"-Subaru! Hey, I'm talking to you! Are you okay?"
When he woke, the first thing he heard was a voice like silver bells.
The touch of soft fingers on his arm, and breaths he could feel close by. Those sensations gradually brought Subaru to consciousness, and he opened his heavy eyelids.
-The face of a moon fairy, beautiful enough to inspire fear, was right before his eyes.
"No, wait, Emilia-tan...?"
"Ah, thank goodness, Subaru. You're awake. I was sooo worried."
At Subaru's call, the moon fairy-Emilia-stroked her chest in relief. Subaru's eyes widened, and then he looked around.
A room covered in green vines, and himself lying on a bed of vines. Emilia, looking relieved, and a beautiful little girl with ringlets beside him.
"Emilia, Subaru won't reflect on what he's done if you're that gentle with him. Unless you scold him harshly, he won't understand how worried Betty and Emilia were."
"You're right. See, Beatrice says so too. She was terribly flustered when we couldn't find you, and she almost cried when we found you collapsed on the floor..."
"You don't need to tell him that! Don't say it!"
Her cheeks red, Beatrice flew into a rage at Emilia's entirely well-meaning words.
Watching their exchange, Subaru felt utterly confused.
"Huh? What? Am I dreaming?"
"-?"
His words made both girls tilt their heads in puzzlement.
Faced with the deeply puzzled Emilia and Beatrice, Subaru sank into utter confusion.
"..."
He could hardly call it familiar, but he was certainly in a room he had seen before. Plants covered the walls, floor, and even the ceiling, and Subaru himself had just sat up in a bed woven from vines.
A giant lizard was behind him, and a girl who remained asleep lay in the neighboring bed.
By all appearances, this was undoubtedly the Pleiades Watchtower's "green room."
"But... huh? How did I end up back here?"
Holding his head, he recalled what had happened before he woke.
He remembered parting with Emilia and the others, then going to check whether he had any cheat abilities.
Then he had headed back with the conclusion that he was still weak and useless, thinking he would surely disappoint them-
"After that, I tried to get back to our base... How did this happen?"
His memories after that were unclear. The next time he woke, he was already in bed. As Subaru continued searching his hazy memories-
"Um, Subaru, are you okay?"
"Whoa! Emilia-tan, too close!"
Caught off guard when Emilia brought her face close, Subaru panicked and tumbled off the other side of the bed. His excessive reaction left Emilia dumbfounded.
"You don't need to be that surprised... Honestly, you're the one who scared me."
"I-I scared you..."
"Of course you did. We started looking because we hadn't seen you, and then we found you unconscious on the floor. It would be strange not to worry."
"Really? I passed out again?"
Arms folded, Beatrice explained wearily.
Startled again, Subaru stood and felt his body for anything unusual. Unfortunately, even after checking, he found nothing out of the ordinary.
Memory loss did not leave external injuries in the first place, so there was nothing to check.
"But having my world turn upside down twice in such a short time is seriously bad... It's only been a few hours, but I guess I should be glad I didn't lose my memories this time?"
"Subaru, before you start chattering, isn't there something you should say to Betty and Emilia?"
"Something I should say..."
As Subaru stared at his open hands, Beatrice threw those words at him. He raised his head, looked at Emilia and Beatrice, and finally realized.
"R-right. Um, I'm sorry. Sorry for worrying you. You saved me again."
"That will do."
"Hehe, you're welcome. But are you really all right? Can we stop worrying?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. If things keep moving at this breakneck pace, you won't be able to relax either, Emilia-tan."
Having been saved twice in such a short time, Subaru bowed deeply to Emilia in thanks.
But his reply made Emilia knit her pretty brows. Confusion flickered in her beautiful blue-violet eyes.
"Um, I'm not sure how to put this... Subaru, what's been wrong with you?"
"What do you mean, wrong? That's a pretty vague question. What made you ask?"
"Because you've been calling me Emilia-tan this whole time. It feels sooo strange having you call me that."
As she spoke, Emilia wound her long silver hair around a finger and looked timidly at Subaru.
The loneliness her gaze stirred in his heart made him swallow.
Unguarded affection, and looks that were exactly Subaru's type-but a gulf separated the girl's current attitude from his impressions.
After all, that attitude was practically-
"Subaru's pranks are nothing new. More importantly, explain yourself. Why did you go into Taygeta on your own in the middle of the night, and why were you collapsed there?"
