Chapter 10 (205): The Curse Activates
"Unfortunately… It's already too late. The ritual has begun…"
As Beatrice's words fell, Hikigaya felt his body grow incredibly light. At this moment, he barely had the strength to keep standing.
Though he tried to support himself with what little strength remained, the sensation was like his very life force was being drained. No matter what he did, the ending couldn't be changed.
Beatrice choked up: "I can't help you… it's too late. Everything is too late. The moment I first saw you, the spell had already begun. Once this curse is activated, even I… have no way to stop it."
Hikigaya clutched his chest. Breathing became difficult, his vision blurred, and he collapsed onto the floor. Even facing a little girl, he could only look up helplessly.
"I… what was it… when was I… cursed…?"
"Does it even matter anymore?"
Beatrice's voice still trembled. Even so, she didn't reach out to help him, she simply watched.
Hikigaya used all his remaining strength to nod. If death was inevitable, then he wanted to know why.
Beatrice turned her head away: "A curse user can plant a curse at any time. The only thing certain is that they must have made contact with you in some way. Before activation, the curse is just a small ritual. If it had been discovered earlier…"
Hikigaya gave a painful, bitter smile.
"That's enough. Thank you…"
Beatrice: "Betty didn't help you at all. Your life is already like a candle flickering in the wind. I can't do anything anymore… Now you understand why Betty kept trying to drive you away, right?"
Hikigaya: "Yeah… dying… dying in someone else's room… really is… a selfish thing to do…"
Once more, relying on sheer willpower, Hikigaya forced himself up and staggered toward the door.
At the very least, he couldn't trouble Beatrice anymore at the end of his life.
Stumbling, he finally made it out of the room just as his consciousness faded completely. In that final moment, he thought he heard Beatrice's voice from behind, crying as if she had completely broken down.
He smiled in relief, and then, without warning, he died.
---
[The chatroom once again witnessed Hikigaya's death. Emilia could no longer endure the pain, tears spilling down her face. Puck sat on her shoulder, unsure how to comfort her.]
[Crusch: "Even at this point, he remains this calm. After only one death, he's already overcome fear and anxiety, relentlessly gathering information… This man is far more terrifying than I imagined."]
[Anastasia smiled teasingly: "Oh? I don't see it that way. As long as you're human, you fear death. He's no exception. He hasn't overcome fear, he's just using that reasoning to fill the void and forcibly suppress it."]
[Roswaal: "How fascinating. I'm even more eager now. Discovering the truth behind his cycle of death, what kind of experience would that be, I wonder?"]
[Felt: "Seriously? Can anyone really figure that out? After time resets, all memories disappear. Unless you're an outsider like us, I don't believe it."]
[Reinhard: "If someone could do that, they'd have to be extraordinarily intelligent."]
[Yukinoshita: "Hikigaya-kun… are you okay?"]
[Hikigaya: "That's the thirty-second time you've asked that, Yukinoshita-san… Somehow you seem more nervous than I am."]
[Yukinoshita lowered her head, face flushed: "I don't really understand what they're discussing… but watching you die like that… I just…"]
[As she spoke, Yukinoshita grabbed Hikigaya's sleeve, her face completely red: "Doing something so stupid… even I can't help but worry about you."]
[Yuigahama quickly grabbed his other sleeve: "Hikki, you have to believe in yourself. You've gotten through so many hardships already."]
[Hikigaya: "I'm actually fine… really. It's just… watching myself suffer like that makes my heart itch a bit…"]
[Isshiki: "Senpai, do you know why that is?"]
[Hikigaya: "I don't…"]
[Isshiki: "Because you've never cared about yourself. You always use yourself as a bargaining chip to help others. When you finally see yourself suffering like this, you start to feel pain for yourself. Honestly, that's not a bad thing, it means you'll value yourself more."]
[Hearing Isshiki's words, Yukinoshita and Yuigahama nodded in agreement. Hayama, Miura, and Hina also seemed to think it made sense. It really did seem like only an 'outsider' like Isshiki could see so clearly.]
[Isshiki: "No, no, I'm not an outsider. It's because I understand you so well, senpai."]
