——About fifteen minutes after leaving the building where Roswaal had been recuperating.
"Here we are. This is what they call the 'Tomb' — honestly, it's not much of a tomb."
Saying that, Garfiel jerked his chin toward an ancient ruin on the outskirts of the
How many years had passed since its construction was impossible to tell, but the cracked walls here and there, the unnatural density of the ivy overgrowth — it was unmistakably over a century old.
Though the entrance faced the forest, most of the structure had been swallowed up by the woods, making it impossible to gauge at a glance just how large it truly was. If this was indeed a tomb built solely for the
"So powerful people wanting to sleep in huge tombs — I guess that's the same in every era, in every world..."
Subaru rubbed his chin and mused, still cocking his head at the sheer scale.
For someone as generally spur-of-the-moment as Subaru, posthumous evaluation wasn't exactly fascinating material. Then again, a certain resigned acceptance that he wasn't the sort of person whose name would be remembered by history only reinforced that indifference.
In any case— "So we've made it to the Tomb, but what exactly are we supposed to do here?"
Standing beside him,
"The fine details, ya can ask Roswaal about after we get back. For now, all I need Lady Emilia to do is go inside."
"Just go inside? Not do anything once I'm in?"
"The sun's still out, in case ya hadn't noticed. The 'Trial' won't start even if we go deep into the Tomb. No prep, no nothin' — first, we gotta confirm whether ya got the qualification or not."
"Hold on, hold on! You're jumping ahead again! Trial, preparation, qualification — you haven't explained any of that!"
Subaru stepped between them to stop Garfiel, who looked ready to shove Emilia inside by force, and demanded an explanation. But Garfiel had already pulled on that annoyed expression he'd shown several times over the past hour, wrinkling his nose.
"What's there to explain? Just go inside and head back to Roswaal's place — everything'll be clear then. If I try to explain, it'll be organized all wrong and turn into a tangled mess that doesn't make sense anyway."
"You're basically asking someone to sign a contract without letting them read the content. No way anyone'd feel safe doing that. If you're bad at organizing your thoughts, then just answer our questions one at a time, properly."
"Ahhh... fine, whatever. I can't hang around 'til sunset, so let's keep it short."
Garfiel spread both hands wide and accepted the proposal. Relieved that they could finally have a proper discussion, Subaru considered what to ask first — and then: "So this is the 'Tomb'... meaning, the tomb of the Witch of Greed, right?"
"That's what I heard. Honestly, I don't know whose bones are buried in there. But this is the Witch of Greed's grave, and at the very least, the villagers and I were all taught that."
The answer was a bit unsatisfying, but Subaru swallowed his reservations for the time being. Then he picked out a few key words from what Garfiel had said earlier.
The important ones were "Trial" and "qualification."
"This 'Trial' that starts inside the Tomb — what is it? Honestly, based on my experience over the past few weeks, I don't have a single good impression associated with that word."
"Don't worry about it. I hate being tested just as much. But about the 'Trial'... I don't know what it actually entails."
"Hey..."
"Don't get mad. I ain't messin' with ya. I just know that it happens inside the Tomb. And if you can't get through that 'Trial,' you won't be freed from this dead-end experimental ground."
"Freed... by whom?"
"That's what the 'qualification' thing is. If you've got the qualification, you can't leave the experimental ground. Until the 'Trial' is over, the Witch's possessiveness won't let go of ya — or so I'm told."
It was a roundabout answer, but Garfiel didn't seem to be deliberately distorting anything. He was chewing on what he knew and voicing it as best he could. The reason it still came out vague was probably because even in his own mind, these things were ambiguous.
Still, stitching together these fragments of information, Subaru tried to form a coherent understanding of the situation. And the answer he arrived at by assembling the scattered pieces was: "Only people with the qualification can enter the Tomb, and if a qualified person doesn't overcome the Trial, they can't leave the Sanctuary... is that it?"
"Yeah...? Something like that?"
"Even after breaking it down that much, it's still not good enough, huh..."
Subaru scratched his head, looking at the unreliable Garfiel. Setting that aside for the moment, he turned to look at Emilia. She received his gaze and put her own conclusion into words.
