[User] Beatrice wondered when the youth, once too lanky and stubble covering his face, had become an adult? He bore a staff and looked like he had trouble walking—he had suffered unhealed wounds during the battle with that devil, putting Roswaal’s body into a state that made even day-to-day life arduous. In spite of this, ever since he had become able to walk again, he had terribly abused that inconvenient body, whittling his life away as he remained turned toward the bookshelves.

[Assistant] "Hellooo, Beatrice. I shall intruuude upon you today once more."

[User] “…Do as you please.” By rights, the archive of forbidden books was a place she shouldn’t have allowed anyone into. Echidna’s request was for That Person to eventually come and inherit her knowledge. It wasn’t an open library that just anyone could peruse until That Person came. Everyone else belonged in the Sanctuary. But even so, Roswaal, and only Roswaal, was the exception. He alone was special, the only other one to whom, like Beatrice, Echidna had entrusted a vital mission. And to Beatrice, he was the only reminder that the days she treasured existed without a doubt. Yes, to Beatrice, only he— “” He had come to the archive again. Roswaal threw himself into the sea of Echidna’s knowledge with wild abandon, seemingly gambling his life on finding something within—Beatrice did not know if he ever did. But several years later, Roswaal A. Mathers—the last person she had known from those days—lost his life just on the verge of entering his thirties, and administration of the mansion was passed on to the next generation.


[Assistant] "Greetings, Lady Beatrice. I thought I should say somethiiiing to you in place of my predecessor."

[User] “…Did Roswaal die, I wonder?”

[Assistant] "My predecessor has passed away. However, rest at ease. As current head of the household, I, Roswaal B. Mathers, duly inherit his duty toward you and his debt of obligation toward your mother." He smiled as his eyes, one yellow, one blue, reflected her expressionless face.


[User] Little worth mentioning happened after that. The heads of the Mathers family continued to call themselves Roswaal, inheriting the name from previous generations. This was apparently so they would never forget to revere Echidna, Beatrice’s departed mother. Even though she understood this, she could not treat them like she had the first generation. Of course she couldn’t. To Beatrice, there was only one Roswaal she could consider special. All others were fakes. To maintain the archive of forbidden books, she needed them to provide access to the mansion. Furthermore, even if they offered other amenities, she wanted nothing beyond that, as it was a place for the sake of That Person alone. And so for the sake of her guiding mission, she was alone for a long, long time. Four hundred years passed—and in that time, the number of people who reached the Archive were few.

[Assistant] "Your power is simply marvelous. Please, by all means, lend me your power as a spirit."

[User] Shut up. Go away.


[User] "Even if someone ordered it, making you stay all alone in a place like this is unforgivable.” As if you understand? This is the precious duty Mother entrusted to me.

[Assistant] “Knowledge should be spread far and wide. If the vast wisdom accumulated here was shared, just how many people do you think it would help? Surely, you understand this.” I care nothing for the many.

[User] "Let’s go together. You’ve already done enough. Let me save you.” There is only one person who can save Betty now.

[Assistant] Both men and women said all sorts of things to Betty, guardian of the archive of forbidden books. In the end, they all invariably asked her to open the archive. Many times over, their proposals, their commands, and the hands they reached out with made her heart tremble. Every time the door was pushed open, every time someone came in, her expectations rose. Had That Person arrived? But her hopes were always dashed. These visitors knew nothing of That Person’s duty, nor did the mystic tome left to her by Mother indicate any of them was That Person. Therefore, Beatrice brushed aside their words, their feelings, and the hands they extended, rejecting them all, clinging to Mother’s words alone and continuing to gradually shut herself in a cage of loneliness. Would the key to that cage come from inside, or would it come from outside? —Not even Beatrice herself knew anymore.


[User] She appealed to her heart’s self-control. Suppressing her emotions and keeping her words sealed away was her specialty. She had done so over and over across four centuries. Her heart did not fear silence or loneliness at that late hour. In her familiar, tried-and-true fashion, she gave up and chalked it up to the despair she knew so well. —It was during those days of resignation that an anomaly suddenly intruded upon her domain. At first, she assumed he was just another foolish human and held no interest in him whatsoever.

[Assistant] He was a traveler the half-demon girl had brought back from the royal capital, and a stupid one at that. By some twist of fate, he ended up staying at the mansion, and on top of that, he had an affinity for Dark magic, making him highly compatible with Beatrice’s Passage; as a result, he forced his way into the archive of forbidden books time and time again. He was an odd boy.

[User] It was plain as day to anyone with eyes that the boy was completely smitten with the half-demon girl. It was just as obvious that this was no scheme or dark ambition; the only motive was his shockingly simplistic love for her and nothing more. On a whim, she had saved the boy from a curse and offered him words of advice. She regretted this when afterward, he settled down at the mansion indefinitely, insisting on becoming even chummier.

[Assistant] But what she found surprising was that he knew of Beatrice’s talents yet did not desire them in any way. Indeed, when he came to ask about curses, it was Beatrice, and not the archive of forbidden books, he came to consult. The boy harbored no interest in the knowledge left in her care or Beatrice’s power whatsoever.

[User] Up until then, various persons had arrived at the archive of forbidden books, in which Beatrice placed her fleeting hopes—yet Beatrice herself had rejected them, denied them. In the first place, the boy lacked many of the attributes Beatrice hoped for in the person she awaited. First, there was a nasty quality to his eyes. His attitude was awful. His upbringing was deficient. His legs were short. He had someone he already cared for with all his being, and he wasn’t kind to Beatrice. She couldn’t find even one good thing about him.

[Assistant] It genuinely hurt when she tried to understand what the half-demon girl and the younger of the maid sisters saw in him. He had absolutely no redeeming qualities, so Beatrice wished he would know his place and just accept being alone. And given his situation, she thought she could at least be a little nicer whenever he poked his head into the archive.


[User] Beatrice did not know the fine details of what happened outside the mansion after that. But the half-demon girl was summoned to the capital, and when she returned, the boy, who should have been traveling by her side, was absent. When he next reappeared, the boy had acquired an heirloom that belonged to someone whom she had fond memories of. Upon seeing the book, Beatrice gained a keen appreciation of how yet another had left her behind in the world, even as she sent the boy and those with him off to the Sanctuary in accordance with Roswaal’s plot. He was going to meet the Witch of Greed, fulfilling the long-cherished desire of his family—such were the words Roswaal left with Beatrice when he visited her in the archive before heading to the Sanctuary. From those words and the look in Roswaal’s eyes, Beatrice surmised he was going to settle things. Simultaneously, Beatrice settled upon a conclusion of her own. A conclusion about the promised person supposedly recorded in the book of knowledge that had remained blank for four centuries. —That Person would never arrive at Beatrice’s doorstep. When the air of death permeated the mansion, Beatrice immediately came to a realization. Even in the presence of such a thick aura, the book of knowledge had nothing written in it about Beatrice’s future. Destiny had abandoned her. And for some reason, she accepted this with ease. That was probably because Beatrice had finally caught sight of the conclusion that she had long desired. —That Person would never come. Yet, even so, she had to keep waiting. In which case, Beatrice had no choice but to wait until someone stopped her from waiting any longer. If that also meant robbing her of her life, she didn’t care who did it. If it was possible, she would have liked to entrust even a tiny bit of the end of those four centuries to another. Therefore, that night, when the boy—Subaru Natsuki—raced into the archive of forbidden books, Beatrice vented all her deeply repressed feelings, which were so difficult to put into words. That instant, for the first time, Beatrice wanted some revenge against the destiny that had not tried to save her heart even once. If he could be the one to take her and finally end the pact, then that would be—

[Assistant] "I’m getting you out of here, Beatrice—This time, my hand’s gonna lead you right out under the big ol’ sun, and we’ll play around until that dress is totally black from mud."

[User] —So why, when it was far too late, did his hardened resolve tear at Beatrice’s heart? All she’d thought about was meeting her end. And yet, the boy showed her a possible future that differed from Beatrice’s own hopes.


[User] “If—if you…were…the one I’ve been waiting for…”

[Assistant] "Would you…become That Person for Betty?”


[User] The boy proceeded to groan in agony as he was hurled out of the room before the door shut again, forcibly ejecting him from the space. “Is this even remotely funny, I wonder…?” Beatrice murmurs with irritation, settling back onto her stool, clutching the blank book of knowledge as she glared at the door, fearful that it might open again.

[Assistant] She was scared that her feelings, which had been shoved aside by arbitrary logic and unthinkable emotions, might be forced to the surface. No matter how many times you come, I will continue to refuse you. After all, you are not That Person. You abandoned any right to take Beatrice from here. That is why Beatrice will stay until she and her unfulfilled promise meet their ends. —At that moment, that was the only thing Beatrice thought could grant her salvation.


[User] Sent flying out of the archive, Subaru wisely broke his fall the instant he collided with the hallway wall. “Gah… I’m in one piece!”

[Assistant] Having split off from Petra and Otto, he was hell-bent on trying to persuade Beatrice for the fourth time—and thanks to being smacked so much in a short span, he was becoming quite an expert at blunting the impact of the invisible shock waves. “This ain’t the time to polish up stupid techniques like that. My instincts are telling me the fire’s getting bad.”

[User] Wiping off his coursing sweat with a sleeve, Subaru crouched, clicking his tongue at the poor visibility.

[Assistant] The fire consuming the mansion had worsened, and hovering black smoke now reached every corner of the main wing. The floor below was already enveloped by the tendrils of flames; if he fell through the floor, he would not be able to avoid being charred to a crisp. With the fire having spread to both the east and west wings, it was no longer possible to stop it. The silver linings were that the candidates for Passage had been drastically reduced and that many of the demon beasts had fled due to the inferno, leaving Subaru with no enemies barring his path as he scurried around the mansion. That said, the more of the mansion that was lost to flames, the higher the odds of Subaru burning to death. It would not be long until the mansion underwent a fiery collapse. He had to get Beatrice out of there before it came to that.

[User] “Besides, what’s gonna happen to her archive of forbidden books if all the doors are burned to a crisp…?”

[Assistant] If, by any chance, all links to the doors were cut, just where would that archive’s door lead? Perhaps it would lead nowhere, and that girl’s world of loneliness would continue on for eternity? Or perhaps the archive of forbidden books would share the mansion’s fate, consumed by flames and returned to ash?


[User] "As if I’m gonna just stand by and let you end up like that…!" Taking a deep breath, Subaru ran while staying so low to the ground, he was practically licking the floor. Throwing open the door from which he had been hurled, he put his hand on the next door, opening one after another. The structural materials burned, and there was something like a bursting sound as the mansion where he spent so many irreplaceable days burned to the ground.

