I swallowed the words that were told to me, chewed them over, and digested them.

It only took a few seconds for them to pass through my throat, settle into my stomach, and circulate to my brain. Slowly, I closed my eyes, taking in the meaning.

“I didn’t expect you to be this composed. I thought you would be wailing and crying a lot more.”

Perhaps it was because of Subaru’s unexpectedly calm reaction that Beatrice murmured those words in surprise.

In response to her comment, Subaru quietly nodded and said, “There are about three possibilities I can think of.”

He raised three fingers and pointed them at Beatrice, who was standing in front of him.

To showcase them to her, he folded one of the fingers and continued, “First up, black humor—bad jokes. Honestly, it’s not a funny situation, but… if a ‘prank success!’ sign pops up, then I guess it’s okay to laugh. If it were to pop up, it better be now!”

Subaru winking at his request, but Beatrice’s expression stayed the same.

Accepting that the most benign possibility was off the table, he sighed and folded his second finger.

“Second, the injuries were too severe. I actually saw my insides spilling out. Even if you say it’s just life support keeping me going, I can’t exactly believe it… but I can understand it.”

“There’s no way there would be any inadequacies in the treatment done by me and Beatrice. There will be scars, and even if it’s not fully healed yet, it can still go back to its original state over time. I won’t just let someone I’ve managed to help die like that.”

“Right. Even if my insides are spilling out, I’ve been saved before… wait, this was just three or four days ago, right?”

Due to the monotony of the repeat days, the timeline was hard to gauge, but Subaru was sure his injury caused by Elsa happened four days ago.

—And just four days later, he found himself in a situation where his belly was about to be torn open again. Perhaps someone getting their intestines ruptured in such a short time span was quite rare indeed.

“Honestly, I’d rather not be in this situation… That said,”

He waved his remaining three fingers back and forth, raising the last possible conclusion he had.

“The cause of death I’m facing? Well, there’s only one I can think of.”

Out of the multiple possibilities of how Subaru could meet his demise during the repetitive days at Roswaal’s Mansion, the one that matched his current situation was—

“A curse for revenge?”

“The kind that was planted in me heavily when I was attacked by a pack of Urgalm.”

Beatrice responded, crossing her arms, reaffirming Subaru’s deduction.

The white scars remaining on his body—a reminder of the bites and scratches from multiple Urgalm—made him acutely aware.

“Just to be sure, can curses be lifted? It’s not like you’re holding back for some reason, right?”

Considering her strange tendency to say things like, “I didn’t do it because you didn’t ask,” he decided to probe her on this concern.

However, she shook her head at Subaru’s hopeful inquiry and said:

“If it were something that could be removed, I would have certainly placed a great debt upon you by now.”

“Hey, come on. I’ve already got so much to pay back that it’s a heavy burden as is.”

Always taking without being able to give anything back. In his previous iterations and this one.

Beatrice looked at Subaru, her expression inquisitive, but he waved his hand dismissively.

“Can I ask what makes this curse unbreakable?”

“…Knowing how one dies is a fair enough thing to know. It’s a simple matter. —There are too many curses overlapping, making it too complicated.”

“Curses are overlapping…?”

As Subaru scratched his head, unable to picture it, Beatrice spread her arms wide.

Then, she quickly tied a red thread between her palms.

“What if we consider this thread as the curse? To put it simply, lifting a curse would mean untying this knot. But,”

Beatrice’s fingers deftly maneuvered, causing the number of threads across her palms to multiply. Blue, yellow, green, pink, black, white—more and more colors appeared, and she tied knots in each while intertwining them even more intricately—

“If there were just one curse, then you could pull on it to untangle it. But when multiple threads get mixed up like this…”

She reached out to present the tangled threads to Subaru, and as he examined the complicated web before him, he said, “So even if I try to pull or tug, I can’t untangle it… Ah, damn, this is definitely a high difficulty level.”

Even if he intended to untie each one, he had no idea where to even start.

Of course, if he devoted time to it, he didn’t think it was impossible to untangle.

“I had a condition of half a day, though. What’s that based on?”

“Simply put, in half a day, the Urgalm would get hungry enough.”

Beatrice raised a finger and pointed it at Subaru as she continued.

“The Urgalm’s curse is especially focused on ‘stealing mana from distant targets.’ Since magical beasts’ meals mainly consist of mana… it’s easy to deduce the motive behind the curse.”

“Because they’re hungry, they attack people. Got it, just like a wild animal—simple logic. I should probably thank them for not having their bellies empty until now.”