"-Huh? Wait, wait! What? I collapsed in Taygeta again?"
"...Again?"
Beatrice's words, delivered with her pink cheeks puffed out, left Subaru stunned.
"Th-that room really is terrifying... What was I doing going back there? I knew it was a creepy spot. That's way too reckless."
Hearing about something he had no memory of, Subaru was once again bewildered by how dangerous the facts were. Perhaps the vagueness of his memories around the break in his consciousness was also an effect of what had happened in the Taygeta library.
Had his memories been tampered with again? But as Subaru's thoughts descended into chaos, Beatrice spoke.
"Wait. This conversation feels off. Subaru, explain yourself clearly."
"Hm?"
"Tell Betty and Emilia what your current situation is."
Beatrice's instructions were precise. Feeling the weight of her words, Subaru nodded, carried along by the atmosphere.
"First, like I said... when I woke up, my memories were gone. It's not completely blank, but everything since I was summoned to this world..."
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on! Memories!? What memories!?"
"Huh?"
Beatrice's authoritative manner shattered at Subaru's opening explanation. The unexpected response startled him into stepping back, and Emilia steadied him by the shoulders. But Emilia was not calm either. She, too, stared at Subaru in surprise.
"What do you mean, memories? Subaru, what are you talking about...?"
"No, why are you playing dumb now? Didn't I already..."
-Tell you about this? He had meant to continue, but the words stopped there.
"..."
Emilia's and Beatrice's eyes were full of deep confusion. It was no act; even Subaru could tell that much.
But under these circumstances, the fact that neither was acting frightened Subaru. If it was not an act, then they had truly forgotten that Subaru had lost his memories.
They had lost the resolve with which they had faced a Subaru who remembered nothing and, despite their confusion, accepted the situation. He thought it absurd, but could it be that, since coming to this tower, Subaru was not the only one repeatedly losing his memories-that Emilia and the others were too? As that frightening possibility surfaced, Subaru suddenly noticed something.
"That conversation when I woke up..."
He had a sense of déjà vu.-No, it was not just a feeling. It was a clear memory.
His first meeting with Emilia and Beatrice-in these circumstances, it really had been a first meeting for the amnesiac Subaru-but why had the conversation been exactly the same?
More precisely, waking in the green room under their care-wasn't that a reenactment of how Subaru had awakened after losing his memories?
"..."
At that thought, Subaru swallowed audibly. He glanced at the two girls, but their attitudes had not changed.
Their puzzled eyes held heartfelt concern for "Natsuki Subaru." It was not distrust, but trust, and that steadied Subaru's heart.
To be honest, Subaru's heart was still tossed among towering waves whipped up by a storm.
But this situation-
"A situation I've seen before.-In other words, a prophetic dream."
Dreams were mysterious things that slipped away through the gaps between one's fingers.
Perhaps these prophetic dreams were the special ability Subaru had been granted after being summoned to another world-
"An ability that's ridiculously hard to time and has an extremely limited scope..."
Still, if he mastered it, it would surely be a powerful asset.
Prophetic dreams meant foreseeing the future. The greater their accuracy, the more they could break through hopeless situations, making them a decisive move.
Unfortunately, Subaru seriously doubted whether the information he had learned from that prophetic dream would prove useful-
"-Both of you, stay calm and hear me out."
Having finished speculating about his ability, Subaru turned back to the two girls and spoke.
At this, Emilia and Beatrice exchanged looks, then nodded. After a moment's hesitation, Subaru spoke to their serious faces.
"I don't know whether you'll believe me, but I seem to have lost my memories."
Their reactions were almost unchanged from what he had seen in the prophetic dream.
"Hyah! All right!"
A sharp crack rang out as Emilia slapped her pale pink cheeks with both hands. Through the pain and impact, strength returned to her anxious, wavering eyes, and she roused herself.
"B-Betty..."
Encouraged by Emilia, Beatrice looked at Subaru in anguish. Suppressing the pain deep in his heart, Subaru gazed at her as she struggled for words.
Subaru already knew what she would say next and what expression she would make. But it was too soon to say that this brought him any comfort.
-Betraying someone's feelings and expectations was painful and frightening. No matter how many times it happened, even if the question was the same, that never changed.
And now Subaru knew Beatrice better than he had the first time. That made her persistently anxious, wavering gaze more frightening than before.
"-Ahh, I hate this, honestly! Subaru really is such a useless contractor!"
