"Someone rather rough smashed the carefully prepared space, didn't they? That sort of violence is probably
"A bit...? I thought she went straight for it. She was the whole new-genre violent tsundere healer-loli-with-huge-boobs package. Too many tropes crammed into one person — I'm completely stuffed."
Subaru wrapped his newly healed right arm around
The quality of the pressure he felt from the white-haired girl hadn't changed. Still, he had to admit her machinations had yielded at least some result.
"Well, I guess I'm at least in the mood to talk with you one-on-one. Compared to the witches from before, you're way more rational... no, actually, the
"
"No joke? Is she scary when she's mad?"
"Not just scary. Even if all of us ganged up on her, we couldn't win. If the other five witches besides Sekhmet formed an alliance, they still probably couldn't beat her."
Subaru settled back into his chair and cast a skeptical look at Echidna as she spoke.
What flickered through his mind was a languid woman with reddish-purple hair. From every facet of her attitude, that person had radiated a lifeless lethargy — and yet she was supposed to be overwhelmingly the strongest among the witches?
"Come to think of it, listening to you talk, it kind of feel like you're skipping over the Witch of Envy."
"——This is one piece of advice for our conversation."
When Subaru brought up the witch whose name had never been mentioned, Echidna smiled faintly and raised a single finger.
She tilted her head as she watched Subaru focus on that fingertip, then spoke.
"I consider the other witches to be friends, and worthy of respect. I have a personality riddled with all sorts of flaws, after all. Their existence, having accompanied me for so long, was a refuge and a salvation for me. That is why I have collected every last one of their souls."
"...That sounded like something I really shouldn't have heard, but go on."
"The one who destroyed those witches was the Witch of Envy. —Could you laugh and say the name of the being who slaughtered your friends in the most brutal manner imaginable?"
The smile didn't change. But its quality did.
A chill raced up Subaru's spine, and before he knew it, he was nodding over and over in agreement with her. Having witnessed this, she drew her chin back and said, "I thought so," then: "The mood's gotten a bit heavy, hasn't it? How about another cup of tea as a palate cleanser?"
"I don't have the guts to drink Donna tea again. If there's no proper tea on offer, I'm not drinking or eating anything here."
"Being invited to a witches' tea party was supposed to be the envy of everyone in my era... good grief, times and people really do change."
She'd apparently been about to pour a cup for Subaru too, but looking disappointed, Echidna merely refilled her own cup and brought it to her lips.
If her words were true, then the tea's true identity was her bodily fluids. Which meant she was drinking her own self-generated fluids...
"You know how they say rabbits eat their own poop to make a perpetual motion machine?"
"I find it somewhat humiliating to be lumped in with those creatures... but hmm? Or was that a roundabout way of saying you'd like to hear about the
"The Great Rabbit?"
He tilted his head. It was a term he'd heard somewhere before.
He rolled his neck searching his memory, and then recalled where he'd heard that word. Yes — it had been atop
"A magical beast said to rival the
"
"For the record, I was the one who took down the White Whale the other day. My doing."
He jerked his thumb toward himself and puffed his nostrils with a smug grin. Hearing this, Echidna's dark eyes widened with genuine surprise for the first time.
"Oh, is that so? That's impressive. From the looks of you, I see no talent for the sword nor the slightest hint of magical ability... so you must have been quite clever at manipulating those around you."
"Getting found out in two seconds flat that I didn't solo it is kind of depressing...! Maybe I did wipe them all out by myself, you know?"
"The White Whale and the Great Rabbit — it's hard to believe any human could kill either of those alone. Even in my era, the only one who could pull that off would be someone like Reid."
Another unfamiliar name, and Subaru raised an eyebrow. Seeing this, she pressed a finger to her thin lips and murmured, "Hmm."
"Has it not been passed down in this era? I thought his accomplishments were quite remarkable. At the very least, no one but him could single-handedly cut down twelve dragons, adult ones included."
"Well, my understanding of general常识 — I mean general knowledge — is kinda shallow. But wow, that guy's insane. How strong was he?"
"——
The pieces clicked firmly into place inside Subaru's head at Echidna's words.
Astrea — that was Reinhard and Wilhelm's family name, the clan beloved by the gods of the sword that had produced both the current Sword Saint and the Sword Devil. Their first head must have been Reid Astrea.
"Got it, I'm convinced. The title still exists. I don't know which generation it is now, but the current Sword Saint is a buddy of mine. Probably a monster on par with whatever ancestor you knew."
