“――――!!”

Waking up from my own scream was the most heart-pounding experience imaginable.

Tossing off the bedding, I reached out into the air, and Natsuki Subaru was also feeling that shock while gasping for breath.

“…My left hand… it’s still there, right?”

As if trying to grasp something, my left hand was stretched out into the void. My left half, which had been torn and blasted away, felt just as lost. Even though it hadn’t been but a moment, the sense of loss weighed heavily on Subaru.

I propped myself up and confirmed my left arm could move fine, wrapping it around my shoulder. There were no signs of a tear in my left side, and of course, the reattached left hand bore no bite marks.

If there had been scars, the sensation of my left half being blasted away could be interpreted as a nightmare from the night of the competition when I accidentally dozed off—

“Here we are again… no, should I say I got back again?”

The disappearance of the scars meant just that.

Defeated by destiny, I was once more forced to reverse time. In this case, I might think of it as being granted a chance to challenge once more after losing.

Having considered this, I suddenly became aware of what day and time it was.

According to the “return from death” experience rules, I should come back on the “first day at Roswaal’s Mansion,” but my certainty about that was weak this time. It’s possible I ended up in a different timeline.

Anyway, I decided to check the time first—just as that thought crossed my mind.

“Oh, sorry, good morning!”

Finally, I noticed the twins in the corner of the room, embracing each other and watching me cautiously.

If a man who had been unconscious woke up screaming, it must have been a surprise.

In response to my deflated greeting, the twins remained silent, huddled together like small animals.

Scratching my head, I pondered what to do.

Surely, they had forgotten me again. That thought brought a slight pain to my chest, but ignoring that throbbing heartbeat, I forced a smile.

Friendly, I tried to convey my sincerity.

Even if they had forgotten everything, I still remembered them.

“I apologize for the trouble I caused. Natsuki Subaru, just waking up!”

I leaped out of bed, flinging off the sheets, landing in a pose like a fierce hawk. The twins flinched at my intimidating stance, but I held it while asking them,

“By the way, what day and time is it?”

—The third first day at Roswaal’s Mansion had begun.

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

—Now, to recall the night of the fourth day that still lingered in my memory.

Having made a promise with Emilia, the time was probably around the witching hour when everything sleeps. The sudden chill that hit me sapped my strength and vitality, capable of causing me to wither away in no time. In other words,

“So the first cause of death was… death from exhaustion while sleeping, huh?”

Gradually, it was a strategy like being slowly choked with a soft cloth, taking my breath away little by little.

Even though I was alert and awake, if I had been unguarded and asleep, I would have woken up, only to have my consciousness swallowed up forever.

However,

“That sound of chains…”

While I could guess the cause of my exhaustion, this other matter left me utterly confused.

The distinct metallic sound of long chains overlapping. I only remembered it shaking my eardrums, followed by a jolt, and my left half was ripped away.

Just recalling that scene made my left half tingle with a shocking sensation. My body shouldn’t remember that experience, yet my soul was rejecting that memory.

Unconsciously, I hugged my left arm and thought,

“There was an assailant… at least, I can’t tell if it’s the same person who made me die of exhaustion, but at the very least, they’re from the same faction.”

The takeaway from this incident was simply that a culprit existed.

It was probably an attack on the mansion, and I too was among the victims on the night of the fourth day. I couldn’t say for certain whether the other residents of Roswaal’s Mansion were on the list,

“If I’m on it, then everyone likely is… Probably because it has to do with Emilia and the Royal Selection, just like the Thieves’ Repository.”

I couldn’t gauge how much resentment Roswaal had earned from nearby nobles, so for now, I’d put aside the line of revenge related to him. If I were to be caught up in something, I would rather it be with whatever cute girl issues there were.

Still, Subaru thought that through and put a hand to his head.

There was an attack, and I figured Emilia and the others were likely targets. That much was good progress. However,

“Even if I know that, I have no evidence to explain and no means to prevent it in my hands.”

The troublesome part of “returning from death” lies in being unable to explain it.

Let alone I had witnessed the mansion’s attack beforehand this time. Even if I desperately called out to Roswaal to take preventative measures, would there even be a way to prove it if the attackers canceled their assault upon seeing him make preparations?

At worst, I was quite okay with being treated like a wolf boy, understanding it as a necessary sacrifice for the sake of protecting Emilia and the others.

Moreover, directly driving off the assailants was completely off the table. I knew fully well I lacked the combat power for that, not to mention, I had no inkling of their nature at all.

Last time, I was easily killed when I was in a state of panic—really a terrible summary of the situation.

“And to top it off, I didn’t even see the assailants’ faces. I died like a fool.”

If I couldn’t even understand the nature of my opponent, I wouldn’t even begin to formulate a counterplan.

