The next morning, at an hour when morning dew still clung to the leaves, Subaru trampled through the grass and gazed up at the ancient ruins he had visited the day before—the entrance to the tomb.
Yesterday, pressed for time, he hadn't had a chance to study the exterior at leisure, but seeing it now, he was surprised at how well-maintained it was.
Unkempt ivy trailed along the entrance and outer walls, certainly, but the vegetation around the ruins had been carefully trimmed, and the tomb itself bore signs of later repair to walls damaged by age and decay.
"I can't really figure out these guys' stance toward this tomb."
Running his hand along a sun-darkened section of wall, Subaru murmured those words vaguely.
He was reflecting on the conversation from the previous night in Roswaal's room of confinement—one that had included Garfiel and Ryuzu. They had petitioned to have
"By that logic, the
"On the contrary, maybe that's exactly why. Everyone here is bound to this land because of this tomb. So until someone clears their 'Trial,' they can't let the thing fall apart. If tearing it down would set them free, Garfiel would've done it ages ago."
Otto supplemented Subaru's reasoning while examining the tomb from behind him. He had been sleeping in the dragon carriage as promised, only to be woken by a surprise wake-up call and dragged along on this forced tomb tour. Still, even though Otto had grumbled at first— "That said, getting a chance to see something as rare as the 'Witch of Greed's' tomb up close... I'd say it was worth tagging along. While we're at it, anything around here that looks like it might be a 'Witch of Greed' collectible? Could fetch a good price."
"If you start hawking Witch memorabilia, the
Subaru gave Otto a warning glare as the merchant eagerly scanned the surroundings, then turned back to the tomb. Silence hung over the area—the only sounds were insects chirping through gaps in the trees and the wind rustling through leaves.
Fresh morning air drifted through the Sanctuary—more than enough reward for a morning stroll.
"Though I'm guessing we're not just here to breathe fresh air and call it a day? If you genuinely wanted a pleasant morning walk, you'd have asked Emilia-tan, not me."
"Emilia-tan's actually kind of weak in the mornings. Morning Emilia-tan gets all dazed and looks adorably fragile... but that can wait until things settle down. The meeting yesterday left everyone on edge, so let her sleep a little longer."
"So while the princess is sleeping, us men get together and cook up some devious scheme, huh? What a terrible bunch we are."
Otto narrowed his eyes with keen understanding, and Subaru shrugged. But Otto's read was dead on. Subaru had, in fact, come to this tomb to do something he wouldn't want Emilia or anyone else to witness.
"So what's the plan? I'm not exactly confident in my magical abilities either, but with some wind and water magic applications, I could muffle footsteps, blur my appearance with light for a moment... Oh, I could make it sound like footsteps are coming from a completely different location."
"Judging by the way you describe those applications, they'd be right at home in a burglar's toolkit. Am I imagining things?"
"Oh, come now, how unkind. I would never steal anything. Eavesdropping, on the other hand... that's a different story."
Subaru narrowed his eyes at Otto's shameless grin and let out a sigh.
Then, raising a finger before the overly enthusiastic merchant, he pointed it toward the tomb.
"I'm about to go inside this tomb. If things go the way I'm hoping, the lights will come on and my path forward will be blessed. If not, I'll probably collapse, so you'll need to drag me out however you can."
"Is there any person alive who'd hear that explanation and just go 'Sure, sounds good'? Collapse—what do you mean, collapse? Don't scare me like that!"
Subaru dropped this bombshell with a nonchalance that drew panicked protests from Otto. Looking at him the way one might a stubborn child, Subaru continued: "Listen, this is the 'Witch of Greed's' tomb. Honestly, anyone who goes in without the Witch's permission gets their consciousness snatched away on the spot. It happened to me yesterday—big time. That's the kind of danger this place holds, so don't go inside."
"If it was that dangerous yesterday, you shouldn't go in either, Natsuki. Why would you try going in again when you know you'll collapse? You'll only be a burden—let's just call it off. Besides, if that happens, how am I supposed to pull you out?"
"There you go, firing off question after question... You're gonna turn into one of those spoiled people who expects answers to everything, you know."
"Don't hide behind eloquent-sounding excuses to dodge the question!"
