Chapter 124 — Volume 4, 75 [That Person]

Stumbling back from the impact as if he had a rug pulled from under him, Subaru widened his eyes at the blonde-haired girl glaring back at him.

Her blue eyes teeming with exorbitant rage and her beautiful face colored with a crimson hue, it was the Witch―― Minerva.

Taking her sharp gaze off the petrified Subaru, she turned to the entirely unfazed Echidona, standing opposite him.

[Minerva: I’ll say it again, this stops now. I will not allow this kind of contract]

[Echidona: ……Hm. Now isn’t this… quite an unexpected development]

It was a sentiment too familiar to be hostility, and too violent to be called rage. Standing in the crater she had made, single-mindedly directing this at Echidona, Minerva folded her arms, hoisting up her ample breasts while biting her lip.

[Echidona: Surely―― you should understand the significance of a contract with a Witch. The fact that you chose to interfere anyway…… could it be, that you also wish to seal a contract with him yourself? This wouldn’t be a case of sour grapes, now would it?]

[Minerva: Can’t you tell from my fury that it’s nothing so placid? I’m furious. I’m incensed. I’m so upset I’m ready to explode]

In front of Echidona’s dodging jests, Minerva shot back with the shade of red deepening on her cheeks. Tears pooled in her eyes from the intensity of her emotions while her face pouted like a sulking child.

Her childish face entirely at odds with her voluptuous figure―― Subaru couldn’t help but be intrigued to see such a character in the flesh.

After all,

[Subaru: What… are you doing here?]

[Minerva: What. Am I not allowed to be here?]

[Subaru: Well, no. That’s not… but…… I mean, Echidona’s right here]

Saying this, Subaru pointed at Echidona as Minerva puffed up her cheeks in displeasure. Not seeing his point, Minerva tilted her head, while Echidona, apparently catching on, lightly clasped her hands together and nodded,

[Echidona: Ah, I think I know why you’re confused. ――You’re surprised to see another Witch manifesting while I am still here, correct?]

[Subaru: Y-yeah. I mean, since I’ve always met the Witches one-on-one…… I thought they kinda had to take your place when they appear. But……]

[Minerva: And she never said we can’t appear at the same time, I bet. That just sounds like the kind of prank this mean-spirited Witch would pull]

Huffing in rage, Minerva easily smacked down Subaru’s protests. Muttering [Seriously…?] under his breath, Subaru looked at Echidona. But, in front of Subaru’s gaze and Minerva’s address, Echidona made no effort to deny it.

[Echidona: I wouldn’t want you to misunderstand. Calling the other Witches here is quite a taxing and risky thing to do. There’s a chance they might even wrest away my control over this place, or, even if they don’t, it is still incredibly exhausting to manifest beings as powerful as them]

[Subaru: That’s…why? ……No, but, you……]

[Echidona: I’ve never once lied about this. I can assure you that much]

With that single incisive statement, Echidona sliced through Subaru’s faltering words.

It was true. Searching through his memories, Echidona had never said anything about this present situation that would constitute a lie.

It was only Subaru’s imagination going off on its own when he was presented with this phenomenon.

So, in the end, technically Echidona hadn’t actually deceived him, but,

[Echidona: I just didn’t want you to know that other Witches can manifest as they wish, and have them take you from me]

[Subaru: H, uh?]

[Echidona: To me, you are the first guest I’ve had in a very long time. Conversing with you had thrilled me in ways I’ve rarely ever been thrilled, whether it be before or after my death. If I told you I simply wanted to have you here, all to myself, would you berate me for my shallowness?]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: I know I keep on saying this, but I am rather fond of you. And so, I didn’t want your interest to shift onto other Witches more charming and more helpful than myself. ――Go on, you can laugh at me if you wish]

So this extreme, hideous desire to possess―― was her reason for hiding it from him.

Quietly listening to Echidona’s excuse without saying a word, Subaru wondered why she would have this obsession towards him―― just what about him warranted this kind of fixation?

It was the same with the Witch of Envy, and now Echidona, too. Just why would they――

[Minerva: You’re way too easy to dupe, you know that!?]

[Subaru: ――Ddgah!?]

Just as his mind was sinking into thought, Subaru’s head was bumped by a soft fist from behind.

He turned around holding his head, and found Minerva right behind him. She took the hand he was holding against his head, and, in one fluid motion, she twisted his arm and flipped him onto the ground.

[Subaru: Oa, aah! Wai-, hurts hurts hurts…… or… not?]

[Minerva: When I directly touch anything living, no matter what action I take, it would be transformed into healing. I could punch with all my strength and it would close wounds, I could wrest you to the ground and it would cure you of your diseases, I could place you in a lock and it would fix of your shoulder-pains…!]