Crossing my arms, tilting my head, turning my waist in circles, I found myself spinning in the room. Just then,

“—You can either stop being annoying as hell or choose to be killed, it’s up to you.”

In the center of the room, a girl stood among my circular motion looking terribly displeased.

I turned my attention to her scowling face and said,

“Sorry, sorry. But spinning other parts of my body helps my head spin too. So bear with me, we’re friends, right?”

“What kind of relationship do you think we have? We’ve only met twice!”

“Well, whatever, my heart is honest. You invited me into this room in a jiffy, didn’t you?”

“You barged in without permission! I really can’t believe this is happening!”

Beatrice, as always, wasn’t even trying to mask her hostility towards me. Feeling strangely relieved by her attitude, I made my way to the Forbidden Library.

Though I tried to brush off my feelings, being treated like a stranger by Ram and Rem was surprisingly painful. Unlike last time, I left the room after getting rejected, but I really had nowhere else to depend on.

“Well, I’m not trying to be a bother. Just get me some tea and let me relax, alright?”

“That’s not happening! Ugh, you’re such a nuisance!”

Touching her own long curl, Beatrice frowned irritably. Watching her, I suddenly thought:

“By the way, you look like you’re not just about the looks; you’re a magician or something, right?”

“If you mean I can use magic, then yes. But I’d prefer not to be lumped with the second-rate types.”

With a slightly haughty “hmph,” Beatrice shot me a glance. Perhaps she was quite confident in herself. Seeing her attitude of showing off her prowess, I asked,

“You don’t have many friends, do you?”

“Why are you suddenly bringing up that topic!?”

“Because I don’t have many friends either and I can tell. If you keep being all haughty like that at your age, it’ll affect you later on.”

As I teased Beatrice, she sighed. Her reaction made me take a step back and cue in for the main topic.

“So, I wanted to ask you about… a magic spell that can weaken someone and kills them as if they were asleep.”

I wanted to confirm whether the state I fell into—whether it was due to poison, illness, or magic.

The sudden chill and weariness came crashing down on me, and so far, I suspected they were linked to ‘magic.’

The reasoning? I couldn’t find any trigger for an outbreak of a sudden disease, and a delay like that h seems improbable for poison.

Especially concerning poison, I couldn’t pinpoint when it was administered. Dinner had been buffet-style, so the soup and such were from the same pot. Perhaps Emilia mixed something in that tea or snacks I had with her, but—

“In that case, it’s unpredictable when I would have eaten that snack or drank that tea.”

It lacked certainty, which would render that method inapplicable. Especially since the second case was clearly an indication of an intrusion.

If the assailant knew I was in a weakened state, the point of using poison would have been utterly lost.

Beatrice furrowed her brow at my inquiry. She likely sensed something strange about my question, but either seeing the rare seriousness in my expression or hearing my tone, she sighed, shrugged her shoulders, and said,

“If you’re asking if it exists, yes, it does.”

“There is one?”

“More like a curse than a spell. It’s usually something that curse users excel at rather than sorcerers.”

Here, a new job appeared: a curse user. Beatrice raised her finger like she was lecturing.

“Curses—turning into a ritual of curse users originating from the northern nation of Gusteco, a variant of magic and spirit arts. Most of it is a failure of rituals and hardly manageable.”

“But, it could actually kill someone with a curse, right?”

“That inept part is it. — Its usage predominantly exists in a form of harming others. How can an art like that be so exasperating regarding its disposition toward mana?”

The depth of her hatred for curses was strong, and apparently, Beatrice showed no sign of wavering against that view. At that moment, Subaru was actively seeking information rather than defending curses, leaning in to press for more.

“So, that curse could potentially work like I mentioned earlier.”

“I think it can be done, but there are easier methods than summoning a curse user.”

Beatrice smiled enigmatically at the furrow in my brows. Suddenly, she spread her small palm, obstructing my view. Just after,

“—Whoa.”

Suddenly struck by a sense of loss, my body wobbled, and I nearly lost consciousness. I quickly dropped to one knee to save myself, feeling like that could have whisked my awareness away completely. After blinking a few times, I felt somewhat fatigued yet confirmed my body could still move.

“How does it feel to experience it firsthand?”

Looking down at me, Beatrice let out a small laugh. With her hand at her mouth in a refined manner, that smile was charming; however, considering the action she had taken, I could hardly let it slide.

“Hey, what was that for…?”

“I merely absorbed the mana inside your body. If I do this excessively, you might fall into the same state as before. It’s far easier and more reliable than depending on those detestable curse users.”

Looking up resentfully at Beatrice, who said that proudly, I found I had no means to revolt beyond that.

How could it be this extreme? That thought dawned on me, and I suddenly realized.

In this timeline, I had been mana-drained by Beatrice right before fainting. Meaning, it ended up happening immediately after I woke up.

“Are you trying to kill me!?”