"Earlier, when I first entered the Sanctuary, I lost consciousness... so that was what happened?"
"That was the boundary — since you crossed the range of where you're allowed to go, you got knocked out? No, wait, Otto and I were both fine at the time..."
"That's 'cause you don't got the qualification."
When Subaru brought up Emilia's sudden loss of consciousness, Garfiel interjected with the answer. He pointed at Subaru with one hand, then pointed at Emilia with the other.
"Lady Emilia, as a half-elf, has the qualification. But Subaru, who's straight human through and through, doesn't. So he can come and go freely. But he can't take the Trial."
"Wait, wait, hold on. So what you're saying is — considering what you just told me — it's like this?"
Subaru held his breath, sorting through his thoughts. And then he recalled what Garfiel had said when they first met, and when he'd led them into the Sanctuary, and it clicked.
"The ones who can take the Trial are half-elves... no, people who are half-human, half-demi-human. And all the people living in the Sanctuary are in that same position."
"— Oh, did I not mention that before?"
Hearing Subaru's answer, Garfiel nodded with satisfaction, then blinked.
The next instant, his opened eyes turned gold, his pupils narrowing to something closer to a carnivore's. The tips of his fangs seemed to extend slightly, and the claws on both his raised hands were honed as if they were blades.
It was as though his compact frame had grown a size larger in an instant — no, that was no illusion. His short blond hair had, without anyone noticing, grown long enough to cascade down his back, and golden fur the same color as his hair covered his exposed limbs.
"I still got quite a bit of blood left in me, y'see. 'Throwbacks' are small potatoes for me."
"...That's incredible. Can I pet you?"
Subaru struggled not to let the surprise show in his voice, wiggling his fingers to mask his agitation. But the request was cut short by Garfiel reverting to his original form. Having witnessed the transformation, Emilia took a step forward, her breath caught.
"So then, this village really is a gathering of demi-humans..."
"More precisely, it's a bunch of half-human, half-demi-human mixes all thrown together. For some reason, the whole damn village is full of folks from different species who are all in the same boat. That's probably why people call Roswaal a 'demi-human fetishist' or whatever."
"So that's why Roswaal did what he did. For me, this place is..."
At that, Emilia pressed her hand to her lips and fell deep into thought.
For Subaru, too, this information was heavy. The people here, while differing in specifics, shared Emilia's heritage. For her — someone who had been shunned and rejected her whole life — this meant there might be people who could understand her pain.
That might amount to nothing more than a mutual wound-licking session. But what would she think, faced with the fact that she could find others who shared that same scar?
Even wanting to reach out to her wounds, feeling like he understood — never having experienced that same pain himself, Subaru didn't know how to heal her without making things worse. The frustration of that was bitter and maddening.
"So I've more or less gotten the picture about the village and the qualification. That means the problem now is the Trial. You said you don't know what it involves, but at the very least it starts after sunset, right?"
"That's the word. Even I don't know the details. But the reason we're here now is to check whether you've got the qualification to take it on, right? If we came at night and the Trial started right away, it'd be way too sudden."
Garfiel jerked his chin at the ruins and then at Emilia with his thumb, revealing their current purpose. Subaru nodded while glancing at the Tomb, which waited for them in silence.
The ivy grew in a dense tangle, and a foul-smelling dimness beckoned them in. The solemn weight of the word "Trial" didn't help — this didn't feel like something that would be over with a simple exploration of old ruins.
Above all, the fact that Emilia might be sent into a potentially dangerous place was — for
"Sorry,
"Did you say something?"
"The idea of throwing Emilia in there without knowing what's inside makes my chest feel like it's gonna burst from anxiety. So how about Garfiel goes in first, as a check and a sacrifice?"
At Subaru's suggestion, Garfiel stared blankly for a moment before breaking into a grin. He slapped his knees again, producing that dry clapping sound.
"Wouldn't most guys say that and then go in themselves?"
"I'd love to look cool and say I'll go, but considering survival rates if something goes wrong, I think you're better suited than me. You could probably smash through the ground or whatever and make it back easy. You're the strongest, after all."
