Outside the screen, the library was frighteningly quiet.
Before the screens elsewhere, many people also fell silent after seeing the list that had been presented.
They watched Natsuki Subaru sitting in the shadows, addressed by the black-robed figures as "Lord Apostle."
There was no trace of his usual noisy, awkward warmth left in him now.
He simply sat there, listening to intelligence, assessing its value, and then issuing orders.
He was frighteningly calm.
[Felt: Hey.]
[Felt: Of course I know I'm a royal selection candidate.]
[Felt: The problem is, in that guy's eyes, I've actually become an obstacle standing in Emilia's way?]
[Felt: Who even wants this thing?]
[Anastasia: I'm afraid it's not just you, Felt.]
[Anastasia: On that list, he's already put every candidate except Emilia in the position of someone he needs to get past.]
[Priscilla: Hah.]
[Priscilla: A mere commoner dares to include even me in his calculations.]
[Priscilla: He certainly has some nerve.]
Felt's messages paused for a moment.
[Felt: This really pisses me off.]
[Felt: It's not like I ever wanted to get in anyone's way.]
Before another screen, Crusch also saw the list.
She struggled to prop herself up.
[Ferris: Lady Crusch, please don't push yourself yet.]
Only after a moment did Crusch's words slowly appear.
[Crusch: It's all right.]
[Crusch: Even with gaps in my memory, I can understand what is happening before me.]
[Crusch: My name is on that list.]
[Crusch: So the Natsuki Subaru on the screen already regards me as Lady Emilia's enemy as well.]
The message area fell silent for a moment.
[Julius: He sees the royal selection itself as a route he needs to clear.]
[Julius: Candidates, knights, territories, connections, intelligence.]
[Julius: He could be incorporating all of it into his plans.]
[Otto: What's even more troubling is that he already has Witch Cultists, the Bowel Hunter, and a beast tamer at his disposal.]
[Otto: These people who should have been enemies have now all become his tools.]
[Otto: If this continues, having abandoned his moral sense, he'll only have more and more things he can use.]
[Meili: ...]
Meili stood a little farther away, watching the blue-haired girl on the screen whom Elsa called her little sister, her fingers gently clutching the hem of her clothes.
That was her.
Her on another route.
Her past self had long since become adept at tending Elsa's wounds, stepping out of the way, and then sizing up the situation.
[Meili: So, is the big brother over there planning to use me too?]
[Natsuki Subaru: ...]
No one answered Meili immediately.
To save Emilia, Natsuki Subaru could even rescue the Bowel Hunter, who had killed him dozens of times.
Then, of course, he would also add a little girl who could command witchbeasts to his hand of cards.
[Reinhard: And there are those black-robed figures.]
[Reinhard: They call Mr. Natsuki someone favored by the Witch.]
[Betty: For Witch Cultists to react like that, the scent on Subaru must already be dangerously strong, I suppose.]
[Ram: Barusu really was trouble from the very beginning.]
While everyone was still discussing the Witch's scent, Garfiel interrupted them outright.
[Garfiel: Wait.]
[Garfiel: What about the captain here now?]
Garfiel's messages appeared rapidly, as though he finally couldn't hold back any longer.
[Garfiel: The captain on the screen died eighty-eight times before he managed to save Lady Emilia.]
[Garfiel: Then how many times has our captain died to get this far?]
Only after those words appeared did the people in the message area realize it, and the discussion abruptly stopped.
Beatrice raised her head to look at Natsuki Subaru beside her.
"Subaru..."
Natsuki Subaru understood what Beatrice meant.
What Betty wanted to ask about wasn't just him on the screen; they all wanted to know about his own past.
Shaula also fell quiet.
The girl who was always noisily throwing herself at her master now only looked at Natsuki Subaru, a rare bewilderment in her eyes.
"Master..."
She spoke softly.
"I'll stay by your side from now on."
Natsuki Subaru did not answer everyone immediately.
Meanwhile, Emilia seemed to have finally pieced something together from all that information, and her face slowly paled.
She did not remember giving Natsuki Subaru that name.
At least, on the path she had experienced, she had never done such a thing.
Yet the Natsuki Subaru on the screen kept calling out Satella.
He had never seen Emilia's real name.
He knew nothing about the royal selection, the significance of the insignia, or what that name meant to the silver-haired half-elf.
Yet he had still remembered that false name as someone he had to save.
He had died eighty-eight times.
Rescued the Bowel Hunter.
Used Witch Cultists.
Laid out the royal selection candidates' names before him one by one, preparing to clear the way for her.
Emilia slowly lowered her head, her silver hair falling down.
[Emilia: Why...]
In the message area, her words slowly appeared.
[Emilia: The me in that world didn't even tell Subaru her real name.]
[Emilia: And Subaru had only just met me.]
[Emilia: Why would he go this far for someone like me?]
Natsuki Subaru looked at those lines, his lips moving slightly.
But for a moment, he didn't know how to answer.
Because he knew.
That sort of choice, which seemed so foolish, so impulsive, and so unreasonable, really was very much like something Natsuki Subaru would do.
[Emilia: I'm not worth Subaru going this far for.]
After those words appeared, Natsuki Subaru finally raised his hand.
His words slowly appeared in the message area.
[Natsuki Subaru: Emilia.]
Emilia did not reply immediately.
[Natsuki Subaru: What that guy is doing is wrong.]
[Natsuki Subaru: He's already gone astray.]
[Natsuki Subaru: But don't take all of this on yourself.]
Emilia's shoulders trembled slightly.
Natsuki Subaru looked toward the screen.
That version of himself sitting in the shadows, ordering black-robed figures to investigate the royal selection candidates, was frighteningly unfamiliar.
[Natsuki Subaru: He wants to save you. That's true.]
[Natsuki Subaru: But you shouldn't have to bear the choices he made afterward.]
[Natsuki Subaru: I don't think saving someone should turn into something like this.]
After those words appeared, the library fell quiet.
Emilia slowly raised her head.
She looked at Natsuki Subaru, her eyes a little red.
[Emilia: But Subaru...]
[Emilia: Have you, the Subaru here now, also died many times before, like the Subaru on the screen?]