11.4.3

"—Roswaal, this time, let's talk without you hiding anything."

Subaru was the first to open his mouth, letting those words fly. Roswaal narrowed his pair of heterochromatic eyes.

His injured body resting on the bed in his bedroom at the Ryuzu residence, Roswaal betrayed no sign of surprise at the sudden arrival of this rare guest. It was almost as if he knew Subaru would come.

Indeed, his deep nod seemed only to support that conclusion as he spoke in greeting.

"A reunion after three days—a miraculous return at that—there is a rather dangerous air about you, is there nooooot?"

"No jokes. Right now I don't have any time for foolin' around. I don't care how badly you're hurt. I'm ready to use force if I have to."

"I see. I suppose three days of suffering will do that to someone. No, no, noooo, even if I speak words of praise for this, it shall only disgust you, I am sure. Let us get to the point, shall we?"

The sight of Subaru clenching his teeth with no margin for error made a smile come over Roswaal as he shook his head side to side. After that, his eyes shifted to the closed door behind Subaru as he said,

"Ram let you through, yes? I did give that girl instructions to aid you, but…"

"Yeah. That's why she brought me here without any fuss. If you ask me if I wanna run, I'd probably tell you yes, but I pushed that choice down the road."

"—Really."

Roswaal closed one eye as he replied. Under the gaze of his open yellow eye, Subaru lightly moistened his lips.

—He'd come to speak with Roswaal, putting fleeing the Sanctuary on the back burner.

Naturally, Otto had objected vociferously, asserting that it would only put Subaru in greater danger, but Ram had set the stage at Subaru's request. Paying due attention to the fine details, she had brought him there, to the stage built for a conversation with Roswaal—beyond the Sanctuary residents' prying eyes.

"I'll ask you this, Roswaal. It's three days late, but are you gonna claim you changed your mind about your promise?"

"Strictly speaking, I had intended for the promise I made to be effective for that night alone…but it is fine. I am not a spirit mage, after all. I have no interest in nitpicking the fine detaaaails."

Originally, Roswaal had promised to speak no lies in the discussion they were to have had that night. He had sworn that, though he might remain silent about matters inconvenient to him, the words he spoke would be the truth.

He'd make use of that. Ironically, it was just like the Roswaal from the last time around had said.

"I understand the situation in the Sanctuary, and the danger of me being here. That's why I want to ask you about the mansion as a major precondition of my leaving here."

"Hmm, about the mansion, you ask? If it is something within my understaaaanding…"

"More like you're the only guy who can give me an answer— What I wanna ask about is Beatrice. Why is she in the mansi— No."

There, Subaru cut off his own word, interrupting his question. He couldn't ask it that way. Roswaal had already given a similar question the slip once before. He hated to follow Roswaal's words of advice once again, but he needed to pose his questions "well."

Things were decisively different than the last time around. He needed a question Roswaal couldn't gloss over—

"…I'll change how I phrase the question. Is she, is Beatrice…a Witch Cultist?"

Choosing his words, Subaru paused, endured the palpitation of his heart, and posed the question.

The decisive difference from the previous time around was that Subaru knew Beatrice possessed that magic tome. Namely, he harbored a suspicion that she might be connected to the Witch Cult.

"_____"

Roswaal, receiving Subaru's question in silence, sank into thought for a time.

That silence felt detestably long, further accelerating Subaru's heart.

Finally, before the nervous Subaru, he exhaled and said,

"Why do you think that Beatrice be a Witch Cultist?"

"…Because I've seen her room."

"And by seen, you mean…?"

"Because! She… The book! Because she has a Gospel…!"

Subaru's voice was tinged with anger. He was angry at having to say aloud even the part he did not wish to speak. The raw bitterness in his shout revealed the real reason Subaru wished to pose that question.

Beatrice, clutching the Gospel to her chest, shouting that she obeyed its notations as she rejected Subaru; if she was truly a mad devotee of the Gospel, instigator of the tragedy at the mansion—

"—If that time comes, she'll be our…my enemy."

He'd see Beatrice as an enemy, as an obstacle that had to be removed.

"Strong words. Truly words of resolve."

Roswaal nodded deeply at Subaru's declaration. Then, he closed his open eye.

"…Though the pain upon your face makes such words less convincing."

"—!"

"You having to be pitted against the girl is such a terrible tale. Certainly to me, having seen you two smile and play together so. Therefore, I wish to extend a hand of salvation."

"A hand of salvation? You, to me? …That's like, top-level worldwide fishy."

Feeling something raging inside of him, Subaru's cheek twitched as he wrung out his voice. Roswaal no doubt saw right through the bluff, yet he said not one disparaging word, merely raising a finger as he said, "Certainly, the book you saw is very similar to the Gospels that Witch Cultists possess. It is no fault of your own that you suspect Beatrice as a result. But I guarantee this—"

"Guarantee…?"

"That girl is not a Witch Cultist. She has nothing to do with those hurling themselves over the Great Waterfalls in search of love that does not exist. Though it is true that the book is of a similar nature."

"—!! Not the Witch Cult…! You mean it?!"

