Chapter 110: Subaru, please come to my room, next is... time to be a teacher

A gunshot rang out with a "bang."

Then Ram's body crashed to the floor with a thud, like a sack of tattered rags.

The dead "Ram" stared wide-eyed in Natsuki Subaru's direction, and the disbelief in her gaze seemed to say that, even in death, she had never believed Natsuki Subaru would kill her.

Strangely, not a drop of blood flowed from the bullet hole in the dead Ram's forehead, as if this body had long since become nothing but an empty shell.

And then, under Natsuki Subaru's tense gaze, Ram's fallen body instantly underwent a transformation.

Accompanied by a distortion before his eyes, what Natsuki Subaru saw was the form of a humanoid monster, its entire body suffused with an ashen, blue-gray hue.

This monster had no eyes and no ears; on its face there was only a single mouth, making it look utterly bizarre.

"So this is... an Imitation Human?"

Natsuki Subaru murmured. He remembered the Gospel had written that an Imitation Human would revert to its original form upon death.

That made him heave a sigh of relief.

It seemed he hadn't guessed wrong after all—the one he had killed really was that Imitation Human in hiding.

Only by seeing it with his own eyes could Natsuki Subaru finally feel at ease. After all, even with conclusive proof, the moment he had pulled the trigger of the "Execution Gun," his heart couldn't stop pounding with panic.

What if... what if he had guessed wrong?

Ram had only one life—a person who is killed simply dies.

"That's right, Subaru, this is the form of the crazed one... and also the true appearance of what you call an Imitation Human."

Unlike the grim-faced Natsuki Subaru, Emilia looked positively cheerful.

In this whole affair, Natsuki Subaru had unwaveringly chosen to believe her, and this favoritism left her feeling both flattered and filled with a sweet warmth in her heart.

Besides, Ram, who had always opposed her, was finally dead. With that, the obstacle wedged between her and Subaru had vanished.

At the thought of this, Emilia couldn't help but hum softly.

"By the way, Subaru, it's not good to leave this Imitation Human's corpse lying here. I'll go take care of it, and then head out to find some food."

Emilia raised her hand toward Natsuki Subaru, volunteering of her own accord.

Hearing this, Natsuki Subaru was stunned for a moment. Watching Emilia stride briskly toward the Imitation Human's corpse, he couldn't help but ask.

"Head out? Out where?"

Emilia turned her head and blinked, then said blankly.

"Didn't you tell me to go out and search for supplies, Subaru? If you're having me do this, you must have some deeper meaning behind it!"

"That was a test for Ram, Emilia-tan!"

Natsuki Subaru covered his face helplessly and muttered in a low voice.

"So I don't need to go out?"

"Right, no need to go out. After all, by the time you came back, I'd have no way of knowing whether it was really you, Emilia."

Natsuki Subaru and Emilia went back and forth, question and answer.

In the end, Emilia made a gesture to show she understood.

Then, blushing, she dragged the Imitation Human's corpse toward the first floor, preparing to toss it outside the manor.

Taking advantage of this free time, Natsuki Subaru started from the second floor and went all the way to the topmost floor, opening every single room in the manor.

But strangely, even so, he was unable to open Betty's Door Crossing to reach the Forbidden Archive.

"Come to think of it, where did Betty go?"

Natsuki Subaru quickly became aware of this question, and felt it might be a rather crucial piece of information.

Betty had clearly gone out and was not in the manor.

Yet neither Emilia nor the disguised Ram had mentioned anything about Betty's whereabouts.

"Betty, you say..."

Emilia, who at some unknown point had come silently to Natsuki Subaru's side and stood there quietly, suddenly spoke up.

"I don't know. After her mind was contaminated, she seemed to see some kind of terrifying vision, and she bolted out of the manor and never came back."

Emilia tapped her chin with a finger, her tone carrying a note of dejection.

"Wuah! Emilia-tan, when did you get here? You didn't make a single sound—you'll scare someone to death!"

