"There is a concept called parallel worlds. It is the idea that, separate from the world one currently inhabits, other worlds exist that have followed similar but divergent paths."
The voice deliberately imposed upon itself as flat a tone as possible.
Attached to this lecturing manner was a small, crisp rhythmic tapping of fingertips against the table at regular intervals.
"Quite the handful, hmm? Sounds like a complicated story, doesn't it?"
"It's not that difficult a concept. Parallel worlds—just think of them as being born endlessly from a single difference in choice. For example, on the way home you come to a fork in the road. Whether you go left or right, you still make it home. The you who went right and the you who went left—those possibilities already constitute a parallel world on an extremely small scale."
"So what? If you put it that way, you'd never be able to count how many worlds there are. That kind of thinking is stupid."
In response to the exhausted voice, a brash voice continued bluntly.
The lecturing voice let out a dry laugh, then raised a finger toward the hasty respondent.
"Don't be so dismissive. True, in that earlier example the range of divergence was too small to convey the difference clearly, but… the same logic applies on a much grander scale."
"A much grander scale… like what?"
"Like, let's see. Suppose at the Broleid Plains, you had been able to abandon the isolated elf death squad. What do you think would have happened then?"
"……"
"Hmm. I expected you'd explode in anger at this point."
"The reason I'm not angry is simple. No matter how many times—dozens, hundreds, thousands—that scene were replayed, I would charge in every single time! There's no way a parallel world like the one you're talking about could ever come into existence!"
Declaring this with force, the voice's owner swung her leg up and slammed her foot onto the table—literally striking a haughty, arms-crossed posture. The one who had been lecturing let out a soft, amused chuckle. Seeing that, the brash voice's owner arched her well-shaped brows into an angry frown.
"What's so funny?!"
"Well, it's very manly of you, but your underwear's showing,
"Ah—hey! What the—! Idiot! Oh my God, I can't believe you! Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Aren't you stupid?! You're so stupid! Stupid! Really, truly stupid! Stupid, and, um, stupid!"
Shouting insults that laid bare her impoverished vocabulary, the golden-haired girl—the
Glaring upward with fury straight ahead at the white-haired Witch seated there. But— "Whether the argument is justified or not, hmm? When it comes to underwear, hmm? That's Minerva's own unseemly self-destruction, isn't it? Hmm? You'd look rather petty holding a grudge, you know, hmm?"
"Don't talk to me about being unseemly,
Minerva fixed her severe gaze sideways—toward the Witch of Sloth, Sekhmet, who had completely surrendered her posture to the table, her face buried in the depths of her long, reddish-purple hair.
From within that sea of hair, Sekhmet shifted her neck to peer at Minerva through the gaps.
"It goes over my head, so, hmm? It's the simplest outfit there is, I'd say. Tiphon wipes my body clean for me, so, hmm? I'm not getting dirty at all, hmm?"
"You nitpick about other people's grooming when you look like that yourself… Ugh, ugh, ugh… What is this?! Am I the one in the wrong? Is it my fault?! Do you want me to punch you clean?!"
Minerva raised her fists in fury, but Sekhmet simply turned her face away without responding—a smooth, disengaged motion.
That attitude, devoid of any will to converse, made the veins on Minerva's forehead bulge, but the Witch who had grown thoroughly accustomed to her outrage had abandoned any intention of engaging entirely.
In place of the Sloth Witch, who had exhausted her energy, the one who clapped her hands was the Witch who had been conversing with Minerva from the start—the Witch of Greed,
"I don't misunderstand your anger, and I find it quite pleasant. But for now, I'd like to continue where we left off."
"Whatever! It was you, Echidna, who provoked me by hiding behind parallel worlds or whatever! I'm angry! I'm indignant! I'm furious!"
"Fine, fine. In any case, let's continue the talk about parallel worlds. If the previous example doesn't hold up… let's see. What do you think would have happened if
Echidna pressed a finger to her lip, smiling mischievously as she posed the question to Minerva. Minerva drew a sharp breath, narrowing her green eyes.
