Elsa had appeared at the loot house before Emilia, contrary to what had happened in her memories. For that reason, she had arrived at the conclusion that they were watching an alternate past. Nevertheless, there were still a lot of unknowns. The biggest one was:
"An alternate past, you say? That's an interesting theory, I suppose. But then what happened with that girl and Subaru's deaths? Subaru seems to remember that, but the girl doesn't."
Beatrice was right. Emilia's theory about what they were watching was fairly logical, but it was still incomplete. For the time being, nothing more could be answered.
The assassin had entered the loot house and was now negotiating with both Felt and Subaru. Both seemed unaware of the danger that woman posed. She did not appear to have any killing in mind either. The negotiation continued peacefully. That was until:
"I'm planning on returning it to its owner."
The moment those words came out of Subaru's mouth, the atmosphere took a dark turn.
"How foolish, typical of Barusu," murmured Ram.
Then Elsa, with a sadistic tone, said, "I see, so you're with them." The inevitable fight then broke out in the loot house, a fight that had its ending already set in stone.
No matter how good of a fighter old man Rom had been in his past, he stood no chance against Elsa. With his arm severed and his throat slashed, the giant perished. Next up stood Felt, who, with even less combat skill, had no chance either. With a clean cut across the chest, she was done for too, leaving only Subaru.
A coward, that was all he was. During all of it, he had kept sitting on the floor, unable to move his legs. The bloodlusted killer then, without any mercy, sliced his belly. All of his internal organs fell to the floor.
Frederica instantly covered Petra's eyes. That was no sight for a thirteen year old girl to see. In the first row, Otto too covered his line of sight. It was not his first time seeing blood or anything of that sort, but it was truly a gut wrenching view.
The rest of the group kept their eyes wide open as they saw Subaru bleeding out on the loot house floor. Well, not all of them. Emilia was not able to keep her eyes on the video. With her head looking down, she cursed herself. "If I had gotten there sooner, maybe Subaru..."
"You seem to have accepted that the girl was you, Emilia-sama," said Rem.
"I I don't know what to think anymore..."
With that, Subaru's second loop concluded in the same miserable way.
"Again Subaru has died, how amusing."
Roswaal raised his voice from the back, disclosing his enjoyment. This had the expected reaction in the rest of the group.
"Roswaal!" Beatrice screamed, just before Garfiel or Rem could. The heartless clown was completely out of line.
"Don't you understand what's happening? I believed you to be smarter, Beatrice," Roswaal's cocky comment only fueled the group's rage toward him even more.
"What the hell are you saying!?" Garf screamed at him. If that place did not somehow cancel magic, Garf would have definitely jumped at Roswaal by this point.
The screen had gone black again, concluding Subaru's second death and leaving everyone in the room with the confirmation of it. That was when:
The screen regained color, and there he was again. Natsuki Subaru was alive.
Roswaal laughed. "Don't you all see what's happening? Subaru dies, and then he"
"goes back in time," Beatrice finished his sentence.
"Are you saying that Natsuki-kun can revert time when he dies!?"
A person who had been quietly listening to the conversation finally decided to join. That was Otto. He could not grasp what they were saying.
"That can't be right," said Emilia. If that was the case, then:
"How many times has Subaru died to save me..."
Emilia's face went white. Had Subaru been dying over and over just to save her? How much pain had he endured for her? She could not wrap her head around what was being said.
Seeing the tension building up, Frederica decided to speak up too. "If that were the case, it would explain a lot of things, like why he always seems to have insight about his enemies."
"But for him to learn that," Petra joined in too, her little body trembling, "for him to know, he has to have died before." Just the idea of that made her break down in tears.
"Is that how he knew the mansion would be attacked after the fight with the White Whale? Is that why he always looked so scared? Subaru..." Rem too could not hold back her sobbing.
"Now now, everyone. I know that it sounds very awful, but if that's his ability, who are we to stress about how he uses it," said Roswaal.
"You shut up, Roswaal! It was probably you who provoked the most deaths out of all!"
That was his boss they were talking about. Garf would not allow any disrespect directed at him. For Roswaal especially to say something like that after all he had done to Subaru made his blood boil.
"Calm yourself. This is no time for your nonsense," Ram added. The red haired oni gave Garf a sharp look. Aware of his crush, she knew he would not dare scream at her.
Seeing her, he punched the top of his seat as hard as he could. He could not think of any other way to release his anger.
During all of this, Beatrice had her colorful eyes set on the ground. Just how many times had her partner died?
"The smell," Rem suddenly mumbled.
"What smell? What do you mean, sister?" asked Ram.
"When I was with Subaru, before we reached some major fights, the witch's miasma always increased drastically."
Rem had arrived at the conclusion that the miasma had something to do with his ability. But if that was the case, that meant that Subaru's ability was:
"The Authority of Envy," Roswaal stated what everyone was thinking.
If the Witch of Envy's miasma increased after every death, that meant that it had to be something related to the witch. The only thing they could think of was that, an authority.
But this, however, could lead to a certain misunderstanding.
"Does that mean that Subaru forms part of the wi"
"Cut the nonsense, I suppose."
Before Ram could say anything stupid, Beatrice cut her mid sentence. Saying something such as what Ram was about to say was nothing but idiotic, she believed.
"If someone has an authority, that does not automatically make them part of the Witch Cult, I suppose. There are others like Subaru," she added.
"Others? Like who?" the oni girl continued insisting.
"I can't remember at the moment, but surely there are." The complexity of the situation as a whole did not allow her to search her memories with ease.
"Did you know of this, partner spirit Beatrice?" asked Roswaal.
Beatrice sighed. "I knew he had some sort of ability, but never could I have imagined something as awful as this."
Ashamed, she looked down. Now she understood a lot of things.
Why he always looked anxious.
Why he seemed to welcome death in certain situations.
Or why he always hurt himself.
Emilia continued to blame herself. Nothing could make her come to her senses. It was she who had made Subaru her knight. She was the reason Subaru kept getting into dangerous situations. Therefore, she was to blame for all of his deaths, all of his suffering. It was her fault.
"What atrocities have your eyes witnessed, Subaru..."
The mood in the theater room could not have been worse, and only two loops had passed.
What all of them were unable to realize was that:
the worst was yet to come.