[ "—I love you." As the words fell, the screen gradually dimmed... ]
...
~Inside of the Theater~
"Ara~?"
Elsa's voice lilted with amusement as her body began shimmering with golden particles.
"My, my~... It seems I'm being summoned back~."
Beside her, Meili blinked, her wide eyes reflecting both wonder and a flicker of apprehension as her form started dissolving.
"Huh? My body's glowing too!"
she exclaimed, holding up her translucent hands. For a moment, she studied them curiously, then grinned—a smile tinged with the faintest trace of wistfulness.
"It seems our sisters are leaving. It was a short time, but it was a pleasure being with you.
Elsa murmured, her tone gentle yet distant.
With one last wave, Meili beamed brightly despite her fading form.
"Bye-bye, weird big brothers and sisters! Tell Big Bro I said—"
Her final words dissolved into sparkles, leaving an empty space where laughter once echoed.
And just like that, the two left.
"The hell? Why do THEY get t'leave first!?"
Garfiel asked blankly.
Why can they leave?
"A reasonable deduction, I suppose~, the world that belongs to them has reached its conclusion, unlike our own..."
Roswaal analyzed.
... ...
After a while, the silver-haired girl, Emilia, finally managed to soothe her emotions after witnessing Subaru's various actions.
And the screen lit up again.
"Look, it's starting again!"
Otto pointed at the screen.
"Familiar ceiling."
That's what Rem and Ram thought—
We're back at the mansion, finally back in our world.
~█████ IF Line ~
A rough sensation came—
"Ah!"
Meili quickly looked around.
"I'm back! This is... huh? The temporary cache in the slums?"
Strange, how did I get back here? I remember this place being abandoned after Big Brother saved Elsa.
...
"Oh~... this is...?"
Elsa's perspective was very dark.
After adapting to the darkness, she looked around—
So familiar, this is the loot storage, and around me—
Observing her surroundings, a familiar smell of blood assaulted her, and following the scent, she saw the corpses of the giant old man and the girl.
"Could it be...?"
A light came.
It was the unique light of Lagumite ore.
"So, what kind of monsters and demons will appear next? Judging from the style of fantasy works, whatever appears is not a joke."
Hearing these familiar words, the girl couldn't help but blush.
"What... the hell is this?"
The black-haired boy stepped on something sticky, intending to lift his foot to check—
"Ara~, where did this cute little brother come from?"
The girl suddenly appeared before the boy could check, which startled the boy. As the boy was about to exclaim, the girl used her left hand to cover the boy's mouth, and her right hand leaned against the wall, trapping the boy against the wall.
Blushing, panting, she looked at the boy with dazed eyes...
...
~Inside of the Theater~
"Oi, this place... Ain't this where tha' boss used t'hole up?"
Garfiel's golden eyes narrowed slightly, and recognition the place.
"Indeed. We even weathered quite the spectacular battle here, if you'll recall."
Otto responded to Garfiel.
[Seeing Subaru waking up in the mansion in the picture and casually opening a door, Beatrice—
"...What a guy who makes me angry from the bottom of my heart, I suppose."
"Even with so many books, there isn't one I can understand, I suppose... How disappointing, I suppose."
Subaru casually flipped through various books as if he were in his own home.
"Looking at other people's bookshelves so impolitely, and even sighing... Are you deliberately picking a fight, I wonder? If so, I'll keep you company to the end."]
...
~Inside of the Theater~
"Haha... still so casual... Natsuki-san."
Otto smiled wryly.
"Sigh, Subaru's first impression on me was a noisy and impolite, offensive fool, I suppose."
"Uh... I can't argue with that..."
Otto scratched his face in response to Beatrice.
And Beatrice rested her cheeks in her hands, sighing like a hamster, recalling their definitely unpleasant first encounter.
"But I still have to thank this unpleasant first encounter, I suppose, for allowing me to meet Subaru."