[Assistant] "—Gah, agh!" When he grasped the doorknob of a yet-unopened door, he suppressed the urge to cry out in pain from his scorched palm. However, in a short span of time, it was a pain he’d grown accustomed to feeling. The pain sharply stabbed him through his temples as he kicked the door open, racing inside.

[User] He gasped, breathing in the aroma of old books and seeing an atmosphere disconnected from scalding heat—it was the archive of forbidden books. Realizing this, Subaru lifted his face.

[Assistant] "You again. You do not know when to give up…!" The girl sitting on the stool was glaring straight at Subaru.

[User] "Ha!! Damn right I don’t! I’ll come to spirit you away as many times as it takes! If you don’t like it, come with me already! Do that, and it’ll be the last time I barge in here like this!"

[Assistant] "I have had enough of your flapping tongue! Do you even realize the mansion is on fire, I wonder?! If you do not flee this very instant, all that awaits you is your own fiery death!" The fifth time Subaru challenged her, Beatrice chewed him out, having deemed him an incorrigible fool. Fierce emotion rested in her blue eyes, her lips quavered, and her fingers dug into her mystic tome.

[User] "You… Have you not realized that you are out of opportunities to speak with Betty, I wonder? You are an unwelcome intruder… Why do you not understand this? !"

[Assistant] "Well, I don’t understand. As long as you’re not seriously rejecting me, I’ll come as many times as I want."

[User] "—!! Betty is rejec—!" She was so angry, so offended, that Beatrice’s words made it halfway out of her throat before she opened her eyes wide. She truly hadn’t realized the meaning of Subaru’s words. Beatrice’s own words, own actions, were contradicted by Subaru’s very presence.

[Assistant] "Beatrice, if you genuinely don’t want to see me, just hole up here in the archive."

[User] "What are you…? At present, can Betty take even a single step out of the archive, I wonder?! And yet—And yet, you barge in here all on your…"

[Assistant] "Nah, you’re wrong. If you were serious, I’d never have been able to reach this place over and over in such a short time like this. Your rejection is skin-deep."

[User] "—I, ah…" Beatrice grew even more confused. She was at a loss, unable to form the words with which to reject him. Passage was not all-powerful. That was simply fact.


[User] "" After considering Subaru’s assertion, Beatrice, too, began to doubt her own heart. Even had she not, the promise from four centuries ago that underpinned the current Beatrice was lost, leaving her wavering. She no longer knew whether Subaru’s words or her own hopes were correct.

[Assistant] —And really, Subaru didn’t know, either. Perhaps it was simply that the more the mansion burned away, the more the choices dwindled as well. Perhaps Subaru was conveniently discovering hidden powers at the perfect moment, enabling him to see right through Passage. And perhaps it truly was that Beatrice could not bring herself to reject Subaru sincerely, and therefore Passage’s entrance remained open to him. He didn’t know which was true—but Subaru hoped, prayed it was the last possibility. But whatever the truth, it didn’t matter. There and then, every part of Subaru Natsuki was devoted to reaching the possibility of taking Beatrice with him.

[User] “You…you…! You are not That Person for Betty!” Seemingly unable to contain the inner turmoil swirling inside her any longer, Beatrice grasped the hem of her skirt and raised her voice. Abandoning the thoughts racing within her mind, she seemed ready to burst into tears as she stated her case to Subaru.

[Assistant] “You said yourself that you weren’t! You said it yourself! Did you not say it, I wonder? If only you were That Person… Had you said so, even as a lie, Betty would have probably believed you. Even knowing it was a lie, she would have to believe you.”

[User] “Beatrice…”

[Assistant] “But did you not say that was wrong, I wonder? You said it was wrong, and you said it was stupid. Well, I suppose you were right. Yes, Betty is an idiot, a huge idiot who cannot bring herself to forget a verbal promise she made four centuries ago… That’s why! No matter what you say, is it not already over, I wonder? !” As Beatrice shouted her rejection, fierce gales spawned around her, enveloping her like a cage. The torrent of magical energy made the girl’s dress and hair flap in the wind, and a tragic mood filled the archive of forbidden books.

[User] After watching this unfold, Subaru drew in his breath, then began walking forward. His feeble heart was afraid—afraid that the squalls would hurt him. Fighting against that fear, he clenched his burned palms tight and used that pain to focus on just looking straight ahead. “I…”

[Assistant] “I’m not That Person or anything like that. I’ll say it as many times as you like. The prince riding a white horse who you’re waiting for isn’t coming.


[User] "He’ll never come no matter how long you wait here for him.” As she listened to the repeated denials, the despair in Beatrice’s eyes grew deeper. If things ended here again, nothing would change. Yet, if he could just tell her what came after…

[Assistant] "But."

[User] "I want to be by your side, Beatrice."

[Assistant] "I want to be there for you so your gentle self won’t be sad anymore.”

[User] "Ah…uuugh…!” Beatrice’s expression twisted up. The surging magical energy lost its focus, and the wind began to whip around indiscriminately, coming closer and closer to harming Beatrice herself. Her face crumpled with grief, anger, and something beyond those things. Then she opened the book on her lap as if to hold on for dear life. The pages flapping in the wind…were white. They were all blank.


[Assistant] —The book of prophecy revealed nothing and urged her to make a choice all the same.

[User] "—The hell?” Beatrice closed the book. Simultaneously, there was an unnatural distortion in Subaru’s field of view. His vision became hazy, and he fell to his knees, unable to stand. It definitely wasn’t anemia or fatigue that brought him down. The real culprit was the archive of forbidden books itself, which was swaying quite violently. The floor twisted, and the bookshelves, having lost their balance, tumbled one after another. The books lining their shelves were sent flying, blanketing the room in a sea of covers, spines, and paper. This was the archive of forbidden books that Beatrice had built—if the state of the archive correlated with Beatrice’s mental state, then it was clear she was shaken to the point where she could no longer maintain the place.

[Assistant] "Beatrice—!” As everything around him became progressively more warped, Subaru did his best to stand as he reached a hand out toward Beatrice. The area around her was the only place unaffected by the distortion; even then, the girl sat atop the stool. If he jumped, he’d reach her. Trusting in this, Subaru turned toward Beatrice and took a leap of faith. The instant he did, space itself ripped open like a piece of paper, and Subaru’s body was only moments away from being swallowed by the tear.

[User] "—Oh, cra…!” He wouldn’t make it. Able to do nothing else, Subaru dove into the gap. This was not Passage. It was a leap through space that did not involve a door—Subaru had experienced this exact thing once before. It was when he’d let Emilia die. It was when he’d let Beatrice die.

[Assistant] At the last second, when he turned his eyes toward the rip in space, he saw Beatrice’s lips move. —Every part of her face seemed to say the same thing. Good-bye.


[User] The instant he emerged from his crossing, the smoke he inhaled sent him coughing. The hot wind felt like it was scorching his skin.

[Assistant] "—The entrance?! How courteous. Shit!” Lifting up his black, grimy face, Subaru realized he was at the entrance of the burning mansion.


[User] Looking farther, he was certain the entirety of the building was already engulfed by flames; the inferno touched not only the main wing, where the fire had started, but also the east and west wings. It was difficult to find a place inside the mansion that was still in its original shape. Even the door of the entrance from which Subaru had just emerged had its lower half enveloped by flames. That Passage had worked at all was itself a miracle. He wouldn’t be able to leap back into the archive of forbidden books from there—No, it was questionable whether there was a single door leading to the archive remaining in the mansion. He wasn’t inside the burning mansion; he’d been thrown outside. Beatrice had probably intended this to be her reply.

[Assistant] “Good-bye, my ass—How are you gonna act tough, then show me a face like that at the end? !” Brushing those rising doubts aside, Subaru kicked the burning door in all his fury, rushing into the entryway. He was immediately greeted by a wave of heat incomparable to anything he felt outside, and the agony of his singed windpipe brought tears to his eyes. Charging into a burning building like someone who didn’t know better, trying to save lives and be a hero—that was the kind of dumb stunt that got people killed. But Subaru had no intention of dying.

[User] “And I’m not letting her die, either!” Subaru raced across the flaming Roswaal Manor in search of anything that might be connected to the archive. His face, his neck, and his limbs were roasting, and his skin felt pain as if it was being scorched. It hurt to breathe, but not so much that he couldn’t run. Subaru shoved everything else out of his mind. If Subaru had been capable of seeing things more clearly at the time, the sheer horror of the sight might have caused his body to quiver uncontrollably. For as Subaru ran through the inferno, swearing he would bring the girl with him, he was enveloped by an incredibly dense black miasma, almost like a cloak of shadow that shielded him. Unaware of this, Subaru broke through a particularly large wall of flame and found the stairs. The first-floor dining room was where the fire had begun. Entryway included, it was highly probable that every door there had burned up. If there was a door still intact, it would be on a higher floor—probably at the very top. In such a conflagration, it was naturally unlikely that he could get back up there from the first floor. Even so, without any hesitation, Subaru started climbing the stairs, racing toward the topmost floor.


[User] After their chain of command collapsed, the demon beasts were fleeing, for this was an inferno of certain death that brooked no living beings. What could be in such a place? —Wait, what the hell is that? A figure dressed in black emerged from the flames: a black-haired woman holding a black blade in her hand. “Elsa…?”

[Assistant] "" There was no reply.

[User] But so far as Subaru knew, it could be no one but that all-black killer. Multiple times in multiple loops, Subaru had run into her and died by her hand. In his latest plan, he’d left the woman to his most capable companion, thinking he would surely never meet her again. And yet here, in a fiery world of life and death, Subaru and Elsa had come face-to-face once more.

[Assistant] Encountering her in the burning Roswaal Manor, Subaru licked his lips, forgetting his sense of unease. He’d borrowed the strength of many to arrive at that point. Otto. Ram. Ryuzu. Shima. Patlash. Emilia. The people of Earlham Village. Garfiel. Petra. Frederica. They were why Subaru could stand then and there—Subaru Natsuki did not doubt his allies. “Garfiel wouldn’t lose to you. There’s no way you beat him.”