[Subaru: That…… explains why my body’s not aching all over, but]

While his body was savoring the full power of the Witch of Wrath, Subaru frantically twisted his neck to look at Minerva as she locked him in a hold.

Despite the creaking of his bones and the horribly-unnatural-looking directions his joints were being twisted in, instead of pain, all he felt was an incongruous warmth spreading throughout his body. This Witch, with the strange Authority to instill every action with restorative powers―― come to think of it, Subaru hadn’t had a single bad impression about her up to now, but,

[Subaru: What the hell’re you trying to do……?]

[Minerva: If I didn’t do this, you would’ve been happily cajoled into getting all ready to sign a contract with Echidona. This careless, braindead attitude of yours is really pissing me off!]

[Echidona: Cajole, makes it sound bad. I only remember explaining the benefits of sealing a contract with me and working to reach a mutual understanding……]

[Minerva: It’s the way you make it sound like you’ve fulfilled your responsibility to explain that’s getting to me. You explained the benefits alright. You did…… then when it’s about the inconvenient details that come with the contract you didn’t say a thing!]

In a fit of rage, Minerva angrily stomped down her foot. The place where her heel landed was exactly on Subaru’s butt, as he felt the inexplicable sensation of a heel driving into his rear while its force passed through him, crushing an indentation into the ground.

While feeling his bowel functions being somehow improved by this strike to his behind, to Subaru shock, he began to realize the meaning of Minerva’s words.

――It was true, that his conversation with Echidona hadn’t touched on the detriments of the contract at all. Just how was it that it took him so long notice it?

[Subaru: No, but…… calling them detriments…… it’s not actually that serious, is it?]

[Minerva: “It won’t be that bad”, is that what you’re thinking? You are taking contracts way too lightly. Especially when the other person is a Witch―― the one who, out of the seven Witches bearing the names of Sins, has forged the most contracts, interacted the most with humans, and meddled the most with the course of history: the Witch of Greed]

[Echidona: All those were my laurels in life…… though it’s true not every one of them would be what you’d call honorable. And, it is also true that sealing a contract with me did not necessarily save all of them]

What Minerva put forth was something Subaru never knew about. Following on Minerva’s words, Echidona insisted on her lack of any ill-will towards Subaru.

Stuck between the two as they asserted their stances, Subaru’s head was at the peak of disarray.

He didn’t know whose words to believe.

Ever since Subaru got involved in the Trials inside the Tomb, his multiple meetings with Echidona and all the time they spent together deliberating over his worries had led him to consider her a sort of comrade in arms.

And so, when she proposed to forge a contract to formally seal their cooperation, a part of Subaru even felt relieved.

On the other hand, compared to the time he had spent with Echidona, he had had very few opportunities to speak with Minerva. Yet each time, it was when he was on the brink of collapse that she mercifully saved him with her mighty arms before exiting like a hurricane without demanding even a “Thank you” in return.

Minerva had no reason to deceive Subaru, so if it was a matter important enough for her to manifest herself to intercede, then there might be reason for him to carefully reconsider.

Or, actually, rather than pondering like this, he should first be asking this question.

That is――

[Subaru: Echidona. If we seal this contract… you’ll have to get something in return, right?]

[Echidona: ……Mn, that’s correct. Contracts require compensation. Just as I will offer you the knowledge you seek, you will present me with the compensation I desire]

[Subaru: Of course. Right. ――So, what do you want from me? If I contract with you, what will I need to give you?]

From here on, whenever he gets stuck in a hopeless deadlock and needs Echidona’s help, what will he need to pay?

To his question, Echidona’s cheeks softened into a smile.

[Echidona: Nothing you need to be so wary about. What I want from you is not so hard to give. In fact, since the compensation I seek is neither material, nor immaterially precious, you could say that mine is more than a fair offer]

[Subaru: ――And what is it… that you want?]

[Echidona: It’s simple. ――What you feel, what you think, what lingers within your heart, what you know, what you do, what you create, and all of the fruits called “The Unknown” born from your very existence, I want to savour… always]

Echidona’s face blushed, like that of a young maiden with a crush.

The fruits called “The Unknown”―― that poetic phrasing made Subaru furrow his brows.

[Subaru: The hell’s… that? You want me to hand over my feelings, my memories, my recollections, is that what you mean? In that case……]

[Echidona: Didn’t I tell you? It’s nothing so troubling. I just want to witness the sights you see, the melodies you hear, the stories you weave, all from a special box seat. All I want is to experience it. To be in a position to know the “The Unknowns” you create. With that, and that alone, I will be satisfied]

To dispel Subaru’s concerns, Echidona clearly stated her demands.

It was simply to watch Subaru walk his path. To see the same sights he sees. To know feel he feels, know he knows, and witness the results of his actions.

