Crossover anime, starting with Hachiman Hikigaya replacing Subaru Natsuki!

"Hachiman Hikigaya spoke with unwavering certainty, his analysis flowing smoothly: 'Hikigaya first appeared in the slums of the royal capital, hiring Felt to steal Emilia's emblem. This was the opportunity for me to meet Emilia, and it also led Reinhard to discover that Felt was the fifth candidate, allowing the long-awaited King's Tournament to begin smoothly and quickly.'"

"I already know all five candidates. Crusch goes without saying, Anastasia has a businesswoman's mindset, and precisely because she has a businesswoman's mindset, she's even less likely to steal Emilia's crest. The proud Priscilla wouldn't resort to such despicable means, and all of this couldn't possibly be Felt's scheme; she doesn't have that kind of cunning."

"Those stubborn old men in the Sages' Guild are prejudiced against Emilia, but their stubbornness is evidence of their innocence. They are the most respectful and superstitious people in this country when it comes to dragons. Even the most brainless and impulsive senator only dares to use Emilia's racial identity as a pretext, never uttering a word about disqualifying her from the candidacy."

"The Witch Cult's methods are enough for me to eliminate them from the list of suspects."

"Emilia spends most of her time in the manor, and aside from those mentioned above, not many people know her anymore. So, who is the suspect? The villagers who once hated Emilia? Remram, who was cold to Emilia? Or Beatrice, who imprisons herself in the forbidden library all day long? Or could it be me, this person of unknown origin?"

"Whoa..." Roswaal really couldn't hold back anymore.

He clapped his hands, "Brilliant, brilliant... Yes, these inferences are logically sound. I'm sure even if I refute them, you can provide corresponding evidence."

"While you and Emilia were back at the manor, I had already gathered evidence in the capital. However, I originally thought that evidence would never be needed."

"Even then, Hachiman Hikigaya still had the idea of ​​doing something with it. But after learning about Roswaal's prophecy of the future and knowing that he was acting according to the Gospel, he gave up, because he understood."

"What seems like a coincidence leads to three consequences—this is no coincidence—there's only one answer, Roswaal."

"Elsa the Bowel Hunter's employer is you! You hired her to instruct Felt to steal Emilia's badge, and all of this is in accordance with the Gospel of the Book of Wisdom. You are acting according to the Gospel, and all of this is to bring Emilia and me together."

"As long as you think in this direction, the whole chain of events will fall into place."

139. Answer me, Roswaal.

"This...this, yes, that's right! It's all interconnected, it makes perfect sense—no, it should be said, this is the only possibility!"

In the Classical Literature Club, Satoshi Fukube stared wide-eyed, then suddenly realized what was going on.

Not only him, but also Chitanda Eru and Mayaka, all had shocked expressions on their faces. Only Oreki Houtarou remained calm and composed, showing no signs of emotion, unlike the brain hemorrhage he had when he saw Betty standing idly by earlier.

"Did Oreki-kun already figure that out?"

Chitanda Eru turned to look at Oreki Houtarou, her beautiful purple eyes sparkling with excitement, revealing her amazement and affection for him.

"Yes, Hachiman and I reached our conclusions around the same time. It was during the last loop when we heard Roswaal say that he had the means to foresee the future and that avoiding war was for Emilia's good. At that time, the answer was already right in front of us."

"Amazing!"

"Hmm..." Unable to resist Chitanda Eru's seemingly oblivious sense of gender boundaries, Oreki Houtarou shifted his chair slightly and said earnestly, "It's actually not that difficult, it's just that you were all focused on another aspect back then."

Fukube Satoshi shook his head sadly.

If this conclusion was drawn simply from Roswaal's statement that he could foresee the future and avoided war for Emilia's sake, then it's not particularly difficult. With a little more time, Fukube Satoshi himself could have figured it out…

The problem is that both Houtarou and Hachiman Hikigaya had suspected Roswaal a long time ago.

They had long identified Roswaal as the sole suspect, but lacked direct evidence and did not know his motives, which is why they had not yet made an arrest or confronted him.

"Aha?"

At the same time, Anastasia, far away in another world at the Hexin Merchant Guild, let out a duck-like quack.

"So all that busyness he was doing back in the capital, with some of his confusing behavior that didn't seem to generate any profit, was actually due to operating on two fronts? I thought he had forgotten about the Bowel Hunter's employer, especially since Elsa herself was already imprisoned."

“Reliable indeed… Just as I thought.” Anastasia looked at Hachiman Hikigaya with wide eyes.

It wasn't that she wasn't interested in the Book of Wisdom, but it belonged to the Witch of Greed, and its dangers were unknown, so she decided against it.

“Cursch has a really good eye. I realized it way too late… Luckily, none of this has happened yet. We’re all starting from the same point now, Crusch, Emilia.”

