Inside the green room, Betty and Emilia both stared fixedly at the spot where the screen had vanished.
Ram stood in the doorway, her lips pressed tightly together.
At a time like this, no one could help Natsuki Subaru.
All they could do was wait.
A few breaths later, a ripple suddenly spread through the space ahead.
Natsuki Subaru tumbled out of it. He failed to find his footing, his knees buckled, and he pitched forward.
"Subaru!"
Betty rushed over first and threw herself at him, catching his arm.
Emilia hurried to support his shoulder as well.
Natsuki Subaru gasped for breath, his face frighteningly pale and his forehead covered in cold sweat, as though he had just crawled back from some unseen abyss.
Betty looked up at him, and her eyes immediately reddened.
"Honestly..."
Her voice trembled a little.
"You always end up in such a sorry state. Subaru really is a huge idiot, I suppose."
Natsuki Subaru parted his lips as though trying to smile.
But he did not even have the strength for that. He only patted Betty's hand gently.
Only after Emilia confirmed that he was not too badly hurt to hold himself up did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Sit down first."
Together with Betty, she helped Natsuki Subaru over to the stone bed.
His shoulders were still rising and falling faintly as he leaned against it.
No one knew what he had just seen.
The screen had stopped showing images the moment he entered the Gluttony Route.
But his current state alone was enough for them to guess that it had certainly not been something easily accomplished with a single sentence.
Betty held Natsuki Subaru's hand without letting go.
Meanwhile, words continued appearing on the screen.
[Reward 2: Hearts Bound Together.] [Recipient: Beatrice.] [Effect: Allows remote access to the Mana within Natsuki Subaru, greatly reduces basic magic consumption, and allows both parties to sense each other's presence and location.]
Betty stared blankly at the screen.
Only after a long while did she lower her head and carefully feel it out.
It felt more like a very fine thread gently binding her to Natsuki Subaru. She could feel that Subaru was right here, leaning against the stone bed, his breathing still ragged and his body terribly weak.
Betty's fingers trembled slightly.
"Subaru..."
Natsuki Subaru was still panting, his face frighteningly pale, but he nevertheless made an effort to turn up the corners of his mouth for her.
"What is it, Betty?"
Betty did not answer immediately.
She only held his hand, as though repeatedly checking something. When Subaru had been sent away by the screen, she had been unable to sense anything. She could not see him, touch him, or catch up to him. She could only stand here and wait for that idiot to come back after reducing himself to this state yet again.
But things were different now.
As long as that thread remained, she would know Subaru was still there.
Even if he went somewhere out of sight, even if he stubbornly insisted he was fine again, even if he tried to keep everything to himself again, Betty would be able to find him.
"This reward..."
Betty lowered her head, her voice slightly muffled.
"Betty likes it very much."
Betty pressed her lips together.
Natsuki Subaru froze for a moment.
Betty raised her head. Her eyes were a little red, but her expression was fierce.
"But Subaru mustn't get the wrong idea."
"Huh?"
"Just because Betty can sense Subaru doesn't mean Subaru can run off like this from now on, I suppose."
"I haven't even said anything yet."
"Subaru's face says he'll do it sooner or later."
"Has my credibility really sunk that low?"
"As low as it can go."
Betty answered without hesitation. She held Natsuki Subaru's hand a little more gently than before, as though afraid of hurting him, or as though she did not want him to notice that she had actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Natsuki Subaru looked at her, then said softly after a moment:
"I see."
He slowly raised his hand and gently stroked Betty's head.
"Then if I disappear again, Betty will be the first to find me."
Betty pressed her lips together.
"Subaru had better not give Betty that chance."
"I'll try."
"Not try. You must."
Betty rested her forehead against his arm, her voice growing quieter.
"Betty never wants to feel that helpless again, I suppose."
Natsuki Subaru did not speak immediately.
He looked down at Betty, at the hand that held his and refused to let go, and finally gave a quiet reply.
"Yeah."
