Subaru trembled to the point of forgetting to breathe at the familiar male voice that reached him from behind.

“――――”

For that moment, he even forgot about the pain from his dislocated left shoulder.

What dominated his mind was a parade of fear, cowardice, and a storm of despair that overshadowed any attempts at thought with the single word, “Why.”

Why, the questions seemed endless.

Why was his left shoulder dislocated? Why were there so many markings of “Natsuki Subaru has arrived” all over the room? Why were Emilia and Ram, who were supposed to have caught Subaru, not present? Why was Mei’s corpse, which he thought he had hidden, nowhere to be found? Why had Natsuki Subaru’s memories vanished? Why had he been called to this other world? Why could he not speak the truth to his father and mother? Why――,

“What are you shrinking for? Stop being quiet, you unpleasant guy!”

―Why was the man who should not have been able to come down here standing right in front of him?

“――っ”

Suddenly, irritation mixed in the opponent’s voice, and Subaru hastily turned around.

He was afraid to meet the gaze of the person standing behind him. In many cases, the fear stirred up by such a presence originates from the unknown nature of their actions.

However, in this case, what scared Subaru more was the anxiety of not actually seeing this person.

With this individual, it didn’t seem that their purpose was to frighten Subaru.

More directly, it felt like the intention was to harm him or take his life.

“Hah. What’s with that face of yours? Scared, are ya? Gonna cry, huh? You’re one nasty piece of work in this creepy room.”

Laughing at the determined Subaru, a man in a traditional robe displayed his dazzling white teeth.

With long red hair and a right eye covered by an eye patch, he had bandaging wrapped around his exposed torso, and his well-toned, sturdy physique looked down pitifully at Subaru.

He was known as Reid Astraea, the guardian of the second floor of the Pleiades Watchtower.

“――――”

“…Can’t speak, huh? You not hearing me? Or are you just showing that you don’t intend to talk to me? If that’s the case, fine, but still, stand up straight.”

Reid smirked in an exasperating tone and glared at Subaru with snarling eyes. Overwhelmed by the oppressive feeling, Subaru fumbled to move his lips.

“Mi-mine…”

“Hah?”

“The eye patch was on your left eye, right? Why is it on your right…?”

That was undoubtedly not the right question to ask at this moment.

Subaru’s inquiry caused Reid’s blue eyes to flicker slightly. Then, the man snapped his teeth shut.

“It’s a mood! I don’t give a damn which eye patch I wear. I’m just wearing it for fun. If I don’t, I can see too clearly. That’s all it is.”

Saying that, Reid lifted the eye patch over his right eye. Beneath it was a completely healthy eye, just as he had said.

There was, of course, nothing wrong with his exposed left eye either. In other words, his words were entirely truthful; the eye patch truly was merely “because I want to wear it.”

Even that seemed to be a game for him, needed to bridge the gap of strength between him and others――,

“Oi, what’s this? That shoulder of yours is dislocated, huh? Thought it looked unseemly.”

“――ッ!?”

Just as such thoughts crossed Subaru’s mind, a sudden jolt burned the back of his skull like a hot iron.

“Guh…!”

His throat tightened from the excruciating pain, and his vision flickered under the overwhelming agony.

Subaru noticed Reid had grabbed his dislocated left shoulder, without any hesitation or care whatsoever. Without a moment’s thought, Reid carelessly popped the dislocated bone back into place with a twist of Subaru’s wrist.

As the misaligned bone corrected itself, a dull, squelching sound echoed, and Subaru’s shoulder regained its freedom.

However, the pain, once negligible, flared back to life, and tears streamed down Subaru’s cheeks as he felt as though he wanted to curse the world.

“Don’t be so dramatic, will ya? If it looks like I’m bullying ya, that’s not the case. The one who’s really bullying you isn’t me, it’s that hot silver-haired lady, isn’t it?”

“Hot, silver-haired…?”

“I mean that silver-haired knockout, of course. Just look at that ice cage in the back and your dislocated shoulder; it’s pretty clear. Did you have a falling out with her? Hilarious.”

Reid snickered while Subaru grimaced in pain, clutching his left shoulder. Upon hearing those words, Subaru realized that the ‘hot silver-haired lady’ referred to Emilia.