Subaru clicked his tongue, his expression souring at having his thoughts read so effortlessly. Otto had clearly figured out how to handle him in record time. With a resigned head shake, Subaru relented.
"Here. I borrowed some rope from the dragon carriage. I'll tie it around my waist, and if I pass out in there, pull me out gently, quietly, and with love."
"No matter how gently, quietly, or lovingly I pull, you'll still end up covered in dirt, dust, and scrapes."
"Desperate times. Just owe me one."
"I'm the one doing the lending here!"
Ignoring Otto's protests with an exasperated look, Subaru handed him the other end of the rope. Otto accepted it reluctantly, double-checked the knot at Subaru's waist, and gave it a hard tug to confirm it would hold.
All complaints aside, the man was dependable.
"For a merchant, he sure is gullible and attentive... This kid, is he gonna be okay?"
"You're completely forgetting that I'm literally the one holding the lifeline here, aren't you." Otto muttered through thin lips, catching Subaru's sideways glance.
Subaru gave him a wry smile, then did a few light squats before whipping around to face the tomb's entrance.
The tomb sat quietly, exhaling its musty air outward. Like yesterday, the morning sunlight reached only a few meters past the entrance—the corridor beyond was plunged into total darkness, and the impression that it might collapse the very first step you took in hadn't changed.
"Well, it won't actually collapse. If I'm going to go down, it'll be from the very first step, which actually makes things simpler."
"Natsuki, whenever you're ready, just give me the signal when you're going in."
"Alright, here I go."
When it came to decisions like this, Subaru never hesitated.
At worst, if he stormed in and collapsed, he'd just get invited to the Witch's tea party again. Having his arms wrenched, beaten and healed, forced to drink bodily fluids—not exactly a pleasant time, but— "Compared to the life-and-death situations I've been through before, this is nothing—!"
With that declaration, Subaru lightly stepped across the threshold of the tomb.
Whether to call it a threshold was debatable, but the moment his foot crossed the boundary where outside light and the tomb's shadows overlapped, he cautiously opened his tightly shut eyes.
Yesterday, the instant he'd taken this first step, he'd been assailed by a floating sensation—but— "My feet are on solid ground. Nothing's crumbling."
At least, there was no dropout from the very first step.
Whether that counted as progress from yesterday was debatable, but Subaru took comfort in the change, took a deep breath, and took the next step. The moment the second step carried him fully inside the tomb, his body was swallowed entirely by the shadows of the ruins.
From outside, Otto's view of Subaru would have blurred—or vanished entirely.
"Natsuki, are you still there? When you collapse, signal the same way you did when you went in—by collapsing!"
"That's a bit tough to manage. Admitting I collapsed would be embarrassing, so if I feel like I'm about to go down, I'll just scream that I don't want to."
"Way to make it complicated AND put on a brave face!"
Their regular banter continued as they confirmed each other's positions by voice. Bolstered by that reassurance, Subaru's body took a third step, then a fourth— "Oh..."
"Ah..."
The next instant, the view before Subaru's eyes opened up dramatically.
No—the shadows within the ruins had been swept away in an instant, exposing the interior to the intruder.
The walls on either side of the corridor rose to roughly Subaru's shoulder height. At equal intervals along them, flames flickered to life, their wavering pale light illuminating the corridor.
The passage was built of the same stone as the outer walls, its width just barely enough for two of Subaru to walk side by side with arms outstretched. Its height was low enough that a jump would bring your head into contact with the ceiling. If some enormous bald geezer were to walk through, he'd probably create sparks from scalp friction without bending over.
"...The lights came on. What does that mean, conditionally speaking?"
"Word is, anyone who can take the 'Night's Trial' gets welcomed like this. ...I'd also been considering the possibility that it was all just a daydream of mine, playing dumb."
Subaru examined his surroundings carefully, then stared at his raised palm. He touched his own forehead, recalling the sensation of fingertips pressed against it in his dream.
"I got a proper souvenir from the tea party. Pretty sure they took the payment without asking, but either way, I'm not planning on telling anyone."
"I can see inside from here too, you know. What would happen if I went in on a whim? Could I pull off some Witch tomb-raiding?"
"The wicked mage I know tried to set foot in here and ended up with his body on the verge of exploding, convalescing as we speak. What would happen to you? Your guess is as good as mine."
