Sloth

Subaru Natsuki's pupils contracted sharply. He gulped for air as he stared at the bustling street, his eyes trembling.

He had died, and it had been brutal. That madman's power was terrifyingly strange. Subaru hadn't been able to see any of his attacks, so the man had subdued him in an instant and tortured him to death.

But as Return by Death took hold, Subaru had seen them: pairs of pitch-black hands. They had twisted his body apart in an instant.

Subaru hugged himself tightly and trembled. The pain of being twisted around like a doll had been unbearable.

It had been so intense that even after Return by Death, he could still feel his bones being crushed.

It took him a long while to pull himself out of the memory. He remembered that he was on his way to seek allies for Emilia.

Knowing nothing about the situation, he had gone to Crusch and made grandiose claims, only to have his offer of cooperation rejected outright.

Even Crusch, who had once thought well of him, had gradually looked at him with disappointment.

Unwilling to give up, he had then gone to see Anata of the Hoshin Company.

At first, Anata had been warm toward him, as though she were interested in his proposed alliance.

But after drawing a great deal of information out of him, she had shown her true nature as a merchant.

She would not work with someone who had nothing to offer. In his naïveté, Subaru had laid everything bare before Anata, leaving himself with no leverage at all.

For the first time, Subaru felt truly stupid. With no other choice, he had decided to try his luck with Priscilla, the last Royal Selection candidate who might work with him.

Unsurprisingly, she had humiliated him, and