[Assistant] “You’re not Elsa anymore, are you?” When Subaru posed the question, Elsa—nay, the thing that had been Elsa—turned its empty black eyes toward him. There was no glint of life within them, only bottomless darkness. Subaru was peering into an abyss. An empty body, a departed soul, and obsession incarnate. Driven by inexhaustible bloodlust, it dragged its smashed lower body along as it crawled toward Subaru through the raging fires. This was far beyond an unnatural vitality that kept death at bay. The power had become nothing but a curse. Just like Subaru’s Return by Death, it was nothing save a curse, a yoke placed upon her very life. “You’ve got it pretty rough, too, but I don’t have time to deal with you. I’ve gotta get Beatrice—” Out of here, he was stating to the corpse that had once been Elsa, ready to abandon it to the flames. It was certainly crawling slowly enough that he could easily shake it off. But—

[User] "—! !" Suddenly feeling death brush against the nape of his neck, Subaru immediately leaped up. After jumping to the flaming landing, he turned around. Behind him, the undead’s wicked blade had sliced clean through the steps below. Closing the distance, the corpse swung as it came again to claim Subaru’s life. Naturally, the blade had not fallen short out of mercy. The swing had missed because the undead’s smashed lower body had prevented it from lunging forward properly.

[Assistant] “You’re kidding me—!” Subaru instantly kicked away the corpse’s hand, which was reaching for the stairs, and dashed away. Smoke from a fire moved upward. Accordingly, it was thicker on the floor above, increasing in its potency. The flames were strong there, too; he couldn’t call searching for a door in those conditions very realistic.


[User] “Shit! Gotta go higher!” Relentlessly chased by the corpse that had lost all humanity, Subaru kept running to the topmost floor.

[Assistant] Stumbling onto the blaze-enveloped third floor, he found himself at the corridor that led to the study where he saw off Petra and Otto. They must have made it out safe and sound. Garfiel and Frederica, too. And judging from the lack of organization among the demon beasts, Meili must have been routed, too. As for Elsa—

[User] “Roooaaah! !”

[Assistant] “Dah? !” When that roar and a monstrous set of claws shot out from some nearby flames, Subaru screamed, unable to conceal his shock.

[User] Appearing to be struggling to even breathe, perhaps it was only still standing to obey its master’s command. If that was true, then Subaru was truly like a moth to flame—the irony of chancing upon it in the middle of a massive inferno was too rich to be funny.

[Assistant] “!! !” Roaring, the nearly expired demon beast swung its massive arm toward Subaru. Scraping the wall, it was a lethal blow that whistled through the air as it closed in. Even barely clinging to life, this beast could rob him of his life just as easily as it could mow down some weeds.

[User] “You’re both one-trick ponies—!” Subaru evaded the attack by rolling forward toward the demon beast’s flank—he’d already learned, probably from too much personal experience, that demon beasts had a habit of aiming for the vitals of their prey. Thoroughly embarrassed after missing a clean shot, the demon beast angrily unleashed a follow-up attack—

[User] It was then that the undead pursuing Subaru bared its fangs toward the demon beast. There was no deeper reason behind the undead sending the demon beast’s hind paw flying away. Screaming as the wicked blade drew black blood, the beast cracked its serpentine tail at the undead. In a feat beyond the limitations of a human body, the corpse evaded the tail attack, retaliating by slicing the tail off at its base. Unleashing the murderous techniques ingrained into its flesh, the undead cut into the demon beast in a one-sided manner.

[Assistant] not letting slip the opportunity to turn misfortune into fortune, kicked open one closed door after another on the topmost floor. The stateroom and the reference room were both busts.


[User] "Please, Beatrice…!" Finally arriving at the study, Subaru flung the door open with a prayer in his heart.

[Assistant] "This didn’t work, either…! Then the last door is…”

[User] "No, not yet! There’s still more! There’s one door!” Biting down any thoughts of giving up, Subaru set eyes upon the wide-open entrance to the spiraling stairs leading to the escape tunnel.


[User] "This is…” It was the final possibility—Subaru drew in his breath as that realization sank in.

[Assistant] "Daaah!


[User] “This door again…! !” His palm felt like it was on fire. His fingers hadn’t even touched it. Subaru drew his hand back and glared at the door.

[Assistant] “The doorknob’s hot…?” —Even if hot air had crept in, there was no sign of fire in the underground escape tunnel. The hovering smoke and heat had coursed in through gaps in the stone comprising the spiral stairs. There was nothing burning in the tunnel.

[User] “…Beatrice. If you can hear this, listen to me.” Keeping his hand away from the door, Subaru slightly craned his neck upward and spoke those words.

[Assistant] “You led me this far, didn’t you? To be blunt, if you were plotting to bring me to the escape tunnel by making it the only option, blatantly leading me here by the nose, then your plan’s a complete failure.”

[User] “But it doesn’t look like things are gonna go that smoothly… Even if this door’s a bust, I’m not running like you want. This isn’t talking tough or some bluff saying I don’t wanna run, okay? Sure, nine-tenths of how I feel lines up with all that…but this is a serious, legit issue.” Subaru continued earnestly trying to convince her, not even knowing if the other party could hear him.

[Assistant] Subaru tapped the door barring his path with his foot as he let out a sigh.

[User] “If I open this door, I’ll probably die. I don’t know if you or anyone else gets it, but that’s exactly what’ll happen…and I know because I have the power of science.”

[Assistant] “Beatrice. I’m…going to open this door—I’ll leave it up to you to interpret my words.”

[User] “—Beatrice.


[User] Cracks ran across the floor and walls, and the tear in space through which Subaru had been expelled remained intact. The toppled bookshelves and scattered books remained as before, and on top of that, flames were rising from a corner of the room. The effects of Roswaal Manor burning down had finally begun to be felt even in the archive. However, such sentiments toward the room’s interior dissipated with a single glance turned Subaru’s way. That moment, he concentrated on the most important thing—one little girl. —After all, this was probably his final chance.

[Assistant] "...You are an idiot."

[User] "That’s the first thing out of your mouth?"

[Assistant] "Is it not true, I wonder? Even though Betty went through all that trouble so you might escape, you threw it away… Are there any doors left anywhere in the mansion, I wonder? This is a dead end." As a matter of fact, she was right. There wasn’t a single door left in the mansion for Passage to connect to. The flames that had reached the archive of forbidden books were gradually increasing in force, spreading to the Witch’s knowledge that Beatrice had continued protecting across four centuries, turning that promise to ash. Her precious obligation was on fire. It was easily flammable, so it would no doubt burn down, and soon.

[User] "At this rate, you and I are both goners."

[Assistant] "…Yes, is this the end, I wonder? Betty wishes for little now. Everything she was to hand to That Person will soon burn away. Is everything now not completely contrary to her promise to Mother, I wonder?"

[User] "Oh yeah? Then hear me out to the end, okay?" She’d failed to keep her word. Subaru had failed to persuade her. Beatrice looked toward him with empty eyes. She spoke no words of affirmation or denial. But at the very least, she seemed to be lending him her ears. Even in a situation like that, it just wasn’t in her nature to deny someone else to the bitter end. He took a breath. There were words he had been unable to speak when they’d last parted. —This time, he’d tell her everything he wanted to say.

[Assistant] "Beatrice—please save me."

[User] "…Huh?" Subaru stated those words boldly with his head held high. Hearing him say such a thing with his face all covered in soot, Beatrice could only stare at him in shock. She’d no doubt imagined countless things that he might possibly say. With both of them facing an unavoidable end, Beatrice had probably run numerous mental simulations about what words Subaru might say to her, no doubt intending to dismiss each and every one. —I want to save you. I won’t let you be alone. I need you. Those were the sorts of cool, manly words from That Person that she expected to be greeted with. But if that meant trying to convey false feelings, Subaru just couldn’t do it.


[User] "I considered saying cooler-sounding stuff about whisking you away from this loneliness, mind you… I didn’t think any of them would work. I figured I’d better come right out and say…what I think of you and what I really wanted to tell you."

[Assistant] Beatrice was speechless as Subaru poured out his genuine feelings.

[User] He figured it was pretty mean to put the ball entirely in Beatrice’s court, though. "Really, you don’t need any of my strength. Not for saving you or anything else. You’re strong, you’re smart, you’re cute… You should be able to do anything if you put your mind to it.”

[Assistant] "But even though you’re strong and smart and cute, you were scared of living alone. It must have been hard. It must have been lonely. No one can blame you for clinging to the idea of That Person."

[User] “Th-that is not for you to… You rejected Betty’s feelings… What do you know about it…? !” Biting her lip, Beatrice glared at Subaru with an emotion that bordered on hatred. However, her trembling did not convey that at all. As the outpouring of fierce emotion threatened to dissipate immediately, Beatrice shook her head, desperately trying to stay firm and resolute. “I know. I know how kind you are. I know if someone was tossing and turning from a nightmare, you’d hold their hand to put them at ease. If someone was being battered by some trouble they couldn’t do anything about, you’d reach out and open the way for them. You feel sad for people who lose someone dear to them, even if you can’t help but hate them.”

[Assistant] “You speak as if you know so…”

[User] “I’m powerless. I can’t save you. But I don’t want you to be alone. If there’s one thing a guy like me can do, it’s to cling to you and beg.” When Subaru offered his right hand, Beatrice’s eyes shot open even wider. His hand was inflamed from burns and was a hideous sight. Even so, it was still in better shape than his left, which had sustained so much damage that the very sight of it was unbearable. He offered the one hand he had that could be cleaned up to pass as something suitable for taking a pretty girl’s hand. “Beatrice. Save me, please.”

[Assistant] “I’ll be too lonely to live without you. Save me.” Really, just how pathetic and unsightly was this arm-twisting of his? He claimed he couldn’t go on without her to force her hand. He didn’t know what he could do for her, so he was telling her what she could do for him, pressuring her into using it as a reason to live. It was so very selfish, so completely illogical. It was all the coercion that Subaru Natsuki could muster.

[User] “Not fair… This is…not fair.” The shameless manipulation made Beatrice’s lips tremble with intense, barely containable emotions from the bottom of her heart.


[User] “How…how can you speak that way to Betty…now of all times? I mean, you’re not even That Person… You rejected Betty…! And yet…!” She couldn’t speak properly. Her words strayed. She hesitated. Beatrice’s heart panicked as she agonized over the choice. Beatrice clutched the book within her arms very, very tightly, never taking her eyes away from the hand offered to her. Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. “For four hundred years, I have always been alone…! I spent my time in loneliness, and even if I accept your hand here, you’ll die right away anyway! The life span of a human being is a blink of an eye to one such as Betty… How?! How can I cling to such a thing now…?! ”

[Assistant] “I can’t even begin to imagine the four centuries you spent. I’m not gonna pretend like I understand. Four hundred years? I haven’t even lived a twentieth of that. I probably don’t understand one thing about your fear of the time after I die.”

[User] “Then! Then…your words will change nothing…!”

[Assistant] “But tomorrow, I’ll be there to hold your hand.”

[User] “I’ll be there tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. Even if I can’t promise to be around in four hundred years, I can still spend each and every day I have together with you. Even if we can’t be together for eternity, I can treasure you tomorrow and right now.”