"Oh? Well... yeah, I guess I am the strongest. Trial or no Trial, no matter what kind of danger rains down on me, I ain't budgin' one bit!"
Subaru couldn't really tell what exactly Garfiel was so determined to protect, but seeing him rub the bridge of his nose in such high spirits, it felt wrong to rain on that parade. However, Garfiel's expression quickly darkened.
"But... sorry, I can't go inside. That's the deal."
"...A deal?"
"Yeah, damn annoying as it is. And I'm not the one who made it, neither."
Garfiel kicked at the ground, hissing through his teeth. This wasn't a joke or idle banter — as a matter of fact, he genuinely could not enter. What would happen if he broke that vow — it wasn't a question Subaru could press in front of Emilia, who took promises so seriously.
In any case, every option was now blocked. Sending Emilia alone was out of the question, and the scout-Garfiel plan had been shot down at the outset. That left only one possible course of action.
"Would you mind if I go look for Otto real quick?"
"That'll take too long and the sun will set. — It's fine. I'll go."
Subaru tried to recruit yet another sacrificial lamb, but Emilia gently rejected the idea. With her resolve apparently set, her gaze was fixed on the entrance to the Tomb, her violet eyes harboring vigilance for whatever might happen inside.
She too must have anticipated that something unsettling was bound to occur, given the ominous ring of the word "Trial" and the sinister setting of the "Witch's Tomb."
Despite sharing the same anxiety and concern, Subaru felt wretchedly powerless that he couldn't even take her hand.
"Just let me check inside first — or at least let me go in around the entrance alone—"
"I really don't think that's a good idea. You ain't got the qualification, Subaru. If someone without it tries to barge into the Witch's Tomb, you'll end up like Roswaal."
"Like Roswaal... did that happen to him because he went in here?"
Remembering Roswaal wrapped head-to-toe in bandages, Subaru suppressed his shock and looked up at Garfiel. Garfiel crossed his arms and nodded in confirmation.
"If someone without the qualification steps inside at night, that's what happens. It ended up that way for him probably 'cause it was nighttime, but I wouldn't feel safe even during the day."
"So when he said he wasn't attacked by anyone, that's what he meant..."
At last, the meaning behind Roswaal's carefully worded explanation made sense. He'd said he wasn't injured by any particular person — and this was what he'd meant.
But that raised yet another question. Why, then, had Roswaal entered the Tomb?
— A man without the qualification. He must have known he was one such man.
"...I'm going in first, just like I said."
Putting his doubts about Roswaal aside, Subaru came to this conclusion.
Hearing his answer, Emilia and Garfiel both looked stunned for a moment.
"Hey, hey, were you even listenin'? Someone without the qualification going in at night is dangerous as hell. Roswaal turned out like that 'cause it was nighttime, but you can't let your guard down during the day either!"
"That's right. It's dangerous, so don't go, okay, Subaru? I'm sure I'll be fine. I've never had the chance to be grateful for it, but maybe being a half-elf will actually be useful here..."
"Trust me, I appreciate the concern, but..."
The two of them tried to hold him back. Subaru looked gently at Emilia, who tugged at his sleeve, and carefully pried her fingers loose.
"If we each take on our role calmly, this is the natural outcome, right? It's just as dangerous for anyone going in there. Based on what we know, there's a slightly higher chance it'd be dangerous for me, that's all. So the rest is about what each of us can do."
"What each of us can do?"
"If something bad happens inside and someone gets hurt, I can't heal Emilia. Unless Garfiel secretly turns out to be an incredible healer, which would change the equation."
"I get cuts and bruises all the time. Just spit on 'em and they heal up fine."
"That's what the suspect is claiming in his testimony... If there's a chance either of us could get hurt, I'd rather keep Emilia and her healing magic in reserve."
With Garfiel declaring this so matter-of-factly, Subaru turned back to Emilia to make his case.
Emilia wavered, but apparently judged that she couldn't concede on the crucial point. She shook her head, saying "But—"
"A serious injury... one that could be life-threatening — I can't heal that.