"That's quite a way to talk about a friend... but knowing how superhuman Reid was, I can't bring myself to laugh at you. Now then — we were talking about the Great Rabbit?"
"Ah — right. The Great Rabbit and the Black Serpent — I'm dying to hear more about both, but..."
The gluttonous knowledge-hoarder was clearly itching to show off, but Subaru held up a stop signal and thought. There were mountains of things he wanted to know, but trying to digest them all at once would be too much for his head to handle.
He should pick out only the things he truly wanted to know and pursue them in depth.
First, the most pressing thing: "So, you're Echidna. The 'Witch of Greed,' deceased as of now. That much is correct, right?"
"As we confirmed at the very start. That's exactly right. This place exists within my dream, and whenever you'd like to leave, just say the word."
"I appreciate the consideration. So, my first question is..."
He rested his chin on his hand and stared at the white-haired girl. She endured his impertinent gaze, touching her own translucently white cheek, and asked, "What is it?" with one eye closed.
"I probably should've confirmed this from the start, but... just where are you 'deceased,' exactly? You seem to be going strong."
"Ah, right. I hadn't explained that point at all, had I? You're something else for not bringing it up until now, and I'm something else for never mentioning it either."
She clapped her hands together and nodded as if everything made perfect sense. Subaru scratched his head in agreement with her gesture, acknowledging that he'd been out of sorts.
The shock of the witches' appearance, followed by the surprise reunion, had been so overwhelming that he'd forgotten to ask even this obvious question.
"If this is a 'ghost in the graveyard' sort of situation, I guess that's fine in its own way. But when you're interfering this much, I can't exactly just write it off as my imagination."
"I won't deny the ghost part. It's a fact that I'm a spiritual entity without a physical body. As for why I'm like this — well, I suppose the most accurate answer would be: as a deterrent force."
"A deterrent force...? Against what — no, for what purpose would be more accurate?"
"Sharp."
She nodded, satisfied with his response, and gave a small round of applause. Then she gestured up at the sky — the artificial blue sky — with her hand.
"The one who binds me here in this place is
"...The dragon that swore an oath with the king of the
"That's the one. I am sealed in this tomb by the dragon's power. The reason Volcanica did so, as you've surmised, is as a deterrent against the Witch of Envy."
Though Echidna's gaze was calm and intellectual, every time the words "Witch of Envy" spilled from her lips, a flash of harsh emotion crossed her eyes for but an instant.
It spoke to just how vast the chasm between her and the Witch of Envy truly was.
"The Witch of Envy is still sealed by the Od Laguna's stone even now, but her seal isn't impregnable. Volcanica's lifespan isn't eternal either, and there's no guarantee the seal won't be broken at some chance occurrence. There are more than a few beings who revere her, and natural disasters could damage part of the Seal Stone. —That is why Volcanica preserved my existence."
"So that if the Witch of Envy revives, you'd serve as a fighting force to counter her..."
"Though I'm not sure I, as the last remaining witch, could live up to Volcanica's expectations. If it wanted to leave someone behind, it should have left Sekhmet. The issue is that Volcanica and Sekhmet themselves had friction. Apparently it had a complex about being pummeled by her."
She laughed off the grudge between the dragon and the witches with casual ease, but Subaru, having heard the tale, could not laugh.
The scale of the rift between the dragon and the witches sounded far too much like a minor misunderstanding between people for him to take it lightly, and frankly, the story of the Witch of Sloth beating up a dragon sounded too absurd to fully believe either.
Subaru fell silent, unsure what to say. Before him, Echidna continued regardless.
"A witch such as myself, and the Divine Dragon Volcanica. Add to that the Sword Sage... or a sage. If that many gathered, they might be able to stand against the Witch of Envy in the event she revived. That, more or less, is Volcanica's faint hope. This is the background behind why I'm still being made to embarrass myself after death."
"So in other words, the dragon is the one keeping you as a poltergeist?"
"To be precise, Volcanica's will is being sustained by the Mathers family's barrier formula. You've come this far — you must know of the Mathers, at least? Though perhaps even that name no longer exists..."
"No, the Mathers are still around.
Exasperated at the depth of the witches' entanglement, Subaru racked his brain over how to explain Roswaal. But regardless of his hesitation, Echidna's perfectly shaped brow twitched, and she murmured, "Roswaal?"
"Forgive me — did you just say Roswaal?"
"Hm? Yeah, that's right, Roswaal. Why, you know him?"
