Chapter 134 - x

stars were visible in the night sky. And with that light, it was clear to see that the silhouette of the tower had gotten closer.

As proof, they could even see the foot of the tower that had not been visible before—

"See, it's proof that the stage has changed. The desert has become a field of flowers—"

" "

"A field…of flowers…?"

As the excitement at making it through settled, Subaru's cheek tensed. In his arms, Beatrice also froze, her big round eyes opening wide.

Having survived the menace of the sand time, the party had finally closed the distance with the Pleiades Watchtower.

And surrounding them now was a vibrant, beautiful paradise of flowers.

8

What awaited beyond the wall of sand was a secret garden.

The phrase in full bloom came to mind as Subaru looked around.

If it was just a field of flowers, then he might have felt a moment's peace at the tranquil scene. But they were in a barren desert riddled with miasma and demon beasts—it was an impossible field of flowers.

The vibrant and brilliant colors of the field of flowers covered the ground all around them.

It was a paradise filled with so many flowers that there was quite literally nowhere to step without trampling them. Subaru felt an odd sense of déjà vu at such an abnormal and incomprehensible scene.

Mysterious and bizarre, a combination of unnatural and irrational. The identity of the doubt he was feeling was— "—They're oiran bears."

Meili spoke at the same time that Subaru's instincts reached an answer.

Glancing over, he saw that Meili had moved to the driver's bench of the carriage and was staring at the field around them. She always looked composed and at ease, but the blood drained from her face, and there was a tense urgency in her eyes.

"Oiran bears…?"

"Demon beasts disguising themselves as flowers that attack people.

Normally they lie in wait with their mates in forests, though…"

Hearing that, Subaru looked around again. The colorful flower garden extended as far as the eye could see—it depended on how big the demon beasts were, but it sure didn't look like just one or two.

A chill ran down Subaru's spine as he imagined being attacked by that many demon beasts.

"Subaru, what happened? Ram said her clairvoyance suddenly broke off…"

"—Stop there, Emilia-tan. Stay calm and stay quiet."

Emilia was peeking out of the small window on the carriage, but Subaru immediately gestured to stop her.

Emilia quickly closed her mouth, guessing from Subaru's tone of voice and the sudden appearance of a field of flowers that something strange was going on.

"These flowers…"

"If the sand time was the first stage, then the second is the garden of demon beasts… It looks like the Sage's nastiness is on a whole 'nother level."

A second trap set to catch people when their guard was down after having just cleared the first stage.

Meili's warning and the fact that the demon beasts just happened to be sleeping. Were it not for both of those…

"It's too soon to breathe easy… I suppose you should save it for after we get out of here."

"I'm not fearless enough to be able to breathe easily in a situation like this — The tower is…over there?"

Subaru managed to pry his gaze away from the field of flowers. The silhouette of the tower was much closer than before they pushed through the sand time. It had been correct to rely on Ram's clairvoyance.

However—

"Demon beasts are most violent right after they wake up. So…"

She probably wanted to tell everyone to keep quiet, but she stopped partway.

The reason was obvious.

—The field of flowers woke up. Slowly, as if the ground itself was being peeled upward.

"—Ngh."

Subaru's throat clenched as he saw a demon beast stand up a few yards in front of him. Not because of the sudden movement, but because of how repulsive the monster was.

" "

Meili had called it an oiran bear, and it did have a bearlike form. But that only applied to its silhouette. There was a crucial difference.

It was almost three yards tall. The legs were short, but its arms were long enough to reach the ground while standing. There were vibrant flowers growing from its back, but its front side was the most impactful.

The roots of the flowers extending through its body and out the front were so dense they almost looked like black fur. Between the sunken eye sockets and the dim eyes, it almost seemed like a living corpse, as if the roots were absorbing all the vitality from the body.

The flowers and beast were not living in harmony. The flowers were clearly killing it.

"Ugh."

"—Don't move."

The corpse-like demon beast sniffed, as if confirming their presence. Subaru started to gulp at that, but Meili stopped him.

There was a sickly sweet scent in the air. The disconnect between the fragrance of the flowers and the hideousness of the bear made Subaru want to vomit. It even made him miss the violent sandstorm.

If only it could just come and blow all this away.

But that plea wasn't to be, and the oiran bear reached its claws out toward—

"Psst."

There was a sound that drew the oiran bear's attention from Subaru. It was Meili, who had kept her head better than everyone else.

She put her finger to her lips, indicating for Subaru and everyone else to calm down. And then she held her finger out and tried to draw the oiran bear's attention toward her.

"Psst psst psst."

She waggled her finger side to side while making noises to get its attention. It was almost like what a person might do to comfort a kitten. It would have been a cute image if it had actually been a kitten she was doing it to, but with a ferocious demon beast, it was like a scene from a horror movie.

"Psst psst psst psst."

She kept going, wagging her finger as she made noises, and gradually the oiran bear's attention shifted from her to her finger.

"Psst psst psst…pssst."

After centering its focus on her finger, she pointed it to the side of the carriage. Drawn by that, the oiran bear followed her finger's invitation, slowly taking one step in that direction.

"—Ngh."

Subaru accidently let out a little sigh of relief when he saw it starting to move away.

Emilia and Beatrice were still frozen, but the tension in their eyes was gradually abating. If the one that had already gotten up moved away, then they might be able to discuss how to deal with the rest of the field.

We haven't even had time to celebrate actually making it through the sand time together ye—

" Graaaaarrr!"

That moment, a low, thundering growl resounded across the field.

Faced with a sudden emergency situation, it was easy for the heart to give out. That applied to humans, of course, but also to land dragons—so no one could blame Joseph.

"Shit."

When Joseph's roar broke the silence, the oiran bear spun in that direction.

—No, it's not just that one.

All of the sleeping oiran bears woke up as well.

The field suddenly rose up as one, unleashing a savage howl. The air was filled with the noxiously sweet fragrance of the flowers, and the base killing instinct of the bears permeated the area as the demon beasts charged at the carriage—

"—That's enough!"

Mana rapidly formed into an ice spear before running through one of the demon beasts right in the face.

The head of the spear entered its opened mouth, crushing its head from the inside and freezing it at the same time. The oiran bear collapsed backward without a noise, dead, knocking several of its friends backward with it.

"Ruuuuuun!!!"

The moment he realized it was Emilia's preemptive attack, Subaru shouted.

Responding instantly, Julius cracked the reins violently, sending the carriage racing. And naturally Patlash started sprinting, too. They blew past the demon beasts standing still in shock and charged through the field of flowers.

And one beat later, the mob of demon beasts started running after them.

"They're coming they're coming they're coming they're coming they're comiiiiing!"

All around them, the enormous field of flowers peeled backward, releasing a sweet scent as the ferocious demon beasts pressed toward them. They were rising everywhere, from all around.

At the end of their long arms, it was like they were wearing nightmarish cactus gloves. If they had the same sort of strength as a bear, it was easy to imagine the nasty, bloody pulp that would be left if just one attack from that landed.

As sturdy as the carriage was, it wouldn't be able to hold out if a blow like that hit…

"Ey! Ya! Yeah! Youuuu…hit them!"

At some point, Emilia had leaped up on the roof of the carriage and was swinging both arms, creating countless ice blades to keep the demon beasts' savage attacks at bay.

The bluish dance of light visited a beautiful but cruel death upon the demon beasts, creating a little bit of space around the carriage.

"Whoooooa! That's my Emilia-tan! I'm falling in love all over again!"

"You seem awfully composed, Barusu. If you don't want to die, then you better run like your life depends on it."

"Obviously… Wait, Ram?!"

Subaru got excited at Emilia's fighting, but a cold voice brought him back down to earth. Looking over, he saw that the driver of the carriage had shifted from Julius to Ram.

Her exhaustion from using clairvoyance was still obvious on her face, but it didn't affect her handling of the reins. Leaving the driving to her, Julius had drawn his sword and moved around to the side of the carriage, deftly slashing any demon beasts that dared approach.

"I cannot allow Lady Emilia to shoulder this burden alone."

Sensing Subaru's eyes, Julius responded with grace and refinement. All the while, his knight's sword flashed adroitly, piercing the arms and faces of several different demon beasts, shaving away at their ability to fight. Thrusting forcefully at another that charged in, there was a flash as his blade pierced straight into its head, destroying its brain.

Minimal motion for maximal effect. The epitome of the finest swordsmanship.

"Damn it. I'm not gonna lose now! You ready to go, Beako?!"

"Naturally! You aren't going to run out of gas, are you, Suba…ru?!"

Subaru was holding the reins in one hand while lifting Beatrice up with the other, standing her up on Patlash's back. They held hands, and Subaru felt something fiery welling up in the pit of his stomach— "Minya!"

A purple crystal appeared with her cast, taking aim at a demon beast blocking Patlash's path. Lining up the target, accelerating for a brief instant, and then it hit.

Hit by the purple arrow, the demon beast recoiled as its head crystallized and then shattered like glass.

"All right, good one, Beako!"

"But I can't fire recklessly! We have to carefully manage yo— Minya!"

"What happened to careful management?!"

Beatrice's ability to keep fighting depended on Subaru's mana supply.

And unfortunately, Subaru's mana was a drop in the bucket compared to the number of demon beasts they were dealing with. Beatrice's tuning ability was top-notch, but each shot still shaved away at Subaru's spirit.

Emilia, Julius, and Subaru and Beatrice were all fighting the good fight, and set off by that—

"Ugh! Arrrgh! This was my ace in the hole!"

