His consciousness sank into darkness.
The air felt thick and sticky.
Where was this place?
Natsuki Subaru did not know.
He only felt that it was desolate.
So terribly desolate.
The endless land and sky stretched out before him, a black world where only darkness spread on and on.
He could not tell up from down.
He had no hands or feet, no eyes or ears.
It was as if his very existence had disappeared.
Something… was getting closer.
In his hazy state, Subaru tried to pay attention to his surroundings with a body that did not exist.
And then, he felt a pair of gentle hands caress his cheeks.
He clearly heard a sentence.
“I love you.”
But he had no mouth, and no tongue either.
He could not speak.
In this space of consciousness, he had no body.
Slowly, the surroundings began to grow a little brighter.
Subaru realized that he was about to wake up.
“Mm…?”
Subaru opened his eyes and instinctively raised a hand to shield himself from the bright sunlight.
Wait.
Sunlight?
Only then did he realize that it had been a very, very long time since he had last seen sunlight.
He almost felt excited.
That meant he had finally left that damned underground cave.
“I remember… At the end, I was…”
Subaru carefully recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness.
He had fought that centaur like monster.
Though calling it a fight was too generous.
It was more like he had been completely crushed.
Then several beams of white light had killed the centaur.
After that, there was a girl dressed in a rather revealing outfit…
Subaru finally remembered everything that had happened and hurriedly sat up.
Immediately, a sharp pain ran through his chest, and a stabbing ache came from both of his arms.
He looked around, only then realizing that the place he was in was very strange.
There was plenty of sunlight here, but this was definitely a room, not the outdoors.
He had no idea where the sunlight was coming from.
All around him were glowing emerald green plants.
Vines and vegetation covered the entire room, making the place feel strangely comfortable.
The place he was lying on was even more unusual.
Layers of dense green grass overlapped together, and small flowers bloomed everywhere, forming a bed.
Lying on this natural bed, Subaru felt as though his injuries had improved somewhat.
Normally, injuries to the chest and arms would take at least several months, maybe even a full year, to heal.
After all, as the saying went, it took a hundred days to recover from injuries of the muscles and bones.
“Oh my, seriously.
Master, you finally woke up.
If you still hadn’t woken up, your adorable apprentice would have had no choice but to use some unconventional methods!”
A lively girl’s voice came from beside Subaru.
With confusion on his face, Subaru turned his head and looked over.
It was the woman from the underground cave, the one who had helped kill the centaur.
“Master?
Apprentice?
What are you talking about…?
Where is this place?
And who are you?”
Subaru’s face was full of question marks as he asked the girl in front of him.
“Wah!
Master, you’re asking such strange questions!”
The girl showed an expression even more confused than Subaru’s, then said.
“It’s one thing to forget this place, but you even forgot adorable little me too… Master, did you hit your head on the toilet and lose your memory again?”
Subaru’s whole face twisted as if he had swallowed something terrible.
“What do you mean, ‘I hit my head on the toilet and lost my memory again’?!
Are you saying that happened before?
Besides, I don’t think I’d ever do something that stupid!”
Subaru hurriedly retorted.
“See?
Master, you’re full of energy!
Mm-hm, now that’s more like the Master I know!”
The girl nodded, placing her hands on her hips as if saying that this was only natural.
“This is the first time we’ve met.
I don’t know you at all.
Didn’t you mistake me for someone else?”
Subaru waved his hand.
Being recognized as a master by such a beautiful girl did not sound bad, but he did not want to become some fake big shot for no reason.
“Ah, but the stench coming from Master’s body is so unbelievably disgusting that it makes me want to throw up.
There’s no way that body odor could be faked.
You must be Master.
And you look exactly the same too.
You both have two eyes, one nose, one mouth…”
As the girl spoke, she began counting carefully on her fingers.
“Enough, enough!
Everyone is like that!
And what kind of new identification method uses smell?!
Also, there’s no way I stink that badly!”
Subaru raised his arm and sniffed himself.
All right.
Maybe he did stink a little…
He had been struggling in that underground space for so long.
Of course, his body was covered in sweat and grime.
On top of that, he had no idea how long he had been unconscious, and he had not taken a bath.
“My way of recognizing people doesn’t look at the outside.
It looks at the inside, Master!
This is what people call inner beauty!”
“I feel like the phrase ‘inner beauty’ really doesn’t fit this situation… Also, where did you even learn to talk like that?”
Only then did Natsuki Subaru realize that the girl in front of him was clearly not someone from Earth.
“Ah, Master, you’re being so weird.
Of course I learned it from you, Master.
Uu, Master really doesn’t remember anything.
But no problem!
Even so, Shaula will never betray Master!”
The girl spoke seriously, as if she were swearing to protect something with her life.
“Like I said, I’m not your master.
Also, did your master teach you that phrase too?
…Ah, whatever.
At least I finally have someone alive to talk to.”
Subaru let out a sigh of relief.
No matter what, it was true that she had saved him.
If not for this girl who looked a little dumb and airheaded at first glance… What was her name, Shaula?
That was what she had just said, right?
Anyway, if not for her, Subaru had no idea how many more times he would have died.
“So, Shaula, where exactly is this place?”
Subaru asked again.
“Ah!
Master clearly lost his memory, so why do you still remember Shaula’s name?
Uu, Shaula is so touched.
Come give Shaula a hug, Master~~”
As she spoke, Shaula pounced at him.
Seeing that, Subaru tried to dodge, but the intense pain in his body was still there.
He was caught directly in her full-bodied embrace.
“Hey, didn’t you just say your own name was Shaula?
Answer the question seriously!”
“It’s been so, so long since I replenished my Master energy.
Shaula needs to eat until she’s completely full!”
As she spoke, the girl rubbed her fair skin against Subaru’s face again and again.
Subaru did not exactly mind having a girl cling to him.
After all, this sounded much more like the treatment a light novel protagonist should receive.
“Ow!
How are you this strong?!
Hurry up and let go already!”
In the end, Natsuki Subaru had no choice but to use one of his still functioning legs to kick Shaula away.
“Fugyaa—!!”
Shaula played along and was kicked away.
With tears in her eyes, she touched the spot where she had been kicked and said in disbelief, “How could this be?
I hugged you with so much affection, and Shaula is even dressed this bitchy… Yet Master still won’t accept me… I thought all men were the same?”
“That master of yours taught you way too many vulgar things!”
“That’s so strange.
Who talks about himself like that, Master?”
“I already told you, I’m not your master!
Get that part straight.
I have my own name!”
As he spoke, Subaru stood up.
He pointed one hand toward the ceiling without the slightest hesitation and struck what he believed to be an extremely cool pose.
“My name is Natsuki Subaru!”
“I am the fearless, undying wanderer who even demons and gods cannot destroy!
Natsuki Subaru!
Nice to meet you!”
He loudly declared his own name.
If an ordinary person heard that, they would probably only think he was a hopeless case of late stage chuunibyou.
“Master, you’re so cool!”
“Right?!
So, where exactly is this place?
Hurry up and tell me already.”
Subaru urged her impatiently.
“Ahh, why is Master asking about this so seriously… Ahem.”
Shaula cleared her throat as well.
Then she struck the same pose as Subaru, imitating him as she declared
“This place is the Pleiades Watchtower, fourth floor—also known as my floor, Alcyone!”
“Hmph, hmph.
Well, Master?
I copied you pretty well, didn’t I?”