Feeling the need to vent his frustrations somewhere, the threads in his hand reminded him of the tangled knot. Overwhelmed with those almost indescribable emotions, Subaru tried to untie the tight knot but was met with Beatrice’s puzzled gaze.

“Hey, aren’t you scared?”

“Eh?”

“It’s a death sentence for you. And Beatrice and I have the means to help, but for the sake of time, we won’t do anything.”

Subaru had roughly half a day left—depending on the monsters’ hunger levels, it could activate at any moment.

With such a lack of time, the curse plaguing Subaru was clearly not simple enough to be solved in time for him to emerge unscathed.

That’s why Beatrice wouldn’t take the bet, and Pack wouldn’t either.

While he understood the rationality behind their judgments, he found it difficult to grasp her intention in voicing it so overtly.

Beatrice was looking directly at Subaru. As she toyed with the threads in her hand, an epiphany struck him—what she was looking for was:

“What the heck, do you want me to blame you?”

“—.”

Beatrice fell silent. Usually, she would start retorting instantly, but this time, her choice of silence was inscrutable.

She neither denied nor confirmed. Subaru chuckled, “The judgment from you and Pack looks like a lack of empathy from a humanitarian aspect, but from a rational viewpoint, it seems obvious. Giving everything you got to someone you know is going to die—a beautiful narrative for a story, perhaps, but just surface-level.”

Pouring everything into a life you know will not continue.

It may seem beautiful as a way to face life. However, from a realistic viewpoint, there’s no denying the fact that such acts would be futile. Naturally, emotions mix in, prompting one to dive into such actions.

“I don’t consider you to be unsympathetic. You are right. —But something else came to mind, may I ask?”

“…What is it?”

“Does Emilia know about the curse placed on me?”

In the room where Subaru had been sleeping, the girl who was exhausted from keeping watch was still sleeping.

Given the events that Pack and Beatrice had observed and shrugged off, he was deeply concerned about how she was dealing with the situation they had chosen to ignore.

In response to Subaru’s inquiry, Beatrice shook her head.

“That mixed breed girl doesn’t know. She’s avoiding touching your curse so that she doesn’t find out about its existence.”

“…Ah, I see. If Pack couldn’t leave Emilia while he was lifting the curse, it’s highly likely she’d figure out that I’m cursed, alongside the fact that the means to lift it is too far.”

If they remained silent about the curse’s activation, Emilia would only be scarred mentally one time. If Pack prioritized Emilia over all else, it would make sense for him to avoid a tragedy.

Reading into Pack’s seemingly strong intentions, Subaru continued, “So then,”

To signal a break in the conversation, Subaru pointed a finger at Beatrice.

As he noticed her brow knit in thought, he said, “You’re not the type to just come around here to issue a death warrant, are you?”

“…What do you think you know about Beatrice?”

“At least, I feel like it’s been quadruple the amount of time since we’ve known each other.”

Seeing the frown deepen and doubt flicker across the girl’s face, Subaru reflected on the short yet long days that had passed.

His relationship with Ram and Rem had improved since the first encounter. The bond with Emilia—aside from the fact that he’d sobbed in her lap—was fair. He’d fully grasped the identity of the sorcerer tormenting him, and managed to save the villagers’ children.

Looking back at these continuous loops, this run had garnered a near-perfect score.

That was if he factored in Subaru’s own life into the equation.

“When I got bitten all over by those dogs, I honestly thought I was dead. Pathetic, right?”

He had experienced that sensation of life slipping away far too many times.

Subaru had grown accustomed to it. Resignation had settled in. After coming this far and going through so much.

Above all,

“The treatment for my injuries was done by you, Rem, and Emilia, right? If you were planning to abandon me because of the curse and all, there wouldn’t be such proper care given.”

To give up on oneself, after so much effort expended keeping him alive was an insult to those who desperately tried to hold on to him.

Including the small kitten that had patched Subaru up with the threads of his body.

“You guys are really bad at lying.”

“…It is a fact that the chances of survival are low. My sister is certainly trying to keep that girl from getting involved.”

“Trying to look like the villain so you can take the brunt of my anger? That little girl’s being too considerate.”

“Let me hear it. What are those teeny tiny chances you’re mentioning?”

Forming a small ring with his thumb and forefinger, Subaru brought it to Beatrice’s attention to coax her for an answer.

After a brief hesitation, she sighed, as if giving up.

“Since the one who placed the curse on you is an Urgalm, it’s clear that it’s made to completely drain your mana.”

