Natsuki Subaru asked quite naturally. Standing before him was Gluttony, who had stolen his memories, a monster who discussed Return by Death as though it were a dish. But he could not show the slightest panic now. He even had to smile, as though he were making small talk.
Louis tilted her head at him.
A flicker of doubt crossed her eyes. But something invisible quickly smoothed it away. As though she had found an explanation for herself, she smiled again.
"Here? This is the lonely, white terminus of souls, Od Laguna's cradle-the Hall of Memories, where souls are filtered."
"Filtered?"
"Yes. Coming here washes the stains off souls. You could also call those stains... memories..."
She raised a hand and gestured idly in the air.
Natsuki Subaru nodded lightly.
"I see. So you're waiting for Natsuki Subaru?"
"That's right."
Louis smiled even more happily.
"Because I really, really want to meet you, big brother."
There was nothing pleasing about those words, but Natsuki Subaru still tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Natsuki Subaru sure is popular."
"Very popular. You're special, big brother."
Louis counted on her fingers, as though counting the most precious parts of a dish.
"You can remember people whose names were eaten, die over and over, and still return with your memories. You're only human, yet you have so many flavors of death."
At that, her smile grew even more cloying.
"Brother Ley likes you, and Brother Roy would want to eat you too. But of course, I'm the one who wants to eat you most."
Natsuki Subaru committed those two names to memory.
Ley.
Roy.
There were two more Gluttonies outside.
Rather than immediately pressing her about Return by Death, he continued along the line of what Louis had just said.
"All three of you can eat names and memories?"
"Of course."
Louis puffed out her chest, as though showing off her proudest ability.
"Names, memories, lives-once we eat them, they all go into our bellies. Lunar Eclipse lets us take them out and use them. Solar Eclipse lets us become that person. Skills, experience, ways of speaking, the traces of a life lived-we can eat it all and use it all."
"Sounds handy."
"Very handy, right?"
Louis nodded with a grin.
"But my brothers don't really like Solar Eclipse. If you become too much like someone else, your own personality starts getting strange too. The flavors you've eaten cling to you in return, and it feels awful."
"What about you?"
"I'm a little different."
Louis hugged her knees and rocked gently.
"We don't have a body outside. This is our dining table. Brother Ley and Brother Roy send what they've eaten here, and we taste it here. Whose life tastes good, whose tastes bad, whose is boring, whose makes us want to vomit-we can take our time telling them all apart."
Watching her innocent manner, Natsuki Subaru felt his heart grow heavy.
This girl treated other people's entire lives as food.
Other people's suffering, their efforts, their names, their deaths-to her, they were nothing but flavors.
Natsuki Subaru kept smiling.
"What about the part you split off?"
Louis blinked.
"Which part?"
"Didn't you just mention it? The part hiding inside Natsuki Subaru."
The white space fell silent for a moment.
The taut thread inside Natsuki Subaru's heart suddenly tightened.
Could Cognitive Obstruction not sustain my questioning for this long?
The smile remained on Louis's face, but her gaze slowly changed. After some thought, she answered anyway.
"Why are you asking that?"
Natsuki Subaru spread his hands.
"Because I'm curious. You've already put Natsuki Subaru on the menu. Surely I should know how the chef plans to carve him up?"
Louis stared at him for a long time. Then she slowly smiled again.
"That's true."
She extended a finger and tapped her chest.
"I used my Authority to split myself apart. The me here waits for him to come, then eats him."
She pointed into the empty space.
"Whether it takes dozens or hundreds of tries, we'll keep trying until we steal the Authority of Return by Death. Failure doesn't matter at all. We just steal big brother's memories again and try again. The me who entered his body and the me waiting in the Memory Corridor can switch roles and try over and over."
Natsuki Subaru stopped breathing for a moment.
Louis seemed not to notice the change-or rather, that blurred cognition was still filling in everything for her.
"Once inside, I can go with you, see with you, die with you, and come back with you, big brother."
Her voice grew softer and softer, but her smile deepened.
"Then pass on the fear. Plant seeds of doubt in your heart."
"Make the present you think the past Natsuki Subaru is someone else."
"Make the past Natsuki Subaru think the present you is just an empty shell."
She spread her arms as though presenting a finally completed dish.
"Once you're separated, we can eat you again."
Natsuki Subaru did not smile.
Scenes from the Gluttony IF resurfaced: himself endlessly searching for the "real Natsuki Subaru," opening one Book of the Dead after another, and ultimately driving everyone to their deaths.
So someone had been stirring things up from within.
Natsuki Subaru lowered his eyes, his fingers slowly tightening.
"I see."
His voice was quiet.
"You really have prepared one hell of a feast."
"Right?"
Louis nodded happily.
Natsuki Subaru fell silent for a moment.
He had already learned so much.
There were three Gluttonies. Louis was in this white space, while the other two could arrive from outside at any time, and witchbeasts would also be lured near the tower.
And another part of Louis was hiding inside his body.
Each piece of information weighed on his chest, so heavily he could barely breathe.
But it still was not enough.
He had yet to ask the most important question.
Natsuki Subaru raised his head, trying to keep his voice steady.
"One last question, then."
Louis tilted her head.
"Hmm?"
"Can memories you've eaten be recovered through a Book of the Dead?"
The white space fell silent for a moment.
