Chapter 80: The Gloom in Everyone's Hearts, The Calm Before the Storm

[Next, Rem took Natsuki Subaru's body measurements and carefully noted them down.

Evening—

Having finished his first day of work at the mansion, Natsuki Subaru lay sprawled face-down on the bed, completely unwilling to move.

It was at that moment that Rem knocked on the door and came in.

"Pardon the intrusion. The clothes are ready — Subaru-kun, please come try them on."

Natsuki Subaru put the clothes on and tried them — they fit perfectly.

However, due to time constraints, the trousers hadn't yet been fixed. Faced with Rem's self-reproach, Natsuki Subaru went ahead and took the work off her hands himself.

"This is easy stuff — don't go underestimating my tailoring skills, now."

Rem blinked and simply stood quietly off to the side, watching Natsuki Subaru.]

"How unexpected — Subaru's tailoring skill is actually full marks."

Frederica lightly covered her mouth with her hand as she watched, on the screen, Natsuki Subaru finishing the alterations on the trousers in just a few swift motions, and remarked admiringly.

"If even Big Sis is saying so, then Boss really is amazing — truly worthy of being a strong one I acknowledge!"

Garfiel grinned widely, baring his teeth as he laughed heartily.

["Barusu, your tailoring skills are full marks, but your skills with a kitchen knife are absolutely no good at all."

The scene quickly shifted to the second day — Natsuki Subaru's wretched peeling technique was being mercilessly mocked by Ram.

"You have to learn how to use a knife, Barusu. For instance, do it like this — keep the knife fixed in place and rotate the vegetable instead..."

Ram deftly stripped the skin off a potato in long, unbroken strips. At last she held up the finished product, which seemed to gleam radiantly in her hand, displaying it for Natsuki Subaru to see.

"Just like this. I won't deny it — Ram's signature dish happens to be steamed potatoes."

A smug little smile played at the corners of Ram's mouth, as if she took genuine pride in this.

"As expected of Onee-sama — even the way you peel skin looks like a scene out of a painting."

Rem, who had been cooking nearby, noticed what was going on and was the first to offer her praise to Ram.

Natsuki Subaru refused to accept defeat — how hard could peeling a single potato be?

He went on to peel several potatoes in a row, but the result on every single one looked as though a dog had been gnawing at them.

On the very last one, he even put so much force into it that he sliced his own finger.

"Rem, how did Barusu's ability to handle ingredients get so much worse?"

Outside the screen, Ram furrowed her brow and asked Rem in puzzlement.

"As Rem remembers it, Subaru-kun's housework skills have always been at full marks..."

Rem said hesitantly, her voice growing smaller and smaller.

In her memory, although Subaru-kun had later turned into a worn-out, slovenly older fellow, in the earlier days at the mansion he had been thoroughly skilled at every sort of housework.

"But from what's being shown on the screen, it's as if Subaru-kun doesn't know the first thing about any of it?"

Hearing this, Otto rubbed his chin and sank into deep thought.

Compared to the minor questions raised by the two sisters Rem and Ram, what he was paying more attention to was this space itself.

The footage on the screen seemed to not line up at all with anyone's memories. If that was so, then what was the point of what it was showing them?

No... perhaps not everyone here was entirely in the dark about this.

Otto tilted his head slightly, sweeping his gaze in a full circle and taking in the expressions of every single person present.

Combined with information he'd gleaned from earlier exchanges, it wasn't hard to perceive that three people's expressions stood out as utterly incongruous with everyone else's.

Elsa, who wore the look of someone watching a fine show; Reinhard, his expression intent and focused; and Emilia, whose eyes held a sorrowful look.

The other people's faces all bore at least some trace of confusion — but these three alone showed no perplexity whatsoever.

Between them and these three people.

It was just like the gap between the utterly clueless Natsuki-san on the screen just now and the Natsuki-san of Rem and Ram's memories.

Otto's gaze shifted ever so slightly. He recalled that the time each person had appeared in this space had not been the same.

So, in all likelihood, these three before him were among the very first batch to arrive in this space.

And if he dared speculate a little more boldly — there was a very real chance that they had already lived through a viewing exactly like this one before.

It was precisely because they had been informed in advance of certain truths concerning the mysteries surrounding Natsuki-san that they could remain so utterly composed!

Yet these three, despite plainly knowing the intelligence, would not give away even half a hint of it.

Either it was that they could not reveal it, or else... it was that there was no need to reveal it!

Perhaps the truths that they knew would, very soon, be laid before all of us in just the same fashion.

Thinking this far, a flash of inspiration suddenly shot through Otto's mind.

After mulling it over for a moment, he spoke up, drawing the attention of those around him.

"Everyone, regarding this matter, I think there's really nothing for us to be hung up on."

Otto held up a single finger, his face turning grave.

