Chapter 123 — Volume 4, 74 [The Witch’s Plan And Proposal]

Panting from asphyxiation, Subaru belatedly noticed that his hands were on a green grassfield.

From the ground where his limbs landed rose the thick scent of grass scraping across his nostrils. Like that of a meadow bathed in sunlight after the rain, the choking fragrance of nature gently wrapped all around him.

He turned his head, and saw Echidona straight before him.

She was, as always, on the small hillock in the middle of the plains, seated in a chair at the table, awaiting her tea party’s guest―― for Subaru.

As always. ――Yes, just as always.

[Echidona: I’m sure there are all sorts things you want to say and ask me…… but first, how about taking a seat and having a cup of tea?]

[Subaru: ……If you, consider what you just did to me, do you think I’d just cordially sit in that chair… and go along with your tea party?]

[Echidona: I do. Compared to losing yourself to instinct and senseless rage, you are the kind who’s more likely to dress yourself in rational, cold calculation. Now, rather than distancing yourself from me, there are far more benefits in holding a profitable conversation…… isn’t that what you’ve concluded in your heart?]

[Subaru: ――――]

Faced with Subaru’s suppressed fury, Echidona’s carefree bearing remained unfazed.

Calling down to him from above, as if mocking Subaru’s all-too-obvious bluff, the words struck true while Subaru could neither affirm nor deny them.

Except, the thing that she had trampled over was not so cheap that he’d concede so easily.

[Subaru: Echidona…… just tell me you didn’t mean to]

[Echidona: Hm?]

[Subaru: Just now…… that trick with the Witch of Lust, tell me you didn’t mean for it to happen. Tell me, that you made a mistake, go on say it]

[Echidona: .………]

[Subaru: Say it was unavoidable. Say you didn’t anticipate it, that it shouldn’t have gone down that way. Say it. If you just tell me that…… I won’t blame you for it]

What Echidona said was right.

If Subaru wanted to proceed, he would need her knowledge and help.

But, the unforgivable was still unforgivable. Echidona had used the Witch of Lust to trespass into a precious and inviolable place inside Subaru―― his “Sanctuary”. That much was certain.

And so, for Subaru, this was the necessary requirement before he could forgive Echidona and hold a meaningful conversation with her,

[Echidona: …….and I was wondering what you’d say]

In that moment, she must have understood Subaru’s inner weakness and obstinance.

Spilling that inadvertent mutter, Echidona turned her gaze toward Subaru, who was biting his lips, waiting for her reply. She leisurely fiddled her white hair, and,

[Echidona: Then, as you wish, that was just the Witch of Lust running amok. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. Taking advantage of the Trial, she tried to seduce you by unveiling the part of you that you least wanted to be touched, and with it, drown you]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: It came close, but you still managed to escape her spell through your own strength. Then, having failed her seduction, when Camilla let down her guard I took back control and summoned you to my Citadel. You could say that it was by a stroke of luck that we could now meet here, face to face]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: ……Now, suppose I told you all that, would you be satisfied?]

Swiftly, Echidona lined up everything Subaru had wanted to hear, only to betray her own words in the end.

Without saying a thing, Subaru looked upwards, as if to put Echidona out of his gaze.

[Subaru: ……What were you trying to do, goading on a Witch like that]

[Echidona: Camilla didn’t tell you? What she did was to save you, after the Trial had all but abraded away your heart]

[Subaru: That… that couldn’t have been the Witch of Lust’s intention. If what she said was true, then that was only my selfish weakness wanting to hear Rem say those things to me. The Witch of Lust had no reason to be kind to me. ……Those were your instructions, weren’t they]

[Echidona: So you’ve already deduced this much even when so little was said…… in that case, I suppose there’s no point making excuses]

Casually, Echidona discarded the act with a shrug. Then, she brought her tea cup to her lips, and tiled it with a sip,

[Echidona: It’s as you suspected, sending Camilla to you and having her pretend to be the girl in your heart were all by my instructions. Though, the imperfect outcome and the fact that it was seen through is more of a problem on Camilla’ end than mine]

[Subaru: ……why… would you do that?]

[Echidona: Hearing it straight-out is probably going to make you angry. ――It was the most efficient method, and the one most likely to succeed]

Without apology, Echidona went on as Subaru’s expression vanished.