Natsuki Subaru looked at Emilia, who had at some unknown moment come to stand beside him, and got a fright.

This left him needing quite a while to slowly process what Emilia had just said.

That's right, mental contamination... had something happened to Betty too?

And it seemed to be somewhat more severe than with everyone else—there was even something wrong with her mind.

Tsk... what a troubled season this was.

Without realizing it, Natsuki Subaru bit his thumb as he pondered his next course of action.

Right now, everyone in the manor except Emilia was scattered out there. He had to get them back as soon as possible.

Or rather, they would soon come to the manor and knock on the door.

It was just that whether the one knocking was human or an Imitation Human—that was something he himself would have to discern.

"Subaru, don't think so much. Everything will be all right."

Seeing Natsuki Subaru's worry-filled expression, Emilia felt a pang of heartache, and couldn't help reaching out to try and smooth the furrow of his knitted brow.

At that, Natsuki Subaru snapped back to himself, nodded toward Emilia, and revealed a reassured smile.

"By the way, let's go have breakfast first. Thanks to the contributions of Miss Imitation Human, we haven't had to worry much about food and drink lately."

Natsuki Subaru said, smacking his palm.

"Oh, but we'd better check it carefully. Wouldn't want the food to be poisoned or anything."

Saying this, Natsuki Subaru took Emilia's small hand and together they ran toward the kitchen piled high with food...

Next, Natsuki Subaru deftly set to work and prepared the dishes, while Emilia looked on from the side and kept him company.

The two of them got through breakfast, during which Natsuki Subaru kept learning about what had happened before his memory loss by chatting with Emilia.

Since what Emilia said was basically the same as the contents of the Gospel,

the two corroborating each other, Natsuki Subaru's trust in Emilia rose another few notches, while at the same time his wariness toward the Gospel lowered somewhat.

From start to finish, he still didn't dare place complete faith in the Gospel; even the intelligence it provided, he had to verify himself before he could feel a bit more at ease.

At the same time, Natsuki Subaru also inquired about the reason why all the windows above the second floor of the manor had been sealed shut.

As it turned out, Emilia answered that the rule barring Imitation Humans from entering uninvited actually only took effect on the first floor of the manor.

So the second-floor windows had been nailed shut with wooden boards precisely to prevent any Imitation Human from invading the manor by climbing up to the higher floors.

After finishing breakfast, Natsuki Subaru found himself at a loss.

What should he do next?

As the master of the manor, he was indeed very safe now, but at the same time he was almost completely unable to go outside.

There was basically nothing he could do, and at the same time there didn't seem to be anything that required him to do it.

Just as Natsuki Subaru hesitated, he suddenly noticed his clothes being tugged at the hem.

Shifting his gaze, he found Emilia watching him cautiously, speaking softly yet with a firm undertone.

"Subaru, you don't know what to do anymore? Because of the memory loss?"

Natsuki Subaru nodded, stroked his chin, and asked as though something had occurred to him.

"By the way, Emilia-tan, at times like this in the past, what would the un-amnesiac me usually do?"

At his words, Emilia's dark-purple eyes flickered. At this moment, her calm pupils, lacking their usual highlights, seemed to ripple ever so slightly.

"Usually? At times like this, Subaru would... teach me some of the principles of becoming a king, give me encouragement, and do some things to make me happy."

Emilia spoke without batting an eye, but her right hand unnaturally pinched at her own short hair, and the gentle rubbing motion betrayed the nervousness within her.

Seeing Natsuki Subaru reveal a slightly puzzled expression at her words, she suddenly grew somewhat flustered and grasped Natsuki Subaru's hand.

And without realizing it, their ten fingers interlaced.

With an earnest yet faintly bashful air, Emilia gazed into Natsuki Subaru's eyes and said.

"So, Subaru, please come to my room. What comes next is... the time for Subaru to be my teacher."

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