Alongside this revelation, fear crept into Subaru as he recognized how Reid had deduced the rift between Subaru and Emilia by merely observing the room’s situation.

“How do you know that…?”

“In such a shabby tower, it’s either that people get too close or too hostile. I just thought you’d be the one making people annoyed. Not a big deal, really.”

It was too outrageous to call that a reasonable conclusion. Subaru couldn’t rebut, and Reid shifted his gaze to the ice cage left behind by Emilia.

“――――”

Tilting his head, Reid walked past Subaru with a bored air. Then he stared closely at the ice cage, placing his foot upon it, and exerted pressure.

Suddenly, there was the sound of cracking ice, and in the next moment, the sturdy ice cage shattered into countless pieces.

The cage, which had remained unmoved even when Subaru exerted his strength, was now destroyed completely.

With such overwhelming magical prowess and physical ability, Subaru was left speechless. Unbothered by Subaru’s reaction, Reid lightly moved his arms and legs as if checking their functionality.

“—Looks like I can move decently. Not bad, not bad.”

Murmuring as if testing something, he slowly stepped outside the room.

Ignoring Subaru, who was left standing there, Subaru’s confusion still hadn’t cleared, and he was completely bewildered about what was happening, but it became clear that taking his eyes off Reid in this situation would not lead to any good outcome.

In the first place,

“Wait! You were… weren’t you supposed to not be able to come down from the upper floors? How come you’re roaming around this floor like it’s nothing!?”

Subaru rushed out of the room after Reid, who strolled nonchalantly down the fourth-floor corridor.

He glared at Reid’s back, which tread the floor without hesitation, and hurled one of the many questions swirling in his head.

In response, Reid waved his hand dismissively without even looking back.

“When did I say I couldn’t walk around the second floor? …Well, saying that would be a bit cowardly. Don’t worry. The premise that I couldn’t roam is not wrong. It’s just that now, I can.”

“Just that you can… wait, I’m asking why the premise broke in the first place?”

“I don’t have the patience to give you an overly detailed guide. I can walk around. You’re scared out of your wits. That’s it. –Or, no, that’s not all.”

As Subaru kept following Reid, he shifted his tone.

Reid narrowed his eyes and fixed his sharp gaze on Subaru, making him shrink back.

This unarmed red-haired swordsman—with just his penetrating eyes, he could easily slay others.

“What’s up…?”

“Go ahead, put on a brave front. If you can’t anymore, then you’re done for. I’m curious, though, since I’m thinking of leaving this shabby tower, where’s the guy you had a falling out with?”

“Huh?”

Subaru’s heart clenched tightly as he was taken aback by Reid’s surprisingly shocking statement. Seeing Subaru’s shocked reaction, Reid shrugged casually.

“I’m planning to get out of here, but I need some food, water, and alcohol. If there are women, that’s a bonus. Among your crew, that knockout and that sexy dressed woman are my options. The knockout’s a tough sell because of the guilt, so the sexy woman’s at a higher chance.”

“Get out…? This tower? But, wait, what about all the ‘tests’ and everything? What are you going to do about this situation!?”

“I don’t know anything about your situation. You handle your own family matters. I have nothing to do with it. Ah, wait. There’s one thing that’s bothering me.”

“Bothering you…what!?”

Reid’s expression changed, and as Subaru furrowed his brows at Reid’s unanticipated comment, a flicking gesture struck Subaru’s forehead.

The force of the flick sent Subaru tumbling backward against the corridor’s wall. As he crouched in pain, Reid scoffed.

“I told you, don’t think you can get answers to everything. Are you a chick? A fry? Just steady your footing a bit, will ya?”

“That’s a problem with your definition…”

“Don’t use me as the cover for your anxieties, uncertainties, or regrets. Deal with your issues yourself. Don’t use me to comfort you.”

“――――”

Although his words seemed irritating, they lacked any real emotion.

Reid did not care about Subaru’s existence, nor would he bother to get emotionally worked up. Hence, there was no irritation to be found in his voice.

But even with such casual words, they struck Subaru deep in his heart like a blade.

The pain made him groan as doubts that had been cast aside rushed back to the forefront of his mind. But just before that,

“—Ah, it’s coming.”

Turning his attention down the corridor, Reid muttered as if he had come to some realization.