[Echidona: Even I didn’t expect you to get so hung up on the Second Trial. Above all, the fact that its contents hit you this hard was, in all honesty, something I couldn’t have imagined until I saw it with my own eyes]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: Oh my, I do wish you’d overlook me peeping in on your Trial? I’m sure I’ve already told you after the first Trial, that these are Trials set up by a Witch? Even if the product is a bit mean-spirited, I still wouldn’t like to have this and that said about me]

[Subaru: ……Get on with it]

[Echidona: Anyway, while watching you face the Trial from the sidelines, I had a thought. ――If you went on challenging the Trial like this, you’d be worn to the core before long……]

That wasn’t an exaggeration. In fact, it wasn’t far from the truth.

Subaru wasn’t so aloof to what was happening to him that he’d try to refute her here.

The Second Trial―― the presents that were not to be―― and the scenes, events, and tragedies he was forced to witness were more than enough to shatter his hubris, stubbornness, and delusions.

[Echidona: And so I intervened. Even though, being worn to the core is also a result in itself, I like to experiment with everything through trial and error. My curiosity is insatiable, and strives endlessly to produce conclusions. To satisfy my insatiable Greed, I seek out any and all outcomes. ――The one in which challenging the Trial breaks you is no exception]

[Subaru: So then why did you intervene? If me breaking is just another outcome you seek, you could’ve just left me there. If the result was that was all I amounted to after all… you would’ve been satisfied too, wouldn’t you?]

[Echidona: I did have a mind to just accept it as another result…… I did, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do something to produce the result I wanted]

[Subaru: what……?]

Hounded by Subaru’s questioning, Echidona dropped her tone as she replied.

Hearing this, for the first time today, Subaru furrowed his brows for a reason other than rage.

Carefully scrutinizing her words and forming the semblance of a meaning, if he wasn’t mistaken, then,

[Subaru: It was to reject the outcome where I’d be worn to nothing…… that’s why you set up that situation. Is that what you’re saying?]

[Echidona: ……And as a result, I trespassed onto a territory that was precious to you, I have no excuses for that. So if you want to shower me with insults, I will resignedly accept them. Your anger is justified, and it was wrong of me to be so inconsiderate. That’s all there is to it]

Setting her cup on the table, Echidona gazed straight down towards Subaru at the foot of the hill.

Completely devoid of the playful caprice of before, the Witch of Greed now faced him with the entirety of her sincerity.

Her attitude, her stance, and her words all overwhelmed him.

All of a sudden, the rage and distrust towards Echidona that were occupying his chest only moments ago now seemed horrifically egotistical and selfish.

The truth is―― unable to forget her hand in what happened earlier, Subaru was still reluctant to accept Echidona’s help, but then, what would his heart become without it?

Laying on the cold floor of the Tomb, his heart, shattered, crushed to dust, left in a darkness without the faintest light, and there, erased to nothing. It wasn’t hard to imagine.

He couldn’t go as far as to thank her. But nor did he feel that she deserved his rage and abuse. ――That much, was his emotional compromise.

[Subaru: ――――]

Standing up without a word, Subaru patted off the grass on his clothing and made his way up the hill.

Seated in her chair, a flicker of pain flashed through Echidona’s eyes as she watched Subaru’s approach. What would he say to her once he got here? It seemed that not even this centuries-old Witch could tell.

The Incarnation of the Thirst for Knowledge. The Witch of Greed. To see such an adversary’s expression twinge at his approach still gave Subaru’s heart some small relief.

[Echidona: ――ah]

In front of Echidona’s soft cry of surprise, Subaru pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her.

Though he had no intention of bringing that tea cup to his lips, this was his way of show his willingness to talk. While Echidona looked on with a hint of unease, Subaru rested his cheek in his hand and turned his face away,

[Subaru: I’m not in the mood for tea. ……But I would like to have that profitable conversation with you]

Swallowing down his unbearable emotions, Subaru summoned up the magnanimity to reply.

[Subaru: So in the end, what is the Second Trial?]

Keeping his cheek rested against his palm, Subaru asked without looking at Echidona.

On the other end, Echidona shifted her chair forward in order to enter Subaru’s field of view,

[Echidona: Well, what do you think it was?]

[Subaru: You’re not…… trying to confuse me, are you? Is that your way of telling me I’m asking too much? Putting me on the spot like that]

[Echidona: I’m not half so mean as that. I did do something to upset you, after all. I just wanted to check if we can still speak on friendly terms, and also to hear your opinion while we’re at it]

Those words would’ve made anyone feel embarrassed.

If Subaru had come into this conversation in a normal state of mind, he certainly would’ve been discomposed and gotten stuck on his words.