The Incarnation of the Thirst for Knowledge, the Witch bearing the crown of Greed, wanted only that.

[Subaru: You aren’t, lying to me, are you?]

[Echidona: Lying about the terms of a contract would be absurd. As for myself, I pledge that I will never do anything to betray those words. I swear this on my life]

Placing her hand on her chest, [Though, I am already dead], Echidona concluded with a quip.

Subaru could sense no deception in her words or behavior. Or perhaps, it was because he wanted to believe her.

[Subaru: Minerva. Since Echidona’s already said that… I think I’ll……]

[???: I-it’s all…… true, but…… she hasn’t, told you every, thing, has she?]

Just as Subaru asked Minerva to release him from her hold, this time, he heard another person’s voice addressing him. It was a voice he had heard only ten-odd minutes ago―― a voice for which Subaru had absolutely no positive feelings for.

[Subaru: Camilla…… Witch of Lust!]

[Camilla: Do.. n’t…… look at me… with those scary eyes. I, I’m…… not even, doing any, thing…… aw, awful……]

[Subaru: The scary eyes are inborn. I’m not trying to make an especially intense expression or anything]

With Subaru still held against the ground, in front of him stood Echidona and behind him was Minerva, the three of them forming a straight line, while, sitting on the grass a short distance away, was a pink-haired girl―― Camilla.

She timidly hid her face from Subaru’s gaze, and only now and then peeked over. Her attitude was irritating as always, but by consciously keeping his attention off of her, he managed to avoid being “Captivated to a life-threatening degree”.

Then, he asked again,

[Subaru: But anyway, what were you talking about? I won’t complain about more Witches showing up at this point, but if there’s anyth……]

[Camilla: E-Echidona-chan is…… hiding lots and lots of things, you know……? She, isn’t lying, but…… she’s hiding lots, and lots……]

[Subaru: Hiding.. what……?]

Pondering over Camilla’s words, Subaru imploringly looked towards Echidona. While Echidona turned to the suddenly-appeared Camilla and narrowed one of her eyes,

[Echidona: And I was wondering why you came out all of a sudden, so it’s to bad-mouth me is it? Actually, how is it that he’s caught your eye? Unlike Minerva, I don’t see a reason why you’d get all cozy with him. I thought you didn’t like him]

[Camilla: A, r-reason, like…… Minerva-chan? No, I don’t have, any…… thing like, that. But, Echidona-chan, you…… tr-tricked, me…… didn’t you?]

Speaking in a frail and stuttering voice, Camilla looked down as she responded to Echidona’s methodical statements. However, unlike the frailty of her voice, the actual contents of her words implied no weakness or compromise.

Camilla puttered her fidgety gaze around, glancing several times at Echidona,

[Camilla: I-I don’t like……him, but, you tr-tricked, me…… E-Echidona-chan, so I’m, not, on your side any, anymore, you know? People, who trick, me, hate, me…… do, mean things to me, I…… I will never forgive]

――Those last words alone were spoken with incredible clarity.

It was such that, for a moment, Subaru couldn’t process the fact that those words had come from the girl beside him.

So utterly detached that voice was from his impression of this girl up to now.

Except,

[Camilla: ――――]

Wordlessly, yet determined and unwaveringly, Camilla stared at Echidona.

In her eyes there churned an indescribable emotion―― a whirlpool of something dark and grudging, unforgiving of the one who had offended her with their transgression.

A pure mass of narcissism―― the description suddenly scraped across Subaru’s mind.

[Echidona: While it may’ve been a necessary measure, doing something contrary to Camilla’s desires was a mistake on my part. There is nothing more unenviable than making an enemy of you, Camilla]

[Camilla: E-everyone, is, on my side…… so, it, won’t be pleasant, to have me, hate, you……you know? You can, a-apologize, but, I won’t, forgive, you……]

Camilla wasn’t just an equal balance of timidness and rebellion.

Her personality was so introverted that she was too timid to even properly communicate with others―― but that had very little to do with the intensity of her retribution against those who wronged her.

[Subaru: What’ve you all been…… what’ve you all been talking about!?]

Finally disrupting the perilous atmosphere between the Witches, Subaru broke his silence and blurted out.

Feeling the gazes of all three Witches falling on him, Subaru frantically turned his neck, and,

[Subaru: How long are you gonna leave me out of the conversation!? I, I’m the one who has to choose here! Say it in a way I can understand! Echidona, what’re you hiding!? And you two, what is it you know that’s making you want to stop me!?]

[Minerva: Putting you in this mentally feeble state so that you’d grab onto any offered hand without thinking…… it’s all her careful planning that’s lured you here!]

