Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

"Damn it, shut your mouth and stop thinking that! I'm not gay, stay away from me!!!"

"...Me neither!!!" The seemingly lighthearted conversation was too much of a contrast, and Natsuki Subaru immediately broke character, blurting out a sarcastic remark.

"But what exactly do you want from me? Just tell me! You don't want anything, yet you've helped me so much. It's hard not to suspect that you're after my cleavage!"

"What I want is your arrogance, you jerk!" Tsugumi rolled her eyes.

"Natsuki Subaru, what kind of person do you think you are? The answer is, you are the person I have ever met who is closest to the concept of arrogance."

"...I don't think I'm that arrogant."

"The essence of arrogance is not conceit, but an obsession that borders on the incomprehensible," Tsugumi said calmly, looking at Natsuki Subaru.

"For better or worse, pride is the first of the seven deadly sins because of this unyielding obsession that nothing can change, and this is perfectly embodied in you."

903>>>>

"Natsuki Subaru, no matter how little you think of yourself—you are a soul so arrogant that even demons would marvel at you."

"...Are you praising me?"

"It's both a compliment and a criticism," Tsurugi said, tilting her head.

"Your strange and incomprehensible savior desire, your obsessive desire to save everyone, is quite similar to my brother's."

"But—he was not arrogant. Even though he died bearing the sins of everyone, he never thought of saving anyone."

“Even if his abilities were many times greater than yours, he would never have wanted to do something like what you did.”

"You're not talking about Jesus..."

“Yes, it’s him.” Tsugumi interrupted Natsuki Subaru again, stating bluntly.

"Your arrogance is fully reflected in your savior complex, which, to be honest, is not bad in my opinion, but respectable. And because of this, you have what I need."

With a wave of his hand, a golden but dull crown appeared in his hand.

"What you have, and what I lack, is the interpretation of the true meaning of arrogance."

He walked up to Subaru Natsuki, placed the crown in front of him, and looked at it with amusement.

"And what I seek is the new contract that I will propose next."

“I want you to be my crowned one, and I will sign a new covenant with you, like Faust with Mephistopheles, so that my will may be closely linked with your soul.”

"What I still seek is your soul, but I'll make a bet with you. What I want is your soul, filled with the grave sin of pride, a soul powerful enough to illuminate a crown! And in return—"

"I will rewrite the tragic fate of your parents and bring you true happiness."

Update released! Book lovers have all gone to the book club forum to check it out!

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623. [RE:0] A New Contract, Arrogance Outsourcing

The so-called sin of arrogance is a crown that Tsugumi can never touch or wear in her lifetime.

Ultimately, the prerequisite for wearing pride is to let your prejudices transcend all your rationality regarding good and evil.

You must let your obsession and stubbornness transcend your definition of good and evil, even at the cost of committing all kinds of atrocities, and ignoring your own desires for everything.

To cling to this arrogance to the very end, never wavering no matter what, is the true essence of the sin of arrogance.

Just as Lucifer rebelled against God, taking a third of the stars with him as he fell into Hell, did he not know the inevitable consequences of his rebellion while in Paradise Lost?

No, he knew of course that no one could be an enemy of the Lord, not even the twinkling morning star.

But he remained the same, because that was the arrogance he clung to.

Therefore, he was cast into hell and became Satan. Perhaps it was all God's arrangement, but he always persisted in this arrogance.

Dongjiang clearly lacks this basic condition.

He has his own sense of right and wrong, and he will make his own assessment before doing anything, even something he is obsessed with.

Just as he unconditionally trusted his good brother Jesus, is this prejudice and arrogance?

Obviously not. His unconditional trust in Jesus was based on the premise that he knew and was certain that Jesus deserved his trust and help.

He was willing to go to any lengths for this, even facing God—but only if he was certain of it.

Arrogance, on the other hand, ignores the preconditions. Regardless of whether the person is worthy or not, he insists on doing it to the end, even by any means necessary.

Pride is a great sin because this excessive prejudice is beyond reason, surpassing even the love of God and the truth of the world.

Therefore, the thrush does not possess such characteristics.

He can be greedy, gluttonous, slothful, envious, wrathful, and lustful—he even possesses the worst of these: sloth.

After all, who hasn't had the thought of slacking off and giving up?

But arrogance is something he would never do.

While he has unilaterally changed the world more than once, he also listens to the opinions of others while changing the world, and if it is truly a future of no return, he will start over.

This may be considered arrogance by ordinary people, but it is far from meeting the standard for serious crimes.

Even pretending won't work; he can't fool himself!

Lucifer knew this perfectly well, which is why he simply gave him the crown with a hint of mockery and ridicule.