But, in his current state of mind, there was no way he would give her the reaction she wanted. Instead, Subaru spilled a small sigh as his reply,

[Subaru: The Trial’s topic was to “Witness a present that was not to be”. That was the premise, as well the subject of the scenes it showed me. ……I’m guessing “A present that was not to be” would be a present that would have existed if I had made a different choice along the way, right?]

One way to think about it is like what happens in Visual Novels.

It is a game in which the player makes decisions in key points of the story, causing the paths to diverge. On a grander scale, one could even say that life itself is kind of unfolding like one gigantic game.

People must constantly face choices, and make decisions based on their individual will―― all the while trying to aim for a certain potential thread in the world: that would be precisely what “Life” is.

[Echidona: By definition, they are worlds which you should never have been able to witness. Who knows? You might find that you are happier in that world than in the actual present, then you might come to regret: “Why didn’t I do that back then?” Or otherwise, that world might be more wretched than the actual present, and then, perhaps you’d say to yourself: “Thank god I didn’t do that”. ――Ultimately, the Second Trial is to witness “Presents” other than the “Present” you have chosen, and to determine whether or not you could correctly affirm the only genuine “Present”]

Following on Subaru’s words, Echidona succinctly summed up the Second Trial.

It wasn’t too far from what Subaru had imagined. Except for the part where Subaru had to go through that deeply penetrating ordeal.

[Subaru: ――So, those alternate “Presents” I saw, do they really exist?]

[Echidona: …………]

[Subaru: Every time I die, I’d Return by Death. So I’ve never seen what happens after I die. ……Until now I’ve never even considered the possibility of the world continuing after my death. ……No, actually, it’s that I’ve been trying not to]

Well, of course.

Subaru only Returns by Death because the world was already beyond saving. In order to break through the deadlock and save everyone he held dear, Subaru had believed that by Returning by Death he could reach the perfect future―― or so he told himself so he could endure the sensation of constantly spending his life.

The existence of worlds beyond his death would upturn that premise from its roots.

If only to set his mind at ease, he must convince himself that there were no “Worlds he left behind”, and that the people in those lost worlds had in fact been saved.

And so,

[Subaru: After my deaths… do the worlds continue on……? When my choices caused the world to diverge, when I left those unsalvageable worlds behind… was everyone I failed to protect still inside them……?]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: What is it, Echidona. ……Please, answer me]

Having lost the option of avoiding looking at her with his eyes, Subaru leaned forward in his seat and turned a pleading gaze towards Echidona.

Echidona didn’t say a word, but, bathed in Subaru’s gaze, she touched her chin as if in thought, and then closed her eyes.

[Echidona: There is, one thing I should clear up about the Trials]

[Subaru: …………]

[Echidona: The “Present” in the Second Trial is no more than a phenomenon which allows you to witness an imagined world. The challenger taking the Trial…… that’s you, in this case. By projecting off of the details of your memories, the Memories of the World draws on everything that makes up your surroundings: the people, the world, the atmosphere, and even the mana, and, assembling them with necessary information from the past, present, and future, a new “Present” is created]

[Subaru: …………]

[Echidona: That is to say, no matter how flawless, it is no more than a well-made “Unreality”. Several tiers above self-absorbed delusions, it is a false reality that “might also” have actually happened. As for whether or not it is real, I cannot answer in the affirmative]

[Subaru: Th-that means……]

[Echidona: However]

Seeing hope in Echidona’s explanation, Subaru lifted his head. But just as he thought he saw the light, Echidona held up her palm and stopped him,

[Echidona: The precise mechanisms of your Return by Death are unclear. It’s almost certain that the one facilitating your Return by Death is the Witch of Envy, but the issue of how the Witch of Envy causes you to Return by Death leaves questions unending. Perhaps, it is a power that rewinds the world upon your “Death”. Or perhaps, each time, it is achieved by reaching into another, parallel world and pulling out another you, and with it, overwrites your existence]

[Subaru: Aa……]

[Echidona: If we assume it to be the latter, then Parallel Worlds do indeed exist, and, after your death, those worlds would continue on even without you]

[Subaru: S-so how do we know for sure……]

[Echidona: ――We don’t]

With a shake of her head, Echidona mercilessly cut off Subaru’s trembling words.

Subaru’s eyes opened wide while his mouth hung open without making a sound. Echidona turned him a sympathizing gaze as she tapped her finger on the edge of the table.

[Echidona: If there is one way to confirm it, it would be to ask the Witch of Envy herself. But I’m sure you know from experience how difficult that would be?]

