Just as everyone was pondering this, a new notification appeared on the screen.
[Observation privileges and broadcast scope expanded.] [Current content will involve branches further into the future. Future broadcasts will also show the futures of other timelines.] [Classification: Gluttony Route.] [New observers: personnel involved in the royal selection.] [Basic records synchronized: Return by Death.] [Basic records synchronized: Gluttony Branch.] [Emilia: Other timelines? The future? What does that mean?] [Anastasia: Judging by what it says here, we live in one of those timelines, and what we watch on the screen is a future point in this timeline.] [Otto: So there are other timelines, too? Other versions of Natsuki Subaru and us? That's unbelievable.]
Natsuki Subaru looked at the words "other timelines," and an inexplicable chill settled in his heart.
The Gluttony Route alone had already shown him that man sitting before the Book of the Dead, waiting for "the hero Natsuki Subaru" to come back and save him.
What about those other timelines?
Was there another version of him who had made a decisive choice at some crucial moment, then walked step by step toward an entirely different ending?
At that thought, his breath caught.
This thing called the future could veer somewhere he could never return from with just one wrong step.
Natsuki Subaru recalled the Natsuki Subaru on the screen, with his sense of inferiority, then silently sighed.
As the new words appeared on the screen, the Sage's Tower was not the only place outside it that fell silent.
In the royal capital, in the mansion, in dragon carriages on the road, and even in the rooms occupied by different camps, everything dimmed for an instant at the same time.
This observation centered on Natsuki Subaru had finally reached beyond the Sage's Tower.
Crusch looked at the lines on the screen, her gaze gradually darkening.
The first things she noticed were those two "Basic records synchronized" entries.
"Return by Death?"
She did not immediately ask how much benefit this ability could bring, nor did she rush to judge whether Natsuki Subaru was dangerous. In an instant, she simply connected Natsuki Subaru's past with this information.
[Crusch: If Return by Death is real, then what Natsuki Subaru has shouldered until now is heavier than we imagined.]
When Felix first saw Emilia and the others chatting, he had wanted to join them.
But after seeing Crusch mention "Return by Death," his expression turned grim.
[Felix: Subaru... is this how you've come back every time?] [Felix: Even if your body recovered, your memories didn't recover along with it. All those memories of death and pain...] [Felix: That doesn't sound like being healed at all.]
As Al watched everyone's words on the screen, his fingers unconsciously pressed against the edge of his helmet.
[Al: Hey, hey, bro, this isn't something you can brush off as "bad luck," is it?] [Al: Coming back after dying... just hearing that makes my stomach hurt.]
Felt stared at the screen for a long time. She finally understood what this screen that had appeared was, and her expression grew increasingly grim.
[Felt: Hey, is this for real?] [Felt: What kind of lousy ability is Return by Death?] [Felt: Doesn't that mean he has to die first whenever he's in danger?]
She paused, as though something had occurred to her.
[Felt: Reinhard, can you see this?] [Felt: If that guy really is about to die someday, don't just stand there like an idiot waiting for my orders.]
Reinhard's words soon appeared.
[Reinhard: I understand.] [Reinhard: If I can reach him, I will not stand by and do nothing. That is also my duty.]
He paused.
[Reinhard: Subaru bore all of this alone before, yet I only learned of it now.] [Reinhard: For that, I am sorry.]
Natsuki Subaru looked at those words, a jumble of feelings stirring in his heart.
He did not remember these people.
Yet their reactions were like threads reaching out from unfamiliar places, gently catching hold of him.
They made him realize that the "Natsuki Subaru" of the past truly had formed connections with many people.
And those connections were now returning before his eyes, little by little.
Just then, the screen changed again.
In a conference room in the Water Gate City.
"Natsuki Subaru was corrupted by his inner demons. To find his memories, he murdered everyone traveling with him. Only I... escaped."
Anna spoke sorrowfully.
Hearing this, everyone frowned, as though saying, "That can't be possible."
Anna then confessed, "I am Dona Fox. Anna is asleep within this body, and the current Natsuki Subaru is no longer the person you knew."
(Dona Fox was an artificial spirit created by Echidna, the Witch of Greed, disguised as the scarf Anna wore.)
"In the forbidden library inside the Sage's Tower, there are Books of the Dead that record the lives of the deceased."
"After Natsuki Subaru lost his memories, he resorted to the most vile means to recover his original self. He wants to kill everyone who knows him, read their [lives], and reconstruct his original self."
Reinhard voiced his doubts. "That can't be something Natsuki Subaru could do alone, can it? No matter how strong he is, he couldn't kill so many people by himself."
He then asked Otto, who was beside him, for his opinion.
"If reading the Book of the Dead is his goal, how would he carry it out?"
"Dona Fox has no reason to tell us a lie like that," Otto answered firmly, though his voice began to tremble. "Although this is all so sudden, and I don't want to believe anything like that, either."
It was as though Otto was forcibly suppressing the intense emotions in his heart.
Garfiel noticed Otto's distress. "Bro Otto, are you all right?"
Seeing that everyone had gained some understanding of the situation, Dona Fox continued.
"The one assisting Natsuki Subaru is Shaula of the Sage's Tower."
"Shaula? Isn't that the Great Sage in the Sage's Tower?" everyone asked in confusion.
"The Great Sage is Flugel. Shaula is his disciple. And when we entered, we discovered that Shaula mistook Natsuki Subaru for Flugel, the Great Sage from four hundred years ago."
Reinhard continued questioning her. "So Shaula assisted Natsuki Subaru and killed everyone?"
Dona Fox nodded.
An uproar broke out among them-the hero who had saved the Water Gate City, the defection at the Sage's Tower, and the Great Sage spoken of throughout the world.
The bad news came one piece after another, and for a time, none of them could accept these facts.
Dona Fox slowly spoke. "I do not want to go and defeat Natsuki Subaru, even if I am somewhat angry with him."
Dona Fox sighed. "But I'm tired. Whether it's hating or being hated, isn't it all just like children swinging their fists?"
"I will withdraw from the royal selection. I cannot let Anna continue competing in this cruel royal selection. I have suffered an irreparable failure."
Having said that, Dona Fox prepared to leave.
No one stopped her. They silently digested the bad news.
They truly had never expected that "Natsuki Subaru," the hero who had saved the Water Gate City, would become their enemy.
Even the legendary Shaula had become Natsuki Subaru's accomplice.