With that, Beatrice broke through the shell of unease and confusion. Like the butterfly patterns in her eyes, she emerged from the chrysalis of stagnation and spread her wings.
Even as he felt relieved, Subaru felt intense self-loathing.
-Is this enough? Are you satisfied with this?
Are you, "Natsuki Subaru"?
-Can I build a sandcastle on top of the bonds and trust you've built this way?
"..."
Seeing Emilia and Beatrice make their gentle yet painful resolutions, Subaru clenched his teeth.
Because he had not told them about his prophetic dream. The exchange when he had just woken, and the contradiction of his remembering their names, could not simply be brushed aside by claiming he had lost all his memories.
Whether he had memories was for Subaru to decide, and there was no reason to doubt the girls. He had gone this far to recreate the same situation as before because he wanted to check the prophetic dream's reliability.
If he followed the same situation as in the prophetic dream, would events develop the same way?
Though the beginning had varied slightly, it should still have been within the range he could correct.
But that was not the only reason Subaru had kept the prophetic dream to himself.
Looking back on the world he had previously experienced through the prophetic dream, no one had mentioned Subaru's ability to have prophetic dreams.
Not even Emilia or Beatrice.
If he possessed such an ability, it was hard to believe they would deliberately hide it from him. They had had no chance to coordinate their stories, and he could find no reason for them to conceal it.
In that case, the natural conclusion was that Emilia and the others did not know about the prophetic dreams.
In other words, "Natsuki Subaru" had never once told them about his ability.
"So why is that, 'Natsuki Subaru'?"
Subaru called his own name, yet it felt like he was addressing someone else.
-No, saying it felt like someone else was wrong. To Subaru, "Natsuki Subaru" was an unknown person he did not know.
He could not guess his thoughts or speak with him. Nor did he have any clues that would let him understand him.
Why had "Natsuki Subaru" deceived Emilia and the others, hiding his prophetic dream ability?
Distrust of "Natsuki Subaru" grew fiercely in Subaru's heart.
"You..."
-What exactly are you thinking, "Natsuki Subaru"?
-After that, events unfolded almost exactly as they had in the prophetic dream.
"-Is this some kind of sick joke, Barusu?"
Ram was the first to question the amnesiac Subaru after hearing Emilia and Beatrice's clumsy explanation.
"But Master really never learns. How many times have you forgotten me like this now?"
Shaula accepted Subaru's memory loss without a care.
"You really are sooo much trouble, big brother."
Whether she was interested or not, Meili enjoyed the current confusion and smiled mischievously.
"...Please give him some time alone. Is that all right?"
Considerate of the deeply shaken Julius, Echidna asked that he be given time to calm down.
"...Please, tell me everything."
After taking in everyone's reactions, Subaru was led off to fetch water, and Ram revealed her true feelings in the corridor, confirming it.
Ram's quiet, tearful grief, along with everyone's reactions to hearing of Subaru's memory loss, made him certain.
-Prophetic dreams were a terrifyingly accurate power.
Subaru could not remember every word and action, but their memorable attitudes were exactly as they had been in the dream.
If there was any problem-
"You seem rather composed for someone in this situation, Natsuki."
As they reintroduced themselves and revealed their respective bombshells, including the fact that Echidna had overwritten Anastasia's consciousness, Echidna said this to Subaru.
"..."
Her words left Subaru's mouth dry. Honestly, Echidna's observation was not unfounded. Subaru himself could not keep up the act completely.
Everyone was surprised and thrown into a panic, but in the end, they still decided to face the unreasonable reality. Watching them, how could he immerse himself in the act? It was like a film he had already seen: he could no longer approach it with the feelings of a first-time viewer.
Sympathy for them as they tried to rally their spirits, guilt that he could do nothing but watch, and disgust toward "Natsuki Subaru," who must have kept doing this all along-it was practically a gathering of every negative emotion.
So it was inevitable that Subaru's lack of reaction would draw questions.
Except-
"Being called composed is a new one for me. I was the kind of kid whose school reports always said, 'Can't sit still for a moment.'"
"...Funny how you, the one who lost his memories, ended up the least confused. We're desperately trying to figure something out, so we're quite on edge."
"It's precisely because everyone around me is panicking that I can stay calm as the person involved. I might look composed, but I'm actually scared half to death inside. Rest assured on that front."
"That doesn't sound reassuring at all..."