"Yeah, that was a pretty dangerous wound he had. ...Still, trust in my stubborn will to live, will ya? I'm pretty tenacious — probably in the top tier even in this world."
Subaru smiled at her and answered with words that weren't a joke this time.
The truth was, there were few people as tenaciously unwilling to give up as Subaru. If he were given infinite chances to try again, he would certainly try infinitely.
No matter how many times his spirit broke, no matter how many times he was shattered, he would keep clawing his way forward to reach the answer he sought.
That was what Natsuki Subaru— "How about I make a promise? That way you'll feel better, right? I absolutely, positively will come back to Emilia. I won't leave your side or anything like that."
"Then let's do it."
When he half-jokingly extended his pinky, the response was surprisingly eager. A surprised Subaru extended his own pinky, and Emilia tilted her head slightly.
"What do we do with our fingers?"
"Huh? Oh — we hook our pinkies together like this — wow, Emilia, your fingers are so small and white and cute..."
As their pinkies intertwined, Subaru was moved by the unexpected contact. Then, following her violet gaze that urged him onward, he gave a small cough.
"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a thousand needles in my eye!"
"Pinky swear!"
Their pinkies separated simultaneously, and a promise was exchanged between Subaru and Emilia.
This time, it was a promise made with full understanding of how heavy promises were to her. There was no way he could treat it lightly, the way he had before.
"Okay, I'm gonna take a quick peek inside. Basically, I plan to look around while calling out, so keep talking to me from out here so I'm not lonely."
"Man, I can't tell if that's tough or just weird..."
"Part of being cautious. Although, I am kinda casually ignoring Ram's warning..."
The latter half was a murmur only for himself, as Subaru silently apologized to the pink-haired girl in his mind.
The Witch's obsession — she'd used that ominous word, and Subaru didn't want Emilia to hear it. If she did, she'd surely insist even more firmly on going in herself.
"Subaru. If it feels dangerous, please come right back."
Emilia clasped her hands in front of her chest and watched him go with worried eyes.
Subaru gave her his signature thumbs-up, flashed his teeth in a grin, and stepped forward — toward the Tomb.
Stepping over the vines at his feet, he peered into the darkness that already began just a few meters past the entrance. Silence filled the Tomb; so far, there was no sense of vengeful voices or lurking malevolent creatures.
Of course, he had no real idea what awaited him in that darkness.
"Oh, to hell with it. They say you've got to enter the tiger's cave to catch a tiger cub — though I don't need a tiger cub!"
As a fluff enthusiast, he certainly had the desire to lavish affection on young tigers to his heart's content — but this was not something he'd call "worth the risk."
In any case, as if influenced by Garfiel, Subaru psyched himself up with a proverb and, steeling his resolve, stepped into the Tomb.
The moment his foot touched the cold stone floor of the Tomb— "—Huh?"
A bizarre sensation, as though the ground beneath him had vanished.
Startled, Subaru looked down and lost his voice. — The floor was gone.
"W-Wait... this can't be—"
— The flag was being reaped far too quickly.
The foothold he'd tried to step onto didn't exist, and his forward-leaning body had no way to steady itself. His hand shot out instinctively, but it touched neither wall nor floor, and his body was swallowed into the darkness below— "Aaaah—!!?"
He plummeted, deep, deeper, into what seemed like an endless abyss.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ — About ten minutes after waking at the bottom of that abyss.
After wandering through the darkness that could lead anywhere, Subaru arrived at a place where he encountered a single girl.
And now, having recounted everything up to that point at her prompting: "So yeah, that's the story. I fell into the dark, scared out of my mind and starving, and I stumbled around until I found you. ...So? You satisfied?"
"Mmm, very satisfied indeed. It seems you're a person who exceeds my expectations."
The girl standing before him — placing the back of her hand against her mouth — chuckled softly, and Subaru watched her with guarded eyes.
His weight-shifted feet were ready to spring at any moment, and his hands opened and closed, prepared to restrain her in an instant.
However, Subaru's clumsy ambush plan was swiftly defused.