[Echidona: You make me sound like a villain. Won’t that make him misunderstand? If we seal this contract, I will certainly help him, and guide him to the optimal destination he desires. My only request is to see what he sees, hear what he hears, and learn what he learns in the process. Not a single one of the things I said was false]

Minerva blasted back at the protesting Subaru, her voice trembling in rage. All the while, Echidona remained calm as always.

Listening to the pristine clarity of Echidona’s voice, Subaru began sensing that something was awry. Having overcome the state of heated delirium up to now, he once again scrutinized over Echidona’s words. Over her attitude, and why the other two Witches tried to stop him.

What was out of place? She didn’t say anything strange. Both of the other two Witches acknowledged that she wasn’t lying. So then, where was the problem――?

[Echidona: I will repeat, Natsuki Subaru. If you choose me, choose to seal this contract with me―― I will without fail lead you to the place you desire…]

[????: ――“In the end”, would be the necessary disclaimer to this promise, right? Haa…]

Just as Echidona reached out her hand to Subaru, a listless voice covered over her words.

Looking up, he saw a monster made of magenta hair who had appeared opposite Camilla―― sitting on the ground, buried in her own long hair, it was the Witch of Sloth.

The increasing number of Witches didn’t surprise Subaru anymore. But, what Subaru did pick up was,

[Subaru: In the, end……?]

[Sekhmet: I’m sure Echidona, huu… is certain to fulfill the contract, haa. But, so long as she maintains the fact, huuu… that she intends to fulfill the contract, haa. She can probably do whatever she likes in the process, huu]

[Subaru: Do, whatever she――]

Tying together Sekhmet’s intermittent, huffing words with the sense of awriness he had felt earlier, a single explanation emerged in Subaru’s mind.

But that explanation was simply too hard to accept. His face stiffening in shock, Subaru looked towards Echidona, who had closed her eyes, and,

[Subaru: Echidona, if I contract with you…… you will definitely lead me to the optimal future, that’s what you’re saying?]

[Echidona: Yes, it is. That is a fact. Without a doubt, I will carry out this contract to the end. With my knowledge and your ability, we will certainly be able to achieve it]

Yes, surely, the contract will be properly fulfilled.

There were no lies in Echidona’s words. If Subaru cooperates with her, they will certainly be able to save everyone and reach that perfect future. However,

[Subaru: As you guide me towards the optimal future―― will we be taking the optimal path?]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: Will you truly be doing everything in your power to bring me to the place I desire?]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: Why’re… you saying nothing. Answer me, Echidona…… no…… WITCH OF GREED!]

Lifting his head, Subaru screamed at the top of his lungs.

Though still held against the ground with his joints locked in place, Subaru paid it no heed as he single-mindedly glared at Echidona.

On the other end of his razor-sharp gaze, Echidona let out a small sigh.

[Echidona: ――If you wish to reach the optimal future, you would have to permit certain sacrifices along the way. Could it be that you lack even that resolve, Natsuki Subaru?]

[Subaru: ――――gh]

Her response neither affirmed nor denied what Subaru had asked her.

But, Subaru had realized it:

Echidona’s words just now weren’t meant to dispel his doubts.

Instead, as if intending to make her thoughts known to him, she spread out her arms,