[Assistant] “That’s why, Beatrice—pick me.” Subaru had already made his choice. And he was indicating his choice to Beatrice. The rest was up to Beatrice to choose. Would it be the flames that brought the words of her mother, words she had faithfully upheld across four centuries, to an end? Or would she break her promise to her mother, abandon her hopes for That Person, and take Subaru Natsuki’s hand?

[User] “Y-you are not…That Person…”

[Assistant] “Nope. Don’t you dare confuse me with some other guy, okay? I’m me. Subaru Natsuki. This four-centuries-old unrequited love you’ve held for some bastard whose face you don’t even know? Forget all that.”

[User] “Instead of being scared of good-byes that might come one day, come live with me for a guaranteed future. I’m weak, but even so, my dreams are really big… If you stick with me, a busybody like you will have your hands so full, you won’t have any time to be bored or lonely.”

[Assistant] “…Ugh, ngh…”

[User] “Pick me, Beatrice.” He’d say the words as many times as it took to sink in. That’s because he understood the wavering girl’s feelings. The guilt that made the girl hesitate, her sense of shame toward casting promises aside—he’d make it so she could pin those things on the selfish high-handedness of the human known as Subaru Natsuki. —So that this girl would never cry alone again.

[Assistant] “Even though you’ll eventually leave me…”

[User] “Nothing lasts forever. The future you’re afraid of will definitely come someday.


[User] "You’ll live forever, so we’ll probably part ways at one point or another. But you and I haven’t tasted nearly enough of life to give up on all the fun we’ll have together and live in fear of being pulled apart.”

[Assistant] “Even though you’ll leave me behind…”

[User] “Let’s be together. Let’s live life together. Let’s do this together. Let’s build up so many memories that we can blow away all that fear, puff our chests out, then laugh and say, We sure had fun. We’ll do so much that you can make up for the four lonely centuries you spent living here.”

[Assistant] “Even…if we did all that! Someday, I’ll be alone again!” He saw himself reflected in the girl’s trembling eyes. He looked shabby, unsightly, a far cry from the prince on a white horse she’d spent too many years waiting for. The only one who stood there was the same old Subaru Natsuki.

[User] “To someone like you who’ll live forever, maybe the time you’ll spend with me will be one brief moment. If that’s how it’s gonna be, then I’ll carve my moment right into your soul.”

[Assistant] “—And when all’s said and done, even weighed up against all of eternity, I’ll be so vivid that nothing will fade when it comes to Subaru Natsuki!”


[User] There was a sound like glass cracking. The world known as the archive of forbidden books was breaking down. At some point, the rips in space around Subaru and Beatrice had become enveloped by flames. But in that moment, he no longer felt heat or fear. Inside Subaru, there was nothing except Beatrice. And that moment, there was nothing in Beatrice except Subaru. With trembling arms, Beatrice gripped the book that her mother had given her. Believing her four centuries of loneliness would be healed once she let it go, he reached out with his hand. And he shouted:

[Assistant] “Pick me! Beatrice! !”

[User] “—Ah.”

[Assistant] “—You wanted someone to take you outside! Isn’t that why you always sat in front of the door? !” With a decisive sound, that world finally met its end. The girl’s lonely cage, that solitary world known as the archive of forbidden books, was engulfed by flames and vanished. But just before that happened, there was a sound. —The sound of a single tome falling to the archive’s floor.


[User] Otto and Petra gazed wordlessly as Roswaal Manor burned to the ground.

[Assistant] The three of them—Otto, Petra, and Rem, who was being carried on Otto’s back—had safely used the mansion’s escape route to slip past the demon beasts’ perimeter.

[User] A barrier had been scrupulously set up around the cabin in the mountains behind Roswaal Manor, to which the escape route led.

[Assistant] This made it impossible for not only the wild demon beasts in the region to approach them but even warded off the demon beasts participating in the attack.

[User] A crowd of the Earlham Village residents who had not headed toward the Sanctuary could be seen gathered around—evacuated to the barrier beforehand by Subaru in a determined effort to keep them from being embroiled in the attack on the mansion.

[Assistant] Considering the great horde of demon beasts, it was clear that his concern had not been excessive.

[User] It was not only Otto who keenly felt that way but the villagers as well.

[Assistant] However, no one felt at liberty to raise joyous voices at having arrived there safe and sound.

[User] That moment, all any of them could do was gaze at the mansion with anxious hope, waiting for some visible change and believing Subaru and the others still struggling inside the mansion were safe.

[Assistant] Otto, too, stared at the mansion, deciding to treat his burn wounds later.

[User] Petra was right beside him, latched on to Otto’s arm with strength unimaginable for one so young.

[Assistant] She was doubtlessly worried sick.

[User] Anyone could tell the young girl had a crush on Subaru from a single glance.

[Assistant] Considering her melancholy, one couldn’t help but pray he was safe.

[User] To try and put Petra at ease, he gently stroked Petra’s brown hair.

[Assistant] When Petra looked at him in momentary surprise, Otto smiled at her, turning his eyes toward the mansion once more—it was then that he noticed.

[User] “…That’s…”

[Assistant] It was from the topmost floor of the main wing of the burning mansion.

[User] With incredible force, fire burst out of the office that Otto’s group had used as an escape route.

[Assistant] The windows cracked, and the outpouring flames engulfed the mansion’s topmost floor.

[User] Roswaal Manor finally reached its limit, succumbed to the flames, and collapsed.

[Assistant] "Ah…" The sight brought a tiny sound out of Petra’s throat.

[User] Next to spread across her eyes would likely be despair.

[Assistant] As an adult, Otto tried to wipe that sadness away.

[User] "Mr. Otto! Look!"

[Assistant] "Gah? !" Otto had a meek look on his face when Petra slapped the side of it with her little palm.

[User] The blow caught Otto by surprise and brought stars to his eyes.

[Assistant] But when he saw the delighted expression on Petra’s face as she pointed at the mansion, he immediately understood, hastily shaking his shock away.

[User] Just like Petra, the people of Earlham Village were raising voices of delight.


[User] From Roswaal Manor, aflame and collapsing, a single ray of white light stretched up toward the sky. The light, which was like a shooting star, changed its angle high in the sky, glimmering as it arced and flew far off to the east, as if to signal its destination. Otto knew what lay in that direction.

[Assistant] "There! Just now!" Petra says with a happy look on her face.

[User] "The rest is up to you—all this has really worn me out." Otto lets his shoulders fall with relief.


[Assistant] Looks up at the same light and clacks his fangs. "Ha! Ya sure pulled it off, General! That’s my general! Hoshin kept his promises even if it killed him!" Garfiel, who had escaped the burning mansion and broken through the perimeter of demon beasts, laughed himself silly. He was covered in soot and burn wounds and injuries all over, but his face was full of smiles. “Gah-ha-ha-ha-ha… Owww? !"

[User] Frederica struck the back of Garfiel's skull. "Do not get worked up while you’re so badly hurt! They will scar!"

[Assistant] Clutching his head and looking back at Frederica. "A-aren’t ya happy that the general and she are safe and sound?"

[User] "Of course I am… We were right to leave it to Master Subaru. If Lady Beatrice has been saved, then I can rest easier as well." Letting out a sigh of relief, Frederica gently patted her own chest.

[Assistant] Seeing his elder sister’s reaction made Garfiel crack a smile. "Gotta say, though," he said as a preamble. "Even if ya talk tough, it’s hard to look tough when you’re all embarrassed while wearin’ a single sheet of cloth."

[User] "—! It cannot be helped! There was no time to strip my clothes off before transforming!" Red-faced, Frederica was indignant as she stood there naked save for the curtain wrapped around her.

[Assistant] As he endured his sister’s anger, Garfiel glanced at the girl sleeping under the shade of a nearby tree—Meili—and narrowed his eyes.


[User] “The echoes of victory and the feel of killing—I can leave that all for later. The rest is happenin’ in a place where my hands can’t reach no matter how hard I try… Countin’ on ya to take care of it, General.” Thrusting his fist forward, Garfiel glared, baring his fangs toward the trail of light heading toward the eastern sky.

[Assistant] Gazing in the same direction, Frederica folded her hands against her chest as if making a prayer. “’Cause once everything’s said and done, there’s still that bastard we both needa smack real good!”


[User] She’d been caught. She’d understood, yet she’d been ensnared all the same. She’d known from the start. If she took that hand, if she clung to its warmth, she would never be able to return to those lonely nights again. Even though she’d rebuked herself, saying living by relying on warmth that would someday vanish was foolishness, even madness… That voice had called her. Those eyes had gazed upon her. That hand needed her. She should have known. There was no way that she could reject them.

[Assistant] —Subaru.

[User] “Yeah, that’s right.”

[Assistant] —Subaru.

[User] Subaru.

[Assistant] “That’s right. That’s my name.”

[User] —Subaru, Subaru, Subaru.

[Assistant] —Subaru!!

[User] “You finally said my name, huh?”


[Assistant] The snowfall had become a full-blown blizzard. The world was dotted with enough snow to blanket one’s field of vision. It was a hell of extreme cold that could freeze one’s breath the instant it touched the outside air. Though exposed to such ferocious elements, powerful will rested in the girl’s violet eyes as her silver hair flapped in the wind.

[User] “I absolutely, absolutely…won’t lose, not to anyone or anything!” With faint light entwined around both her hands, the silver-haired girl raised them to employ and release the vast amount of mana within her. The freezing magic, amplified amid that fiercely blowing snow, began to glow, and that pale radiance became countless swords of light that flew across the world, slicing apart each and every one of the white demon beasts atop the snowy plain.

[Assistant] —There was a disturbing clacking of their short fangs biting against one another in unison. This was the most unsalvageable thing in the world, the most difficult to coexist with, the great calamity that overshadowed all others since times of yore. Before these beings, the embodiment of appetite, known as Gluttony incarnate, the girl stood, not backing away a single step. However, her breathing was ragged; she had lost control over a portion of her mana, which was so vast that she had yet to master it; and part of her body had begun to be covered in white crystals. At that rate, it would not be long before she was turned into a statue of ice by her very own magical energy.

[User] —Even so, she did not retreat. She could not.


[User] “This is for Mother, for Geuse, and for everyone in the present… Besides, as long as I don’t forget the words he wrote, I’ll never give up.” Therefore, even if her body was enveloped in ice, the one thing she absolutely would not do was regret.

[Assistant] As the demon beasts tightened their encirclement, they gradually closed in on the girl and the people depending upon her. If push came to shove, she was ready to put her life on the line. She was ready.