Beatrice said in her heart.
[ "Speaking so harshly, you're really wasting that cute face of yours. Come on, smile, smile."
Subaru smiled at Beatrice. ]
...
~Inside of the Theater~
"Um, that's good."
Emilia was a little uneasy at first, but seeing her Subaru back, she was completely relieved.
Therefore, Emilia responded to Subaru with a cute smile, although Subaru didn't know.
"But y'know~, Betty's got a mouth jus' as poison-tongued as Sis-Ram's—GYAHHH?! OWOWOWOW!"
Garfiel was grabbed by the ear by Ram before he could finish speaking.
"It's because Subaru was so rude at first, I suppose. But... it's really familiar, the Forbidden Library..."
[[]
[ Just after a quarrel in the picture—
"Betty is reaching her limit, I suppose. I'll give you a little lesson, I suppose."
Beatrice walked up to Subaru:
"Don't move, I suppose. So, do you have anything else to say?"
"D-Don't... don't hurt me..." ]
...
~Inside of the Theater~
"Ugh..."
Seeing Subaru's strange lines, Rem pouted outside the screen.
[ Beatrice's hand was placed on Subaru's chest, and then Subaru instantly collapsed to the ground.
"Uwa...!"
"It seems you didn't faint, just like I heard, I suppose. You're a sturdy fellow."
"What did you do? Drill Loli..."
"I just interfered with the mana in your body, I suppose. Your mana circulation method is very strange, I suppose." ]
...
~Inside of the Theater~
Recalling the questions she had at the time, Beatrice had two possible answers.
One was that Subaru was from another world, and the mana of people from that world was like this, or it was the influence of Return by Death.
[ "Alright, now I know you really don't have any hostility, I suppose. And, your various offensive and rude behaviors towards Betty before can also be forgiven with the mana I just collected, I suppose."
After Subaru and Beatrice bickered with each other, Subaru fell unconscious again. ]
...
~Inside of the Theater~
Beatrice's cheeks puffed out in indignation, her small hands clutching her dress.
"How utterly ridiculous, I suppose! Betty never wished to harm Subaru in the first place, in fact!"
Her voice carried its usual haughty tone, but the tips of her ears turned pink.
"Ohhh~? Is that so~?"
Puck floated upside-down, his mischievous grin widening.
"Ah, and then..."
The two Rems exchanged glances—one smiling gently, the other nodding in quiet recognition. There was no mistaking it: this was their first meeting with Subaru-kun.
[ The screen shimmered to reveal a dimly lit mansion guest room, dawn's pale light filtering through the curtains. There, in the bed—
"Oh, he's awake, sister."
"Yes, he's awake, Rem."
Ram's sharp pink eyes narrowed first, her voice dripping with trademark condescension. ]
...
~Inside of the Theater~
"Rem!"
Ram exclaimed.
"It's Rem-sh... Rem."
Emilia held back the title "Rem-san."
"Barusu often tells Ram stories about Rem, but unfortunately, I forgot... but now..."
"Now I can take this opportunity to see the story of Rem that I'm very—curious about."
Ram and Emilia were excited to learn about Rem's story.
"Ain't gonna lie—I'm damn curious 'bout that girl who's so dead-set on followin' tha' boss."
Garfiel also said.
"I... me too."
Even Otto joined in.
"Um... everyone, please don't have too high expectations."
Rem didn't think her story was so wonderful; on the contrary, she wanted to know what happened to Subaru here.
[ "Originally, I was a night owl, or rather, half a midnight tribe, but I actually woke up in the morning..." ]
...
~Inside of the Theater~
"Huh? That's not right."
"This... is not like this."
A sense of unease struck.
The hearts of the two Rems were raised even higher.
When I first met Subaru-kun, Subaru-kun held my hands and my sister's hands, but this is not the case.
This means... Subaru-kun will die in this loop...
What if... it was me?
The two Rems were extremely uneasy.