Raising his face, Subaru’s eyes followed in the same direction, but he found nothing unusual visible. However, it dawned on him slowly.

In crouched position, he had been distracted long enough to notice.

A faint tremor. The tower was shaking. He sensed a ground tremor that wasn’t quite a full earthquake.

“Ha!”

Reid chuckled, teeth shining as he stomped his sandals onto the floor and began walking. Seeing his no-nonsense demeanor from the corner of his eye, Subaru hurriedly chased after him.

Reid told him not to use himself as a shield for his turmoil.

That undoubtedly struck at Subaru’s feeble heart. Subaru’s problems couldn’t be resolved by appealing to Reid.

However, regardless of that, Subaru had a duty to ascertain why Reid was roaming the fourth floor and what was happening throughout the tower.

“Reid!”

“――――”

“Hey, wait! Wait! At least tell me what you’re planning to do…”

With long strides, confidently charging ahead without a reason to slow down, Reid ignored Subaru’s questions.

Shoulder pain remained, doubt lingered in his heart, and driven by a half-hearted sense of duty, Subaru could do nothing but desperately chase after Reid’s figure.

Then, suddenly, the red-haired man’s pace halted.

“――――”

Reid stopped before the open spiral staircase just beyond the hallway—the exact location where the memory-lost Natsuki Subaru had been thrown down and died twice.

In his frantic pursuit of Reid, Subaru was slow to realize his own position, and he gasped.

However, his desire to break through the current sense of stagnation overpowered the aversion he felt towards the place that had brought about his “death,” granting Subaru the strength to move forward.

―The place itself hadn’t killed Subaru; it was the malice that had brought about his demise. What he should feel aversion toward was not the place, but the circumstances that had led to his fate and the perpetrator behind it.

“――――”

The sound of his heartbeat and the flow of blood coursing through him felt deafening. Ignoring that, Subaru wiped the cold sweat from his brow and pressed forward next to the motionless Reid.

Finally, Subaru noticed that Reid had stood at the edge looking down at the scene below. No matter where he stood, this man always suited the pose of looking down at others, and Subaru found that pointless thought drifting through his mind as he followed the man’s gaze.

Following it, he finally realized.

Amidst the noise of his racing heart, he began to hear the sounds that had been drowned out.

“――――”

—Below, the fifth floor, the endpoint of the grand staircase was overwhelmed by a mass of terrible flames and beasts that had surged from somewhere, presenting a nightmarish scene.

Subaru’s mind turned completely white at the sight he had never even considered.

“――Huh?”

Swaying red flames echoed inside the tower, crying out like countless infants.

Those phenomena were interconnected, leading to one conclusion—that the bewitching beasts dressed in fiery manes were violently flooding in.

With horse-like legs and bodies, topped with human arms and upper bodies sprouting from them. The upper body of a human adorned with a maw full of fangs, and they were trying to incinerate the oxygen within the tower with their horrifying flame.

Subaru saw that there were over twenty such beasts rampaging on the fifth floor below.

The extraordinary heat radiated upwards, reaching the startled crowd of Subaru and Reid, so intensely it felt as if their eyes might dry up instantly.

What is truly happening? What is happening!?

“There’s a creepy beast over there. You know what that is?”

“…I don’t know. This is my first time seeing any beast other than giant worms…huh!?”

Next to Subaru, who was unable to take his eyes away from the chaos below, Reid suddenly asked a question. Subaru shook his head in confusion at Reid’s query.

Enveloped in flames, the beasts soared within the tower—though referred to for convenience as Centaurs, these Centaurs let out a thunderous roar.

The shrill cries that emanated from their grotesque mouths expanded from the chest to the abdomen, fueling the fury of their anguished screams.

The reason why the Centaurs were screaming with such ferocity was due to the presence of a knight who rushed through the throngs of beasts wielding a slender sword against them.

“――Shit!”

Holding his breath, a refined sword strike slipped through the gaps in the sea of flames.

Blood splattered, and the limbs of the beasts were severed, sending an echo of screams that followed a heartbeat later. That knight, pressured by such overwhelming numbers, dodged and leaped at the next foe.

That knight was――,

“――Julius!”

Subaru couldn’t help but cry out his name, a wave of relief washing over him upon spotting a survivor.