"There's no need to be so wary. Besides, you yourself must realize that your chances of winning against me are slim, right? Courage and recklessness may look similar, but they're quite different things."
"Sorry, but losing isn't an excuse for me to submit. And yeah, you said I shouldn't worry — but could you seriously expect me to be casual around someone who calls herself the Witch of Greed?"
"Hmm. You make a fair point. That was my oversight."
Even with Subaru's reply bristling with irritation and defiance, the girl —
It was like reading a manga and looking down at the depicted characters from an entirely different dimension. To her, Subaru wasn't even on the same stage.
That was precisely why Subaru approached her with maximum vigilance.
She radiated an oppressive presence that even surpassed the
And yet, as she looked sideways at Subaru — cold sweat forming on his forehead — she continued: "Still, being treated so coldly does genuinely sting. As you can see, I'm just a frail girl, you know? Having a boy look at me with those eyes... it's not exactly pleasant."
"The 'girl' you just described — does it come with a 'death flag' footnote? Let me tell you, the danger sensor inside me has been going haywire this whole time."
This was a skill born from the many times Subaru had experienced death since coming to this world. Despite having this skill, his death count only continued to climb — but his mind, which always vowed never to endure that again, was what made him acutely aware of the danger.
According to it, the girl before him was a threat on par with Petelgeuse.
But— "This won't do for a proper conversation. Can't be helped. — Then, how about we try something like this?"
With that, Echidna raised her right hand lightly in front of her face. Subaru held his breath at the motion, and in the next instant, she snapped her fingers.
A soft sound rang out, and immediately after — the world in Subaru's vision changed completely.
The cold stone space he'd believed to be the bottom of the Tomb had vanished. In its place spread a grassland swaying in the wind — specifically, atop a small hill.
"Wha—!?"
"Why don't you stop loitering over there and come here instead?"
Echidna laughed at the stunned Subaru as he looked around, then sat down in one of the chairs arranged around a white table on the hilltop and gestured to the seat across from her.
Confused, Subaru hesitantly approached and sat down across from her. On the table sat steaming teacups, and as Subaru stared at them in silence, she said: "There's nothing dangerous in it, so relax. If you like, I can take a sip first. Whether a witch can be poisoned — if that's what you're worried about, it wouldn't prove anything anyway."
"...I give up. Since stepping into that Tomb, my sense of normalcy has been completely overturned. What is going on here? Can you use teleportation magic too?"
The last time Subaru had experienced teleportation magic, it had been through
Having been expelled from the Forbidden Library by her, he'd been transported all the way to the livestock barn in
"Teleportation... oh, shadow magic? No, if so, you're mistaken. That sort of magic has quite a few flaws. I don't much care for it. What I did just now was a little parlor trick. I have a certain degree of free rein here, you see. This is my castle, after all."
"Your... castle?"
Subaru furrowed his brow at Echidna's words and looked around once more.
The wind-swept grassland stretched endlessly in every direction, and no matter where he focused his gaze, there was nothing to be found all the way to the horizon. Whether such a perfectly blank expanse could exist in reality was debatable, but the sight was undeniably fantastical.
Aware of this, Subaru swallowed, then shrugged with a grin.
"Sorry, but no matter where I look, I don't see a castle — not even a shack. What, your castle under renovation or something? Or did creditors come and take everything except the chairs and table?"
"Heh heh heh. You really are amusing. Before me, the number of people who've been that brazen — excluding other Witches, of course — can be counted on one hand. I never thought that number would increase after death."
Echidna laughed, counting through her memories with her fingers, and was clearly delighted to add Subaru to the tally.
In return, Subaru caught a word in her statement that he couldn't overlook. She had just said: "after death."
"If you really are the Witch of Greed, then according to my memory you should be dead. I only came here to visit your grave in the first place."
"Thank you for that. If you'd like to leave flowers, I'd appreciate them at the entrance. I don't partake in alcohol, so sweet offerings would be nice, if possible."
"Does this world even have a grave-offering culture? ...Sorry, but I don't have any souvenirs, and I forgot to buy flowers. You'll have to settle for my smile."