"If I did, that would be rather troublesome. I'm someone from roughly four hundred years ago, after all. If that person existed in the same era, things would get a bit strange."
Subaru agreed with her observation. He pursed his lips, remembering the clown-like face, and Echidna pressed a finger to her own lips before saying, "Let me see..."
"The Roswaal you speak of — is he a person with long, deep-gray hair? His eye color was... yellow, if I recall correctly."
"No, then that's different. The Roswaal I know has indigo hair — the same color as the jeans I used to wear. And his eyes are different too. That guy's got heterochromatic eyes — one blue and one yellow."
Relieved at the difference in characteristics, Subaru let out a sigh. Then a thought struck him.
Roswaal had told Subaru that he inherited the management of this land — the Sanctuary — from generation to generation. Which would mean he'd also inherited the pact with Volcanica to seal Echidna in this tomb.
A role passed down through the family. If that was the case...
"Maybe Roswaal is a name that gets inherited. You know, like in manga where a girl gets saddled with a guy's name — that sort of thing."
"The one who inherits Roswaal, hm? If so, that's a bit of a nightmare."
She nodded as though convinced by his reasoning, then shrugged with a trace of weariness showing through. At this uncharacteristic behavior, Subaru frowned, and she said, "No, it's just..."
"The Roswaal I knew had a personality that was perhaps too devoted — the kind of person who might dedicate his entire life to a single purpose. If, after my death, he remained unchanged..."
"He'd have devoted not just his own life, but his entire family's time as well?"
"Exactly. Good grief — that's terrifying just to think about."
Despite her words, a smile lingered at the corners of Echidna's lips.
It looked like the smile of a parent watching over a poorly performing child — though perhaps that was Subaru's imagination. In any case.
"So now I know why you're in this tomb, and who's behind it. Whether it's really the case, I'll hammer out of the modern Roswaal after I wake up from this dream."
"Be my guest. ...Now then, any other questions?"
"You bet there are. Next I want to know about the trials. I've heard this tomb holds some kind of trial. I want to hear what it entails. And if there are model answers, throw those in too."
"Asking the examiner for the answers along with the questions — that's rather merciless of you."
"Going easy and cheating's the name of the game. If there's a shortcut, there's no reason not to take it. I'm the kind of person who plays games with a walkthrough open on the side."
Because doing events over in a second playthrough was a pain.
Setting aside Subaru's rather sloppy player philosophy, Echidna closed her eyes in thought and, precisely five seconds later, opened them.
"The trials, you said."
"Yeah. Apparently, someone's going to test me. And if I can't clear it, someone important to me is going to be in trouble. She'll get homesick and be trapped in the Sanctuary. And of course, there's no way I'm leaving her behind and going home."
The barrier-like field surrounding the Sanctuary — if it rejected her passage, then Subaru, who wasn't being repelled, had no intention of leaving either.
She would break through the trials, and the two of them would pass through that wall together.
He'd do whatever it took. Even if it meant—— "Cheating!"
"I hate to interrupt your enthusiasm, but I don't know anything about the trials. I had no involvement with them. Therefore, I have no idea what they contain."
"Why not?!"
His momentum was instantly choked off, and Subaru let out a shriek. Hearing this, Echidna shook her head.
"Do you even know what this place is? It's my tomb. Which means this tomb was created after my death. And the trials you speak of take place within this tomb, don't they? In other words, the tomb's trials were made after I died. A deceased person like me couldn't possibly interfere with something like that."
"You've been chatting away at full capacity this whole time and you expect me to buy that now?!"
"In any case, the examiner isn't me. That's why I can't answer about the trials. If anything, I'd like to ask you about them. The contents, the selection criteria for those examined, the problem types — and of course the answers themselves. My curiosity is endless."
Her eyes blazed with light as the Witch of Greed's intellectual hunger ignited.
Subaru sighed at this frankly desiring side of her and decided there was no point dragging the conversation further regarding the trials.
Which left him thinking...
"Huh, now that I think about it, I don't really have much I want to ask you."
"...Eh? You're joking. That can't be right. I'm the Witch of Greed, you know? People from all over the world have sought out my knowledge and come to this place. And now, with me right in front of you, giving you free rein to ask questions, you're saying there's nothing you want to know...?"
"Well, you're deceased, so you don't have much knowledge about things after your death, right? A lot of what I want to ask is about what's happening right now, so there's no point asking someone who's ignorant about that..."
