Chapter 28 (28) Nah, I’d Win: 02

The road was narrow and half-swallowed by tall grass silvered under moonlight. The world had gone quiet in that late hour when even insects seemed hesitant to disturb the dark. Only the faint crunch of boots and the whisper of wind brushing across open plains kept the silence from becoming absolute.

Übel walked close. So close that Subaru didn't approve.

No, she clung.

Her shoulder brushed Subaru's arm with every step, fingers occasionally catching the fabric at Subaru's sleeve as if testing texture, presence, reality. When the ground dipped slightly, Übel didn't correct her balance away, she leaned in instead, letting their hips bump.

It wasn't affection.

It was study. Übel was the researcher and Subaru was the specimen.

Subaru felt it in the way Übel's gaze slid over her profile when she thought Subaru wouldn't notice. In the slight tilts of her head. In the way she breathed just a fraction slower whenever Subaru's mana shifted.

She was trying to "understand."

Trying to empathize.

Trying to copy.

Subaru resisted the urge to sigh aloud.

At least this was better than dying.

Better than the flash of steel. Better than the sensation of being bisected midair. Better than waking in blood and silence and knowing she'd have to do it again.

This, annoying proximity, invasive curiosity, was survivable.

"Subaru," Übel hummed, her voice almost playful as she leaned her head slightly closer. "Can I ask something?"

"You're going to anyway."

A grin formed at the corner of Übel's lips. "You're… strange."

"That's not a question."

"I know."

Übel's fingers slid lightly against Subaru's forearm, as though tracing something unseen. "You feel humanish."

Subaru's brow twitched. "Humanish."

"Mm." Übel nodded thoughtfully. "Demons are usually very simple. Stoic. Bored. Arrogant. They lie when cornered. They get angry when their pride is touched. But you…" Her green eyes sharpened. "You express things. Too many things."

Subaru stared ahead, keeping her face neutral.

Options.

Tell her the truth? That she had once been a boy from another world? That she had woken up in this body, in this form, with memories that didn't match the reflection she saw?

That she had died enough times to forget what her original voice sounded like?

No.

Too complicated and dangerous.

Lies were easier. Lies were manageable. Lies could be adjusted later. But…

"I was fighting a human," Subaru said evenly. "Then I suddenly changed."

Übel tilted her head. "Oh?"

Her fingers tightened slightly on Subaru's sleeve.

"What caused this… change?"

"I don't know."

The answer was quick, flat. True in its own way.

Übel hummed again, longer this time. "Hmm. Hmm. I see."

Did she?

Subaru doubted it.

"And how did you escape him?" Übel continued casually. "Did you kill him?"

The memory...

A blade. Blood spraying warm across his red attire, his body collapsing. Her own hands shaking as she had stabbed him repeatedly.

Subaru swallowed the faint dryness in her throat.

"No," she replied. "I couldn't bring myself to kill him."

Übel's steps slowed half a beat.

"I wounded him," Subaru added flatly, "and ran away before anyone else could come."

A grin bloomed across Übel's face, bright, delighted.

"Ooh," she breathed. "I like it."

Of course you do.

There was no horror in her expression. No moral recoil. Only appreciation, like someone admiring brushwork on a painting.

"Say, Subaru," Übel continued lightly, releasing her sleeve only to lace her hands behind her head as she walked, "do other demons have spells like yours too?"

There it was.

The real question.

Subaru's gaze shifted to the side briefly.

She hadn't exactly had any meaningful conversations with demons. Her only encounters had involved screaming. Or running. Or dying. In the hands of three individuals. She never met any demon… and no.

She didn't know what spells they possessed. Didn't know what they were capable of. Didn't know what she herself was capable of half the time.

Lie?

Say yes, make it seem common?

Say no, make herself special?

Both had risks.

"I don't know," she said at last.

Übel glanced sideways at her, searching her face for cracks. For hesitation. For deception.

Then she smiled again.

"I see."

The wind brushed past them again, colder now.

"Well," Übel said, stretching her arms overhead as she walked a few steps ahead, her silhouette briefly framed by moonlight, "let's find somewhere to stay for the night. It's almost midnight."

Subaru blinked.

She hadn't even noticed the hour.

"Wait," Subaru said, slowing slightly. "You're… coming with me?"

Übel looked over her shoulder, grin widening.

"Yeah, yeah." She waved dismissively. "But only if you let me copy… what was it called again?"

Subaru's lips pressed thinly.

"Erafassen."

"Ah, that, that." Übel's tone was almost sing-song. "Erafassen."

She rolled the word around like candy.

Then she walked ahead fully, arms still stretched lazily, posture relaxed.

Subaru's purple eyes followed her.

And the world changed.

It happened without effort now.

Without conscious command.

The air around Übel fractured into lines of possibility.

Silhouettes.

One.

Two.

Ten.

Thirty.

One hundred and three.

They layered over her figure like ghosts of intent.

One hundred and three ways to kill her.

Now.

A cut to the throat from behind.

A blade through the heart.

A spell detonated at point-blank range.

A fracture of bone.

A severed spine.

One hundred and three perfectly calculated outcomes.

Subaru's breath paused, not in fear.

In recognition. It would be very easy.

She knew exactly how. But she wouldn't.

She wouldn't.

For some reason, some instinct deeper than logic… she knew Übel wouldn't betray her.

Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Übel was dangerous, yes. Unstable. Curious in ways that bordered on lethal. But betrayal? No. Not in the immediate future.

And besides—

She wanted to copy Erafassen?

Subaru almost laughed.

That was impossible. She had died nearly one hundred and fifty times. One hundred and fifty separate deaths. Pain. Terror. Regret. Desperation. You couldn't replicate that or couldn't empathize with it.

No one could ever truly understand the sensation of watching your own life end and restarting with memory intact. No one could visualize that deeply. No one could share that burden.

Erafassen wasn't just technique.

It was trauma weaponized. Übel could cling. Could observe. Could try to sync her thoughts.

It wouldn't matter. Subaru let the silhouettes fade.

In a way…

She was using her. The thought came uninvited. Übel was strong. Skilled. Alert. A natural predator. If danger came, Übel would react instantly. If something targeted Subaru, Übel would likely counter first out of sheer reflex or curiosity. Subaru was walking beside a shield disguised as a girl.

The realization tasted bitter.

She let out a short laugh under her breath.

The boy who once dreamed of being a gentleman. Of helping cute girls, Of standing heroically in front of danger. Now walking behind her as insurance.

"Guess I'm evil now, huh," Subaru muttered softly.

Or maybe not evil. Changed. Loops did that to people. Death did that to people. Heh.

When you'd felt your body split apart, when you'd heard your own screams echo into nothingness enough times, priorities shifted. Morals blurred. Survival came first. Always.

Ahead, Übel glanced back, moonlight catching in her green hair.

"Oi, Subaru," she called casually, hands resting behind her head again. "You comin'?"

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