There was one fact that worried Subaru above all.
『The other matter is──』 (Black Suit)
『Please, do not take your eyes off Takanashi Hoshino.』 (Black Suit)
Throughout their exchange, the posture of Black Suit had not budged an inch. He gave the impression of a disciplined adult who cares for his appearance: a tidy collar, a gaze that stays fixed on whoever he speaks to, a shirt that never peeks out from beneath the jacket... The first impression Subaru formed when they met was simply: a well-groomed man.
He seemed the sort who would stand before a mirror for several minutes, checking his appearance carefully before leaving the house─though Subaru had no idea whether Black Suit even owned a home, and just imagining him in pajamas nearly made him burst out laughing. ── Still, that neat facade had slightly cracked, and his true, unvarnished personality showed through.
『Before your arrival, we — "Gematria" — had been intending to withdraw from "Kivotos." After the loss of so many miracles, our continued presence in this world felt meaningless; we stopped marching toward our shared goal and the unified future we once sought. Each of us decided to set our own ultimate objective... and pursue it.』 (Black Suit)
『In the end, "Gematria" integrated a certain person into Abydos as a trivial MacGuffin, and simultaneously as part of a dangerous scenario. We do not want "that person" to come near her.』 (Black Suit)
『── What a selfish, filthy excuse. Wait. Just because you want to accomplish that doesn't mean you have the right to do as you please with us children.』 (Subaru)
『Kukuku... ── Yes, that is selfish... But precisely for that reason, we must shoulder the responsibility.』 (Black Suit)
『...Truly, you are a despicable bastard.』 (Subaru)
『I will take that as praise. Then, I'll restate the proposal... ── Win Takanashi Hoshino's trust. That is what I ask of you, Natsuki Subaru.』 (Black Suit)
『It is a request rather than a contract.』 (Black Suit)
「...」 (Subaru)
Subaru still lay lazily in the gym, limbs splayed in a (X)-shaped posture after having been put in a rear-naked choke. The hypoxia he'd felt a short while ago almost overlapped with the worst memory he'd just tasted... but he banished the gloom from his chest and began to think.
── First of all, what the hell was that thing?
He could accept that Hoshino's mental state was unstable, or that the essence she'd been hiding was pure "doubt." But that thing? The change into a red-and-black shadow accompanied by a mysterious explosion — that was finally the emergence of a phenomenon that couldn't be explained by ordinary logic.
Many things had happened afterward, but trying to understand them all was futile. In that moment, nothing mattered more than the fact that he had been handed a "promise" and a "wish."
What drove Hoshino into that frenzy? And why did Black Suit entrust Hoshino to him?
「... Of course, if the world is going to end... anyone would beg for help...」 (Subaru)
「Oi, Shiroko — come over here a bit.」 (Subaru)
「Nn.」 (Shiroko)
He sat cross-legged and patted his knee, inviting Shiroko into his personal space.
When Shiroko quietly approached Subaru's crossed legs, Subaru took her hand and made her sit.
Right in front of his eyes, a pair of fluffy animal ears twitched left and right.
「Ah... this is calming for the nerves...」 (Subaru)
「...Subaru, this is a little embarrassing. What's the point of this?」 (Shiroko)
「Nothing. I'm just the one who benefits.」 (Subaru)
「── Spoiled child.」 (Shiroko)
「Ugh!!」 (Subaru)
「Oh my~ When did you two get so close? This old lady is jealous.」 (Hoshino)
「You can sit, too, Hoshino, if you want. There's room for two.」 (Subaru)
「Don't joke with me~ What meaning does that even have?」 (Hoshino)
「I told you, it's nothing. I'm just the one who benefits.」 (Subaru)
「Oh my...」 (Hoshino)
She looked at him with such contempt that it hurt him in a thousand little ways... but the important thing was that Shiroko hadn't pushed him away.
No matter how "gentle" the death he'd received was, death is death. Shiroko warmed Subaru's unsettled heart.
「Fuuu~ Breathing in Shiroko calms my nerves... ── Hoshino, I think you still suspect I'll betray you.」 (Subaru)
「── What's gotten into you all of a sudden? This old lady isn't thinking about...」 (Hoshino)
「Because if you don't have doubts, you can't protect your kouhai, right?」 (Subaru)
「...」 (Hoshino)
Her feigned obliviousness turned a little cold.
