11.4.8

His flesh…had been rebuilt.

The torn, consumed flesh of his cheeks, the ripped-off skin of his face, his bitten-apart skull, his chewed-away nerves, his lapped-up blood, and his fiendishly violated, ravenously consumed soul—were restored to their former state.

"—aa"

Blood passed into his fingertips, and Subaru's entire body ferociously convulsed.

On the cold, hard floor, Subaru moaned as froth gushed out, his eyes rolling in every direction.

There was no pain. There was no sense of loss. His four limbs were connected to his torso, and his chest had all of the viscera required to sustain life. His flesh and blood had been returned to him. But what of the spirit that had been eaten apart?

Whose mind could return to the world of the sane, when the memory of being "devoured" was still fresh?

"B, b, b…!"

Subaru slammed his head against the ground as if he was having a seizure. His brain bounced back from the hard blow, making his brain shake. For a moment, the vestiges of having been chewed away eased. In search of this, he repeated the act.

—Why.

It was not his spirit or his flesh, but his soul, which refused to acknowledge reality.

With the most critical part of his decision-making systems refusing to reboot, Subaru Natsuki could not return.

But his soul repeated the word why over and over again, searching for an answer.

What had occurred? Just what had happened? Why had such a thing taken place? Why did it have to be that way? What was happening with him now? What to do? What should he do?

—Why, why, why, why, why.

No answer came forth. Before that vague thesis, not even a written problem, his soul simply broke into lament.

—Why! Why! Why!!

Drowning in reality, haunted by a nightmare, having lost sight of the path of life, all he could do was ask himself, "Why?"

For that was—

"—Once more, you have gained the qualifications."

As Subaru made little trembles, he heard a whisper-like voice in his ear.

"I invite thee— Come to the Witches' Tea Party."

The next instant, the soul of Subaru Natsuki returned but moments before, was once again severed from reality.