Watergate City of Pristella.
Five people were chatting in a public park that had a water fountain. They were acquainted with each other, two of them being important figures to Lugunica, Emilia and Priscilla.
"After the song, we'll have a pleasant chat, so could you prepare some snacks, Master Natsuki? Do you not think that sweets will make everyone happy and bring us all closer together?" Said the petite brown skinned girl with bright yellow hair tied in two tails and big round eyes of the same color.
"Not particularly," Emilia's knight replied.
"After the song, we'll have a pleasant chat, so could you prepare some snacks, Master Natsuki? Do you not think that sweets will help make everyone happy and bring us all closer together?" Repeated the songstress.
As he watched the girl sticking her tongue out in a playful pose, Subaru Natsuki forgot to breathe.
When he shifted his unsteady gaze, he saw a silver-haired girl with a soft, charming smile beside him, and also standing there was a redheaded girl, arms crossed, with an arrogant look on her face.
He looked rather strange; his posture and body language were different from a second ago. Subaru remained without speaking a word, even though he had just spoken before she repeated herself.
He lifted his head straight.
"Huh? What's wrong? Are you ignoring me? Are you?"
Subaru lowered his head as she continued, "Hey! Hey!"
"...I feel sick." He blocked his mouth with his left hand.
He crouched as his head felt heavy, his vision flickering. Unable to stand, he fully sank to his knees then and there.
"Subaru?! What's wrong?" Emilia went near her knight, worried.
"What is it, I suppose? Subaru? Subaru?!" His contracted spirit, Beatrice, also went on high alert.
"Suba–" But when she was calling his name again, an unconventional sound surrounded both figures. "Pop!" The moment the sound was played around them, they vanished in the same instant.
The distant background noise of the lively city suddenly became noticeable again, as silence prevailed over the three remaining figures.
The three gazed at the spot they were standing on; there wasn't a trace of them being there. It was as if they had never been there to begin with.
Subaru's eyes widened as he focused his direction on Beatrice's previous spot. He clenched his hands to his chest, and heavy gasps came from his mouth.
Subaru, which was already in a panic, became even more so. Not a single word came out of his mouth. The same couldn't be said for his mind.
"Huh? Where did they go?" Liliana, the songstress, asked, her playful demeanor slowly fading as her tone became neutral, almost concerned.
"Is that one of the abilities that spirit has? How convenient." Priscilla didn't make much of it, returning her gaze to the knight.
Subaru met her eyes, his pupils shaking and his mind a chaotic noise. He questioned ironically in his mind if she couldn't read the room or if she couldn't care even a little.
Then, as if a physical blow hit him upon remembering something, he took a deep breath and began to get up. "No…" he said slowly, his voice trembling. "This isn't Beako's doing."
He took a deep breath again and thought to himself, rationalizing the situation. 'Well, if Sirius, a Sin Archbishop, power is something like sharing, I guess. Then this other party is someone else.'
'And this someone is interested in Emilia, and therefore it must be another Sin Archbishop.' He remembered that in his previous Return by Death usage, Sirius was definitely doing something orchestrated, something planned. 'Then that means this is a medium-big scale attack of the cult.'
But the problem was that… why hasn't this other archbishop decided to attack him in the previous loop? Why in this one? Why now? It didn't make sense, unless…
Subaru got up and turned around, shocked by a conclusion. He had locked his gaze on the city's background. "They were watching me." Subaru said it out loud.
"Hmm?" Priscilla raised an eyebrow at the ominous phrase the kid said.
"Oh, right." He turned to the two near him. "We are under attack. Beako's transportation abilities don't make cartoon noises."
"What?!" Liliana exclaimed, holding her head. Meanwhile, the other royal candidate remained with her arms crossed.
It was an unbelievable statement; everything was fine, nothing that bad had happened yet. But when it came to this man… There was a certain trust factor considering his feats.
"That's right! I'll search for Emilia and Beako, go to that clock tower!" He pointed at the place he died in the previous loop. "A Sin Archbishop is going to appear there. If you can, call Reinhard. There's a guy that looks like…"
He described how Lachins looked and his ability. He also remembered the kid Sirius had with her.
"But why should I believe in you? Or, why should I help?" Priscilla interrupted Subaru's explanation of this random guy's ability. He didn't elaborate much, he just said very limited and supposed information. Why should she hear him?
"Are you serious right now!? We have to hurry!" Said the knight as he ran towards the streets.
…
Meanwhile, at Realm 099.
"–ru!" Beatrice called out to Subaru, but in the last part of her sentence she heard a "Pop!" as she saw the scenery abruptly change. The bright light of the sun from before was suddenly replaced with softer lighting. The palette of light colors was replaced by darker ones.
Beatrice mistook the ground level and stumbled to the ground. She didn't wince in pain; she was too worried to process it, as many things happened in the span of a few seconds.
She lifted her head up, and her eyes widened with disbelief. What she was looking at was…
The Forbidden Library.
She couldn't understand what happened. Teleportation magic? But how is the Forbidden Library of her mom intact?
It burned down, didn't it?
The spirit slowly lifted herself from the ground and looked around, seeing the hundreds of books on the shelves and the little chair she used to sit on. She takes a few steps forward, her mouth slightly agape.
"This can't be…" she whispers.
Her small hands brush against a book cover, dust falling from it. She passes her hand through the middle to see the cover. The cover was cleaned and thus revealed, and she recognized it; it was one of the books her mother had written.
It also had the same marks of usage. This isn't something you could fake; she practically lived here for decades. No one would be able to trick her when it came to the library contents.
"How? This… no. A mind trick, I suppose." She put the book back in its spot. It was easy to reach this conclusion, a memory-based magic attack.
Then Beatrice remembers a phrase she heard a few moments ago, "I feel sick"; the image of Subaru saying that and blocking his mouth with his own hand appears and brings her worries again.
"What am I doing? Subaru!?" The contracted spirit turned and shouted his name.
No response. Of course he wouldn't be here.
Without any other distractions or thoughts, she made it a priority to find Subaru. She tried to find his whereabouts through her link with him, as his contracted spirit.
It wasn't long for her to know where he was, but there was something wrong with the connection... something off...
It was like he was Subaru but wasn't Subaru.
She ignored this feeling and left the library, but as she was about to step out and close the door, she paused at the door. With a quick head turn, she saw the library, looking at the details closely. She gazed at the floor but then opened the door and walked through it.
She used Door Crossing out of habit and left the library through the nearest door to Subaru's location, which was at the corridor near his room in Rosswal's manor.
She closed the door and turned her head left. There, she saw him, a young man with a weird yellow and gray striped suit. A small smile appeared on her adorable face. She couldn't wait anymore.
Hesitant steps were made by the spirit. Anxious about his well-being, she analyzed him from afar. He was looking perfectly fine, walking in the same hallway she was in, in the same direction and way.
She walked loudly to make him notice her, and that worked. Subaru, going down the hall with one of his hands holding a cellphone, turned around and saw a little child with blonde vertical drill-shaped twin tails.
His eyes widened, and a broad smile could be found. Seeing this, Beatrice felt relief, until…
"First NPC found!" The boy in an orange tracksuit pointed at her with a smile.
Beatrice didn't know if he was joking around or if he lost his memory, but she knew that his first sentence was definitely the same first sentence he said to her when they first met.
…