[Echidona: This extraordinary ability you possess, the Authority of Return by Death: Its utility is something you don’t yet truly comprehend. By refusing to allow endings that are contrary to your desires, you repeatedly retry, and repeatedly reach for the future―― that is the near-perfect ideal of an inquirer. But of course. In the first place, once an event has reached its outcome, it would mean that no other outcome could take its place. While in the process of reaching an outcome, it is possible to hypothesize on various possibilities of what that outcome may be. Such an approach under such conditions can serve to verify such various hypotheses. But when there is an actual result you want to reach, the outcome of each experiment and the hypothesis it verifies must forever remain singular. All the while, to truly reproduce the exact same conditions is impossible. No matter how meticulous the preparation, deviation from the conditions of that particular point in time is inevitable. And so too, is the question: “What would the results have been if I had done things differently?”―― forever out of the reach of an inquirer such as myself, instead being what you’d call a dream beyond a dream. Possessing the “Memories of the World”, there are indeed ways in which I could come to “Know” the answers. But while they exist, I have no desire to use or rely on such methods. My “Desire to Know” is not simply a “Desire to Have Knowledge”. Even for me, that distinction is quite a contradictory and loathsome thing. But I’m getting carried away, let’s return to the topic at hand…… for one such as myself, with no choice but to accept the singularity of the outcomes, having but one means of observation, your existence and your Authority is a godsend. Using “The Same Conditions” to conduct “A Different Test”, and see “A Different Outcome” from “What Originally Should Have Been”―― who would not desire such ultimate Authority? Seeing it laid before one’s eyes, who could go without first trying absolutely everything? Of course, I have no intention of taking it by force. In the end, you will be making full use of Return by Death for your purposes. I will ensure that you reach your desired future to the absolute best of my ability. And, in the process, if possible, I would like to sate my curiosity to the fullest possible extent. Surely, you won’t fault me for such a measly request? You will get your answers. I will sate my curiosity. Our interests are entirely aligned. Since I don’t know the answers myself, I certainly won’t misguide you on purpose towards the most wretched endings possible. When first encountering a problem, I’ll be just as ignorant as you are to what the optimal solution may be. So together, we will ponder, agonize and find the answers as comrades. I can say this without the slightest embarrassment. I am immensely fond of you, that is, for your capacity to increase my means of inquiry, and I swear I will never do anything to impede you. Of course, when initially without answers, I cannot guarantee a smooth resolution to every problem even with my help. While I can aid you with the strength of my knowledge, I can never directly interfere with reality. Should the obstacle before you require physical, material strength, I cannot help you. Time after time, perhaps in the hundreds and thousands, your mind and body may be shattered and torn. But if and when it is, I will faithfully tend to your heart. I must admit that not wanting to lose something as useful as you has a part to do with it. But, my fondness for you, and my intention to lend you my strength is genuine. I hope you won’t think badly of me. Though I’ve said this over and over, I am confident that I will prove valuable to achieving your purposes. Indeed, just as I will be, in a sense, using you to satisfy the Greed of my curiosity, you can also use me to “Attain Your Perfect Future”. It is precisely my wish to become that convenient girl you can always call on. If it means spurring you onward, then I will gladly offer you my very existence. Although, paltry as it is, seeing how I’m already dead, whether you will have me is another question. Alas, I suppose that would be unfair to those girls within your thoughts. The subjects of your longing―― the silver-haired Half-Elf, and the blue-haired Demon: the girls that your heart has sworn to save and protect. I won’t go into what I think about the intense emotions you feel towards them, but I will simply say this: The barricade standing before you is far greater than you could possibly imagine. Just the obstacles you are aware of now already have you struggling at your wit’s end. While your resolve to overcome them alone is admirable, it would be far too desperate a fight. There is not the slightest falsehood in my desire to lend you my help. And you have every reason to make use of my willingness. You must use everything you have, use everything you can, and only then can you save the ones you hold dear. Isn’t that the oath you have sworn, and the conviction you took onto the painful path you have chosen? That is why I challenge you, repeat with you, and feel for you. The path you have sacrificed your lives to forge, as ironic as it is, has now been validated in the form of the Second Trial. Perhaps, the Trial might offer the illusion that it existed to make you understand the nature of the path you have walked, and as such, was necessary. Yet the truth is it wasn’t necessary, and those scenes in fact only served to wear down your heart. However, between a state of ignorance and a state of knowing, no matter how appalling the truth may be, I will always value the latter. You have, and will continue to use your life as the price for Returning by Death and for inching ever closer to the future. As you do so, you will constantly keep in the back of your mind the possibility that the sacrifices you have made and those worlds themselves “Might Still Exist” in some form or another. Until one day, you will cease to feel anything about paying with your life, your human emotions will have faded away, the deaths of the people precious to you will no longer strike upon your heart, and so drowning your days in unmovable, emotionless apathy, even if you eventually reach that perfect future, there would be nothing left of you to hold it―― therefore, in order to avoid drifting into a future in which only that tediousness remains, this is necessary. Indeed, there is not a single useless thing in this world, every path is necessary, everything is an indispensable piece of the puzzle: It was for you to understand this that the Trial existed. If you need to make sense of the reasons why you have now stopped in your tracks, then you can think of it this way. And I will affirm your thoughts. If my words can give you the strength to move forward, then I will endeavor to give them. Be it consolation, incitement, whispers of love, or evocations of contempt, if it can become your strength then I will not hesitate to use it. You might hate it, but you will certainly need me on your path ahead. If you are to proceed along this road of unavoidable pain and solitude, then you will need someone to walk alongside you who will never veer their sight from the path. If you leave this role to me and to no one else, then I am willing to walk this road alongside you without question. I will repeat it, I will restate it, I will convey it as many times as necessary until it reaches you. ――You need me. And I need you. I need you immensely. My curiosity can no longer be quenched by anything except you. You are the only one in existence who can satisfy me. My insatiable Greed would be fulfilled by you alone. Your existence is already indispensable to me in this closed-off world. If you wish to be someone else’s hope and use your power to slice open their world, could you not take pity on my miserable self so that I may partake in the fallen scraps as well? If you will bequeath me this kindness, then without a moment’s hesitation, I will offer up my body, my knowledge and my soul. And so I beg of you. Please trust me. That I haven’t told you my true feelings until now was never because I wanted to deceive you. I was merely waiting for the right moment to do so. At this stage, the instant I appealed to you with even a fragment of my true intentions, you surely would have left me. That would have been an unbearable loss to me. And of course, for you as well, as it would certainly be a loss in the sense that you’d be distancing yourself from the future you seek. Although, with the power of Return by Death, you will inevitably reach your desired future. Nevertheless, it will certainly be preferable to reach that future while paying as little in compensation as possible. With me, with me you can lighten that price. I do not want you to make the mistake of thinking that this means as long as you reach the desired future, the greater good can overrule the lesser and the details can be held in contempt. Indeed, falling into temptation and failing to advise you of the optimal path just so I can see the end of a thread―― is not something which I am so confident in my control over my desires that I can guarantee will never happen. This I will admit. But, I will never mislead you. If on the off-chance I do betray your trust in this way, I will under no circumstances try to hide it from you. I will certainly disclose it. And then, do everything in my power to repair that damaged trust. No matter what happens, I will deliver you to the perfect future you desire. Absolutely, absolutely. And now, if you agree that this is necessary, then won’t you choose me? All I want from you, all I ask of you is as I have mentioned in the contract. After that, it is simply a matter of how much suffering you are willing to endure for your desired, coveted wish. I have told you my resolve. Now I would like to hear yours. Prove it to me, seal this contract with me, enlist my assistance, and muster the will to reach your destined future. Do so, and you may for the first time boast that you have conquered the Second Trial. From there, proceed to the Third Trial, and overcoming that, liberate the Sanctuary. Then, considering the disaster that will befall the Sanctuary, those you love, and those you hold dear, that shall be greatest Trial of all. Show me that you have the strength and resolve to surmount it. Once you do, plunder me, use my knowledge, and take hold of the future ahead. What I desire from you, what I request from you, and what I offer you in return is as I have stated. All is as I have sincerely, honestly, willingly confessed it. So now, I want you to tell me―― what is your decision? That, in itself, would satisfy a portion of my curiosity]