Echidona must be referring to Subaru’s memories of the first time he truly faced the Witch of Envy. Leaving the Tomb after the end of the tea party, there, he found the Witch of Envy.

Stealing Emilia’s body, tearing Garfiel to shreds, and engulfing the Sanctuary in shadow, it was a monster in the truest sense. ――Suddenly, he remembered the doubts surrounding that thing’s appearance.

[Subaru: Ri..ght…… Echidona. Before, after the tea party ended…… outside, I saw the Witch in the Sanctuary. What was… that? Just what was that?]

[Echidona: I thought it’d be obvious? That was the Witch of Envy. Though, that imitation is nothing compared to the real thing. The fleshly vessel it had chosen was immature, and more importantly, not a single one of its seals had been broken. With the deficiency of Witch Genes, there was no way it could have acted with the same power it had in its heyday]

[Subaru: That was still nothing compared to its heyday……?]

Disposing of the beastified Garfiel like he was nothing and slaughtering everyone without receiving a scratch, that monster was still nothing compared the true Witch of Envy.

Four hundred years ago, in the age when the actual Witch ran rampant, what hell must it have been?

[Echidona: Just as you imagined, the trigger for her appearance was the tea party. Not even that thing could prevent you from violating the taboo in here. And so, driven mad with Envy yet unable to vent it inside, it took out its rage on the external world, exploding into a rampage wreaking havoc in its wake]

[Subaru: And you knew that it’d fucking happen?]

[Echidona: Not exactly. It was the first time, after all. Being the first time, it was only after it actually happened that I could come up with my hypothesis. I can’t derive conclusions without first seeing it happen, in that sense, as the Witch of Greed, I’m not that different from you all]

[Subaru: ――――]

Subaru was at loss for words to see that Echidona’s spectator’s stance showing no signs of collapsing. There was no point in reproaching her for it. But even though he knew this, he still couldn’t quite shake the vexation.

If only she had felt like it, if she had felt like helping Subaru, then maybe――

[Echidona: I doubt there was any great reason why the one you loved was chosen as the vessel. Although there would be a certain affinity when it’s another Half-Elf, I think the biggest reason could only be “Envy”]

[Subaru: Envy……?]

[Echidona: For a Witch who wants to be the sole subject of your thoughts, is it really so hard to believe that she’d hate and seek to destroy the recipient of your impassioned affections?]

Loving someone to the point of madness also meant demanding that person to love her back in return. As long as that love wasn’t directed at her, she’d go to insane lengths to make sure that it was. Such was the volatile lunacy known as love.

Perhaps the Witch of Envy was precisely the incarnation of that behavior.

[Echidona: All the questions plaguing your mind, are ones which only the Witch of Envy could answer]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: You can mull over them endlessly, but, in all honesty, I doubt you will ever reach an answer. Not about why she pursued you back then, nor about the “Presents that may or may not exist”]

[Subaru: Th..at’s……]

To Subaru, that would be far too cruel a reality.

He wanted to hear it clearly refuted. To be told that the worlds beyond his death never existed.

Or if not, then at least he wanted to hear it outright. That “So many had been sacrificed for your conceit.”

Whichever the answer, Subaru would have taken it as his admonition, his creed, his reminder to never forget, and though he’d grit his teeth, shed tears of blood and cry out from his very soul, he would turn his steps forward.

――But for the answer to be “There is no answer”, isn’t that just far too cruel?

Was he to live, without confirmation or denial, leaving the fate of worlds in this indeterminate limbo?

To go on without knowing whether his steps were his own. Whether he had abandoned what he had abandoned. Whether his sins were sins. Was this to be his punishment?

Were Natsuki Subaru’s crimes so great that no one could ever forgive him?

No one was capable of passing judgement on Subaru. No one could condemn him, either. He already understood this.

――But was even Subaru himself to be denied that right?

[Echidona: I do think it’s harsh. But I also think that the only thing to do is to decide]

As Subaru was stricken into speechlessness, Echidona addressed him with these words.

He slowly shifted his head, and turned his vacant gaze onto Echidona.

Taking in Subaru’s gaze, Echidona swallowed a breath, and, with a serious expression,

[Echidona: In more extreme terms, the Second Trial is to accept the true present as “The only present that is”, while separating out all the others as utterly unreachable worlds]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: I’m sure it must be hard, since, compared to other challengers, you have far more reason to believe that these realities truly exist. But still, it’s time that you switched over]

[Subaru: Switched over……?]

