Die.
My brain trembles...
Puck!
Be quiet, Subaru.
I don't care what you—
Complacency! Negligence! That is sloth!
You should have killed me right away!
Even with the power you have,
you failed to accomplish what you needed to do!
Foolishness.
If you truly want to kill me...
Then grow a thousand shadows,
a mere half of what Satella could do.
Are you... Puck?
Shouldn't that be obvious?
Maybe it's cruel of me to ask that.
Unbelievable...
This is unbelievable!
It cannot be!
A measly spirit...
My faith...
My life's labor of love...
At the hands of a measly spirit—
A human who's only lived a few decades shouldn't talk to a spirit about time.
Time has nothing to do with the depth of one's faith!
I wish you wouldn't liken me
to a fool like you—a being that lives for eternity,
but wastes most of it in idleness!
Ah, my brain is tremblinglinglingling...
Death isn't even a punishment.
This is why I hate all of you.
The Ordeal has been completed.
Even if my body dies,
my wishes will be called to the exalted witch's side.
And I'll receive her love.
I look forward to our reunion!
He quit while he was ahead.
Now, shall we have a little talk?
Subaru,
you have committed three sins.
First, you broke your promise to Lia.
You don't seem to understand how important a promise is
to a spirit arts user.
Second, you ignored Lia's wishes and returned here.
And third...
You let Lia die!
In accordance with my contract,
I will now destroy the world.
Why?
Lia is...
Emilia is my entire reason for existing.
There is no reason for me to exist in a world without her.
The fog is coming closer.
It seems a troublesome being has been drawn here.
Gluttony...
Oh, I suppose they call it the White Whale now.
You called it here, let Lia die,
and now, you die yourself.
You really are useless.
I've heard this laugh before.
It's the voice of a man I hated to death.
No...
It's me.
I'm laughing at myself.
I let Rem die, killed Emilia,
and now, I'm going to die in vain.
I truly am...
You truly are slothful, Subaru.
Subaru-kun?
What's the matter?
Rem...
Yes, I'm your Rem.
I'm sorry I didn't notice.
This crowd is tiring you, isn't it?
Tired.
Yeah, that's right...
I'm out of energy, worn to the bone...
"Tired" is the right word to use.
Subaru-kun!
Sorry about that.
I was feeling kind of overwhelmed,
so I skipped over explaining.
Sorry.
Really, you mustn't do that.
I realize that you are giving a great deal of thought to our situation.
Well, not that I dislike when you are forceful.
Sorry that I worried you.
I'm fine now.
It feels like all you've seen is me being pathetic, depressed, or both.
But I have it all figured out now.
Have what figured out?
I've bothered a lot of people with all my contemplating and agonizing,
but I finally figured out how to take care of everything.
Or, when I really think about it,
I was told what to do from the very start.
I sure don't know when to give up, do I?
I think that's what makes you so wonderful, though.
I've realized some things and been forced to realize others.
Well, the point is, all kinds of experiences have brought me here,
but the answer's actually been right there for a long time now.
I've decided, Rem.
Yes?
Run away with me.
As far as we can go.
Huh?
I'm going to leave the capital and head far west.
Or maybe north.
I heard no one can enter the southern kingdom,
so one of those two.
I don't like cold weather,
so I'd personally prefer going west.
Ah, um...
Honestly, it could be a long journey,
and I know this is a snap decision,
so it won't be easy—
P-Please slow down!
The way you said that makes it sound as if
you plan to go to some country other than Lugunica.
Oh!
Knowing you, it must be because you've had another great idea!
Something that will help Emilia-sama and Roswaal-sama!
That's not what this is, Rem.
There's nothing I can do in the capital.
But I'd be just as powerless if I went back to the mansion.
That's what I figured out.
So run away with me, Rem.
We can't stay here.
That's what everyone has been telling me.
I didn't want to believe it,
so I've denied it with all my might, but...
Yeah, they're right.
No one ever needed me.
That's not—
It is true!
It's been spelled out for me, over and over...
That's why I've decided to just disappear.
It's for the best.
Anything I do will just lead to a dead body...
Or maybe bodies, depending on what happens.
I've had enough.
Let's run, Rem.
You and I can't stay here.
We shouldn't be in this country!
But this is so sudden...
We don't have time!
I'm sorry it's sudden, I really am.
I really, really am.
But you have to choose.
Choose?
Me? Or someone else?
Choose.
Let's get a dragon carriage and head west.
We'll leave Lugunica and go far west...
To Kararagi, was it?
We'll buy a little house and live there together.
Even if times are hard,
I can keep going if I know you're there.
Just having someone waiting at home for me with a smile...
No matter how tired I am,
if I know you're waiting for me, I'm sure...
Please choose me!
If you choose me, I'll give you all that I have!
So please...
Run away with me.
Live with me!
Subaru-kun...
I cannot run away with you.
We're supposed to laugh together,
as we talk about the future, remember?
Maybe we can't laugh now, but...
You know, once we actually get moving,
I bet we can—
I have thought about it too.
We would arrive in Kararagi,
and rent a place to stay.