[User] “—You don’t need to overdo it, Emilia-tan. Everything’s gonna be all right.” There was a light sound. The girl realized someone had landed right next to her from somewhere far above. She looked beside her. The raging blizzard was in the way, so she couldn’t make out their face. But she knew exactly who it was. His voice, his demeanor, and more than that—there was no way he wouldn’t come when she most wanted him at her side.

[Assistant] “You can stand back and leave the rest to me—we’ve got beginner’s luck on our side.”

[User] “I’m sorry. I don’t really get what you’re trying to say.” She sensed he was making a wry smile as he stepped ahead. And tagging along was a second, smaller figure. And then she heard two voices. Voices that leaped, as if they had been waiting eagerly for this moment for a very, very long time—

[Assistant] “I do not have any idea if this will work.”

[User] “Yeah, we’ll manage somehow—you and me!”


[User] In the snow-marred Sanctuary, their fields of vision were filled by the great horde of demon beasts that were Gluttony incarnate. But his trust in the lovely girl at his back and the warmth he felt in his palm were definitely the real deal. —That was why Subaru Natsuki stood there without the slightest hesitation or doubt.

[Assistant] "You sure stomped the heck out of ’em, Emilia-tan…!" Subaru’s face was buffeted by the thunderous blizzard as he praised Emilia’s valiant fighting. The falling snow had instantly turned the Sanctuary into the front line of the Great Rabbit’s attack. But on previous attempts, by the time that situation arose, the destruction of the Sanctuary was halfway written in stone. This time, he’d averted failure because Emilia had fought valiantly against the demon beasts without retreating a single step.

[User] "—You evacuating everyone to the tomb means you cleared the Trials, right?"

[Assistant] "—Ram." There was no reply to his call. Her eyelids were closed, and her body was limp, bereft of strength. Ram had remained in the Sanctuary, vowing to fulfill her greatest wish. Now she was continuing to sleep in the arms of Roswaal, who was sitting on the steps of the tomb in a daze, his expression lost and empty. Just what had happened between Ram and Roswaal? At present, Subaru had no way of knowing.

[User] "Subaru, for now, could you focus over here, I wonder?" Subaru was sinking into thought when he felt a tug from the little hand connected to his own.

[Assistant] "uhyah!" Hearing that familiar voice address him in unfamiliar fashion, Subaru replied with a spontaneous.

[User] “…Why are you giving such a bizarre reply?”

[Assistant] "Er, having you call me by my first name is so fresh and vivid that I have to hold back my joy."

[User] "Is that all…? Could you indulge in such deep sentiments later, I wonder? …S-Subaru."

[Assistant] "Beako, you are so cute." When Subaru voiced his honest opinion, Beatrice went red-faced, shaking their joined hands around with considerable force.

[User] Smiling at her adorable reaction, Subaru gathered himself and let out a breath. "So, Beatrice. The opponent’s the Great Rabbit. You ready for this?"

[Assistant] "This is the worst situation possible. We have only just formed our pact, the opponent is one of the three great demon beasts, and we are unprepared.


[User] “My contractor is an amateur, and it has been four centuries since Betty has been in a real fight.”

[Assistant] “And?”

[User] “One might call this an appropriate handicap.” Beatrice smiled impetuously as the clacking fangs pressed upon them all at once. Stepping forward as if to greet them, Subaru gave a thumbs-up to Emilia as she stood behind them.

[Assistant] “Me and Beatrice’ll send that horde packing. Emilia-tan, take down any that slip by us, ’kay? !”

[User] “—Understood—leave it to me!

[Assistant] So the rest is up to you.”

[User] “Yep, we got this.” The rule was to assign the right person to the right job. It also reminded him about the saying that the happiest wives were the ones whose husbands were well and often away from home. Emilia exhaled deeply behind him as mana surged all about, forming an icy, defensive line. Standing in front of the zone of freezing cold, Subaru stood face-to-face against the demon beasts filling his vision. In contrast to its adorable appearance, the Great Rabbit was ferocious, its very existence odious. Twice, he had lost his life to those fangs. His fear of slipping away as he was devoured was difficult to forget. But—

[Assistant] “Are you scared, I wonder?” —as Subaru held his breath, Beatrice posed the question with a composed expression. Seeing her eyes and the profile of her face told him more than mere words—they told Subaru exactly who was with him then and there.

[User] “Nah. I’m not scared.”

[Assistant] “Oh?”

[User] “I have Emilia behind me and you beside me—gotta say, best feeling ever.”

[Assistant] “As it should be.” Beatrice smiled wryly. Meeting her adorable, smiling face, Subaru donned a wicked smile of his own. The Great Rabbit Horde raised a disturbing howl, leaping all at once toward the pair, who wore bold, fearless smiles. Faced with that attack—no, that act of feeding—Beatrice and Subaru raised their joined hands, her left, his right.

[User] “First, how about a minor test, I wonder? —El Minya.” The moment the chant was complete, a vortex formed in midair, summoning purple-colored crystals all around the pair. The gleaming crystals, which were shaped like icicles, resembled the purple arrows Beatrice had used on a previous go-around to skewer Elsa; it was a spell she’d called her specialty. Yet, the sheer number of arrows loading the sky was incomparable to what he had seen before. Targeting took but an instant. Locking on to the heads of every demon beast that made up the Great Rabbit Horde, the purple arrows shot forward at the same time. Each missile found a skull, slaying every one of the demon beasts. Their dead bodies turned into purple crystals, like the arrows that had felled them, then shattered, unable to withstand the raging snow. The world of white was filled with glimmering purple fragments. With a single blow at the outset of the battle, the Great Rabbit vanguard was nearly annihilated.


[User] Of course, it was difficult to call this a painful blow to a demon beast that could infinitely propagate, but the spectacular feat left Subaru amazed. “Th-that’s incredible—!”

[Assistant] “R-really? This is nothing at all. For Betty, this is but a piece of cake, I suppose.”

[User] “Oh, come on, be real…what’s this magic that has so much power?! What element is that? !”

[Assistant] “The Dark element, of course. Also, is this even a fraction of its full potential, I wonder?” Seeing Subaru’s animated reaction made Beatrice proudly puff out her chest. She took pride in the magic Mother had taught her, the magic she had worked so hard to master. “I shall demonstrate the mastery of the Dark element and show you that the power of Dark magic is the greatest this world has to offer.”

[User] “What…should I do?”

[Assistant] “Would you hold Betty’s hand and not leave her alone, I wonder?” Beatrice spoke such endearing words as she strengthened her grip on Subaru’s hand.

[User] Squeezing her palm back, Subaru glared at the menace before them, as if to tell Beatrice it was time to let loose.


[Assistant] Devouring the fragments of their comrades’ corpses, the Great Rabbit host prepared to advance as a ravaging horde once more. But before they could start…

[User] “Subaru, this is a good lesson for a spirit mage—rather than use the spirit mage’s own mana, as is typical, shall I use magic to directly manipulate the mana in the air, I wonder?”

[Assistant] “I see—in that case, even with my busted Gate… Okay, I’ll leave Shamak to you!”

[User] “Do not expect anything as paltry as Subaru’s useless Shamak! Can Subaru, who’s equally useless and nothing more than dead weight, do anything for Betty save showering her with praise?” Beatrice’s imperious pop quiz left Subaru falling into thought a little.

[Assistant] But as he pondered, the clacking of the Great Rabbit’s fangs pressed near, and with nothing but his direct experiences with impending death coming to mind, Subaru shouted. “I don’t know the answer!”

[User] “Then I should teach you, I suppose. Focus on Betty’s hand and imagine it. Imagine the weaving of mana, the power to shape it into the form of an arrow, the power to materialize and shatter our foe—imagine a mighty attack.”

[Assistant] “I imagined it!”

[User] “Then is there anything left but to chant, I wonder? !” Beatrice’s voice made Subaru snap open his closed eyes and thrust his left hand forward. Simultaneously, Beatrice moved her right hand forward, aiming it toward the Great Rabbit Horde—power surged forth.

[Assistant] “—El Minya! !”

[User] Purple-streaked power manifested in the sky, pouring earthward upon the demon beasts. The explosive, destructive force made the stage known as the Sanctuary glimmer with purple fragments—the ferocious battle had begun. 2 To Subaru, using magic had always been an act tantamount to whittling his own soul away. Just as Roswaal and Puck had guaranteed from the beginning, Subaru had no talent for magic.


[User] In the end, he’d abused Shamak, the one spell he’d learned, finally wrecking his own Gate, closing the path of the magician to him forever. Therefore, he’d never thought another opportunity to use magic would visit him ever again, but—

[Assistant] “Minya! Minya! This is tough to say, damn it! Minyaaa!” Relying on the vast surge of mana, Subaru did the seemingly impossible, rapidly casting Great Magic again and again. The purple arrows thus spawned opened one hole in the demon-beast force after another, turning the ferocious Great Rabbit into purple fragments.

[User] Glancing at these, Beatrice tugged on Subaru’s arm, and with a light step, they sailed into the air.

[Assistant] Strangely, Subaru was not surprised by the feeling of weightlessness brought by ignoring gravity.

[User] Stepping upon the sky, Beatrice twirled and wove to evade the fangs in what truly looked like the dance of a fairy. “We’re crossing.”

[Assistant] “Got it.” An instant after she made her announcement, space distorted, and the pair vanished from the sky. It was a short-range warp that differed from Passage. The jump through space threw off the Great Rabbit; the horde did not notice when Subaru and Beatrice emerged behind it.

[User] “Will you take care of the left, I wonder?”

[Assistant] “Then I’ll leave the right to you.”

[User] Giving form to the magic in his mind, Subaru influenced the world through Beatrice. It felt like he was profiting with someone else’s hard-earned money, robbing the moment of any enjoyment. Subaru followed the power of his imagination, loading the sky up with purple arrows large and small, using them as deadly weapons to bore holes into the demon beasts. In his mind, he was loading a gun. He felt like he was creating bullets of mana and then pulling the trigger. But his imagination had an undeniable effect in reality, shooting down the onrushing demon beasts like he was hunting ducks. The Great Rabbit Horde on the opposite side was being similarly attacked by the destruction wrought by Beatrice. Cracks came forth from thin air, and it was like hundreds of the creatures were being shut inside the surface of a painting. The picture fragmented, seemingly being broken apart, and the demon beasts inside were all returned to ash.

[Assistant] All Subaru could do was twirl his tongue at the breadth of her magical skill. Unlike Subaru, an idiot who’d learned only one spell, Beatrice could employ multiple varieties in multiple fashions. It was as if she was going out of her way to make plain to Subaru all the cards she held in her hands.

[User] “That said, blasting ’em without a plan won’t solve anything. Beako, you have a plan, right?”