――A lovely smile rose onto Echidona’s face.

With her white, snow-like hair swaying and her cheeks flushed red from the heat of passion, she turned up her eyes to Subaru, awaiting his answer.

Echidona’s eyelashes trembled in trepidation for his reply, as her fingers holding her chest anxiously fidgeted about. Her lips tried several times to speak, but, hesitating, she merely moistened them with her tongue.

Subaru looked up into the eyes of the one restraining him, Minerva.

For a while, they went on staring at each other, until Minerva spilled a small sigh and finally released Subaru’s arm. Freed from her hold, Subaru stood up with a roll of his shoulders.

Just as Minerva promised, the aching in his shoulders was gone. In fact, he could feel that his somewhat tensed waist and other parts of his body have been purged of their fatigue as well. Such was the terrifying healing of the Authority of the Witch of Wrath.

[Subaru: ――――]

Rolling out various parts of his body, Subaru checked the sensations in his limbs as he reorganized his thoughts:

About what he had heard just now, of Echidona’s unreserved, truest of true intentions.

[Subaru: Echidona]

[Echidona: Yes?]

[Subaru: You’re…… going to use me?]

To use, and be used. That was what Echidona had repeatedly proclaimed in her speech. Hearing it, Echidona nodded without hesitation.

[Echidona: I am. Just as you may use me. The contract is merely a safeguard should either of us stray from that agreement. If you wish to chastise me for wanting to do everything in my power to hold onto you, then I can only resignedly accept it]

[Subaru: It’s not that I haven’t thought about it… Ultimately, that’s what mutual interest is, I understand this too. As much as I hoped that you were only helping me out of the kindness of your heart…… I was at least prepared to accept the reality that you weren’t. But…]

In front of Echidona, Subaru covered his face with his hand and leaned back his head.

[Subaru: It’s just, not there anymore……]

[Echidona: What… isn’t?]

[Subaru: Everything you have done up to this point… looks faded to me now. Every warmth you have shown me, everything that made me want to trust you, to start believing that perhaps you weren’t a bad person after all…… all of it, has faded]

Everything from their first meeting to this moment suddenly collapsed with a thud.

Their first tea party, the scene after the Trial, and those countless times, impeded by reality, he had imposed on her wisdom: When he had thought that he could not regret sealing a contract with her.

――All of it was now mercilessly jeering at Natsuki Subaru’s foolishness.

[Subaru: Was this your intention from the start?]

[Echidona: I don’t see what you have a problem with? If it means reaching the optimal future, then you won’t hesitate to take whatever path to get there―― isn’t that the resolve you have made? You yourself have affirmed it, and I was merely agreeing and giving you a push on the back……]

[Subaru: When I decided that…… when I hadn’t yet, and you tried to guide me down that path, was that all a part of your plan? ……Is that what you’re telling me?]