Gazing with eyes open wide, Subaru leaped at Roswaal's response.

It was pretty much the first piece of good news for Subaru that time around. Though the fact that it was Roswaal's guarantee bore its own whiff of concern, his vow to speak the truth made up for that.

"If Beatrice isn't part of the Witch Cult…then…"

Then, there was no reason it was an irreconcilable conflict. He didn't have to give up on her—

"W-wait! I don't wanna get happy over just that. The problem isn't what flag she's under. If she's not part of the Witch Cult, what is that book? Why does she have a Gospel?"

"I suppose saying it is from an archive of forbidden books where numerous magic tomes are gathered…would be too much of a stretch. So I shall reply plainly… That book is not a Gospel."

"It's not…? But she definitely called the book a Gospel."

"Because it does not have a proper name. Hence, she called it via the name used for the inferior product."

Even then, Beatrice's rejection lingered in his ears. Subaru refuted Roswaal with that difficult-to-forget shout in mind. With a knowing look, he said to Subaru, "If I may?" and continued his words with,

"I do not know how much of which you are aware, but the Gospels possessed by Witch Cultists are incomplete. The number of notations is limited, their contents vague, varying depending upon the interpretation. To have such an unfriendly tome determine the path of the possessor's fate…is rather arbitrary, is it not?"

"…You're crazy detailed about this. All I'd heard was that it was holy writ that prophesized the future."

"Witch Cultists can gush forth from anywhere, particularly Sanctuaries connected to a Witch such as that which I administer. It is not merely once or twice that I have skirmished with them. I have found traces of their tomes amid the cinders of their corpses. However, I know they are frauds because only the possessor may read their contents."

"I've had that experience once…"

Subaru, too, possessed a single Gospel, but he wasn't able to understand its contents. It was like staring at cursive handwriting from a foreign land; the character information wasn't being conveyed to his brain. Even at present, when he tried to remember the single page he had seen, not even a portion floated into his head.

"It feels a lot like the ID-blocking robe's effect… In other words, it might not be common, but books like that aren't super-rare either. So, you're saying it's not strange that Beatrice has one, too?"

"—No, the tome Beatrice possesses is a complete edition. It is a magical tome that records the true future, of which only two volumes exist in the whole of the world. It is the closest thing to a Tome of Wisdom that currently exists."

With his eyes closed, Roswaal spoke the name of the book, which Subaru didn't recognize.

Then, a moment after it became clear exactly what book Beatrice possessed—suddenly, Subaru's body stiffened, feeling like the air in the room had suddenly gotten colder.

The cause was Roswaal, head hung just before him. The ghastly aura emanating from him made Subaru draw in his breath.

"Ros…waal…?"

"Sorry. It seems I was recalling an amusing memory for a short while."

"…I-if that just now was a funny memory, slipping up and asking about old stories seems like a really bad idea."

"There will be other opportunities to speak of unamusing old tales. At present, time is limited, is it not?"

Abruptly, his mood seemed to soften, his smile dispersing the strained air about them.

The relaxation of the atmosphere made strength drain from Subaru's body as well, but his horror at the abnormal demeanor did not vanish. However, Subaru bit down the persisting horror with his back teeth, forcing his mind to right itself.

Every moment that passed brought the Trial closer to an end, and so, too, Garfiel's return.

A sense of duty to finish the discussion before that happened burned within Subaru as he turned to face Roswaal once more.

"I'd really like to ask for the details about this Tome of Wisdom, but right now the gist will do. What I need to know is how do I convince the Beatrice with that book to back down?"

"Perhaps if you broke into tears and begged, she might listen to you?"

"I said no joking around! I'm not asking you to be funny. This is a serious question."

"I did not intend it as a particularly frivolous reply, mind you…"

Bringing the obstinate Beatrice around was an absolutely irreplaceable component of breaking through the calamity arising at the mansion. Even if the option of taking her and fleeing had vanished, he'd be at a marked advantage if he had her cooperation.

They could shelter the noncombatants, Rem and Petra, in the archive of forbidden books and jump them to Earlham Village.

"Beyond that, even if Frederica were to become hostile, that girl would surely fend her off without difficulty."

"…I don't particularly suspect Frederica as an enemy."

"Oh my, you seemed to suspect her due to the crystal incident. Your opinion changed at some point?"

"…Yeah, that's right, it did."

"A rather uncertain reply, no? If you are concerned, take Ram. Surely she will not refuse."

Subaru had only cleared up his suspicions of Frederica based on the memories of the Subaru who had returned to the mansion. From Roswaal's perspective, Subaru's two worries for his return to the mansion surely appeared to be Frederica's rebellious intent and Beatrice's possession of a certain book.

Accordingly, proposing that Ram accompany him was a natural decision. Aside from the point that Subaru had already tried that and failed—

"—Roswaal said, 'Ask your questions.'"

"…Huh?"

As Subaru sank into thought, the abrupt statement made his jaw fall open. Roswaal sat up from lying on his side in bed, looked up at Subaru, and repeated himself.