That much was understood. And Subaru had felt its power.

Thus, the instant when the Urgalm that cursed him decided to have its ‘meal’, Subaru’s life would be at stake. After all, once activated, there were no means to prevent the curse from taking effect—

“Wait. Then what about the children’s curse?”

The kids Subaru discovered deep in the forest were weak and frail. It was likely that they’d been subjected to the same curse he had. He hadn’t thought of this at that point.

“If the curse hit them and they were being drained of mana, then the pattern should go that they would be emptied out entirely. Yet those kids are fine—so those are lies meant to help me, right?”

If such were the case, everything up to that point would be pushing it too far for Subaru to accept.

However, Beatrice halted Subaru’s hasty thoughts by extending her palm toward him.

“Hold on. You’re jumping the gun. You need to listen until the end. But we’re getting to the crux of the matter. —The children’s curse has indeed been broken. The means to do so might just line up with a tiny chance at saving your life.”

“The difference between the kids and me…?”

Subaru ran through the thoughts in his mind.

The difference between Subaru and the children’s curses—each child’s curse was singular, whereas Subaru was dealing with multiple. Activated curse. Unactivated curse. A curse that drains mana. Weakness from loss of mana. Mana that was taken. Mana that was lost as the monster’s meal. —If that’s the case,

A single possibility suddenly materialized in his mind, and Subaru faced Beatrice with a determined look.

“What happens to the mana that gets taken if the curse caster dies?”

In response to the question, Beatrice shook her head without changing her expression and nodded once.

“If it has no destination, the curse itself loses its efficacy. That’s because this particular type of curse is designed not to kill, but to steal mana.”

With Beatrice’s affirmation, Subaru felt a sense of internal acceptance.

As for the children’s curse—its progression came to a halt because the monster, the caster of the curse, had died. Thus, if the caster died, what remained in the children’s bodies would just be a mere technique, which Pack and Beatrice could easily undo.

Last night, there had to be quite a few magical beasts that had perished in that forest.

From the one Subaru managed to take down during their initial encounter, to the number of others that were taken down by Rem while they were fleeing.

If any of those beasts had been the one who placed the curse on the children, then there was currently no element to contradict that conclusion.

And that conviction simultaneously—

“Ah, I see, so that’s what’s going on.”

Having recognized how solid his deduction had become, Subaru finally realized something.

The significance of Beatrice still standing before him in that sorrowful stance.

Since it was impossible to lift the curse through normal means, the only way to break the curse placed on Subaru was to kill the caster.

But,

“The bastards who cast the curse on me are way too many for me to pin down.”

Turning around, Subaru surveyed the forest where the magical beasts reside.

Surrounded by barriers, the village and the forest were isolated by something beyond physical means. Within the depths of that forest lay scattered the packs of magical beasts.

Finding them and exterminating them all within half a day was an impossible task.

“Ah, damn it…”

He almost let out a laugh, placing his hands on his forehead as he bowed his head.

He found himself in total agreement. He was staring directly at a reality he couldn’t turn away from.

Unless he wiped out the Urgalm, he wouldn’t be saving his life.

The difficulty of accomplishing that within half a day. More than anything, the danger of entering the forest and confronting the packs of magical beasts—that was the reason for Pack’s hesitation to tell Emilia the truth.

“My sister…”

“I already know without you saying it. If Emilia knows, knowing her, she would definitely push herself. That’s something I’m really happy about… but also really scary.”

Without hesitation, she’d sacrifice herself for others, so though Subaru saw that possibility, he wouldn’t dare ask that of her.

If he were to lose her right in front of him, Subaru would experience a kind of suffering that would tear him apart more than a hundred times over.

“The difficulty level is insane. There’s no way I can do it. So I should give up—”

“Then are you going to throw in the towel?”

The voice resonated in Subaru’s mind as he began to speak.

It was a distant sound blurred in the noise, a thin voice akin to something echoing from the depths of his subconscious.

Startled, he raised his gaze and looked around.

Aside from Subaru and Beatrice, there was no one else in that place. Yet, that voice…

“There’s no other way to save you…”

A voice that seemed to plead for help. Yet, behind it lay a bittersweet resolve.

“Is your head starting to hurt? That wouldn’t be surprising.”

“Is that all? The rest is up to you to decide.”

As Beatrice’s voice droned on, it intertwined with another version of her voice.

Where it came from was unknown. But it was a conversation he had undeniably encountered before, now flashing back into his mind.