A smile to rival a blooming garden — a poisonous flower, in this case.
He flashed it for her, and Echidna let out a delighted hum. She then raised the cup on the table to her lips, took a sip, and continued: "I've never enjoyed tea this much even when I was alive. It really is worth dying for, it seems. New discoveries truly never end."
"I'm not even sure we're having the same conversation anymore. ...Fine, I'll drink it. I'll drink it!"
Feeling foolish for being on edge with an apparently nonhostile opponent, Subaru snatched the cup from the table and drank it down.
It was neither water, nor tea, nor coffee — an inexplicable taste. Not unpleasant.
"Drinking something a Witch offers you — that's quite brave."
"Heh. At this point, I can't afford to be scared. If you actually wanted to kill me, I'd be charcoal in the next panel. I don't have time to worry about a cup of tea."
He waved his hand, set the empty cup down on the table, and said, "Thanks for the drink."
"Wasn't great, wasn't terrible, but what kind of tea was that?"
"It was brewed in my castle. If you want to put it bluntly — it's my bodily fluids."
"What the hell did you make me drink!?"
Subaru shot to his feet as if kicking the chair away, desperately trying to spit out the liquid he'd just swallowed. But Echidna just chuckled at his dramatic reaction.
"I'm a little hurt. I think I present quite well, personally."
"I don't care how pretty you are — I'm not drinking bodily fluids without any warning! And even with warning, I don't want to drink anything called 'bodily fluids'! My tastes are normal!"
He had no interest in things like saliva or sweat, he was pretty sure.
(Though he couldn't entirely hide from himself the thought: "If it were Emilia's or
"Relax. It's extremely easy for the body to absorb. After all, it's a bodily fluid."
"You're not saying anything clever — stop looking so proud of yourself!"
Subaru was exasperated by Echidna's slightly smug demeanor. She took another sip from her cup with a cool expression, then continued: "Still, you really are an extraordinary person. The fact that you can stand before me like this is proof enough."
"What's that supposed to mean? That I should be so dazzled by your beauty that my eyes would melt? Let me tell you, I've got the absolute best girls right in front of me all the time. So I don't actually find you that pretty very often."
"No, a normal person would throw up in front of me. Interesting, isn't it?"
"None of this is interesting!"
As they exchanged increasingly anxiety-inducing banter, Subaru studied the girl seated across from him.
Hair and skin white as snow. Her black dress resembled mourning attire, lending an oddly sensual quality to her youthful beauty. A beautiful girl in mourning — there was something dangerous about that combination, Subaru noted — but the oppressive aura that never dissipated was what kept him viewing her as a genuine threat.
"Now then—"
She looked up at the still-wary Subaru, placed her empty cup on the table, and traced its rim with her fingertip.
"This conversation is a novel pleasure for me as well... but you can't say the same, can you? Aren't there things you want to say, things you want to ask?"
"...Right. Yes! I was so caught up in the atmosphere that I completely forgot, but that's exactly it. You are — no, before even that, where is this place? Am I really still inside the Tomb?"
For Subaru, this was where the fall after stepping into the Tomb had led him.
He'd believed it when told this was the bottom of the Tomb — at least up until that dim stone room. Now that he'd been brought to this grassland, even that much seemed doubtful.
At Subaru's question, Echidna lightly stroked her white hair.
"That question is half right and half wrong. Your body is certainly still inside the Tomb, but your soul is in my castle. To put it simply — this is a dream."
"A dream...? But I don't have enough reason to remember your face that I'd dream about it."
"Just because you're in a dream doesn't mean the location has to be within your own dream. This is my castle — in other words, a dream of mine. Haven't you been to a space similar to this one?"
At Echidna's probing question, Subaru held his breath. Then he shook his head slightly.
"On what basis are you saying that—?"
"I don't have proof. I just... had that feeling. Your behavior reminded me of someone who knows something but is trying to look away from it."
"...I really don't know. But what you're saying isn't wrong."
Her words weren't harsh, but they made Subaru feel as though he were being indicted. And indeed, he couldn't control the waves of emotion clashing inside his chest.