While Subaru buried his face in Shiroko's hair and inhaled, Shiroko jabbed an elbow into his side, muttering "Nn, nn...!" with suppressed anger. With each jab, a faint groan escaped him like the rhythm of their conversation.
「I won't tell you to stop, because that's something only Hoshino can do. So I ask you to stay like this.」 (Subaru)
「...」 (Hoshino)
「And so, I can't do anything without you guys. What I want to ask of you — as an order, or as a request, Hoshino — is this: I want you to help me.」 (Subaru)
「I believe in Hoshino, so let's be on good terms.」 (Subaru)
The conversation with Black Suit, the rampage that had erupted, the girl with the power to destroy the world, and Subaru's decision about all of it —
Just like the very first time, he would face it with everything he had, desperately.
Even on the first day he was transported to another world, Subaru thought the same way. To move forward — and only forward — he would resist despair.
Even if he knew the future that awaited him, he did not have the strength to fully make use of that knowledge. So, to use whatever opportunity was available, Subaru had no choice but to trust others.
He understood he had no option but to cling to life, to confront the present with all his being, and to face the student before him with sincerity.
「...」 (Hoshino)
「Even if you say that while I'm inhaling Shiroko-chan, I'll only be throwing punches, you know?」 (Hoshino)
「Huh?」 (Subaru)
「Nn, do it, Hoshino-senpai.」 (Shiroko)
「Roger~」 (Hoshino)
「Hebuuu!?!?」 (Subaru)
●○●○●
『Just as I expected, mere children... Trespassing on private property, and finally engaging in combat acts... I could add the damage costs to your debt, but that wouldn't change much... Oh, wait, it seems the trust level with "Kaiser Loans" has changed?』 (Former Director)
『I-Impossible! An interest rate of 1000% means...!』 (Student)
『Huh?! Wait, this must be a lie!?』 (Student)
『Fufu... Hahaha! This debt inherited from ages past, and this private land I acquired by contract—everything rests in the palm of my hand, do you realize that? Members of the Countermeasures Committee.』 (Former Director)
『Damn it... What is your goal in the first place!』 (Student)
『The goal... The goal, huh? What I am doing here, and why I acquired the lands of Abydos? You didn't come here to hear that; rather, you got carried away with yourselves trying to expose our alleged corruption without any evidence... Well, fine.』 (Former Director)
『I'll tell you. It is a treasure hunt. I am striving to find a treasure sleeping somewhere here in Abydos... Oh, don't look at me like that; it is an established fact, you know? Though it is not so much a treasure as it is a certain weapon.』 (Former Director)
『What... is this... Stop this nonsense...!』 (Student)
『I'm the one who should be saying that. Why do you still cling to Abydos? Originally, the debt was tied to the school itself; now you can finally give up and return to your normal lives, don't you see?』 (Former Director)
『And yet... day after day, you continue with smiling faces, tirelessly... Put yourselves in my place as I deal with your persistence, built on reasons I cannot comprehend.』 (Former Director)
『Grow up a little, Countermeasures Committee.』 (Former Director)
「Why is the character of the 'Director' so often portrayed as rotten to the core??」 (Subaru)
「Who knows? But... I still regret even now that I didn't shoot him.」 (Hoshino)
「Did Shiroko also learn the 'stay' command...!?」 (Subaru)
「Nn.」 (Shiroko)
「Ohougou!?」 (Subaru)
After finishing his dose of "Shiroko inhalation" in the gymnasium, things proceeded as usual: returning to the classroom, getting a snack... and chatting while waiting for his assignment to "Schale."
Arona does not retain memories of "Return by Death" directly; rather, she simulates what happened before the return based on information accumulated in the "Shittim Chest," forming hypotheses. Through this, she reads the decisions her past self made and continues to execute actions more optimal than those before the "Return by Death."
Arona, boasting a supernatural performance that allows her to control even the "Butterfly Effect" and factor it into her calculations, is effectively executing future decisions—relative to the current time—that she had arrived at in the past.
Therefore, Subaru only had to focus on three points: preventing Hoshino from going on a rampage, beating the Former Director to a pulp, and retrieving Ayane and Serika via the contract.
── For that reason, he first asked Hoshino to talk about "that time they launched the assault."