His surroundings blurred, and with the clashing of a ringing alarm and a splitting headache, Subaru felt his knees giving way.

“—I will definitely save you.”

He steadied himself, reaffirming his resolve as he rose.

That familiar voice was one Subaru knew all too well.

And then he realized what he had to ask.

“—Where’s Rem?”

Since this morning, he hadn’t laid eyes on the blue-haired girl not even once.

She should have returned together with Subaru and the children from the forest. She was the one supposed to have carried him, after all. Pack had confirmed as much too.

Though, that was only the situation as of their return.

Could it be that she was resting somewhere due to the severity of her own injuries?

—Something to do with the demonification side effects or whatnot, but the rumor was there were no external injuries.

If that was the case, was she busy assisting the villagers along with Ram around the village?

—If Rem could enter the kitchen, Ram wouldn’t be able to pull off her specialty sweet potato dish.

Then where could she possibly be if she didn’t have injuries but wasn’t in the kitchen?

“Beatrice… Beatrice, where’s Rem?”

Subaru asked hesitantly, and Beatrice stroked one of her curls.

“If you were in the same position, what would you do?”

“That’s not an answer!”

Confronted with her vague response, Subaru lunged forward. However, the abrupt movement turned out to be too much for his blood-shortened body, causing him to stumble.

He stood there, swaying, struggling to remain upright.

He understood that it was merely a venting of frustrations. And he also comprehended that Beatrice had meant to allow him to let it out.

Despite recognizing her kindness, he found himself infuriated by the weakness that compelled him to lean on her.

Just then,

“—Ah, there you two are. Sorry to intrude, but do you happen to know where Rem is?”

Had she heard Subaru’s frustrated outburst? The pink-haired girl appeared from a corner near the plaza. She looked curiously at the two facing each other before tilting her head, seemingly reminiscent of the current question.

In response to her gesture, Beatrice kept her impenetrable indifferent expression.

However, Subaru found it impossible to match her attitude. He immediately averted his gaze from the face of the girl, who bore an uncanny resemblance to his sister.

Observation of Subaru’s blatancy in reacting made Ram’s expression suddenly shift to one of unease.

“—No way.”

With her hand slipping through her hair, Ram covered one of her eyes and murmured that.

In an instant, as Subaru watched Ram transform before his eyes, he couldn’t help but gasp.

Her left eye covered, the right one bared open, bulging with veins. The sight of cyan veins surging against her pale face was grotesque, and the state of her bloodshot right eye only added to the horror.

Ignoring Subaru’s shock, Ram trembled the lips of her mouth as she exclaimed, “—I can’t see! No way, is Rem… beyond the barrier!?”

With bloodshot eyes wide, she turned toward the area where the barrier had been reinforced.

Subaru instinctively placed a hand on her shoulder and shouted, “Wait, do you know where it is!?”

“If I can just get inside the barrier… Don’t stop me, Balus!”

Attempting to shake off Subaru’s hand, Ram was equally as determined to push through. She twisted around, looking back at him.

“Beatrice!”

“—I presented the possibilities; that’s all. Of course, my sister doesn’t want to put that mixed breed girl in danger, and there’s no way for me to combat, being this far away from the Forbidden Library any longer. Even if you go, you wouldn’t be of help. Your choices are limited!”

“That can’t be right…Then, does that mean Rem is—”

—Alone, she must have charged into the magical beast’s forest, determined to wipe them out.

In this situation, it may have been a valid assessment to consider those capable of fighting as assets. Indeed, Rem had dominated the magical beasts in the forest at night.

But,

“How many of them can cast magic? In the first place, even if my curse could be broken, how would we go about checking it? We can’t just go killing them all randomly!”

“What do you mean? Wasn’t Balus’s curse supposed to be lifted…?”

At Subaru’s shrill cry, Ram’s eyes turned bloodshot with confusion. She then spun around to face Beatrice, hurrying to her side.

“What do you mean…? What’s going on, Beatrice?”

“To lift the complicated curse of the magical beasts, I ventured into the forest to exterminate the caster, the Urgalm pack. —If we could get to the point where one of you humans or my sister could be helped, it’s valid. But the chance is very slim.”

Ram momentarily lost her words to Beatrice’s blunt statement.

Yet after the briefest of pauses, she switched from sorrow to resolution, rushing to follow after her sister into the forest without a second thought.

“—Wait!”

Blocking Ram’s path with arms wide open, Subaru shouted at her. The pink-haired girl glared at him with piercing eyes.

“Move out of the way, Balus! Ram has no time to spare, so she won’t be gentle about it.”