As long as we had a home and work, we would get by somehow.
Fortunately, thanks to Roswaal-sama, I have received an education,
so I think I could easily find work, even in Kararagi.
You might have to either look for manual labor
or help me take care of things.
Once we had a stable income,
we could look for a better place to live.
In the meantime,
you could study for perhaps a year,
so that you can find a decent job when you're actually able to work.
We would work together.
And once we had enough money, perhaps we could buy a house.
Maybe we could even open a shop.
After all, Kararagi is a thriving commercial area.
I'm sure we could earn a living on one of your fanciful ideas.
And once our jobs were on track...
Um, it's embarrassing to say,
but we could have a child.
It would be half-demon and half-human,
so I'm certain it would be feisty.
Whether we have a boy or a girl,
twins or even triplets,
I know they would be adorable.
I'm sure it wouldn't be all fun times.
And not everything would work out as I imagined it.
We might have only daughters and no sons,
so you might feel a little out of place in your family.
Rem...
But still, even when the children grow up
and reach the age where they start to treat you coldly,
I shall still be on your side!
We will be famous in the neighborhood as a couple of lovebirds,
as we take our time spending life together and growing old.
Rem...
I would feel bad for doing it to you,
but I would prefer to die before you, if possible.
I want to die quietly, lying on our bed, with your hand in mine,
surrounded by our children and their children.
To say,
"I was so blessed,"
as you all watch my final moments.
I could end my life happily, ever so happily.
If you've...
If you've thought it through that far, then...
If you could wish for that future with a smile,
I would be truly happy to die that way.
As long as I could live with you.
Just knowing that you want me with you when you run away
makes me happy from the bottom of my heart.
But I cannot.
Because I know
that if we run away together now,
I would be leaving behind the Subaru-kun that I love most.
Subaru-kun,
please tell me what happened.
If you cannot, please trust me.
I swear I shall do something to make it right.
But for now, at least, we should go back.
If we take our time, and consider things calmly,
maybe we will find a different answer.
I've already agonized over this.
I've thought about it.
I've suffered.
That's why...
I gave up.
It's easy to give up, but...
It's easy to give up?
Subaru-kun?
Don't give me that!
There's nothing easy about giving up!
You think I'm just doing nothing,
emptying my head,
cutting myself off from everything,
and throwing it all away!?
And that's all it took to give up!?
It was not easy to give up!
It was so much easier for me to think there was something I could do!
But there's nothing I can do!
There's no way out!
All the paths lead to one thing: giving up!
If I could do something,
I swear... I swear I would!
Subaru-kun...
It is easy to give up.
But...
it doesn't suit you.
I do not know what painful things you've been through,
or what you have come to know that makes you suffer so.
And I know it would be wrong of me to thoughtlessly say I understand.
But...
But even so...
There is something that I do know.
I know that you're someone who cannot give up on something halfway through.
I know that you are someone who can smile
when you talk about your wishes for the future.
I know...
I know that you are someone who cannot give up on the future.
You're wrong.
I'm not that kind of—
I am not wrong.
You haven't given up on anyone.
Not Emilia-sama or Sister.
Or Roswaal-sama, or Beatrice-sama, or anyone else.
I have... I have given up!
Carrying it all was impossible from the start!
My hands are so small,
that it all slipped through my fingers, leaving nothing.
No, that isn't true.
You have—
What do you know!?
What do you know about me!?
This is the kind of man I am!
I have no strength, but I want it all.
I have no knowledge, but all I do is dream.
There's nothing I can do, but I struggle in vain!
I... I...
I hate myself!
All I do is talk a big game,
and make myself sound like a big shot, when I can't do anything!
I never do anything,
yet I can complain like a pro.
Who the hell do I think I am!?
It's amazing that I can live like this and not feel ashamed!
Right!?
I'm empty.
There's nothing in me at all!
I know that.
Yeah, that's obvious.
I know it's obvious.
Before I came here...
Before I got into the situation that led me to all of you,
do you have any idea what I did?
I did nothing.
I've never done a single thing.
I had all that time, all that freedom.
I could have done anything,
but I never did a thing!
And this is the result!
What I am now is the result!
All of my powerlessness, all of my incompetence,
is the product of my rotten character.
Wanting to accomplish something, when I've never done anything,
goes beyond the limits of arrogance!
The laziness and wasteful habits I got from my pampered life
end up costing both of us our lives!
That's right.
I have no character.
Even when I thought I could go on living here, nothing changed.
That old man saw that part of me perfectly.
Right?
I wasn't trying to get stronger
or trying to make things better.
I was just striking an obvious pose to justify myself,
to say that I was trying, that I wasn't just sitting on my hands.
I wanted to say there was nothing I could do!
I wanted to be told there was nothing I could do!
I only pretended to push my body to the limit for that sole purpose!
Even when I had you help me study,
I was just posing to cover up how embarrassed I felt!
At heart,
I'm just a small, cowardly, filthy piece of trash,
who's always worried about how others see me.
And nothing...
Nothing about me has changed!
I knew it all along.
That all of it was my fault...