[Assistant] “Of course I have a plan. Is the first stage of it not already complete, I wonder?” The Great Rabbit increased its numbers every bit as much as they dwindled. As Subaru sensed this special nature put them at a stalemate, Beatrice made a reply that sounded quite dependable indeed.


[User] He gave her a look that demanded an explanation, and in response, Beatrice sniffed proudly. “All that is necessary is to assemble the demon beasts in one place. Have we truly gathered the entire horde in this forest…in this Sanctuary here in front of the tomb, I wonder?”

[Assistant] “Well, I suppose we have. But they infinitely reproduce. It’s not like we’ve taken a roll call.”

[User] “—Infinite, you say, but that does not mean there is no limit.”

[Assistant] The sentence made Subaru narrow his brows; then comprehension struck him like a bolt of lightning. He looked at the horde of demon beasts. As usual, the white fur balls were visible for as far as the eye could see—yet, if they really were reproducing infinitely…

[User] “It doesn’t add up… If they could really do that, they’d cover the whole planet and even space…!”

[Assistant] “Most likely, even if they can propagate endlessly, there should be an upper limit. Therefore, they will not increase beyond that fixed number. In that case…”

[User] “Get them to that upper limit and wipe them all out in one go!” Subaru’s eyes glimmered as he saw the strategy laid out before him.

[Assistant] “But the problem is in the second stage—how should we go about eliminating them, I wonder?”

[User] “Your face says you have thought of something.”

[Assistant] “Like usual, I settled on a plan that depends on you. Sounds good?” Beatrice used magic even in the midst of their conversation to attract the demon beasts’ attention toward the pair. Subaru drew his lips close to her refined ear and whispered his idea into it.

[User] Beatrice nodded after a few moments of thought. "Betty did think of something rather similar, I suppose. But even with Betty and Subaru, these numbers are…”

[Assistant] “Hey, hey, you’ve got something wrong here, Beako. You don’t get it at all.”

[Assistant] “In a situation like this, it’s not like we have to settle everything with you alone or just the two of us, you know?”

[User] Listening to Subaru’s reply, Beatrice let an “ah” slip out as her eyes shot open. Then the girl heaved a cloudy sigh as she turned toward Subaru with the faintest of pouts.


[User] "Truly, Subaru…no one in the world is better at relying upon others than you.”

[Assistant] “I promise in the future I’ll become a vibrant, high-end contractor so you’ll never get frustrated again.”

[User] “Did you really think that would sound even slightly convincing when it comes from the mouth of a serial promise-breaker, I wonder?” She said that with a smile.

[Assistant] Subaru couldn’t deny any of it.

[User] “Even Betty requires time to prepare for this. Would you serve as a decoy during that time, I wonder?” She pressed her palm against his chest, nodding deeply with a gaze filled with trust.

[Assistant] “Relax. There ain’t a single person in Lugunica who can beat me when it comes to distracting powerful enemies.”

[User] Beatrice closed her eyes and sank into contemplation.

[Assistant] This was the first step toward putting Subaru’s operation into motion. Picking up her tiny body, Subaru powerfully kicked off from the snow. Homing in on Subaru and Beatrice as they raced across the snowy plain, the approaching demon beasts clacked their fangs and moved in for the kill. Too slow. Considering the sticky situations he’d found himself in over the last couple of days, the Great Rabbit swarm he faced now just seemed tame in comparison.

[User] “Outta my way, you little gnats! I don’t have time to deal with you right now!” Evading their fangs, leaping over their heads, Subaru trod upon purple fragments as he raced through their pack. Chanting and loosing purple missiles to force open a path, Subaru continued carrying Beatrice as he rushed right through the battle-worn clearing toward Emilia, who stood in front of the tomb.

[Assistant] “Eh, Subaru? !” Subaru’s sprint made Emilia’s eyes bulge wide.

[User] Sliding to a stop right beside her, Subaru put Beatrice, still deep in contemplation, down on top of the snow, patting her head as he spoke. “Sorry, Emilia-tan! It’s too tough for Beako and me to handle this on our own!”

[Assistant] “Th-that’s fine. But what should we do? Maybe I can…”

[User] “Nah, I’ve thought up a way to beat them, so there’s no need for you to wear yourself out trying to land a knockout blow! Actually, please don’t even try. It’d make coming this far meaningless.”

[Assistant] It surprised Emilia that he had seen right through her and gleaned she was considering self-destructive techniques to win the day. He wasn’t going to let her do it. He absolutely wouldn’t let her, now or later. He fully intended to make sure she would never have to do it ever again. He didn’t want any part of her thinking it didn’t matter how badly she was hurt as long as she could save everyone else. "Everyone safe, everyone saved. That’s obviously the best outcome.”

[User] “Subaru…”

[Assistant] “Emilia-tan, I want you to be just a little more selfish from here on. If you can’t, I’ll think a little harder, but if you can, I just want you to do your best.


[User] "Let’s win this for everyone’s sake." Emilia put a hand to her chest and blinked as if she sensed something in Subaru’s words.

[Assistant] Subaru tried to hold the demon-beast horde in check with more purple arrows to buy time until she made up her mind. But when he turned forward, it was not purple missiles that smashed into the Great Rabbit Horde but icicles.

[User] Emilia had a renewed determination in her eyes as she clenched her right fist and laid into the demon beasts with her magic. "Got it. Let’s do it, Subaru. Tell me what you need. Anything!"

[Assistant] Emilia’s reply, containing determination and resolve, made Subaru clench his own fist. "That’s my Emilia-tan—let’s do this thing!"


[User] The upsurge in magical energy was so incredibly powerful that even Subaru could feel it. Emilia was standing in front of the tomb. Subaru was holding Beatrice within his arms. Believing in Subaru’s plan, both of them were fully devoted to controlling their respective mana to bring it to fruition. And it fell to Subaru to buy the time they both needed until they were prepared. "C’mon, c’mon! I’m your opponent, same as usual! Follow meee!" Smiling and waving, Subaru mercilessly pounded the horde with a vicious blow. The explosive bombardment created a wild dance of purple light, which sent the demon beasts flying and made them wriggle as one. The horde moved like one gigantic body and began chasing Subaru in a mad dash around the Sanctuary. This was the beginning of the operation. At the very least, his worry that they might hit the tomb first was gone. "It’s not as if you can ignore the smell of mana and my stench, either!" It was the Great Rabbit’s nature to be attracted by mana. It was Subaru’s nature to have demon beasts want to devour him. With Beatrice, her eyes still closed, resting in his arms, Subaru Natsuki was a veritable, mouthwatering feast on the hoof as far as the Great Rabbit was concerned. He heard the clacking of fangs. Subaru heard the deadly footsteps chasing them from behind. "—! For one of the three great demon beasts, you’re so slow! You half-wits, do you actually want me to make you extinct like ol’ Whaley?" Biting fear back with his molars, Subaru hurled the unnecessary insults he kept in the far corners of his mind. If he didn’t flap his gums to maintain his calm, he’d never be able to conceal that he was trembling to the core. He couldn’t look that pathetic to the girl behind him, nor to the girl in his arms.

[Assistant] "Subaru—!" As Subaru put on his own performance, a voice like a silver bell reached his ears through the gale-like snow. When he looked in the snow-filled reaches of his vision, Emilia was thrusting a fist toward the heavens—it was the signal that her preparations were complete.


[User] Receiving this, Subaru put more strength into his legs, with which he kicked at the snow—Emilia was ready, but until Subaru’s end was ready—a little more, just a little farther, just a pinch, go, go, go! Without even time to let out his breath, Subaru laid a marker on the snowy plain at his own feet. With this, his do-or-die escape from the Great Rabbit, which was hot on his tail, had finally neared its end. With that purple-arrow marker thrust into the snowy plain, everything had come together—so he shouted: “Now, Emilia! Trace the lines—! !”

[Assistant] Plowing through the snow as he came to a halt, Subaru relied on magic for his last stand, commanding the purple arrow, “Let there be light!” The very next instant, countless purple arrows that had been shot into the clearing began to glow, forming a glittering cage.

[User] A horde of tens of thousands of wriggling white demon beasts had been penned up inside that square cage— “That’s Subaru for you! Really good job!” Praising the splendid outcome, Emilia let up a voice of joy that she’d normally never ever make. Then as her eyes glimmered with equally rare aggression, she trained a graceful finger toward the demon beasts within the cage. —And then she unleashed all the mana she had been forming while Subaru had bought her time. “Cocytus!”

[Assistant] Applying that incantation, unfamiliar to his tongue, Subaru activated the vast amount of surging mana, transmitting power to the purple crystals, which were arrayed in a square around the clearing, one after another.

[User] The lines connected. With a roar, the ground, the snowy plain itself, floated skyward.

[Assistant] “Amazing…” Seeing this unfold left Subaru dumbstruck. The spectacle was so overwhelming, it left him speechless.

[User] Emilia carefully supplied magic energy all along the sides of the cage of purple arrows in the clearing, shutting the Great Rabbit inside a snowy cage and lifting them into the sky. Of course, had they been normal demon beasts, they would surely have noticed the abnormality and escaped from the cage—but the Great Rabbit possessed no such decision-making capacity. They were incarnations of hunger, felt inexhaustible urges of Gluttony, and were children gifted with Daphne the Witch’s empty stomach—

[Assistant] “That’s why now you’re all one step from a Giltirau and stuff!”

[User] “—With this, there’s nowhere left for you to run!” As Subaru raised a middle finger and levied his insult, Emilia put on the finishing touches.

[Assistant] Emilia used magic energy to weave together an icy lid she simultaneously slammed down onto the patch of snowy ground that had floated into the sky, completing the cage and trapping the massive number of demon beasts. Even if the Great Rabbit had a will of its own, there was no escape now that the icy prison was fully formed. From the snow-stripped clearing beneath the prison, he looked around. Stragglers, zero. Wriggling figures, zero.


[User] “Now, the final blow if you please, Great Spirit Beatrice—” Rocking the girl within his arms, Subaru announced it was time to follow the appetizer with the main course.

[Assistant] Answering his call, the girl gently opened her eyes that had remained quietly closed up to this point. Then, when she set her gaze upon the spectacle before them, she cracked a smile, She was not surprised whatsoever. She was merely following up on the result she was sure he would deliver—

[User] “—Al Shamak.” A moment after the incantation, the ultimate manifestation of the Dark element dyed the world black.