Louis looked at him and suddenly smiled.
"Recovered?"
As though she had heard something hilarious, she clutched her stomach and laughed, her shoulders shaking.
"You can't get them back."
Natsuki Subaru's fingers tightened slightly.
Louis lifted her face, her smile so innocent it bordered on cruelty.
"Eaten means eaten. Names, memories, lives-once they're in Gluttony's belly, they're no longer what they were."
She extended a finger and gently waved it in the air.
"For ordinary people, struggling is useless."
Natsuki Subaru said nothing.
But Louis continued leisurely, as though deliberately savoring his reaction:
"Because ordinary people don't have their own Book of the Dead while they're alive. Books of the Dead record people who've died. Naturally, living people can't find themselves there."
At that, her smile turned cloying again.
"But you're different, big brother. You can recover your memories from the Books of the Dead. It's a privilege that belongs to you alone."
Natsuki Subaru's gaze shifted slightly.
Louis leaned closer, as though sharing a secret only the two of them knew.
"Die once, then come back."
"Die once, then come back."
"Every death leaves behind a Book of the Dead."
Natsuki Subaru's breathing slowly stopped.
Louis smiled even more happily.
"So you can, big brother. You can complete your memories through the Books of the Dead, through the books labeled 'Natsuki Subaru,' and rediscover what we've hidden away."
"But with us here, he'll never discover it, no matter what. In other words, we've won."
Having finished, Louis threw back her head and laughed.
Even as she laughed, she began wondering why she was saying all this, and who this familiar-seeming friend before her was.
No, she didn't seem to have any friends!
After hearing her reveal every secret concerning him, Natsuki Subaru scratched his head and joined her laughter.
"Hahahahaha..."
"Ahahahahaha..."
The pure white space instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
The next instant.
Natsuki Subaru's gaze sharpened, and Louis suddenly stopped smiling too.
"I'll kill you!"
"I'll eat you!"
Louis slammed into Natsuki Subaru, and he shoved her straight to the ground, pinning her beneath him.
Both hands clamped tightly around her throat.
"Get the monster inside me out now, or else! When I go crazy, even Otto and Garfiel can't stop me!"
But Natsuki Subaru saw that Louis showed no panic whatsoever. She even smiled.
"How many tries did it take you to get here, big brother?"
Seeing that his threat had no effect, Natsuki Subaru guessed that she knew his memories inside out, including that he could not bring himself to hurt such a small child. So he dropped the act and spoke slowly.
"Two."
"Amazing, big brother. You made it here in just two tries. I really want to eat you right now."
"But you don't have a chance anymore, do you?"
"I know everything now, so I won't fall for your attempts to turn us against each other."
"You'll never succeed again."
Louis, however, paid it no mind and mocked him loudly.
"So what if you know?"
Her voice grew shrill.
"If you recover your memories, your past self will swallow you up."
"If you don't recover your memories, you'll be an empty shell forever."
"Who do you want to save?"
"Who do you want to be?"
"Which Natsuki Subaru are you going to live as? Does knowing make any difference? Do you want to abandon who you are now? You realize that once you gain your past memories, you won't be you anymore. Memories give people shape, big brother."
Louis still did not give up, launching a fierce verbal assault on Natsuki Subaru.
Natsuki Subaru had wanted to cow her with his forcefulness, but she knew him too well. She knew what frightened him and what worried him.
Natsuki Subaru's resolve began to waver.
He kept repeating:
"No way. Don't think you can destroy me like this. Even if I... even if I haven't experienced so many things, I'm still me. I'm not a fake, damn it."
As he spoke, a blue-haired figure appeared before Natsuki Subaru.
"Subaru, Rem's hero, leave this place. Go. Go and save everything."
"Everything, everyone, including yourself, including the others close to you. You can do it!"
"Because Rem's hero is the greatest in the world!"
Dazed, Natsuki Subaru stared unblinkingly at the blue-haired maid, unable to understand why she was saying these things to him.
"Are you talking... about me?"
The blue-haired girl smiled and offered him her blessing.
"Of course. Subaru is Rem's hero. I've always believed in you. Even if everyone else stops believing, even if Subaru himself stops believing, Rem will still believe in you."
Louis, whose neck was still gripped in both of Natsuki Subaru's hands, saw him staring fixedly at the empty air behind her, tears gradually welling up in his eyes.
Louis spoke fearfully.
"Big brother, who are you talking to? There's clearly no one else here!"
Natsuki Subaru ignored Louis beneath him after listening to the encouragement of the figure before him.
The Greed Witch Factor within him suddenly awakened, strengthening his heart, making his will firmer, and rendering him immune to basic brainwashing abilities.
Natsuki Subaru stood up, determination returning to his eyes. He was now completely immune to the brainwashing Gluttony had just directed at him, his resolve firm and not easily shaken by outside influences.
Seeing Natsuki Subaru get up, Louis tried to hold him back.
But a rift suddenly appeared before him, and Natsuki Subaru seemed to hear everyone's anxious cries.
"Wake up, Subaru."
"How are you feeling now?"
Without hesitation, Natsuki Subaru jumped down alone.
Watching Natsuki Subaru disappear, Louis flew into a rage.
"Damn it, damn it! Natsuki Subaru! Your life belongs to us!"
"We'll devour you, no matter what! We will! We will!"