21 Chapter 21: Witches Are Real

After coming to the realization that Subaru had died he he began to wonder how he even died. He didn't feel anything stab, slice or anyone blow him up so he wondered the many possibilities.

'Poison? Gassing? Heart attack? It just doesn't make sense, there were those voices I heard before I died…That girl's voice too. I guess I ended getting back into the death game…Let's hope it's not as bad as the first time.'

The rest of the gang woke up and with that he learned where the cycle had begun. All of them were already signed up for the construction job meaning there was trouble getting out of it now. Darkness and Megumin already settled for having to do quests to make extra money for the team.

'So, why to do? If the mist and door shows up no matter what then I'll have to find a way to avoid being killed by those guys…Then again I didn't get to see their faces and it'd be too hard to find them on their voices alone…I guess I'll search for clues today, nothing better to do then that.'

The first day of work had begun once again and could see the boss in the work site giving the same talk as the first time.

"As we know someone has been stealing and sabotaging equipment around the site. If no one comes out soon to own up to their crimes I will personally investigate every single one of you to see who it was. I'll give you until the end of tomorrow to reveal yourself."

The trio walked up to the boss and was asked the same question as before to which they all replied yes. Soon after the little fight between Kazuma and Aqua began and they all split up shortly after it had begun.

'Okay, that's that. Everything's the same as before so now it's time to get searching for that door.'

Subaru began walking around the work site looking everywhere for the door which was hard to find as there was no mist guiding him to it this time. He tried to remember the direction but kept losing his way every way he went.

'Maybe landmarks?'

He looked around for any familiar scenery he saw before he died but didn't see anything familiar. He continued walking around the site in hopes of finding it but lunch soon came so he decided to take some time to think.

'If it's invisible then that would make sense on why I can't find it, but then why would the door appear the day after tomorrow with no signs of it today? Those people that were there…Maybe they're the reason it appe-!'

He suddenly had a sharp pain shoot through his chest and couldn't move. He tried to move his head but it only moved a little. He could see people walking past him eating their lunches and talking with their friends but no sign of why the pain suddenly started.

'Wait…Now that I think about it I haven't felt the pin in my chest at all…Why now? Why is this different from before?'

The pain became worse when he felt a hand touch him on the shoulder. He still couldn't move but felt someone lean their face to his ear.

"So you're the one she chose? Intriguing how you'd end up here all by yourself, no help from us. I must say it makes me quite jealous of you to be this in sync with our goddess's wishes."

The man speaking walked in front of Subaru. He was wearing one of the worker uniforms and had a build similar to Kazuma's but had a much thinner face. One that was actually unsettling to look at.

"So Natsuki Subaru. May I ask a question of you?"

Subaru was forcibly made to nod his head by the man.

"Do you know what witches are? What they do? Who they follow? Their capabilities?"

Subaru finally realized how his chest pain worked. The closer he was to a "witch" the more pain he would feel.

"We must all play our part, of course it's wrong to be jealous of another's role in life but it pains me so much!"

The man slashed across Subaru's chest with a knife leaving a large gash that went in enough to the point it bled badly.

"I'll give you a hint. Would you like that?"

The man once again nodded Subaru's head up and down and laughed gleefully.

"There's someone in your party who's a little on the weaker side isn't there? Would you like to know who that is? The one who is simplistically basic, gleefully idiotic, a forty shot misser, and someone who is a one shot caster. Who do you think is the weak one? The one who will become a fellow witch? One that will help us accomplish her will? I'll leave the guess up to you, but when the time comes you find out…" He passed the knife with Subaru's blood into his hand. "You'll know what to do if you want to save yourself. Oh and please try and keep it entertaining for a fellow member of mine, she hates things that are absolutely, positively boring. So be sure to keep things above the minimum amount of gore, maybe a little torture or something to get them to spill themselves. Can you do that for her and me?"

He once again forcibly nodded Subaru's head up and down.

"Good! Maybe I'll only be jealous of you if you find out who it is. You see the thing is, is that we're not supposed to kill you, but there's nothing wrong with us accidentally causing you to spill your brains out on the street. That understood?"

Subaru once again nodded by the man's will.

"I'll be going now, there's a lot of work to do to make way for her arrival. Be sure to to listen to what I said! Oh and act as if I was never here, I think you can guess why."

The man disappeared into the shadows and the pain filled allowing Subaru to move again. He looked at the blade in his hands with the thought that one of his friends may actually turn out to be a witch.

'What did any of that mean?! I have to kill one of them to save myself?! And what did he mean by "her" will? And what's with all this role stuff? What did he mean he's jealous of my role? Does it have something to do with my power? Is that it? But…I guess I should keep an eye out for now…I have about two days left to figure this out…'

Subaru hid the bloody knife and hated the idea of having to kill a party member. He didn't want any part of this witch business and whoever it was that they were following. But he was also interested in how his power made his role in this whole thing.

With all the pieces slowly coming together, Subaru must now figure out who is the witch amongst his party.