There was no time for questions.
Betty pressed her palm flat against Subaru's chest, brow creasing in concentration as she extended her senses into him.
"It's a Curse."
Centuries of experience let her identify it instantly.
But after reaching her diagnosis, she looked up at Gojo and shook her head.
"You're too late. He's already..."
Her voice still hung in the air when the world locked in place, then shattered.
"Mr. Gojo, are you ready to board? We're about to depart."
A familiar scene. Familiar faces. Familiar words.
Gojo stood in the courtyard of the Mathers family estate in the Royal Capital, looking at Rem and the others seated in the Dragon Carriage. A laugh escaped him.
Inside the carriage, Subaru blinked at his surroundings in confusion. When he saw Gojo walking toward him, understanding landed. Everything had reset.
Experiencing the reversal for a third time, the panic and disorientation were gone. For Subaru, an ability that let him keep getting to know Emilia was hardly torture. More time with her, more dates... it was the opposite of a punishment.
Gojo climbed into the carriage. Subaru had already settled himself next to Emilia without needing to be told. He opened his mouth to say something, but Gojo waved him off. Not now.
Getting the message, Subaru turned to chat with Emilia instead.
Throughout the journey, Gojo turned the second loop over in his mind.
The first loop's mystery was largely solved. When Subaru died, time reversed. After reversal, he carried the heavy scent of the witch. Meanwhile, Gojo got attacked whenever he tried to tell someone about the time reversal, and those attacks left the witch's scent on him too.
Connecting the dots painted a clear picture.
Compared to Gojo the supporting character, the Witch of Envy's true focus was Subaru, the protagonist. She gave him the power to start over after death. And when both of them spoke about the time reversal, only Gojo got punished while Subaru walked away unscathed.
The favoritism was blatant.
Gojo's gaze drifted toward Subaru, and something shifted in how he saw him. Before this, he'd thought the supposed protagonist was a bit underwhelming. No powers. No combat ability. Nothing special.
He'd been wrong.
Forget everything else. An ability that let you retry from scratch after every failure? That alone was absurd. Even as an ordinary person, given enough deaths, Subaru could theoretically find a solution to any problem.
The catch, of course, was whether his mind could withstand dying over and over.
Watching Subaru laugh and joke with Emilia, Gojo could only think the guy was lucky. Both deaths so far had come in his sleep, from Mana drain. Gentle. Painless. Gone before he even noticed.
A death in combat would be a very different story.
The Dragon Carriage rolled on. When they reached Flugel's Tree, Gojo used the excuse of wanting to explore and pulled Subaru aside.
"Gojo, what happened? I remember telling you I wanted to nap for a bit." Subaru chose his words carefully, avoiding any direct mention of the reset. No sense getting Gojo's heart crushed again. "Then I wake up and we're back to this."
"Because you died." Gojo shrugged.
"Huh?" Subaru pointed at himself, eyes wide. "You're joking. I died? How? I didn't feel anything."
Gojo gave him the short version of what had happened that night.
"Think hard. Someone put a Curse on you, one that continuously drains your life. At the mansion, the number of people capable of that is pretty small. Roswaal. Puck. Betty." He paused. "What about the village? Did you come into contact with anyone unusual?"
Even as he laid this out for Subaru, Gojo was running his own analysis.
Of the three names, Roswaal topped the list. The man was the kingdom's strongest mage. Having strange, obscure methods at his disposal wouldn't be surprising. And he had prior form, secretly conspiring with the Bowel Hunter Elsa to endanger Emilia. Targeting Subaru wasn't out of character.
Puck and Betty both had the capability, but neither had motive. Puck was usually around when Emilia was present, and it was hard to imagine him acting against Subaru in front of her. From what Gojo had observed, the Spirit seemed genuinely fond of the boy.
Betty was an even less likely suspect. Gojo had spent more time with her across both loops than with anyone else, the runner-up being Rem, who regularly brought him desserts. During the previous loop, he'd been with Betty nearly every waking hour. She'd had no window of opportunity.
More than that, she wasn't the type. He'd been a constant nuisance in her Forbidden Library, and the worst she'd ever done was try to kick him out. Never once had she raised a hand in genuine violence. When his heart had been crushed, she'd rushed to help without hesitation, and even knowing her efforts were futile, she'd bought him time to leave final words.
Everything pointed to the same conclusion: Betty was a kind soul behind the thorny exterior. A little tsundere, a little sharp-tongued, but fundamentally good.
"The village?" Subaru thought it over. "I don't think so. I was with everyone the whole time. Nothing out of the ordinary. Everyone seemed nice. Normal, down-to-earth people."
Gojo pushed his fingers through his hair, sweeping the fallen strands back, and lifted his gaze to the night sky.