[Echidona: I wouldn’t want you to misunderstand. That conclusion was entirely your own. All I’ve done was give you a little nudge. To blame your own conclusions on someone else is something I cannot agree with. I cannot agree with it, and I am not so meek that I’d just sit down and take it]

Pouting up her lips, Echidona’s face sulked in protest. That display of emotion was so childish and out of place that it only intensified Subaru’s sense of incongruity.

Somehow―― there was just something off about the degree of her affectations.

There was nothing wrong with where Echidona expressed her emotions. She would be indignant when doubted, smile when there was something to be happy about, and let slip glimpses of grief when there was reason to be sad. All of these were on point, and without error.

Yet this sense of incongruity, and the distrust it inspired, was because――

[Subaru: All your emotions are synthetic… and superficial]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: Whether you’re happy, or mad, your emotions are equally childish and shallow. Just now, when you were riled, all you did was pout. It had nothing to do with magnanimity. Your reactions…… all your reactions have been strange. Before… I had thought… you were just an easygoing, open-minded person, but……]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: The truth is something else. You’re―― you’re someone who can’t understand other people’s emotions at all]

Recalling all of Echidona’s behavior up to now, it was as if everything had been toned in sepia.

What he had previously imagined to be her good nature had in fact merely been owing to the shallowness of her emotions. The moment he saw through this, all their interactions abruptly faded of color.

And, even when showered by these unsparing words, Echidona’s face remained unchanged from the sulking expression from before: As if she didn’t know any way to express any greater discomfort.

[Subaru: This is where you’re supposed to be angry, you know]

[Echidona: ……Is that so. So here is where I should raise my voice, and shower you with insults? I see, now I learned something. I’ll make sure I do so the next time I get the opportunity]

With the fall of Subaru’s words, Echidona’s expression vanished.

Expressionless―― it was something Subaru had never seen from the Echidona he knew: but the true face of the Witch of Greed.

In front of Subaru, who had fallen into silence, Echidona snapped her fingers. In an instant, the destroyed hillock was restored to its original shape, and the shattered table and scattered chairs were formed anew.

Echidona sat down in one of the chairs, and pointed to the one opposite her,

[Echidona: Would you like to sit? I’d like us to iron out the details of the contract]

[Subaru: ……With things as they are, do you still think I’ll readily consider a contract with you?]

[Echidona: Unless, you are really going to reject me over such a small disagreement? What would be the point of that? Driven by the impulse of a moment to abandon the correct choice can’t be considered wise. I suggest you take a good look at reality, and select the most rational course of action]

Faced with Echidona’s words that were frozen of emotion, Subaru closed his eyes and held his breath.

Echidona was right. Subaru was the one who was losing himself to impulse: there was no way around it. Her argument was sound. Nor was she lying.

All Echidona did was hide her true intentions from Subaru. She had merely kept silent about how she benefited from observing Subaru on his path.

If he sealed this contract, chances were, he would finally reach the correct solutions. And that he would obtain Echidona’s unreserved cooperation was also an indisputable fact.

[Subaru: There is one thing… I’ve been meaning to ask you the moment I got to see you again]

[Echidona: ――Hm, and what is that?]

[Subaru: Once I hear the answer, I think I’ll be ready to choose]

Echidona awaited Subaru’s question.

Subaru would put forth this question as his touchstone: the question he hadn’t been able to find even a fragment of an answer to since embarking on the loops starting in the Sanctuary. A question which she could not possibly have nothing to do with.

[Subaru: ――You know about Beatrice, don’t you, Echidona]

[Echidona: ……Yes, I do. I was rather deeply involved in her creation, in fact. Did something happen with her?]

Echidona returned this innocent reply, seemingly bearing no hidden meaning, yet rife with questions all the same.

Subaru closed his eyes once more, and saw the girl with drill-curls in his mind.

In her last moments, with her back pierced through, just before she vanished.

At the end of her long, long solitude, the shadow she had cast within him remained heavy in his heart.

Knocking Subaru aside, shielding him from that murderous blade, that final expression she showed him―― even now, was seared into the back of his eyes, refusing to fade. And so,

[Subaru: Because of her contract, Beatrice has been waiting for “That Person” to come. Are you the one who forged this contract with her? Are you the one who bound her to the Mansion?]

[Echidona: I don’t remember specifying a location…… but I was the one who received her promise to guard the Forbidden Library and to wait for someone to come]

[Subaru: Then… who is “That Person”? What’ll I have to do to free her?]

Through four hundred years of solitude, Beatrice had been waiting for “Someone”.

Yet not even Beatrice herself knew who that “Someone” was. Nor did Subaru have the slightest clue.

