About three hours later, the sun was nearly gone. Night had started to settle in, the deepening darkness swallowing the forest in thick shadows. The teen, now feeling the chill in the air, was startled awake again.
This time, it was by a female voice—shocked and worried.
"A shaman in the village came?"
It was Subaru and a girl.
"Yes, I was cursed. But Beatrice removed it. If we don't act now, the whole village could be wiped out."
The voices grew louder with approaching footsteps.
That's them!
The teen rose to his feet quickly and moved through the trees, trying to stay close.
Then—footsteps stopped. He peered from behind a tree and saw the two of them standing on a cliffside, overlooking the village.
"Are you sure?" asked the female voice.
"Believe me, I'd love to be wrong," Subaru replied, his tone urgent and serious.
Without wasting another second, the two bolted toward the village.
The teen followed.
Torches flared throughout the village, villagers running about in panic. Subaru and the maid stopped at a flustered villager.
The torchlight finally gave him a clear look at the woman—blue hair, maid outfit, almost identical to the pink-haired one from earlier.
That's Rem…
The maid turned to the villager. "Has something happened?"
The man, sweating and shaking, stammered, "Y-Yeah. The kids from the village… they've gone missing. We've got a group searching but—"
Subaru cut in, serious. "The missing kids… Petra, Luca, and Milo, right?"
The man blinked, stunned. "Y-Yes, that's right. But how did you—"
Subaru didn't answer. He turned, eyes fierce. "You won't find them in the village. Go tell everyone—the kids are in the forest."
He didn't wait for a reply and immediately took off.
Rem shouted his name, then hurried after him.
This is it, the teen thought. My chance. I need to follow.
He ran, listening as the two spoke just ahead.
"The forest? Why the forest?" Rem asked, clearly worried.
"I can't explain. No, I know," Subaru said. "The barrier's been severed."
They stopped at a tree. Embedded in it was a crystal—once glowing pink, now faded to a sickly violet.
"That means…" Rem began.
"It means the demon beasts can move past this boundary," Subaru said, finishing her thought.
Her expression darkened. She wasn't afraid for herself—but for the villagers. "This forest is a demon beast habitat."
Subaru took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"I'm gonna save those kids."
His voice was firm. No hesitation. No regret.
The teen watched, a little awe-struck.
He's really going in there… He's just a normal guy. But he's doing it anyway.
For the first time, the teen stepped out from behind the foliage.
"Let me help you."
Rem spun around instantly, surprised. "Who are you? Are you a villager? Your clothes… they're strange."
Subaru turned too, brow furrowing. His eyes flicked down to the teen's outfit. Then back up.
"…Wait. Are you… also like me?" Subaru's expression shifted, realization dawning. "Can you also return—"
He suddenly froze, clutching his chest like he'd been stabbed. A look of pure agony flashed across his face.
The teen's eyes widened.
No… don't say it out loud, idiot!
Watching Subaru shake from the pain, the teen felt a sudden wave of pity—but also a strange sense of purpose.
I can change this poor guy's fate…
Subaru, realizing the weight of the current situation, began to stutter.
"W-We'll talk later."
Rem looked at Subaru, her expression a complicated mix of pity and something close to cold indifference.
"Subaru… do you have proof?"
The two began to ignore the teen entirely.
"I do have proof," Subaru said firmly, raising his hand to show two deep punctures on his skin. "This scar. The bite marks from the puppy."
The teen quickly cut in, stepping forward. "Yeah, that puppy was a mabeast. And the girl holding it? She was suspicious too."
Rem and Subaru both turned toward him. Ram—no, Rem—squinted slightly.
"How do you know that?" she asked, suspicion sharp in her voice. "Are you working with the shaman?"
But Subaru looked at the teen differently—intently, curiously.
"You know this," he said, voice quiet. "The way I know, right?"
The teen faltered, suddenly flustered. "Well… yes. But also no?"
Subaru, clearly misunderstanding the reply, nodded quickly.
"You're right. We don't have time to talk—we have to go."
But Rem suddenly spoke up, her voice firm. "This is too suspicious. We should wait until Master Roswaal comes back. What if this is a diversion to attack the mansion while Lady Emilia is inside?"
Subaru's head snapped toward her, his voice rising in anger.
"So what would you do? Go back to the mansion, lock the doors, and wait? By morning, every single villager could be dead!"
His tone shifted, softening, but his urgency remained.
"Rem… let's go. We have to do something."
Rem's expression darkened, her eyes falling into shadow. She looked almost… sad.
"Subaru… what history do you have with the village to care this much?"
But Subaru didn't hesitate.
"Petra wants to be a clothing maker in the capital when she grows up. Luca wants to follow his father and become a woodcarver for the village. Milo wants to make flower wreaths for others."
His voice cracked slightly.
"I'm not some stranger. I know their faces. Their names. Their dreams."
A small, heartfelt smile tugged at his lips.
"I promised them we'd do radio calisthenics together tomorrow morning."
He took a step forward.
"I keep my promises—and I hold others to theirs. That's why I'm heading in."
Rem stayed quiet for a moment. Then, her voice came out low, almost a whisper.
"…Then it cannot be helped. I'll go with you."
The teen, overwhelmed by the courage in the air and the sheer weight of the moment, clenched his fists.
"I'll go with you too, Subaru. And Rem."
He took a breath, then added with a spark of confidence, "It's time I gave Subaru a little hint."
He locked eyes with Subaru.
"I know about the future. This is one of the loops where you win."