"That sounds terrifying!"
Hearing Otto's shudders at his back, Subaru confirmed that his objective was complete. He could press further in, but since Otto couldn't follow, he decided against it.
In any case, what Subaru had wanted was confirmation of whether he qualified to intervene in the Trial—and, if he was being honest, a check on
Either way, now that he'd stepped inside the tomb, everything Echidna had shared—the information, the conditions, the price—could be considered fact. The same applied to the Witches he'd encountered in that daydream, and the nature of each.
"Still, if that's how it was, then four hundred years ago Witches were running around everywhere doing whatever the hell they pleased. Man, what a lawless era... I'm damn glad I got transported to this one, seriously."
Thinking of an age when Witches of Sin and the Witch of Envy had run riot made the relative peace of the current era feel precious. Then again, the maliciousness of the Sin Archbishops came to mind, canceling out the sentiment.
The Witches and the crown-bearing lot were equally hopeless.
"At any rate, my preparation is done. Now I just wait for tonight and see how Emilia-tan's Trial goes. I'll maintain a high degree of flexibility and adapt as needed."
With that impressively vague plan announced, Subaru turned and headed back to the tomb's entrance.
Returning to where Otto waited with a worried expression, Subaru untied the rope from his waist and tossed it beside the entrance.
"Might come in handy—and honestly, I might need it tonight without warning, so I'll stash it here. Sorry for dragging you along, Otto."
"No, as long as you're safe, that's what matters. But... aren't you leaving empty-handed? You went in there and came out with nothing? What was the point?"
"I genuinely can't tell where your serious commentary ends and your jokes begin—is that your thing? Grave robbing? Even I, a devoutly irreligious person, wouldn't stoop to that."
Despite having no particular god to believe in, he showed appropriate respect to the eight million gods—a quirk of irreligious Japan that defied explanation. A hodgepodge of everything, one might say. A skittish collective, hypersensitive to inconvenient ghosts and curses.
"I was joking from head to toe, obviously. More to the point—if it was just this, you didn't really need me, did you? Why did you drag me along?"
"Well, whether or not I could actually get in was a bit of a gamble. If I collapsed and caused you trouble, or got blown apart and had it burned into my memory for life, I figured you'd be the best candidate for victim—"
"What kind of options are those?! I was chosen by process of elimination, and it shows!"
"You idiot—who else was I going to bother? You came out on top, fair and square. Don't make me say it, it's embarrassing."
"You should genuinely be embarrassed by a judgment like that!"
Subaru's shameless delivery echoed through the morning forest and the ruins as Otto's exasperated retorts rang back. The only listeners besides the two of them were the insects and animals lurking in the woods—and— "Oi, it's way too noisy this early in the mornin', y'know. Screamin' at each other right above where the Witch is deep in her sleep... that's exactly 'Yohororoi crows at dawn,' that is."
"You're a real nuisance, that Yohororoi. Next time I run into it, I'll make sure to give it a piece of my mind."
Saying this, Subaru shifted his gaze slightly from the entrance and looked toward the intruder who had cut in from the forest on the side—Garfiel, with his short blond hair disheveled and his white fangs bared.
He roughly wiped the sweat beading on his forehead.
"Look, bumping into you lot was a coincidence. I run around the outer perimeter of the Sanctuary every mornin', that's all. Don't go gettin' all suspicious on me."
"It's nothing worth being suspicious about. Besides, we weren't talking about anything we'd mind being overheard. Right, Otto? We wouldn't mind at all, would we!"
A barely-there probe from Garfiel, but Subaru shrugged and then roughly clapped Otto on the shoulder. Otto, already hit and now put on the spot, wore a vaguely confused expression as he stammered: "Y-Yes! We weren't doing anything suspicious or anything like that. Just, you know, a practice run for some light tomb-raiding— I mean, a quick survey, that's all!"
"Damn, Otto. Never seen a man more skilled at digging his own grave in front of an actual grave."
Subaru jabbed at Otto's accidental self-incrimination while glancing sideways at Garfiel's reaction. But the latter completely ignored what could only be described as Otto's candid confession.
"It's no big deal. I ain't gonna go tattling or holdin' a grudge. Long as you ain't breakin' nothin' or messin' with the Sanctuary, I ain't gonna lift a finger."