When Subaru answered Echidna with that pretense of calm, Emilia smiled wryly. Still, compared to before, the atmosphere felt stagnant.
"...Big brother, you really don't remember anything?"
"Hm? Yeah, unfortunately. Why, did I make some important promise to you?"
"-No. I just thought Petra would probably cry if she heard."
"Urgh... Another name I've never heard before."
Subaru's cheeks stiffened at the unfamiliar name, while Meili giggled happily.
"Petra's a girl who really likes you, big brother. She was so worried when she saw us off. Well? Can you hear her voice now?"
"I have absolutely no respect for yesterday's me. How could I have done something so stupid...?!"
Tormented by the affection of Petra, whom he had never met, Subaru voiced his resentment toward himself. Just how many more traces of the unknown "Natsuki Subaru" would he have to pick up?
"-I honestly agree that yesterday's big brother was stupid."
Putting Subaru's inner turmoil aside, Meili stretched as she said that. The sense that those were her completely honest feelings was probably just Subaru overthinking things. Whether it was or not, Emilia and the others returned before he could ask. As expected, they had found no clues, bringing back only confirmation that his prophetic dream was correct.
"How long would that dream have lasted if I hadn't woken up...?"
For instance, if he had kept sleeping in the dream without noticing anything, how would the prophetic dream have handled it? Would he wake up after a day? Or would he dream within the dream and continue the story?
"That's kind of scary. A dream within a prophetic dream-it's practically Zhuangzi dreaming he was a butterfly. Terrifying."
Perhaps Emilia and Beatrice would shake him awake in that "green room" again, and everything would start over. Though he really did not want to think that-
"-To keep that from happening, I need to get ahead of the dream. If possible, it should be fine to tell Emilia and the others about the prophetic dream."
For some reason, "Natsuki Subaru" before losing his memories apparently had not been open with his companions, but unfortunately for him, the current Subaru desperately wanted the situation to change.
He did not want his fear of an uncertain future to lead to something he would regret.
"That settles it. I'll tell everyone about the prophetic dream."
Having made up his mind, Subaru headed toward the base where everyone was gathered. He would figure out how to explain the prophetic dream as he went. After all, he did not know what triggered it, and proving its usefulness would require their help.
But if he told them openly, it would surely become a powerful weapon. It might even become the key to conquering the Pleiades Watchtower. Just as those thoughts filled his mind-
"-Regarding Natsuki, wouldn't taking him with us be too dangerous?"
"Rather than concern for Barusu, should I take that to mean you think he would get in the way? If so, Ram agrees."
Echidna spoke methodically, followed by Ram's cold, taut voice. Hearing them, Emilia raised her voice.
"Ram! Why are you talking about Subaru like that too?"
"I'm merely stating the objective facts. Or do you believe, Lady Emilia, that Barusu without his memories can do the same work he did before yesterday?"
"Well..."
"Ram agrees that Barusu isn't a bad person. But our relationship has gone back to zero, and as for whether we can trust him, Ram's answer is no... There is nothing to base that trust on."
Her armor of cold logic ended on a note of endured pain.
"I trust Subaru. So does Beatrice. Please, everyone, trust him too."
"...Lady Emilia, Echidna and Miss Ram aren't doubting him. It's simply that relying on him as he is now involves too much uncertainty. That is all the two of them are pointing out."
Emilia's plea clashed with Julius's rational response.
But Beatrice, determined to stand completely on Subaru's side, made the atmosphere even worse.
"What do you mean? Say it clearly! Tell Betty, is Subaru not worthy of your trust?! Whether he's lost his memories or not, Subaru is Subaru!"
A dangerous atmosphere instantly filled the room, and even Subaru, eavesdropping outside, broke into a sweat. Rather than letting this continue, perhaps he should simply step in and break the tension.
-That thought crossed his mind, but his legs would not move.
"Now, now, getting all hostile won't solve anything, right? Master wouldn't be happy if you started fighting here."
"I don't think that's what they were discussing, but you're right..."
Shaula and Meili spoke up, maintaining their usual stance as bystanders.
"Hmm~"
After a thoughtful hum, the girl continued.
"Why not ask big brother directly? Just ask him, 'Can we trust you?'"
"-!"
The poison hidden in those words made Subaru grit his teeth. Then, with a calm that surprised even him, he moved away from the wall and left the base, careful not to make a sound.
