"It's a promise."
On the light screen, Natsuki Subaru's voice was very soft.
Shaula, however, looked down at their linked pinkies as though she had received some incredible treasure, her eyes shining brightly.
She stared for a while, then carefully gave them a little shake.
"Shaula goes last."
She repeated it softly, unable to keep the corners of her mouth down.
"Master will do it himself."
After saying this, Shaula finally narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, her whole body seeming to float.
She even leaned closer to Natsuki Subaru, tilted her face up, and asked, "Master, Shaula was super good just now, wasn't she?"
Natsuki Subaru did not answer.
Shaula had already begun nodding to herself.
"Mm-hmm, Shaula thinks Shaula was super good."
As she spoke, she raised a hand and pointed at her head, sneaking a glance upward.
"So could Master give me a pat? Just one is fine, too. After all, Shaula is the Shaula who got the final promise."
She said the words "final promise" very seriously.
Natsuki Subaru watched her for a while before slowly raising his hand.
The moment his palm settled on Shaula's head, she went quiet.
She lowered her head slightly, her long black hair falling over her shoulders, but the corners of her mouth slowly curled upward. She seemed to want to laugh out loud right away, yet feared that moving too much would make Natsuki Subaru withdraw his hand, so she fought to hold it in, letting only a very faint sound escape her throat.
"Hehe, I like it..."
Like a little animal having its head stroked by its owner.
Outside the light screen, everyone fell silent.
No one could laugh at a scene like this.
Shaula was far too happy.
So happy that even reproach became difficult to voice.
She heard "I'll kill you last" as "I'll stay with you until the end."
She heard death as favoritism.
She even felt that she had finally gained a very special place with her master.
Outside the light screen, Shaula widened her eyes and stared at her on-screen self for a long time.
"Master..."
"If Shaula could stay with Master until the end, and even make a promise with Master."
As she spoke, she cupped her cheeks in both hands, practically floating.
"At the end... you'll stay with Shaula all the way to the end. Doesn't that make me super special!"
Shaula truly was envious.
Envious of her on-screen self for being left until last.
Envious that that version of her could receive Natsuki Subaru's promise to "stay until the end."
Envious of that version of her who held out her pinky with a smile.
Inside the green room.
Natsuki Subaru looked down at his hand.
The way Shaula had desperately held back her laughter while having her head patted on-screen still lingered before his eyes.
Noisy, clingy, smug, easily satisfied.
A single sentence could keep her happy for ages.
A single promise could make her treat even death as a gift.
He suddenly understood that, in the Gluttony Route, the person waiting to be saved had probably never been just his other self.
The girl who entrusted everything to her "master" had long since become twisted, too.
The scene on the light screen continued.
Shaula moved to Natsuki Subaru's side, staying as close as she always did.
Her steps were light as she walked, and every so often, she stole a glance at her pinky. As though the warmth of their promise still lingered there.
"Master."
She suddenly called out.
"Hm?"
"Can Shaula be this good tomorrow, too?"
Natsuki Subaru did not answer immediately.
Shaula had already begun making her own plans.
"I'll be really good tomorrow, too."
"And the day after."
"And five thousand days from now."
"And then, all the way to the end, Shaula will stay with Master."
She said it as though it went without saying.
Natsuki Subaru lowered his eyes without correcting her.
Shaula stole a glance at him, and when she saw that he did not object, her smile grew a little wider.
"Hehe, Master didn't say no."
She took two light steps forward, then turned back to wait for him.
"Master, hurry up."
"Shaula will always wait for you."
Outside the light screen, Natsuki Subaru's breath briefly stopped when he heard those words.
Shaula said them so casually.
But spoken at this moment, those words left no one feeling at ease.
The scene on the light screen gradually darkened.
Shaula's light footsteps faded into the distance, until all that remained were words slowly emerging on the black light screen.
[The Q&A will begin shortly.] [Selected participants: Natsuki Subaru, Beatrice.]
Betty's grip on the hem of Natsuki Subaru's clothes suddenly tightened.
Natsuki Subaru looked down.
"Betty?"
Betty pressed her lips together without answering right away.
She hated these Q&As.
Every time the light screen put up Natsuki Subaru's name, something painful always followed.
"Since Betty was selected, Betty will answer properly."
Betty took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound the same as usual.
"Betty is Subaru's partner, I suppose."
The light screen did not give her much time to prepare.
[Question: At the end of the Gluttony Route, can Natsuki Subaru carry out his plan-piece together "Natsuki Subaru," activate Return by Death, and change everything?] [A. Yes.] [B. No.]
After the two choices appeared, the green room fell silent for a moment.
Compared to the complicated choices before, this question looked far too simple.
Felt was the first to speak.
[Felt: This question looks simple, which makes it more of a pain.] [Felt: That guy's already gone this far. It's not impossible that he has no chance at all, right?]
Otto did not answer immediately.
He stared at the two choices for a long time.
[Otto: If we look only at his goal, he really is close to succeeding.] [Otto: The Books of the Dead, the people who know Mr. Natsuki, memories, judgment, ways of acting.] [Otto: He's been piecing all of those things together.]
Anastasia picked up where he left off.
[Anastasia: The question is, can he get all the pieces?]
After those words, the atmosphere in the chat grew heavy.
Natsuki Subaru also looked toward the light screen.
Could he get all the pieces?
His Gluttony Route self killed people who knew him, read their Books of the Dead, and swallowed those memories into his mind, trying to piece together that "true Natsuki Subaru."
[Julius: The Books of the Dead record the dead.] [Julius: But if a person's name and memories have already been stolen by Gluttony, can the records left behind still be complete?] [Julius: Does that mean he might never be able to obtain everyone's memories?]
Otto seemed to think of something, and his expression worsened.
[Otto: Miss Rem.]
Ram's voice came through as well.
[Ram: Yes, there's Rem, too.]
Natsuki Subaru's breath caught slightly.
Rem.
[Ram: Rem is still alive.] [Ram: But her name and memories have been stolen.] [Ram: In that state, even if her Book of the Dead exists, it might not let Barusu read what he wants to read.]
Betty's fingers slowly clenched.
She had thought of it, too.
Where Rem was concerned, there might be nothing but a blank.
Or rather, the Natsuki Subaru of the Gluttony Route would be unable to read "Natsuki Subaru" from it.
Yet Rem was someone who could not be left out of Natsuki Subaru's life.
Without her, whatever he pieced together would forever be missing a piece.