"Is that so. I genuinely appreciate that guarantee. Unfortunately, I don't feel the slightest chance of winning against you even if we fought."
"Sayin' that before you even try is pretty pathetic... Not that I blame you. Can't very well fault a guy for knowin' his place. After all, I am the strongest, y'know!"
Garfiel's eyes gleamed as he declared this with absolute confidence.
In truth, having witnessed his power firsthand, Subaru knew that arguing the point would only make him look like a fool. As someone who knew of Reinhard in a completely different league, he did have something to say—but he swallowed it.
Swallowing his retort, Subaru raised a hand in a wave.
"I should probably head back—Emilia-tan ought to be waking up soon, and I'd like to join her for her morning routine. You're in the middle of your run too, so we'll leave it—"
"If you're heading back to the Cathedral, I'll walk you that far."
Subaru turned to leave, but was stopped by Garfiel's unexpected offer. Surprised, he was about to decline when— "Just listen for once. And while we're at it, stop wanderin' around the Sanctuary with just the two of you. No tellin' what could be lurkin' around."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? That's a strange thing to say. It almost sounds like there's danger in here."
"That's exactly what I'm sayin'."
Not catching the implication, Subaru blinked in confusion. Garfiel clicked his teeth in frustration, stepped closer, and lowered his voice.
"I hate to say this—it's like airin' dirty laundry—but the people livin' in this Sanctuary ain't all on the same page."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The old hag's plan is to keep Roswaal and the humans as leverage and force Emilia to take the Trial, breakin' the Witch's contract. Most of the folks on her side are on board with that... but not everyone."
Dropping his voice even further, Garfiel continued: "For those who want to stay holed up in this Sanctuary forever, you lot are in the way. Who knows what they might pull to stop Emilia from takin' the Trial."
"Wait... could that mean they might target me? Or Otto?"
"Could even mean goin' after Emilia herself. But look—like they say, 'Even wolves growl before their own den.' While I'm around, I won't let them cause any trouble."
His tone was casual enough, but Subaru, having left Emilia behind, was anything but at ease.
If anything, he cursed himself for not having considered that possibility in the first place.
Among the Sanctuary's residents and the people of
Not everyone would cheerfully toe the line. Some would want the status quo to remain exactly as it was. Subaru understood that feeling all too well.
"I need to get back...!"
"Whoa, did I scare you too much? No need to rush—those folks ain't gonna start anything while it's still light out. And besides, Emilia-sama's in the Cathedral, right? They wouldn't make a move in a place where other humans are milling about. If they were gonna make a move, it'd be on people skulkin' around in small groups—like you and your loudmouth buddy here."
"Hmm... that's true. Going against the mainstream would put them in a bad position, so they wouldn't act rashly."
Subaru's anxiety subsided slightly as he steadied his breathing and controlled his racing heartbeat.
Then, it suddenly occurred to him, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Wait—did you come out here because you were worried about me and Otto walking around together, and you wanted to help out?"
"...Huh?"
Subaru tilted his head and asked. After a beat, Garfiel answered—but then turned his face away, hiding his expression from them.
"No way in hell. It was a coincidence. I said it was a coincidence."
"See that, Otto? That's proper tsundere right there. After that brutal display when we first met yesterday, you've gotta admit this dere side is kind of lovable."
"Hmm—as someone who was actually headbutted, I find it hard to fully embrace... but I can't deny that there's something in me being swayed by this 'he's actually not such a bad guy' feeling."
"Wow, this guy is such a pushover."
"I've been used!!"
Otto's cries of injustice echoed through the morning forest, startling birds into flight.
Between the noisy Otto and the surprisingly endearing Garfiel, Subaru felt as though he'd gained something he'd never had before in this world—a circle of mischievous friends he could treat as equals, for the first time in any real sense.
"Guess I'm kind of a pushover too."
He murmured this with a small, loosened smile.
--- Night fell, and when Subaru stood before the tomb's entrance once more, he felt a distinctly different wind against his skin compared to that morning.
"When you come at night, it really does look like a proper tomb. It's creepier than yesterday."
Gazing at the entrance, silver hair swaying in the breeze, Emilia absently fiddled with the end of her braid. She glanced sideways at Subaru.
"So... do you think it'll be safe to go in now?"
