Outside the screen, Emilia tightened her grip on Natsuki Subaru's hand and began to panic, her mind filled with the image of Shaula passing straight through her just moments ago.
[Emilia: How? How could this happen? What's going on with Subaru now?]
[Betty: That person on the screen isn't Betty, but she's far too much like Betty.]
Even Betty felt a little frightened. She knew perfectly well that the person in the footage wasn't her, but seeing her respond the way she did, saying those things in her tone of voice, made the whole scene feel eerie to Betty.
[Julius: If it's merely an illusion, it shouldn't react like that. It's almost... almost as though they're really us.]
Anastasia calmed down and forced herself to think.
[Anastasia: Unless that isn't some momentary illusion, but some kind of Authority. Or was that thing created through us?]
[Ram: In other words, Barusu isn't talking to illusions. He's talking to "things we left behind."]
Otto offered his own guess as well, even though it was hard to believe.
[Otto: Then why would nothing but these records of you remain in that future? Could the people themselves no longer exist, leaving only things that can be read and simulated?]
Emilia closed her eyes. She understood, but she didn't want to admit it, or let her thoughts go in that direction.
[Emilia: No, a future like that... please don't think in that direction.]
Natsuki Subaru watched the two people on the screen, feeling a little pained. Without this screen, that would be my future, wouldn't it?
[Natsuki Subaru: So does that mean only Shaula and I survived?]
Natsuki Subaru made a reasonable inference, and then-
No one answered. Some had considered the possibility, but none had said it outright.
Emilia tightened her grip on Natsuki Subaru's hand a little more, as though the person before her really would vanish into that future if she loosened it even slightly.
[Emilia: No.]
[Emilia: It definitely isn't like that.]
Betty stared at the screen, her expression utterly grim. If it was merely a fake, there was naturally nothing to fear, but that "Betty" was far too much like her.
So much so that she could even guess what tone she would use next, how she would turn her face away, and whether she would deliberately hide her concern behind harsh words.
That wasn't Betty. But there was a shadow of Betty in her.
On the screen, Natsuki Subaru and Shaula finished lunch and continued on their way.
As they walked, Natsuki Subaru chatted with Emilia, Betty, and the others.
Until a dragon carriage passed in front of them.
Natsuki Subaru finally snapped out of those lingering images, then took Shaula's hand, intending to move out of the carriage's way.
But the dragon carriage before them slowly stopped, and a figure stepped down from it.
"Could you be Mr. Natsuki Subaru?"
Hearing someone call his name, Natsuki Subaru relaxed slightly, then got a clear look at the other person. A tall young man who had been sitting in the driver's seat slowly climbed down.
Outside the screen, Otto recognized him as Regin Suwen, his younger brother. But immediately afterward, a sudden, inexplicable sense of foreboding came over Otto.
Yet on the screen, they were simply having a calm conversation.
Unsure how to respond, Natsuki Subaru looked toward Emilia, Betty, and the others, who shook their heads at him as well.
"Have you forgotten? I'm Regin Suwen. Thank you for always looking after my older brother, Otto Suwen. We met once in the village."
"Oh." Natsuki Subaru caught on. "That Otto."
Hearing that odd phrasing, Regin remarked, "That sounds a little strange, somehow. Almost like you're talking about someone else."
"Sorry."
"It's all right. You must be busy with the royal selection. I've heard all about it. You can't help being this busy. Has my brother been causing you trouble?"
Natsuki Subaru looked at Emilia and the others.
They indicated that Otto hadn't caused any trouble. If anything, Otto had been a tremendous help to them.
So Natsuki Subaru answered Regin according to what Emilia and the others had told him.
"Otto is a very reliable companion."
Hearing that his brother was doing well put Regin somewhat at ease. "That's a relief."
Regin glanced at Natsuki Subaru and Shaula beside him.
"What are you doing out in such a remote part of the countryside, Mr. Subaru? And on foot, rather than in a dragon carriage."
Natsuki Subaru gave an answer that missed the point. "Ah, right, right. I'd like to use a dragon carriage, too. As for what I'm doing..."
Natsuki Subaru fell silent. After a brief moment of thought, he blurted out his answer.
"Right now, I'm taking another look at myself... I suppose you'd call it a 'journey to find myself.'"
"A journey to find yourself?"
"That's right, a journey to find myself. Ah... haha."
Feeling that his own words sounded a little strange, Natsuki Subaru couldn't help laughing.
Regin kept feeling that something was off about the Natsuki Subaru before him. "Are you all right? Are you feeling unwell?"
"I am feeling a little unwell, actually, but luckily I ran into you here. That's a relief."
Natsuki Subaru lowered his head in thanks.
Seeing Natsuki Subaru behave this way only deepened Regin's confusion. "Mr. Subaru, if you don't mind, please come to my village over there and let me examine you at my clinic. I think you need some rest."
"That's your village up ahead, right? Have I been there before?"
"Of course. You came with my brother to help out before. Have you forgotten?"
"I see. Thank you. That answers most of what I wanted to ask."
Natsuki Subaru continued speaking to Regin. "You and your brother talk much the same way. You're a good person. Your brother must be a good person, too."
Looking at the puzzled Regin, Natsuki Subaru said no more to him.
He turned to Shaula and said, "Don't let him suffer."
Then he softly said one more thing to Regin. "Sorry."
Shaula nodded, and a beam of white light shot out.
The confusion on Regin's face hadn't even had time to turn into fear. The next instant, the white light pierced through him.
The question he hadn't managed to ask stopped there forever.
The enraged ground dragon charged at them, and Shaula fired another beam of white light.
The ground dragon fell to the ground as well, the white light having taken its life.
Seeing this, Natsuki Subaru shouted at Shaula, "Hey!"
"Master, I didn't mean to. It was just self-defense."
"Sigh. When will we finally stop having to walk everywhere?"
Outside the screen, no one spoke right away. That hadn't been a fight, nor an accidental killing. After hearing that the other person knew him, Natsuki Subaru had given the order himself.