“I’m holding back. If you were to die here, it’d be a nuisance when I’d need to step over your corpse every time I want to grab a book.”

“Don’t call me a corpse; that sounds like a bug!”

Receiving a gaze implying it was that trivial, I started questioning why I had deemed this place a safe haven in the first place.

I checked my limbs for feeling and confirmed I could exert strength before standing up. I took a few light foot taps, trying to dance as I did.

“Could it be that you’re the one who killed me?”

“If you were dead, then the annoyance of talking to you would vanish; that would be nice. Unfortunately, Beatrice is busy, so killing you would take too much effort.”

With her hands clasped behind her back, Beatrice briskly moved past me toward the book shelf. The hem of her gothic lolita dress swayed. As she reached for a book on a higher shelf just above her height, she asked,

“Is this fine?”

“…That’s the one. Hand it over, will you?”

“Sure thing.”

Pulling out a surprisingly thick book from the shelf, I tossed it to the frowning girl. She accepted it with annoyance and slipped past me towards the stepladder. It seemed she preferred standing atop it rather than sitting, as she often found her spot for reading whenever I visited the Forbidden Library.

“What book are you reading?”

“It’s about how to drive away bugs that get into the room.”

“Wait, hold on! There are bugs in the library? That’s the worst! What kind of bugs are they?”

“Big, black, with mean-looking eyes and a bad attitude.”

“Wow, now that’s a specific bug you got there…”

I looked around, wishing she would get rid of them quickly. To me, the Forbidden Library was a gathering of unreadable books, yet as a book lover, I wanted to avoid situations where books were suffering.

I genuinely thought that as I caught Beatrice’s fleeting look at me before she sighed,

“Do you have anything else you need? If not, I wish you’d leave.”

“Oh, yeah, um… So, about that mana-sucking thing we just talked about, can anyone use it?”

“That expression is quite offensive. …In this mansion, only Nii-chan and Beatrice can use it. Roswaal lacks talent for this.”

“Really? I thought he was supposed to be all-powerful.”

Maybe there was indeed a time he was putting up a façade. Yet, I was being disrespectful towards someone I hadn’t even met yet.

“By the way, also… You and Pack, can you stop being so hardcore when you mana-drain people? It’s a bit much.”

“…Nii-chan drained you of mana as well?”

“Yeah, that guy! While I was struggling with mana fatigue, he seemed to enjoy forcing me like… what’s going on?”

With a dramatic flair, I relayed how I was feeling like a villain in a crime scene; however, Beatrice blushed with annoyance, covering her cheeks with both hands.

“Oh my, what have I done…? I’ve done an indirect mana drain with Nii-chan.”

“What do you mean by an indirect kiss!? That understanding seriously puts me in the place of a shared drink can!”

“Considering that, it tasted quite rich… Can I get another shot?”

“I’m gonna dry out! I really need blood now, blood!”

“Well, I returned all your guts, but I couldn’t return the blood. Beatrice isn’t that versatile, you know.”

With a disappointed sigh at her remark, I tilted my head.

The way she said it made it sound as if she was the one who sealed up my wound. I had assumed Emilia was the one healing my wound after the alley incident.

Squinting at the situation, I met her suspicious gaze, and really, I felt no shock. Unless she was a bold-faced liar, she was probably saying the truth.

So Beatrice is—

“A bold-faced liar, huh. Seriously, your character stinks!”

“You can’t even accept other people’s goodwill, can you? Talk about a hypocritical mess!”

A playful spat ensued, nearly escalating into a grappling match. In the end, it landed with me nearly throwing down when Beatrice’s magical prowess spectacularly sent me flying.

I slammed against the door upside down, and in front of me, Beatrice waved her long curls grandly.

“It’s about time for you to leave. Your trembling has settled, and the fear should be manageable by now.”

“…Did you notice?”

“Were you trying to hide it? It feels absurd for you to desire such convenience.”

Snorting disdainfully, Beatrice waved her hand away as if to shoo me off.

Having watched that gesture, I used my momentum to roll over and stand up. The hand I had raised in front was certainly forgetting to shake.

This would mark my fifth time dying, yet it wasn’t something one ever got used to. Rather, with each death, my experiences stacked up, and the thought of facing that fear again made my legs tremble.

Especially since this time, my method of dying was quite the method. Natsuki Subaru’s heart thudded in despair, as the courage flowed out from his fingertips and feet.

“Well then, I guess the excuse time is over. This isn’t very friendly of you at all.”

I forced a wry smile; last glimmer of excuses tossed away, I lifted my face.

Grabbing the doorknob, I paused to turn back to the girl one last time before stepping out.

“Sorry. But it helped me out. I’ll count on you again.”

“The payment will be for an indirect mana drain. I may have to drain a lot next time. So don’t just come barging in!”