Their ultimate weapon who had stayed silent so far finally stood up and stamped on the carriage with a red face.

Looking at the demon beasts that refused to obey her, she held out her palm.

"Here's a punishment for bad children! Come, sandworm!"

It sounded like the words of a sulking child picking a fight, but in response, there was a tremendous force that shook the ground beneath the oiran bears. Sand welled up from the ground as the enormous sandworm reared its head.

" Raaarghhh!"

"No way?!"

There was an awful stench as it rose into the air and swallowed several oiran bears. The sight of it chewing on them and then knocking back a dozen more just by wriggling its body was stunning.

"Gooo, sandworm! Smash 'em all!"

"Wait, really?! Are you serious?! Hey! Really?! Like actually?!"

The sandworm's giant body slammed down, crushing a dozen oiran bears beneath it as sand, the scent of flowers, and death throes filled the air. The oiran bears were not small, but they were nothing compared to a twentyyard-long sandworm.

And the surprises didn't stop there.

Meili clapped her hands, and there were eruptions of sand one after the other from multiple different spots.

They were smaller than the first one, but the addition of six more sandworms as reinforcements was still dramatic. It was like a clash of titans as the battlefield filled with magic and demon beasts started to sprawl all around them.

Emilia's and Beatrice's magic, Julius's sword, and Meili's power opened a path for them, and they were charging straight through the field of flowers —the tower was getting closer and closer.

"Just a little bit more! If we push straight through to the tower like this…"

There was no way the oiran bears would just give up then, but if they could change the situation some, it might be possible to come up with a plan for breaking out. Believing in that possibility, Subaru called out to his comrades as loud as he could.

Just a little bit more. Just keep it up for a little bit longer.

Their goal, the Pleiades Watchtower, was right before their eyes—

"—?"

Suddenly, Subaru's pupils narrowed.

There was a faint feeling of something off. It was light. Somewhere on the middle of the tower, it looked like something was shining.

"Wh—?"

But he never finished his question.

" "

A light flashed through the sky, hitting Subaru's head straight on.

In an instant, Subaru Natsuki was vaporized from the neck up, and his consciousness was erased without even a moment to think.

—There was no one able to call out in that one moment of terrible spectacle.

Because everyone who saw it, everyone who started to cry out, was vaporized in the same way, too.

Having lost their heads, the land dragons collapsed to the ground, and the carriage tumbled on its side.

The dry desert sands eagerly drank the rivers of blood until nothing remained.

And finally, slowly, the grains of sand swallowed everything, pulling it down into the depths of the desert, hiding everything from sight.

Not even bloody flowers remained as evidence of their journey. It was all was taken by the sand.

—The party was completely wiped out.

CHAPTER 3

THE WATCHTOWER BAPTISM

1

—I saw a light. That's all.

He could remember looking straight up at the tower in front of him.

Then he noticed a light out of the corner of his eye, and his eyes had reacted to it.

But that was all he could remember.

No pain, no shock, no fear.

For Subaru Natsuki, at least one of those was always present when he experienced death.

An intense pain that made him want to cry, a bloodcurdling shock, or the terror of losing everything. Instead, there was nothing. In a way, it had been a far kinder death than any other he had experienced.

Of course, in the moment, with his head vaporized, Subaru had not been able to perceive the kindness of the death, but also, he didn't have any time to linger on the memory of it.

It was like the blink of an eye. It was no more than a single instant, barely long enough to notice that his vision had gone dark, and then he had returned to life, moving backward to be thrown back into reality.

"—Psst psst psst."

" "

For a moment, there was an almost unbearable heaviness that froze his senses, and then Subaru opened his eyes.

The sound of blood flowing through his body was distractingly loud in his ears, and a lance of pain shot through him when he tried to stretch and flex his muscles. He was gripping the reins so tightly his fingernails were biting into his palm, and Beatrice's warm body pressed against his chest.

"…Wha—?"

In the dim light, he looked down at Beatrice's head from up close.

The aggressively sweet scent that filled his nose was different from what he usually smelled whenever he hugged her tight. There was a sickly sweetness to it, almost like toxic gas clinging to his nostrils.

Subaru had once heard that smell was the sense most strongly connected with memory.

But there was no need to resort to memory to experience that scent now. It was all around him.

The bigger problem was that his memory associated with that smell cut off only a few seconds ago.

"Psst psst psst psst."

As Subaru's consciousness struggled to catch up, a rhythmic sound rang in his ears.

Beatrice, who he was holding tightly to his chest, had gone stiff, and Patlash was watching with bated breath, eyeing the terrifying demon beast standing right in front of the carriage where Emilia and Rem were riding.

It was a ferocious, blood-starved demon beast with thin roots all over its body—an oiran bear.

That instant, the raw reality of his death finally hit Subaru in a way that a phrase like déjà vu couldn't even begin to describe, and he started to shudder.

There's no mistaking it. I definitely died and came back.

Subaru Natsuki had returned by death.

"—Ngh."

—But why did I come back to now of all times?

Subaru gnashed his teeth more at the checkpoint he'd been saddled with than the fact that he had died.

Meili was trying to coax the demon beast to peacefully pass by the carriage. She would end up succeeding, just barely, but things would get real messy real fast.

Because Joseph, the land dragon pulling the carriage, would panic under

the pressure of the demon beast's overwhelming presence.

" "

Even knowing that, though, Subaru was unsure how to respond.

He couldn't see Joseph to judge his condition from where he was sitting on Patlash. And Julius, who was holding Joseph's reins, hadn't noticed something was wrong with his mount. Even he didn't have the composure to maintain perfect situational awareness under these circumstances.

Everyone in the carriage was praying for Meili to successfully connect with the oiran bear.

Unfortunately, though— "Psst psst psst…pssst!"

There was a change in the noises Meili was making, and her finger pointed to the right side of the carriage. The oiran bear was drawn by it and started walking slowly in that direction.

Seeing that, everyone on the carriage and Beatrice started to feel a sense of relief.

But Joseph couldn't endure any longer as the threads of tension loosened. "Juli—"

" Graaaaarrr!"

—It was too late. Joseph's roar drowned out his voice.

Just like before, Joseph roared and stamped, waking up all the oiran bears at once with the noise and tremors. The field came alive with a lust for blood and violence.

The oiran bear charged with its lifeless eyes and spittle-flecked maw— until a bluish ice spear shot right through its head; the explosion of ice fragments matched perfectly, too.

"That's enough!"

Emilia leaped gracefully up onto the carriage roof as she unleashed her magic and roared valiantly. There was a crackle as the very air froze and a tremendous number of ice blades rained down, sending up blooms of blood.

"R-run run run run run run run!"

Subaru immediately pushed Patlash to run and started shouting, and the carriage picked up speed right behind him as well.

Glancing over to the driver's bench, he saw Ram leap out and take over for Julius, who drew his sword and slashed into the onrushing oiran bears, sending them flying.

—It was exactly the same as before.

"—Ngh."

It was the first time Subaru had ever experienced a reset that was such a waste.

There had been plenty of times he failed to fully comprehend what he had learned the last time and ended up dying in the same way. But this was the first reset where he found himself so incapable of doing anything other than repeating the same mistake.

"Subaru! We don't have time to get distracted!"

Subaru gritted his teeth in frustration as Beatrice slammed her back against his chest. Looking forward, he saw a ferocious demon beast approaching from the front with a big swinging fist.

At the same time, he grabbed her small, outstretched hand, and Beatrice stood up and started firing.

"Minya! Minya! And another Minya!"

The mana in Subaru's body passed through his hand and transformed into destructive power under Beatrice's guidance.

The purple crystals she created pierced the demon beasts and crystallized their hideous bodies, which Patlash shattered as she raced forward through them.

"My ace-in-the-hole sandworm!"

Hearing Meili's desperate shout, Subaru saw an explosion of sand out of the corner of his eye.

The sandworm rose from the soft ground that lay beneath a field of flowers that the oiran bears had set out, swallowing several of them in its enormous maw and crushing another dozen with its massive body.

It was clash of the titans two—but this wasn't enough to turn things around.

"—Barusu! If you don't want to die, then ride like your life depends on it!"

Subaru was simmering in an aimless anxiety as a voice scolded him sharply. It was Ram on the driver's bench of the carriage, reins in hand, doing an excellent job of controlling the agitated Joseph. She was controlling him with a masterful ability that matched Rem's, but unless something changed soon, it would all be for naught.

"We can't go toward the tower like this! Ram, change routes!"

"—Ngh. What are you saying? It's a straight shot to the tower, and every other direction is filled with demon beasts!"

"I know, but if we keep going this way, it won't work!"

"If you've noticed something, then just spit it out, Barusu!"

"If I could, I would! For now, just change routes!"

Ram shouted angrily at Subaru, but he couldn't do anything other than yell back. It was infuriating, but he couldn't say anything more concrete. He didn't know how he died before.

With every other death he had experienced, there had been room to maneuver, and he relied on the information gleaned from that to get around whatever was checkmating him.

But this time there was no thread to pull to invoke a better fate. And he didn't have time to search for it, either.

—This is a nasty way to seal my reset ability.

"Ram! Do what Subaru said!" Ram was arguing with what were obviously nonsensical instructions, but Emilia came down on Subaru's side. Unleashing a fusillade of ice chunks at the demon beasts, she nodded forcefully. "Subaru wouldn't say something strange like that without a good reason!"

"Barusu says strange things and shares rash ideas almost every time he opens his mouth!"

"Subaru wouldn't ever say something strange like that in such a dangerous situation without a good reason!"