「Treasure hunting, and a weapon... huh.」 (Subaru)
「Is he serious? That foolish bastard with a mind as petty as a child's game.」 (Subaru)
「Maybe. I think the 'Kaiser' group wanted to control 'Kivotos,' so they desired a weapon befitting that ambition.」 (Hoshino)
「... Well, as for the location of that thing...」 (Hoshino)
── The map of Abydos.
And there, a mysterious blank spot appeared clearly.
「「「...」」」
「... There is no place other than this, right?」 (Subaru)
「Yeah.」 (Hoshino)
「Nn.」 (Shiroko)
Throughout the previous "Return by Death" loops, he had never seen any lethal weapon capable of controlling "Kivotos," nor any secret treasure.
However, judging by "Kaiser's" movements, the corporation is currently in a state of "overwhelming euphoria," acting with manic vitality as if proclaiming their confidence in crushing any enemy that might face them.
── If so, where does the source of that vigor lie?
Most likely, the answer resides in that blank spot on the map.
「We will launch an assault on this location tomorrow.」 (Subaru)
What Subaru needs to gain Hoshino's trust are "tangible achievements." It does not matter if she continues to doubt him, nor does it matter if she doesn't believe him; if that is his role, and if this is an inescapable curse, then results are all he requires.
He has decided on the method of confrontation; all that remains is to charge forward at full speed while learning through trial and error.
「Hoshino is extremely strong, and unmatched, but as long as Ayane and Serika are held captive by someone connected to 'Kaiser'... neither Shiroko nor Hoshino can disobey 'Kaiser's' orders.」 (Subaru)
「So, I will bring them back today.」 (Subaru)
「──!」 (Hoshino)
「'Black Suit'... that person is faithful to contracts, for better or worse, right? I trust 'Black Suit' in a twisted sense, far more than I trust a terrorist organization that doesn't understand the language of dialogue.」 (Subaru)
Upon hearing those words, Hoshino clenched her fist so tightly that the sound of grinding bones was audible. Although her gaze toward Subaru grew colder, Subaru did not stem his flow of words.
「That person, if it is him, will 'negotiate' based on the terms offered in the contract. That is why I am going to meet 'Black Suit'... Please accept this... I beg you.」 (Subaru)
「... Going to meet 'Black Suit' is a suicide mission, do you realize that? Whether at 'Kaiser' HQ, or holed up in some other dark building, the result is the same; you will be kidnapped and it ends.」 (Hoshino)
「I will make him come to me. Hoshino, you know better than anyone what kind of human 'Black Suit' is.」 (Subaru)
「───」 (Hoshino)
The one who broke the standoff between the two was... Shiroko. She stood by Subaru's side, exposing the guilt Hoshino had been hiding from her juniors.
「Nn, Hoshino-senpai, what Subaru says is correct... Hoshino-senpai went to meet the person called 'Black Suit' secretly without telling anyone, so don't say that is forbidden for Subaru, right?」 (Shiroko)
「... Ohyee~, I really can't win against Shiroko-chan...」 (Hoshino)
「── That is, true. It is the price of my own folly. Certainly, I think 'Black Suit'... might come on his own, based on what you show him.」 (Hoshino)
「But are you saying you are capable of retrieving the two from 'Black Suit'?」 (Hoshino)
「── Yes.」 (Subaru)
「I don't trust myself, but I trust those who trust me. This applies even when dealing with evil adults. If the other party believes I am a 'partner in the contract', I will stand in that position and...」 (Subaru)
「I will win ──!!」 (Subaru)
「I will defeat him utterly! I will crush him completely without mercy!! For all the suffering he caused Hoshino and everyone...!!!」 (Subaru)
「I will strip everything away from that bastard 'Black Suit'.」 (Subaru)
And in his heart, he declared something else.
This is Subaru's own "Operation Conquest," for Hoshino, and for Abydos.
By winning the contract with "Black Suit," by triumphing over the "Kaiser" PMC, and by retrieving the detained students, it will begin...
「── Alright then, let's begin.」 (Subaru)
── The battle to claim "Takanashi Hoshino."
He confirmed this to himself sternly, and to no one else.
── Come, let's set the story in motion.
To see the scene he wishes for, with the people he wishes to be there.
『The promise.』
『Next time, keep it.』
『It's a promise just between us, Subaru.』
She had entrusted him with that wish.
So, enough.
Crying and screaming—all of it is postponed until after saving everyone.
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