"If you remain concerned about the matter, upon your return to the mansion, tell her, 'Roswaal said, Ask your questions.' When Beatrice hears this, she will surely respond."

"That's…"

He blinked. Subaru remembered hearing those weighty words before.

The first time around that loop, just before setting out from the Sanctuary to return to the mansion, Ram told him those words, hailing from Roswaal after their relationship had worsened.

The shock of death had caused him to forget them, and he had not remembered the words on the last, and second, time around, but—

"…I see. You do not believe these words are sufficient."

"W-wait. Insufficient, that's… Nah, before that, it's just…"

"Then I shall continue. Or perhaps, this way of speaking it would be surer footing?"

Roswaal ignored Subaru's confusion; indeed, a smile came over him. Then, in his usual manner, he closed one eye, seeing right through Subaru with his yellow eye and speaking thus:

"—Simply tell her you are That Person."

"That Person…?"

"Make Beatrice ask this of you, and affirm that it is so. Do this, and she will most certainly be your ally, sure to lending you her power without reservation."

He firmly declared this, his words infused with powerful conviction. When that conviction caused Subaru to look back into Roswaal's eye, the tranquil yellow glint therein betrayed none of his thoughts.

Still, if that all turned out to be true, then the words he'd been told to speak were simply that powerful.

"What's…up with that? How can you say that so confidently?"

"Because to that girl, to Beatrice, it is a pact she is unable to defy."

"—A pact."

When the word made his eardrums tremble, Subaru felt his smoldering anger rekindled once more.

Pact, vow, covenant, promise—just how much, how far did these bind one's heart?

"Her staying in the mansion…in the archive of forbidden books, was all due to a pact, I heard? What kind of pact did you two form…?"

"You misunderstand, Subaru. No pact has been formed between Beatrice and me whatsoever."

"…What?"

To Subaru's question, posed as he trembled with anger, Roswaal refuted with a sideways shake of his head. Then, as Subaru stood dumbfounded, Roswaal touched the bandage wrapped around his chest as he said,

"I shall repeat myself. No pact-based relationship exists between Beatrice and me. She is under the same roof because our mutual interests coincide… Her pact to protect the archive of forbidden books was formed between her and a different individual."

"Someone else…?! Then, who the heck was it!"

"It is best you ask her. That is a question for Beatrice herself. It is not for me to speak of."

Roswaal's reply, in contrast to Subaru's rage, gradually caused the latter to lose its heat. Roswaal's demeanor and reply made Subaru go "Shit!" as he strongly kicked the floor.

"This again! She tells me to ask you; you tell me to ask her! Stop making me run around in circles! I want to know the answer, damn it!"

"I have handed you the key so that you may arrive at your answer. All that remains is for you to place it into the keyhole and turn it. I shall not permit crudeness such as peeking into the box…rather, the archive, on the sly."

Unexpectedly, Roswaal asserted his own view in a most straightforward manner.

Clenching his teeth at the obstinate stance, Subaru forced his resentment down to the bottom of his belly.

"…Based on the state of affairs up to yesterday, Lady Emilia should finally be exiting the tomb…regardless of her success or failure. So what shaaaall you do?"

Perhaps he'd consciously put a lid on it up to that point, but now, Roswaal spoke in a blatantly jester-like tone.

It annoyed Subaru, but he had a point. Timewise, he was right on the edge, a half day left until the deadline when the mansion would be attacked. Any longer, and he wouldn't make it even with Patlash running full-speed.

The forces available for repelling the calamity of the twin raiders consisted of Frederica back at the mansion, Otto and Subaru set to return to it, and if they added Ram—

"…Is it true that Beatrice will go along with what you said just now?"

"I made a vow that I would speak no lie. At the very least, it is what I believe."

"If it doesn't work, I don't care what anyone says, I'm punching you in the side of your face. Remember that."

For once Subaru's one-sided promise made Roswaal's eyes go round. Of course, if Subaru failed, his life was forfeited. It was a promise that would be gone the next time around.

But Subaru would remember. That was what he was declaring, then and there.

"Understood. Do as you like. Should you and Beatrice pair together, it shall likely be of great aid for the issues enveloping the Sanctuary as well."

"Don't lay deep stuff like that on me when I'm leaving. Not like you plan on talking anymore either way."

"Surely you can allooooow me this much— After all, it seems I am not up to the task."

Averting his gaze, the tone of Roswaal's voice fell slightly as he whispered. When Subaru, unable to clearly make out the latter half, prompted him with "What was that?" he shrugged his shoulders.

"I was speaking to myself. Ah, please set your reluctance aside. If you fail due to being late, you cannot fulfill your promise to punch me?"

"…Roswaal, let me ask you one last thing."

"—Please do."

Subaru refused to go along with the jesting demeanor, straightening his back as he stared right at Roswaal. Receiving that sharp gaze, Roswaal beheld Subaru in his differently colored eyes.

Beholding Roswaal in return, Subaru posed the final question of the evening.

"You're not…our enemy or anything, are you, Roswaal?"

"_____"

After a pause, Roswaal answered…

"Of course not— You are all…my allies."