"Gee, thanks for that clarification!"

He wasn't sure whether to bemoan being treated like the boy who cried wolf or be proud that Emilia treated him as a guy who could be relied on in a pinch.

Save it for later.

Patlash stuck her front legs into the sand and executed a hairpin turn. She kicked hard, sending a rampaging oiran bear flying before dashing off in the new direction.

"—Ngh! Hold on tight, everyone outside! Don't get knocked off!"

Following Subaru, Ram deftly guided Joseph into the same direction. The top of the carriage was particularly more unstable in such a swerve, so Emilia and Julius were forced to hang on to the ceiling for dear life to avoid being thrown off.

There was a violent thud as the carriage sideswiped a demon beast, but it somehow managed to make the turn and hold together in—

" Kiiiiii!"

There was an earsplitting screech, and a bitter wind filled the air.

Turning around reflexively, Subaru saw what had happened.

"The sandworm…gh."

—Behind them was a twenty-yard-long sandworm towering over the sands.

Its torso exploded like it had taken a direct hit from an artillery round.

And unable to support its massive body anymore, it slowly— "Get out of the wayyyyy!!!"

The sandworm's body slumping to the ground was more than heavy enough to completely flatten the carriage.

The oiran bears caught underneath it cried out in agony as Subaru and Ram directed their land dragons, forcibly changing course to avoid the falling sandworm.

"Whoaaaaaa?!"

An explosive shock wave rippled out, and a cloud of sand swallowed him. Losing his grip on the reins, Subaru immediately leaped, clutching Beatrice tightly to his chest.

He rolled across the sand hard, rolling, rolling, until finally he stopped.

"Th-th-that was dangerous…!"

"Subaru! We messed up!"

His face was covered in sand, but he only had a moment to breathe a sigh of relief before Beatrice shouted. She brushed away the flower petals in her face and stared at the dense cloud of dust filling the sky.

"We've gotten separated from the carriage! We're all alone!"

"What?!"

Frantically looking around, he saw the giant sandworm's corpse lying on the ground in the rising sand. The oiran bears that got caught under it had all been turned into hideous corpses, and the desert had become a sea of blood.

And that sea had cut off Subaru and Beatrice from Emilia and everyone else.

In the distance, he could hear the demon beast roars and the earsplitting sounds of combat. They were still fighting hard over there. But they would have to overcome a swarm of demon beasts in order to meet back up again. "Half the fighting strength! And it feels like twice as many enemies…!"

"I suppose that means it's four times worse than before!"

Hearing Beatrice's determination, Subaru bit his lip, strongly regretting his choice.

My mistake, my failure. I didn't get enough value out of my last loop.

I thought I had learned to do more, that I could do more things now, that I was a little better than before.

But fate just laughed at Subaru Natsuki's superficial wit and tricks, crushing them all underfoot.

"That bastard Regulus was a lot easier to deal with than a swarm of demon beasts…!"

"We don't have time for your grumbling! We have to—"

"I know! I need to think of—"

Standing up, he looked around for Patlash so they could start moving. Without her legs, no plan he could come up with had any chance of working.

In that moment, he noticed a white light at the edge of his vision, and every hair on his body stood on end.

"Light—"

Just as the word left his stunned lips, it closed in on him from across the sands.

The white light beaming out from the middle of the watchtower. It tore through sandy ground, shredding the demon beasts in its path as it flew straight toward him.

The moment it was about to mercilessly shatter Subaru Natsuki—

"—gh."

A black shadow leaped in front of Subaru, and then he went tumbling.

Subaru's body flew across the sand from the impact. His head hurt, and he was woozy. Realizing he was splayed on the ground, he blinked several times.

"Wh…at…?"

Propping himself up like he was just getting out of bed, he looked around. And then he noticed it.

Patlash's big body had collapsed beside him, completely limp. There was a terrible wound in her side, and the smell of burnt flesh and blood was wafting from it.

Recalling what had just happened, Subaru realized that Patlash had covered him.

"—Subaru!"

Just as he realized what happened, Beatrice cried out his name. Looking over, he saw her running from a short distance away. She had a pained, sorrowful expression on her face.

Following her blue eyes, Subaru saw his own body.

Just like Patlash's wound, there was a clean hole blown through the right side of his stomach.

"Agh…"

When he saw the wound, blood welled up in his throat, and his vision tilted to the side.

He had collapsed and couldn't move anymore. All the strength left his body, and his consciousness faded.

He sensed someone kneeling next to him.

"Subaru! Subaru! No! You can't…don't—don't die…don't leave me alone…! Nooo!"

His shoulder was being shaken. He could hear a tearful cry. He wanted to reach out his hand, but he couldn't move.

Such a pretty face…but she's crying… I can't make her cry…

"Don't leave Betty behind…"

She was sobbing as she desperately hugged Subaru.

Subaru's limp body was too much for her little arms to support, but even so, she tried her best.

Tears streaked down her cheeks. At the very least, he wanted to wipe those tears for her.

He searched everywhere on his body for something that could move, but nothing worked. But if his body couldn't move, then he just had to draw on something that wasn't part of his body.

"…Subaru…?"

—An invisible hand, something that only he could see, wiped the tears from her cheek.

The black finger touched the teardrop, and she was looking at Subaru as if realizing something. He tried to smile to put her at ease, but he didn't have the strength.

"Suba—"

She started to say something.

But the white light that came flying from somewhere far off in the distance interrupted her.

Another shock pierced Subaru's chest.

Looking down slowly, he saw it had pierced the back of the girl clinging to him and then kept going until it had gone through his chest and out the back.

"—Ahh."

That rasp was her last.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the girl's body transformed into particles of light and disappeared.

As if she had never existed.

"Agh…"

Without her support, Subaru collapsed to the ground, unable to move. Without a reason to move.

Pierced by the unfathomable white streak, Subaru's insides were completely destroyed. And the swarm of demon beasts drew toward him, licking their lips.

" "

He stopped breathing, and his eyes lost focus.

It was hard to say whether his life extinguished before the fangs and claws tore his body to shreds.

Before that, his brain failed, and he couldn't comprehend anything.

—But at the very end, it felt like there was another white flash on the horizon.

2

"—Psst psst psst."

" "

He wanted to praise himself for not screaming the moment he regained consciousness.

Having returned to the demon beasts' flower garden after a second death, Subaru frantically covered his mouth as he thought that.

"Psst psst psst psst."

Meili was calling to the oiran bear, and the overpowering scent of flowers filled the air.

The oiran bear blocking the carriage's way was gradually focusing on Meili's noises and her wagging finger. Everyone was holding their breath and waiting to see how it would unfold.

Just a few minutes earlier, Subaru had watched this exact scene play out, unable to do anything.

Touching the side of his torso where the killing blow had landed, he confirmed there was no more wound as his thoughts roared into motion.

It was shocking, but he had to quickly shift gears. Forgetting about the swarm of monsters that had been chasing them a minute ago, he focused on the most immediate problem at hand.

The problem at hand. The problem at hand. What—what is it? What's going to happen?

The smell, the sweetness, annoying, annoying, itchy, painful.

Which one is now?

His brain, which had been used and abused until he could swear it was boiling, suddenly realized something.

He could feel Beatrice twitching ever so slightly against his chest. Seeing her watch the oiran bear's every move without making so much as a sound breathed life back into Subaru's brain cells.

The death he just experienced came rushing back, as did Beatrice's sobs and teary face.

Right, right, right.

Subaru had already died twice. This was his third time experiencing this moment.

The first time had been a death he couldn't understand. The second was— No, save it for later.

"Psst psst psst…pssst."

Right as his mind started running again, Meili caught the oiran bear's attention.

Drawn by her sounds and finger movement, the demon beast's focus shifted away from the carriage. But that wouldn't be enough for the menace to pass and everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

As the oiran bear slowly turned, the land dragon right in front of it breathed raggedly.

Dealing with the overwhelming pressure of staring down the demon beast

at close range and the scent of the flowers that made it so difficult to focus— the land dragon's composure was steadily being worn down, and when that last thread frayed and broke, it would lose control.

If Subaru couldn't stop it, then he would be destined to repeat the same death.

I have to stop it from panicking. But how?

He couldn't raise his voice. It was difficult to convey the situation to Julius, who was holding the land dragon's reins.

—There's no time.

Without a eureka moment in the next second, he would just have to roll the dice and call out to Julius.

The last death had involved a stampede of demon beasts and the light from the watchtower…and Beatrice's tears—

"—Beako, I love you."

"—?!"

Hugging her small body from behind, he whispered in her ear. Beatrice was shocked by that unprompted confession, but his hand was covering her mouth so she couldn't say anything.

Instead, Subaru reached a hand out to the dragon in front of him—toward Joseph. A hand to gently soothe it, just like how he had wiped a tear from Beatrice's cheek before he died.

—Invisible Providence.

He was busy telling Beatrice he loved her, so he just said the ability's name in his mind.

All of a sudden, in the center of his chest—it was a different feeling from when Beatrice was helping him channel mana—the black power was exuberant when he called it forth. An otherworldly invisible hand cheered at the opportunity to accomplish a noble task in slothful Subaru Natsuki's stead.

" "

The black limb slowly reached out from Subaru's chest toward the land dragon. Just like the original, no one was capable of seeing the hand other than Subaru.

While feeling relieved at that, he also felt something inside himself being torn away. It was unclear what price had to be paid, but he knew instinctively that he couldn't take too long. And he had no intention of doing so, either.

