Allow me to introduce myself!
I am Subaru Natsuki,
the indestructible vagabond who also happens to be a complete dunce!
I'm a real ignoramus, but I hope we can get along!
Um... We already know all that. Right?
It's far too late for introductions now.
Huh?!
So you're saying...
I've known you two for over a year now,
but I've forgotten that?
Yeah, my hand definitely didn't look like this when I left the convenience store.
You really don't remember anything?
About this tower... or what happened in Priestella?
Or... about us?
Um...
Yes, that sounds about right.
But hey!
I get why you're sad, but let's stop and think this over!
As far as I know, people with temporary memory loss
usually tend to revert to a certain moment.
In the movies, they're right back to normal within two hours!
So there's no need to worry too much!
I'm sorry. I don't quite understand what you're saying.
Oh, er... really?
But you are definitely Subaru.
Yes. I'm relieved to know that.
There! I cheered myself up!
I know things have been much worse for you than me,
so I shouldn't make unhappy faces. Right?
You're incredibly gallant for someone so cute.
Come on, Beatrice. You, too.
Oh, blast it all!
You are such a troublesome contractor, I suppose!
Contractor?
This had better not ever happen again,
or I'll lose patience with you.
You understand, I suppose?
My name is Subaru Natsuki!
I have no clue what's going on,
but I think I'm probably your friend.
Shameless though it is, I have a favor to ask.
I want to know your names.
My name is Emilia. Just Emilia.
Betty is the great spirit Beatrice.
You are contracted to Betty, I suppose.
It's nice to meet you again, Subaru.
What kind of stupid joke is this, Barusu?
Ram...
"Barusu"? You turned my name into a destruction spell.
Oh, you're the older sister of the girl who was sleeping on the bed?
Sorry this happened when you're trying to help wake up your sister.
But to be honest, I'm kinda at my limit as it is.
Can you save the gripes until I have my memories back?
It's hard to believe you've lost your memories when you talk like that.
You sound exactly like you always do.
Master!
I'm Shaula!
Your most beloved pupil and keeper of the Pleiades Watchtower!
M-Master? Are you talking about me?
I swear...
You just love causing trouble for people, don't you?
And who are you with that sickly sweet look on your face?
I'm Meili.
If you hadn't lost your sewing skills along with your memories,
I'd sure like you to make me another stuffed toy.
Oh, you know my best talent?
We must be really close!
I guess you're in the little sister role, like Beatrice.
She's an assassin who tried to kill both you and Betty, I suppose.
Is that some kinda joke?!
So... we've got Ram, Shaula, Meili...
And if we're moving on with the introductions, then...
Let's just say I'm Anastasia right now.
I want to give him some time to collect himself.
Is that all right?
Yeah, I guess so.
This did happen out of nowhere, so it must've been a shock.
I suspect that's not all there is to it...
but if it hadn't been for your shocking confession,
I would've had a shocking confession to make myself.
Well, then, I'll start preparing breakfast.
Lady Emilia, may I send Barusu to fetch some water?
Huh? But his memory is still vague.
Maybe we should let him rest.
Hey, my body's still fit as a fiddle.
I can handle a little water run, Emilia-chan.
Right.
You seem awfully tired.
Well, can you blame me?
I was never the type to be so considerate of others.
It's time you dropped this ridiculous charade, Barusu.
Huh?
I brought you along to get away from the others.
Don't make a woman embarrass herself like that, you lecher.
Lecher?!
This is just another stupid whim of yours, isn't it?
I can see why you wouldn't tell Lady Emilia, since she can't keep a secret,
but you can at least tell me what you're plotting.
Uh, sorry, but this isn't a plot or an act or a bad joke or anything.
You are stubborn.
Carrying too much on your own is nothing new for you, though.
Look, I told you...
Tell me everything.
I'll keep your secret.
As enticing as it sounds to have a secret just between us...
Ow! What the hell are you doing?
Tell me.
I have some ideas as to what I'll do if you keep this up.
You really don't get it!
I'm not lying! I—
Tell me everything right now!
Tell me... everything.
I'm begging you. Tell me everything.
Ram...
Please.
If you forget...
then I...
And Rem...
Sorry.
Master! We're running out of dried meat!
Oh, sure. I'm on it.
You'll only make Lady Emilia and the others worry.
Don't speak of what just happened.
I'm sorry about before.
Could we talk now?
S-Sure! I'm sorry for the shock, too...
Uh... I'll just listen.
I am Julius Juukulius.