With that dismissive tone, she kept her gaze on her book.

Concealing a smile from her view, I twisted the doorknob and stepped through. Then,

“—Wait, by the way, were you talking about me when you mentioned that bug earlier!?”

“Just get out before I throw you away again!”

I was blasted away, and the “door crossing” was complete.

※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

“Uh, is it okay to ask if you’re fine?”

“Seriously, that kindness is the only thing healing me. This is so terrible!”

Facing the silver-haired girl in the garden, Subaru sighed deeply.

Bounced off by Beatrice’s magical energy, Subaru flew through the door. He was ejected from the entrance to the second-floor terrace of the garden, landing straight into the flowerbed.

Fortunately, the soil was soft, so it didn’t lead to anything severe, but depending on how I fell, I could have easily gone for third time’s a charm. Cause of death: Argument.

“Seriously, the theory that it was that punk who killed me becomes more credible…”

“Can you stand? Is your stomach wound okay?”

“I don’t think the sewn-up wound burst or anything. It would be a joke for the one who sealed it to suddenly rip it open. Ah, sorry, but it would really help if you could lend me a hand.”

“That flowerbed? Rem was using animal droppings for fertilizer yesterday…”

“Whoa, abnormal playyyyyyy!!”

Withdrawing my right half embedded in the flowerbed, I rolled out. In front of Emilia, who was curiously observing me from a distance, I flailed my red-brown outfit, now dirtied with mud.

“No takesies backsies! That’s yesterday’s story! It’s purified, right?!”

“By the way, Subaru. There’s a saying regarding situations like this called ‘adding bad luck’ to luck…”

“Does that mean Emilia’s already switched to comforting mode!?”

In other words, the judgment is OUT.

Watching Subaru teeter at the edge of tears as he flailed his sleeves, Emilia etched a wry smile on her pristine face, gently sliding her hand into her pocket.

“—Pack, wake up.”

In her offered palm, a green crystal shimmered softly.

The light oozing from it began to take shape, and a few seconds later, when it faded, a hand-sized kitty with gray fur appeared.

The cat stretched its body widely as if yawning, and said,

“Ugh, good morning, Emilia. Oh, and Subaru, you’ve woken up.”

“Good morning, Pack. Sorry for waking you up suddenly, but could you clean Subaru’s body for him?”

Holding Pack near my face, Emilia squinted her eye at me pleadingly. Startlingly, I found myself entranced by her gesture. Meanwhile, Pack casually turned towards me, seeing my filthy state, and nodded in understanding.

“Okay, let’s wash it up—here we go!”

While it sounded all too casual, before I could react, “What!?” was all I could manage.

Pack thrust both hands forward, triggering a magic circle that unleashed a torrent of water toward me.

The sheer force of the water hit my right side, washing away the defilement of this world in one fell swoop!

“Are you kidding me—!?”

Shouting, my body spun from the strength of the water hitting my right side.

“Oops! This balance is off!”

As Pack spoke, he slightly adjusted the water’s angle, turning the blast now to my left side, mirroring me back to my original stance.

Throughout this adjustment, whenever the water strayed from the center line, it rightfully corrected back on target.

“Look, you’re clean now.”

“Right to left… my heart feels… like whooooa…”

On the soaking lawn, I dropped my limbs, compelled into a pose of retching. Yet, my stomach was empty, so all I managed was drool.

Still, after going through that several times, I felt a little perturbed. I wiped my mouth with the drenched sleeve, finally thudding back to my feet.

“That first burst of water was intense… thought I was going to lose an arm. Please, tell me you guys aren’t actual culprits, right?”

“I don’t quite get what you’re suspicious about, but do I look like some malicious spirit? How terribly insulting!”

Hands on hips, the very cat I had just been splashed by said indignantly.

After landing a quick flick on its forehead and eliciting a “nyaah!” from it, I turned again to face Emilia.

It became a reunion like none before; how well I could recover from it now rested on my negotiation skills.

I felt that I had handled things well with Emilia during our first and second encounters, so with that in mind, I resolved to dive back into things prominently.

“Well then, what should my opening statement be…” But as I gathered my resolve,

“Pfft.”

“Huh?”

“Ahaha! I’m sorry, I can’t! Hahaha, what are you two doing?! Oh, my stomach hurts. This is so funny!”

Suddenly, she burst into laughter, entirely wiping out everything I had prepared.

Pointing at my drenched state, Emilia released every bit of her pent-up laughter, bursting into fits.

If this weren’t outside, I would’ve laughed until my sides hurt. Through a brief daze, I met Pack’s gaze floating in the air.

“First contact successful! Thanks for the assist, my father!”

“Who the heck is your father? I won’t marry my daughter off to you that easily!”

With a proud puff of his chest, Pack declared.

Hearing that, another wave of laughter filled the garden from Emilia.