[ "Someone will be assigned to handle eating and waste disposal—so don't try anything rash."
"Ah… I… mm!" He was likely calling out for Garfiel. But that didn't stop the sound of Garfiel's footsteps as he walked further away. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
Trying to bite his tongue to end it all…
"Have you come to disregard your own life to this extent, Natsuki Subaru…"
Yuriusu trailed off, falling silent.
He knew what else Subaru could do in this situation.
And without having the same experiences as Subaru, what right did he have to criticize?
"Subaru…"
Reinhard, who had been silent for a long time, called out to his friend with a pained expression.
"…Unable to die, unable to live,"
Felt said.
Wanting to die but unable to, wanting to live but finding it too painful.
—
[ The screen was pitch black and deathly quiet.
"Be… i… mm…"
After an unknown amount of time, Subaru let out a whimper.
"Ah, o… ay…"
Then, the screen began to flash back to Subaru's past.
Seeing the Royal Capital, the Loot House, the Roswaal Mansion, Alam Village, the Royal Selection, the Liphus Plains, the Great Tree of Fruegel, and the Sanctuary.
Seeing Petra with only an arm left, Emilia collapsed and died in the Loot House, Rem dying from the weakness of a curse… ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Subaru is calling for Betty…"
Beatrice could tell that the whimpering 'Be… i… mm' was Beatrice.
He was still thinking of Betty even now.
Betty had said such terrible things in that loop…
It seemed it had really hurt Subaru.
"Is Natsuki-san trying to keep thinking so he doesn't go numb? If so, the best way to keep thinking in this situation is…"
"Recalling painful or pleasant things. Subaru chose to recall the pain."
On the other side, Yuriusu added to Otto's point.
Recalling the pain, recalling the regret, telling himself not to give up.
"But… the more he thinks like that, the more unstable his mental state should become…"
Emilia said with a pained heart.
"Subaru-kun…"
Facing this situation, facing Subaru-kun who was trapped in painful memories, Rem couldn't be by his side.
"That's why it's so terrible. Natsuki-san has lost Rem-san and can't receive comfort from Emilia-sama. He's forced to sink into this extreme darkness and loneliness."
Otto sighed.
—
[ Darkness, nothing but darkness.
There wasn't a glimmer of light on the screen.
…
After some time…
"I thought you'd be in a bad state, but you look even worse than I imagined." A voice broke the extreme silence. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Oh? It's Brother Otto!"
Garfiel exclaimed.
I thought Boss was going to be stuck here forever.
How did Otto-aniki find the hideout in the Sanctuary?
…No, this is what they call the unexpected, yet reasonable.
After all, if it's Otto-aniki, he can naturally do it.
"The green-hat guy made a cool rescue!"
Felt gave Otto a thumbs up.
"Yes…"
Reinhard's worried heart eased.
"Suwen is looking cool."
Anastasia smiled.
"Eh?! Me?! Um… oh—"
Otto was a bit shocked by his own rescue, but then he imagined how he would go about rescuing Subaru, and then he suddenly understood.
"That… being praised by so many people, how should I put it… It's quite embarrassing."
Otto scratched his head, blushing.
—
[ "Ah…"
"Oh, please don't shout. This is quite a dangerous tightrope walk; I don't want to be caught by the guards right now. You and I are the types who don't give up, right? So, I'm going to take the cloth off, and I'll remove the blindfold while I'm at it." As Otto spoke, he first untied the ropes binding Subaru, then removed the cloth stuffed in his mouth, and then opened the blindfold—
Otto Suwen's face appeared in the center of the screen.
Then he smiled: "Regardless, seeing you're still alive, I'm relieved, Natsuki-san." ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Please allow Rem to thank you, Otto-sama."
Rem stood up and bowed to Otto.
"Yes, indeed, we must thank you. Thank you very, very much, Otto."
Emilia also expressed her thanks.
"…I'll, I'll just praise you, I suppose."
Beatrice said softly.
"Ah, no, no, thank that Otto if you want to thank someone. And if I were to answer for that Otto, it would be: 'I wanted to help Natsuki-san, it was the right thing to do.'"
Otto looked flustered again in the face of the praise.
—
[ "What's wrong? Looking at that crazed face of yours, it's like you've seen something you shouldn't have, and you don't believe your own brain is working properly, to the point where you're doubting if you're worshipping an illusion." Otto said, arms akimbo.
"That… your arrival is truly the unexpected of the unexpected."
"Well, I can understand that. And to be honest, here, I'm probably a rather unreliable person…"
"I should say, you belong to the level of people who are forgotten… It's no exaggeration to say, even though so much time has passed… You haven't even crossed my mind at all…"
"You can still demoralize others without hesitation in a situation like this? You really are something!" Otto let out a cry of despair. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Subaru really… He should be properly thanking him right now."
Outside the screen, Emilia pouted with dissatisfaction.
"And Brother Otto is too self-deprecating. What do you mean by 'I'm probably a rather unreliable person here'?"
Garfiel was also quite dissatisfied.
And if even Brother Otto was unreliable, then what did that make yours truly, someone who was held back by him for so long? A piece of trash?
"Not thanking him right off the bat is one thing, but to speak such harsh words… Natsuki-san really isn't honest."
Anastasia shook her head with a wry smile.
—
[ "Don't shout… wasn't that what you said… sigh, I thought I was seeing things because I was too lonely… that you were the first one to appear, I didn't know what to do…"
"Even though your throat and stamina are failing, it's amazing you can still talk this much. Here, have some water."
Otto handed over a canteen.
Splash, splash, splash…
Subaru immediately poured it over his face, washed his face messily, and then drank the rest of the water in one go.
"So, can we talk now?" Otto asked.
"Cough… barely. Can I ask a question first? How many days have passed?"
"Regarding that, if we count from the night Natsuki-san went missing, three days have passed. It's night now… time for the 'Trial'." ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Huh? Three days! And it's been over three days, since Otto said he was counting from the day Subaru went missing…"
Emilia recalled the first attack on the mansion.
It was attacked after three days. Then everyone at the mansion…
—