What Echidna said wasn't wrong — and Subaru's answer wasn't a lie, either.
When told that this was a dream, Subaru had been surprised, but had also felt a sense of understanding — as if the sensation were something already familiar, something his heart recognized.
He didn't know why he felt that way. He couldn't find the answer anywhere in his memories.
"I'll accept for now that this is your dream. So — how do I get out?"
"The ways to wake from a dream are to decide to wake up, or to be woken from outside. Of course, I no longer have a physical body for anyone to reach, and waking on your own from someone else's dream is quite difficult. If I don't want to wake you, you probably can't wake up."
"—! Then could it be that you..."
At Echidna's calm words, Subaru shuddered.
The meaning of her "castle" became starkly clear. His soul, trapped here, was now in the palm of her hand. The Witch's obsession that Ram had spoken of — those words took on a chilling reality.
"You're planning to keep me from getting out...?"
Even as he maintained maximum vigilance, he threw out words that could crack his relationship with the Witch fatally — knowing full well she might reveal her true nature.
And to that, Echidna gave a soft sigh.
"Not at all. If you want to go home, I'll send you back. It's not like I summoned you — you came here on your own."
"You're killing me with this lack of tension! The serious mood is dead in the water here!"
"Well, Sir Serious can't stand in front of me the way you can. He's probably throwing up in the shade somewhere."
The casually poisonous remark deflated Subaru. In the end, what did she even want from him?
They'd talked for a short while, but he couldn't pin down her character. Someone called a Witch — it was perhaps too much to expect to understand her in such a short time.
"At any rate, let me go home if you can. There's someone up there worrying about me. Instead of drinking your fluids, I'd rather put that person's mind at ease."
"That's fine, but what about you?"
"What about me?"
"You'd be leaving my side — the Witch of Greed. ...The chance to speak with me is something no one else could easily obtain, even if they wanted it."
Hearing this, Subaru became aware of the weight of her words for the first time.
She was right. She was absolutely right. So focused on the threat she posed, Subaru had overlooked something crucial. If she truly was the Witch of Greed — if that was a name she had truly lived under— "Do you... know the answers to the things I want to know?"
"You would ask this Echidna where knowledge resides—?"
At Subaru's strained words, Echidna chuckled again. But this laugh was the most delighted yet, and it carried an oppressive weight beyond anything before.
The atmosphere warped. The grassland that had stretched beneath a clear sky began to crumble. The sky split open, the grass burned, and the world beyond the horizon collapsed and fell away.
Subaru felt a phantom tremor and reached desperately for the solid table before him. The moment he touched it, it dissolved like sand in his hands. And then— "As I thought, you are a fascinating being."
The scenery around Echidna transformed, and grotesque patterns engulfed the world. Darkness spread, reaching out with countless tendrils, and began to wrap around Subaru's entire body.
He struggled to escape the horror, but the world's collapse had already spread close to them. There was no ground left to flee to. And the world continued to fall away— "If we're going to exchange words, this much space is sufficient. Learn what you wish to learn. The desire for that — the greed for it — I shall affirm."
All that remained between them was just enough space for the two chairs they'd been sitting in. Close enough to reach out and touch — a world made only for sitting across from one another and talking.
Everything else had been lost. At the bottom of the darkness where the ground had given way, there was no end in sight. It was no joke — if one fell, there would be no coming back.
The chill of that realization ran down Subaru's spine as he looked at Echidna, who sat across from him in high spirits.
She clapped her hands together and looked at Subaru with gleaming eyes.
"So — what would you like to ask? If it is something knowable, I will answer anything. About
Names Subaru had never heard — no, names that shouldn't exist in the world he knew.
Subaru couldn't speak, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information flooding in, but Echidna continued to smile.
"The incarnation of the desire for knowledge, who sought all manner of wisdom and couldn't even let go of the world after death — the Witch of Greed, Echidna?"
She pointed at herself and spoke with a touch of self-mockery. Then, "And above all—"
She continued: "The Witch of Envy, who destroyed all those other Witches and turned the world itself into her sustenance... that one?"