After all the events that occurred in Arcs 1 to 5, the members of the Emilia camp finally had some peace of mind.
Subaru, accompanied by Beako, Otto, and Garfiel, was playing cards in the main hall.
Rem, Ram, Frederica, and Petra were fulfilling their duties as maids.
Emilia was busy in her room. After all, being a candidate was no easy job; a lot of paperwork needed to be done, and she was not willing to ask for help.
Meanwhile, Roswaal was nowhere to be seen. He was probably doing some shady business, as usual.
Overall, it was a pretty average day in the mansion, that was until-
"Huh!? Otto just disappeared! Did you see that, Garfiel!?" Subaru screamed at his fiercest warrior due to the sudden disappearance of Otto.
"Boss! Be carefu-" Before he could finish what he had to say, he too vanished from sight, leaving only Subaru and Bea-"
"Beako is gone too!? What is happening!?"
In a matter of seconds, every person in that mansion disappeared.
"Wh… Where am I?" Still a bit groggy, Subaru opened his eyes. He didn't know what had happened, nor where he was. Scrubbing his eyes, he got back up from the ground and looked around- that place seemed oddly familiar.
"Subaru! You're finally awake!" A bell-like voice called out his name from behind. He recognized it instantly.
"Emilia-tan! What the hell happened… Wait…" Subaru looked around. They were in a closed room with multiple padded seats, exactly like a-
"-A theater…?"
To be more exact, that place looked like a miniature theater hall. All of the members of the Emilia camp were there with him.
"Do you recognize this place, Barusu?" Ram asked with her usual spiteful tone.
"More or less, I know what this place is, but I don't recognize it exactly."
"So in other words, you are as useless as always" After Ram's ice cold reply Subaru had nothing to say, he simply mumbled "how harsh". That was the moment where he noticed the presence of the owner of the mansion.
"Roswaal... you're here too..." Said Subaru while unable to hide his disappointment.
"You don't seem pleased to see me Suuuuuuuubaru-kun"
"Indeed, you better not be up to something here."
The rest of them were looking around, not fearing for their life, but not very relaxed either. In the corner, Frederica was trying to comfort Petra, who seemed to be the most scared of them all
In the direction the seats pointed, there was a massive screen. On that screen, written in the Japanese alphabet, were the words TAKE YOUR SEATS.
"It says we have to sit down," Subaru muttered.
"Boss, can you read what it says there?" Garfiel asked, perplexed. After all, that wasn't the language used in Lugunica.
"Aaaah yeah, don't give it importance," Subaru replied to the best of his ability in order to give it as little attention as possible. He looked at everyone in the room and said, "I don't know what is happening here, but let's do as it says, just in case." He was a bit nervous, but that Earth-like room brought him a sense of tranquility.
"I will be sitting with Subaru, I suppose," said Beako as she seated herself on top of Subaru's lap.
"Rem will be next to Subaru too."
"Me too," replied Emilia.
Ram and Roswaal seated themselves in the third row, which was the last. In the second row were Emilia, Rem, Beatrice, Subaru, Frederica, and Petra. Finally, in the first row were Otto and Garf.
With that, the letters disappeared from the screen, and the video started.
All of them looked at the screen with a bit of anxiety. The screen showed...
"What is that…? I don't remember that…" Emilia looked at the screen, confused. The scene being shown was her saving Subaru from the thugs in the alleyway.
Next to her, Subaru started panting. His eyes were as wide as they possibly could be. He recognized that scene. It was his first loop in that world.
"You're kidding… right...?"
"Subaru, what's wrong?" Beatrice turned her head; she had noticed Subaru's breathing accelerating. That was when it happened- the name resounded throughout the room.
"My name is Satella."
Those were the words that had come out of Emilia's mouth. Every single person in that room halted their breathing. What was Emilia doing? Or… was it really Emilia?
"I… I don't remember any of this… Subaru… do you?" Emilia looked to her side, where Subaru and Beatrice were. Emilia's face looked anxious, she could never lie so blatantly, she thought.
On the other hand, Subaru remembered. Of course he did. He would never forget that. But if he said anything suspicious, his Return by Death ability might be discovered. That was the last thing he wanted, so for that reason-
"I don't- I can't recognize this either."
He had to lie.
"What do you think this is, then, Subaru-kun?" From his other side, Rem asked, searching for any clues as to what they were watching.
"No idea. What is the person who put us here thinking?" That question held a deeper meaning for Subaru himself than for Rem, Beatrice, and Emilia, who were listening.
Why were they doing this? More importantly, how did they acquire the footage?
The video continued playing, and Subaru and Emilia reached the loot house. Subaru remembered exactly what had happened there. They would both die- Elsa, the assassin, would kill them. He didn't want to relive it. He didn't want to see it again. He moved his arms away from Beatrice and covered his eyes.
"Subaru, tell me already, what's wro-" Beatrice's confused sentence was cut short. The sound of a sword filled the room.
In the video, Subaru fell to the ground. He started losing blood by the second.
Next to Subaru, Emilia looked terrified. Sweat began to form on her beautiful face. From Subaru's view while he covered his face, that sight of Emilia was all there was, it pained his heart to see her like that, but what could he do in this situation?
On the first row Otto and Garf were speechless, the man they swore to protect. The one that had recruited them both for the Emilia camp had just lost his life, but at the same time he was alive right behind them.
"Boss..."
In the last row, not even Ram and Roswaal could hide their astonishment, especially Ram. Her eyes twitched and her body trembled faintly. Next to her, Roswaal looked at the screen with his mouth wide open.
Roswaal had discovered Subaru had some sort of ability, but he didn't know how it worked exactly, now he did. After all, that assassin that had just appeared on screen was one contracted by him.
The events of the loot house continued exactly as in Subaru's memories. Seconds after falling to the ground, Emilia entered the loot house, calling out Subaru's name. When he didn't respond, the inevitable happened.
"hk"
Emilia was also slashed and dropped to the floor next to Subaru. Watching herself die, her eyes filled with horror- it was a heartbreaking sight.
"Emilia-sama…"
All four maids of the mansion said in unison as they watched the person they served die before their eyes.
The screen went black, the next loop started.