"There's something all of you need to be clear about — on the screen, Natsuki-san is a complete newcomer who's only just arrived, so it's perfectly natural that he wouldn't know a thing. On the contrary—"

Otto's tone gradually grew heavier, and he went on slowly.

"What everyone needs to give serious thought to is this — the Natsuki Subaru in our memories, the one who, the moment he arrived at the mansion, was already proficient in everything, already familiar with the entire mansion, always seemed to know things before they happened, was practically omnipotent — just what exactly was the story behind that!"

These words came crashing down like a heavy hammer on everyone's heads.

Every person there couldn't help but begin reflecting on the Natsuki Subaru of their memories.

A cloud of doubt and suspicion settled over each of their hearts, and with one accord they turned their eyes back to the picture on the screen. The story was still going on.

[Natsuki Subaru continued his life at the mansion. Every day he had to finish tidying up the library, wiping the plates, cleaning the bathrooms, doing the laundry, pruning the flower beds, and so on and so forth.

In the midst of all the bustle, the days slipped past in a blur, and just like that five days were gone.

Night had fallen. In the garden.

After several days of nonstop work, Natsuki Subaru had at last gotten the chance to meet Emilia here, just the two of them, alone.

"The moonlight is really beautiful tonight."

Natsuki Subaru lay back on the grass and gazed up at the night sky, feeling that this was the most relaxed moment he had known in these past five days.

"After all, the moon is in a place we can't reach."

Emilia sat down beside Natsuki Subaru and, looking up at the moon overhead, sighed in much the same way.

Natsuki Subaru let his mind go blank for a little while, then suddenly thought of something. He hurriedly sat up and made a request of Emilia.

"Oh, right — today I went into the village. There's a flowerbed there with an amazing view, and there are some really adorable children too. Emilia, why don't you come along and have a look with me?"

Emilia awkwardly tried to beg off with a few polite excuses, but seeing that Natsuki Subaru was utterly insistent, in the end she could only offer up a helpless, indulgent smile.

"All right. But you'll have to wait until I've reached a stopping point in my studies, and until Subaru has finished your own work, too."

"By the way — what happened to your hands?"

Noticing that nearly every one of Natsuki Subaru's fingers was wrapped in a little bandage, Emilia asked in a concerned voice.

"Oh, that — when I went into the village to buy something in the evening, I got bitten by the puppy the children had brought back with them. It's nothing serious at all."

Natsuki Subaru wore a perfectly nonchalant expression, as though the wounds were nothing worth fussing over.]

"That on Subaru's hands — those are the curses of a Curse Caster!"

Betty, who knew of the Mabeast Riot incident yet to come, instantly made the connection to the great quantity of curses that had been placed upon Natsuki Subaru's body when he had suffered grievous injuries back then.

"That spot — that's where the dog the children picked up bit him? That beast had something wrong with it!"

Rem, too, grasped it in an instant, immediately realizing the gravity of the situation, and her face went pale.

"What are you all talking about, what curses? Boss is still perfectly fine, isn't he?"

Garfiel, completely in the dark, scratched his head as he asked the question.

"Once a Curse Caster's curse has been planted on you, the outcome is certain death!"

Ram had ground her teeth tight, and the expression on her face was very nearly ferocious.

Of all things, this was something she knew better than anyone.

On that day, Rem had died precisely because she had been struck by a curse — and at the time, knowing nothing of the truth, Ram had even believed that Barusu was the culprit.

But now, on the screen, why had the one who was cursed turned into Barusu instead?

Ram's eyes went hollow, her body swaying as though about to fall. At this very moment, she would rather it be her — she who had been cursed and was about to have her mana drained dry until she died!

Emilia pursed her lips and spoke in a sober voice.

"Unless Subaru can kill the individual who placed the curse on him in this very moment, then... his death is absolutely certain!"

A momentary daze swept through Emilia's eyes. Sure enough, we've come to this point, have we? This must be it, then? The trigger for Subaru's Return by Death.

But — even though he'd made it all the way to the mansion, he still couldn't escape death. Just... just who in the world had done this!

If she ever found out who it was, she would absolutely tear that person limb from limb!

Seeing this, Meili shrank her head in guiltily.

Although she didn't actually know who it was that wanted to harm Onii-chan, somehow she felt a vague but undeniable familiarity with the methods by which this curse had been applied.

Otto had been keeping a steady eye on the reactions of Emilia, Rem, and Ram all this while.

Adding their words to the rest, he already had a faint inkling forming in his mind.

Garfiel and Frederica, too, seemed to have realized the seriousness of the situation; with worried eyes they gazed at the Natsuki Subaru on the screen.

The whole of the audience area was instantly blanketed by a wretched, dismal atmosphere.

A thick, oppressive gloom settled in every heart.

At this moment, every single person was staring breathlessly at the screen before them, awaiting the moment when the change was about to unfold.

____

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