[Hikigaya: "You're always trying to get close, uh… but…"[
[Isshiki smiled charmingly: "What were you going to say, senpai?"]
["…N-nothing."]
[Another death plunged everyone at Advanced Nurturing High School into silence.]
[Sakayanagi: "Has he already overcome the fear of death…? But even so…"]
[Ichinose: "Why… why does it still end up like this?!"]
[Karuizawa: "If only I were by his side… maybe everything would still be in time. No… maybe it's better that I wasn't there. I never helped him anyway. But still… I can't accept Hikigaya dying like this."]
[Kushida and Sakura also completely lost their energy. Watching Hikigaya die was unbearable for them.]
[Shirogane: "Hikigaya, I believe you'll still find the cause with your intelligence."]
[Kaguya: "If the president says so, then I have no reason not to believe it."]
[Fujimaru: "Dying again and again, being reborn again and again, yet never losing his convictions. Someone like that already possesses the strongest power of a human savior."]
---
When Hikigaya opened his eyes again, he saw that familiar ceiling.
Time had returned to the morning of his first day at the mansion.
He lay in bed, surrounded by Rem and Ram.
Everything seemed unchanged. Yet compared to his first arrival, Hikigaya felt even closer to the two maids, not because they were cute, but because the way Ram and Rem casually refuted him always made him feel at ease.
But now wasn't the time for that.
If he could seize this opportunity, then this time he had to find the curse user, at the very least, uncover their true identity.
Sure enough, they remembered nothing.
Hikigaya put on an act of ignorance, following the same plan as before. On the day he met Roswaal again, he once more became a servant of the mansion.
If everything was guided by fate, then…
Standing before that door again, Hikigaya was no different from before.
Back then, he'd casually opened it and entered Beatrice's Forbidden Library. At the same time, the same door, this time, the probability should be one hundred percent.
Click!
"Hello. My name is Hikigaya Hachiman."
Nothing.
There was nothing.
Just an ordinary room.
As expected… it wouldn't be that simple, would it?
A shift in the timeline meant everything could change. Hikigaya noticed that although he said the same words and did the same things, Rem's attitude toward him was completely different this time.
Even though he noticed it, he couldn't afford to care right now. What mattered was finding Beatrice as soon as possible and gathering more information.
He opened door after door. This time, it wasn't just slightly bad luck, he'd opened most of the mansion's doors with no success.
At that moment, Rem, who had been secretly observing him, appeared from somewhere, puffing out her cheeks.
"Although you are Emilia-sama's benefactor, if you came here with some ulterior motive, I won't show mercy."
Hikigaya: "Rem… is there something strange about me?"
Rem: "No…"
Hikigaya: "Words can lie, that part you handled well. But expressions can't. I want to know, why have you been following me this whole time? Why do you look at me with such disgust? Even just now, when you answered me… it was the same."
In Hikigaya's view, Rem was a very kind girl. If things were to turn into such a difficult relationship between them, even Hikigaya would find it a headache to deal with.
Rem: "Rem doesn't hate you…"
Hikigaya let out a helpless sigh: "If you don't want to say it, then I won't force you. But if possible, I'd still like to know why you're so dissatisfied with me."
Without lingering any longer, Rem immediately left the area.
Hikigaya watched Rem's retreating figure, completely puzzled. He casually pulled open a nearby door, and just like that, by sheer luck, he entered the Forbidden Library.
"…No way. That actually worked?"
Beatrice still wore the same annoyed expression, clearly displeased: "Breaking into someone else's territory like this is extremely rude. If you understand that, then hurry up and get lost."
Hikigaya: "Alright, alright… I'm already used to hearing that anyway."
'Especially these past few days, couldn't this tsundere just be a little nicer?'
With that thought, Hikigaya turned to leave, but added casually: "Since no one here will chat with me, I guess I'll just go talk to Puck. I'll tell him there's someone with an awful personality living inside the Forbidden Library."
The moment Puck's name came up, Beatrice couldn't stay still.