His footsteps gradually quickened, until he was running-
"Damn it...!"
He pressed his forehead against the wall at the end of the passage, his body trembling with the emotions welling up inside him.
The discussion held without Subaru had been more shocking than he had imagined. He was not so conceited that he thought he could earn their complete trust. Rather, he had never thought of it that way to begin with.
-Because he had assumed that trust was already there.
Emilia and Beatrice treated Subaru like family and cared for him sincerely.
He felt guilty about that, yet also took pride in the idea that being trusted was only natural.
He had never doubted that they still considered him a companion, even without his memories.
Only now did he understand that he had failed to look at himself objectively.
Their belief that Subaru had lost his memories was proof of their kindness. But expecting them to accept everything because of that was far too presumptuous.
"I had it wrong from the start..."
Failure. Subaru had failed. Even if he told them about the prophetic dream now, he had no grounds to make them believe him.
Nor did he have the acting skills to return as though nothing had happened and keep pretending he knew nothing.
Natsuki Subaru had actually deluded himself into thinking he could serve as a replacement for the "Natsuki Subaru" they wanted.
"..."
As Subaru became aware of how inadequate he was, the view before him suddenly opened up.
He had run to the enormous spiral staircase connecting the fourth and fifth floors-a vast space occupying most of the watchtower, which stood hundreds of meters high.
"The spiral... stairs..."
Staring closely at the sudden sight, Subaru let out a hoarse breath.
Both in his dream and in reality, Emilia and the others had taken the amnesiac Subaru on a brief tour of the tower.
So there was no doubt that he recognized this sight. But-
"What is this...? Something feels strangely different..."
He felt the hair on his back stand on end. His blood ran cold, and the ringing in his ears seemed especially loud. His heartbeat accelerated on its own, his breathing grew ragged, and his legs trembled for some reason.
His teeth began chattering, and Subaru realized something was wrong. It was not an external factor like a sudden drop in temperature or a change in air pressure.
This abnormality, this change, originated within Subaru's body.
More precisely, what was affecting his body was Subaru's mind, or something deeper still-
"-Ah."
Thump. A slight impact, and Subaru took a step forward.-No, it could not be called a step.
Taking a step required ground beneath his feet. His foot moved forward. Then it met empty air. And so-
"Ah, aaaaaaaaah-?!"
The instant his body went airborne, fierce wind tore at his eardrums, and the terror of falling swallowed every thought. An ancient, indifferent whisper originating from the Authority of Gluttony branded itself directly into the depths of his soul, echoing over and over.
"Memories shape a person's existence."
"Strip away the memories, dissolve the past-who are you?"
The endless questions repeated in a cycle, crushing the boy's precarious sense of self.
As though coughing up blood-literally, his screaming throat was already bleeding and raw. On the way to the distant ground, Natsuki Subaru fell to pieces.
He had not awakened from the dream. Natsuki Subaru had ruined everything, his bluff shattered completely.
Without memories, without a past, without the bonds and choices accumulated along the way, just who was the existence falling here now, on the verge of death?]
The streets throughout the City of Guaral fell utterly silent, everyone's gaze fixed on the Sky Curtain.
Emilia trembled all over, her blue-violet eyes locked on the image of Natsuki Subaru awakening in the green room on the Sky Curtain.
She clearly saw her otherworldly self clutching both of Subaru's hands, and understood that deeply buried fear-she finally knew that Subaru's existence depended heavily on his memories, and that once he forgot everything, he would immediately fall into an abyss of self-denial.
Hearing everyone's wary remarks inside the room, seeing Subaru flee in disarray and fall in despair, Emilia's fingertips turned icy as she choked out softly:
"That's not true... Subaru is Subaru. It has nothing to do with memories..."
"No matter how many times you forget, no matter what you become, it was never your past I trusted. It was you."
Garfiel's brows knitted tightly, his tigerlike eyes cold and somber. The aura around him abruptly grew more savage as he stared at the conversation between Anastasia and Ram on the Sky Curtain, his heart full of indignation and aching sympathy.
"A bunch of idiots who don't understand the Captain's kindness! Who gives a damn about memories?! Where were you when he was risking his life to protect everyone?!"
Watching Subaru become so abject because he had nothing, watching him suffer under everyone's suspicion, watching him fall after being harmed by someone, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"Bastards! If it were me, I wouldn't give a damn whether he remembered! It's the Captain's character I believe in, not his past! The Captain will always be the Captain!"
