Chapter 117: Your hero will definitely come to pick you up, so just wait
[ As Subaru spoke, he stabbed into his neck, and fresh blood flowed out.
"No matter how many times, I will fight against it, I will defeat it… Emilia and Rem, I want to save both of them. I won't let them die—to save you guys, I am willing to die however many times it takes."
The screen went dark. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"…"
Yuriusu silently offered a salute in his heart.
"Natsuki-san…"
"Subaru…"
Discovering that his Return by Death checkpoint had changed, Subaru must be in agony.
Emilia thought.
"…Subaru-kun."
Rem… Rem is truly useless. Rem sighed at her own powerlessness.
—
[ "I'm… back…" The screen brightened. Subaru was gasping for breath, having returned to the dragon carriage.
To his left was Petra, and to his right was Emilia.
"Are you alright, Subaru? What's wrong?" Emilia looked at Subaru with concern.
"Where is Rem?! What happened to Rem?!" Subaru seemed to have absolutely no time to comfort Emilia, directly asking about Rem's situation.
But the result was naturally…
"Subaru… Who is Rem?" ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"…No, it's not."
Emilia shook her head and frowned.
This wasn't how she remembered it.
"Does this mean that to return to a timeline where Rem hadn't fallen into slumber… Subaru attempted to die multiple times…?"
Yuriusu said.
"…"
Beatrice and the others fell silent, revealing expressions of grief.
"If the checkpoint hadn't updated… what would have happened?"
Otto proposed a hypothesis.
If the checkpoint hadn't updated, meaning if he restarted from the meeting to defeat Petelgeuse, or even earlier, restarting with Rem at the Appa stand, could Subaru have reversed all of this?
—
[ "…Rem." The scene shifted; it appeared to be an inn. Subaru called out to the sleeping Rem.
"So you were here." A voice came from behind.
That voice, which originally sounded sharp and commanding, was now coated in a layer of confusion.
It was Crusch, the Crusch who had lost her memories. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Ah… It's here."
Felix said.
"This is the part where everyone gathered to review the situation after everything was over, right?"
Crusch said.
—
[ "She…" Crusch looked at the sleeping Rem, hesitating to speak.
"There hasn't been a single change. Even though I can't change anything, I can only stay here. I didn't think I would be so unpromising, actually saying such sissy things." Subaru hung his head dejectedly.
"That's not true. She should also feel happy about this… Ah, I'm sorry. I said something thoughtless and made you unhappy."
"…I'm the one who should apologize. I was just venting my anger; I'd get scolded by Rem for this. 'You can't take your anger out on others like this, Subaru-kun,' just like that."
The two fell into silence…
"You came to find me; there must be something, right?" Subaru spoke first.
"Yes. They said they wanted to discuss some matters, and everyone is gathering in the discussion room. So, um…" Crusch's cheeks were tense.
"…My name is Natsuki Subaru."
"…I apologize. It is Natsuki Subaru-sama, correct? I will remember it well. I heard that you are a great benefactor to me, yet I have repeatedly offended you. I am truly sorry."
Learning that the person before her was her benefactor, Natsuki Subaru, Crusch switched to using honorifics. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"…It really is a bit…"
Otto recalled the Crusch who had her memories and compared her to the Crusch currently on the screen.
"It really makes one lament… Ah, sorry, I didn't mean anything extra by that."
Otto first felt that he had misspoken, then, noticing Felix's furrowed brows and Crusch's lowered eyes, he hurriedly apologized.
However, Otto had indeed voiced what everyone was thinking.
It was lamentable; it was sorrowful.
—
[ "It can't be helped. After all, you probably have too many things to remember right now, so I didn't take it to heart." Subaru smiled bitterly.
Then, he stroked Rem's head and said gently: "Then I'll see you later, Rem."
The two headed to the discussion room together.
In the discussion room, everyone discussed the recent incident.
Ultimately, they decided to maintain the alliance.
....
"You said I was strong… but without you by my side, I can't even seem to find the strength to put on a brave face, Rem." After the meeting ended, Subaru returned to the room, gazing at the sleeping Rem. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Subaru-kun is very strong. Even without Rem, Subaru-kun will definitely…"
—
[ "…I knew you were here." A familiar voice rang out. It was Emilia.
"Emilia, huh… Is something the matter?"
"Can I not come if there's nothing the matter? I should also have a connection with her… with Miss Rem, right?"
"Miss Rem, huh." Subaru's tone dropped a few degrees.
"Is that so? It turns out I used to call her by her name directly. Subaru, you haven't slept at all, have you? You'd best rest a little."
"I haven't done anything tiring, and besides, I haven't been of any help at all."
"But, your heart that wanted to do something is absolutely real. If you keep propping yourself up internally like this, your body will collapse first. So, please. Don't try to shoulder Rem's problem alone, don't worry about her alone. Let me share Subaru's worries properly."
"But, you clearly don't remember Rem at all…"
"If I don't remember, can I not think about doing something for her? Just like Subaru helped me, this time I want to help Subaru. If Subaru is hurt right now, then I want to do my best to do something for you; isn't that only natural?"
"…Emilia-tan, you're amazing."
"Really? But I think Subaru is much more amazing."
"Not at all, there's no such thing—it's so good to have Emilia here."
Then Subaru spoke again: "Emilia, I have a request."
"What request?"
"Could you turn around? I'm going to cry for a bit."
"Mhm, understood." ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"I've suddenly realized something just now. This seems to be the first time Natsuki-san has actively shown weakness to Emilia-sama."
Otto said.
The first time was at the mansion, when Emilia comforted an overly striving Subaru because she was worried. But even that time, Subaru had his emotional soft spot touched and showed weakness passively.
But this time, it was an active display of weakness, the first one so far.
"Who told Subaru to always act tough in front of me? Although the reason is… well, that he likes me. But I can't understand it."
Emilia said.
If possible, she still hoped Subaru would actively tell her when he needed help.
"After all, men just love to act tough in front of the person they love, nya. So silly."
Felix said.
"Don't think you aren't a guy, hey."
Garfiel couldn't help but retort.
"Regardless, Natsuki shows his tough side to Emilia and his weak side to Rem."
Anastasia hit the nail on the head.
"And then Rem would try to make Subaru-kun cheer up. But now…"
Rem lowered her head and frowned again.
Not long ago, Rem had already shown this expression multiple times.
Without Rem, this time Subaru needed to be strong on his own, needed to cheer himself up.
—
[ "Ugh…" Next on the screen, facing Subaru's request, Emilia silently turned around. In the next moment, Subaru began to sob.
Then, a pair of slender arms reached out.
It was Emilia, hugging him from behind.
"I will definitely steal you back, Rem. I do what I say."
"I will definitely… Your hero will definitely come to pick you up—so just wait properly."
"Definitely—I'll do what I say!" ]
.....