A violent gust of wind blasted toward him. Hikigaya seemed used to her sudden magic by now. At the instant he was blown away, he adjusted his posture. It wasn't stylish, but at least it didn't hurt as much when he hit the ground.
"Who are you calling 'awful'?!"
"Obviously… myself."
"…At least you have some self-awareness."
"My name is Hikigaya Hachiman. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
"Why should I tell you my name?"
"Ah, here we go again. You're such a troublesome person…"
Using the same pattern over and over, Hikigaya somehow managed to spend a difficult stretch of time with Beatrice. It was a period filled with probing, verbal sparring, and mutual suspicion, a special kind of time that only existed when Hikigaya and Beatrice were alone together.
That said, Hikigaya didn't like this kind of interaction at all.
"Betty, how much do you know about curses?"
"Who gave you permission to call me that?!"
"Alright, blonde loli."
"Do you want to die?"
"Then I'll tell Puck."
Once again.
"Let's talk seriously."
"You're the one who keeps interrupting every serious conversation!"
Bang!
Hikigaya was blown mercilessly to the doorway and slammed heavily into the door.
"Don't think Betty won't lay a hand on you. Using my brother to threaten me is useless."
As Hikigaya climbed back to his feet, he muttered under his breath: "What a troublesome curly-haired loli… even though you're scared to death inside."
"Who are you calling scared?!"
"Whoever's scared is who I'm talking about."
...
Finally, after who knew how long of bickering, the two of them seemed to reach a point where they could coexist calmly.
"Betty, how much do you know about curses and curse users?"
Beatrice shot Hikigaya a look of disdain before answering: "A curse is a type of malediction planted onto someone through contact or other means. Once it activates, there's no turning back. But before activation, it's just a basic spell. For me, removing it would be as easy as a flick of the hand."
Hikigaya recalled Beatrice's terrified expression from his previous death. At that point, the curse must already have been activated, while he himself hadn't yet realized his life was slipping away.
That was why… she kept avoiding him.
Hikigaya: "What do you know about curse users?"
Beatrice: "They're not a common group. That's why curses are especially effective for assassinations."
Hikigaya: "If I were cursed, what should I do?"
Beatrice didn't answer immediately. Instead, she gave him a sharp look, then walked up close and sniffed him.
"So strong… the Witch's scent."
"…Isn't this a pretty terrible way to change the subject?"
But when Hikigaya saw Beatrice's expression, he immediately withdrew his joking tone.
She wasn't lying.
Hikigaya: "What is a Witch?"
Beatrice: "You really don't know anything… it's unbelievable."
Hikigaya: "That just proves I'm an ordinary person who can't do anything."
Beatrice: "…Perhaps."
Hikigaya: "You said I have the Witch's scent. Is that why Rem dislikes me?"
At his words, Beatrice's gaze wavered slightly. She didn't answer, but Hikigaya had already guessed the truth.
"So, Betty… What exactly is a Witch?"
She sat down in her chair. Her tone grew heavy, her eyes serious, as if recalling distant memories.
"In this world, the title of 'Witch' refers to only one being, the Witch of Envy, Satella."
Hikigaya: "The Witch of Envy… Satella."
Come to think of it, when he met Emilia for the second time, the townspeople had called her Satella. Hikigaya had never believed that was a coincidence.
Seeing the confusion in Hikigaya's eyes, Beatrice continued: "The Witch of Envy, Satella, devoured the other six Witches who bore the names of the Deadly Sins, and swallowed half the world, becoming the most catastrophic calamity in history."
Hikigaya swallowed hard.
"Just hearing about her is terrifying… Does something that absurd really exist?"
But having already witnessed Reinhard firsthand, he knew that nothing was impossible anymore.
One thing was certain, if he had been there at the time, he would have died without understanding anything.
Beatrice: "Some say she longed for love.
Some say she couldn't understand human language.
Some say her body never decays and is eternal.
Some say that even when sealed by the Dragon, the Hero, and the Sage together, her body could not be destroyed."
"…And some say her true form is that of a silver-haired half-elf."
At that moment, Hikigaya finally understood what had happened that day, and how much trouble his ignorance had caused Emilia.
