[Reinhard: ...]
Everyone understood the pain behind his silence.
Only after a while did Reinhard's words slowly appear.
[Reinhard: To me, those were simply things I ought to do.]
[Reinhard: Stop the Bowel Hunter, protect the innocent, and save those in danger.]
[Reinhard: But for Mr. Natsuki in the screen, my arrival was something he only obtained through eighty-eight deaths. It must have been terribly painful for him.]
[Reinhard: If I had arrived a little earlier, perhaps he wouldn't have had to die so many times.]
[Felt: Red Hair, that wasn't something you could decide, was it?]
[Reinhard: I know.]
[Reinhard: But he died eighty-eight times before I finally reached him.]
[Reinhard: When I think about that, I can't see this as just an ordinary future.]
Natsuki Subaru quickly wiped the tears from his face.
This wasn't the time to stand around.
Satella had survived.
Felt and Old Man Rom were alive too.
The Bowel Hunter had been defeated by Reinhard.
In eighty-eight deaths, this was the first time he had reached such an outcome.
So he couldn't waste it.
He absolutely couldn't waste it.
Natsuki Subaru looked toward the ruins in the distance.
That woman was still alive.
Even after Reinhard had beaten her into that state, she hadn't died.
If he left her alone, the guards would capture her.
If she was captured, he wouldn't be able to ask her anything about her client, the royal selection insignia, or the dangers lurking around Satella.
More importantly, that woman was strong.
Strong enough to kill him dozens of times.
Strong enough to tear through most obstacles, as long as Reinhard wasn't standing in her way.
Natsuki Subaru disliked her.
Loathed her.
Wanted nothing more than to kill her with his own hands.
But.
He couldn't kill her now.
Right now, she was still useful.
Natsuki Subaru slowly drew a breath, turned, and left by the other side of the roof.
He had to keep the Bowel Hunter alive before the guards completely sealed off this place.
Outside the screen, the library was silent.
[Anastasia: If I'm seeing this right, he's planning to save that Bowel Hunter.]
[Emilia: Why?]
Emilia sent her words almost immediately.
[Emilia: Elsa killed him so many times, and he hasn't even learned my real name yet, and...]
[Felt: Hey, seriously?]
[Felt: That woman nearly killed all of us, and he's still going to save her?]
[Old Man Rom: Felt.]
[Felt: I know! I know he must have a reason.]
Felt's words paused, as though she were writing them through gritted teeth.
[Felt: But this is way too uncomfortable to watch.]
[Otto: Precisely because she killed him so many times, he understands that woman's value better than anyone. If he can do her a favor at a time like this, it's a worthwhile deal.]
[Julius: So has Natsuki Subaru in the screen already begun thinking like a merchant? Has he already begun using everything around him, resorting to any means necessary?]
On the screen, Natsuki Subaru took advantage of the chaos, using the slums' tangled rooftops and paths to circle around to the other side of the guards' search.
He didn't approach Elsa directly.
He was afraid that, even gravely wounded, that woman might still slit his throat the instant he came close.
So he first lured several guards away.
With false information, gold coins, and sounds he deliberately made as he ran.
Little by little, he led those who had been heading toward the ruins in the wrong direction.
By the time he returned to Elsa, the black-haired woman was leaning against a broken wall, her abdomen and shoulder stained with blood.
She raised her eyes, and when she saw Natsuki Subaru, the corners of her lips actually rose slowly.
"Oh my."
"To think you'd be the one coming to save me."
Elsa was deeply puzzled by his arrival. She knew the person before her sincerely wanted to kill her.
Natsuki Subaru stood before her, his gaze utterly cold. He now believed he was in a very dark world, where every action he took had to account for all sorts of factors to seek the optimal solution. That was what his past eighty-seven attempts had taught him.
So even with someone who had killed him nearly a hundred times, he had to turn an enemy into a friend. If the opportunity arose, he would even have to change his own position.
"Don't get the wrong idea."
Natsuki Subaru concealed nothing as he spoke, making no attempt to hide it.
"I really want to kill you right now. Someday, I'll kill you. I'll definitely kill you!"
Hearing that, Elsa gave a girlish smile, feeling happy from the bottom of her heart.
"How honest."
"But you came anyway."
Natsuki Subaru clenched his teeth.
Yes.
He had come anyway.
For a better outcome.
For the next step.
For one more card to play in the future.
He bent down and hoisted the gravely wounded Elsa up, supporting her.
"You owe me one."
Elsa leaned against his shoulder, the smell of blood mingling with her fragrance, making Natsuki Subaru almost want to vomit.
Elsa leaned close to his ear, her voice so low it sounded as though she were laughing.
"Being rescued by someone who hates me this much really makes my heart race."
"Shut up."
Natsuki Subaru spoke quietly.
"Say one more word, and I'll toss you back."
Elsa laughed softly.
"You won't."
Natsuki Subaru didn't answer.
Because she was right.
As he was now, he wouldn't.
Even if he truly wanted to kill her.
Even if he hated her so much he was nearly going mad.
On this route he had reached with such difficulty, Elsa the Bowel Hunter had to live.
Outside the screen, Emilia stared blankly at the scene.
[Emilia: Subaru hates her so much.]
[Emilia: But he still saved her.]
[Anastasia: Because that person no longer acts on feelings alone.]
[Anastasia: He's factored all of those things into his calculations.]
[Otto: Saving Elsa doesn't mean he's forgiven her, either. He no longer takes his own feelings into consideration.]
[Otto: As long as there's a chance she might be useful later, he'll suppress his emotions. If this goes on for long, his mind might even break.]
Natsuki Subaru watched himself on the screen, but what surfaced in his mind were his memories of that time.
He had broken through the situation after using Return by Death a few times, but when he died, he had had thoughts like that too.
It wasn't as though he couldn't understand that way of thinking at all.
Precisely because he understood, he felt a little cold.
What if he were like his self on the screen?
Without a doubt, Natsuki Subaru considered his current self fortunate. It felt as though a single past decision could have been a turning point that changed his entire fate. A choice like that was truly-awful.
On the screen, Natsuki Subaru supported Elsa as they passed through the chaotic alleys of the slums.
With every step, he could smell the blood coming from the woman beside him.
After an unknown length of time, the two finally reached an unremarkable little house in the southeastern part of the slums.
The door opened.
A little blue-haired girl stood inside, looking up at them.
Her gaze first fell on Elsa, then quickly shifted to Natsuki Subaru.
"Oh my."
The girl blinked.
"Thank you for bringing Big Sister Elsa back, big brother."
As Natsuki Subaru looked at her, the tension inside him tightened again.
Elsa's little sister.
Or rather, someone who worked with Elsa.
A child.
Yet when she saw Elsa covered in blood, she didn't scream, show fear, or cry.
She simply stepped aside with practiced ease, as though she had long since grown used to such scenes.
Natsuki Subaru suddenly understood.
Perhaps this route had only just begun.