*Peace is a fragile thing. Subaru Natsuki knows this better than anyone.*
The royal selection has settled. The estate is quiet. Emilia smiles, the tea is sweet, and for a moment, Subaru allows himself to believe that happiness might be something he's permitted to keep.
But peace has a price—and the bill is coming due.
When a forgotten bell tolls in the dead of night, the villagers of Arlam begin to lose pieces of themselves. Memories. Names. The things that make them who they are. And the dee
Re:Zero - The Bells of What Remains - Collapse of the Forbidden Library — Boukyaku no Shourou no Nushi, That Voice
Morning light spilled quietly across the mansion of the Roswaal frontier estate. The echo of last night's bell still lingered deep in his ears. Natsuki Subaru stood at the window of his room, watching the garden trees sway in the morning breeze. The promise he'd exchanged with Rem in the garden last night. Drinking tea while watching her smile. The memory was still vivid. And yet, its edges seemed to blur, just slightly.
(It's nothing. I'm still fine.)
Subaru unconsciously clenched his left hand, clad in its black glove. Beneath the glove lay a device to mask the scent of the Witch. The price of Return by Death. A lonely power he could never tell anyone about.
When he stepped into the hallway, the mansion's atmosphere was different from usual.
Too quiet.
Normally, the hurried footsteps of servants bustling through their morning preparations would echo through the halls. But now, only faint, distant sounds reached his ears.
Subaru quickened his pace toward the kitchen.
The moment he stood in the kitchen doorway, a bizarre sight greeted him.
Several maids stood frozen, dazed. One looked about to drop the plate in her hands; another had gone rigid with a pot still over the fire; others stared at each other, tilting their heads in confusion.
"And you are... who, exactly?"
"Huh? I'm... um, and you're... wait, who am I?"
"Last night's dinner menu... I can't remember... no matter how hard I try, I can't recall what I made..."
One of the younger maids sank to the floor and burst into tears. The other maids exchanged anxious glances.
Subaru felt the pit of his stomach turn to ice.
The bell's influence had reached even the mansion's servants.
"Hey, are you all right? Can you tell who I am?"
Subaru called out to the weeping maid.
She lifted her tear-streaked face and stared at him.
"You're... Lord Subaru, aren't you. That much I know. But everything else... yesterday, the day before... things that were so ordinary, they've just fallen away entirely."
Subaru bit his lip.
(Damn it. It's spread this far already.)
The chaos in the kitchen showed no sign of settling.
Then, silver hair appeared in the kitchen doorway.
"Everyone, please calm down. It's all right. I'm here with you."
Emilia began soothing the panicking servants in a soft voice. Her violet eyes were full of kindness. But her hands were trembling faintly.
"First, let's prepare breakfast. Something simple is fine. Everyone, just do what you can, one thing at a time. There's no need to rush."
Emilia's instructions were gentle. But they lacked practical direction. The servants who had lost their memories only grew more confused about what they should do and how to move.
"Lady Emilia, where were the knives kept...?"
"Where should I bring the bread from...?"
Emilia tried desperately to answer. But even she didn't fully grasp all the fine details of how the mansion was run.
Subaru couldn't stand still any longer.
"Emilia, I'll handle things here. You go check on the other servants."
"Subaru... but you can't do it all alone..."
"It's fine. I know my way around this mansion well enough. Besides, it'll put everyone more at ease if you're the one looking at the whole picture, rather than me running around in circles here."
Emilia gazed at Subaru's face for a long moment, then gave a small nod.
"I understand. Subaru, thank you. ...I'm counting on you."
With that, Emilia left the kitchen.
Subaru began giving crisp instructions to the confused maids. One to cut the bread, one to warm the soup, one to set out the plates. One by one, specific and easy to follow.
(I have to hold it together.)
As if reminding himself, Subaru kept working.
By the time breakfast preparations had settled into some semblance of order, Subaru decided to head for the forbidden library.
Beatrice was waiting.
Deep in the mansion, past the locked rooms, lay the forbidden library. A repository of grimoires and ancient texts, overseen by Beatrice.
When Subaru opened the door to the forbidden library, a small girl in a lavish frilled dress sat buried in mountains of books. Blonde hair in drill-shaped twin tails. A doll-like, lovely appearance. The artificial spirit, Beatrice.
"Beako, how're you holding up?"
Subaru lowered himself beside Beatrice.
She raised her face slowly. Her large eyes looked somehow hollow, unfocused.
"Subaru... Beatrice has been reading the texts all this time. About the Bell of Oblivion. ...But, say, Subaru. Why is Beatrice here, I wonder."
Beatrice let the book in her hands fall shut with a soft thump.
"What're you talking about, Beako. You're the librarian of this forbidden library. You're my precious partner — we have a contract."
Subaru gently grasped Beatrice's small shoulder.
She looked up at his face, her brow furrowing slightly.
"Beatrice was supposed to be waiting for someone. For a long, long time, here in this forbidden library. ...But who it is she's waiting for, she doesn't know anymore. She can feel her own outline growing thin."
Beatrice's voice was trembling.
Subaru felt something tighten painfully in his chest.
Since four hundred years ago, Beatrice had waited alone in this forbidden library for "a certain person." That lonely memory was being stolen by the bell.
"Beako, you're Beatrice. My precious contract partner. That much you absolutely must not forget."
Subaru said it, looking straight into Beatrice's eyes.
Tears welled in her eyes.
"...That much, at least, I don't want to forget."
Beatrice murmured it softly.
Subaru took her hand. It was cold, and trembling.
(I'll stop this. No way I'm letting anyone steal the memories of the people I care about.)
In his heart, Subaru swore it fiercely.