Whether that feeling was colored more with joy or sorrow was something he couldn’t quite determine himself.

Just moments before, he had found himself facing the corpse of Mei.

Any subsequent reunion with someone could just as easily bring about that person’s demise. That lingering anxiety weighed heavily on him. So, it was good news that this anxiety was momentarily dissipated.

“――――”

While he marveled at the scene unfolding above, Julius continued to fight the beasts below, swinging his blade valiantly.

Numbers were against him, but each beast was nothing compared to Julius’s skill. Still, if all he had to rely on against the flaming beasts was his sword, a limit would eventually be reached.

—And if he were to meet his end there, that would mean another entry into the “Book of the Dead.”

“Wherever the others are… well, it’s convenient—”

“――っ”

The moment a dark thought of wishing for a “death” of someone he knew crept up in Subaru’s heart, Reid’s murmuring brought Subaru back to reality.

But, seemingly oblivious to Subaru’s inner turmoil, Reid grinned and took another step closer to the precipice.

“W-What are you thinking!?”

“You sure ask a lot of questions. Instead of asking me, how about you try doing something unexpected for a change? Talking to you is dull. You’re neither a fun watch nor pleasant to chat with. What do you want to talk to me about?”

“――――”

“To me, it seems you’re the one wondering what to do. Your crew’s below, surrounded by creepy beasts, and you’re just standing there? Pathetic guys have fewer options. All you get good at is making excuses.”

Reid’s words bore the logic of a predator toying with its prey.

Subaru couldn’t deny that, as it was clear that Reid’s reasoning didn’t apply one bit to him, highlighting the chasm between the strong and the weak in that moment.

“Hah.”

As Subaru stayed silent and failed to retort, Reid leaned forward without a glance back.

No time to stop. Reid’s body gently toppled over the edge, being cast into the air without support, following the same path Subaru had once experienced through his own falls.

Straight down, straight down, straight down, Reid fell.

Natsuki Subaru, back then, had lost consciousness before he could even see the ground being smacked by him, unable even to face his own death.

Yet now, the red-haired swordsman, Reid, fell, fell, fell――,

“――ッッ！！”

Suddenly, from above, a weathered sandal crushed down on the Centaur’s torso, shattering it. The impact was overwhelming, causing the beast’s limbs to shatter at the sheer force, reducing its massive form into a puddle of dark blood on the fifth floor.

This reckless act was achieved by Reid Astraea, who soared down from a height that would have killed Subaru, squashing the beast beneath his sandal while remaining unscathed.

“――――”

With that appearance, the beasts, which had seemingly lacked any intelligence, came to a halt, and amidst the sudden intrusion of the red-haired man, the baby’s shrieks abruptly ceased.

Upon closer examination, it appeared that the headless beasts were confirming the presence of enemies not through sight, but with their other senses.

With simply their remaining senses, Reid’s abnormality registered.

And this was true for Julius as well, who was also fighting vigorously against the beasts, equipped with fully intact senses.

“Why are you… here?”

“Why, why, why? Are you all just going to ask the same thing? Isn’t there something else? Like tips to charm women, good alcohol brands, or asking how I became the strongest in the world?”

Reid brushed aside the flesh clinging to his sandal before addressing the gawking Julius.

He then pointed at one of the remaining Centaurs standing nearby.

In his hand, strangely, he held a thin wooden stick—is it chopsticks!?

“The secret to charming women is looks. The good booze is Fire Wine, ‘Gran Hilt.’ –And why am I the strongest in the world? It’s simple, because I’m me.”

Breaking it down rhythmically, Reid wiggled the chopsticks around.

In the next instant, cracks ran through the Centaur’s body which had been motionless until that moment, and blood sprayed forth. A delayed realization of its own bodily destruction sent the beast shrieking in pain.

That, which distinctly resembled the cry of an infant clinging to this world, was the most horrid idea.

Yet, the man who unleashed that chaos did so without breaking his smile, now pointing those seemingly innocuous chopsticks towards Julius instead.

And then, as if sensing an overwhelming dread from those chopsticks, Julius widened his yellow eyes in alarm while Reid grinned and declared,

“—Now, let’s continue the ‘test.’ Try to pry it away before I get bored, will ya?”

 

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