The slender, outstretched hand gently patted the thick neck of the land dragon that was on the verge of losing control.

He had only learned that was the best way for calming down this species of land dragon the morning before they set out into the sands.

I never would have expected to use it in a situation like this, but I guess I should pay attention to what people are saying all the time.

The land dragon shuddered at someone suddenly touching him, but he instinctively recognized that the hand didn't harbor any ill will. His ragged breathing gradually calmed, and the tension left his body.

"—Hmm?"

Julius noticed the change, and he gently pulled the reins and started to pacify the dragon as well. Joseph started visibly calming down. Just the sort of expertise one would expect from Julius.

In that moment, Subaru broke the connection with the invisible hand, and the black hand faded away. "Hah, phew…"

That should be the immediate problem handled at least.

The cost had been relying on a taboo power, but Subaru Natsuki's style was to always use any cards he had to play.

He didn't have any qualms with that. But what bothered him was that the effect of having used the invisible hand was so much less intense than last time.

The first time in the sanctuary when he used it against Garfiel, it had felt like half of his body had been stolen from him. But this time all that happened was he was breathing a little heavily.

"It's not just that I'm getting used to it…"

Subaru felt more uneasy than relieved to have the sense of loss and hatred be so much lighter than before.

It is better to have an option than not, but there's nothing good about more rounds in the chamber when the game is Russian roulette. It's a powerful ace in the hole, but— "…Th-that's enough, Subaru."

Beatrice started struggling a bit in response to Subaru holding her up for so long. That was enough to finally draw his attention back to reality. He started to apologize when—

"What happened, Beako? What's with that look…?"

"It's because you've been kneading Betty's hair this whole time! What were you thinking?!" "Huh? I was?"

Beatrice skillfully kept her voice down as she angrily let Subaru have it.

Her glorious hair had been interwoven and tied up and had lost all shape. It was a style on the bleeding edge of fashion that was a little too far out for anyone to catch up with her.

"The fact that you didn't even realize you were doing it is annoying…

You probably don't even remember what you whispered to Betty, either." "No, I remember that. Because I'll love you forever."

"Gah!"

Beatrice's face turned red immediately, and she covered her head with the cloak she was wearing.

Subaru would have loved to enjoy Beatrice's adorableness a bit more, but he couldn't afford to play with her at the moment.

Meili's bold strategy had managed to get them out of the oiran bear encirclement, and they finally had a moment to take a deep breath. Subaru looked around, spotting an area that wasn't a part of the flower field.

When Julius glanced at him, he gestured to head over there to talk. Fall back for now. It's time to strategize.

3

"Just when I was thinking we had cleared the sand time, this happens."

"It definitely feels like a full dose of the Sage's nastiness. There's no opening and no letting our guard down."

Julius and Subaru both sighed after moving away from the flowers to a place where they could be confident in not provoking the oiran bears.

Inside the carriage, Emilia and everyone else were in agreement. Emilia was patting Meili's head.

"If you weren't there, Meili, it would have been terrible. Thank you sooo much."

"I-it would have been dangerous for me surrounded by that many of them.

That's all."

Meili looked away and responded curtly. But there was a faint redness to her cheeks. It was adorable that she couldn't quite hide how she was really feeling.

Either way, though, Emilia was right. Meili had made a huge contribution. And in that sense, so had Ram when it came to actually breaking through the sand time.

"How is your body doing, Ram?"

"…Is this the time to be worrying about me? We don't have the leeway for that."

Ram fired back in a slightly hoarse voice. The night was dark in the desert, so he couldn't see her face clearly. But Ram's already pale skin looked even paler than usual, indicating just how exhausted she had to be.

But she didn't pay any heed to Subaru's gaze and looked over at Meili.

"What about that flower field, Meili? Can you get all of those demon beasts to get out of our way with your ability?"

"Like I said before, it's difficult. If there were only a hundred, I could do something, but when it gets to be more than that, it's hard, even for me."

"A hundred, huh? That is already quite remarkable. Unfortunately…"

Julius looked over toward the flower field. Even at a glance, it was clear that there had to be more than a thousand of them there. There might even be more than ten thousand. It wasn't a number that Meili could handle.

As a heavy mood settled around them, Julius held up two fingers.

"Our options right now are to continue forward or to go back."

"Is going back even an option? It won't solve anything."

"Can you be sure? It's entirely possible that when we passed through the sand time that it just happened to connect here. If we pass through a different crack in space, it is possible we might end up at another place even closer to the tower."

Subaru was skeptical of that possibility, but he had no hard evidence to deny it, either. The fact was that there were three different sand times.

They had passed through the sand time during the night, but there was a chance that the morning and midday ones were different—

"…Spare me such naive optimism."

As Subaru was considering that, Ram's quiet voice rang in his ear.

It was none other than the person who had worked the hardest to get through the sand time who glared at Subaru and Julius.

"Would the Sage who has gone so far out of their way to reject outsiders really leave an easy path someplace? There's no way. Retreating into dreams in the face of a punishing reality is the last resort of cowards who want an easier way."

"You… We're just talking about the possibility of even a slightly safer path."

"We embarked on this journey well aware that it would be dangerous. The resolution to lose something is necessary to ever be able to gain anything. Or were you planning to win without ever risking anything? How arrogant can you be?"

Faced with Ram's fierce tongue-lashing, Subaru paused for a moment and then let out a deep breath.

Ram was intentionally phrasing it provocatively to urge them forward. And there was of course a logic to what she was saying, too. But there was also a logic to what Julius had said.

All that was left was to decide which one—

"Meili, what about just making the ones on the path we take move out of our way?"

"Try to narrow it down instead of moving all of them? In that case…" Meili focused on the field, examining it closely.

"If it's just that much, then I think I can do it. Move them out of the path, and then make them go back to sleep once they're far enough away… Yeah, it's okay. I can do it."

At the very least, she was in agreement with Ram on moving forward. Hearing that, Subaru turned to everyone else.

"It might sound like a flip-flop, but I agree with Ram. There's certainly a possibility of something different if we go through a different sand time, but if it is demon beasts blocking our way, then at least we have Meili with us."

"There's also the possibility that this is better than what we would find anywhere else."

Beatrice nodded as well while fixing the hair that Subaru had messed up.

"In the end, we have no choice but to rely on Meili. In the worst case, if the demon beasts do wake up, then it will be up to Emilia-tan and Julius— and me and Beatrice. Sorry."

" "

"Whoops, and Patlash. Thanks. I love you, too."

His trusty steed made her presence known, and Subaru reached behind to tickle her neck affectionately.

And then Subaru looked at everyone. The demon beasts' flower garden was right in front of them. They couldn't afford to take too long to decide, so he started to put it up to a vote…

"—Mm-hmm. I agree with Subaru and Ram. I don't want to turn back, even for a second."

Emilia smiled reassuringly, backing Subaru's conviction. There was a powerful determination in her purple eyes, and she was looking at the tower that lay beyond the field of flowers.

"The path is straight, and the tower is right ahead— If anything happens, I'll be there to help everyone, no matter what."

"—You are surprisingly muscle-brained when it comes to situations like this, Emilia-tan."

"Muscle-br…eh? What do you mean all of a sudden? Ahh, don't embarrass me like that."

Emilia kept a cool look while saying it, but she started blushing at Subaru's wry comment. She didn't really get the meaning of muscle-brained, but there was something cute about the way she blushed.

"Surprisingly for me, muscle-brained wasn't exactly an unalloyed compliment for Emilia-tan… Yeah, nope, I probably meant it as compliment.

I'm head over heels all over again. E M T all the way."

He realized again just how important the girl who was looking so resolutely ahead was to him, of how much he loved her.

With Emilia, Ram, and Meili in the keep-moving camp—

"So then all that's left is what Anastasia and Julius think, but…"

"Not much I can say there. We already have a majority, and I'm not exactly keen on trying to go against it. But I do want to think a little bit more about whether this place is really what it seems."

Anastasia put her hand to her cheek. Hearing her response, Julius turned to her.

"Do you have some sort of concern about this garden of demon beasts,

Lady Anastasia?"

"Nothing that big. But there was a cranny for slipping through the sand time, right? So I just wondered whether there was something like that for this field, too, is all. What do you think, Beatrice?"

"—Why would you ask Betty?"

Beatrice's cheek tensed when Anastasia, or rather Foxidna, turned to her.

Anastasia's lips softened at Beatrice's hostile response.

"From what I've heard, you're a specialist in dark magic, right? And when you're talkin' 'bout dark magic, then twists in space are sort of dark magic's bread and butter…so I was just wondering if you might notice something is all."

"…The sand time was a natural disruption, but the way it twisted was similar in structure to Betty's Passage. That is what Betty felt passing through it."

Answering the question calmly, Beatrice looked up at Subaru.

"A long while back, Betty cast a similar spell on Subaru."

"On me? When?"

"…The first time we met."

"The first… Ah! When I cleared that infinite-loop-looking hallway on the first try! Sorry for that after all the work you put into setting it up."

"It's annoying that it feels like you are genuinely apologizing. Just forget about it!"

"You're the one who brought it up…"

Beatrice's cheeks puffed out in a pout as Subaru shrugged passively. But he couldn't ignore what Beatrice and Anastasia were saying.

If they actually had some idea other than just passing through the field, then that would be the best.

But also, there was one more problem they couldn't afford to ignore still hanging in the air.

"—One question I had, though. Did anyone notice a light shining from the tower?"

"A light from the tower?"

Emilia and everyone else looked confused at his question.

