Chapter 105: Greed Line, Short-haired Emilia Arrives

The sound Natsuki Subaru made from inside the door drew the attention of Emilia outside. She turned her head, her amethyst-like eyes staring blankly at the peephole on the door.

As if, intangibly, her gaze pierced through this door and met Natsuki Subaru's eyes on the other side.

"Subaru…?"

Emilia, who had been uneasy and flustered because of the darkness behind her, seemed to have found a pillar of spiritual support, and her heart settled all at once.

Even though the sky had already turned dark, she had stubbornly insisted on hurrying back precisely for this moment.

The instant she heard Subaru's voice, her taut nerves felt as though they would melt away like honey.

Just this much was enough to satisfy Emilia.

What's more—

"Thank goodness, Subaru, you came to the door so quickly—were you waiting for me this whole time?"

Emilia revealed a delighted and adorable smile. Although it was a touch exaggerated, it was nonetheless the fruit of the many times she had practiced in front of the mirror.

"Lia listened to Subaru properly—she only knocked three times, no more."

"Lia was a good girl, so—can you praise Lia?"

Emilia leaned in close to the peephole, letting her entire face fill up the whole field of vision of Natsuki Subaru, who was observing through the peephole.

Especially those deep violet eyes, opened wide out of longing, staring straight ahead.

But to Natsuki Subaru, this scene was a little terrifying.

Distorted by the peephole, Emilia's facial image already tended toward distortion to begin with.

Add to that her short-haired appearance, so different from before, and it gave off a strong sense of fracture.

This was exactly the kind of Imitation Human mentioned in the Gospel!

Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but retort inwardly, but on second thought he felt he couldn't so arbitrarily sentence the Emilia outside the door to death.

After all, it wasn't as if he had never seen Emilia in this state.

Seriously—could it be that the yandere Emilia he had encountered in the alley on his very first day after crossing into this world was making a limited-time comeback?

But putting it that way didn't seem quite right either…. Natsuki Subaru stroked his chin.

At the very least, the Emilia before him only seemed to be relying on him a little more than usual.

If it weren't for the door separating the two of them, and the effect of the peephole's imaging, she really didn't have that frightening state from their first encounter in the alley.

It was just this head of short hair that struck Natsuki Subaru as strange—why would Emilia-tan choose to give up her originally beautiful, long silver hair?

"I've lost my memory. I only remember that I can't let people in carelessly, so you need to prove that you're Emilia."

Natsuki Subaru still chose to use the same line he had used when he saw Ram earlier, sending out a probe.

Outside the door, upon hearing that Natsuki Subaru had lost his memory, the short-haired Emilia immediately revealed a worried expression, on the verge of speaking yet holding back.

Then, hearing Natsuki Subaru ask her to prove herself, a flicker of bewilderment passed through her eyes, but she still nodded hesitantly to show she understood.

Until—she heard Natsuki Subaru think for a moment and add another line: "The Ram who just came back has already proven herself, so for everyone's safety I'll have to trouble you a bit."

At these words, almost instantly, Emilia's face turned grave, and with an unprecedentedly serious expression she asked Natsuki Subaru.

"Subaru, did you just say… Ram has already entered the mansion?"

"Y… yeah, that's right."

Natsuki Subaru stared blankly at the Emilia before him, who had suddenly put on a resolute expression, and felt a wave of disorientation.

In that moment, it was as if he were seeing that Emilia who had grown more independent and decisive after the events of the Sanctuary and the Water Gate City.

What on earth had happened to make her react so strongly?

Natsuki Subaru's mind raced through it, and he quickly figured out the answer.

"Is it… is there something wrong with Ram? But I already carefully confirmed her identity, didn't I?"

Natsuki Subaru said hesitantly, all the while continually recalling Ram's every move just before she entered the door, searching for any clue that could prove she was an Imitation Human.

"That's right—no matter how convincing it acts, the thing that entered the mansion absolutely cannot be Ram."

Emilia's gaze grew darker bit by bit, her line of sight seeming to pierce through the wall toward that monster who had slipped into Ram's room, and she said, word by word.

"Because… just a short while ago I met up with Ram and Rem, the two sisters, while they were out searching for supplies!"

"Because the sky was about to go dark, they decided to spend the night at the hideout they were sheltering in outside, while I… because I was worried about Subaru, I seized the time and rushed back."

Emilia clenched her teeth hard, the mere thought that, despite all her rushing, she had still let that kind of monster take advantage of the gap.

And now that her Subaru was sharing a room with that monster, she felt as though she was almost going mad.

What!

Natsuki Subaru was utterly stunned at her words—what was Emilia talking about?

Not long ago she had not only seen Ram, but also seen Rem?

This completely conflicted with what Ram had said earlier, didn't it?

Ram's side said she didn't remember Rem at all, while on the other side Emilia said she had seen Rem and Ram, the two sisters, acting together…

Who was telling the truth, and who was lying?

If the Emilia before him was the fake, that would be fine, but if in fact it was the Ram he had let into the mansion who was lying—

Thinking of this, a chill ran down Natsuki Subaru's spine—then tonight he was probably going to suffer a night raid in the literal sense.

Wait!

Forcing himself to calm down, Natsuki Subaru first quickly seized upon the key point:

Emilia's and Ram's statements were completely contradictory, so it could be concluded that the two of them must be in an opposing relationship—one of them had to be a good person and the other a villain.

If he assumed that the Ram he had just let into the mansion was an Imitation Human, then he, with a combat power of nearly 0, seemed unable to drive her out, and could only let Emilia, as the good person, come in to fight against her.

And if the Emilia outside the door were the Imitation Human, deliberately fabricating lies to slander Ram in order to scheme her way in, then whether he refused her, or let her in to subdue the opponent together with Ram, both seemed quite promising.

Natsuki Subaru stroked his chin, feeling that to be safe, letting Emilia in was the correct choice.

But… the only uncertain issue was, just how strong was an Imitation Human's combat power?

If he let her in, did he and Ram together stand a chance of fighting it off? Would they win?

Damn it!

Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but curse to himself.

He had really gotten the short end because of his amnesia. By the look of it, he seemed to be the last person inside the mansion to be contaminated.

Yet of all things, the result of his contamination turned out to be amnesia!

This meant he simply didn't remember what those Emilias and the others—whose personalities and behavior had been distorted—had been like, the ones he'd seen before losing his memory.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be as passive as he was now; perhaps he could have told at a single glance which of Emilia and Ram was the Imitation Human!

So—what exactly should he do now?

Natsuki Subaru rubbed his brow with a headache. Right now, no matter which decision he made, it felt like gambling.

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