I'm the lowest of the low.
I can't stand myself.
I know...
That no matter how deeply you have fallen into darkness,
you still have the courage to reach out your hand.
I love it when you stroke my hair.
I feel as if we can understand each other
through the contact between your hand and my hair.
I love your voice.
Just hearing you say one word
makes my heart feel warmer.
I love your eyes.
Normally, they look stern,
but when you're being kind to someone,
I love the way they soften.
I love your fingers.
For a boy, you have such lovely fingers.
But when they clutch mine, I know they are the strong,
slender fingers of a man.
I love the way you walk.
When we walk together,
I love the way you occasionally turn, to make sure I'm keeping up.
Stop...
I love the way you look when you sleep.
You look unguarded, like an infant,
and your eyelashes are on the long side.
When I touch your cheek, you calm down...
And when I playfully touch your lips, you don't even notice...
And it makes my heart ache terribly.
I love all of it.
Why?
When you said that you hate yourself,
it made me want to tell you all the wonderful things I know about you.
That's all just make-believe.
You just don't know me!
I know myself better than anyone!
All you know is how you perceive yourself!
How much do you know about the Subaru-kun that I see!?
Why... do you like me so much?
I'm weak and small.
I'm running away. Just like I did last time!
So why?
Because...
you are my hero, Subaru-kun!
In that dark forest,
when I didn't even know who I was anymore
and couldn't think of anything but violently lashing out,
you saved me.
When I woke up unable to move,
and Sister was exhausted after using too much magic,
you faced the witchfiends as a diversion, so we could escape.
There was no way you could win,
and your life was in real danger.
But still, you managed to survive
and came back to my arms, alive and warm.
When you woke up, you smiled,
and said the words I wanted to hear most,
when I wanted to hear them most,
from the one I wanted most to hear them from.
My time has been stopped for so long.
Ever since that fiery night,
the night I lost everything except my sister,
my time has been stopped.
It was you who melted my frozen heart,
and kindly allowed me to begin moving forward again!
I'm sure you have no idea just how much you saved me,
or how happy I was at that moment, on that fateful morning.
That's why I believe.
No matter what painful things happen,
even when it looks like you're about to give in...
When no one else in the world believes in you,
when you don't even believe in yourself...
I will believe!
That the Subaru-kun who saved me
is a true hero.
No matter how hard I tried,
I couldn't save anyone.
I am here.
The Rem you saved is right here.
I've never done anything. I'm empty.
No one will even listen to me.
I am here.
I will listen to anything you have to say.
I want to.
No one expects anything of me.
No one believes in me.
I hate myself.
Well, I love you, Subaru-kun!
You really don't mind that it's me?
I want it to be you.
I would not want it to be anyone else.
If you cannot forgive yourself for being empty and having nothing,
then let us start from here, right now.
Start what?
Just like you started my time for me when it was stopped,
we will make the time that you feel is stopped for you
begin to move again.
Let us start here.
From square one.
No,
from zero!
If it is too hard for you to walk alone,
I will hold you up.
As we walk, we will share the burden and support each other.
Wasn't this what you said to me that morning?
Show me how awesome you can be, Subaru-kun.
Rem...
Yes?
I love Emilia.
Yes.
I want to see Emilia smile.
I want to be of help to Emilia's future.
Even if she says I'm in the way,
even if she tells me to stay away...
I want to be next to her.
Using my feelings for her as an excuse
to get her to understand everything
was arrogant of me, huh?
It's okay if she doesn't understand.
I just want to save her.
If there's a bleak, painful future waiting for her,
I want to take her away to a future where we can all laugh together!
Will you help me?
I can't do anything alone.
I lack in everything.
I'm not confident that I can even keep walking straight.
I'm weak, fragile, and small.
So,
to make sure I keep walking straight,
to help me realize when I'm wrong...
Will you help me?
You are a cruel man, Subaru-kun.
You ask all this of someone you just rejected?
Hey, it's also hard for me to ask this of the person who rejected my once-in-a-lifetime proposal.
I humbly accept.
If it will help you,
my hero,
greet the future with a smile, then yes.
Yeah, just watch.
You get a front row seat...
To see the man you fell for
become the most awesome hero ever!
I'm watching you.
You're watching me.
So I won't look down anymore.
Natsuki Subaru's story will begin right here, from zero.
My life in a different world starts here, from zero!
From Zero
Crusch-sama!
In anticipation of the royal selection, I prepared a secret way of dealing with the proceedings!
Oh, that's just like you, Felix.
What did you think up, then?
Well, about that...
Oh, how very fitting.
Hmm, what are you all up to?
Crusch-sama, first you put your hands against the wall.
Hands against the wall...
Hya?!
Then caress his chin with your fingers...
Caress his chin...
Don't!
And finally, sensually...
Sensually...?
Hold your horses!
I simply can't do it!
I am sorry, Crusch-sama...
There is no need for that.
I know your intentions were pure.
There is no doubt about that.
Crusch-sama!
Feri-chan is all head over heels!
N-Next Time: Battle Against the White Whale
The things I have to put up with.