——There was only "Nothingness."
Within the nothingness, a hazy, incorporeal consciousness looked around.
This was the "Dark Garden" that Natsuki Subaru was extremely familiar with.
Subaru Natsuki's consciousness saw a figure that was very familiar to him—
The Witch of Envy, Satella.
That voice seemed to be in sorrow, in tears—
"Please, don't let them know... Please... Don't tell them... Please..."
Satella didn't seem to be talking to Natsuki Subaru, but rather pleading with an unknown existence for something.
Seeing Satella—the Witch of Envy who looked exactly like Emilia—Natsuki Subaru subconsciously wanted to reach out and wipe away her tears, to soothe her sorrowful heart—
"I... I will definitely save you."
... ...
"Gaze Upon Your Arrogance, Witness His Pain."
These were the last words the silver-haired girl Emilia heard before coming here, but saying "heard" might not be accurate because the voice seemed to come from her mind.
"Where... is this?"
Emilia blinked her purple eyes in surprise, looking around, asking the question with her signature ethereal, silver bell-like voice.
This was a space that wasn't small, rather, it was very spacious.
The first thing Emilia noticed was the unusually large, strange gray curtain in front of her, next to which was placed a strange, metal-like box. Above the "head" and "pillow" were two metal rollers, and in front of the metal box was a... mouth? Or a projector?
Emilia turned her leg and, upon closer inspection, saw countless red chairs, as if made of some animal's skin, looking grand and exquisite, something only dignitaries could afford.
The chairs were arranged in rows, each row behind another, forming a stepped structure, with each row higher than the one in front.
After observing the unknown metal box without success, Emilia had no choice but to explore the rows of chairs.
"What's happening to me..."
Emilia began to think about what had happened to her to bring her here, but—
"Why can't I remember anything?"
She couldn't help but put her hand to her delicate chin, covering her neck, and tilting her head in question.
Emilia completely didn't remember what happened before coming here. It was as if she had amnesia, her mind a blank slate.
... ...
"This is... Lady Emilia?"
A voice interrupted Emilia's thoughts.
"Huh? Who is it?"
It was an unfamiliar female voice, and Emilia turned to trace the source of the sound.
Although Emilia didn't remember her voice, as soon as she saw her appearance—
It was a girl with blue bobbed hair, bangs covering her right eye, azure pupils, pink lips, smooth facial curves, somewhat childish and cute, and wearing a maid outfit, about one and a half meters tall.
It was Rem, the maid whom Natsuki Subaru guarded day and night, who had been sleeping all along.
"Re... Rem? Are you Miss Rem?"
Emilia was somewhat shocked and a little incredulous. According to Subaru's description, wasn't Miss Rem swallowed by the Gluttony Archbishop, losing her "name" and "memories" and falling into a vegetative state?
"Hmm? Miss Rem...?"
The maid girl, Rem, felt a little strange at the somewhat unfamiliar and distant tone and address, but still grabbed the sides of her skirt with both hands, crossed her feet behind her, and gently bowed her head and bent her knees in greeting:
"It is Rem. The head servant of Margrave Roswaal L. Mathers..."
Rem first spoke in a formal and serious tone, then changed to a tone hiding deep affection and continued,
"And Subaru-kun's attendant, Rem."
"Miss Rem... Rem, how did you wake up? I'm very—curious."
Although Emilia had forgotten her, according to Subaru's description, the Emilia who knew Rem would definitely be happy to see this, so Emilia asked with a smile.
"What do you mean by wake up...? I'm very sorry, Rem doesn't quite understand what Lady Emilia talking about."
Rem tilted her head in confusion, and at the same time, she was very confused as to why she was here. She only remembered hearing the sentence "Gaze Upon Your Arrogance, Witness His Pain" in her mind, and then she came here, and as soon as she arrived, she saw Lady Emilia, so what happened now.
"Rem!"
A shout suddenly echoed through the room, and before either of them could fully react, Rem was hugged by a pink-haired girl who looked exactly like her, Ram.
"You're awake... You're awake, Rem!"
Ram burst into tears, rubbing against Rem's chest, getting Ram's eyes and a corner of Rem's clothes wet with tears.
"Si... Sister, what... what exactly is going on?"
Rem was a little confused, and not to mention, everyone here was very confused.
Where exactly is this place? What does "Gaze Upon Your Arrogance, Witness His Pain" mean?
"Rem? Your memories have returned?"
"Si... Sister, Lady Emilia, Great Spirit?"
Two more voices came, and two more people arrived. One of the voices was very familiar to everyone, it was the Great Spirit Beatrice with her light cream-colored, drill-shaped hairstyle.
But everyone's attention was drawn to the other voice, a voice filled with endless guilt...
"...Is that me?"
Rem, who had just finished hugging her sister, looked at that person with even more confusion, and couldn't help but think that she was looking in a mirror—
This was a person who looked almost exactly like Rem, except for being older. If there was any difference besides appearance and age, it might only be in clothing and hairstyle.
Rem had blue bobbed hair, while this woman had long blue hair; Rem was wearing a maid outfit, while this woman was wearing a unique Kararagi outfit, which seemed to be called a kimono.
"This... another dream..."
It seemed that this long-haired kimono woman regarded this situation as a dream.
The long-haired kimono woman, Natsuki Rem, knelt down with a thud and cried out in pain...
"I'm really sorry... Sister..."
... ...
"So—these are all the known information so far—"
Roswaal said in a drawn-out voice.
Currently, those who have arrived here include Emilia, Rem, Ram, Beatrice, Roswaal, Puck, and a Rem who is suspected to be from another timeline? It cannot be ruled out that more people will come later.
"And also, we heard the sentence 'Gaze Upon Your Arrogance, Witness His Pain' when we came here, except for Betty? Why didn't Betty hear this sentence?"
"And we have all forgotten what happened during the transfer..."
the young girl Rem added in a low voice.
The last memories of Emilia and others were that they went to the Empire to find Subaru, the last memories of the young girl Rem were that after defeating the White Whale, she and Crusch brought the wounded and the White Whale's corpse back to the royal capital when they encountered the Greed Archbishop and the Gluttony Archbishop, and the last memories of the young woman Rem were that she had just finished feeding her daughter Spica.
Just as everyone was thinking, the metal roller next to the metal box in the distance began to rotate, and a light shone on the gray curtain, and a large projection was displayed—
[[]]
"I see, the story ends here."
Natsuki Subaru flipped through the manga book, muttering to himself in the convenience store...