"…Loops?" Rem asked, confused.
Subaru froze.
His eyes widened.
The dark bags under them—so full of exhaustion and despair—seemed to lift, even if just slightly.
For a fleeting moment, his face was full of something rare.
Pure joy.
Hope rose in him like firelight in the dark.
"I knew it," Subaru said with a smile. "By the way, you do have a name, right? Or did you already tell me before?"
The teen looked at Subaru. He could tell Subaru had clearly misunderstood something, but… why not just go along with it for now?
"Well, since your name is Subaru, I'll be… Toyota."
Subaru blinked. "Toyota? That's… a weird name."
The teen stared at him deadpan. "Coming from you, really?"
There was a long pause.
"…Anyway, let's get going."
"Yeah, you're right."
Rem, whose whole demeanor had shifted, ignored "Toyota" completely and spoke directly to Subaru.
"Rem has been assigned to watch over you," she said bluntly. "And I can't exactly do that if you go running off by yourself, can I?"
Subaru, blushing and flustered, rubbed a finger under his nose. "Yeah, you're right. So watch me closely… to make sure I don't do anything suspicious."
Rem answered firmly. "Yes. I will."
There was another long pause.
Toyota, clearly annoyed and exasperated, muttered, "Okay, once the romantic moment is over, we really need to go. We've been stalling long enough."
Subaru jumped. "What romantic moment?! This was just talking! Emilia is the only one for me!"
Rem, face burning red, pulled out her giant spiked wrecking ball mace and chain.
Toyota was very impressed. 'Where did she hide that huge thing in her dress what else is in there?'
Subaru, clearly having PTSD, started sweating bullets.
"R-Rem, that's for—?"
"For self-defense," she said briskly.
Subaru gulped audibly, staring at the same weapon that had once ended one of his lives. "Self-defense… yeah, right."
"What was that, Subaru?"
"N-Nothing."
They all ran off into the forest together.
After a while of blindly searching, Toyota stuck close to Rem—he knew how strong she was. Meanwhile, Subaru kept his distance from the "self-defense" weapon and searched in the opposite direction.
Suddenly, they heard Subaru shout from the top of a grassy hill.
"I see them! They're alive!"
Rem echoed, "They're alive. It seems they've been debilitated by the curse."
She sprinted ahead.
Toyota, gasping for breath—he'd been running nonstop and wasn't exactly at his best—finally made it to the top of the hill. There, the three children lay on the grass as if stargazing, their bodies bright red and drenched in sweat like they had fevers.
Rem was already using her healing magic on one of them.
"I can't lift the curse, but my magic is easing the symptoms. We'll carry them once they calm down."
The kids were slipping in and out of consciousness.
Petra opened her eyes slightly, looking at Subaru. "Subaru…" she mumbled before passing out again.
Subaru ran to her, placed a hand on her forehead.
"You're a strong girl. Just rest. We'll take care of the rest."
Petra's eyes fluttered open one more time. "There's… still one over there…" She weakly pointed past the hill, then went unconscious again.
Subaru muttered, "Oh yeah. The girl with the dog. I haven't seen her. Could she be down there?"
Toyota rolled his eyes. "Didn't I warn you that girl was suspicious?"
Rem, seeing the look in Subaru's eyes, quickly said, "Subaru, please wait. If she was taken by the demon beasts, there's nothing we can do."
"I know what you're saying, Rem," Subaru said, voice calm but determined. "But Petra's hurting. She's worried about her friend. I want to do everything I can to bring them back."
Toyota cut in, frustrated. "If you try to pick up everything, you'll just end up dropping everything!"
Subaru looked at both of them and smiled.
"Well, you're both here. So everything'll be fine. It won't come to that. Because this loop… I win."
He glanced over his shoulder. "That young man from the village will probably be here soon. Hand the kids over to him and come after me."
Rem, impressed but skeptical, said, "And what if I can't find you?"
"I'll be alright," Subaru replied. "Because you'll never lose track of me."
"And what proof do you have of that?" she asked. "Even if no one else notices you…"
"You'll catch my scent, right?"
Rem stared, stunned.
"Subaru… how much do you know?"
Subaru closed his eyes. "I'm ignorant about a ton of things. I could repeat this over and over and never get the answers I want. So let's talk after it's over."
He held out his pinky. "It's a promise."
"What are you doing?" Rem asked.
"This is a pinky promise," Subaru replied with a grin. "It's a ritual from my homeland."
"You know what a pinky promise is, right?" he added, turning to Toyota.
"Yeah," Toyota said, dead serious. "The most binding of vows."
He spoke dramatically, his expression stony and unwavering.
Subaru didn't seem surprised—just happy that someone actually understood. He gave Toyota a big thumbs up.
"Wanna make a pinky promise with me?" he asked. "All you do is take out your pinky… and grab it like this."
They locked pinkies.
"It's a promise. Don't worry after all I'm demonically inspired."
Rem's hard expression slowly melted. She looked at Subaru like she was truly seeing him for the first time.
Toyota, who had finally caught his breath, spoke up again.
"Okay—finally—I can talk again. And here you are, doing another romantic moment. Seriously?"
Subaru, flustered, didn't reply. He just took off down the hill into the forest.
"Wait—hey!" Toyota shouted, running after him.
Rem, now left alone with the children, muttered to herself.
"Subaru doesn't seem that bad…"
(AN: Should I make Subaru get together with Rem, or should I keep it canon with Emilia?)