I am Lady Anastasia's...
this lady's knight.
You and I are... something like friends.
Yeah? Nice to know you!
But... why didn't you sound very sure of that?
There's no need to worry.
You and Julius are very good friends!
Right?
That's right.
And that's not the only problem Mr. Knight here has, either.
Is it about Lady Anastasia's unusual behavior since this morning?
Right on the money, Miss Ram.
Though I hate to simply tack it onto Subaru's confession...
I don't want to just keep piling onto the confusion,
but I'll believe in the bond we formed fighting our way through the dunes
and tell the truth.
That's a rather ambitious thing to say.
You and Natsuki have the ideal bond. It's so heartwarming.
I had hoped to build the same kind of relationship with Ana.
You talk about Lady Anastasia as if she's someone else.
So it's true that you're...
The consciousness residing in this body now is not Ana's.
She's sleeping within this body.
I, Echidna, am standing in for her while she does.
Echidna?!
Natsuki reacted the same way.
I suppose that name would bother anyone.
But I'm not the Echidna you all know about.
Oh... I'm sorry if I made you feel bad.
I think Subaru and I were both tormented by someone named Echidna before.
So we happened to meet someone else named Echidna?
That Echidna sure did make a mess of things.
Yes, Echidna really did cause a lot of trouble.
We should let her know if we ever see her again.
Given how much she's harmed my reputation, please speak for me, too.
But you guys all came to this tower to help people, right?
So why...
As soon as we reached the tower and started making our way through it,
you lost what few memories you had,
and we learned Anastasia's consciousness is asleep in the abyss.
There's just no good news, huh?
Um... Hey...
Everyone, feeling sad forever won't get us anywhere.
Emilia-chan?
We carry the hopes of so many people on our backs.
We can't stop moving.
I've been taught all along that it won't do to give up.
Emilia-chan's right!
I apologize for screwing things up by losing my memories,
but it's all in how you look at it.
Maybe I can come up with some ideas that aren't bound by the rules of this world.
We gotta turn this crisis into an opportunity!
That certainly is an optimistic outlook.
But one very much like Subaru, I suppose.
Thank you, Subaru.
Yes, I really am relieved to see you're still Subaru.
My goodness.
Regardless of what you remember,
your bravery and reckless lack of discrimination never change.
Now, Subaru, I'd like to know what led you to lose your memories.
The thing is... I don't have a clue, either.
Emilia-chan, how did you guys find me?
Well, you were passed out in the archive on the third floor.
The archive on the third floor?
We carried you from there to the green room.
Which means it's likely the archive did something to you.
It's an archive full of books of the dead, after all.
Books of the dead?
Why does that sound like something that would make a teenage boy's heart race?
The books of the dead
allow a reader to experience the memories of their lives vicariously.
Though it's not something I would want to experience.
So I was reading them and passed out?
Maybe that fried my brain and made me lose my memories?
I can't say it's impossible.
I could go try to find out.
Okay! After breakfast, we'll do an on-the-spot investigation!
Right.
Oh, but we don't want a repeat of what happened to you yesterday,
so stay here and rest while we do the investigating.
I suppose.
Huh?
Damn it, I gave in to peer pressure.
What am I, petit bourgeois?
Status open!
Nothing, huh?
If this is a parallel world, I wish I could look forward to having magic...
You're permanently unable to use it.
You used too much beginner magic you were told not to use and broke your gate.
What kind of loser breaks their gate with beginner magic?!
Okay, then, how about this?!
Ow!
Isn't this the kind of thing my body should remember?!
I should've kept a diary of everything I've done for a time like this.
I'm so useless.
It's okay. This will work.
In this world, even I should be...
Whoops, it's not this way.
Whoa!
What's with this staircase? I'm so high up.
Huh!
Whoa, wait!
Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!
Subaru! Are you all right?
Emilia-chan?
Oh, what a relief!
I was so worried about you!
Emilia, you need to be firmer or he won't feel bad about what he's done.
That's right! You heard Beatrice, didn't you?
She was panicking because we couldn't find you,
and when we found you on the ground, she nearly cried!
You don't need to tell him everything, I suppose!
Huh?
What's this? A dream?
Huh? What?!
Wait, so I passed out in the archive again?
"Again"?
Oh, but you guys stopped me from going that time,
so I didn't go, right?
We did?
I feel we're talking about two different things here.
Subaru, try explaining to Betty in detail exactly how you got here, I suppose.
Okay... Well, like I said before,
when I woke up, my memories were gone.