—The white light emanating from the watchtower. He didn't understand the details, but it was what caused his death twice now.

The first time he had not even been able to react to it, and the second time he had avoided an instant death only thanks to Patlash. Were it not for her, Subaru would have been killed on sight again, and he would have had to face this loop still ignorant about the light.

But even if he had brought back some information from his last death, it wasn't a simple thing to come up with a way to deal with that light.

"I didn't notice anything. Did you see a light shining from the watchtower, Subaru?"

"Hmm, ah, yeah. I don't think I was just seeing things. There was definitely a gleam from the tower, and…"

"Does that mean the Sage in the tower noticed us?"

"They don't have to notice us to turn on a light at night. Maybe that's all it was?"

"I see. Assuming for the moment the Sage has noticed us, then perhaps if we indicate we mean no harm, there will be some contact."

The fact that his explanation had been vague due to not being able to explain his death resets had come back to bite him.

Once he started talking about lights, it was only natural that they would start imagining something like a room light or a lamp. It would be stupid to assume a lethal hostility right from the start. He had to find some way to get the dangerousness of that light across without flirting with the taboo of his ability, though—

"—How did the light look to you, Barusu?"

While he was struggling to find a way to change the conversation's flow, Ram threw him a line. She was crossing her arms as she turned the topic back to Subaru, who took his time phrasing it.

"I…I think it was something dangerous. At the very least, it didn't seem friendly."

"Any evidence other than gut instinct?"

"…Well, not really."

That was the part that made the least sense in Subaru's explanation. With no evidence he could point to, though, he had no choice but to call it instinct and try to make it stick. Because of that, he expected Ram of all people to be exasperated, but:

"I see—that's a problem."

Ram took his answer seriously— No, it's not just her.

Emilia and Julius and even Anastasia had serious looks on their faces.

"Huh? What? I just said it was gut instinct. No one's going to get suspicious about that?"

"Maybe if it was just instinct, but it's your instinct, right? In that case, it's better to take it seriously than suspect it, if you ask me."

"You should not be so self-deprecating. You have made it through quite a number of trials and tribulations. There is an instinct that only people who have survived those sorts of situations can develop. Call it a wealth of experience."

"A field rat knows to change its den before the heavy rains come.

Barusu's instinct isn't to be made light of."

"That's already making pretty light of it…but I get it."

They all gave their own reasons for trusting what he claimed to be simply intuition. They were all telling him that even if it was just his instinct, they trusted him.

He felt a wave of relief at their stance. Even from Julius.

Rubbing his nose for a moment at the feeling, Subaru looked away from his comrades.

Because of that, he didn't notice it. The first to notice was Ram.

"Barusu, that's—"

"Eh?"

Ram's voice was dead serious. Following her gaze, he saw her looking at his chest. Looking down, he saw it, too.

There was an unusual red point of light shining on the chest of his cloak.

" "

That instant, a phrase popped into his head. It was one that didn't fit this world at all, though.

—A laser pointer.

"—Ngh!"

The next instant, all his comrades moved in a miraculous way.

—A beam of light unleashed from the watchtower flew straight at Subaru with terrifying speed and accuracy.

It was death incarnate, moving faster than the wind, piercing its prey without a noise. That one attack would vaporize Subaru Natsuki, killing him without giving any time to react—

"—I won't let that happen!"

—if he had been alone when it took aim at him.

A shield of ice the size of a hand appeared on Subaru's chest where the red point of light was shining. It was a magic defense Emilia had immediately created to protect him.

The beam of light's aim was on target, and the ice intercepted it just like she intended— "No way?!"

It was only a split second. The white light was slowed by the shield of ice for just an instant before vaporizing the barrier and passing through. Not only did the ice not stop the light, it didn't even delay for a whole second. But that split second was enough.

"Shiii—!"

Julius swung his knight's sword, unleashing a full-strength thrust with his full body weight behind it, hitting the light that was about to skewer Subaru.

His face was dead serious as he perfectly tracked the ray of light whose force had weakened ever so slightly from Emilia's ice wall. The light spun and deflected away, landing in the sand beside them. A white smoke rose from it.

For the first time, Subaru had avoided a direct hit from it and could see that it was—

"…A needle?"

The unknown object was glowing as it stuck out of the sand. In the dark of night, it was an oppressively brilliant intense white—and it looked like a long, thin needle.

The needle started to crumble from the back and disappeared in the wind. "Barusu! The next one's coming!"

Subaru had been reaching out to grab the light that was disappearing when Ram's warning hit. The red point on his chest was still there. Another round was coming.

Until he died, the light would— "Beako, are you ready?!"

"A stupid question!"

Beatrice was never going to say she couldn't do it to Subaru's question. Changing gears, Subaru gritted his teeth hearing his reliable partner's response and made up his mind.

"Emilia-tan!"

" "

The next round was going to be coming. Just before it arrived, Subaru called out to Emilia.

They shared a moment's glance, and Emilia nodded. They couldn't hash things out in detail, but Subaru had faith in her.

He saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. Death was coming on rails at him.

"Stoppppp!"

A multilayered wall of ice unfolded between Subaru and inescapable death. If a single layer wasn't enough, then she would make six.

The light slammed into the ice. It tore through the first easily, and the second and third might as well have not been there, either. But there was some resistance from the fourth, and the fifth even lasted for a tenth of a second.

And by the sixth, the speed of the light needle was noticeably slower— and at that point, the knight's sword pierced it.

"Again, I will not allow it!"

If the first time had been a miracle, the second was a combination of training and technique. Emilia and Julius used their abilities to the limit to protect Subaru from the death that had him in its sights.

In that moment, Subaru and Beatrice unleashed their mystic art.

"—E! M! T!"

"I suppose!"

Flipping up the hood of his cloak, Subaru shouted his praise for Emilia— or rather, a cast.

In time with that, Beatrice collected every last bit of mana inside Subaru and formed a complex and mysterious spell, something completely new and unknown.

—What they were weaving was one of three original spells that they had created.

When the magic was complete, a faint light expanded with the two of them at its center. It spread as if creating a ball of light enveloping all of them, and then the field was complete.

"This is…"

Julius was stunned trying to decipher what it was when at the edge of his vision he saw another beam of light coming for Subaru. Julius immediately tensed, but that was stolen away a moment later by the change that he saw.

The force of the light coming toward Subaru dissipated the moment it entered the light field.

"It lost power?"

The light had been reduced to the speed of a simple arrow. Swinging his blade, he easily knocked it aside.

Of course, even if it had lost speed, it wasn't something that could be deflected easily. But that was just a testament to Julius's masterful swordsmanship. He was able to easily defend against the attacks that followed as well.

"E M T. Absolute nullification magic. Inside this field, all magic loses its strength."

Since he was still holding hands with Beatrice, Subaru used his free side to point at the tower.

That field was one of three trump cards that Subaru and Beatrice had developed. The third was still incomplete, but it was created with the goal of being able to fight with powerful enemies, the pinnacle of dark magic.

"But it won't last long. Effectively, this all ends once my mana runs out.

And right now I'm like a bucket with a giant hole in the bottom of it."

"That is an effect that is beyond the pale. I can see the cost of it is also quite heavy. Do you have a plan?!"

"No clue! They noticed us, so we should pull back for now—"

Subaru looked around for a way to retreat as Julius ran over toward him.

In such a tense situation, Ram's quiet voice had almost a translucence to it. "—They're looking at Barusu?"

Ram was covering her face with her palm. Subaru wondered for a moment what it was, but then he realized she had activated her clairvoyance —realized that Ram had managed to sync with someone in the tower.

Not just anyone, either. There's only one person she could aim for there.

"The Sage?!"

"—Ngh."

There was no response from Ram. Instead, there was a trickle of blood from her right eye socket. It looked like tears of blood flowing from her pink eye.

It's…not an attack. I don't know, but it looks like recoil from the clairvoyance.

"Stop it already, dumbass! Right now—"

Subaru tried to stop Ram's risky spying. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her slender body into his arms.

"Wait, Barusu!"

"Hell no! You're going in the carriage! Right now, we—" He turned around while holding Ram.

—In that moment, the world around them shattered.

"Ah—?"

"—Ngh! We messed up!"

An impossible change occurred in the desert night as Beatrice's voice rang out.

"The E M T frayed the warped space!"

"What does that—?"

Subaru couldn't finish his question as he felt a floating sensation and his feet left the ground.

The world twisted chaotically, fraying and breaking apart like a sheet of paper being torn to pieces. Cracks formed in the ground and sky, swallowing up the carriage, Subaru, and everyone else.

"Crap…Emilia?!"

"Subaru—"

Falling into sudden darkness, Subaru shouted as a feeling of weightlessness came over him.

He couldn't tell up from down or right from left or where the carriage was. But he could hear Emilia's distant, oh so distant response to his shout.

"This is—"

Before he could finish saying it was bad, Subaru was spat out on the other side of the shattered sky.

4

—In the distance, the boundary between the field of flowers and the desert collapsed, and a shadow saw the small band swallowed in the shattering.

Watching from the distance, the shadow slithered in the darkness of the tower.

Leaving the window it had been standing at, the shadow stepped on the stone floor and descended the spiral staircase.

The shadow's footsteps were slow, but they gradually picked up speed, getting restless.

"—I found you."

It was a hoarse, ragged murmur, like a voice that had not spoken in years. But there was no one who would mistake the emotion in that voice for joy.

"I found you."

—That much was certain.

CHAPTER 4

TRUST ON THE SANDS

1

—Subaru was falling deep, deep into a rift, unable to reach anything.