[User] On the inside, it continued to be assaulted by a sense of insatiable hunger beyond its capacity for flesh. It raised a cry. It clacked its fangs. The maddening hunger was torture—No, it was already mad. For all eternity, it was forbidden from sating its inexhaustible hunger and satisfying its limitless cravings; this was the madness of Gluttony. —Did Mother also harbor such feelings? For a single instant, reason bloomed in the back of its mind, which was ruled by hunger. However, it was immediately blotted out. Its body trembled. As a consequence of its madness, it had subconsciously reproduced, creating a being separate from itself. It ate this spawn without the slightest hesitation. There was not even an anguished cry as it stuffed itself with the flesh. Afterward, it suffered again from renewed hunger. Then, as a consequence of its hunger, it birthed another one of itself into the world. It ate. It raged. It birthed. It ate. Over and over. It continued these things over and over. It was alone. It was in a world without any others. There was forest. There was soil. There was air. All that was missing was prey. It was alone. It continued eating. It was alone. Finally, it ate the it that was different from itself, causing it to vanish. It was alone. It was truly alone, yet it ceased to be lonely as its gluttony continued over and over again. —Its insatiable hunger would never be sated.

[User] The living darkness swallowed up the cage of ice and snow, compressing it along with the Great Rabbit Horde within. Finally, they vanished without a sound. This, the creation of an isolated space, was the effect of Al Shamak—the greatest of the Shamak line of spells. Enveloped by the magic, the Great Rabbit Horde had been blasted into what was essentially another dimension. Regeneration and propagation had lost all meaning, for both were literally sequestered in another world.

[Assistant] "I know the plan was to send them into an isolated space like the archive of forbidden books, but…"

[User] "Are you dissatisfied, I wonder?" Beatrice tapered her lips by his side. Putting her hands on her hips with an arrogant posture, she seemed most displeased with Subaru’s attitude.

[Assistant] "It really is incredible…" In Subaru’s stead, it was Emilia who voiced words of honest praise. Being far more versed in magic than he, Emilia was doubtless more surprised than Subaru. Now that she had released her combat posture, the freezing across half her body had gradually relented. The worst-case scenario had been avoided.

[User] Swiveling his head about, Subaru made sure the Great Rabbit, which once blanketed the clearing, was nowhere to be found. Turning around, he also confirmed the tomb was safe. When he saw the various residents of the Sanctuary and Earlham Village were giving him a thumbs-up, he lifted a hand toward them in return.


[User] Subaru mused with a wry smile. Sharing information about what happened in the Sanctuary is gonna be a pain, huh?

[Assistant] "" The scene swiftly gave Subaru the feeling that a great burden had been lifted from his chest. It wasn’t that everything had been resolved. But it was just as he’d said to Beatrice. Subaru didn’t need to personally resolve every single thing.

[User] "Hey, Subaru." Emilia abruptly poked his cheek with her finger, tossing him a pleasant smile as she used a hand to indicate behind him.

[Assistant] Subaru couldn’t help but give a short sigh when he saw her childish, cheek-puffing gesture. Then—

[User] Sweeping an arm under her, he hoisted up her light body.

[Assistant] "Waaah!" Ignoring her cutesy, plaintive cry, Subaru continued to embrace the girl as he twirled around on the spot.

[User] "You did awesome! That’s my Beako! I love you!"

[Assistant] "W-wait a—! That’s not… W-would you let go, I wonder?! Betty is not…!"

[User] "Good girl, good girl! You’re so, so cute! You’re wonderful, Beako! You’re the best, Beako! Beako forever!" Grandly singing her praises, Subaru lifted Beatrice way up as he spun all around.

[Assistant] Emilia watched the worked-up pair with gentle eyes as she heard the various villagers clapping their hands together and raising cheers.

[User] "Ah—!" Subaru's foot slipped, sending the pair tumbling headlong into the snow.


[User] "—Okay, it’s finished!" Picking up a pair of twigs, Subaru thrusts them into the mass of snow before his eyes and wiped off the sweat on his brow.

[Assistant] "This really does make me feel like I’m a genius at this stuff. If we’re ever short on food money, I can have Emilia-tan make the snow fall, and I’ll be a living national treasure as a snow artist."

[User] "Goodness, don’t say such ridiculous things… But you really did a good job, huh?" Sitting on the stone steps, Emilia let out a white breath as she watched Subaru’s handiwork.

[Assistant] "I am sure this was not his aim, but I think Barusu is indeed an idiot." Her head propped up on Emilia’s lap, Ram gave Subaru’s actions a quite harsh assessment.

[User] "Hey, I’m the guy who worked hardest during this whole mess. Aren’t you praising me too little?"

[Assistant] "Mm, I guess that’s true. I’m really grateful toward Subaru. But while you were gone, I was the one working hard, so I think it’s only natural I would want some praise for it."

[User] "Emilia-tan’s suddenly gotten a lot more direct, huh…?"

[Assistant] "If nothing else, though, I meant to take on the toughest job and stuff…"

[User] "I won’t allow something so thoughtless. If Subaru runs around and does everything, we won’t even have a reason to be here."


[User] "If anything, Subaru has been running around a little too much.”

[Assistant] “Er, but I’m way short on firepower, so running around is about the only tactic I have.”

[User] “But that will not be the case going forward, will it?” Emilia was stroking Ram’s head atop her lap as she spoke, smiling at how they were both understating the other’s worth.

[Assistant] Deducing exactly what her words were getting at, Subaru rubbed under his nose with a finger as he replied, “Ahhh.” He’d overlooked a lot of things and had ended up being saved by many people around him, but he’d also gained pretty much everything he needed. He probably would never be worrying about things alone ever again.

[User] Lifting his face, Subaru turned his gaze from the snow sculptures in the clearing in front of the tomb. Now that the Trial system had vanished, a pair of individuals had stepped inside. He had some idea of what they might be talking about. “Well, even I can read the mood enough not to intrude on that.” They’d had untold opportunities to speak to each other, yet they’d never taken advantage of them. All the words left unspoken must have piled high enough to become a mountain.


[Assistant] "Mother…” In the small room in the deepest part of the tomb in which the coffin was placed, the remains of Echidna the Witch rested in silence. In front of those remains, Beatrice was stricken with such worry that her feet felt like they couldn’t stay grounded. She felt neither the sense of elation from during the battle nor the sense of loss and liberation from losing the archive of forbidden books—she felt guilt.

[User] "Has Betty managed to uphold her promise to Mother, I wonder? …I am sorry.” Stroking the edge of the cracked coffin with her finger, Beatrice began their first meeting in four centuries with an apology. Beatrice had lost both the intellect of the Witch and the book of knowledge given to her upon their parting. She had deigned to come crawling back, her promise unfulfilled.

[Assistant] “Betty never met That Person…and the book has been burned away. Are the words I am sorry enough to make up for it, I wonder?” Beatrice judged herself to be a poor daughter. She was a foolish girl who’d been unable to fulfill Mother’s last request with four centuries on hand to do it.


[User] She could not help but regret that from the bottom of her heart as she reunited with her mother, who by rights she should have been unable to even face.

[Assistant] “…For all that, you have quite a relieved look upon your face, do you noooot?” The man on the other side of the coffin—Roswaal—easily guessed how Beatrice truly felt. As always, the man was disgustingly good at pointing things out.

[User] However, Beatrice could not help but put her discordant feelings aside. It was hardly unrelated to the man having taken off his makeup and exposing his bare face. "You look most relieved of all, Roswaal. It is not like you to stand before Betty without your makeup on… Truly, is it like you at all, I wonder?”

[Assistant] Roswaal said nothing in response to Beatrice’s words. All he did was make a lonely smile. That was even more unusual.

[User] Lowering her eyes at his reaction, Betty continued: “Besides, you must have your own things to say to Mother. To you… To your family, meeting Mother again was your long-cherished desire, I suppose.” More than anyone else, Beatrice witnessed the changes four centuries had wrought upon the House of Roswaal—founded by the first Roswaal who apprenticed under Echidna. In the battle against Hector the Devil, Roswaal had lost all his capacity to use magic rather than his life. After Echidna’s passing, he had entered the archive of forbidden books and immersed himself in search of something, and then he died, entrusting his dream to the next generation. For each and every generation since, the head of the household inherited the name of Roswaal. The genius of the first Roswaal was rediscovered time and time again, and the House of Mathers grew. Roswaal L. Mathers was the living compilation of all that had come before him. Beatrice was actually quite bewildered that his talent surpassed even that of the first Roswaal, who Echidna herself had considered remarkable. The likes of him had never been seen in the past; none other could claim to be the world’s mightiest magic user. “Yet, even with all that talent, you could not escape from the curse that binds the Mathers family. You are ghosts, dreaming of reuniting with my dear, departed mother… I sympathize with you, if only slightly.” Beatrice was speaking of Roswaal’s way of life, able only to obey the destiny laid out generation after generation. His family greatly resembled her, continually bound by a single pact made four centuries prior. Ironically, the moments she had spent with the first Roswaal before the day of that pact four hundred years before remained fresh in her mind.


[Assistant] “—May I ask you one thing?” It was as Beatrice reminisced that Roswaal raised but a single finger and posed that question. The low, earnest tone of his voice made her lift her face.

[User] Beatrice tacitly consented with her silence.


[User] "I must wonder, did Young Subaru become That Person for you?" The question made Beatrice’s breath catch for a moment. This was not surprise—No, there was surprise. It was just that she felt no impact from Roswaal’s words.

[Assistant] She was surprised by her own heart, which didn’t ache as expected at the words That Person. "…Why do you laugh?"

[User] "Ahhh, sorry about that, I suppose. I am not particularly laughing at you. Perhaps I simply find myself amusing at the moment. I truly am such a fool.”

[Assistant] How easy had it been for her to forget the proposition that had bound her heart so much the instant after she had let go of it? It probably was not so. It was not that she had forgotten. She had said good-bye to That Person forevermore. "That man… Subaru is not suited whatsoever to be Betty’s That Person."

[User] "Whatsoever, you say… That is a rather harsh assessment."

[Assistant] "Is that really true, I wonder? Betty is strict. Is that why every opportunity in four hundred years came to nothing, I wonder? …Betty’s selfishness is why the idea of That Person controlled her fate for so long."

[User] Beatrice now understood just a little of the feelings of the people who had tried to bring her out of the archive of forbidden books. By no means had all of them stretched hands toward Beatrice out of nothing but their own selfish ambitions. Among them were those who Beatrice had continually driven away with her own thoughts and words. "Then how was someone like you able to come out? How did Subaru become That Person?"

[Assistant] "Did I not say it already, I wonder? Subaru is not suited to be That Person whatsoever. But that is fine. Betty has chosen Subaru. Not That Person—but Subaru, I suppose."

[User] Beatrice’s reply caused Roswaal’s breath to catch as he opened his eyes wide. Perhaps it was an answer difficult for an adherent of Echidna’s like Roswaal to accept.

