Julius draws his chin in, a proud smile ...

Julius draws his chin in, a proud smile ...

Audio by Paper2Audio

Julius draws his chin in, a proud smile touching his lips as he tells Subaru to leave the burden of acting as a flawless role model entirely to his expertise.

While Subaru doesn't possess a long memory of the knight's accomplishments, he has seen enough data to recognize that Julius embodies an absolute sense of strict self-discipline and mechanical excellence in every single venture. His elegance wasn't just a byproduct of his wealthy, refined upbringing; it was the priceless fruit of continuous, grueling hard work that he actively forced upon his own physique. It was a beautiful, noble trait.

Emilia steps closer to Subaru, her amethyst eyes searching his face with deep concern as she softly asks if his brain is feeling healthy enough to continue a serious conversation.

Subaru violently jolts, jumping backward with a panicked fluster. “Woah!?”

Emilia blinks, a faint, lonesome sigh escaping her lips as she watches his overreaction. “You know... ever since you opened your eyes this morning... no, ever since you confessed to losing your memories, you keep jumping out of your skin every single time I get close to you, Subaru. Is there something inherently strange about my appearance today? Do I have a smudge on my face?”

Subaru frantically waves his hands, his face burning hot as he stammers that she looks completely flawless, listing off her cute eyes, her cute nose, her cute lips, and her cute ears in a desperate torrent of words.

Emilia tilts her head, a soft blush dusting her cheeks. “Cute…… hehe, thank you. But if that's the case, why do you keep running away from me?”

Subaru covers his face with his hands, desperately looking at her through the small gaps in his fingers. He groans that her facial features aren't just an ordinary collection of parts; they are a divine multiplication of beauty where every single element perfectly compliments the next. He laments that her voice is entirely too adorable, her posture is too pure, and she is quite literally a dazzling, holy angel that his mortal eyes cannot look at directly.

Beatrice's jaw drops in absolute shock. She stomps her foot on the stone floor, her face burning with embarrassment as she screams into the room: “—~hk! Try delivering your embarrassing confessions in a far more traditional, Subaru-like fashion, I suppose!?”

Subaru blinks in confusion. “Huh!? Wait, what the heck did I do wrong!?”

Beatrice flails her hands, shouting for him to repeat the sentence about Emilia looking like a holy angel using the original Subaru's distinct, bombastic phrasing.

Subaru recoils, whining that her demand is nothing short of a public shaming ritual. He flatly refuses, shouting that it is entirely too embarrassing to mouth out loud. Seeing Beatrice pout, he quickly reaches out to pat her head, assuring her that she is equally cute and angelic in her own unique way, begging her not to sulk.

Beatrice lowers her shoulders in total dejection, muttering that while she knows she is a flawless angel, his generic compliment completely misses the structural point of her grievance.

Subaru feels a twinge of guilt, keeping his palm anchored to her hair as the group smoothly shifts their weights into a formal, unified circle around the stone table. The atmosphere finally settles into a proper, operational briefing. The true progress of conquering the Trials has yet to ignite, but it is time to steer the conversation toward their tactical objectives.

Subaru clears his throat, stating that now that Meili is officially an integrated asset of their faction, they should accelerate their efforts to conquer this sandy prison so they can all return to civilization. He asks if the table is ready to march.

Ram narrows her light crimson eyes, noting that his fast-paced, authoritative manner of speaking makes her seriously question if his brain is genuinely suffering from amnesia. She adds that while his memory loss is a minor inconvenience compared to the literal monsters guarding the perimeter, it remains a distinct, structural defect that needs to be ironed out.

Emilia nods rapidly, stating that a person's identity cannot simply dissolve into the ether without a magical cause, insisting they dedicate themselves to recovering his lost experiences.

Subaru raises a flat palm, interjecting a sharp pause into their discussion. “Ah, about that specific issue... how about we completely disregard my memories for the immediate future?”

The entire circle freezes, a unified “Huh?” echoing through the chamber as they stare at him in absolute shock. The only individual who doesn't react is Shaula, who is currently occupied with playfully braiding Meili's dark blue hair at Subaru's request.

Beatrice looks at him with wide, frantic eyes, her voice tight with panic. “Subaru…… please refuse to make Betty and the others drown in anxiety, in fact. Your sudden memory loss was already a terrifying surprise, but standing there claiming it's perfectly fine to abandon your identity is far too self-destructive a path, I suppose.”