"I'll remember."
The words on the screen did not stop.
[Reward 3: Human Heart (You are no longer a tool, but a person true to your name.)] [Target: Shaula.] [You are Shaula. A person true to your name.]
The words stopped there.
There was no further explanation.
Shaula's past had never taught her what counted as being "human," so when she saw this reward, she did not immediately understand what it meant.
Before the screen, Shaula froze.
She looked at the words on the screen and tilted her head, her long hair swaying gently beside her shoulders.
"Shaula's reward?"
She lowered her head and looked at her hands.
Nothing seemed to have changed.
She was still Shaula.
Still the Shaula who had waited four hundred years for Master.
Something seemed to touch the depths of her chest. Once that feeling emerged, there was no stopping it. Before Shaula could say anything, tears welled up without warning, her body reacting faster than her mind.
Dazed, she raised a hand and touched the wetness on her face, as though learning for the first time that she could cry like this too.
Her chest felt swollen, filled with all kinds of emotions, so full that she did not know how to put those things into words.
She remembered herself on the screen, remembered the self who had held Master and refused to obey his order.
-Shaula won't obey that order.
What had Shaula been like then? She had not betrayed Master, nor had she broken. She simply had not wanted Master to die. She had wanted to hold him, to keep that person on the verge of shattering in her arms. Before the order reached her body, she had heard her own voice first.
Shaula's shoulders began to tremble faintly.
In the past, when she hurt others, she had only thought of it as an order. When she stayed in the tower waiting, she had only thought of it as a rule. But now, those she had killed and those she had hurt seemed to enter her heart for the first time, making her ache so badly that even breathing felt unfamiliar.
She did not know how to describe this feeling. Her chest simply felt swollen, and her tears would not stop falling. She did not want to do those things anymore. She did not want to kill anyone else because of an order, let anyone else go because of a rule, or see Master crying alone and begging for death again.
Wanting to protect someone, wanting to refuse someone, wanting to cry, wanting to stay.
All those things that had once seemed unrelated to Shaula crowded into her chest now. She slowly pressed a hand there. Nothing new had appeared inside, yet each beat suddenly felt incomparably real.
She seemed to be starting to understand, just a little. What it meant to like someone, what it meant to hurt someone, what she herself wanted. These things were still unfamiliar to Shaula, even a little frightening, but she did not look away. For the first time, she felt that the four hundred years she had spent waiting in the tower had not left her with nothing but orders.
From this moment on, Shaula could have a future too.
[Shaula: Shaula wants...]
The words paused for a long time.
As though she were seriously considering the first wish in her life that belonged to her alone.
Finally, she remembered that scene on the screen, remembered Master so broken that he begged for death, remembered holding him and saying, "Don't cry alone."
[Shaula: Shaula wants Master not to cry alone.] [Shaula: If you cry, you have to let Shaula stay with you.]
She pressed her hand to her chest. Her tears had not stopped, but a smile slowly appeared on her face.
[Shaula: Also, Shaula likes Master.] [Shaula: More than anyone.] [Shaula: Shaula loves Master, forever...]
This time, she looked at the screen and added her final sentence.
[Shaula: This is what Shaula herself wants to say.]
These were her own thoughts.
For a moment, no one in the green room spoke.
Natsuki Subaru leaned against the stone bed, still looking very pale, but when he saw those lines, his gaze wavered slightly.
He remembered Shaula in the Gluttony Route, remembered her holding another version of himself and crying, sobbing as she told him not to die alone, disobeying "Master's" order for the first time through her tears. Those feelings were far too earnest for him to brush aside with a joke, or pretend they were merely Shaula's usual noisy displays of affection.
Betty looked up at him without speaking.
Emilia also sat quietly beside him, gently supporting his back. She neither urged Subaru to respond nor explained anything on Shaula's behalf. She simply let him breathe slowly and finish reading those lines at his own pace.
Only after a long while did Natsuki Subaru raise his hand and leave words in the comment section.