"W-wait, calm down. Granted, I'm out of touch with the modern world. But as for old knowledge, there's almost nothing I don't know. History from four hundred years ago that has faded from every living memory — isn't this a chance to learn about it all? The same goes for what the earlier witches told you. There probably aren't any records of those stories left anywhere in the world."
"But I'm not that interested in witches. You keep telling me they're all deceased anyway, and with everything else I have to think about, hearing about them just makes me..."
"Noooo..."
Watching Subaru genuinely try to wrap things up, Echidna herself was the one making a dissatisfied face. Their positions had completely reversed.
All the same, for Subaru it was the truth. The evil deeds and great exploits of the witches of old — his interest ranged from lukewarm to nonexistent. Given that knowing them wouldn't change anything, he truly wasn't all that curious.
And yet, if asked whether there was any other useful information Echidna could offer — nothing came to mind.
"Oh wait — I just remembered one thing."
"Oh yes! That's it, see? Of course you have. Ask me anything at all. If it's something I can answer, I'll answer with pleasure — come on!"
Having been made to wait, Echidna's eagerness to pounce on Subaru's question was extraordinary.
Even knowing she was a witch, Subaru reflected that you couldn't strip away that fundamentally human quality at the root. Then, remembering the Sanctuary, he said: "One of the residents of the Sanctuary where this tomb is located — they called this place an 'experimental site.' Apparently it refers to the Witch of Greed's experimental site. Between the barrier that doesn't let half-bloods escape and all that, what kind of experiment was being conducted—"
"I can't tell you."
"I was hoping you could—"
But the question was cut off cleanly by Echidna, whose expression had gone completely blank.
Her utterly closed-off attitude left Subaru speechless. Seeing his reaction, Echidna seemed to realize how harsh she'd sounded, and looked uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry for the way I phrased that. But there are some things I cannot share. I am unable to answer that question. It's not that I can't — it's that I don't want to."
"...Those don't sound like words that leave a great impression. But you're not denying it either."
"I'd like you to stop right there. I don't want to be despised."
Echidna lowered her eyes, refusing any further inquiry.
A being of overwhelming power — a witch — had shrunk her shoulders and pleaded with Subaru in such a manner. Having heard that, he had no choice but to abandon further probing.
What crossed his mind instead was: "Come to think of it, your name... I'd heard it before coming here, too."
"............"
Echidna said nothing. Before her, Subaru touched his own forehead and searched his memories. The name of Echidna, the Witch of Greed — it was a name that had brushed past Subaru's ears several times before his arrival at the Sanctuary.
The very first time he'd heard it was— "It was
In the loops originating from the capital, Subaru had been killed by that Great Spirit three times. The most wretched and bitterly painful memories — the times he'd been toyed with and killed by a giant Puck.
It was in a conversation between the freezing-to-death Petelgeuse and Puck that her name had been thrown out. Subaru's consciousness at the time had been hazy, and he hadn't been able to recall it until now.
Hearing Subaru's murmur as he dug through that memory, Echidna raised her face.
"Puck...? Surely you don't mean the cat spirit—"
"——!? Yes, exactly. The cat spirit. Puck — you know him?"
"It's not a matter of knowing him — is he here? If so, how much does he remember?"
Unexpectedly shaken by the name, Echidna launched into a rapid-fire string of questions before falling abruptly silent.
As Subaru stared, unable to say a word in the face of her almost frightening intensity, she closed her eyes further in deep thought.
Just as Subaru was about to raise his gaze to find a way to continue— "——Ah!?"
Suddenly, his awareness was seized by a burning presence asserting itself deep in his gut.
"...Wh—ah?"
An excruciating wave of heat seared his stomach. Subaru groaned, clutching his abdomen, and staggered on unsteady feet.
The sudden onset of pain was abnormal. It couldn't even be compared to a stomachache — this mysterious agony sent drool trailing from the corner of his mouth. Unable to stand, he sank to his knees, and within moments collapsed on his side.
Looking down at him with cold eyes was Echidna.
"Ah, it seems to have finally kicked in."
She slowly approached the writhing Subaru, knelt down, brought her face close to his, and brushed his bangs aside from his gasping mouth.
"When you're invited to a witches' tea party, you must never eat or drink whatever is casually offered to you. —Consider it a lesson learned."
"You... were that... poison...?"
"Hardly. I told you, didn't I? What you drank was my body fluid. A component of a witch — fundamentally different from a human being. You ingested a part of me."
The word "bodily fluids" and what followed drove home just how carelessly he'd dismissed the matter. The result was this — writhing in agony.