Perhaps Tsurugi once displayed some arrogant traits, because he seemed absolutely free, as if for a moment more arrogant than Lucifer.

Ultimately, however, he could not truly possess this great sin; in that instant, it was merely that freedom overcame Lucifer's arrogance, prompting him to launch a counterattack.

Knowing this, how will Tsugumi truly obtain the crown of arrogance?

Why not just outsource it?

Natsuki Subaru, an arrogant soul, a paranoid madman, a guy who perfectly embodies the spirit of arrogance!

Is Emilia, whom he insists on 'helping', really worth his sacrifice?

No, in the end, all Emilia did was offer that initial help.

While it was a precious act of kindness in her time of need, such a debt of gratitude should have been repaid long ago when Subaru Natsuki retrieved her crest and saved her from dying at the hands of the Bowel Hunter.

But he still followed Emilia here, wanting to help her reach the pinnacle of the Kingdom of Lukenica.

Therefore, even after dying so many times, the time during which Tsurugi possessed him has been determined—and this twisted obsession has gradually evolved into a desire to save everyone.

Because I can return from the dead, I have the ability to save everyone, so I must save everyone!

To be honest, Dongjiang didn't understand; he found it quite inexplicable.

But this also shows how pure that arrogance is.

Therefore, Tsugumi's plan is very simple—he wants to outsource the Crown of Pride!

"The new contract is very simple," Tsugumi said, holding up a finger.

“I will place the crown on your soul and nourish it with your pride, and I will take it away when necessary.”

"This is a bet, because only when your arrogance nourishes my crown will I fulfill my final promise to you."

"As an additional condition of the contract, you can call on me at any time to 'help' you, but—you'd better think it over, my help is not entirely without a price."

“Simple things like fighting and killing are cheap, but more complex things require a greater price.”

"And the ultimate reward of all this is to rewrite the tragic fate of your parents and bring you true happiness."

"What do you mean by my parents' tragic fate?!" Natsuki Subaru exclaimed anxiously, his eyes wide.

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"What do you mean by my parents' tragic fate?!" Natsuki Subaru exclaimed anxiously, his eyes wide.

"What happened to my parents? Tell me!!!"

"—Your own son went out to buy a late-night snack and disappeared. What do you think your parents would think?" Tsugumi tilted her head, looking at Natsuki Subaru with a click of her tongue in amazement.

"You might think, 'Wouldn't it be fine if we just sent you back?' That's how it's always written in light novels; in a few years, you'll be able to bring your harem home!"

"But unfortunately, if your world were a light novel, the person who wrote this book must be a butcher who would call your name even when chopping pork."

At this point, he tilted his head and said quietly.

"Want to see? Your parents can't find your face?"

Having said that, he lightly snapped his fingers, and the next moment, an image appeared before Natsuki Subaru.

His mother, looking haggard, was posting missing person notices all over the street, while his father remained silent at home. The atmosphere in the house was as stiff as a corpse, and on the table sat his rarely touched cigarettes and alcohol.

Natsuki Subaru's face turned deathly pale, he clenched his fists, and whispered...

"How could this happen? How could it have turned out like this..."

With tears streaming down his face, he reached out to touch his parents, but all he touched were fleeting, illusory images.

The thought of his parents searching for him so anxiously and in such agony made Natsuki Subaru feel an unbearable throbbing pain in his heart.

Then Tsugumi mercilessly delivered another blow.

"And the scene you are seeing must be from four hundred years ago."

“...Ah—”

The words were so unexpected, shocking, and even utterly incomprehensible that Natsuki Subaru's eyes widened, while Tsugumi offered a quiet explanation.

"Perhaps it's a matter of the flow rates between the two worlds, or something else. In any case, the time you are in now is four hundred years in the future for your original world."

"In other words, even if you go back, you won't see your hometown. On the bright side, you'll return to a future world in 2418; on the other hand, your world might just be a wasteland after a war."

"Are you kidding me! Are you kidding me, you bastard!!!"

Natsuki Subaru, clutching his bleeding hands, roared through his tears.

At this moment, what he truly wanted wasn't to sing praises of the wonderful world of another realm! He simply wanted to see his parents again and call out to them in person!

But it's all over now! Recalling those distant faces, my parents' gentleness, their soothing comfort and indulgence, even when I was in despair, they never gave up on me.

Now, now they're telling him that all of this is irreversible!

"You're kidding, right? This must be a terrible joke from the devil, right?!" Natsuki Subaru clung to Tsugumi's trouser leg like a drowning man, pleading in a pathetic manner.

"Although I like hellish jokes, this one is neither hellish nor funny," Tsurugi said quietly.

“I would never use my parents’ genuine love as an element of a joke.”