Julius, standing to the side, proudly held his head high.

He was happier to receive praise than to receive praise himself when his best friend was recognized by the monarch... The only problem was that Lady Anastasia's thoughts about Hachiman seemed a little off... To be honest, she was actually in the faction that hoped Rem would marry Hachiman.

"I'm truly sorry, Lady Anastasia, while I won't stop you, I'm really at a loss to offer you any advice on this matter."

"Roswaal, with composure amidst his brilliant reasoning, said, 'There's no point in arguing. In that case, yes, it was me. I was the one who hired Elsa.'"

"Hachiman Hikigaya said confidently, 'You were the mastermind behind the monster invasion, weren't you?'"

"That was a Beast Tamer named Merry." Roswaal's answer revealed another unsolved mystery.

"—How could that be?"

On a street corner in the capital, Emilia staggered, biting her lower lip and clenching her fists.

"All of this... all the suffering Hachiman endured, all the deaths he suffered... it was all Roswaal's doing, all of it was caused by Roswaal. The culprit is... me? It was all for me, is that it?"

"Lia, Lia, calm down!" Puck immediately knew something was wrong. "This isn't your fault, it's all Roswaal's fault."

"But I..."

“Look, Hachiman himself hasn’t complained about it, nor has he thought of distancing himself from you because of it! Calm down, Ria. If you feel sorry for him, want to give up being with him, or think that it will only bring him difficulties, think about whether Hachiman himself is willing to do so.”

Parker hurriedly reassured his daughter, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "I promise you, Lydia, that won't happen again this time. I will kill Roswaal, or at least cripple him so he can never plot against Hachiman again."

Everything that prevents Ria and Hachiman from being together is its enemy.

“But…” Emilia hung her head, her face pale. “My meeting with Hachiman was all Roswaal’s calculation. I simply didn’t have the luck to meet Hachiman… Would it have been better for Hachiman if he had met Crusch from the beginning—sob!”

The silver-haired girl, overwhelmed with self-blame and guilt, was mercilessly smacked on the head by Parker.

“Lia, listen carefully. If you were to push Hachiman to Crusch, ask yourself honestly, would you be willing? Would you be happy?” Puck looked directly at her. “Regardless of whether it was Roswaal’s scheme or not, you like him, and he likes you. That’s a fact, isn’t it?”

"You can't calculate matters of the heart. All Roswaal can do is create opportunities. Ultimately, the outcome is your own choice."

"Now, tell me, are you willing to give Hachiman to someone else and be all alone, Ria?"

Emilia's fingertips twitched, but her hesitation lasted less than three seconds before she shook her head violently. Thinking... was completely unnecessary.

"I...really love Hachiman!"

“That’s right.” Parker nodded with satisfaction. “So, remember, no matter what, it’s all Roswaal’s fault.”

"Whether it's stealing the badge or the monster invasion, you deliberately created difficulties for me... I understand, I really understand you, Roswaal. After all, in your eyes, you're doing this for Emilia's own good, so I can lessen my anger somewhat."

"Hachiman Hikigaya took a deep breath, coldly looking at the mastermind behind this drama. 'If it's only these two times, then I truly can forgive you.'"

"Elsa killed Emilia once, but at least, apart from herself, there were no additional casualties during the monster invasion."

"But, things shouldn't happen more than three times."

"Hachiman Hikigaya spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice still calm, but his tone intimidating: 'Why are you hiring Elsa again to attack your mansion?'"

“Answer me, Roswaal.”

140. Mule, surrender! Everyone outside wants to kill you.

The room fell silent instantly.

Roswaal paused for a moment, then gave a knowing look. His words sent shockwaves through Hachiman Hikigaya's heart: "With your intelligence, I believe you compiled the information from the previous reports, but... you already know about what happened to you at the mansion? This is information that requires firsthand experience to know."

He tilted his head slightly, as if casually asking if he'd had dinner: "How many times has this happened now, Hachiman-kun?"

"The Book of Wisdom, the Book of Wisdom—damn Echidna! Even in death she's still causing trouble!"

Crusch quickly realized why Roswaal knew that Hachiman Hikigaya possessed the power of Return by Death: it was Echidna who had this ability. Essentially, Echidna revealed the information about Return by Death to Roswaal through a high-quality replica of the Book of Wisdom.

"King Hachiman's intuition is indeed incredibly accurate. Echidna was just pretending to say that she could answer any question, but she had already betrayed him before he even came to this world."

The mastermind behind Elsa's direct suffering was Roswaal, but the real culprit was Echidna.

"A witch is a witch, she's never a good thing. After the future episodes finish airing, let's contact Anastasia and the others to join forces and attack the Sanctuary. Let's call on the Sword Saint Reinhard too—we must grind Echidna to dust and destroy Roswaal's Book of Wisdom!"