But if he asked Echidona herself, the one who had arranged this promise in the first place――

[Echidona: Now who would it be, I wonder?]

[Subaru ――H, uh?]

[Echidona: No no, I wasn’t joking, I really am wondering. Who do you think Beatrice’s awaited “Person” would be?]

Echidona asked, as if she had been presented with a question she did not know the answer to. Stunned by this reply, Subaru shook his head,

[Subaru: Even you… don’t know who Beatrice is waiting for?]

[Echidona: No, I don’t. I have no idea who Beatrice’s awaited “Person” would be]

[Subaru: But… how? Weren’t you the one who told her to wait in the Forbidden Library? If you don’t know, then…… unless…]

The one who instructed Beatrice to wait in the Forbidden Library was Echidona, but it could’ve been someone else who set the condition for her to wait for “That Person” to come.

If so, then the one who would know the answer would again be someone else――

[Echidona: No, you’re mistaken]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: I was the one who instructed Beatrice to wait for “That Person”. You weren’t wrong about that. What you got wrong was something more fundamental]

[Subaru: Funda..mental?]

[Echidona: Just why in the world did I seal this contract with Beatrice? That is where you are misunderstanding. I made Beatrice guard the Forbidden Library so that she could give its contents to “That Person”, is that what you thought?]

He couldn’t understand what Echidona was saying.

It was just a natural assumption. When instructing someone to give something to someone else, naturally, the intention was for that thing to end up in the right person’s hands.

But, in front of Subaru’s instinctive interpretation, Echidona shook her head, and said,

[Echidona: That wasn’t the point of my instruction to Beatrice. I sealed the contract with her, having her wait for “That Person”…… but I was also waiting to see who she would choose “That Person” to be]

[Subaru: ――――]

――――

――――――

――――――――――――

――――――――――――――――――――what?

[Echidona: You see, that child was created for a specific purpose. But necessity arose for her to live in a way that differed from her original purpose…… for that, she had to go far away from here, and there, she needed to be given a new purpose. For that child, who now had nothing, it was necessary to give her a reason to live. It was for that, that I sealed this contract with her]

[Subaru: ――Tha..t’s]

[Echidona: Watching over the Forbidden Library, and eventually handing it over in its entirety to “That Person” who was destined to come. I placed no limitations, since, in the first place, there is no correct answer. She stays alive just as planned, and I have another result to look forward to. It’s quite logical, don’t you think?]

[Subaru: ――――]

[Echidona: Of course, going four hundred years without choosing anyone is a result in itself. So was the fact that she did not simply choose one of the people she had met in her days to be “That Person”. And potentially, her deliberations over whether to break the contract, desiring for her own death, is also a result in itself]

[Subaru: And how… do you feel about that?]

[Echidona: ――? It’s quite marvellous, I think?]

As if she had just been asked something incredibly obvious, Echidona innocently tilted her head.

That reply, that attitude, and the expression of the girl he saw in his mind, all led him to the answer.

It’s decided. Understood. Clearly understood.

――His misconception about who this person was that he was dealing with, has been rectified.

[Subaru: Echidona…… you really, are a Witch]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: An inexplicable, unfathomable, monster]

[Echidona: ――――]

He told her. The answer that was in his heart.

He withdrew the hand he had almost given her, and as for who it would now reach out to, he has already decided.

[Subaru: I…… I can’t take your hand. I’ve already decided whose hand I’ll be taking]

[Echidona: ――――]

[Subaru: With those callous, binding words, without the slightest malice, you stole four hundred years from that girl. ――I’ve already decided. I’ll be taking that girl’s hand. Not yours]

That was their farewell.

With it, he shook away the hand of the one he once thought would walk alongside him.

He lifted his face. And looked forward.

Beneath his eyelids, he saw that girl’s final expression.

――Disappearing, dying, afraid, twisted as if about to cry, but nonetheless relieved that she had protected Subaru.

He would take the hand of the girl who mourned his “Death”, that much was decided.

[Echidona: ――――]

Echidona’s eyes narrowed.

Flickers of thought flashed through her irises as if pondering on what words to say to Subaru.

Yet before she could, the change had arrived.

[Minerva: ――――she’s here]

[Camilla: Oh, no, I…… I don’t want, anything, to do with…… this, anymore]

[Sekhmet: At a troublesome time, a troublesome person, has come to cause more trouble, haa…]

The three onlooking Witches all gave their respective reactions.

He felt an overwhelming pressure on his back.

While in front, staring at what was behind him, Echidona’s eyes slightly widened. Following her astonished gaze, Subaru turned around, and saw it――

[???: ――――]

――With everything above her neck shrouded in pitch darkness, there stood the Witch of Envy.

-=Chapter 75 End=-