"If Flugel and Volcanica's covenant had never existed, then Reinhard alone wouldn't have been enough to stop that girl… The world would've been swallowed whole, wouldn't it?"
"And what would happen after being swallowed, I wonder? Would the world go on turning with only the Witch of Envy remaining? Or perhaps a world that met that fate also exists somewhere as a parallel world? If so, isn't that rather fascinating?"
"When you talk about that girl, Echidna, your eyes get really nasty. —I'm not that angry about her. I won't share that anger with you."
"That, too, is an answer, I suppose. —Your wrath is pleasant. That is precisely why you were the most lovable of all the witches."
Echidna spoke in the past tense, and before her, Minerva let out a small huff through her nose. She then crossed her arms and leaned back, thrusting out her ample chest.
"I'm not hoping to be loved. What I hope for is to wipe out suffering, sorrow, screaming, and pain from this world—using these fists. Nothing else is needed on the path I walk. My anger, my wrath, the healing of these fists—that is everything I am."
Minerva declared this without a single shadow of doubt.
Not a trace of hesitation, vacillation, wavering, or torment—none of those things that trip one's feet existed in her conviction.
It was truly "Wrath"—an unceasing fury toward the world that fundamentally supported, shaped, and built her very existence.
But— "Well, even so~ You get all happy and can't help but grin when you're praised, Nellie~ That's what's so cute about you~"
That characteristic, languid voice—elongating its ending—cut into the conversation.
It came from directly across from Sekhmet, which meant from Minerva's left.
"Your level of dishonesty, Nellie, is witch-class for sure~
"Shut up, Daphne! You were asleep until just now, so why are you suddenly awake?!"
"I woke up the moment Nellie started making noise and flashing her underwear~ For someone wearing such a short skirt that it shows everything when she moves even a little, you wear the most adorable underwear, Nellie~"
"Y-you! You're younger than me and you pick the most risqué ones! What even is that—it's not underwear, it's a string! Stupid! You're so stupid! You're an idiot! Seriously, what am I going to do with you! Stupid! Stupid, stupid!"
Minerva's face flushed crimson, her eyes brimming with tears from the surge of emotion as she screamed. The one who listened to this with delight was the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne.
Her entire body was bound tight in restraints, both eyes covered by eye patches that crisscrossed diagonally across her face, her small body contained within a black coffin—an eerie sight. That she sat among the group around the table as if this were perfectly normal meant that, from a distance, the tea party looked exceedingly surreal.
Having exhausted her insults toward the unresponsive Daphne (which consisted mainly of repeating "stupid"), Minerva sank into her seat, covered her face with both hands, and slumped forward onto the table.
"What is this, what is this, what is this! It makes it sound like I'm the one in the wrong! It's not like I do things to be praised, but obviously I'm happy when I am! What's wrong with feeling like it was worth it when someone says thank you?! Am I in the wrong? Is it my fault? I just want to heal others and be healed myself…"
"That you can't quite sink into self-pity is, I believe, one of your virtues. —Now then."
Leaving Minerva, who had sunk into a sea of self-questions and withdrawn from the conversation, Echidna turned her gaze to Daphne, who had muscled her way in.
Daphne's eyes were both covered, so she shouldn't have been able to feel Echidna's gaze, but she wrinkled her small nose adorably.
"Donna-Donna, why are you staring at Daphne~? Unlike Nellie and Met-Met, Daphne can't be patient enough to keep up a long conversation~ After all… *pant pant*… she's about to run out of calories~"
"I had thought you'd learned well enough in life that nothing is more foolish than expecting cooperation from a witch… but the fact that the conversation has progressed this little—I almost want to say I'm impressed with you lot."
Saying this, Echidna flicked the fingertips of her raised right hand.
Instantly, a steaming cup and a plate of cookies appeared before Daphne. Daphne's covered eyes widened behind their patches, and she perked up at the sight of food.
"Of course, I had no intention of withholding it, so please, eat first—"
"*Gob gob.* *Fwom fwom.* *Munch munch.*"
"I didn't even need to say it. Though I would appreciate it if you'd mind your table manners."