“I’m not telling you to go running in without thinking! There are a few things I need you to answer first—be honest!”

“There isn’t time for that!”

“If you want to save Rem, then at least listen to me as a comrade. I want to maximize any chance we might have here.”

Seeing her firm demeanor waver, as if she hesitated at the thought of her struggling sister, Subaru pressed on.

“I’ve got two questions. First, if you can use that ability of yours, do you know where Rem is in the forest?”

“…Yes, I do. My ability is to share the sight of ‘those who resonate with me’ within my range. So if I can see what’s going on, we can move swiftly.”

“So rather than being a clairsentient, it’s like seeing from multiple perspectives. I can’t really grasp how that works, but if it means we can merge with Rem, then that works for me.”

Nodding at the first condition cleared, Subaru raised his second finger.

“Okay, my second question—are you the type of maid who can fight?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Ram narrowed her eyes and turned the table on him. Subaru prefaced his answer, “Well,”

“Uh, while we’re on our way to find Rem, who knows where a magical beast awaits to ambush? If you can’t protect yourself, then there’s no point in this. Just so you know, if a fight breaks out, I’ll only slow you down!”

“W-Wait! Are you planning to tag along with me!?”

Ram was unusually frantic as she considered that his self-deprecating view of his fighting capabilities. Realizing her anxiety at his situation, he reassured her.

“I get your unease, but it’s a necessity! I honestly don’t need to tag along for Rem’s survival…”

His last line trailed off, and Ram wore a troubled expression, unable to grasp it all.

Subaru quickly shook his hands in an attempt to amend things.

“If everyone can get out of this alive on day five, then I want to get through it as a team. We’ve gone through all this hassle so far, making all these repeated attempts to make progress. So please, just help me out a bit.”

As Subaru clasped his hands in a pleading gesture, Ram seemed torn over what to say.

In the end, she took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

“—If you’re expecting me to fight like a demonified Rem, that isn’t happening.”

“What do you mean?”

“Unlike Rem, I’m ‘hornless,’ so I can’t fully demonify. I can’t do melee like she did either; I can just use wind-type magic a little more aggressively.”

With that, as she lightly waved her fingers, a burst of strong wind ruffled Subaru’s hair.

If the natural interference caused by her magic were to escalate, it could likely become powerful enough to gouge into Subaru’s ankle or neck. Just considering that made him shudder.

However, as an ally, she was dependable beyond doubt.

“Beatrice! I’m heading into the forest with Ram from here on out. If Emilia wakes up before we return, please cover for us!”

“…If you’re planning on bringing back that blue-haired girl, do you understand that you’re effectively resigning your own life? Are you aware of that?”

“Not exactly. Let me correct you.”

In response to Beatrice’s low questioning, Subaru shook his head and said, “Nah, nah, nah.”

“It’s silly to be used to death and develop resignation. Life is precious; I only get one. I’ve come to appreciate it thanks to all you guys doing your best to keep me alive. So I’ll selfishly keep trying.”

Once before, he’d resigned himself, received help, and was allowed to continue living.

That was why Subaru could still beat with the pulse of life—that was all thanks to many reaching out to him.

With that time of extension he was given so generously,

“Let’s create a dramatic turnaround. After all, we’ve managed to pull through from the worst state, haven’t we? Lemme be greedy and witness an epilogue that includes me!”

A ridiculous sentiment with a explanation that didn’t make much sense.

Beatrice didn’t match the intention behind his words in the slightest, yet Subaru stood tall with pride, face beaming.

“I have no idea what’s going on in that head of yours. But, go ahead and do as you please. I’ve laid out the options; what you choose from here is up to your own whims.”

“You sent Rem off like that. Well, I thank you for it, Beatrice.”

As he glanced back towards the forest, deep in its shadows, he thought of the girl who was surely still fighting.

—That overzealous meddler, always jumping to conclusions, imagining emotions from others only to hastily arrive at her own assumptions. She really knows how to get on my nerves.

“I just want you to know that if you’re putting forth the effort to do something for me, I want to do something for you, too.”

With a determined hand and fists clenched in resolution, he declared as he stepped towards the forest of beasts.

Towards the pack of black beasts that resided within, and towards the supernatural entities that dragged Subaru into this fate—was a long-overdue declaration of war reemerging from the depths of his memory.

“All right, let’s take on the ultimate challenge. —Bring it on, destiny!”

Thus, the second stage, “Roswaal’s Mansion,” day four, and the fifth challenge began—.