"If the entrance had something like 'Opens at 7 PM' written on it, that'd be helpful, but there's nothing. If the Trial is supposed to start at night, though, it's dark enough to qualify."
"Right. Then... I guess I'll head in."
She let out a small breath. Despite her words, she didn't seem able to take the plunge. Standing beside her, waiting for her courage to build, Subaru glanced behind him.
Only four people had come to watch Emilia take on the Trial—besides Subaru himself. Garfiel and Ryuzu's "Sanctuary team,"
"But when you look at everyone who's remaining in the Sanctuary, we're actually the smallest faction. Talk about a cruel world... and it starts right here."
"What are you muttering about? I'm super curious."
"Just thinking out loud. Emilia-tan, focus on getting yourself ready for what's ahead. Honestly, since we couldn't get any details about what the Trial actually involves, the unknowns are kind of terrifying..."
"Nobody who's attempted the Trial before knew what to expect either, did they? It wouldn't be right for me to get an unfair advantage. Same conditions as everyone else, and I'll still do my best."
Watching Emilia clench her small fist with determination, Subaru felt almost blinded by her and shielded his eyes. The contrast with his own petty scheme—begging the Witch to help him cheat—was painfully stark.
How utterly, magnificently straightforward Emilia was.
"That's way too E.M.K.—Emilia-tan, Seriously, Chivalry."
"Oh, I feel like I haven't heard that from you in a while, Subaru."
Emilia broke into a small smile at his familiar catchphrase. Seeing that smile, Subaru nodded, thinking that maybe his little quips weren't entirely worthless after all.
"Anyway, we don't know what's in there, so if anything feels dangerous, call out to me right away. Just say my name and I'll come running."
"And then you'll go 'batankyu' the second you step inside, right?"
"Haven't heard 'batankyu' in a while..."
He scratched his cheek in response to Emilia's pouted lips, and she continued: "Thanks for worrying about me. ...Pack hasn't shown up at all either, so I'm honestly really anxious right now. I feel like I'm relying on you an awful lot, Subaru."
"Lean on me as heavily as you want. You're light as a feather, Emilia-tan—I have to touch you to even be sure you're really there."
"That finger-wagging is kind of creepy, so stop it."
Subaru waggled his fingers, drawing a wry smile from Emilia. She stretched lightly on the spot, her tension easing slightly.
"I feel a little lighter now, somehow. Ever since we first met—Subaru, are you maybe doing that on purpose?"
"If I were really that skilled a therapist, I wouldn't be a lonely boy with way too much free time folding origami into 'Wisteria Cars.'"
He was proud to have reached the very edge of fingertip-level artistry. Naturally, the only person he'd ever shown it to was family.
Emilia tilted her adorable head at his painfully mundane backstory, not quite understanding. But she was so cute that Subaru simply crossed his arms and nodded in acceptance.
Though still not entirely convinced, Emilia turned her face toward the tomb.
"Alright—I'm heading in this time. Pray that I make it back safely."
"I'll pray so hard that blood comes out of a Buddha's ears."
Sending her off with those words, Subaru watched Emilia's figure disappear into the tomb. At that very moment, lights flickered to life at the entrance—exactly the same situation as when Subaru had stepped in that morning.
And so, with the sound of footsteps, Emilia ventured deeper into the tomb. The Trial seemed to take place further down the corridor. This morning, Subaru hadn't been able to see its end even by straining his eyes— "You look troubled, young man."
A voice called out to Subaru from the side—Ryuzu, whose childlike appearance belied her true age as a full-grown adult. Her expression carried a world-weary smile that didn't match her cute exterior.
"No need to worry so much. The 'Trial' may have a grand name, but it's nothing that'll cost you your life."
"You know what the Trial involves?"
"I've been through one myself. Being a Half means I qualify, naturally. I just wasn't able to clear it in the end... But look—I'm still kicking."
Ryuzu hopped lightly in place to prove her point, her gesture somehow endearing. Her attempt to ease his worry touched Subaru.
"So that's why you got hit with a curse that keeps you looking like a loli while your insides rapidly age. Emilia-tan might love that too, but I think I'd prefer the real Emilia-tan—"
"That's a rather impertinent response to my sincere attempt at comfort. Just like Gaa-bou, you have no respect for your elders, do you, Suba-bou?"
