Natsuki Subaru is chasing his back

Chapter 43: The Same Choice

Before Subaru could answer, a voice filled with intense murderous intent reached his ears.

"What do you know?! Tell us everything you know!"

Subaru's gaze shifted to Ram, who had stood up.

Seeing her crying in pain made him feel uneasy inside.

He also sensed that Ram's murderous intent was directed at him.

After all, in her eyes, he was probably the one who caused Rem's death.

He had been attacked the day before yesterday, should have left yesterday, but stayed.

Then early this morning, Rem, who had attacked him, died on his own bed.

So no matter how you looked at it, he was the prime suspect.

"Yeah, I know." Subaru said as he glanced at Roswaal, who showed no trace of hostility. Perhaps Roswaal believed him, or maybe there were other reasons. But now was not the time to focus on Roswaal.

"Subaru, do you really know something?" Emilia looked at Subaru with sadness and curiosity.

"Yes, I know some things, but I can't be sure who the culprit is."

"Tell us everything you know!"

"Little lady, I hope you'd use a better tone. Subaru isn't your enemy. Right now, you need Subaru's help. No matter how you pressure him, you can't force him to say anything. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to take action against you, no matter if you're Roswaal's maid or not."

Subaru looked at Puck, who had floated down to sit on his shoulder.

His gaze then turned back to Ram, whose emotions were explosively intense.

Looking at her clenched fists, it was clear how much pain she was enduring.

Glancing once more at Rem lying dead on the bed, her sleeping appearance truly resembled a Sleeping Beauty princess.

And Subaru had the ability to save that girl.

Thinking of this, Subaru looked at Puck on his shoulder again, his understanding of him becoming clearer.

Maybe everyone in the mansion except Emilia was unimportant to Puck.

And Puck protected Subaru because of regret over what he had done to him. Or perhaps Puck really considered Subaru a friend.

But if Subaru ever stood against Emilia, Puck would surely side firmly with her.

"Puck, did you remember what did you teach me?"

"Huh?" Puck was momentarily stunned, then, seemingly understanding something, sighed and said,

"Subaru, you really gave me a tough challenge. Alright."

"Thanks."

With that sentence ending the topic, Subaru dashed out amid the stunned gazes of everyone present.

"Wait!"

"Sorry, little lady. Could you all just stay here quietly and not disturb Subaru?"

Puck said this, releasing a massive amount of mana around him.

At the same time, Roswaal also released powerful mana, matching Puck's energy.

"I never thought you'd obey Subaru, Puck. But I'm afraid we need to ask Subaru many questions. We can't let him escape. After all, if he is the culprit, we can't just let him run free."

"Roswaal, Subaru definitely isn't the bad guy. There must be some misunderstanding," Emilia anxiously shouted, trying to stop the impending fight.

Meanwhile, Beatrice, who had been silently watching for a long time, quietly left the room.

At the same time, Ram, whose mind was completely consumed by hatred, launched an attack.

Puck faced the incoming attack and glanced at Roswaal with an unusually unfriendly look.

"Roswaal, remember we have a deal. Honestly, when you attacked my friend and Emilia's friend, I started doubting our agreement."

With those words, a fight erupted in the room.

Running, running, using every ounce of strength, Subaru ran without looking back at the explosions behind him.

He wasn't running away—he was running toward the village.

Yes, toward the village.

Since the killer who attacked him and Rem was there, he had to go see for himself.

Though the culprit likely escaped, Subaru at least needed to confirm the situation.

Only then could this death be rationalized as efficiently as possible.

Subaru had already decided to give up his life.

What he needed now was to maximize the meaning of this death, just like in that game world.

If he didn't run and only told what he knew, he wouldn't be in danger. Now that he fled, the suspicion for Rem's death would fall entirely on him.

But seeing Ram crying, seeing Rem dead, and realizing his first death had nothing to do with Rem—despite the attack two nights ago causing distrust because of their actions—they never truly trusted him from the start.

Their behavior was not without reason.

"Ah, what a hassle. I shouldn't have stayed. Fine then, after this death, after I fix the upcoming misfortune, I'll leave."

With this thought, Subaru ran to the village based on memory—but what he saw shocked him. There were corpses, bloodstains, and the bodies of some unknown wild beasts.

Subaru's body trembled—not out of fear from the gruesome scene, but from anger.

For him, Rem's death wasn't so heartbreaking.

He cared about Rem only because Ram's crying was so sad, and because he wanted to be someone who could be a close friend—someone worth saving.

Now, the tragic scene before him made Subaru determined to change such a fate.

Even if he didn't know these villagers well, and had only met them once, they were undoubtedly good people.

This village didn't deserve this ending!

Filled with fury, Subaru ran into the village.

"Is anyone alive? Anyone! Please respond!"

He shouted loudly, searching for impossible signs of life in the deserted village.

He flipped over corpses, trying to detect breath, but gave up on finding survivors.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the only thing he smelled was the stench of blood.

As he bent down to pick up a sickle next to a corpse, Subaru suddenly froze—he felt like he had forgotten something.

Why was he searching for survivors? If he loaded his save, those dead would come back to life. So why had he just wasted effort on this useless task?

Subaru stared at the sickle in his hand, feeling an indescribable complexity, carefully recalling his recent actions, trying to figure out what he had forgotten.

What had he forgotten? He forgot that this wasn't that game world. And the power he was using now wasn't given by a god.

He had forgotten what his close friend had once told him.

"Why do you ask why I must die in front of you? Isn't it obvious? Because you're still alive."

"What? I might really die, but you can come back? What are you talking about? Even if you have such power, you can't recklessly throw yourself away.

If you did, what would be the difference between me and a villain? That's obviously wrong. So I will stand in front of you."

Subaru's lips curled slightly.

"Why did I forget something so simple? I'm alive too. My life isn't a mere tool.

But seeing this scene, seeing this sadness, even if my life becomes a tool, so what?

As long as I can get closer to him—if he had the same power, then my close friend would definitely make the same choice."

"What are you standing there with a sickle for, like a fool?"

Hearing that, Subaru turned to see Beatrice standing behind him without his noticing.

"Beatrice? What are you doing here?"