" "

The light in the distance grew smaller and smaller. Until it disappeared.

Like sand slipping through fingers.

Like falling into a deep, deep hole from which there was no return—

"—How long are you going to keep sleeping? Wake up already, Barusu."

"Prgaka?!"

Something sharp jabbed into his side, causing him to yelp from the shock.

Subaru sat up, breathing in a lungful of the sand that was in the air in the process and then coughing violently.

"Ugh! Bleh, bleh! Kah! Bleh! What? What happened…whoa?!"

Spitting out the sand, he struggled to stand up, but when he stepped down, his foot slipped, and he had to balance himself with his hand. But that hand sunk as well, and his face crashed into a mound of sand.

"Ugh! Gahh! Bleh!"

"…Haven't had enough sand to eat yet? Your vulgarity knows no bounds."

"Don't say it like I'm snacking on sand because I'm feeling a little peckish…"

Firing back at the merciless insult, Subaru raised his head while coughing up sand again. This time he was more careful, making sure not to slip into the sand again while standing up. "This is…"

"This low a temperature without a breeze… It's likely somewhere belowground."

As he looked around the darkness surrounding them, a lantern glowing with a white light—an emergency lantern with ragmite ore inside it—was suddenly thrust in front of him.

Taking the handle, he could finally clearly see the other person with him.

"—Ram?"

"Who else would it be? And don't say something stupid like Rem."

"You look alike, but the aura you exude is similar and yet utterly different… How is your body doing? The exhaustion from using clairvoyance, and there was blood seeping out of your eye, too…"

"Hah! How awfully gentlemanly of you. But save your concerns for cute little Ram for later."

Ram pointed with her chin at their surroundings. Following her lead, Subaru pointed the lantern around them and gulped when he saw the situation.

They were in a cave. It was cool inside, and there was a high ceiling overhead. It was like a maze of sand.

"You were saying it was underground before…"

"If Lady Beatrice's words before we were separated are to be believed, then the cause was the rift in space."

"So we were sent flying through a warp…and separated? Right, what about everyone else?"

Listening to Ram's calm analysis, Subaru was finally able to catch back up to the situation he was in. Swinging the lantern left and right, he looked for anyone else nearby.

"As I said, we've been separated. The effect of your magic nullifying the deception of the dunes. I cannot say whether this is the correct path to the tower or if we have fallen into a timeless interdimensional rift."

"How can you be so calm?! And why are the two of us together…?"

"You're asking me that?"

Subaru's face went pale, and he held his breath when he heard her calm voice.

He remembered what had just happened, Beatrice shouting and the world shattering around him. In that moment, Subaru had reflexively held on to Ram.

And then the party had been swallowed up by the rift in the sky, and when

he woke up—

"The two of us were here together…"

"I can't see Lady Emilia or Lady Beatrice… You really stepped in it this time."

"This isn't really the time for that! We need to meet up with everyone… No! Rem!"

" "

"It's fine if she ended up with someone else, but if she got separated…"

Emilia and Julius were already the group's main fighting power. They wouldn't have a problem. Beatrice and Meili had their own strengths and should be able to find some way to stay alive. Anastasia/Foxidna probably had some ace up her sleeve like when she had to deal with Lust in Pristella.

—But Rem, who could only sleep, was different.

"We have to link up with everyone else, too, but priority one is finding Rem! We can't just leave her all alone in a place like this. That's not okay.

That's not okay at all…!"

"…Barusu…"

"Damn it. This is my fault. I just had to bring her along, and because of that, she…Rem…"

"Barusu, calm down. Getting anxious now won't—"

"Calm down? How the hell do you expect me to calm down?! Are you fine with Rem just being alone in danger?!"

"—Of course not!"

As Subaru panicked and imagined the worst-case scenario, Ram grabbed him by the chest and shouted at him, then pushed him forcefully up against a wall until looking him in the eye from right up in his face.

"—"

Subaru dropped the lantern in the shuffle, and it was lighting Ram's white face from the side. There was rage in her pink eye—no, not anger. An anxiety and distress that she couldn't fully hide.

Subaru's shoulders untensed and Ram let go of his chest.

"…My bad. Sorry. I was being stupid. I'm the worst."

"…Just like always. If you spent every waking moment apologizing for everything you did wrong, you would never get anything done. Cut the pointless drivel."

"Yeah…sorry."

Taking that insult as Ram's way of reconciling, Subaru apologized one last time.

"It's mere consolation, but I feel a faint connection to Rem. At the very least, she is still alive."

"A connection… Right, synesthesia!"

Hearing that, Subaru remembered a nostalgic word.

When the Petelgeuse-led witch cultists were after Emilia and the others, Rem had been able to sense that Ram was in danger at the mansion.

"Any chance you could use that feeling to figure out where Rem is?"

"Like I said, the connection is faint. All I can do is sense that she's sleeping. And the wavelength of my clairvoyance does not overlap with Lady

Emilia or the others, so I can't say whether they are safe, either."

"I see. A safety check with clairvoyance… So you can't connect with anyone?"

"Strictly speaking, there is one other I can connect with. Not that there is any point in it, though."

Subaru couldn't understand what she meant by there not being a point in confirming the safety of any comrades who had been separated from them.

But that question soon answered itself.

"—From the look of things, I guess you're up now, Natsuki."

Subaru shrank back when a light shone on him out of the corner of his eye. But its gentle waving wasn't threatening him, and he quickly realized it was the light of another lantern.

Finally, the outline of a person holding it became clear enough for him to make out.

"…Anastasia…and Patlash?"

Slowly, the two of them appeared together. Patlash's black scales made it seem like she emerged from the darkness itself as she approached, and Anastasia was riding on Patlash's back in her white outfit.

Anastasia smiled down at Subaru.

"Sorry for borrowing Patlash without permission. But I'm a little too helpless to be going around exploring on my own."

"That's…fine, but…I thought it was just the two of us, Ram?"

"I don't recall ever saying it was just the two of us."

Subaru stared over at Ram, but she feigned ignorance, just blaming it on Subaru's own assumptions.

"Lady Anastasia, thank you for going out to check. Was there anything of note around us?"

"Mmm, I checked a little deeper, but I couldn't find anyone else. It seems like the three of us…and Patlash were the only ones sent here."

"…I see."

While Subaru had been unconscious, the two of them had apparently split up tasks. It was easy enough to guess how Ram was feeling after hearing Anastasia's report.

There wasn't a thing for Subaru to do about his worry for Rem, either, but…

"But it's at least good news that you're safe, Anastasia. And also my

Patlash."

"Yes, it's not all bad news. It's important to recognize the good things, too. Honestly, it was a big help that Patlash was here—and that she's willing to listen."

Patlash lowered her head when Subaru walked over, happy to see him again. Patting her neck, Subaru breathed a sigh of relief at safely reuniting with his trusty steed.

"So is this everyone then? Just four people?"

"If you're counting Patlash as a person, then yeah. There's no reason for

Emilia or the others to be hiding… Well, I guess Meili might."

"What, you mean try to escape in all the confusion? I mean, I guess I can't rule it out, but."

As Meili flashed through his head, Subaru thought about her.

Thanks to his death resets, he did know that she had the sandworm under her control to fall back on as a last resort. But he had no way of knowing what she intended it to be used for. It might have just been setting herself up to be able to attack them and escape at some point.

"I don't think that's it."

"You hope? Or do you fully trust a girl who already tried to kill you once?"

"Just call it a heartfelt prayer. Anyway, what's going on deeper?"

Setting Meili aside, Subaru wanted to hear a bit more detail about what Anastasia found while looking around. Ram had deduced they were

somewhere underground from their surroundings, but—

"I'm of the same opinion. It's clearly colder here than out on the sands at night…and the air is heavy, so it's hard to imagine we're somewhere outside of Auguria."

"So the miasma is still thick in the air? Not exactly a great place to be in any sense then."

"We're underneath the sands, right? I don't want to imagine it, but it's entirely possible this is a sandworm nest."

"Ugh. If it is, that would be really bad."

Subaru's expression twitched as Ram touched the sand wall.

They had seen sandworms that moved underground already, so Subaru couldn't just laugh off the possibility. Considering how big the sandworm Meili had controlled was, it was certainly possible for a sandworm to make the cavern they were in, too.

In the worst case, they might just end up face-to-face with a sandworm down there.

"Also, I can sense some real malice in this party build! There's not a single person who can fight here!"

"Unabashedly counting yourself among the noncombat members despite being Lady Emilia's knight… He's broken, Lady Anastasia."

"Just call it knowing my limits. My trusty whip isn't powerful enough for me to start thinking I'm anything special without Beako."

Even just on the level of self-defense, they were a gathering of party members who were all lacking in combat ability. Ram had her limitations, and Subaru without Beatrice went without saying.

"Incidentally, what of Lady Beatrice? You're contracted with her, so can't you feel a link with her?"

"Unfortunately, while our hearts are strongly bound together, it's more in the sense of a deep emotional bond."

"You're useless."

"Who asked you?!"

Sticking out his tongue at Ram's sigh, Subaru turned to Anastasia. Seeing her calm expression, he whispered in her ear.

"And what about you? Can you fight?"

"—If push comes to shove. But it means shaving away at Anna's life. That's something I want to avoid if at all possible. So I've got big hopes for you."

"You're only gonna get let down with hopes like that. For better or for worse."

Subaru snorted as Foxidna spoke plainly for once.