Emilia steps closer, her voice trembling with emotion. “Yeah, Beatrice is entirely right, Subaru. Are you spinning this lie because you're terrified of acting as a burden to our expedition? But you literally just approached us to solve the crisis with Meili. In the exact same way, we are going to use our collective minds to solve the mystery of your identity. Please... let us help you.”

The sheer weight of her selfless devotion causes a sharp pang of guilt to pierce Subaru's heart. He raises a defensive finger, begging them to listen for a single fraction of a second, insisting his choice isn't born out of a pathetic desire for self-abandonment. He claims he possesses a cold, hard piece of logical data behind the strategy.

He asks the circle if a single person in this room honestly believes his sudden, violent amnesia is completely disconnected from the mystical architecture of this watchtower.

Shaula chimes in cheerfully from the back, shouting that Master-sama once smashed his skull against a porcelain urinal in the bathroom and lost his baseline senses for a week, proving his head is naturally prone to accidents.

Subaru whips his head around, screaming for the outfielders to shut their mouths for a single second, admitting the data point is terrifying but completely irrelevant to the current brief.

Shaking his head, he brings the focus back to the center of the table. He reiterates that a definitive, structural link exists between his memory loss and the mechanics of their current Trial.

Echidna's analytical brain processes the variable instantly. Her eyes widen slightly as she finishes his thought: “—In other words, you believe that upon fulfilling the baseline cosmic conditions required to fully conquer this tower, the magical mechanism behind your amnesia will automatically invert, naturally returning your identity to your flesh. Is that your hypothesis, Natsuki-kun?”

Subaru nods aggressively, pointing a finger at her in pure appreciation, confirming she has read his mind flawlessly.

Julius rests his hand against his chin, his eyes darkening with contemplation as he weighs the theory. He muses that if the tower's internal defense mechanisms actively targeted Subaru's soul, crossing the finish line of the Trial will inevitably bring them face-to-face with the cure. Alternatively, he suggests a far more dangerous concept: the amnesia might have triggered precisely because the original Subaru got entirely too close to an absolute, forbidden truth.

Echidna nods in agreement, stating the pattern is highly probable. She analyzes his past performance inside the Library of Taygeta, pointing out that his strategic insights and deductions utilized a foreign framework of knowledge that no living person in their world could possibly possess. She hypothesizes that because Natsuki-kun pushed his intellect far ahead of their collective progress, the tower's security system reacted by wiping his hard drive.

Subaru frantically waves his hands in front of his face, shouting that her calculation is an absolute, terrifying overestimation of his value. He dryly protests that he is nothing more than an ordinary, anti-social shut-in whose only real specialized skills involve neatly spreading bedsheets and handling delicate sewing work.

Emilia's eyes light up. She reaches out, her fingers gently tracing the intricate, colorful embroidery stitched into the fabric of her traveling clothes. “Ah! Look, Subaru! The cute embroidery on these garments—your past self crafted this by hand. Does looking at the patterns spark a single memory inside your mind? It's incredibly cute, right? It's Puck.”

Subaru squints at the design, analyzing the stitched image of a small, cute cat. He lets out a disappointed sigh, admitting that while the craftsmanship is excellent, the silhouette triggers absolutely zero recognition in his brain.

Seeing her face fall into a downhearted expression sends a sharp pang through his chest. He deduces that the cat must have been a beloved pet she left behind before marching into the desert. A quiet vow forms in his mind: he will conquer this hellhole as fast as possible so she can safely return home and reunite with her animal.

Ram crosses her arms, letting out a sharp sigh. “So Barusu managed to stumble across a forbidden piece of data he had zero business learning, and his own rash, unguided curiosity resulted in his soul being wiped clean…… yes, the description fits his idiotic character perfectly.”

Beatrice lowers her head, her voice tight. “Ram's phrasing carries its usual, uncalled-for thorns, but Betty is forced to logically agree with her conclusion, in fact. Furthermore... Subaru's strategic choice to prioritize the absolute conquest of the watchtower over his own health…… the prospect is deeply repulsive to my heart, but it does carry a cold, pragmatic point, I suppose.”

