing off a nearly dead Petelgeuse.

“I’m starting to feel like that’s a surprisingly good record, but if I got into it with lively Garfiel, I’d be a heap of meat in two seconds. That’s the level of self-analysis I can do.”

“Is that so? I think if the conditions are right, it could become an interesting match.”

Narrowing his eyes, Roswaal scrutinized Subaru from head to toe. Not many parts of his commentary could Subaru agree with, unfortunately.

Just as Subaru shrugs off Roswaal’s words, Garfiel shattered the floor almost simultaneously.

“That’s not the point! What we need to talk about is far more important! Are you lot feeling sleepy or what?!”

Stomping in the middle of the room, Garfiel bared his teeth and shouted at Subaru and Roswaal.

Clearly, he was displeased with light chit-chat before jumping into the main topics. Most importantly, it was an art of conversation that Subaru found both unfamiliar and unfitting.

Following Garfiel’s lead, Subaru nodded once before saying, “Roswaal, you’re the one making it snow outside.”

He cut straight to the chase.

“———”

At Subaru’s inquiry, Roswaal remained silent.

Subaru closed his mouth as he waited for Roswaal’s answer. The atmosphere turned quiet, the only sounds were the winds howling from outside against the window and the rhythmic sound of Garfiel’s teeth gnashing like a clock ticking.

“Subaru-kun.”

“Yeah.”

“—Did I hear that from you?”

“———”

That was a question that made no sense.

Subaru ran a few mental simulations of the responses Roswaal might give.

There could be a self-satisfied laugh followed by “You’ve seen through my schemes,” or on the flip side, “W-What nonsense… Do you have proof?” showing his agitation. The top contender would be, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about; it’s a bit unclear,” and so on.

But Roswaal’s response was different from any of those imaginings.

“What the hell? I’m here talking to you, how could I be having that kind of conversation? Did I misspeak about something?”

“Huh… I see. I see. How unfortunate.”

Unable to grasp the meaning behind his words, Subaru showed his confusion toward Roswaal. Roswaal then averted his eyes from Subaru and let out a weak sigh.

His usually pale face seemed even more drained, but to Subaru, it appeared to stem from Roswaal’s mental state rather than any physical failing.

“—Yeah, that’s right. A slip of the tongue, a misstatement. Quite an odd thing to say.”

When he looked up, Roswaal immediately retracted that statement and gave a slight smile.

The smile formed by his painted lips appeared different from his usual demeanor to Subaru.

However, disregarding that slight change in Roswaal, Garfiel stepped forward, taking a step toward him.

“So you won’t deny it, huh?”

“Wouldn’t it seem suspicious to pile on words like that when being suspected? To begin with, I think I lack confidence in getting your trust based solely on my usual behavior and actions.”

“You know, don’t you? So you must already be imagining how I will move from here, huh?”

Letting out a sharp breath, Garfiel closed the distance between them in just a few steps.

Approaching the bed, Garfiel stretched out his arm, reaching for Roswaal’s throat. In a split second, Subaru’s reaction wasn’t quick enough to call out for him to stop.

But then—

“—You.”

“I won’t allow any disrespect toward Roswaal-sama, Garf.”

Ram burst from the next room and blocked Garfiel’s reaching arm with her entire body.

Garfiel glared at Ram, who caught his extended arm at her chest, his throat trembling.

Subaru was startled by Ram’s sudden appearance, having not realized she was already inside, but at least he sighed in relief that a bloody incident was averted.

So—

“Ram. You really are a good attendant.”

“Yes, Roswaal-sama—”

As Subaru overheard their exchange, he found it strangely amusing.

Roswaal promptly expressed gratitude for Ram putting herself on the line to protect him. There was nothing strange about it; Ram had indeed fulfilled that duty.

What was the problem? Subaru raised his head, frowning as he pondered.

Standing at the entrance of the bedroom, Subaru faced Garfiel’s back while the small Ram stood behind the large figure. Behind them was the bed where Roswaal lay, supposedly recovering.

—When had Roswaal stood up?

“———”

It happened in an instant.

In the moment Subaru blinked, Roswaal stood from the bed and approached Ram and Garfiel, who were sparking with tension just inches away.

And then—

“———”

What was that?

From Garfiel’s back, it felt like an arm was protruding out.

Sticking out from the front of his chest, piercing through the center of his back, the wiggling five-fingered appendage seemed to Subaru like a human arm.

“Guh—”

Garfiel’s body shook violently in front of him.

Slowly, the back of his coat turned crimson, and he could feel his knees giving way. Unable to support himself, Garfiel knelt as the arm withdrew from his back.

Suddenly, a gushing torrent of blood erupted from the hole, flooding out.

“—Huh?”

Garfiel crumbled, with Ram and Roswaal looking down at him.

And from Ram’s chest, she whispered—

“Roza—”

“You were truly a good attendant.”

Interrupting Ram as she weakly called out his name, Roswaal gently replied.

His left hand softly stroked Ram’s pink hair, as her cheeks flushed with warmth and she accepted his touch with a dazed expression.

—From the corner of that smiling mouth, fresh blood trickled down.

Naturally so.

After being pierced through the chest from behind.

The arm withdrew.

Ram’s small body couldn’t withstand the fleeting shock and collapsed forward.

Garfiel, despite dripping with his own blood, caught Ram as she fell into his arms.

“Gah… Roza…! Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram!”

For a moment, the hatred that had nearly consumed Garfiel’s heart was eclipsed by the sight of the girl before him.

He shouted Ram’s name over and over as his roar blended with blood, unleashing a pale white glow from both arms.

Subaru knew that vivid radiance was the effect of healing magic.

Furthermore, Garfiel was indeed capable of handling it, despite claiming it wasn’t his forte.

In this moment, Garfiel poured all he had into healing Ram, even as he himself was mortally wounded.

His body began to shift drastically, pulsing with the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Fur covered the exposed skin, fangs elongated, and his pupils shrank rapidly. His muscle mass increased dramatically, rippling as his clothing began to tear from the strain.

It was a transformation into a beast, abandoning his humanity to protect his own wounded body while fiercely striving to save the life of his beloved.

However—

“————”

“Becoming a beast is troublesome, you know.”

Tilting his head slightly, Roswaal said and swung his leg toward Garfiel.

The side-swept long leg turned into a wind and struck Garfiel’s temple —with a sound reminiscent of an egg cracking, Garfiel’s head burst into a spray of red.

Garfiel’s body, now decapitated, gushed blood from the severed neck, saturating the room while his corpse toppled onto Ram.

Ram, crushed beneath him, didn’t move, still wearing a gentle smile.

Garfiel’s healing magic had also failed to activate. The moment Ram slipped from Roswaal’s grip, her heart was shattered, and she ceased to breathe.

Garfiel was completely unaware, having simply poured his essence into the healing.

“Even for me, during an operation that involves manipulating weather on such a scale, using other magic is difficult, you know. —As a court magician, it’s truly a pathetic sight.”

Rudely wiping blood-soaked legs with a nearby sheet, Roswaal grievously killed both Ram and Garfiel with his bare hands and turned his gaze toward the frozen Subaru.

Then, in an attitude and tone as if nothing had changed, Roswaal spoke.

“Well then—shall we talk? Natsuki Subaru-kun?”