In front of the shrugging Echidna, Daphne had plunged her entire upper body into the table and was eating with her whole being. —Daphne's meals were, literally, conducted with her "whole body."
She hummed chewing sounds with her mouth, but the tea and snacks were actually absorbed not through her oral cavity but directly through her skin on contact. The tea and sweets provided were taken into Daphne's body along with the teaware itself, immediately becoming fuel for "Gluttony."
"Ah, how delicious~ How sweet~ …Oh, I'm sorry~ I got a little too enthusiastic and bit into the table~"
"I wouldn't go so far as to say 'don't worry about it,' but since I half-expected this when I invited you, I'm not asking for anything more than basic restraint."
"Donna-Donna, do you tell birds not to fly and fish not to swim?~"
At Daphne's indirectly absolute refusal, Echidna let out a sigh. Daphne shook her entire body—now satiated with tea and sweets—and continued, "So then~"
"Now that there's food in my stomach, I'll join in on Donna-Donna's story from before~ —It was about parallel worlds or something, right?"
"That's right. Daphne, what do you think about such things?"
"I don't think anything about it~? Like, this happened so maybe that would've happened—thinking about that doesn't fill your stomach~ Ah, but when you consider that your dinner might branch between having meat or fish, maybe it's not such a stupid idea after all~"
"In Daphne's case, her comprehension is impeccable… but the subject simply doesn't pique enough interest to warrant a full discussion. I should have known that much."
Daphne was, among the witches, relatively mild-tempered and easy to get along with.
The problem was that her very existence was harmful to other living things, and that apart from her mild temperament, her ravenous nature made coexistence with "others" hopelessly untenable.
"In the end, hmm? Examining parallel worlds is just a waste of time, isn't it? Hmm? Thinking about it changes nothing at all, hmm?"
The one who interjected herself into this already dead-end conversation was the Witch of Sloth, still draped over the table's edge. Wrapped in her own long hair, she directed her gaze toward Echidna and her nose toward Daphne.
"That such a thought exists and such a diverged world may exist, hmm? One can think about it but never know or experience it, hmm? Then its existence is merely an untouchable bubble of possibility, hmm? One touch and it would simply pop and vanish, wouldn't it?"
"From a practical standpoint, that's certainly how it would be. Parallel worlds can be conceptualized but not observed. 'Parallel' is truly the right word—two lines that never intersect. That is what we can call parallel worlds standing side by side."
"But you're saying the second 'Trial' is different from that, aren't you?"
Into Echidna's summary of Sekhmet's words, Minerva inserted herself with a barbed final remark. Her lovely face flushed red with anger.
"If you're going out of your way to bring up a topic like that, it must mean something nasty is going on, right? Right! I've hit a sore spot, haven't I?! If you don't want people poking around in your stomach, then don't hide painful things inside!"
"I haven't even said anything and you're already getting angry at me… Well, it's true I can't deny it. After all, the second 'Trial' does work exactly like that."
Before Minerva, who had punched the table hard enough to crater it, Echidna lightly raised her hand, and a black-bound book appeared in her palm.
It was a forbidden tome that only Echidna possessed—the "Memories of the
As the embodiment of the desire for knowledge, Echidna was in a position to know every last piece of information, knowledge, and history in existence—if she so chose. Though, given her personal temperament, she apparently felt even a measure of revulsion toward wielding that tome's power.
"The second 'Trial' reads the challenger's heart, identifies a branching point along the path they have walked—or rather, a place that could be called a 'regret'—and then uses the Memories of the World to recreate an 'impossible present' in which a different choice was made. By its nature, it is somewhat easier to overcome than the first 'Trial,' which confronts you with the embodiment of past mistakes, or the third 'Trial' that awaits beyond."
"Easier to overcome—what do you mean?"
"In short, it's a matter of acceptance, the way Daphne handled it. As Sekhmet said, parallel worlds are ultimately lines that can never be touched or crossed. Even with regret, even with lingering attachment—they are lines you can never reach."
"But your 'Trial' is what pushes someone right up to the edge of those unreachable lines!"