Subaru looks down at her softly. “Beatrice……”

He understands that her deep dissatisfaction is born entirely out of pure love; she loathes the concept of putting his personal salvation on the back burner. The realization that a creature this beautiful cares so intensely for his well-being fills his soul with a profound wave of warmth. But Subaru cannot afford to alter his focus. If they waste precious days wandering aimlessly through the corridors searching for a magical cure for his amnesia, they will completely fail to intercept the catastrophic tragedies scheduled to butcher the household.

He knows what lies ahead. He remembers the blood, the severing of limbs, and the screams. To survive the oncoming storm, Subaru and his companions must operate as a single, lethal, and hyper-focused machine.

Subaru looks around the circle, his voice absolute as he begs them to accept his terms. He clarifies that he doesn't view his amnesia as a minor joke, but insists his personal defects can be treated later. If they allow localized problems to delay their grand campaign, they will ensure their ultimate failure. He commands them to focus exclusively on their primary objective.

His earnest, unfiltered appeal leaves the seasoned warriors entirely at a loss for words. Ram looks around the table, her light crimson eyes reflecting a mixture of deep irritation and reluctant acceptance as she lets out a heavy, deflated sigh.

“—Truly, you are an absolute, unmitigated fool,” she mutters. She argues that even after having his brain entirely wiped clean, his deplorable, reckless intellect refuses to alter its patterns. She dryly reasons that since an amnesiac Barusu contributes practically zero tactical value to their current operational planning, dedicating their limited hours to recovering his useless memories would be a massive waste of resources. She commands the room to conquer the Trial first, stating they can anticipate his recovery after the danger has been neutralized.

Subaru pouts, grumbling that her wording could use a bit of standard human politeness.

Ram scoffs, countering that since he managed to lose his identity as a direct consequence of attacking the Trial, it is only fair that he goes back to the scene of the crime to claw them back. She tells him to stop causing her unnecessary problems.

Subaru locks eyes with her, a silent understanding passing between them. He had delivered an absolute vow to her by the well—promising to remember her sister, Rem, even if he had to physically die to trigger the reset. He knows her harsh words are merely a protective shell to hide the immense strain carved into her heart by his choice to delay the cure.

Yet, precisely because she trusts the weight of his blood vow, she is willing to back his strategy today. She is trusting a man notorious for breaking his word.

Echidna breaks the silence, noting from a clinical perspective that since they currently possess zero actionable spells to artificially restore a fractured soul, aligning with Natsuki-kun and Ram's methodology is the only logical path forward. She optimistically suggests that a natural cognitive recovery might occur over time through simple environmental exposure.

Julius steps forward, offering a passive, reluctant agreement. He states that while he will not allocate primary resources toward the amnesia, he will immediately pivot his focus if a clean opportunity manifests during their run. He looks toward the two distraught girls, noting softly that he refuses to allow Emilia-sama and Beatrice-sama to endure such a heartbreaking, sad expression for long.

Subaru offers a deep, grateful nod to the knight and the Witch. He turns his dark eyes back toward the center of the table, waiting for the final verdict from his core anchors. Emilia and Beatrice hesitate for a few heavy, agonizing seconds, before the half-elf lets out a soft sigh of surrender.

“—This single time... even if the weight is incredibly tough on my heart, I will force myself to be patient, Subaru," Emilia whispers, her eyes locking onto his. “But... you must grant me a single condition.”

Subaru blinks. “What condition?”

“Sometimes... you must excuse me when I inevitably choose to worry about your life above everything else in this world,” she demands softly.

Subaru's breath hitches. He lowers his head in a quiet, humbled apology, realizing her condition is the exact emotional equivalent of what he had just demanded from them.

Beatrice lets out a sad, heavy sigh from his side, crossing her arms as she tells him that Emilia just stole the exact speech she was preparing to deliver. She warns him that her words were designed to be the ultimate psychological deterrent, commanding him to thoroughly reflect on his reckless nature.

Subaru smiles gently, patting her head once more. “—Yeah, I hear you. I got it.”

With the absolute, unified approval of the entire watchtower secured, Natsuki Subaru forces his resolve to harden into steel. The team is operational, the trust is restored, and the slate is clean. He steps forward to the center of the stone table, ready to pitch their very first tactical maneuver of the new loop.

“—Alright then. How about we all march down together and launch a systematic search to see if Reid Astrea's Book of the Dead is hidden inside the Library of Taygeta?”

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