"Then we need to adjust our approach." His eyes narrowed. "The new priority is keeping you alive past the night of the date. Only if you survive can we investigate who's behind the Curse. Once we know that, the rest is simple."
"Anything I need to do differently? Or same as before, just go on the date with Emilia?"
Subaru was already cracking his knuckles in anticipation.
"Go on your date. Leave everything else to me." Gojo paused. "I don't know how many times you can come back, but for now, we've got room to experiment."
"Then go all out!" Subaru flashed a thumbs-up. "You said I died, but I didn't feel a thing. No pain at all. Something like that? I really don't mind."
What made death terrifying wasn't the state of being dead. It was the pain of getting there. Both of Subaru's deaths had been quiet and painless, slipping away in sleep. Of course he wasn't bothered.
"The witch really does give you special treatment." Gojo shook his head. "Handing you an ability like that. Die and start over."
"If I ever get the chance to meet her, I should thank her." Subaru grinned. "Without this power, I'd probably be dead for real. No more dates with Emilia."
Gojo's revelation didn't trouble him in the least. If anything, a small spark of excitement lit up behind his eyes.
First, having this ability meant a safety net for future dangers. A chance to try again.
Second, and perhaps more importantly to his pride, he was no longer the useless sidekick. He had a power of his own.
"Come to think of it, I'm basically that character in light novels, right? The one who seems totally useless until the critical moment, then swoops in and saves the day!" His voice climbed with excitement. "If we ever go to fight the Demon King and lose, I've got us covered. One free retry!"
Gojo smiled pleasantly. "Your ability is clearly linked to the Witch of Envy. And you're planning to use it against her?"
"Uh..."
Subaru scratched his head, grin faltering. "Okay, fair point. But maybe the final boss isn't her? I mean, why would she give me this power if she's the enemy?"
"Let's hope so." Gojo shrugged. "Doesn't matter much to me either way. Though it might matter to you. She could use that connection to crush you like a toy. Die, revive, die again. Over and over."
The color drained from Subaru's face. He straightened up, dead serious. "Gojo. You can definitely beat her, right? Tell me you can."
Gojo swept his hair up from his forehead, radiating an almost aggressive confidence, every inch the image of untouchable arrogance.
Then he spoke.
"Nope."
All of Subaru's hope deflated at once.
Back in his own world, Gojo could have said without blinking that no one alive could challenge him. But here? Much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't the type to make empty boasts. The Witch of Envy had crushed his heart multiple times without even showing her face. He hadn't been able to do a single thing about it.
Claiming he could handle her would be a joke.
"It's okay!" Subaru rallied, forcing optimism into his voice. "Even if you can't beat her now, I believe you'll surpass her eventually!"
If someone as strong as Gojo couldn't manage it, what hope did Subaru have? He needed this to be true.
"Relax. Worst case, you just die a couple extra times." Gojo's tone was breezy. "With enough attempts, we'll find an opening. And if you're worried about pain, leave it to me. I'll make it instant. Won't even leave ashes."
Subaru stared at the radiant smile on Gojo's face, and his mouth twitched.
"Don't talk about killing your teammate like it's nothing, you jerk!"
Dawn broke the next morning, and the Dragon Carriage rolled on.
Same as the previous two loops, they arrived at Roswaal's mansion without incident. After brief pleasantries with their host, Gojo made a beeline for the Forbidden Library and let himself in.
"Long time no see, Betty."
Before she could draw breath, he pressed a finger to his lips.
"Shh. Don't say anything about barging in without knocking, or having no manners. And don't tell me that only people close to you get to call you Betty." He settled into the room like he owned it. "You and I go back further than you realize."
Every word Betty had been about to say died on her tongue.
"And don't bother trying to throw me out. It won't work. You've tried plenty of times, and it's never once succeeded."
He strolled to her side, ignoring the hostile glare, and poured himself a cup of tea from the pot on her table.
"Yours is still the best. The tea Miss Rem makes is good, but something's always a little off."
A vein pulsed visibly on Betty's forehead.
She opened her mouth, but Gojo beat her to it again.
"Don't say you don't want to see me, and don't get angry. Like I've told you many times before, you'll get used to it."
Betty stared at this stranger, this person whose name she didn't even know, spouting things that made no sense, and irritation boiled inside her.
And yet.
As infuriating as this uninvited intruder was, everything he'd preempted... was exactly what she'd been about to say.
"Did Roswaal send you?" Her expression went flat, carefully blank. "Trying to use some kind of Divine Protection that reads minds to get close to me?"
Gojo had spent enough time around Betty to recognize the signs. The blank face, the controlled voice. This was genuine anger. When she was bickering and shouting, she wasn't truly upset. This quiet stillness was the real thing.
...
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