[Echidona: Your choices may have indeed left many sacrifices in their wake. And among those you left behind, there must be plenty that are beyond retrieval. But to spend your life counting those you have lost and left behind… would be pitiful. Futile. And painful, don’t you think?]

[Subaru: If I wanted empty idealism I wouldn’t have come to you. ……Don’t know why I have to say this, but did you actually think some run-of-the-mill counseling advice was going to help me get through this……?]

Echidona’s words were pleasant, and comforting.

If the wound was shallow, or the crime light, or if it had just been the matter of some causal occurrence, then maybe it would have helped.

Or perhaps, if he had merely wanted to feel saved, he may have made that “switch”.

But,

[Subaru: It still doesn’t change the fact that everything I’ve done and everything I couldn’t do hadn’t changed reality by one bit… that everyone I sacrificed believing that those worlds would cease to exist could’ve been a mistake…]

[Echidona: ……That’s true]

[Subaru: Then how am I supposed to be okay with this? How am I supposed to forgive myself? When you tried offering me a hand I slapped it away. That’s because I didn’t want to be saved by a counterfeit Rem. I will definitely retrieve the real Rem in the end, one way or another―― but]

Pausing for a breath, Subaru’s face twisted in anguish,

[Subaru: ――When I do… would she really be the same Rem I had set out to save?]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: Without an answer my heart has nowhere to turn. ……And here you are telling me that I don’t have to be like this, that all I have to do is decide……?]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: Rather than count those I couldn’t save, I should live, counting the ones I did save…… is that what you’re telling me?]

What Echidona tried to tell him was that there was hope if he only looked ahead.

For Subaru, those words may have become a beacon.

――But the darkness into which he had fallen was not so shallow that he could consider it as such.

[Subaru: With this run-of-the-mill idealism… you’re telling me…… to just fight it……?]

[Echidona: ――I am]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: That is what I am telling you]

While he was shoving aside all words of comfort and crying from the depths of despair, Echidona said this to Subaru.

Speaking slowly, pronouncing each syllable, Echidona looked Subaru straight in the eyes and told him.

[Echidona: Rather than count the multitudes you might not have saved, you should count all those you have saved. I have seen the roads you’ve taken to get here]

[Subaru: I, what…… what would y… about me……]

[Echidona: I have seen you doing your utmost, striving with all of your soul to forge your own path up to now. And so, I can say this. Indeed, I can]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: Of all the paths you have taken until now, not a single one had been wasted. No one has the right to tell you that your utmost was “not enough”. It was only by throwing in everything you had that you have reached this moment. ――That is something to be proud of]

Echidona’s sincere words struck at Subaru’s emptied chest. Something resounded in its hollow interior―― but it was not enough. Those words could not compel him to stand.

Even if he was told that he should be proud, the fact remained that he had abandoned and lost too much. Things he should have been able to change. Things that would have gone differently if it had been anyone else besides Subaru. But, because that person was Subaru, there were so many that could not be saved.

That was Subaru’s crime. Subaru’s transgression. The sin which Subaru must accept and atone for.

[Subaru: There’s no one who can forgive me]

[Echidona: Then I will forgive you. I, who know everything about you]

[Subaru: There’s no one who can judge me]

[Echidona: Then I will judge you. I, who know all of your sins]

[Subaru: ――There’s no one who can accept me]

[Echidona: If you cannot accept yourself, then allow me to deny the self that you cannot forgive]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: If you cannot accept your sins, then leave it to me to deny them]

For each of Subaru’s words, Echidona had one to strike it down.

Why was this Witch so insistent on denying Subaru’s sins?

Why was this Witch so unrelenting about wiping that darkness from Subaru’s heart?

[Subaru: Why… are you…… trying so hard to help me?]

[Echidona: ……Asking a girl to say this kind of thing is just plain mean, you know]

Echidona, who had not faltered once until now, was, for the first time, stuttering her words.

Then, with a slight blush on her cheeks, Echidona cleared her throat, and,

[Echidona: ――Will you forge a contract with me, Natsuki Subaru?]

Her voice was quiet, yet suggestive of her strong volition.

Subaru blinked, letting the words seep into his brain but still needing more time to comprehend them.

[Subaru: Con… tract……?]

[Echidona: Yes, a contract. A formal contract with the Witch of Greed――are you interested in sealing one?]

[Subaru: If we forged…… forged this contract, what happens then?]