It became painfully clear that Emilia's life before this had not been easy. Because of her appearance, she must have been scorned and hated, forced to live amidst insults.
And yet, she was still such a gentle girl.
Hikigaya understood that feeling all too well.
At that moment, he felt an inexplicable ache for Emilia.
Despite her beauty, she was never accepted, only rejected. And yet, she still treated the world with kindness, still tried to change how others saw her, and resolutely stepped forward as a royal candidate.
Hikigaya deeply felt her resolve.
But changing people's ingrained perceptions was never easy.
No one understood that better than Hikigaya himself, which was why he knew that the road ahead for her would be far more difficult than for anyone else.
---
[In the chatroom, Emilia stared at the video of Beatrice and Hikigaya, unable to say a word.]
[Puck floated playfully nearby, saying: "Hikigaya really is someone who understands your feelings deeply, Lia."]
[Emilia:"Yes… when I'm with him, I feel like we share the same pain. And most importantly, neither of us has lost our final hope in this world. That feeling… it's truly beautiful."]
[Puck smiled and said nothing more.]
[Ram: "Rem, it seems some unnecessary misunderstandings have formed…"]
[Rem:"The ability and scent he carries… I believe they were granted by the Witch of Envy. I don't know why it became this way, but… Sister, the Rem in the video knew nothing."]
[Ram: "Yes. That's why I won't blame you."]
[Roswaal:"Let the video unfold as it wishes. I'm becoming more and more eager to see what the future holds!"]
[Hiyori:"It really seems that the environment can slowly change a person. Compared to when he was with us, even though it hasn't been long, Hikigaya has truly changed."]
[Ryūen:"If you don't change, you'll be stuck in the past forever. He's not a fool, knowing that, he has no choice but to become this way."]
[Kito:"Thinking back now, all our competitions feel like child's play. Compared to this world, everything we did was built on self-interest, while theirs is built on life and death."]
[Yahiko:"Yeah… if we'd realized that sooner, maybe everything would've been different. Looking back now, the school trip really was the most memorable time."]
[As Yahiko spoke, everyone began reminiscing about the past. But remembering the past was only to remember, and what truly worried them was Hikigaya in the present.]
---
Almost the moment he stepped out of the Forbidden Library, Hikigaya was certain, the so-called curse user was in the village.
If the curse user were someone from the mansion, there would be no need to kill him in such a roundabout way. Rem, Ram and Roswaal only showed distrust toward him, not hatred. There was no motive strong enough.
Therefore, he needed to advance the timing of the village visit.
This time, he would take the initiative. He would memorize everyone he came into contact with. As long as Beatrice removed the spell before activation, the truth would inevitably surface.
But before that, he had to prove to Rem that he held absolutely no malice toward her.
The shift in the timeline meant accidents were possible. This version of Rem could become the key.
And Hikigaya would not allow that accident to happen.
After finishing his chores, he sought out Rem once more. She was as diligent as ever, especially since Ram's laziness and Hikigaya's training had drastically increased her workload.
"Rem, I want to taste the tea you brew."
"For a servant to speak in such a commanding tone… you really are troublesome."
Hikigaya smiled calmly: "Even so, after scolding me, Rem will still quietly brew a cup in some unseen corner, because it's Rem, right?"
Rem's expression didn't change: "That's only because you're Emilia-sama's benefactor. It has nothing to do with Rem."
Hikigaya: "Even so, I want to drink tea brewed by Rem. Because it's Rem."
Rem: "You're impossible to understand."
Even so, she didn't refuse. During a spare moment, she brewed him a simple cup of black tea.
'What a nostalgic moment… If only there were more time, I'd savor it slowly.'
Hikigaya took a gentle sip and smiled in satisfaction.
[Sōma Yukihira:"If just two cups of black tea could dissolve everyone's barriers, then that really would be the power of cooking."]
[Erina:"If only things were really that simple."]
[Megumi:"I wish it could turn out that way too… but the outcome is probably much harder. Or maybe only Yukihira-kun could make that happen."]
[Sōma:"The power of cooking… is limitless!"]
[Hikigaya:"…Hard to disagree with that."]
(End of this chapter)