Echidna gave a small shrug before Minerva, whose irritation was palpable, the corners of her eyes turned up.
Echidna smoothed her white hair and spoke as if soothing the fuming Minerva.
"The second 'Trial' is actually rather easy for an ordinary person. Unlike the first 'Trial,' which requires you to surpass an actual past that you did go too far in, the second 'Trial' merely involves touching a 'possibility that might have been.' Whether you negate parallel worlds or affirm them is entirely up to you… as long as you can affirm the current, original world, that's enough."
"The original… world…"
"So it all comes back to a matter of acceptance. A simple kind of letting go—one that Sekhmet and Daphne, or even you, can manage. —If you can do that, the 'Trial' can be surpassed."
At Echidna's explanation, Minerva reluctantly tucked her chin in.
Certainly, if one only considered Echidna's manner of speaking, the 'Trial' didn't sound all that harsh.
For the witches gathered here—or even for anyone with a firm sense of self—surpassing the 'Trial' should be easy.
"But then~ why is Subaru having such a hard time with it~? He didn't seem like someone without a self, to me~"
"In his case, huh…"
Echidna closed her eyes, thinking of the Subaru in her memories while Daphne mumbled away. Ignoring the latter's mannerisms and focusing solely on her words, Echidna continued.
"The second 'Trial' is the observation of parallel worlds. In a sense, it shows you what lies beyond the regrets of the past. And as I said, affirming or negating it is easy—because, in truth, you can simply declare that you never actually walked that path."
However, Echidna went on.
"In his case alone, that doesn't apply. Even for me, how deeply the second 'Trial' has cut into him was unexpected. —Truly, entirely unexpected."
"Sniff sniff… Donna-Donna, I can smell you smiling happily~"
"She's happy because it was unexpected. How awful and perverted… there's no saving you at all!"
"A kindred spirit, as they say. Since you're all friends of mine, I doubt any of you can escape that characterization either."
Daphne snickered while Minerva puffed with barely concealed anger. Meanwhile, faint snoring had begun to drift from the silent Sekhmet. Echidna observed each witch's reaction in turn, rocking gently against the back of her chair. Just then— "Donnaa~
A girl came running at a light jog from the grassland, bounding up to the hilltop table and calling out to Echidna.
Short green hair, brown skin, and a bright smile showing dazzling white teeth—the Witch of Pride, Typhon.
Echidna smiled at the girl who had spent her time in the field rather than joining the convoluted conversation.
"Sorry to have bored you. Typhon, for tea… would you like it sweet? And you can eat the sweets normally, right?"
"Anything works~! Ran around 'til I got tired, so I'll drink, eat, then nap~"
Saying this with boundless energy, Typhon pulled out the empty seat beside Sekhmet and sat down. She then began playing with Sekhmet's long hair with one hand while eating the tea and sweets Echidna had conjured, getting her face and the table thoroughly messy in the process.
If one didn't know Typhon's nature, it would have been an almost heartwarming sight.
"You must be tired from looking after Typhon too,
"N-no, it's… not… I'm fine? T-Typhon is a good girl, and I can… reach her, so… mm, I can reach her, so… it's, it's okay. I'm perfectly fine."
Beside Echidna, the one who had arrived at the tea party after Typhon answered haltingly, managing a weak smile.
She was a girl with pale pink hair that reached to her waist—a startlingly fragile-looking young girl. Her features weren't particularly distinctive, yet her presence naturally drew the eye.
More than anything, it was her small-animal-like bearing and expressions that seemed to scratch and tug at the heartstrings.
"Have a seat, Carmilla. —I called you here for no other reason than this."
"Wh-what… is it…? Are we… starting? You won't… hurt me?"
"I won't hurt you or cause you pain. —I simply need your help to move the pieces on the board."
Carmilla—the Witch of Lust—sat down in the seat she was offered, looking at Echidna timidly. Echidna smiled at her and lightly spread both hands.
"I want you to use your love to save a lost little sheep."
Echidna said this to the trembling witch and extended her outstretched hands toward her—.