This was not only to vent his anger for his own Hachiman-kun.

The fact that Echidna and the Book of Wisdom can even know and calculate the return of death is truly chilling; no ruler could tolerate the existence of such a thing.

"..."

Priscilla's contemptuous lips gradually curled into a smile, echoing Crusch's sentiment. Even the incredibly arrogant Priscilla felt a deep sense of apprehension towards Echidna and the Book of Wisdom.

"Destroy it! This filthy and unsightly thing must be destroyed! I will never allow anyone to stand above me!"

Everyone who has witnessed Hachiman Hikigaya's suffering wants nothing more than to grind Roswaal, that cunning clown, to dust.

"...So it was you, Lord Roswaal. No, Roswaal."

Ram's eye, hidden beneath her pink bangs, was brimming with murderous intent.

She turned around and coldly gazed at Roswaal, the master she served, who was also in the mansion and was looking up at the sky from his house in the distance. He seemed to be thinking about something and was not paying attention to her.

"Ram doesn't mind sacrificing herself for you, but you dared to involve Rem. It seems our fate can only end here."

After all these years of replenishing her mana, her feelings for Roswaal are quite complicated... However, no matter how much affection she has for him, if he dares to implicate Rem, the world's number one, then there's nothing more to say.

"We will settle the score for harming Ram's sister later, Roswaal."

Ram snorted and turned around. She really wanted to avenge Rem immediately, but unfortunately, she couldn't possibly defeat Roswaal in her current state... Once Hachiman Hikigaya arrived and their fighting strength was gathered, everything would be much easier.

Ram turned around and stopped Rem, whose eyes were bloodshot, from rushing over to fight Roswaal and avenge her beloved.

“We can’t beat him right now, so let’s not sacrifice ourselves in vain, Rem.” Ram shook her head with a headache as she said this. These words couldn’t stop her sister. She glanced at the light screen in the sky and quickly added, “Rem, Hachiman’s future is still unfolding. Do you want to waste your time on things that have nothing to do with him? Otherwise, you won’t have time to see him.”

The second reason finally managed to calm the enraged Rem down.

"What do you mean, 'the first time'?" Hachiman Hikigaya's seemingly incomprehensible words made Roswaal chuckle. He reached under his pillow and pulled out his Book of Wisdom. "No need to test me, Hachiman-kun. Let's get straight to the point. I know you possess the power to correct and reset the world. You don't need to play dumb with me."

"Troublesome...incredibly troublesome. At this moment, Hachiman Hikigaya understood the feeling of being completely outmaneuvered by an enemy who had been brought back from the dead by his intelligence advantage. Roswaal, who had already made his move, possessed far more information than he did."

"Judging from your eyes, you seem quite confused. Don't you understand my reasons for arranging Elsa to attack the mansion?" Roswaal said with a smile. "Is that so? It seems this is only the second time."

"Stealing badges, monster invasions, the Cult of the Witch of Avoidance—each of these schemes of yours was designed to achieve the perfect outcome shown in the Book of Wisdom."

Hachiman Hikigaya frowned. "But what's the purpose this time? Could Elsa's invasion possibly bring me closer to Frederica or Beatrice? Those two things don't need Elsa's help at all."

"Roswaal, holding the Book of Wisdom, remained noncommittal. 'Before answering that question, I'd like to ask you, Hachiman-kun, what are you planning to do this time?'"

"If you're willing, I'll bring Ram and Garfiel this time." Hachiman Hikigaya didn't specify what his plan was if he didn't want to.

"Hmm~ It's a very good plan. If we can persuade Garfield, it should at least be enough to avert the danger to the mansion."

"Are you trying to tell me that, following the instructions of the Book of Wisdom, you not only laid a trap in the mansion, but also presumptuously sabotaged something elsewhere? Was it the Sanctuary?"

"Hachiman Hikigaya knows it's too late... Just like Erza, since Roswaal has the confidence to say it, he must have already made arrangements."

"However, just because it's too late this time doesn't mean it will be too late next time."

"Staring at the book in Roswaal's arms, Hachiman Hikigaya narrowed his eyes... Sooner or later, he would burn this book in one go to prevent Roswaal from doing something foolish that only makes things worse. Regardless of whether the perfect ending indicated by the Gospel is ultimately achieved, the deaths of others along the way are something Hachiman Hikigaya cannot tolerate."

"If Ram hadn't been on Roswaal's side and in the Sanctuary, and if Roswaal hadn't known Garfield and the others better, and if all these factors weren't so unstable, he really would have wanted to take action directly and fight Roswaal in a real battle."

"I know what you're thinking, Hachiman-kun. You're as smart as I am, and smart people always have the most concerns. I deliberately created this situation to keep you in check."