Chapter 104: Ram: Rem... who is that?

After offering her explanation, Ram went on to answer.

"Lady Emilia? She came out to search for supplies together with me as well, it's just that the directions we searched in were different, so I'm not too clear on it."

"As for Rem—"

Ram's expression gradually turned grave, and she tilted her head as though she'd run into something deeply baffling, a strange look surfacing on her face.

"Barusu, please let me confirm once more—you've merely lost your memory, and it isn't that some strange memories have been added into your head, is it?"

Why would she say that?

Natsuki Subaru was utterly puzzled. He had half a mind to probe deeper, but out of worry for Rem's safety, he pressed on instead.

"Don't change the subject. What on earth happened to Rem? Did she run into some kind of danger?"

Natsuki Subaru stared fixedly at Ram through the peephole, an inexplicable unease in his heart spreading rapidly.

This familiar feeling…

Natsuki Subaru clenched the clothing over his chest with one hand; at this moment his heart had risen up into his throat.

He gazed unblinkingly at Ram, who was about to speak, and a thread of dread and avoidance toward the words she was about to say welled up within him.

On the other side, Ram hesitated for a moment, but in the end still voiced the doubt in her heart.

"Rem… who is that?"

"...?!"

For an instant Natsuki Subaru lost his voice. This familiar line triggered his PTSD on the spot.

He almost thought he'd returned once again to that night just after they'd finished subjugating the White Whale and the Sloth Bishop, when he'd discovered that Rem had been attacked and had fallen into a sleep from which she would never wake.

"So you really are an Imitation Human, aren't you? How could you not even recognize your own little sister Rem?"

Natsuki Subaru murmured the words as though talking in his sleep.

"Little sister? From the moment of birth there has only ever been Ram alone, living by herself. Ram doesn't understand what you're talking about."

Ram knit her brows, and as the sky darkened, she seemed to grow all the more agitated.

"So, can you let Ram in now? If not, please make it clear—Ram has to find a good hiding place for the night."

This familiar tone was very much like the Ram from after Rem had fallen into her slumber.

But if that were the case, then why would Ram address him as a guest?

Natsuki Subaru rubbed his face. There were still far too many things he couldn't understand, but for now—

"Come in, Ram. You pass."

Natsuki Subaru twisted the handle and opened the door, signaling Ram to hurry inside.

Although the things Ram said couldn't help but make one suspect she was an Imitation Human, generally speaking, the kind his future self had gone out of his way to warn him to be wary of—

Well, Ram's account, riddled with holes as it was, actually set his mind at ease quite a bit instead.

In any case, let it be this way.

Natsuki Subaru chose, for the time being, to trust Ram… Actually, even taking ten thousand steps back, even if he still harbored suspicions toward her, there was no way he could just watch helplessly as Ram was shut outside the door.

Night was about to fall, and monsters like the Imitation Humans would likely grow more active in their movements.

If the one before him was the real Ram, only having lost her memory or had her memory distorted—

Then refusing her request to return to the manor would be no different from sending Ram off to her death.

He wasn't so far gone as to watch his Lady Sister go die. Let her in first; even if she were an Imitation Human, there ought to be a way to deal with it.

Tomorrow he'd check whether that Gospel had any new information…

"Thank you. I'd actually thought you, Barusu, might say something like making me sleep on the ground outside the manor's front door."

Seeing the door finally open, the tension in Ram's body seemed to ease all at once.

She wasted no time, immediately slipping in through the door.

"Bang!"

Watching Ram come inside, Natsuki Subaru didn't dare delay too long, and immediately shut the door tight.

Only then did he register what Ram had just said, and he couldn't help giving a wry smile.

"I'm not so heartless as all that, am I?"

Ram looked Natsuki Subaru over carefully a few times, and after a good while—who knew what she was thinking—she said:

"Who knows. I'm tired, I'll head back to my room first. Put these supplies in my room for now; we'll distribute them tomorrow."

Speaking of supplies, only then did Natsuki Subaru remember that black burlap sack.

Looking closely, he discovered that Ram had, in fact, conveniently brought it in with her when she came inside.

"Just leave it by the door. It's so heavy it'd be hard for you to carry it up anyway—go get some sleep first."

A thought turned over in Natsuki Subaru's mind, and he found an excuse to keep the black burlap sack behind.

Hearing this, Ram gave Natsuki Subaru a long, deep look, but said nothing more.

After setting down the burlap sack in her hands, she turned and went upstairs, leaving.

Watching Ram's retreating figure depart, and after making sure she'd gone far enough away, Natsuki Subaru set his gaze upon the bulging black burlap sack before him.

Mm—he had indeed left this sack behind on purpose.

After all, that the sack held food and such was only Ram's one-sided claim.

Before the next day's new hint from the Gospel arrived, he'd best be a bit more cautious, and give it a check.

Having made up his mind, Natsuki Subaru bent down and untied the black burlap sack, opening a gap and peering inside by the light of the manor.

What was in the sack was basically some vegetables that didn't keep well, seemingly brought back from the village down the mountain; besides that, there were also some brightly colored fruits picked from trees.

Perhaps Ram had taken into account that this state of food shortage would persist for a while.

And so she'd brought back these easily spoiled foods first?

After turning everything over and inspecting it carefully, and confirming that there was nothing else suspicious in the sack—such as human flesh, blood, fingers, or bones—Natsuki Subaru finally let out a breath of relief.

It seemed he'd bet right; he should be able to get a good night's sleep tonight.

Natsuki Subaru prepared to carry this sack of food and the moisture-rich fruits to the kitchen by himself.

In any case, he wasn't hungry right now; he'd wait until Ram woke up tomorrow and they'd eat together.

Natsuki Subaru bent down, and just as he was about to lift the sack—

He suddenly heard a series of hurried, rapping knocks coming from the manor's front door.

Natsuki Subaru's movements instantly stiffened, and he turned his head to look toward the direction of the front door he'd just let Ram in through.

The sky had already gone dark, and the Imitation Humans had begun to grow active.

So then, who would be the one knocking now—or rather, what kind of thing would it be?

Natsuki Subaru drew a deep breath, calmed his mood, then straightened up and walked straight toward the door.

No matter what, the word "flee" did not exist in his dictionary. Perhaps it once had, but by now he'd long since grown.

He would always have to face these monsters, so he had to familiarize himself with them in advance.

As for the Ram just now, that didn't count… that had amounted to wrestling with thin air for a good long while; the true test might only come after nightfall.

No matter what, once night had fallen, he would not let anyone into the manor.

After knocking three times at the very start, the one at the door had made no further sound.

Just as before, Natsuki Subaru slowly came up to the front door and, keeping a safe distance, looked outside through the peephole.

Yet at the very first glance he couldn't hold it together, and couldn't help crying out in alarm:

"Emilia-tan?"

Outside the door, a silver-haired figure stood there—it was none other than Emilia.

Only, from Natsuki Subaru's vantage point, the Emilia before him differed greatly from the one in his memory.

Like a little kitten, she glanced around uneasily outside the door, both hands tightly clasped together at her chest, as if praying for something.

Yet all that was trivial; what most drew Natsuki Subaru's attention was Emilia's hair at this moment——

Her once long head of silver hair had become a shoulder-length bob, with jagged, uneven break-marks still lingering at the ends, as though it had been cut off in a hurry.

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