All of my memories since I was summoned to this world—
W-Wait, wait, wait a minute!
Your memories?
What's this about your memories?
Huh? That's what trips you up?
I mean, I already told you two...
Wait...
I've had this conversation before...
Was that a prophetic dream?
Subaru?
I need you guys to stay calm and hear me out.
See, I had a prophe—
You might not believe this,
but it seems like I've lost my memories.
There! I cheered myself up!
I know things have been much worse for you than me,
so I shouldn't make unhappy faces. Right?
Oh, blast it all!
You are such a troublesome contractor, I suppose!
This had better not ever happen again,
or I'll lose patience with you.
No one knew about this in my dream.
I didn't—Subaru Natsuki didn't tell them about this power.
What the hell were you thinking, Subaru Natsuki?
What kind of stupid joke is this, Barusu?
Master!
I'm Shaula!
Your most beloved pupil and keeper of the Pleiades Watchtower!
I swear...
You just love causing trouble for people, don't you?
I want to give him some time to collect himself.
Is that all right?
I'm begging you. Tell me everything.
This is all disturbingly identical to my prophetic dream.
If there's one problem, it's...
Well, Subaru, stay here and rest, all right?
...not what they all do, but what I do.
Master, you're making a scary face!
If something's troubling you, you can talk to me!
Ow, ow, ow, ow!
What'd you do that for, Runt No. 2?!
Well, I don't want Big Sister and Beatrice getting mad at me.
Grr! You piss me off so much!
Master, say something to her!
Huh?
Uh, thanks for the save!
Gah!
It's probably weird to thank an assassin like that, but...
Master, you jerk!
You really don't remember anything, do you?
Yeah, unfortunately.
Did I, like, make some important promise or something?
If I did, how the hell could yesterday's me have been so careless, huh?
I do agree that yesterday's you was careless.
Now I just need to find out why I woke up from the dream
and what happened after this point.
Still so high up...
There's no point in being afraid of a future that isn't set in stone.
That's it. I'm gonna tell them about my prophetic dream.
If I can figure out how it works, I know it'll be a powerful asset.
So...
Isn't it too dangerous to keep Natsuki with us any longer?
Can I take that not as concern for Barusu's safety,
but as concern that he'll slow us down?
If so, I agree.
Ram! You're talking about Subaru that way now, too?
I only stated the objective truth.
Lady Emilia, these two are only pointing out
that there are too many uncertainties involved in relying on him right now.
The way you said that makes it sound like you agree with that spirit, I suppose.
Well...
I hear this right after I'd decided to tell them?! Damn it!
The way they're talking, I don't know if they'll believe me about the dream.
Isn't it too dangerous to keep Natsuki with us any longer?
I agree.
You're talking about Subaru that way now, too?
...too many uncertainties involved in relying on him right now.
It is our memories that make us what we are.
I'm relieved to see you're still Subaru.
Really?
Who are you?
Subaru! Are you all right?
Take it easy!
Subaru! Calm down, I suppose!
Beatrice!
Bro...
What the hell are you doing here so early in the morning, huh?
Hey, come on, bro.
You're not cryin', are ya?
Did you get in a fight with your buddies downstairs or somethin', bro?
You cryin' because they argued you down or what?
The hell makes you think you can come runnin' here?
And you ran right to me? What kinda joke is that, huh?
You're the one who chose the people you wanna hang around.
You got a death wish?
Beat it, small fry.
No!
It hurts... It hurts... It hurts...
It hurts so much... Why...
Just a few hours ago... I was with my mom and dad...
Take care.
I didn't... wanna wash the mug...
so I left without a word to my mom...
I should've said "I'll be back soon"... I'm such a screw-up...
I never repaid her for all she did...
I wouldn't even wash the mug...
and now... I'm gonna die...
Stop laughing. Don't laugh.
Don't you dare laugh!
Don't laugh! Stop it!
I'm gonna die... Not you! I won't be killed by you!
I refuse to be killed by you!
I'm gonna die! I know I'm gonna die!
I'm dead! I'm so dead!
I'll die... and come back here...
But I won't let you—
I love you.
Stop!
Just... kill me already...
Subaru!
Subaru?
I feel bad for Rem.
Subaru, just stay here, all right?
Betty will do something about this, I suppose.
I won't let you just cower here all alone.
Twice. I've died twice.
The moment I died after that fall,
I went back to that room...
and repeated that same span of time over again.
It's no prophetic dream.
It's Return by Death.
So I'll just... get someone to kill me...
Who Are You?
Master...