Subaru continued his research in the forbidden library, but Beatrice's condition grew more unstable with each passing hour.
"Say, Subaru. This text says that unless the Bell's master's craving is satisfied, the memories will not return. But it doesn't say what that craving is, or what the master's name is."
"Yeah, I read that too. Only the one who knows the master's name can quell the bell. But that name isn't written anywhere."
Subaru flipped through the ancient tome in his hands with frustration.
Ritual implements of the Witch Cult. Relics from the Great Plague Period four hundred years ago. A bell that devours memories.
The information was fragmentary — nothing that came close to the core.
"Subaru... Beatrice is a little tired. Sleepy. ...If she closes her eyes, she's afraid she'll forget who she is, just like that."
Beatrice leaned against Subaru's shoulder.
Subaru gently supported her small body.
"It's all right, Beako. I'm here. Even if you're about to forget, I'll call your name as many times as it takes."
Subaru stroked Beatrice's head tenderly.
She buried her face in his chest and began to cry softly.
Subaru kept rubbing her back until she calmed down.
In the afternoon, Emilia called for him, and he stepped out onto the garden terrace.
The garden was bathed in the soft light of afternoon. A white table and chairs sat on the terrace — usually, this was where he and Emilia enjoyed tea together.
But today's Emilia was different from usual.
Silver hair swaying in the wind, violet eyes cast down, she wore a smile that seemed on the verge of crumbling.
"Subaru, I need you to listen."
"What is it, Emilia? You're being awfully formal."
Subaru sat down across from her.
Emilia clenched both hands where they rested on the table.
"Puck won't come out of his crystal. When I call to him, his answer is... dull."
Emilia's voice was shaking.
Subaru was at a loss for words.
Puck. The great spirit contracted to Emilia. To her, he was family.
"That's not all. I'm starting to lose parts of my memory of the contract with Puck. What kind of voice he laughs with, what his warmth felt like — it's all growing hazier, bit by bit."
Emilia hunched over, wrapping her arms around her own shoulders.
"I feel like I'm about to forget my promise with Puck. Even though it's the most precious memory I have."
Tears spilled from Emilia's eyes.
Subaru couldn't bear it — he moved to her side and put his arm around her shoulders.
"It's all right, Emilia. We'll get it back. Puck, your memories — all of it."
Emilia clasped his hand with both of hers.
"Even without the memories, what I feel now is real. You protecting me — that's here, right now."
Emilia lifted her tear-streaked face and looked straight at Subaru.
At her words, Subaru felt something warm bloom deep in his chest.
At the same time, a doubt he couldn't voice churned darkly in his heart.
(My Return by Death memories might be the bell's target too.)
(If I lose my Return by Death memories...)
(Can I still be me?)
Still holding Emilia's hand, Subaru couldn't say a word.
Night came.
In his room, Subaru took a blue-threaded handkerchief from his pocket.
A small embroidered handkerchief, given to him by Rem.
Subaru traced the embroidery with his finger.
(When did Rem give me this handkerchief?)
(With what face, saying what words, did she hand it to me?)
He tried to remember.
But he couldn't.
The memory of the bento wrapping, the memory of her smile — their outlines were fading.
"Damn it... why can't I remember?"
Subaru gripped the handkerchief tight.
That was when it happened.
GONNNN...
A thunderous peal of the bell shook the entire mansion.
The window glass rattled. The walls groaned. The air grew heavy, cold, changed.
Subaru covered his ears. But the sound passed through them, pouring directly into the depths of his skull.
And then, a voice.
"You're the same as me. You know the loneliness of being remembered by no one."
Subaru felt the blood drain from his body.
This voice wasn't coming through his ears. It resonated directly inside his mind.
"So you're the Bell's master!"
Subaru scanned the room.
But no one was there. The owner of the voice was nowhere to be seen.
"Give me that memory of yours — the pain of dying over and over, the despair you can tell no one — and I will be satisfied, and I can vanish."
The voice, carrying an echo like a bell's resonance, kept ringing inside Subaru's head.
"Screw you! My memories are mine! I'm not giving them to anyone!"
Subaru shouted.
But the voice only laughed, and gave no answer.
"What can you offer me? Give me that loneliness. Do that, and I'll go quiet. I won't take any more memories from the people you care about."
Subaru gritted his teeth.
His Return by Death memories. The pain of dying over and over. The loneliness he could tell no one.
If he offered that up, could he get back Rem's memories, Emilia's memories, Beatrice's memories?
But that would mean losing all the suffering Subaru had carried.
(If I lose my Return by Death memories...)
(What am I even here for?)
(Who am I supposed to protect?)
Unable to find an answer, the dialogue with the voice's owner cut off one-sidedly.
The sound of the bell receded into the distance.
Subaru collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
(My Return by Death memories are the bell's target.)
(And I'm even starting to lose the memory of tea with Emilia in the garden.)
Subaru desperately tried to recall the memory of drinking tea with Emilia in the garden.
Her silver hair. Her violet eyes. Her gentle smile.
But the outlines were blurred.
(Damn it...!)
Subaru pounded his fist against the floor.
The next morning.
Subaru greeted the dawn having barely slept.
His body was heavy as lead. His head throbbed.
But he couldn't afford to care about that.
Dragging his heavy legs, Subaru headed for the kitchen.
At the kitchen doorway, a girl with a short blue bob waited for him.
Rem. The survivor of the Oni clan. The mansion's maid.
When she saw Subaru, she gave a courteous bow.
"Good morning, sir knight whom I do not know. Did you sleep well last night?"
Subaru's feet stopped.
There was not a shred of familiarity in Rem's
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