Eyes wide, Subaru glared at Echidna. Where had all the friendliness gone? What purpose could she possibly have for doing this— "I want you to understand — I harbor no hostility or ill will toward you. Quite the opposite, actually. I look upon your existence favorably. That's precisely why I made you drink a part of me."
"Then... explain... simply..."
"If I had to put it simply: I made adjustments so that the Witch Factor dormant inside you would become easier to assimilate."
"Witch... Factor...?"
Still being scorched by the unrelenting heat, Subaru repeated the words with desperate effort.
—Witch Factor.
That, too, was a term he had heard several times before. Sometimes from Petelgeuse. Other times from
"You killed one of the Witch of Envy's apostles, didn't you? Upon that apostle's death, the Witch Factor slipped into you. ...Though it seems there might be something else in you as well."
"And once it's assimilated... what happens?"
"That — I honestly don't know. But think of it as a precautionary measure: rather than wait for a bomb that could go off at any time, I'm setting it off preemptively, while the damage can still be contained. If it resolves itself within the dream, you'll have that much more breathing room once you're back in the real world."
Echidna spoke with an almost breezy nonchalance as Subaru's vision flickered in and out from the relentless agony. Yet even now, he slowly raised his arm and pointed at her.
"I just realized something..."
"Hmm?"
"That way you talk... you're exactly like Puck. That cat spirit does the same thing — reads absolutely no atmosphere, chats away in that relaxed tone..."
Hearing Subaru's strained words, Echidna blinked once.
Then, in an instant, her face crumpled up and she burst into laughter, clutching her stomach as though she'd heard the finest joke in the world.
"Ha! Ahahaha! Oh, how wonderful! You're incredible. I truly think so. Yes, yes — ah, ahahaha! So I'm like Puck. Yes, yes, I suppose so. I suppose. It's only natural, really. After all, the only person who could serve as his model would have been me."
"What are you—"
Subaru tried to continue, but couldn't.
It wasn't the pain that stole his consciousness. The suffering that had seemed like it would last forever was beginning to ease, and the end was coming into view.
But rather than overcoming this pain, what came first was— "It seems our tryst is over."
Gradually, gradually, the contours of the world blurred within Subaru's field of vision. The blue sky. The green meadow on the hill. The white table and chairs they had sat around — all of it began to lose its form.
"If you didn't decide to end it... it wouldn't end, would it..."
"The time limit of the real world has been reached. The thing you call 'trials' is about to begin, I think. Once it does, all of the tomb's functions will be directed there. A mere ghost can't very well demand attention."
She spoke in a light tone and gently brushed Subaru's forehead with her finger.
Unable to resist or respond, Subaru simply lay there as she smiled down at him.
"Well then — time to go home from the witches' tea party. I'll have you offer something up as payment."
"Fair warning — I'm a pennibly broke weirdo."
"Not money. For the price... let's see. How about a non-disclosure agreement regarding this space? It seems a similar contract is already in place, so it shouldn't be too costly."
Before Subaru could even question what that meant— She kept her fingertip on his forehead and murmured something in a small voice. The touch of her fingertip pulsed with heat, and that warmth spread through his entire body in an instant, granting him an inexplicable understanding.
The contents of the contract. The one-sided covenant that must not be broken. The binding that tied them.
"You can't just... do as you please...!"
"The tale of the past, and the anchoring of the Witch Factor — even by my own standards, I'd say that's far too cheap a price. And while I'm at it — consider this a little bonus."
She laughed at the indignant Subaru and, from that same fingertip still touching him, transmitted yet another wave of heat.
And the result of that heat was— "I shall grant you the right to receive the tomb's trials."
"——!?"
"With this, you too will be able to face the trials of the night tomb. Whether you accept or not is entirely your choice. You're free to refuse. However — you have now gained the option of taking the trials in place of someone precious to you. —Do with it what you will."
The world began to collapse, and his footing slowly dissolved into darkness.
This time, the end of the world was truly approaching.
And in this dying world, Subaru lay on his back, looking up at Echidna.
The girl who had forced an unwanted contract upon him, imposed a payment he never asked for, and now smiled at him without the slightest remorse — ah, she was unmistakably— "You really are a witch, you know that?"
"——Yes, of course I am. I am a wicked sorceress, you know."
With that familiar exchange as their final words, Subaru's consciousness was ejected from the dream.
Falling, falling. Fading, fading.
Ejected from the dream — and rising upward.
And so Subaru's consciousness was freed from the Witch's dream.