"Course I do. And honestly, your concern did help settle my nerves. Thanks."
As Subaru bowed his head, Ryuzu shook hers with a sigh. "Why wasn't that your first response?" she lamented, dabbing at tears with her long sleeves in an exaggerated pantomime.
Watching this from where they stood, Garfiel had his arms crossed and was gazing at the tomb with a troubled expression. And, surprisingly, Otto and Ram were having some sort of conversation—one that, against all odds, seemed to be proceeding on friendly terms.
For Subaru, who had precious little experience having a friendly exchange with Ram, this was an alarming sight.
He'd need to deal with this later. Specifically, he silently vowed to learn from Otto how to talk to Ram without getting his head bitten off. Then, his attention returned to the tomb.
Before he knew it, he'd clasped his hands together in front of his stomach, thumbs rubbing together as if in prayer.
Waiting was agonizing. Waiting for results like this, he thought, might be far harder than facing the Trial himself.
As Subaru entertained that slightly arrogant thought in a corner of his mind, the change arrived almost simultaneously.
"————!"
Everyone present gasped at the sight before them.
Subaru's eyes blinked rapidly—a reflex triggered by the sudden loss of the light source, plunging the world into darkness as his body tried to adapt. In other words— "The tomb's lights went out?!"
"They should have stayed on as long as the Trial is ongoing..."
"Which means something irregular just happened?!"
They all looked to Ryuzu, who should have known, but she was frowning with confusion in her young, intelligent eyes—her expression making it clear this was not the expected outcome.
Garfiel was uncrossing his arms and rushing over. Ram had a crease between her brows, and Otto was flustered—none of them were going to offer any useful advice.
Then— "Suba-bou?! You shouldn't have the qualification to go in..."
"I attended the briefing and got my qualification, thank you very much. —I'm going in. Whatever's happening with Emilia-tan, I'm dragging her back!"
He couldn't just stand here and wait.
The moment Subaru set foot in the tomb's entrance, the corridor blazed with light once more—just as it had when Emilia entered.
Sensing Ryuzu and Garfiel gasp behind him, Subaru threw himself into the tomb before anyone could stop him.
The corridor was still choked with dusty air—every breath felt like it was corroding his lungs.
Kicking hard against the echoing floor, Subaru raced down the corridor—deeper into the tomb.
"Damn it, I messed up. Instead of putting on some cool last-minute hero act, I should've gone in with Emilia from the start..."
Spilling regrets as he ran, Subaru suddenly noticed light spreading from the end of the corridor—he'd reached a small chamber.
He skidded to a stop and took in the room. "Room" was generous—it was a bare, square-cut space with nothing placed in it. At the far end, a door framed by a pale blue glow.
And there, on the floor before that door, a silver-haired girl lay collapsed— "—Emilia!!"
Crying out, Subaru rushed to her crumpled form.
He quickly gathered her frail body into his arms—the only thought was to get them both out of here— *—Face your own past first.* The next instant, a whisper brushed against his ear, shaking his consciousness.
There was no time to even consider what the voice was.
His knees buckled. Unable to even brace himself, Subaru's body toppled like a puppet. Momentum carried him across the floor, and his sprawling form came to rest, by pure chance, beside Emilia.
And there, next to the unconscious Emilia, Subaru was also dragged down into unconsciousness— --- When Subaru woke from sleep, he always felt a breathless sensation—like surfacing from water. It was the feeling of rising from the sea of slumber, gasping for the air of reality— "Goooooooooooood morning, my son!!"
"Ha—!!"
That poetic morning awakening was shattered by a devastating impact.
The crushing weight drove the air from his lungs. Subaru, still in his half-asleep state, mustered everything he had to shove it off and erupted into violent coughing.
"Hey hey hey, what's wrong, what's wrong? A loving diving press as a morning wake-up call—just the usual! Don't let your guard down, fire's burning!"
"Gah— hagh— doing that to someone who's asleep... wait, what even..."
Subaru raised his tear-streaked face to ask what had happened. His father, leaning over the bed, cracked his neck and grinned.
"What's with that look on your face? You look like you just saw a naked middle-aged man first thing in the morning—oh wait, that's exactly what you saw!"
With that,