Greed's Goal

[Return by Death] activated once again.

Subaru lowered his head, and Rem, nestled in his arms, looked up at him. Her eyes were still full of affection and dependence, clear enough to reflect his face.

The little girl was as adorable as an angel. But not long ago, in that burning hell, Subaru had seen that tiny body wrapped in infernal flames, burning all over-a roaring demon who had stood in front of him even at the cost of her own destruction.

"...Rem."

"Mm, I'm your Rem, Subaru. The Rem who loves you more than anyone else in the world."

Rem tilted her head slightly and gave him an obedient smile.

Subaru raised a hand and stroked Rem's soft hair. The feeling against his palm was so soft that it seemed impossibly fragile.

"...Mm, Rem loves it most when Subaru strokes her hair. But did something happen? You suddenly went so pale, Subaru. Are you feeling sick?"

Rem lingered over the warmth of his palm, but she had also noticed that something was wrong with Subaru and asked in concern.

Time had returned to this morning. No one remembered. Rem didn't remember, Ram didn't remember, and neither did the villagers outside. They had died once, and they had no idea.

And tonight, the bloody night would play out once again. Those flames, those corpses, that polluted Mana-all of it would descend upon the village again, right on time.

"Subaru?"

Subaru abruptly stood up. Startled by the movement, Rem let her hands slip from his waist.

Subaru had no time to lose. He didn't know why the Witch Cult would do something so cruel to the Oni, but he had to stop it all.

He had to find a way to save everyone in the village!

Subaru rushed to the grandest wooden house in the village and hammered on the door like a drum. He knocked for so long that his knuckles began to ache.

"Shut up! I'm old, not dead! Are you trying to hound me to my grave?!"

The white-haired old Oni angrily pulled the door open, clearly annoyed by Subaru's frantic knocking. He looked down, his brow furrowing even more deeply.

"It's the human brat. Boy, if you need something, can it wait? I'm a little busy."

Setanta spoke with barely concealed irritation on his face.

If he wanted to give advance warning, the obvious person to tell was the village chief, the most influential person in the village.

"And what's with that look? You look like you've seen a dead man. Even if I died, it wouldn't be a brat like you who got a say in this village."

Subaru paid no attention to his tone. He had just witnessed the whole thing: flames erupting from inside the white-haired old Oni's body and reducing him to a charred corpse.

Seeing that he could still stand and speak filled Subaru with relief. At least he was still alive.

"Chief! Tonight! A great disaster is going to happen!"

Setanta's brow tightened sharply. He didn't immediately scoff at Subaru, instead waiting for him to continue.

Subaru's mind raced as he tried to figure out how to explain. Should he tell Setanta, "I died once, so I saw everything"? Would he believe something so bizarre that even Subaru himself could barely accept it?

Just as Subaru was desperately searching for an explanation-

"Mm. I know about that."

Subaru's whole body went rigid. His eyes widened, and he wondered if something was wrong with his ears.

"You know? No, no, no! How could you possibly know?"

"I'm more curious how you know, boy. Did the Lesser Spirits tell you? Much as I hate to admit it, a great calamity is indeed coming for the Oni."

Setanta slowly explained. He didn't know exactly who would come, when, or how. It was a premonition.

Subaru didn't know what kind of past Setanta had, but he had also spent it in constant fighting and killing. Presumably, that was what had given him this intuition, like a beast sensing something wrong in the air before an earthquake, like human intuition or a sixth sense.

"Then we have to act fast!"

Subaru grabbed Setanta's sleeve. "Hurry and evacuate the villagers! Move everyone somewhere safe!"

"In this forest, the safest place is this village. Everywhere else is full of Witchbeasts."

Setanta's answer was calm and cruel.

"There's nowhere to take shelter...? Damn primitive society..."

"Boy, go home and hide. I can't guarantee your safety. Cruel as it sounds, Ram is the one we must protect and keep alive. I've already informed every adult Oni in the village to prepare for battle tonight. When the time comes, everyone will do everything they can to protect Ram."

"No! You can't win! Fighting them would be suicide! The Mana in the air has been polluted-!"

"...The Mana has been polluted?" Unexpected confusion appeared on Setanta's face. Clearly, his intuition hadn't told him about that.

"That's right! The Witch Cult is here to wipe you all out! They've devised a method specifically to deal with the Oni! All the Mana in the air has been polluted. If you absorb Mana during the fight, your bodies will start burning from the inside! When the time comes, you must not use your horns, no matter what-!"

"Brat, enough."

Setanta's voice suddenly dropped.

"Don't you know a little too much? The Witch Cult? Are you sure it's the Witch Cult coming to attack us? Are you saying the Oni should give up their only way of fighting in the face of disaster?!"

The sudden shout shook Subaru so badly that he froze on the spot.

That was true. Oni horns were the source of every Oni's strength. Giving up their horns meant throwing away the only weapons they had to resist when faced with annihilation.

This request went beyond being "cautious" or "conservative." It was practically the same as asking them to take off their armor and walk onto a battlefield.

"Ow!"

A small stone suddenly struck Setanta on the back of the head. The old Oni turned around, mildly angry, and saw a little blue-haired girl glaring fiercely at him.

Rem strode forward and, without hesitation, stood in front of Subaru, her two little fists clenched tight.

"Don't yell at Subaru! Rem won't forgive anyone who makes Subaru sad! Not even the village chief! Rem's going to tell her sister someone's bullying Rem!"

"...Annoying brat."

Rem's sudden display of protectiveness left Setanta somewhat at a loss for words, and his tone softened a little.

"Go on, go on, both of you. I don't have time for your nonsense."

His gaze finally settled on Subaru.

"Boy, I don't know why you'd make such a strange suggestion. But you do seem to genuinely want to save people. Even so, don't do anything reckless. If you insist on taking people somewhere safe without knowing where that is, it can't be done."

"...Do people have to be sacrificed?"

"Of course."

Setanta answered without any hesitation.

"For some to survive a calamity, others will surely die."

"No one can save everyone from a disaster."