"Ram! I've put up with you long enough! I'm gonna blow up at you! Never mind your relationship with that clown of a mule-just slandering the Captain alongside someone from another camp is enough to make me sick!"
Garfiel's clenched fists cracked, his irritable words fully revealing his agitation and fury.
If this were Ram from the Greed IF route, she would probably have reacted like this:
Her red lips pressed lightly together, her crimson eyes calm and gentle, Ram gazed at the suffering, helpless boy on the Sky Curtain as ripples spread through her heart.
Having lived through several loops, she understood Subaru's sacrifices and forbearance better than anyone, and knew how much unknown sin and suffering this boy carried.
"Though memories shape a person, to think that the me in that world would define others by their past memories-especially Lord Subaru, who shoulders everything. How shallow and narrow-minded!"
Ram's voice was light, but every word was firm.
"Even if his memories return to zero, Ram believes that Lord Subaru's kind heart and his nature of sacrificing himself to protect others have long been engraved into his soul, never changing."
Watching him be suspected and isolated, then break down and fall alone, a compassion and extreme anger she had never shown flashed through Ram's eyes.
"He isn't a bad person, but he needs to be doubted? What kind of logic is that?! Is the Ram in that world really part of Lady Emilia's camp?"
"Does losing his memories make Lord Subaru unworthy of trust and reliance?! Twice you used your little sister Rem to lecture Lord Subaru! Have you fulfilled your own duties as her elder sister?! With everything that happened at the mansion, if Lord Subaru hadn't stepped in to save everything, the entire Mathers Domain would have suffered a devastating blow, never mind Rem's safety!"
"Lord Subaru is the beacon in whom Lord Roswaal places his hopes, a great being capable of helping Lady Emilia win the royal selection. Everyone should look up to him and respect him! Such a magnificent, radiant figure, and the other world's... 'me'-no, you aren't me at all! You aren't Ram! How dare you desecrate Lord Subaru's dignity?! You also bear responsibility for Lord Subaru's death. Utterly despicable-you deserve ten thousand deaths!"
The current Ram, however, appeared exceptionally calm and composed, even though her words still carried a slight tremor.
"What is it, Garfiel? Has your brain gone haywire again? Do you want to fight Ram? Don't you find it ridiculous to question Ram over things that, as far as Ram is concerned, never happened?"
"But..."
"Even if what the Sky Curtain shows really is something Barusu experienced, that was merely the result of Barusu's efforts alone!"
"Ram and Lady Emilia warned Barusu long ago not to act alone. That so-called finest knight was beaten half to death by thugs because of that, yet Barusu himself still failed to learn his lesson..."
"Besides, shouldn't Meili be the one most deserving of blame? She's already murdered Barusu twice. Judging by his current state, he's died twice without even knowing who killed him. Hmph-who knows how many of Barusu's lives the current Meili has on her hands?"
As she spoke, she looked toward Emilia and the others to one side.
The damp, cold wind buffeted her long silver hair. Emilia raised a hand to wipe the lingering moisture from the corners of her eyes, her chest still faintly tight from the agony Subaru had suffered at the end of the Sky Curtain's display.
"Subaru wanted everyone's trust so badly, yet he chose to hide his ability, Return by Death, all by himself. I... I never noticed how insecure he felt."
Beatrice hugged her book, her little face tense, her tone mingling hurt and irritation.
"Betty has always trusted Subaru without reservation! Whatever happens, Betty will stand by him. But he wouldn't tell us a single thing about Return by Death. In Subaru's heart, are even Betty and Emilia unworthy of being entrusted with his secret?"
"It can't be helped, Lady Beatrice. It seems this is the only way things can be for Mr. Subaru-do you remember the being who said, 'I love you'? Now we know she's Satella, the Witch of Envy, so surely this witch... doesn't want anyone else knowing Subaru's secret."
"Now that you put it that way, Otto, Betty does understand..."
"But if revealing this secret would have some catastrophic consequence, now that almost everyone knows Subaru's secret, why hasn't anything so terrible happened?"
"Betty was thinking, Brother said he finally woke up because of that Sky Curtain. Putting that together with this plan of Subaru the 'Sage,' it now seems that even the Witch of Envy, who destroyed half the world, is no longer a calamity..."
"In any case, if that's how it is, hopefully she can help Subaru, wherever he is over there-before Betty and Emilia can reach his side."