[Echidona: It’s simple. ――From now on, whenever you meet an obstacle you cannot surmount, I will face the wall and ponder with you. Whenever you wish to hear someone’s words, I will endeavor to give you the testimony you desire. Whenever you feel close to being crushed by the weight of your sins, I will clear those crushing sins together with you]

Saying this in a single breath, a bashful smile rose on Echidona’s face,

[Echidona: Will you forge this contract with me?]

[Subaru: ……But you’re dead… so you can’t influence reality anymore, right?]

[Echidona: I believe my reach has already far exceeded that of the dead? I suppose it’s a bit late for me to admit this, but better late than never. ……That is, if you can forgive me]

Holding her hand to her chest, inclining her head as she spoke, Echidona’s words reverberated upon Subaru’s eardrums. The vibration passed into his body, bringing a gradual warmth that followed his coursing blood and pervaded throughout his body.

Sensation returned to his numbing fingers.

His parched tongue regained some of its moisture and mobility, and he could feel his thirsting eyes that had forgotten to blink being quenched by something wet and hot.

Her offered hand, her proposition, her proposal, her pledge of assistance left him at a loss as to how to answer.

Just when his oath to go on struggling seemed to have all but lost its meaning, the Witch pledged to be there to support him.

[Echidona: I don’t mean to brag, but I am rather confident in the volume of my knowledge. I can prepare countermeasures for just about any problem you might encounter, and no matter how absurd a situation threatens to befall you, unlike your peers, there is no need to go to such pains to persuade me. And, most of all, I can comprehend your Return by Death]

[Subaru: Are you trying to hit me with a fast-lipped sales pitch?]

[Echidona: As the requesting party, I do think it’s only natural for me to lay out all the benefits of sealing this contract with me. And if it has managed to put some ease into your heart, then all the better, don’t you think?]

Making use of Subaru’s words, Echidona took even those as a part of her pitch. Seeing the Witch this way, Subaru couldn’t help but loosen his cheeks into a smile.

Suddenly feeling the air peacefully flowing out of his lungs, “ahh”, Subaru sighed.

Bathed in the meadow’s gentle wind, he leaned his back into the chair and looked up to the sky.

In the blue, artificial sky, he could see white clouds floating.

Whenever he gets stuck, whenever he is lost without an answer, whenever he is facing against impossible odds.

――If he could sit here under this azure sky, and trade words with her in search of a solution…

[Subaru: Maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad……]

[Echidona: ――You mean……?]

Creaking her chair as she stood, inadvertently clenching her hands into fists, Echidona looked down at Subaru. But, noticing Subaru’s gaze looking back at her with his back still inclined against his chair, Echidona’s face suddenly changed color as if embarrassed by her own actions,

[Echidona: Ah, no…… Mn, but, if you absolutely must insist, then I guess sealing such a contract isn’t entirely out of the……]

[Subaru: It’s a bit too late to cover it up, isn’t it? I mean, you were the one who asked if…… ugh nevermind, saying it just feels incredibly crude at this point]

Echidona was the one proposing it, but she had done so to save Subaru’s heart.

To put it plainly, it was a Witch’s kindness. The fact that she didn’t make him cling and beg must have simply been the Witch’s consideration for Subaru.

No matter where he was, no matter who it was, was he always going to wind up being saved like this?

Bouncing off the back of his chair to jolt himself forward, Subaru stood up.

Standing close enough to touch if he only reached out his hand, Echidona looked into Subaru’s eyes that were now level with her own, a tinge of unease in her expression.

Even the Witch’s minutest actions are cunning, he thought.

But since he was the one being saved, he was surely in no position to complain.

[Subaru: So… how does one seal a contract?]

[Echidona: ――To seal a formal contract, you and I must be connected by a path between us. I will take care of the details…… but for now, your palm]

Echidona held up her right hand with her white palm facing towards Subaru.

“Here, put your palm against mine” was probably what it meant.

Feeling somewhat dumbstruck, watching the Witch across from him failing to keep the glee from escaping onto her lips, “haa”, he spilled a quiet sigh,

[Subaru: Now, hopefully things’ll finally start turning……]

Filled with great expectations of the future, he placed his palm onto her’s, and――

Impact.

A crashing boom rang out as the cup-bearing table beside him burst into a thousand pieces.

The impact that shattered the table passed into the ground, birthing a crater in its wake as the rumble of the quaking earth jolted Subaru into squawking in shock,

[???: ――I’m putting a stop to this contract]

Striking her fist into the ground, proclaiming this in her magnificent voice, was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl――

――The Witch of Wrath, peering her eyes over the two, smoldering with furious rage.

-=Chapter 74 End=-