Either way, though, they had confirmed the situation they were in. And also the fact that they couldn't afford to just sit around waiting, either.

"There is nothing to be gained by just waiting here. We should search for Rem and Lady Emilia. Fortunately, we have light thanks to Lady Anastasia, so we can keep going forward."

"More thanks to the emergency bag Natsuki prepared than me. I grabbed that before the carriage was swallowed up, so we have lights, a knife, and some emergency rations."

Anastasia pointed to the bag hanging from Patlash's saddle. It was one of the ones that Subaru had prepared in case of an emergency before they left.

"There's nothing better than not needing an emergency kit, but it's important to have options when things go wrong. That's why you always make sure to confirm where the emergency exits are in a building you've never been in before, too."

"For once, a great achievement by Barusu. As a reward, I'll allow you to hold the lantern. Be sure to keep a brisk pace."

"Sure, sure… You call this a reward?"

While Subaru took the lantern, Ram and Anastasia got onto Patlash.

No matter how he thought about it, he'd basically been relegated to the position of foot servant.

"Three people riding is just… If Ram and I squeezed in, you could maybe fit?"

"No, if he got that close, Barusu would start breathing raggedly in excitement."

"Don't think I'm going to stay quiet forever! If you're going to be like that, I'll just imagine something even more amazing! That's not a threat, either! Don't underestimate youth!"

Unwilling to admit defeat, Subaru snorted at their reactions and started walking.

He headed into the cavern, setting out beyond the darkness to meet back up with the rest of his comrades.

The lighthearted banter that didn't fit the situation was merely a front in order for the two of them to avoid dealing with the unease they were feeling.

Both Subaru and Ram realized that, but neither commented on it.

2

"It…sort of feels like a breeze, but sort of not."

"…No, there is a breeze. But judging by the strength of it, it will be quite a ways farther before this path connects to aboveground."

Subaru licked his fingertip and held it up to sense the breeze, and Ram's pink eyes narrowed.

Trusting the words of the wind magic user, Subaru felt disheartened at the length of the road ahead of them.

—It had already been an hour since they set out, but it was incredibly difficult to walk on the ground in the sand cavern.

Walking alongside Patlash, who was used to the sand, Subaru ignored the discomfort of all the sand in his boots. From the experience he had gotten walking on the sand the past few days, he was managing to get by without slowing down too much.

But there was no avoiding the sand sapping his endurance, so they were taking breaks at regular intervals, and Ram was searching for the others with her clairvoyance during those breaks.

"—No good. Nothing is in range for me. All I can see is Barusu's land dragon's vision."

"You're on the same wavelength as Patlash? …I guess that makes sense."

Though they were different species, Ram and Patlash were similar in their haughtiness. But it was a little inconvenient that the only one she could connect with was the dragon who was already with them.

"Lady Emilia and Julius can communicate with lesser spirits, so they should not get lost. On that point at least, I do have to wonder about the maliciousness of this grouping."

"Guidance from lesser spirits? Yeah, Emilia-tan tends to use that pretty effectively. In my case, the connection with Beako is too strong, and it scares off the lesser spirits, so I can't really use it."

"You are just a half-baked mage born of Lady Beatrice's pity after all. I didn't get my hopes up."

"Grrr…"

There was nothing he could say in response to being called useless for gathering information, so he didn't try. In the end, it just meant that the people who could be counted on to fight could also rely on their abilities in other areas as well.

"She's hiding it behind a tough front now, but right after we got sent here and before you woke up, Ram was pretty panicky about not being able to find

Rem."

"…That so…?"

"You're doing fine in terms of keeping Ram calm. You aren't useless at all."

While Ram was searching with her clairvoyance, Anastasia quietly mentioned what had happened right after they had been separated from everyone else.

Considering how Ram felt, what Subaru had said earlier really was the worst.

Subaru had seen how devoted Ram was in going to take care of her little sister that she couldn't remember every day during the past year. Even if someone else doubted her feelings, Subaru at least should not have doubted her.

"Reflect on your mistakes and make the most of them. It's the same in life as it is in business. And you're the kind of guy who can do that, aren't ya?"

"…Don't change gears on me and start saying nice stuff like that. The witch who made you tried to ensnare me with a similar sort of setup."

"Ensnare, huh? I'd appreciate it if you could start thinking of me as a different person from that witch. If you're too stubborn, the girls will never fall for you. Consider that a genuine bit of advice from me."

"I don't know any other way to go at things. But I'll make a mental note of that."

With that advice on social grace from an artificial spirit, their group continued deeper and deeper into the cavern.

As they went along, the mental stress of walking through a labyrinth of sand where everything looked exactly the same grew ever more intense. Their unease and anxiety at the lack of progress continued to grow, but also there was something bothering Subaru.

"Even though we were on guard about this possibly being a demon beast nest…we haven't run into a single one." "That has been bothering me as well." Subaru kicked the ground as Ram agreed.

It wasn't just that they had not run into any while moving through the cavern. Ram had not caught any with her clairvoyance, either. It was an ominous sort of sign. As if the space they were in really was entirely shut off from the rest of the world.

"There's no way this is actually some rift in space that's not connected to anywhere, right?"

"If it is, then where is the wind that we've been following coming from? Do you think we're in the nostril of a giant demon beast and that's just its breathing?"

"The fact that I can't actually deny that is scary."

He had seen the world shattering around him with his own eyes. After that, whatever might happen wouldn't be a shock. Wherever the rift they were in connected to should not be that surprising.

"You are free to get scared all you want, coward, but keep your stupid ideas to yourself, please."

Ram's cold, logical voice rejected the wretchedness that Subaru felt when he realized they were trapped in a dead end.

"Eh?"

"Hold up the lamp— The path."

Turning around frantically at what Ram said, Subaru held the lantern up and lit the path in front of them.

Even if you say that, it's just the same straight path we've been following the whole time.

In other words, there wasn't anything new to be—

"—A fork in the road."

Right in front of them, the straight path they had been walking through the sand divided into two paths.

The fork was nice and neat; there was no notable difference between right and left. It looked like there wasn't anything to base a decision on other than instinct, but—

"It looks like we are being told to figure it out. What shall we do?"

"As best I know, Zhuge Liang said to always go right in situations like this."

"Who's that?"

He could remember that, according to behavioral studies, humans tended to unconsciously go left when they were confused. It was probably something to do with a bunch of complex factors like dominant eye or leg or stuff like that.

Subaru had picked up a wealth of pointless facts, but that was a useful one. Or at least he thought so.

"I always want to check the right path first. That's my justice!"

"You really seem to trust this Zhuge Liang."

"Who's that?"

Ram's eyes narrowed, and Anastasia cocked her head again.

From just their exchange, it might have sounded like they were just screwing around, but all three of them had serious looks on their faces.

It was already more than two hours since they had been separated from the others.

They had managed to calm down before, but it was time enough for the anxiety and unease to start making waves again. And just at that moment, there was a fork in the path. Honestly, considering how anxious he was feeling, he wanted to start moving again as soon as possible.

"We have no way of deciding. But I don't really like the idea of relying on

Zhuge Liang…"

"For now, let's just go with what Natsuki wants. The right one, yeah?"

Neither Ram nor Anastasia had enough reason to say otherwise with Subaru wanting to go right. And all three of them shared the desire to get out of their maze of sand and meet back up with everyone else as soon as possible.

" "

"Oh right, it's not just us. You're here, too, Patlash. Sorry, sorry. I haven't forgotten about you."

Patlash's nose pushed against Subaru's head. Feeling like his timidity had been blown away, Subaru smiled.

"What? You'll follow me on whatever path I choose, even to the gates of hell?"

"Nonsense, but the fact that you seem to be basically right indicates it's a serious case. Really, though, which is best."

Subaru made up his own translation of Patlash's intent, and Ram sighed in exasperation. Anastasia clapped her hands watching the two them.

"All right already. That's enough discussion. If we're agreed, then let's move. Time is money."

"One of Hoshin's sayings, was it? —Okay then, let's go. Same formation

as before, and let's be careful." Ram and Anastasia nodded.

Following the great strategist Zhuge Liang's teaching, the noncombatant party resumed their march. They headed down the right path, believing that their comrades awaited them at the other end.

"Honestly, a fork in the road with no hint at all is mean, but it at least rules out the hell of an infinite loop… I guess this really is one of the Sage's traps?"

"If so, how much time must have been spent digging a hole like this underground? But it is a shut-in pretending to be a hermit, after all. There would be plenty of time in all those years, I suppose."

"Big Sis, that's a pretty harsh evaluation of the Sage."

But he could understand her hostile stance toward the Sage, too. If the sand time and the garden of demon beasts and this labyrinth were all set up by the Sage, then Sinister was probably a better title.

"At this rate, I'm not going to be doing anything other than complaining when we finally do meet this Sage."

"Agreed. After doing all this, if they're still not willing to help, then I won't have any choice. Worst case, I'll have no choice but to string them up and make them talk."

"I'm not sure what to say about your grave-robbing approach to things."

"If there's something I want, I take the measures needed to get it. This is not some child's game."

Her genuine and unshakable resolve was recognizable in her strong tone.

That was a resolve that Subaru would need to have as well. Not the resolve to dirty his hands for Rem's sake, but the resolve to not hesitate, to take the steps he needed to get the result he wanted.

"In the end, the thing I have to do is the same as always. I've never held back before."

Subaru clenched his fist and tried to fire himself up.

Just then— "Patlash?"

Suddenly, Patlash stretched her neck and rubbed her nose against Subaru's shoulder. It wasn't as if she had suddenly felt the urge to cuddle up with him.