[Natsuki Subaru: I hear you, Shaula.]
In front of another screen elsewhere, Shaula's eyes widened.
[Natsuki Subaru: Thank you.] [Natsuki Subaru: Thank you for being willing to cry with that version of me.] [Natsuki Subaru: I won't treat the affection and love you spoke of as a joke.] [Natsuki Subaru: Those are Shaula's own feelings.] [Natsuki Subaru: I'll remember them properly.]
Shaula stared at the screen, tears still on her face. After a moment, as though she had finally understood, she smiled again.
[Shaula: Yes! Master has to remember properly!] [Shaula: Shaula loves Master! Loves you so, so much!]
Her familiar tone had returned, but this time, no one in the green room thought it was merely noise.
Betty was still holding Natsuki Subaru. She buried her face against him, her fingers slowly tightening around his clothes. Only after a long while did she speak in a muffled voice.
"Subaru really is... an idiot people fall for easily, I suppose."
Natsuki Subaru looked down at her and gave a helpless smile.
"Can I take that as a compliment?"
"It wasn't a compliment to begin with, stupid Subaru!"
Betty spoke quietly, but did not let go. As though remembering the hand that had been held in the Forbidden Library, her voice became much softer than before.
"When Betty chose Subaru back then, she never intended to make Subaru look only at Betty."
Natsuki Subaru froze for a moment.
Betty raised her head. Her eyes were still a little red, but she looked at him very seriously.
"It's just that, to Betty, Subaru is the person Betty chose."
She tightened her grip on Natsuki Subaru's clothes and added another sentence.
"So Subaru must remember properly, I suppose. Whether it's Shaula's feelings or Betty's choice, you mustn't carelessly forget either."
Natsuki Subaru looked at her, then nodded firmly after a moment.
Ram stood in the doorway a short distance away, and only now did she slowly speak.
"Barusu truly is a sinful man."
Natsuki Subaru's shoulders twitched slightly.
"Miss Ram, could you not kick me while I'm down?"
Ram gave him an indifferent look.
"Ram is merely stating the facts. You were already on the verge of falling apart yourself, yet you still went and pulled someone else back from the brink of collapse. It's hardly strange for someone like that to be loved."
Natsuki Subaru stared in surprise.
Her words still sounded as cold as ever in Ram's way, but they no longer held that sharp mockery of the past. Ram looked away, her tone remaining calm.
"But Barusu had better remember. Being loved doesn't mean you can keep reducing yourself to this half-dead state."
She paused.
"Lady Emilia will worry. Betty will worry."
"And Rem, too."
Natsuki Subaru's breath caught slightly.
Ram did not look at him, only continued:
"Although Ram still can't truly remember her, Ram won't pretend she didn't hear."
She finally looked back at Natsuki Subaru.
"So, Barusu. Don't let the first thing Rem sees when she wakes up be you having pushed yourself to the brink of collapse again."
Natsuki Subaru nodded.
"...I'll be careful."
"That isn't very believable, but Ram will trust you this time."
Emilia stood to one side, watching them, and let out a soft sigh of relief. She saw that Betty still refused to let go, saw that Ram, despite standing at the doorway, had never left, and saw that although Subaru was so exhausted he could barely even sit upright, his gaze was a little steadier than when he had first returned.
The Natsuki Subaru who had cried and begged to die in that Gluttony Route had probably already been brought back by Subaru, because-if it was him, he would surely do that.
The Natsuki Subaru in this green room had not been left there alone anymore, either.
Natsuki Subaru leaned against the stone bed and wearily closed his eyes for a moment. His body still felt heavy, and his breathing had not fully steadied, but the hands holding him, the awkward concern, and the clumsy sentiments coming from the other side of the screen of light finally allowed him to slowly recover.
In front of another screen of light, Shaula stared at the words Natsuki Subaru had left for a long time.
She raised a hand and wiped the tears from her face.
Then, she said nothing more.
Shaula turned and ran off toward the green room.