[Assistant] Beatrice, standing in the same position just a short time prior, painfully understood just how he felt. It was because she understood that she thought it necessary to elaborate. "When I wanted Subaru to become That Person, he laughed it off. He prattled on with something like, I can make you happier than some guy whose face you don’t even know, I suppose."

[User] "That is…a most arrogant answer."

[Assistant] "But I do not mind him being pushy."

[User] Compared with an array of polite words spoken to Beatrice to tell her what to do or a speech on how she should put Echidna’s intellect to use, he was akin to an unadorned blade.

[Assistant] "But is that really fine with you? No matter how you might struggle, you will never be Subaru’s first. One can tell just by watching how he lives… I know this to be true."

[User] "Roswaal, are you misunderstanding something, I wonder?"

[Assistant] "Misunderstanding?"

[User] "Betty did not leave the archive of forbidden books because Subaru made her his number one."


[User] "Did Betty not leave the archive because she wants to make Subaru her number one, I wonder?”

[Assistant] —Pick me. She remembers him saying that to her. I’ll be too lonely to live without you. Those had been his words. She thought them very convenient words. Yet, they had resonated within Beatrice, shaking her heart. And the instant she took his hand and left the archive of forbidden books, she knew a feeling of liberation that brought tears to her eyes. She was well aware that she was defying both Mother and Roswaal, committing a terrible betrayal against them. But her heart was already set. Her hand had already joined with his.

[User] "" Beatrice awaited his words as Roswaal fell silent. Even if he was to accuse her of betrayal, she could do nothing save gently accept them. Such was the resolve within—

[Assistant] "—No matter how much time passes, you never change, Beatrice. You are the same as you were then."

[User] "—?” His words had an odd ring to them that made Beatrice faintly knit her brows. What he said made Beatrice suspicious, but the tone of his voice even more so. It felt so very gentle, soft, and nostalgic.

[Assistant] "Truly, you and I have not had nearly enough conversations. It has been so ever since we were at Teacher’s side."

[User] "Teacher…?” When she heard Roswaal’s gentle word, a term that should never have been heard from his lips, a shudder ran through her. Simultaneously, a possibility arose in the back of Beatrice’s mind from the very depths of the time she had experienced. It couldn’t be. Yet, if it was so—

[Assistant] "—Roswaal, is that you?"

[User] "I have always been Roswaal?"

[Assistant] "No…! That is not what I… You—you surely know what I meant!"

[User] "I jest. It is precisely so, Beatrice. It is I—the very same Roswaal."

[Assistant] The instant he changed how he referred to himself, Beatrice saw two Roswaals overlap. A tall, handsome man with long indigo hair overlapped with a young man who possessed the same characteristic features. This was the young man who had once doted on Echidna, who had asked the Witch to mentor him, and who Beatrice had lived alongside.

[User] "It couldn’t be… Are you using soul transcription, the theory of immortality that Mother pursued? But that failed."

[Assistant] "The soul will not graft to an empty vessel. That issue was a temporary impasse…one that I overcame by force. If the issue is compatibility between vessel and soul, this can be eliminated through greater proximity of the two."

[User] Beatrice could not conceal her utter shock when she grasped the meaning of those words. When Echidna’s research into immortality failed and led instead to Ryuzu Meyer becoming the core of the Sanctuary, the Witch attempted to make efficient use of the replication technique created as a by-product, yet in terms of her lust for knowledge, she had erred.


[User] "Are you going to denounce me as inhuman, Beatrice?" Roswaal posed the question to Beatrice.

[Assistant] Beatrice felt like that tentative blue eye was waiting for her to unleash blame upon him. Did Roswaal wish to be punished again? —Did he want to be condemned for his own foolish actions? Condemned by Beatrice, the one who best understood her mother, the woman who was the object of his tenacious, unrequited love.

[User] "Roswaal. Would you squat down over here for a moment, I wonder?"

[Assistant] "—Here?" Roswaal closed one eye.

[User] Beatrice nodded, Roswaal seemed dubious as he knelt there on one knee. Gazing upon this, Beatrice removed her right shoe, firmly gripping it with her right hand. "Clench your teeth."

[Assistant] "Clench my… Guh? !"

[User] She slammed the shoe in her hand into the side of his face. Glancing at him, Beatrice put the shoe in her hand back on her foot once more.

[Assistant] Roswaal, now with a red and taut cheek, recovered his senses. "W-was that something like your very own mark of disdain just now?"

[User] "Not really. Do I even know why you want me to be angry at what you have done, I wonder? …Your actions are unworthy of praise. But is there anyone who has the right to blame you save the children whose bodies you have made your own, I wonder? Ugh, is all that Betty thinks of the matter."

[Assistant] "Ugh, is it…? Then what was that blow just now for?"

[User] Beatrice stuck her tongue out at him.

[Assistant] "Is it not obvious this is payback for the archive of forbidden books burning down, I wonder? !"

[User] "—About the mansio—"

[Assistant] "Betty is very generous and therefore will leave it at that… If Subaru forgives you, then perhaps I can, too, I suppose." Beatrice interrupted Roswaal.

[User] Roswaal fell silent.


[User] Re:Zero Besides, if Beatrice’s eyes did not deceive her, Roswaal had lost his book of knowledge.

[Assistant] “” The mystical tome that was the basis of all his schemes was in his grasp no more.

[User] Just like hers had been to Beatrice, Roswaal’s mystical tome had been the embodiment of his hopes.

[Assistant] He had clung to it, relied on it, yet after walking across four centuries, nothing had changed.

[User] At the end of their journey, Beatrice and Roswaal found themselves reunited back at the Sanctuary.

[Assistant] Therefore, Beatrice had only one thing to say to him.

[User] “Roswaal.”

[Assistant] “…What is it?”

[User] “Welcome home.”

[Assistant] That brief phrase made Roswaal’s breath catch.

[User] To Beatrice and Roswaal, to Echidna, to Ryuzu, this place represented the old days—

[Assistant] That was why Beatrice’s words faintly made Roswaal’s lips tremble.

[User] “Yes, I suppose I am. I’m back, Beatrice—welcome home.”


[Assistant] “They’re not coming out, huh? I’m sure they had a load of things to talk about, but isn’t this excessive?” Growing impatient due to the lack of any new developments after returning from making his thirtieth snow-Puck in the clearing, Subaru turned toward the tomb.

[User] It had been just short of an hour since the pair had entered, yet they still had not emerged.

[Assistant] “I understand you’re worried, Subaru, but I think you’re the one being a little excessive.”

[User] Subaru appeared unable to calm down as Emilia stood beside him, stroking a snow-Puck with what seemed like exasperation.

[Assistant] Incidentally, Ram, who’d been borrowing Emilia’s lap and making Subaru envious for quite some time, seemed largely recovered by that point as she gently sat upon the steps, looking like she was also waiting for the pair to return from the tomb.

[User] With Beatrice now enlightened, the possibility that Roswaal would slip into despair didn’t even register as a concern to Subaru.

[Assistant] “Maybe I’m just deluding myself that it’s all going to just work itself out…”

[User] “Hee-hee, you’ve become quite a believer in Beatrice…but you two have always gotten along so well, haven’t you? I can really understand how you two formed a pact.”

[Assistant] “Now and again, I wished she’d talk like we get along a little more… Also, is that Puck?” Scratching his cheek after hearing Emilia’s honest opinion, Subaru then gestured toward the blue crystal on her neck.

[User] This had been his trump card in the battle against Garfiel, the same thing that had bolstered Ram’s resolve in the Sanctuary, and now served as the icon of the Great Spirit who slumbered in tranquility at Emilia’s side.

[Assistant] Having broken his pact and pushed himself several times over, this was the sealed bed in which Puck had fallen into a deep sleep.

[User] “I wanted to tell him, Thanks for the assist, but that’s not happening in his state, is it?”

[Assistant] “Mm, no, it’s not. Seems he pushed himself a little too hard; there’s no way… Even this stone isn’t strong enough to wake Puck up.


[User] “Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to talk and joke around with him just yet.”

[Assistant] “But he’ll definitely be back someday, right?” Closing one eye, Subaru confirmed something that didn’t even need to be said aloud. For one moment alone, Emilia closed her eyes and said,

[User] “Yes,” nodding back. The conviction of her expression was exceedingly dignified and beautiful.

[Assistant] “…You’ve sure changed, Emilia-tan. It’s like you’re still every bit as cute, but you’re stronger now.”

[User] “If that’s so, it’s thanks to you and everyone else, Subaru. I’ve always been on the receiving end before. I need to hurry up and give back to everyone in all kinds of ways.”

[Assistant] “When it comes to just taking, I feel like I’ve done a lot of that, too…” Subaru and Emilia both keenly felt their own powerlessness. That did not mean they would be licking each other’s wounds, for they also took pride in having become more dependable.

[User] “Incidentally, Subaru… Um…” Subaru was immersed in deep sentiments when Emilia abruptly tossed her voice his way. That voice made him go “ahhh” and come back to his senses, but Subaru’s eyes bulged as he turned toward Emilia.

[Assistant] “E-Emilia-tan?! Your face is super red all of a sudden—are you all right? !”

[User] “I-I’m all right. Completely fine. More importantly, there is something we need to discuss.”

[Assistant] “R-right. I guess, um, please go right ahead…” When for some reason Emilia broke into formal language, Subaru stumbled into a formal reply of his own. Emilia, red to the tips of her ears, made no comment about his response, staring straight at Subaru before continuing.

[User] “Um… Subaru, you said you…l-love me, yes?”

[Assistant] “Er, ah, yes. I did say that. I love you. I super love you.”

[User] “—! That…that makes me really, really happy, but…” Subaru got a bad feeling as Emilia, blushing hard, trailed off—if he had to put it into words, he was afraid she was about to say, Let’s be friends instead.

[Assistant] “W-wait! Wait a sec! I-I’m in this for the long haul, so to speak!”

[User] “Th-that’s… I understand that already. But…if I don’t do this properly… Back when we were in the dragon carriage and the time at the tomb, I never gave you a proper reply, Subaru…and…” Even as an unbearable anxiousness shot through him, Subaru lent his ears to Emilia. The present situation didn’t necessarily seem like the worst-case scenario, but his chances didn’t seem too great, either. If anything, it was like the status quo ante. As long as she didn’t find his repeated confessions of love terribly intrusive, Subaru was ready to bounce back as many times as it took. However, it was about to become crystal clear that they were on completely different pages.

[Assistant] “It’s just—I think we need to have a proper talk about the baby in my belly!”

[User] “…Excuse me?”

[Assistant] “I don’t know if it will be a boy or a girl, but we need to give it all the love and attention it needs!