There was another reason. "—A door?"

Raising the lantern, Subaru saw an imposing piece of iron that filled the entirety of the sandy passage. It was an iron wall that blocked the entire passage from ground to ceiling.

The group pressed forward to right in front of the wall and started examining the mass of metal in detail.

"This thing's big, and it looks thick… Can we move it?"

"…That's blocking the whole path, so probably not easily. And Natsuki?" "Yeah?"

"Why do you think this is a door? It just looks like a metal wall to me." "Eh?"

Subaru caught his breath as Anastasia cocked her head while looking at the same mass of metal as he was. Ram nodded as well.

"It just looks like a bunch of scrap metal in our way. Even with as bad as your eyes are, Barusu, that is an odd conclusion."

"I mean, I can't really explain it, either. It just felt like a door to me, I guess…"

Subaru looked at the metal mass—no, the metal door—again.

There was no other reason than what he gave them already. Just for some reason, he had naturally perceived it as a door.

And trying to figure out why, he reached out and touched it—

"—Ah."

Just then, when Subaru touched the door, it seemed to glow faintly, and then it disappeared. It was as if it had never been blocking their way. There were not even any traces of it left in the sand on the ground.

"What was that…? Did you do something, Natsuki?"

"I mean, you saw it, right? All I did was touch it. I didn't do anything else. I have no idea what happened."

Looking at his hand and back where the door had been, Subaru was shaken as he answered Anastasia.

He had no idea what had happened or what that door even was.

"—The important point isn't what happened, it's what we do now."

Ram's quiet voice put a halt on Subaru's confusion. As the other two looked at her, she was looking down the passage beyond where the door had been.

"There was a wall…or rather a door blocking our path. And it opened.

The passage continues this way. So do we continue this way or go back to the fork?"

" "

Subaru looked again past where the door had disappeared from.

Even with the door gone, it still looked exactly the same as the path they had been walking before. There wasn't anything different about it other than the fact that there had been a door there. But—

"That door had to be here for a reason. And it opened for some reason— Isn't it kind of hard to imagine it being anything other than the direct path to the Sage's watchtower?"

"That's a little too optimistic. But I'm not going to suggest we turn back, either."

Anastasia put her hand to her lips and chuckled a little at Subaru's positive interpretation, but she wasn't against what he was saying.

"Of course, I intend to advance. Even if we go back now, there's no guarantee there won't be a similar door on the other route."

"So might as well take the invitation of the first one that opened? I can agree with that."

With Ram's acknowledgment, they were all in agreement.

"All right then."

Subaru brushed off his knees and started to walk forward, but— "—Patlash?"

Patlash didn't follow after Subaru. The black land dragon's yellow eyes narrowed, and it stared down the path in front of them.

It was a smart dragon with good instincts. It was possible Patlash was sensing something they couldn't notice. There was a moment's hesitation, but…

"I know you have always been trying to protect us. But there is no safe place in a situation like this. Sometimes, you just have to roll the dice, and this is one of those times."

Subaru met Patlash's gaze. The dragon was quiet for a moment, then she lowered her eyes slightly and made a soft noise.

She understands. Or I guess it's probably closer to say she was willing to concede for my sake.

"Patlash has you whipped."

"I figure it's better her than a woman."

"How lewd."

"That's not how I meant it when I said that joke!"

Subaru heaved a sigh as Ram poked fun at his bond with Patlash, then started walking again.

He reflected on the resolution he had just voiced.

—Right now we just have to roll the dice.

3

At least he worked himself up thinking that, but after proceeding a short distance past the door…

"—A second door. And it disappeared again."

Subaru watched as another iron door glowed and disappeared before his eyes.

It happened right after Subaru touched it. It was hard to believe he had just awakened to some new ability, so the only other explanation was they were designed to do that, but…

"What's the point of a door in a dungeon that doesn't actually block anything?"

Subaru was at a loss trying to explain the purpose of having a door like that.

It wasn't dividing up rooms or anything, so there was little reason in having a door that anyone could open. The obvious reason to have one was to block anyone trying to get through, and yet…

"It doesn't feel like it because we haven't run into any yet, but maybe it's something to stop demon beasts."

"Demon beasts… So like the barrier? I guess I could understand that, but…"

"Maybe demon beasts just can't open it, but if a person touches it, the path opens up… Still, that'd be a little loose on security when it comes to closing the door behind you— If there's a third one, we should have someone other than you touch it."

Anastasia's eyes narrowed as she hypothesized about the point of the door. There was just too little to go on, though, so it was hard to come up with a convincing explanation.

And what bothered Subaru more wasn't the mysterious doors.

" "

Ram, who was riding Patlash with Anastasia, had stopped talking. Part of it was anxiety and unease probably, but the bigger issue was fatigue. Her body was in bad shape to begin with, and the miasma in the labyrinth— "My body's really heavy…"

Wiping away the sticky sweat in annoyance, Subaru slowly started walking again, dragging his feet out of the sand.

Ram wasn't the only one being weakened by the miasma. Subaru and Anastasia were feeling it, too. Their moods and their bodies were getting heavier. Every cell in their bodies, the blood flowing through their veins, the drumbeat of their hearts, it was all telling them to get out as soon as possible.

" "

If they kept moving forward, they could get out of the miasma. If they kept moving forward, they could find everyone else.

Subaru believed that— By making himself believe that, he could keep his legs from stopping.

Without that spurring him onward, the weight of the sand and sweat would force him to start questioning himself.

Questioning whether this was really the correct path.

"This isn't the time to be whining."

His whole body was pleading with him as he ground down his molars.

He was the one who had picked this direction. He had no right to be the first person to start complaining about it.

"It's a little difficult to walk, but that's all. It not so bad. I thought it would be more outrageous than this, but at this rate, maybe the end isn't even that far aw—"

"Barusu—shut up."

"Eh, ah. Yeah…"

He had tried to put on a brave face, but Ram's curt jab shut him down. It had been a while since she had said something, but there was no trace of consideration in it at all. Subaru shrugged as Ram seemed irritated.

"If you ask me, it's boring to just stay quiet."

"Do you think we're doing this for fun? Remember the point of all this."

"I mean, yeah, but…"

"Just shut up and walk."

It was a reasonable point. Her attitude left no room for maneuvering at

all.

But Subaru had a point, too. He thought that if the miasma was bringing their moods down, then maybe it would be a bit easier if they distracted themselves somewhat with conversation.

"But—"

"Natsuki, just leave it be."

He understood Ram's feelings, but Subaru was annoyed at her prickly attitude. Sensing that, Anastasia shifted, blocking Ram from his gaze.

"I understand how you're feeling, but Ram's exhausted. Nothing good ever comes from trying to talk to someone when your heart's worn down to the nub, right?"

" "

"Right?"

It pissed him off, but there was some truth to what Anastasia/Foxidna was saying, too.

He had gotten so anxious about moving forward and meeting up with everyone else that he had been inconsiderate of Ram and Anastasia. The same was true of them, but what good would come of arguing that?

—There's no point in saying it. It would just be a waste of time. It would simply be better to not even look at each other.

"…Let's go…"

Noticing that he had stopped, Subaru started moving his legs again, holding the lantern and lighting the labyrinth of sand.

Having failed to raise anyone's spirits, his legs moved forward just as heavily as before—no, they were even heavier now. Forward.

" "

Forward—

4

And so, after enduring the weight of the miasma and the heavy mood and pressing on a while longer…

"—Goddamnit! Why now?!"

Subaru screamed as he kicked the metal door right in front of him. There was no give at all, and despite how quiet the underground was, there was no sound from the kick. It didn't seem like it was made of just plain iron.

But that was no consolation. Their path had finally been blocked.

"You let us through the third door just fine, so why the hell are you getting in our way now?!"

There was no way the door could answer him, but Subaru still screamed and violently slammed his arms and feet against it. It didn't budge. All that happened was the impacts reverberated in his bones, making him suffer more.

—After having passed through the third door in the labyrinth, they were stopped cold by the fourth.

So much anxiety and frustration had been building amid their unchanging surroundings, but it would have been fine at least if the door had opened. Having his free pass revoked and making all the walking so far meaningless caused Subaru's frustration to explode.

Subaru threw the lantern down and pushed against the door, desperately trying to force it open. But almost as if it were mocking him, the cold metallic door refused to yield.

It felt like the faint, slender thread of hope that had been keeping Subaru going had been mercilessly cut.

"Damn it, damn it…piece of shit!"

"Natsuki, that's enough… This is just a dead end."

"Gee, I couldn't tell!"

Anastasia tapped his shoulder, but Subaru brushed off her arm with a furious shout. Kicking the sand wall to vent his irritation, the weak outer layer crumbled, creating a cloud of sand.

There's nothing we can do. I know already. There's nothing I can do but pound sand.

"…Tch…"

"—Hey."

Spinning at that sound, Subaru glared at Ram, who was sitting alone on top of Patlash. Something about how her face looked in the darkness, the way she was looking down at him, pissed him off.

"You've been at it a while now, but what's your problem?"

"Nothing."

"Don't treat me like an idiot! I asked you what your problem is!"

Subaru raised his voice violently as he kicked the lantern across the ground. It slammed into the sand wall, and the glass covering the ragmite ore shattered, scattering fragments across the sand.

But Subaru didn't pay any attention to that. He could only see Ram, who he thought was disrespecting him.

"I'm here working my ass off, and you're sitting up there chirping at me!

What are you trying to do?!"